dbt - Specialized Therapy

What is the “Tao of Fully feeling”?

JILL MACKEY — Tue, 23 May 2023 20:07:25 +0000

When we enter recovery (from substances, eating, trauma, gambling etc), One of the tough lessons we learn is that it is not about feeling bad and feeling good, It is about feeling or not feeling. The “Tao of Fully Feeling” as Pete Walker calls it, is a concept that eludes most. Early in recovery, We often expect that it make things ‘better’ and are saddened to find that sometimes, We feel worse before we feel better. Once we remove what we were using to block our feelings, We are left with just that.. All of our feelings. Recovery is a process and allows to create space for a full spectrum of feelings, thoughts, etc.

When asked, Most individuals find themselves locked in the ‘mad, sad, glad’ triad and really struggle to identify and feel many other feelings. Take a moment now & think to yourself, What am I feeling? When was the last time you really sat to think about how you were feeling & how those feelings occurred in your body.

See the feelings wheel: The Emotion Wheel: What It Is and How to Use It (positivepsychology.com)

The Tao of Fully Feeling incorporates reclaiming our feelings by focusing on ourselves & what we have control over. It also allows us to center ourselves in the fullness & richness of our feelings without numbing. It can often be a long journey back to our own feelings but the value is tremendous. We can help guide you here at STA. There are many things that block our ability to feel; being too busy, substances, over eating, compulsively worrying about others problems, etc.. Sound familiar?

We often get stuck in ‘fight or flight’ instead of living in a fully mindful place. We get trapped in blame and the hustle & bustle of keeping up with everyone else instead of taking time to fall into mindfulness practices such as yoga, meditation, journaling, recovery meetings, walking in nature. When we are not able to sit fully in our feelings, We are also unable to set boundaries, communicate our truth to others and also to fully live in the vessel of our bodies.

If you’d like to read more, please find the attached article: Pete Walker, M.A. Psychotherapy (pete-walker.com)

If you or someone you know is looking to learn about feeling more fully, please reach out today. We have many individual & group therapists and we look forward to helping you!

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What is Mindfulness?

Christopher Hires — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 19:50:33 +0000

Over the past few decades, more clinical attention has been given to mindfulness in helping people improve their emotional health. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and actions in the present moment without judgment or criticism of yourself or your experience. Mindfulness skills help people focus more fully on the present moment, separate thoughts from emotions and physical experiences and promote the fusion of reason and feelings to act effectively. It is important to note that practicing mindfulness skills is not about staying 100% focused on the present all of the time, but more redirecting your focus back to the present when it wanders without judgment. If your mind wanders 1000 times, you just need to redirect it back to the present 1000 times.
Getting started with practicing mindfulness can be broken down into four easy steps:
Choose an activity. Although you can practice mindfulness in an infinite number of ways, it’s important to personalize it. You can start to practice mindfulness based upon hobbies, activities and chores that you already do.
Focus on the activity. The second step to practicing mindfulness is to start to focus on
being in the present moment with whatever activity you have chosen. You can use your five senses to assist in connecting to the present moment.
Notice when your attention wanders. It’s natural for attention to wander. Our brains generate thousands of thoughts daily, so it’s inevitable that this will happen. The important thing is to notice it when it happens. So the third step is just being aware that attention has wandered from the present moment.
Gently bring your attention back. The final step is accepting that attention has wandered—being gentle rather than judgmental—and bringing attention back to the present moment.
Mindfulness skills are taught in detail in the DBT Skills group provided at Specialized Therapy Associates. Should you have any interest in enrolling in the DBT Skills group, please call 201-488-6678 for details or schedule an appointment here:

https://www.specializedtherapy.com/make-an-appointment/

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Reducing Body Sensations Related to Anger

Christopher Hires — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 19:45:44 +0000

