The Benefits of Journaling There is an old quote often repeated in business that “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” I thought of it recently while researching the benefits of journaling for a project that I am currently working on (the MaxxMethod guided journal, the details of which I will be sharing soon!). Reading a short piece on Psych Central [“The Health Benefits of Journaling”] reminded me of a clear benefit of…
Screen Time vs. Me Time While clicking through TED Talks on YouTube, I ran across this brief talk by Adam Alter on the amount of time we spend engaging with technology and some of the long-term effects it may have on us individually as well as its impact on society. Working with my clients, more and more I find that they are growing concerned about the amount of time they spend engaging with technology. This…
Three Causes of Loneliness and How to Overcome Them I have been thinking a lot lately about feelings of loneliness and how to overcome them. Over the years I have observed an increase in loneliness in my clients and amongst some of the people I know personally. In fact, a recent study has revealed that nearly half of all American adults reported feeling lonely, left out, and isolated. What is important to consider, when it…
What is Childhood Trauma and How to Heal I was recently asked what exactly childhood trauma is. What constitutes childhood trauma and how does that trauma impact our lives as adults? While the Wikipedia page on childhood trauma provides an in depth and heavily-referenced treatment on the topic, I found this article from Very Well Minds which discusses the effects of childhood trauma. I believe it offers us a very clear insight into the nature of childhood trauma and…
7 Ways to Boost Your Mental Health Naturally Throughout my years of working with clients, I have found that many of them – when dealing with difficult emotions, anxiety, and mild-depression – are often prescribed psychotropics medications. My concern is we don’t learn how to cope with normal ups, downs and lows in our life. While I always encourage my clients to seek out the mental health care they need, I also believe it’s much…
Thoughts vs. Emotions: Understanding the Difference Can Make a Difference Two facets of my MaxxMethod approach are thoughts and emotions. At the beginning of working on Personal Development, when asked how we feel, we often respond with a thought.Since many of us have trouble identifying the difference between the two, I thought it would be an important topic. This first step is becoming aware of their difference and how each influences and shapes our lives.…
More on Mindfulness: A Sense of Newness One of the major facets of my coaching practice involves taking the time to investigate new approaches and tools that can aid us in our journey in becoming who we are and maximizing our human potential. One of the more popular mindfulness tools on the market is Headspace; an app that assists users with meditation and incorporating mindfulness into their daily lives (you can read a review of…
What the Hell Do We Do with Our Emotions?If you’ve been following my blog, you may have read my “Secret to Healing Our Emotions” a lighthearted article on a serious topic that, unfortunately, carries a ton of stigma. We are often taught to avoid, deflect, and even numb our emotions in self-destructive ways.One of the issues we face when it comes to managing our emotions, particularly the unpleasant ones, is that we approach them with…
Taking the Mystery Out of Mindfulness with 3 Easy StepsThere is an excitement all about us. One cannot live in our modern, technologically-advanced age and not take notice of the constant stream of information and the unending list of tasks we must accomplish to ensure our work and personal lives remain on track. It can be overwhelming and is often exhausting.In the midst of this whirlwind of activity and distraction, we seldom take the time…
Emotional Kintsugi: Self-Compassion is Gold I recently read an article detailing the Japanese custom of kintsugi, which is an artform of repairing broken pottery with a special-formed bonding lacquer mixed with either gold, silver, or platinum. The purpose of the process—central to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi—is to highlight the imperfections and the history of the pottery, rather than simply repairing the damage so that it is no longer visible. Writing in Architectural Digest, noted…