How To Create A Colorful Minimalist Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette: Find Your Best Power Color

March 24, 2021 Taylor Hornbeck

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In this post we will expand on having a minimalist capsule wardrobe by creating a color palette. If I’m honest I’ve never been a minimalist who believed my wardrobe needs to consist of only a white, gray or black palette. I also don’t think that’s necessarily true for all minimalists so if having color makes you your most authentic self then you can rest easy! I wanted to share a capsule wardrobe approach where you could create a system that works for you and your minimalist journey is even better. I’m going to go over how this will work to save you more money and feel more confident.

GETTING STARTED
I like to create my color palette on Canva. In the templates section if you type in color palette you can use one of the ones they have already created for you. The template I chose has the colors on the side and allowed me to include a picture of myself to compare colors against. After selecting your template you’ll want to upload a clear, color photo of yourself to add to the template. The picture you select will ideally show some of your skin tone and likely one that shows how it is in the winter versus the summer when you are more likely to have a darker tone than your regular complexion. The reason this is helpful is because your color palette should work for all seasons. I personally think your minimalism color palette should work in all seasons or it defeats its purpose but ultimately it is up to you if you would like to have two different palettes for warmer and colder seasons. The photo I chose of myself for this project was a photo of me in a tank top showing some skin on my arms, face and chest. Sometimes the color on our faces can be a darker tone because it gets more sun exposure. For the most accurate results include a photo that displays the skin tone of your face and body.

SWATCHES

Once your photo has been selected and uploaded to your template you can begin looking for color swatches. One of the first things you can do is find items in your house that contain colors you might be interested in adding to your palette. Something to consider is if the color is a special occasion color. A great example of this is a red dress. I personally would not wear a red dress on a regular basis instead I would save this color for a special occasion. If you come across a color that you only wear on special occasions you may want to consider excluding it from your palette because it won’t get enough wear. As you’re selecting your colors a good thing to ask yourself is if your skin glows or dulls against the color. Choose colors that make you look good and feel confident. You want to be wearing the color, you don’t want the color to be wearing you! Something else to consider when making your selections is if the color compliments the other colors you have selected. Once I have chosen some I like to drag the colors beside one another to see if any of them would look good together. I personally enjoy wearing a lot of color but you may enjoy some more subtle styles or choose to have a pop of color within a neutral outfit. Having colors that work well together allows you to have more diversity in your wardrobe which can allow you to have more combinations without adding more pieces.

SAVING MONEY

Having colors that work well together allows you to have more diversity in your wardrobe which can allow you to have more combinations without adding more pieces. In addition to which colors look the best on you it’s important that you consider which cuts and styles look best on your body type. It may not be the easiest task but figuring out the best cut for your specific body. Wrap dresses aside because they seem to work for everyone, certain styles are going to work better for some body types versus others. Consider what is the style of clothing that works for you. Now that I have begun my minimalist journey I have realized that I don’t need to wear crew necks, I prefer square necks. Square necks allow me to be more comfortable, let me feel more like myself and have the added bonus of working on my feminine sensual energy.

Defining your color palette is a great step in your minimalism journey and I hope this post helped you determine your own. This post is another segment in my minimalism and mental health series so feel free to explore the previous video and post I have made on minimalism and mental health.

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Self-Reiki 101: How To For Beginners- Energy Healing For Beginners

March 17, 2021 Taylor Hornbeck

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I’ve been studying Reiki for the last two years so I’m excited to dive into this post on self reiki for beginners. I’ve attended private reiki courses as well as read numerous books on the subject like Reiki for Life. I have not taken a course to be officially certified but I do feel I have learned and practiced enough on my own that I can share a lot of valuable information on this subject.

WHAT IS REIKI?

Reiki itself is a word that equates to understanding life. Reiki originated in Japan in the early 1920’s. It draws on the benefits of channeling life energy to your chakras for an optimized life. Self reiki is the concept that all of us individually have access to a deep power source that cannot be depleted or turned off. According to reiki we can tap into this higher energy source in order to heal ourselves. It’s a great tool to promote healing in our lives, incorporate into our stress management system and many more options. Reiki can also be applied to pets, spaces in your home and other living beings.