When you experience anger, you get a surge of adrenaline which is reflected in your body: your heart races, your body tenses, your breathing becomes shallow, your face flushes, you sweat and you may even feel nausea. Reducing these sensations by slowing and deepening your breathing, reducing muscle tension, lowering your heart rate and cooling down your body will help you regulate your anger. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) incorporates various strategies to promote this type of soothing response. Some examples are listed below with instructions on how to practice the skill:
Deep Breathing:
1. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit where you won’t be distracted.
2. Put the palm of one hand on your stomach and the palm of the other on your chest.
3. Breathe in and out as you normally do. Which hand moves the most when you breathe? If the hand on your chest moves and the one on your stomach doesn’t, this indicates that you are not breathing from your diaphragm.
4. To correct this, deliberately push your stomach out when you breathe and let your stomach fall when you breathe out.
5. Continue to breathe in and out. Try to lengthen your breaths. Slowly count to five as you breathe in and again as you breathe out. Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth may help in taking deeper breaths.
6. Practice this exercise a couple of times a week. The more you practice the more it will become a habit.
Breathing slower is a skill that is easier to use in the moment. All this skill requires is breathing out more slowly than you breathe in and gradually increasing your exhalation.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR):
The goal of this exercise is to relax your muscles which is going to be helpful in reducing the muscle tension that accompanies anger
1. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit where nobody can distract you.
2. Bring your full attention to your forearms. Make fists with your hands and squeeze to about 75 to 80% of your maximum strength and then hold them at this level of tension for about five to ten seconds.
3. Release your fists and relax your muscles. Notice the difference between how they felt when they were tense as to how they feel now. Notice the sensations of warmth and relaxation. Repeat this exercise at least one more time before moving on to another muscle group.
4. Focus your attention on another area of your body. If you bring your attention to your lower legs, clench your calf muscles tightly. Hold this tension for five to ten seconds and then relax your calf muscles. Repeat this process again and notice any differences in the sensations between tense and relaxed muscles.
5. Continue going through different muscle groups in your body. Each time, tense your muscles to about 75 to 80% of your maximum strength, hold for about five to ten seconds, and then relax your muscles, focusing on the differences in how they feel.

Self-soothing skills are taught in the DBT group provided at Specialized Therapy Associates. Should you have any interest in this group, please call 201-488-6678 for details.

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Demands in Relationships: How to Balance Priorities

Christopher Hires — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 15:39:54 +0000

Relationships can be challenging in many ways. A common type of difficulty found in relationships is nurturing a balance between priorities and demands.
Priorities are those aspects of life that are important to you and that you want to invest time doing. Priorities are important in that they help us develop interests, a sense of identity and promote reliability. An example would be when someone prioritizes an exercise workout after work. If you spend too much time on your priorities, though, it could put a strain on your relationships as other people may feel neglected or unimportant.
Demands are things that are important to other people and that they would like to see you spend time on. All relationships have demands. Whether implied or overtly stated, the people who are important to us have expectations of how we invest our time. An example would be a spouse wanting time to talk about their feelings. If we only spend our time catering to the demands of others, most likely will feel increased stress and become resentful.
Therefore it is really important to find a balance between priorities and demands in relationships. With balance, you and the people who are important to you will feel fulfillment in the relationships. One strategy to promote this type of balance is to incorporate mutual validation into your daily communication. For example, if you were asked to cook dinner after a hard day of work, you could say something like ‘I know it’s only fair that I pull my weight in cooking tonight, on my end, I’ve had a really hard day, maybe we could get take out and I will plan to cook this weekend?’ By incorporating this communication strategy, you are nurturing a balance between your priorities and the demands of others.
Improving interpersonal effectiveness is a topic incorporated in the DBT group provided at Specialized Therapy Associates. Should you have any interest in this group, please call 201-488-6678 for details.

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Toxic Heavy Metals in Baby Food – What To Do!

Charles Perry — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 16:43:41 +0000

A report was released earlier this month that stated popular brands of baby food and infant formula contain significantly high levels of toxic heavy metals including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury (1). To add to these already alarming findings, most of these brands are certified USDA organic.

The Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization have classified heavy metals as toxic to human health because they interfere with normal physiologic function and cause an increased risk for cancer, dementia, neurotoxicity, kidney disease, liver disease, insomnia, emotional instability, depression, and in high enough doses, death (2,3,4).

Babies and children are even more susceptible to the dangerous health consequences of toxic heavy metal exposure because they are growing and developing at a rapid rate. Even low levels of toxic heavy metal exposure are linked to irreversible brain and developmental damage (1). Research has shown that heavy metal exposure can cause a permanently reduced IQ and an increased risk for criminal and withdrawn behavior in children (1,5).

In November 2019, government officials requested internal documents from seven of the largest baby food and infant formula manufacturers in the U.S. based on studies that found high levels of toxic heavy metals in their finished products (6,7).

