Self-Care Lessons from Regenerative Braking
addiction, boundaries, codependency, communication, depression, faith, family, goals, gratitude, marriage, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, parenting, positive thinking, recovery, relationships, therapy, women, young adults, young women addiction, boundaries, codependency, communication, depression, faith, family, goals, gratitude, marriage, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, parenting, positive thinking, recovery, relationships, therapy, women, young adults, young women

Self-Care Lessons from Regenerative Braking

My family recent got our first electric vehicle. It’s been fun to get used to all the new ways EV’s work and gamify our commute to see how much battery we use or save. One of the exciting features of hybrids and electric vehicles is the concept of regenerative braking. It’s normal and good to need times to stop and recharge our batteries (this is part of why the importance of sleep cannot be overemphasized for our mental and physical wellbeing). Between re-charges, regenerative braking offers us a more holistic, and often realistic path forward. Our daily lives are full of moments that require us expending energy, and moments that restore our energy, sometimes even in the same experience! Self-care following regenerative braking encourages us to keep a mindful balance of our internal battery life, pushing and exerting when required, and then leaning into something restoring or slowing down

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anxiety, communication, depression, faith, gratitude, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, recovery, shame, therapy, thoughts, trauma, women, young adults anxiety, communication, depression, faith, gratitude, meditation, mental health, millennials, mindfulness, positive thinking, recovery, shame, therapy, thoughts, trauma, women, young adults

Growing Healthier Through Self-Talk

Words are powerful. The Bible compares the power of words to a spark that can cause a wildfire (perhaps a metaphor too close to home for us Californians) or a small rudder than can control an entire ship. Whether our words are spoken aloud or only thought, they have a huge impact on our emotions and behavior. Self-talk is the pyscho-babble term for how we speak to ourself (fancy huh?). Whether we speak kindly or harshly to ourselves can have a big impact on how we feel and act.

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communication, goals, gratitude, marriage, mental health, mindfulness, parenting, positive thinking, recovery, shame, therapy, women communication, goals, gratitude, marriage, mental health, mindfulness, parenting, positive thinking, recovery, shame, therapy, women

All the Trophies

When I was in the bleary eyed state of being a brand new mom, I was convinced I would never successfully leave the house before 10am ever again. As I dove into this ever changing rhythm (and all the equipment that goes with it), I began offering myself mental trophies for any small, personal successes. Got somewhere within 20 minutes of the start time? Trophy! Showered? Trophy! Left the house? Trophy! Made it through a rough day? All the trophies!

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addiction, boundaries, faith, family, marriage, mental health, millennials, parenting, recovery, therapy, thoughts, women, young adults addiction, boundaries, faith, family, marriage, mental health, millennials, parenting, recovery, therapy, thoughts, women, young adults

Why Are Boundaries so Hard For Me?

Many people I work with have a hard time understanding and implementing boundaries. Boundaries are a learned skill. It takes time, commitment, and some emotional risks to realize the world won’t swallow you whole when you say no, set limits, or choose to you take care of yourself. The resistance of implementing boundaries is typically rooted in messages we’ve internalized throughout our life. If you struggle with boundaries, see if you identify with the boundary hurdles below.

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