Nalahs Way Therapy

Happy Friday✨ the magic is in the journey, not the destination. Healing takes time, takes patience, and takes practice. You grow, while you heal🪴
Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

“Worrying does not take away tomorrows doubts; it takes away todays peace.” Buddha

Focus on what you can control and focus on what’s working. When we focus on what’s working and make our concern “specific” it can decrease catastrophizing and rumination. Asking “what” questions, “what is one thing I can do to help with this situation?” Slow down and take a moment for some deep breaths. Allow yourself to be who you are and move mindfully. Don’t force situations. Accept uncertainty is reality. Learn to ride the wave. Trust the process. Practise self-compassion. 🙏🏼

Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy Friday 🌞 as the seasons change and we begin to settle into autumn 🍂 a little reminder to remain kind and gentle with yourself, to practise self compassion. One way I like to say it is, give yourself space and grace. 🙏🏼

Self-compassion means being kind and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain or flagellating ourselves with self-criticism. We’re helpful and encouraging, like a good friend, coach or mentor would be. This inner support allows us to feel safe and puts us in a better frame of mind to cope with challenges or make needed changes in our lives. ✨

The definition of being “human” means being vulnerable, flawed and imperfect. When we are self-compassionate, we recognize that our suffering connects us rather than separates us from others. Self-compassion requires a “mindful” approach; mindfulness allows us to turn toward our pain with acceptance of the present moment reality. It prevents us from becoming “over-identified” with difficult thoughts and feelings, so we aren’t swept away by negative reactivity. When you focus on the good, the good gets better🌞🙏🏼✨

Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy Friday 🌞 when you are feeling emotional heaviness, tired, lack of motivation, etc. it means there must be something we have to adjust in our daily lives. One way to check in with yourself and see where some adjustments can be made is by examining our four life domains: mental/emotional, physical, social/relational, and environment (for example have you been fuelling your body with healthy foods, are you doom scrolling for hours, staying inside, lack of exercise, isolated, avoiding answering phone calls/messages, your space is messy, etc.) Sometimes we can be carrying things from the past, that is out of our control, and we forget to be present in the moment creating space to cultivate anxiety, low moods, rumination, etc. So how do we start to make a change?

We can begin to explore by asking ourselves questions about our habits. Such as: what am I getting from this? Is it serving the same purpose as it once was? Is it still doing what I need it to do? What is the purpose of this habit? Is it giving to me or is it taking away from me? What do I need and what makes me need it, what’s its purpose? What is one thing I can do to make this a better habit that supports my wellbeing?

This can help cultivate positivity, mindfulness, and purpose behind what you’re doing .. helping to stay aware and present.. it’s one step at a time.

Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy Friday and Happy July 🦋✨🌞🌸One of my favourite parts of DBT is self-compassion and radical acceptance. Radical acceptance means practicing a conscious effort to acknowledge and honor difficult situations and emotions. Fully accepting things as they are, instead of ignoring, avoiding, or wishing the situation were different, can be a critical step in moving through a difficult experience to experiencing more meaning. Especially in a difficult time, giving ourselves compassion or my favourite saying, SPACE AND GRACE✨🦋. One step a time. Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy Summer Solstice and to the first day of summer🌞also a full moon 🌕

Summer is a time to celebrate brighter days, more sun exposure and all its benefits 🌻🌷 it’s a great time to spend time outdoors, eat fresh foods (one of my favourites is watermelon 🍉), express gratitude, spend time with friend and family, meditation, water activities, and a great opportunity to unplug and reconnect ✨☀️ Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Stress on the body can often leave us feeling agitated, unmotivated, tired, etc. Our bodies are extremely wise and they tell us everyday what they need and when the body is stressed, most of us tend to ignore what our body is asking for.

Mind-body connection is a powerful tool, it means that our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes can positively or negatively affect our biological functioning. The body affects the mind, which in turn impacts the body (and the mind). Our brain is a powerful organ whose processes extend beyond basic cognitive functions. For example, when we experience an emotional event, our brain releases chemicals like cortisol (a stress response) or oxytocin ( a pleasure response). These chemicals don’t just affect our brain, they flow throughout our body, influencing various physiological functions.
Thus, what we do with our physical body (what we eat, how much we exercise, even our posture) can impact our mental state (again positively or negatively). This results in a complex interrelationship between our minds and bodies. Increasing mind-body connection can reduce stress, increase sleep quality, and enhance self-awareness.