The brands under investigation included:

Nurture, Inc. (makes Happy Family Organic and HappyBABY baby food)
Beech-Nut Nutrition Company
Hain Celestial Group (makes Earth’s Best Organic baby food)
Gerber
Campbell’s Soup (which makes Plum Organics baby food)
Walmart (Parent’s choice)
Sprout Foods, Inc. (Sprout Organic Foods)

Only four of the seven companies in question agreed to cooperate with the investigation (Nurture, Beech-Nut, Hain, Gerber) raising concern that the non-responders may have even higher levels of toxic heavy metals than their competitors.

All responding companies had arsenic, lead, and cadmium present in their baby food. Not all companies tested for mercury, but the ones that did had exceedingly high levels. On top of that, reports showed up to 91 times the arsenic level, 177 times the lead level, 69 times the cadmium level, and 5 times the mercury level allowed under existing regulations by the FDA and EPA.

How does something like this happen? Present-day industrialized food manufacturing processes raise the risk for heavy metal contamination in our food supply (including baby food!) through mechanical processing by means of heavy machinery or leakage from packaging materials (6).

What can you do to protect your child from heavy metal exposure in their baby food? Make your own! Making your own baby food is the best way to have control over your child’s exposure to heavy metals as well as know exactly what is going into their food from start to finish. Steaming fresh, organic fruits and vegetables (ex: apples, bananas, pears, peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas) will retain nutrient quality and composition better than boiling. Puree cooked fruits and veggies with a small amount of water or breast milk until smooth and serve. Don’t add sugar, syrups, or artificial flavorings as these can be harmful to your child’s growth and development as well. Instead, try using cinnamon or mix in pureed sweeter fruits like apples or pears.

If you don’t have the time to make your baby’s food research baby food brands and infant formula that test for the presence of heavy metals, like Cerebelly.

Tune into our next newsletter for part 2 of “Raising awareness: the dangerous truth behind the toxins present in our food supply”.

Click here to sign up for the newsletter if you haven’t already!

https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2021-02-04%20ECP%20Baby%20Food%20Staff%20Report.pdf
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/6577/heavy-metal-poisoning#ref_13375
Jan AT, Azam M, Siddiqui K, Ali A, Choi I, Haq QM. Heavy Metals and Human Health: Mechanistic Insight into Toxicity and Counter Defense System of Antioxidants. Int J Mol Sci. 2015;16(12):29592-29630. Published 2015 Dec 10. doi:10.3390/ijms161226183
https://www.fda.gov/food/chemicals-metals-pesticides-food/metals-and-your-food
Pan S, Lin L, Zeng F, et al. Effects of lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury co-exposure on children’s intelligence quotient in an industrialized area of southern China. Environ Pollut. 2018;235:47-54. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.12.044
Vella C, Attard E. Consumption of Minerals, Toxic Metals and Hydroxymethylfurfural: Analysis of Infant Foods and Formulae. Toxics. 2019;7(2):33. Published 2019 Jun 8. doi:10.3390/toxics7020033
Gardener H, Bowen J, Callan SP. Lead and cadmium contamination in a large sample of United States infant formulas and baby foods. Sci Total Environ. 2019;651(Pt 1):822-827. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.026

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Nourish Your Heart this Valentine’s Day

Charles Perry — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:19:32 +0000

Nourish Your Heart this Valentine’s Day with guidance from our team at Specialized Therapy Associates using our Heart Healthy Eating Plan

With Valentine’s day right around the corner, it’s a perfect time to talk about nourishing your heart! What better way to nourish your heart than following a heart-healthy Mediterranean-style eating plan? Now, I know what you’re thinking… a Mediterranean diet? That’s old news! We’ve heard time and time again on the news, from our doctors, magazines, and media outlets that a Mediterranean diet has extraordinary health benefits. However, in a world flooded with diet culture propaganda, the Mediterranean diet has seemingly withstood the test of time and experts agree that the research on its cardiovascular benefits and disease prevention is indisputable!

Has anyone ever broken down the reasoning behind why the Mediterranean diet is best for long-term health? What exactly it consists of? Who exactly it benefits? How it lowers your risk of chronic disease? When in life you should follow it? And where you can find quality ingredients and easy recipes to make following it easier? Well, you’re in the right place for some evidence-based, research-backed answers! Read on to learn more about how a heart-healthy Mediterranean-style eating plan could benefit you and your loved ones this Valentine’s season, and always.

Why the Mediterranean diet? Research shows that following a Mediterranean-style eating plan significantly reduces your risk for heart disease¹, diabetes, cancer-related death, cardiovascular disease-related deaths, and death from any cause^1,2. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, one of the most widely circulated medical journals in the world, found that eating more foods consistent with a Mediterranean-style was associated with a 28% reduced risk in cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke³. The outcome was associated with less inflammation, better blood sugar levels, lower insulin resistance, and lower BMI^3,4.