REIKI BASICS

I’m going to break down the components of reiki based on what I’ve learned and in my practice as clear as possible. There are about three key components that make up reiki.

The first component is being in an intentional meditative state. You don’t need to have an intense meditation but you are making a mental space to observe, connect and engage with your self practice. This could look something like taking a few deep breaths and focusing your thoughts on self reiki and healing.

The second component is all about voicing your intention. To voice your intention with reiki means that you are using a reiki activation phrase. You can make your own phrase or find one that will work for you. It can be beneficial to design your own phrase so it aligns best with who you are for the most impact. An example of a reiki intention statement would be something like I intend to release the healing power of reiki for my best self and highest good.

The third component would be your hand placement. In my experience with reiki our hands are our vehicle to move the reiki energy through the different parts of our body. I personally find that I like to align my palms with wherever I want to focus the energy. I’ve found that the palms are more powerful than the fingertips. If I was working on my crown chakra then I would place my palms at the center of my head.

CHAKRAS AND REIKI

During my practice and studying I realized that reiki is very closely related with chakras as we utilize the chakras to move the energy through the body. If you aren’t familiar we have energy points in our body that relate to our spiritual, physical and mental self. The placements that I have found most simplistic to work with align with the standard chakra points of crown, third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral and root. I created a functional art piece to help you with this. It’s my self reiki healing chart. This chart will show you the hand placements as well as provide you with three reiki statements that I use to activate my self reiki practice.

If you’re interested in diving deeper on subjects like this I offer a Mindset Cultivation course. There is tons of great information as well as bonuses such as the chart I listed above.

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How To Reduce & Avoid Burnout As An Entrepreneur Or At Your 9-5: Holistic Therapy Self-Care Tips

March 8, 2021 Taylor Hornbeck

This blog post is about a topic I get asked about frequently, it’s something that a lot of us experience and that is burnout. If you are feeling exhausted, completely checked out and don’t want to continue feeling that way then I have provided tips to help you navigate this.

GET CLEAR

The first thing I would recommend to avoid and prevent burnout is to assess your current situation. Get clear on what the factors are for you to feel burnt out. Most of us have experienced burnout before so we can typically recognize why we are feeling burnt out. Your burnout could come from a variety of factors such as work or parenting. What areas are currently causing you stress and anxiety. Drill down and get to the heart of why you feel the way you feel. Is it external or internal factors? What actions played a role in your burnout? Whatever it is, journal about it so you know where you stand. The last time I was feeling burnt out was during my time as a resident therapist in a medical clinic. I was adjusting to working via phone versus in person due to the new pandemic measures. The team I work with also wasn’t given the proper support. I also had limited time for breaks in between sessions so I could decompress and prepare for my next sessions. I didn’t feel like I could give my clients my best since I was not at my best.

DETERMINE YOUR NEEDS

Once you have evaluated situations where you have experienced burnout you can determine what it is that you need to avoid it in the future. If you notice that you feel burnt out as an entrepreneur then it’s valuable to ask yourself what you need more of. For example, when I’m working with my clients I know that I need more support such as having someone take over the admin aspects and I can focus on my client. A strong support system is essential when avoiding burnout because you know you have individuals that you can lean on when you need them. From my previous example I also recognized in myself that I needed to take breaks in between my client sessions so I could show up as my best self for each session.

GIVE YOURSELF WHAT YOU NEED

We have the mentality to push through what we’re doing no matter what and we often neglect to give ourselves what we need even though we know we need it. Although you may be able to get through it doesn’t mean you have to. You can give yourself permission to take things that you need. I encourage you to find out what you absolutely need to do and what you don’t so you can build your schedule around that. My mantra for achieving this has been “I am removing tension in order to gain more peace and presence”. It’s essential for us to give ourselves what we need so we can avoid increasing stress and anxiety in our lives.

