In honor of National Dance Day today, below is a little treat for you. But before you watch the video, a few fun facts on dancing and mental health: Dancing improves your attitude and mood Dancing releases chemicals in your brain that can ease anxiety and depression Dancing can increase your creativity Dancing can protect your memory especially if you are learning and memorizing new movement…
Most people don’t want to talk about it. Maybe that’s why we should, right? It’s been on my topic list. Plus, the topic keeps coming up with clients, in the books I’m reading, or let’s face it, in life. We’ve all heard about someone passing away recently especially with the pandemic and everything that’s happening in the world.Death is one thing apart from change, that we,…
In the beginning of the year, I wrote about Happiness: 5 proven ways to be happier in 2021, prompted by a reader who like myself sought insight on living happily. (Feel free to go back and read that article.) The premise was that we don't have to wait for something monumental to happen before we experience happiness. Although we are still in this semi-transitional place of…
The questions from my last post, which is a must read before you read this one (don’t worry, it’s very short) are: All those who migrated to the U.S. from a different country, if you could go back and tell your younger self what you know now about transitioning, what would you tell yourself? What advice would have helped you? What do you know now that…
There is a romanticization of America that happens before people migrate to the country. Maybe it’s all the TV shows like The Cosby Show and Family Matters, which we watched growing up. Maybe it’s the notion that America is the land flowing with milk and honey. Many people can attest to envisioning some things differently before they migrated. Research shows that transitions are one of the…
Today is Juneteenth! If you are like me who didn't grow up in the U.S., you probably didn't hear about Juneteenth till you lived in the U.S. for a few years. Actually, many who were born and raised in the U.S. don't know about Juneteenth. "Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it…
Summer is here! With the CDC loosening it's guidelines for those who have gotten the Covid vaccine, many of us will be going out more frequently and doing less social distancing. While this is exciting for many, it is anxiety-provoking for others. It can also bring some expectations and assumptions about what life after pandemic will look like. I had a client tell me she felt…
It is inevitable that we hurt others intentionally or unintentionally. This is part of our fallen humanity. Life is not perfect, and neither are we. I have been in different situations where I have commented or acted in a way that has offended someone. It is hard to hear when someone approaches you with, “when you said…” or “when you did… I didn’t like it.” However,…
Last week, I wrote about church hurts, why they cause so much pain and how to correct our understanding of church. I promised to write about steps for forgiveness, but this post morphed into something else and it's absolutely worth the read!When someone has wronged us, it is not our first instinct to think about forgiveness. Our first response is usually anger or thoughts associated with…
If you’ve been a part of a church or any group, you’ve probably experienced hurt. Many of us have been there. Either someone has said or done something that was hurtful, has misunderstood or judged you, or has made you feel unwelcome. One of the saddest things about “church hurt” is that it is very common for us to generalize one or two people’s wrongdoings to…