Tagged With "Human-Animal Connection"
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The Healing Breath (wakeup-world.com)
Did you know that we take about 17,000 breaths a day, for our body to be saturated with oxygen? Breathing also triggers many physiological mechanisms. In itself, breathing seems simple, we do not even have to think about doing it. This is keeping us alive, yet it can be hindering us from optimal health. The simple technique is that we draw the air through our nose and mouth, then the process of breathing is mostly a lung job. Together with the diaphragm and the ribs and the intercostal...
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The Importance of Connecting with Your Inner Child
When I first started therapy, every time I heard the words "inner child" I wanted to puke. First of all, the only memories I have from my childhood aren't really memories. They are home videos. I have no idea how I felt as a child, and I certainly didn't care to do so. I wanted to put all of that in the past. After all, could my so-called "inner child" really play that big of a role in my life today? Well, as it turns out, she does. Sometimes, my inner child takes over, and I become an...
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The Relationship between Science and Spirituality (upliftconnect.com)
To connect the conceptual changes in science with the broader change of worldview and values in society, I had to go beyond physics and look for a broader conceptual framework. In doing so, I realized that our major social issues – health, education, human rights, social justice, political power, protection of the environment, the management of business enterprises, the economy, and so on – all have to do with living systems; with individual human beings, social systems, and ecosystems. In...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter October 2019
Healing the Heart Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter October 2019
Healing the Heart Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via...
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The Top 10 Guided Meditations from 2019 (mindful.org)
At Mindful, we aim to connect you with the resources you need to develop and strengthen your meditation practice. We know that meditation isn’t always easy—that’s why we’ve created step-by-step instructions to guide you through each practice. Whether you’re new to meditation or have been practicing for years, our resources give you the space to slow down, connect, and refresh. This year, we provided meditations on how to tame the inner critic, tune into the body, sleep better, sit with...
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Therapy Dogs and Service Dogs: What Are They and Why Are They Important?
Therapy dogs are used in a wide variety of environments and circumstances but, broadly speaking, they are dogs whose presence is designed to help alleviate stress, promote feelings of well-being and sometimes help with a process of rehabilitation or healing in humans other than their owners.
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Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities
Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities Claude Cayemitte, a clinical social worker and NARM Therapist, joins the Transforming Trauma podcast to examine how complex trauma impacts individuals from marginalized communities and how unrecognized cultural trauma can lead to misattunement in the therapeutic relationship. Using the NeuroAffective Relational Model as a foundation, and his own background as a Haitian-American male...
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Trauma tried to kick down the door. Compassion is helping me heal.
The artwork is an original piece titled "Someone at the Door" by Chicago artist Ken Shaw. I bought it about 35 years ago. (The first part of this piece was written in-the-moment, as an email to a friend following what, for me, was a traumatic experience. The second part of this piece was written about 10 days later, as part of a healing reflection. It occurs to me that this experience, and the reflections, might help someone else experiencing trauma and/or seeking compassion for self or...
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Triggered by the Holidays? [attachmenttraumanetwork.org]
From the blog manager [of the Attachment & Trauma Network blog] Many of us raising children affected by early trauma and attachment disorders know holiday stress all too well. Even the most well-meaning relatives can inflict additional pain, sometimes because they simply do not understand, other times because they cannot help but judge. Our decisions, our families, our lives, may look very different from what they dreamed, hoped, or expected. Old hurts get triggered and we find ourselves...
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VA TICNs eNote Special Edition Vol. 4 [grscan.com]
*Special Edition: Uplift* Below you will find some resources to help with the life changes as a result of COVID-19. Please feel free to pick and choose to share with your networks or simply forward along this email. Tuning Into the Beauty of the World from Home Explore.com has tons of live feeds, from the Sheep Barn at Farm Sanctuary and the Gathering Room at Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary to the Smith River in California's Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park . Take a virtual garden tour on...
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When Hidden Grief Gets Triggered During COVID-19 Confinement
first published by The Meadows 4/15/20 Our sense of loss during the current COVID-19 crisis can trigger hidden emotions from when we experienced a sense of loss before. Whatever early losses you have had in your life — whether they be your own divorce, your parents, or both, or the abandonment of one parent, a childhood or parental illness or death, financial upheaval, constant moving around, or growing up with parental addiction or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — they are likely to...
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Braco: The Gaze of Peace (upliftconnect.com)
The Power of Silence Increasingly, the power of silence is emerging in our world today. So much happens in silence, giving us direct access to Grace. Croatian healer, Braco, also known as “the gazer” has been helping thousands of people across the globe with his healing transmissions. Through his gaze people have experienced deep peace, heart openings and miracles. To view the Uplift Connect video on Braco, please click here.