I plan to do a four week intensive course called Big Energy Magic; Mindset Cultivation. It will be a live online course. If you are interested in learning how to override habits that have you feeling stuck or you’re interested in making 2021 the year you open your mind to bring in more but you don’t know how to move forward. If you are working on a goal and want your mindset to support that then this course could be for you.

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The Body Is Not An Apology The Power Of Radical Self-Love By Sonia Renee Taylor: Book Review

December 4, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

The Body Is Not An Apology The Power Of Radical Self-Love By Sonia Renee Taylor: Book Review

I’ve recently started an online book club and we are currently accepting members if you would like to participate. This post is all about last month's book which was The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power Of Radical Self-Love By Sonia Renee Taylor. In these book reviews I want to include things I like about the book and anything I didn’t enjoy about the book as well. These reviews will be happening on a monthly basis which will align with the monthly book club meetings. So I’ll jump right into six points about last month's book that I liked.

This book is not a traditional self help book. The concept of self love and self confidence is something that we hear often in society as if loving ourselves more or having more con. Right away the author notes that the book is not meant to help you gain self confidence and it's more a book that will help you increase self awareness. It provides tools that help you improve your sense of self awareness and the sensation of freedom. To me the phrase radical self-love is equated with radical freedom, awareness and acknowledgement of our bodies. I appreciate that this book doesn’t reiterate the idea that you need to fake it until you make it as traditional self help books have stated which don’t help us with our body image issues.
Another thing I really liked about the book is that all throughout the book there are little snippets labelled “Unapologetic Inquiries” or “Radical Reflections”. Every couple of pages there are new ones. These snippets help you to think more deeply about the content that’s being shared. I think these are great opportunities to use as journal prompts as you are digesting and processing the information. It’s a fantastic chance to do the deep inner work and heal your emotional self.
In our book club I ask each member to share their favorite quotes from the book we are reading. A quote that I found really resonated with me was on page 69 and it reads as follows
“and i said to my body. softly. ‘i want to be your friend.’ it took a long breath. and replied ‘i have been waiting my whole life for this.”
- Nayyirah Waheed
I found that quote profoundly beautiful. It warms my heart to read. I get the feels each time I think about what that means for our relationship to our inner child and finally choosing ourselves. The quote was also from a poet I wasn’t familiar with so it inspired me to check out their additional work.
The fourth thing I absolutely loved about the book is the cover photo. It’s an image of a beautiful black woman lounging in a bed of flowers in all her glory. The photo is actually of the author herself in her body. I find that with self help books there can sometimes be a certain body type that accompanies them. This book has so much more value and power to me by standing out as something different than what we see often and have perpetuated as the standard. I love that the author chose to include herself in her authentic body as the cover of the book. The image is very powerful. It makes me excited to know more about her work and herself. By choosing to do a cover like that it feels like there is another layer of authenticity and realness that is connected to the book.
The fifth thing I liked about the book was that although I have familiarity with a lot of the content just by being someone who is a holistic therapist and someone who has dedicated a lot of time to reading self help books I still felt like I got a lot because of the way she frames the information and offers a fresh perspective. I was not familiar with the fact that The Body Is Not An Apology is an organization with events, etc. This is something that I would be interested in knowing more about so I was happy I could be introduced so I can learn more.
The final point I really enjoyed about the book is that the author includes basic steps, tools and actions that you can take from reading the book to practice radical self acceptance and self-love. On page 88 you can find a list of steps on how to achieve radical self-love. I like that the information is laid out in a way that is easily digestible.

I don’t have anything that I didn’t enjoy about the book. I thought the book was a great read overall. It took me about three weeks to read the book because I wanted to absorb the material and normally it takes me longer to read a self help book versus a fiction book. I would like to explore the author's work further by attending a workshop or an event in the future. If you’re looking for material to help your kids build their self-love then you can check out the author’s book Celebrate Your Body (and Its Changes, Too!): The Ultimate Puberty Book for Girls.