To help with mind-body connection here are a few things you can start to do:

🦋 Practise Mindfulness to help tap into the present moment

🦋 Breathwork (the bridge between our conscious and unconscious state of mind. It’s a powerful tool for connecting the mind and the body)

🦋 Visualization

🦋 Progressive Muscle Relaxation

🦋 Meditation/ Body Scan Meditation

🦋 Yoga, Tai Chi

🦋 Regular physical exercise (Forest walks, running, dancing, swimming)

Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy Friday ✨🦋 practising mindfulness and self compassion can help you become aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment without judgement or interpretations. It involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind to help reduce stress. It can also help you to experience thoughts and emotions with greater balance and acceptance. Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy February!🦋 It is okay to feel anxious and worried sometimes, but sometimes these thoughts can be unhelpful. It can be beneficial to take a step back, examine the evidence for your thoughts and explore other ways of looking at the situation. Challenging, learning, and reframing these thoughts is one of the best ways to help us deal with stress and anxiety and really boost our motivation and mood. Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

✨ Healthy habits take time to build (small changes overtime tend to work best)

✨Life happens and that is okay 🙏🏼 hills and valleys are apart of the journey

✨ Slow progress is STILL PROGRESS and it can be seen as the best kind 💪🏼

✨ Life can change your trajectory, be mindful that goals can evolve and change 😎

✨ Challenges are stepping stones to growth

✨ Change becomes less scary and more comfortable with time

✨ Not every set back needs a story line
(when you experience disappointment, and overwhelm pay attention to your mindsets story. Use SELF COMPASSION- it is a learning experience, “MISTAKES ARE MOTIVATION”)

✨ Be consistent- Reaffirm to yourself as many times a day as you need too: “I am worthy, I am capable, I am strong, I am resilient, and I GOT THIS!”

Trust in the process- it is one step at a time 🌻
Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. Anxiety is considered a future-oriented, long-acting response broadly focused on a diffuse threat. Anxiety can consist of intrusive thoughts or concerns causing you to avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness, or a rapid heartbeat. When you are feeling this way, relaxation strategies (diaphragmatic breathing and muscle relaxation) can be helpful, as well as grounding strategies. The goal is to become flexible to be able to problem solve, these questions are a good start :).. it’s one step at a time.

Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Your strength is greater than any struggle, Keep Going 👏🏼✨🦋 Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy Monday🦋🪴🌸, things to be mindful about for a little mood booster and a release of all the warm fuzzy feel good chemicals ✨Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy Saturday✨❄️⛄️as we slowly ease into the new year, I just want to give a gentle reminder that our progress is not always linear. Most of us know this when we really think about it, but it helps to have some reminders. We can easily believe that other people achieved their goals with a fraction of the resistance we’re facing. The reality is that real progression is never a straight line. When you feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or stagnant at points along the way, some of these phrases/affirmations can help you reflect in these moments- let go of what is not in your control and master what is- one or two tough moments doesn’t have to influence the whole experience 🙏🏼🦋🪴

Watson/

Happy Friday, here’s to a year of unapologetically embracing being you, 🌱🌞✨🪴Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Healing is an individual process and will look different for everyone. There is an intense desire to feel good quickly and individuals can feel that the process is taking too long or they are not doing it “right”. ✨Healing is not defined by complete absence of thoughts or feelings about their experience(s)but being able to live with it in a way that it isn’t in control of your life✨. It is important to gentle, non judgemental, patient and compassionate with yourself as you move through this healing process. Some of the most beautiful paths cannot be found without getting lost; being lost is apart of the journey, this is how us humans learn and grow 🪴🌱
🦋🌞🌙 Em.

Mistakes are human. You should be proud for making mistakes because:

-Mistakes teach us forgiveness
-Mistakes help us grow
-Mistakes teach us the value of accountability
-Mistakes teach us compassion
-Mistakes help us learn what you like and dislike
-Mistakes give us knowledge

Do you know the difference between a panic and anxiety attack?

A panic attack comes on suddenly, is intense peaking within minutes and then going away. It usually occurs out of the blue.

An anxiety attack usually come on gradually and last for hours or days. The symptoms range from mild to severe.

Share this around to raise awareness.

Trust. The. Process. Caterpillars 🐛 aren’t born butterflies 🦋. Let go of the things that are out of your control and learn to master what’s in your control. When things change in you, things change around you. Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Mindset for 2024 🌱🪴🌻🦋✨Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

Happy New Year ✨🦋
The start of a new year, most of us are working towards a healthier lifestyle, whatever that means to you. We are looking to kick bad habits and start new ones.

If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves not because you don’t want to change but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. The way to make good habits easier to implement is to make them obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. The way to make bad habits harder to implement is to make them invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run.

The best way to form a new habit is to tie it to an existing habit, experts say. Look for patterns in your day and think about how you can use existing habits to create new, positive ones. For many of us, our morning routine is our strongest routine, so that’s a great place to stack on a new habit

The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying. With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it.

Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient. Remember, discipline over motivation.

A good read for this new year and if you are interested in learning more, I recommend “Atomic Habits by James Clear.” ✨🙏🏼

Em🌞🙏🏼🌙

🦋🎄

Here are some self-care ideas for if the holidays are hard for you.

Thank you to Positively Present for these mental health reminders if you find the holidays hard.
What helps you when the holidays are hard?

Remember to:
-Take time for yourself
-Re-read a favorite book
-Get cozy by candlelight
-Watch a funny film
-Turn on some uplifting tunes
-Plan something fun for the new year
-Send a letter to someone you love
-Seek comforting inspiration
-Warm up a hot drink
-Remember this is only one season
-Check in with your friends
-Go outside and play
-Journal
-Make time for rest

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