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Calming Your Anxious Mind Through Rhythmic Movement
5 Rhythmic Movement Practices That Can Calm Our Anxious Mind
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Care for Yourself, So You Can Care for Others
December can be a busy and stressful time for everyone. Please see the message below from the Office of Head Start, reminding you to take care of yourself and giving some helpful daily tips- Safe Foundations, Healthy Futures Campaign Care for Yourself, So You Can Care for Others December 2018 December can be a particularly hard time to take care of yourself. You may be busy, over-scheduled, stressed about finances, or worried about family. This month, the Safe Foundations, Healthy Futures...
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CPTSD Confusion: How to Get Clarity in All Your Relationships (Resilience Series)
One of the the most common, painful adult manifestations of Childhood PTSD is difficulty perceiving reality accurately, especially around the meaning of interactions we have with other people. We have trouble sometimes predicting that a choice is risky, or that a person we meet is unreliable, or whether our own sense of discomfort is an appropriate response. This is the sixth article and video in my resilience series, focusing on eight obstacles to healing from childhood trauma, and the...
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Defining Resilience Series: Step 6 - Find a Guiding Hand to Hold
I am in love with the idea of utilizing our own healing experiences to help those who are looking for guidance and a comforting hand to hold. I know when I was in despair, I was flailing in my efforts to find answers.
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Free Live &Online - Daily Meditation & Support Groups [mindfulleader.org]
From Mindful Leader, March 22, 2020 To help keep us connected while we are isolated, help us stay calm during a time of great anxiety, to give us an opportunity to care for one another, and to be together, we are providing free live & online - daily meditation & support groups multiple times throughout the day. Every weekday, Monday - Friday, from Monday, March 23rd - Friday, May 1st at the times listed below we will offer 30 minute live & online - daily meditation & support...
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From Compassion Fatigue to Healing Centered Engagement: Turning Trauma Informed Values into Action
To pave the way for a truly strengths-based approach to full healing and recovery for both service users and burned out staff, we must educate them on (1) the central role of primal body responses to trauma (past and present), and (2) the early development of adaptive thoughts and behaviors in response to
traumatic experience.
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From One Survivor to Another, Helping Survivors of Human Trafficking Escape and Stay Safe [sandiegotribune.com]
By Lisa Deaderick, The San Diego Tribune, December 22, 2019 Marjorie Saylor remembers a woman who was looking for help leaving her trafficker. The woman was pregnant and waiting for a bed at a shelter to open up, but she had to wait on the street, alone and in the cold. Her trafficker found her and took her with him. “I never heard from her again. She only had a week left to go before her bed opened up, but the two weeks she toughed it out waiting on the street kept her in harm’s reach,”...
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Hanging on to Hope
In a conversation this morning, like I know many are having, the question of staying hopeful amidst the pain and suffering so many are experiencing in this pandemic came up. It made me think of author Pauline Boss and her book Loss, Trauma and Resilience: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss. When first introduced to this book many years ago, I was intrigued with the term "ambiguous loss" and found that several events in my life fit Boss' statement that those who suffer losses without...
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How Creative Writing Can Increase Students’ Resilience [greatergood.berkeley.edu]
Many of my seventh-grade students do not arrive at school ready to learn. Their families often face financial hardship and live in cramped quarters, which makes it difficult to focus on homework. The responsibility for cooking and taking care of younger siblings while parents work often falls on these twelve year olds’ small shoulders. Domestic violence and abuse are also not uncommon. To help traumatized students overcome their personal and academic challenges, one of our first jobs as...
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How Trauma Therapy Cultivated My Recovery
I was 5 years old when I had my first encounter with trauma. Too young to comprehend the magnitude of the situation, my first grade class participated in a “Good Touch/Bad Touch” workshop,centered around educating and recognizing signs of sexual abuse. I found relief in finding a safe place to lay down the burden I had been carrying. I went straight to the school counselor and told her, in vivid description, the intimate details of my unwarranted molestation. I remember the grueling...
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3 Healing Practices to Connect with Yourself and Release Your Pain [tinybuddha.com]
“Our practice rather than being about killing the ego is about simply discovering our true nature.” ~Sharon Salzberg One of the symptoms of living in today’s fast-paced world is the underlying feeling of loneliness, overwhelm, and disconnection. Chronically stressed and under financial and familial pressures, we often feel alone in the world, out of touch with others, overwhelmed by our emotions, and disconnected from our own bodies and ourselves. Our world is ego-driven. We constantly...