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The Power Of Taking A Break: The Secret Sauce Of Empowerment

December 2, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

The Power Of Taking A Break: The Secret Sauce Of Empowerment

I wanted to talk about the concept of taking a break or momentarily quitting to increase your success and output. A lot of times in society there's a concept that we have to keep going and keep working, we can never give up. If we want something we have to work on it all the time. This can be defined as “Hustle Culture” where we constantly have to be in a hustle mode and push through everything. I can understand the concept of not letting go of something that is valuable to you however I also see that it can be problematic. It’s human to try and achieve all the things but by constantly pushing through and not listening to our bodies we may experience symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Temporarily quitting

Taking a break and slowing down can be extremely freeing. Taking a moment for yourself to get quiet and figure out what you need in the moment is so valuable for your mental and physical health. If you find yourself in a space where you are stuck and you feel like you are clawing at progress but you feel immobile although your will is strong then consider that an opportunity to be still and quit temporarily. I specifically use the word quit because that means that the mind is releasing it even temporarily which allows us room to recover. As humans we only have so much time and thought space to dedicate to one thing at a time. Most of us live multidimensional lives and are trying to balance more than one thing at any given time especially if we are moms or caretakers.

Benefits of a break

Taking a break allows you to focus on areas of your life that give you refreshment, fulfillment and peace. When I reach a point that I feel like I’m going to pull my hair out I need to go quiet and do things that are completely different from whatever it was that I was doing. Doing this allows my mind to fully come to a restful state. Once I feel like I have gotten my rest I’m able to return to my project with a fresh perspective. The key is to remove any association with what is that you’ve been working on and causing you stress so your mind can rest. What I find interesting about taking a break is that usually when we step away our brain naturally starts releasing alternative solutions to whatever problem we are facing when we are ready to return to our work. This could be happening at a subconscious level and you may not even realize. You may already have the answer but you aren’t able to reach it because you’re too close to the problem and you need to take a step back to see the bigger picture. You may be suffocating your goal and not be allowing it the space it needs to come to fruition. Instead of obsessing over the small little pieces of a goal we should instead focus on the bigger goal and work towards it without having to know exactly how the goal will materialize. Trying to focus on the many moving pieces can be distracting because it may not be meant to move in that way. We have to release some of the ways we practice asserting our will and where we focus on asserting our will.

I recently had to implement the things I’ve been saying because I got to a point where I was using all of my willpower, time and attention to try and achieve something I wanted done. All I needed to do was realize that I could come back to that project. When I released myself from the project and gave myself some down time away from it I had the answer come to me two days later. By giving myself the time off that I required I was able to determine the most clear and simple road to my solution. We all deserve to be successful and achieve our personal goals but sometimes we need to step back and have faith in the process.

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The Power Of Daily Gratitude And Self-Celebration for Depression, Anxiety, & Stress Management

November 27, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

The Power Of Daily Gratitude And Self-Celebration for Depression, Anxiety, & Stress Management

Today’s post is all about a topic that I don’t feel gets enough attention in the self care world. I want to discuss the benefits and value of having a gratitude and self celebration practice. This practice is great if you’re looking to improve your mental health, manage stress and anxiety symptoms as well as stress symptoms. It increases our awareness of what goes on in our world and keeps us present. In this world of over stimulation it can be hard to stay present and this is a great tool to do so.

What is gratitude?

Gratitude is the art of being clear on the things that are going well in your life. Humanly speaking we have a tendency to first see things as not going well or not being successful. When we practice gratitude we gain the benefit of being able to appreciate the things that are actively going well and the things that are giving us a sense of stability in our life. Gratitude is beneficial because it keeps us centered and grounded in reality. Focusing on the things we want is future based thinking and can cause feelings of anxiety and focusing on things that have happened in the past can cause depression feelings.