What does it consist of? The Mediterranean diet includes healthy fats in the form of monounsaturated fats from olive oil, olives, nuts, seeds, avocados, and polyunsaturated omega-3 fats from fatty fish like salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, and shellfish. The Mediterranean diet is rich in disease-fighting phytonutrients, or “plant nutrients”, and antioxidants from a diverse variety of fruits and vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. It contains a moderate intake of dairy, chicken, cheese, and red wine, as well as very little intake of red meat and sweets, and little to no saturated fat, trans fat, and processed foods.

Who does the Mediterranean diet benefit? Although the Mediterranean diet is most well-known for its impact on disease prevention, it can benefit anybody regardless of age, race, sex, or gender.

Following a Mediterranean-style eating plan has also been shown to promote healthy aging. It has a beneficial effect on brain health and overall cognition⁶ by lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia⁷. In a Nurses’ Health Study, adherence to a Mediterranean diet resulted in a 46% higher chance of healthy aging, which was defined as being free from cancer, heart attack, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, Parkinson’s, MS, and more⁸.

How does the Mediterranean diet lower your risk for chronic disease? One of the many ways a Mediterranean diet promotes longevity is by preserving telomere length⁹, the portion of our chromosomes that preserve DNA from damage when exposed to negative factors such as chronic inflammation, environmental toxins, or psychological stress.

Another way the Mediterranean diet protects against disease is through its emphasis on healthy fat intake. A study found that people at high risk for heart disease who went on a Mediterranean diet with ≥ 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil or nuts had a 30% lower risk for stroke after 5-years compared to those who followed a low-fat diet. This is because consuming olive oil and nuts is associated with improved HDL-C function, commonly referred to as the “good cholesterol” because it carries cholesterol away from arteries and back to the liver for excretion or re-use¹⁰. This lowers the risk of arterial blockage and promotes healthy blood flow, resulting in a reduced risk for heart attack and stroke.

Where can you find quality ingredients? The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating a variety of plant foods to diversify your phytonutrient intake which gives your body a wide selection of disease-fighting nutrients! When optimizing the diversity of your plant food intake, it is best to consider purchasing whatever produce is in season. This way, you are sticking to the way our ancestors ate- whatever they could grow, which was dependent on the season.

For example, the wintertime is great for eating winter squash like acorn, butternut, pumpkin, delicata, kabocha, and spaghetti squash. Spring is a great time for asparagus, swiss chard, collard greens, apricots, mushrooms, onions, and artichokes. Summer is best for berries, corn, eggplant, watermelon, and peppers and Fall is best for apples, kale, carrots, celery, yams, pears, kale, and ginger. All of these foods are great ways to nourish your heart.

A great way to do this is to purchase from local farmers, farmer’s markets, or join your local Community Supported Agriculture program.

Finally, check out the Specialized Therapy Associates & FX Med Center Pinterest board for some healthy and delicious Mediterranean-inspired recipes!

If you wish to Nourish Your Heart further by improving your physical and mental health please call 201-488-6678 today to speak with our intake staff. Together we can nourish your heart, mind, and soul so you can live your best life!

References:

Fung TT, Rexrode KM, Mantzoros CS, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Mediterranean diet and incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in women. Circulation. 2009 Mar 3;119(8):1093-100. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.816736. Epub 2009 Feb 16. Erratum in: Circulation. 2009 Mar 31;119(12):e379. PMID: 19221219; PMCID: PMC2724471.
Lopez-Garcia E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Li TY, Fung TT, Li S, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Hu FB. The Mediterranean-style dietary plan and mortality among men and women with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jan;99(1):172-80. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.068106. Epub 2013 Oct 30. PMID: 24172306; PMCID: PMC3862454.
Ahmad S, Moorthy MV, Demler OV, et al. Assessment of Risk Factors and Biomarkers Associated With Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among Women Consuming a Mediterranean Diet. JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(8):e185708. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.5708
Shai I, Schwarzfuchs D, Henkin Y, Shahar DR, Witkow S, Greenberg I, Golan R, et al. Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT) Group. Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or low-fat diet. N Engl J Med. 2008 Jul 17;359(3):229-41. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0708681. Erratum in: N Engl J Med. 2009 Dec 31;361(27):2681. PMID: 18635428.
De Lorgeril M, Salen P, Martin JL, Monjaud I, Delaye J, Mamelle N. Mediterranean diet, traditional risk factors, and the rate of cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction: final report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study. Circulation. 1999 Feb 16;99(6):779-85. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.99.6.779. PMID: 9989963.
Loughrey DG, Lavecchia S, Brennan S, Lawlor BA, Kelly ME. The Impact of the Mediterranean Diet on the Cognitive Functioning of Healthy Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Adv Nutr. 2017 Jul 14;8(4):571-586. doi: 10.3945/an.117.015495. PMID: 28710144; PMCID: PMC5502874.
Aridi YS, Walker JL, Wright ORL. The Association between the Mediterranean Dietary Plan and Cognitive Health: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2017 Jun 28;9(7):674. doi: 10.3390/nu9070674. PMID: 28657600; PMCID: PMC5537789.
Samieri C, Sun Q, Townsend MK, Chiuve SE, Okereke OI, Willett WC, Stampfer M, Grodstein F. The association between dietary plans at midlife and health in aging: an observational study. Ann Intern Med. 2013 Nov 5;159(9):584-91. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-159-9-201311050-00004. PMID: 24189593; PMCID: PMC4193807.
Crous-Bou M, Fung TT, Prescott J, Julin B, Du M, Sun Q, Rexrode KM, Hu FB, De Vivo I. Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses’ Health Study: population-based cohort study. BMJ. 2014 Dec 2;349:g6674. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g6674. PMID: 25467028; PMCID: PMC4252824.
Hernáez Á, Castañer O, Elosua R, et al. Mediterranean Diet Improves High-Density Lipoprotein Function in High-Cardiovascular-Risk Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Circulation. 2017;135(7):633-643. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.116.023712

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Mindfulness and Eating: How to combine them

Christopher Hires — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 20:39:02 +0000

Mindfulness and eating are two things that we benefit from when we properly manage them. Mindfulness is defined by paying attention to the present moment without analysis or judgment. This sounds like a very simple concept but is hard to apply in our demanding lives. Yet the benefits of mindfulness can include: helping us better control and manage overwhelming emotions, distinguishing thoughts and judgments from our true emotional experience, and balancing reason with emotion when making important decisions. Practicing mindfulness can often be associated with meditation, but we can practice mindfulness in our daily lives by applying mindful attention to daily activities.

One daily task in which mindfulness can be practiced effectively is when we eat food. By putting mindfulness in practice while eating you not only get to practice the skill, but you will also hopefully increase your enjoyment of the food as well as become better in tune with your digestive responses so that you reduce the likelihood of overeating. Below are some suggestions on how to apply mindfulness practice to eating:
• First and foremost, try to make the activity free of distraction (don’t watch TV or look at your phone while practicing this mindful activity)
• Next, instead of a meal start with small pieces of food: a handful of grapes, almonds, or baby carrots.
• Before eating the first piece of food, take a few moments to notice and describe (without judgment) the piece of food you are about to eat using your sense of touch, sight, and smell.
• After getting a full feeling for the piece of food, place it in your mouth and notice and describe using your sense of taste.
• Chew the food slowly but consistently and notice the change of texture as you break it down. Aim to chew at least 20 to 30 times.
• After you swallow the food, try and notice any sensations as it travels through your digestive system.
The purpose of this exercise is to be absorbed in the act of eating without paying attention to distracting thoughts or judgments. It is always best to assess how well you practiced mindfulness after you complete the activity. When you finish the mindfulness eating exercise, ask yourself whether your thoughts stayed focused in the moment or whether you got distracted. If you did get distracted, were you able to redirect your mind back to the activity?

As with all skills, the ability to be mindful improves with practice. Mindfulness is a topic incorporated in the DBT group provided at Specialized Therapy Associates. Should you have any interest in this group, please call 201-488-6678 for details.

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Nurturing Resilience to Life Challenges

Christopher Hires — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 18:27:32 +0000

Counseling has historically focused on reducing emotional distress and limiting risk factors for optimal mental health. Resilience psychology is an example of a component of psychotherapy that promotes personal growth in response to adversity and trauma. With regard to the current viral pandemic, promoting resilience and nurturing resilience can be an effective way to help promote endurance to these challenging times.