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Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience Two-Day Intensive Training
with Author, Carolyn Rich Curtis, Ph.D. 8:30 AM–5:00 PM $399 for 2-day Intensive Training CEUs are available for an additional charge. Each trainee must have a copy of Mind Matters ($299 plus tax (CA and SD only) plus S/H) As a result of this training , you will learn to teach: Self-soothing skills to manage emotions Ways to analyze stressful thoughts How to deal with intrusive memories Ways to develop a protective lifestyle And you, as an instructor, will learn . . . How to provide a safe...
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Mindfulness Stress Reduction Techniques for Healing
Whether you're healing from illness, trauma, or other difficult times, these mindfulness stress reduction techniques can support your healing.
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Reasons to be Positive and Optimistic
Positive thinking and optimism are words often thrown around when thinking about being happy and cheerful. But what do they really mean? Positive thinking means approaching life in a positive and productive way instead of focusing on the negatives. Meaning you’re hopeful for the best and don’t focus on the worst. Sounds good in theory, but how can you start to think positively? Here are seven reasons why positivity is so good for you, and some tips on how to remain positive everyday:...
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Resilience: A Conversation
Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz and I were having an exchange on social media about the word resilience. It went on and on. It lasted days. And days. It started on Twitter, moved to Facebook, and then crossed over to text messaging. There was no last word, no meet-in-the-middle moment or any kind of closure. Just confusion. Rebecca suggested we dive deeper, face to face, via a Zoom conversation to be shared on ACEs Connection. We wanted to know why some recoil at or reject the use (overuse) of the...
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Self-Care Empowerment
Our mission at Grandfamily Today always centers around connection and ending isolation for Grandfamilies. Join me free for 5 weeks of Self-Care Empowerment. You can set your own schedule to connect-share-feel empowered! This is interactive! Join us! We will be using email and Marco Polo. If you’ve never used Marco Polo, don’t worry it’s easy and free! It was designed by a married couple to stay in touch with family around the globe. It is video based, but short videos and our group will be...
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Seven Benefits of Working with a Therapy Animal from a Handler's Perspective
Sometimes I feel selfish for walking away from our therapy dog sessions with my heart overflowing with joy, a smile radiating from my face AND heart. I love watching this dog turn a child’s tears into giggles. Sammie has a thing for kids. Her tail wags every time she sees one. Whether we are walking the halls at a school or the trails at a nature preserve. She wants to meet them all and offer a snuggle. As a result, her tail thumps in canine happiness, and I just can’t help but grin.
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Soul Writing – Creativity in a Time of Crisis (wakeup-world.com)
I’m a Soul Writing coach. I see writing as a spiritual practice. When we connect to our authentic voice and transform our feelings and imaginative dreams, visions and fantasies into words on the page, something magical happens. By expressing the experiences of our inner worlds and our authentic self, whatever the voice inside us wants to say, we move into alignment with ourselves and give ourselves permission to speak. When we do that with love and let go of judgment, it can be a liberating...
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Suffered Trauma? This Shaman Says You Should Make a Move [ozy.com]
When Ya’Acov Darling Khan was 22, he was struck by lightning. Dazed, but otherwise unharmed, he came to on the grass where he had been playing golf as a summer storm closed in. Later he would come to see this near-death experience as his summons to the sacred path of the shaman. After 30 years — and a grueling apprenticeship with indigenous healers in the Arctic and the Amazon, Darling Khan, along with his wife, Susannah, have built a global following for their School of Movement Medicine in...
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Tell Me Who You Trust the Most
Imagine that you are being held by someone you love (partner, parent, best friend, someone you once knew, or someone you imagine). You are safe and warm and connected. You feel the soothing of presence - the beating of a primitive language. As you find the rhythms of oneness, you know that all is right. You are protected from whatever unknown lies beyond. Close your eyes and feel the exquisiteness...Now imagine that the exquisiteness fails.
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Why You Should Prioritize Your Friendships [greatergood.berkeley.edu]
When I recently moved my youngest son into college and felt unexpected grief at my “empty nest,” I turned to my friends for help. These are women I’ve known more than 40 years, who know me better than anyone else and gave me exactly what I needed: a sympathetic ear, lots of hugs, time in nature, a dose of laughter, and the warm feeling of being loved and understood. Despite how much we rely on friends, there is little science about the power of friendship. In part, that may be because...