Putting it into practice

My chosen method for practicing gratitude is creating statements that begin with “I am so thankful…” or “I am grateful…”. You’ll want to pick out things that are filling you up in the present time or day. It can be little things such as “I am so thankful for the clouds in the sky and how the sun is lighting up the mountains. I am grateful to be able to witness the beauty of this moment”. You’ll also want to include why you’re grateful for what it is that you have listed. For the above example that we listed we can say our reason for being grateful is that it’s a gift to be able to wake up and witness nature because not everyone had the same opportunity that day. Include as many details as possible when doing your gratitude practice. When we practice gratitude we are rewiring our neural pathways to think in a positive way. The more you practice the more you build the muscle and the easier it is for your brain to choose positivity going forwards.

Self Celebration

Self celebration is a beautiful way to see the good in you. We may be used to getting praise and compliments but we can’t rely on external validation to fulfill our lives. There will never be enough external affirmation to keep your mind satisfied because that is an inside job. Self celebration is a tool where you are working on seeing the good within yourself on a regular basis. I like to offer this as a tip for my therapy clients where we create a behaviour pattern of celebrating their wins. For example, I would say to myself “Good job, you cleaned the bathrooms today”. I’m taking a moment and celebrating internally for something that I’ve done. Praciting daily works in the same way that the gratitude practice does by building the muscle daily. As we practice we start to feel a different version of self satisfaction and confidence. This is a great way to cancel out self doubt or imposter symptoms you may have.

It can be hard to practice gratitude on a daily basis because life is always happening but if you practice gratitude you will see significant positive changes in your life. To help you with your gratitude and self celebration practice you can purchase my Holistic Planner which includes a section where you can choose to do gratitude, self celebration or a combination. I will be running a Plan With Me live to get organized and I will be hosting these a few times throughout the year.

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How to journal, benefits, and prompts for anxiety, depression, and stress management: mental health

November 25, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

How to journal, benefits, and prompts for anxiety, depression, and stress management: mental health

This post is all about one of my favorite tools to recommend to my clients who want to take better control of their mental health, reduce stress and improve their self care game. That tool is journaling! In my Holistic Therapy practice I often hear clients talking about how it can feel difficult to do but they know they should be doing it. Ultimately, it can be a mental block where we are thinking more about it instead of just taking action and starting. Our brains are very good at talking ourselves out of things if we let them. I’m going to discuss what journaling entails and how to start a journaling practice so if you’ve never done it before then follow along for my top tips.

In essence journaling is just a way of intentionally writing down your thoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions. You can capture these writings inside a notebook, workbook or just a sheet of paper if that’s all you have. You can choose to write about a specific time allotment or a milestone. For example you could choose to journal for five or ten minutes per day. With my clients who are experiencing anxiety or depression symptoms they would like to manage I recommend they journal for approximately twenty minutes at least once a week. A good twenty minutes allows you to get your thoughts on paper and process anything that has come up during that time. This is a great way to clear everything out of your head and keep your mood managed.

Materials

You can choose the tool you want to use for your writing experience. I have heard some people make the excuses of not having a journal or being on the go so they couldn't journal. It really doesn’t matter, you don’t have to have everything figured out or have things be perfect to begin this practice. One thing that may work for you is leaving notes to yourself on your phone. Even if it's just in bullet form as short memos to yourself. It’s easy to get hung up on thinking you need certain materials but the truth is that journaling is a very accessible practice.

Freewriting

Freewriting technique involves writing down whatever thoughts are coming to mind in the moment. Writing in this way allows you to organize your thoughts and get them on paper which can provide a sense of relief. With freewriting there is no order that needs to be followed. You can start with only a few minutes and work your way up to more time. Alternatively you can choose the amount of pages you will write. Whether it's one page or five pages. This is just another method you can use to determine the start and end of your journal session. If you like this method you can check out my holistic planner that I have created. The planner actually has one page of journaling per day built in to support you in your holistic wellness journey. When you journal you are making an effort to cleanse your mind of the chaos in your life. This allows you to create emotional distance between you and the stressors in your life.

Journal Prompts

Journal prompts is a form of journaling that is done in a response to a question that was asked. I’ve included 3 prompts below that are ideal for anxiety, stress and depression awareness, analysis and management.