Tips on Nurturing Resilience

1. Foster a positive attitude: Optimism and resilience are strongly related. Although optimism may be an individual’s subjective disposition it can also be learned. It is important to promote realistic optimism, however, as fantastical positive thinking can be a form of denial.
2. Let go of rigid thinking patterns: Moving away from seeing things as all good or all bad can promote better acceptance and recovery from distressing events.
3. Face fears: Avoidance and escape strategies in reaction to fear increase anxiety; facing fears build self-esteem. Thus nurturing resilience.
4. Nurture active coping skills: Instead of being passive in the face of challenging times, actively facilitate behaviors that will help you cope (call friends, develop healthy habits, promote positive self-talk).
5. Establish a supportive social group: Even if it were possible to manage things on your own, why would you want to? A great deal of emotional strength and resilience can be attained from close relationships with people and organizations.
6. Recognize and apply your unique strengths: Every person has the capability to nurture resilience. By acknowledging your character strengths and using them effectively, you can endure any challenging situations life throws at you.

Reducing vulnerability to overwhelming emotions and nurturing emotional resilience are topics incorporated in the DBT services provided at Specialized Therapy Associates. Should you have any interest in DBT, please call 201-488-6678 for details.

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6 Ways to Practice Mindfulness During COVID-19

aaguirre — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 14:22:32 +0000

Whenever we find ourselves worrying about the unknowns and the “what ifs” of the future, it is important to take a moment and practice mindfulness. Why? Mindfulness helps us increase our own ability to regulate emotions and observe our thoughts without judgment. It is a way to focus our minds on the present. By staying in the present, we are able to make healthier decisions and manage our emotions.

During COVID19, people have experienced a time of challenges and vulnerability. Being in the present may feel challenging during these times. These exercises are meant to bring awareness to the present moment quickly. Start small, 5 minutes a day can make an impact on your mood, sleep, and health.

6 Exercises to Aid in Mindfulness

1) Five Sense Exercise: Using your 5 senses, identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.

2) Awareness Breathing: taking 6 deep breathes, notice the effects of your breathing on your shoulders, chest, and stomach.

3) Nature Observation: Pick up an object from outside (a leaf, flower, branch), hold it in your hand, and give it your full attention. Notice the texture, shape, and colors.

4) Guided Meditation: Find a comfortable place, close your eyes, breathe in and out. Listen to a guided meditation online.

5) Mindful Wake Up: Have you ever woke up in the morning and your to-do list for the day is the first thing you think about? Feel overwhelmed before you even get out of bed? When you wake up tomorrow, try sitting up in your bed, take 3 deep breathes, and ask yourself what can you do today to care for yourself.

6) Gratitude List: Create an ongoing list of things that you are grateful for. Be specific.

Lastly, remember to show yourself self-compassion. Be as kind to yourself as you would your friends and family. If you’re interested in learning more or taking the next step please visit us at specializedtherapy.com or call 201-488-6678.

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Are you ‘demons’ preventing you from being in the present moment?

JILL MACKEY — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 19:40:21 +0000

Recently, I read a quote that said, “You wake up to fight the same demons that left you so exhausted the day before. That’s bravery!” I felt inspired by that and thought.. Jeez, I wonder how many other people believe fighting our ‘demons’ is brave work. Now, I’m sure we’ve all heard people refer to things they’re struggling with as ‘demons’ but How many people actually explore what those ‘demons’ are?

We all know we have them but.. Do we really sit down and list them? Do we figure out an action plan on how to work on them? And even if we do, Do we stick with it without the accountability of a therapist? And lastly, Do we actually explore how our demons are preventing us from being in the present moment?

“Demons” do not always have to fall into what most people consider ‘negative’ qualities, like perhaps overindulging (eating, alcohol, gambling), being judgmental or jealous. They are just things that distract us from enjoying our lives fully. In fact, a lot of the time our ‘demons’ can be sneaky irrational thinking (that we usually don’t like to admit to anyone) such as..

1. An inability to internalize praise
2. Constantly doubting ourselves and our worth.
3. Thinking no one likes us and obsessing about our every move
4. Nervous thinking/imposter syndrome
5. People pleasing/codependency

A lot of individual’s struggle with a ‘perfect’ combination of ‘demons’ that leave them so consumed by what they need to do to be approved of by others that they do not learn how to approve of ourselves and are thus, unable to live in today.

If you find yourself struggling with being in the moment due to your ‘demons’ and would like some help finding your own intrinsic joy, Please reach out to Specialized Therapy Associates and Fx Med Center today at 1-201-488-6678 and schedule an appointment today. We look forward to meeting you!

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