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you are one of the cool kids
We spend a great deal of our energy on fitting in. While insecurity and ego are sometimes part of this effort, it’s inappropriate to think of “fitting in” as a weakness or a crutch. The drive to connect is built into the essence of being human. Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk in his (one of the best I’ve read in the last five years) book, “The Body Keeps the Score,” says, “Our culture teaches us to focus on personal uniqueness, but at a deeper level, we barely exist as individual organisms. Our...
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Re: Trauma tried to kick down the door. Compassion is helping me heal.
Thank you for sharing you! Your healing and compassion are wonderful to hear! Thank you for showing us all an example of vulnerability being your biggest strength, that allows people to connect to you! Take good care of you - you deserve that!
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Re: Trauma tried to kick down the door. Compassion is helping me heal.
Carey, this is a phenomenal piece. It's so raw and so true. We see how the woman pounding on your door and her actions trigger you, and how you find ways to work through the fight-or-flight response and the terror, and how you connect your reaction to that incident with your childhood experiences. And then you find compassion for yourself AND the woman who terrorized you. Not to mention your parents. And I don't know about you, but I'm reeling at the parallels between the woman at your door...
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Re: Managing Post-Traumatic Stress in a Pandemic: 3/19 Practices & Resources Update
For those of you that like Rick Hanson, i see he is offering Daily Dose of Togetherness: Mindfulness with Rick Hanson I n this Daily Dose of Togetherness, hear from a world leader in the science of mindfulness, Rick Hanson, Ph.D. Then take his learnings and connect with some amazing digital neighbors from across the country. After his guided meditation and reflection, meet virtually with a group of like-minded strangers and answer two simple questions. To sign up: ...
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Re: I Experienced Trauma — Here Are The Wellness Practices I Rely On To Cope [mindbodygreen.com]
Excellent! And oh-so-true recommendations. I love the idea of learning to be in my body as I have started utilizing dance again as a means to release energy and connect to my physical being. Thanks for this. Peace, Teri
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Re: The Importance of Connecting with Your Inner Child
Very encouraging post. I'm not sure anyone who's experienced childhood trauma can recover from its effects without connecting with their inner child, and I suspect that getting to know one's inner child is helpful even for those with no history of childhood trauma. Our childhood experiences -- good, bad, indifferent, and everything in between -- really do lay the foundation for all else to come. I think too that when we connect with our inner child, it's easier for us to cultivate...
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Re: Yoga Transformed Me After Trauma and Sexual Assault [yogajournal.com]
TOTALLY AGREE!! It would be wonderful to connect with Ebony. Have you tried? Bring her into this community!!
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Re: Yoga Transformed Me After Trauma and Sexual Assault [yogajournal.com]
I haven't, but I will. Same with the author of another recent post that you and I talked about -- can't remember her name but I will look her up and invite her too. Been meaning to message you about it to make sure you hadn't already contacted her.
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Re: Seven Benefits of Working with a Therapy Animal from a Handler's Perspective
Teri... such beautiful work you do. Your big heart—and Sammie's—help heal so many hearts. ❤️
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Re: Seven Benefits of Working with a Therapy Animal from a Handler's Perspective
There's so much to like about this "love letter" to working with a therapy animal, if I may. Two bits that stand out, though, are "Do I approach with a 'wagging tail' and welcoming aura?" -- definitely goals for which to strive. I know that in my decades-long habitual self-guarding and hypervigilance, I can unintentionally come off as aloof. I'm now inspired to try to wag my figurative tail when approached or approaching others. And this whole piece just sings with the fact that you and...
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Re: Seven Benefits of Working with a Therapy Animal from a Handler's Perspective
Thank you for this. You made my big heart smile big I was away visiting my son in Colorado and had to leave Sammie for a week. She's still not speaking to me. Ha! I'm excited for school to start back up so this dog can begin helping kiddos again.
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Re: Seven Benefits of Working with a Therapy Animal from a Handler's Perspective
Oh, I so relate to what you wrote about the hypervigilance bit and coming off as aloof. I lived in a guarded state for decades. Once I started the healing journey I began shining a light from within and found myself smiling without even realizing I was doing so as I would notice others smiling back at me or stating, "You must be having a great day based upon that grin!" And, yes, yes, yes . . . I find joy in watching Sammie help children find their smiles which naturally brings me to a place...
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Re: Suffered Trauma? This Shaman Says You Should Make a Move [ozy.com]
It is amazing how learning to connect with our bodies and be comfortable in them can aid tremendously in the healing process. I've started a new yoga series and just being in tune with my physical self on a deep level has made me aware of some "stuff" I need to deal with that's still lingering. Thanks for sharing this article. It was fascinating. Peace, Teri