A safe place to talk openly about mental health & illness
It's pretty much inevitable that we'll face adversity at some point, especially if mental illness or any other sort of chronic illness is in the picture, so here are some quotes to inspire. "Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters." – Victor Hugo "Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it." – Horace "There are uses to… Continue reading Some Quotes on Adversity
I got thinking about this a while back when reading a post by MJ about being put in a seclusion room while on a psych ward as a teenager. While seclusion is sometimes necessary for safety, I think serenity-promoting spaces could be more useful, at least in some cases. In my last nursing job, which… Continue reading Creating Serenity-Promoting Spaces
The idea of acceptance in the context of mental illness has been bubbling around in my head for a while now, and not long ago I wrote about non-acceptance and suffering in the context of mental illness. What prompted me to start this post was reading a post by Sarah of Hope Whispers about accepting… Continue reading What Acceptance Is Not (And What It Is)
As my chronic mental illness has become increasingly treatment-resistant, I've done a lot of work on accepting the hand that life has dealt me. Acceptance isn't about resignation or embracing unpleasant things; it's about recognizing that what's here right now is here, and trying to resist it will only increase suffering. Here are some acceptance… Continue reading Some Quotes on Acceptance
I got thinking about this after reading a post a while back by Cynni Pixy. Sometime's it's easy to assume self-care is just bath bombs and spa days. As lovely as they may be, they're just a small part of a much bigger picture. Let's start with some a couple of definitions for self-care from… Continue reading Self-Care: More Than Just Bath Bombs
My friends at WeDIDitPTSD recently brought up Jack Kornfield's approach to RAIN, a mindfulness meditation for dealing with overwhelm, and I thought I'd explore that further in a post. RAIN, which is based on Buddhist teachings, was first described by Insight Meditation Society teacher Michele McDonald. Rain acronym R: Recognition The R is about exploring… Continue reading It’s RAIN-ing Mindfulness
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society I first heard of the term contemplative practices when reading the book A Fearless Heart by Thupten Jinpa. This involves approaching an inner problem without avoidance or distraction. By establishing some mental space, you can consider the problem without getting caught up in the thoughts and emotions that… Continue reading Exploring Contemplative Practices
Action for Happiness I'm definitely not a fan of the whole toxic positivity business, and no, happiness is not a choice (or at least not always). But a while back I stumbled across the Action for Happiness website, and I like their style. I was looking through my journal and came across the 8 pillars… Continue reading Action for Happiness: More Than Just “Choose Happiness”
Curve Lake Cultural Centre While we're used to looking through a Western lens at health and wellness, I think there can be a great deal of value in looking at other ways of understanding to gain new ideas. The medicine wheel is used by certain North American Indigenous peoples to tie together culture, traditional knowledge,… Continue reading What We Can Learn from the Medicine Wheel
Disclosure: I received a free paint by numbers kit from Winnie's Picks, but all opinions are my own. I probably hadn't done any kind of painting since elementary school. I'm not visually artistic at all; all of my creativity comes out in words. But when Winnie's Picks reached out to me , I thought it… Continue reading Painting as a Mindfulness Activity