1. When do you feel most energized and happy? These are things that you can think about because the answer is likely dynamic and not just one thing that makes you feel good in your body.

2. When do you feel like you have the strength to overcome? What tools make you feel like you have the strength to overcome? This question will give you clarity on what tools work for you when you feel low motivation and low energy. Those are the things that you want to regularly incorporate into your life.

3. Who are the strengths and supports in your life that help refuel you? You want to think about who is in your corner to help you out through difficult times so when you are experiencing a low moment you know who to turn to.

If you would like some practice journaling I’ll be hosting a Plan With Me session. You can follow along with me live as we plan for December. I’ll aim to do this at least once a month because i think it’s an important practice to have. You can grab the planner or bring your own pen and paper because the main point is just getting you to practice journaling. Practicing is the only way that we are able to create a habit.

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Fear of Rejection: How to Reduce F.O.R. To Feel More Confidence & Peace: Holistic Therapy Tips

November 20, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

Fear of Rejection: How to Reduce F.O.R. To Feel More Confidence & Peace: Holistic Therapy Tips

Today’s topic is all about dealing with fear of rejection. This is another piece of the self care series. I’ll be discussing ways you can overcome your fears, doubts and second guessing behaviours. When we think of fear of rejection it’s another facet of imposter syndrome which lands under the umbrella of self doubt.

To help you relate I’m sharing a story of how this topic has been showing up in my life. I recently signed up for a dance cardio certification program. As a personal trainer I regularly like to up level my education. This is a great thing to do for everything as learning new things is a way to make life more interesting and challenges our brains and bodies. I’ve never been the type of person who is first on the dance floor so I thought doing this program would be a fun way to break me out of my shell. As a natural introvert I enjoy observing more so than being the center of attention. While working through the program I noticed that I was experiencing the fear of rejection while working with 25 other students and about 6 teachers. I was also experiencing fear of failure because I was trying something I had never done before. It’s normal to have these feelings when we are trying something new. I realized that while I was focusing on being someone who is well liked I was being pulled out of the present moment. I wasn’t thinking of my experience instead I was thinking of the experience I wanted others to have in association to myself. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing however it is something we can be mindful of. Below you’ll find my top three holistic therapy tips to support you if you have been dealing with fear of rejection and it’s been holding you back from doing something that is valuable to you. Follow these tips to feel more confident and manage your fear of rejection.

Create balance

When you are learning something new it’s normal to worry about how others will receive us but we also want to be present and identify what feels good to us. Keep in mind what it is that will help you feel good as you work on your goal or task. If you are solely focused on external circumstances and feedback you will begin to notice you feel more empty, more distraught and more reliant on feedback from external parties. Try to balance what feels good in your experience mentally and physically while also doing your best and listening to ways you can improve. The key is to not be exclusively focused on your impression and more focused in your body. That way you can show up and do your best work as your best self. When you show up as your whole self that gives more information to whichever group you happen to be in and it allows them to get to know who you really are.

Focus on a positive outcome

When we expect a goal to go well we are happy but usually if we don’t reach the goal or are unsuccessful we typically view that as a flaw in ourselves. Instead of viewing the goal you are working on as a win or a fail, start to see the other benefits of the goal. Some of these benefits could be that you are grateful for showing up or that you appreciate what you have learned from the experience. Even if the outcome doesn’t turn out the way you wanted you can still see the value in the goal. Focus on the small win milestones that happen throughout the journey versus the outcome. Being outcome oriented will limit your ability to be present and feel stratified within yourself.

Seek support

There is a lot of value in having a support system with boundaries. I recently wrote a book about boundaries if you’re interested in learning more. There is something to be said about asking for support from loved ones, friends or others and being very specific about the kind of support you are seeking from those individuals. Outlining your expectations helps you to have a better experience. For example, if you are interested in improving your health and you ask your partner to support you but don’t outline the ways in which you want their support then you could instead end up feeling overwhelmed by their questions or habits. Instead you can tell them to ask you specific things such as “how are you enjoying your journey?” or ask them to help you stay motivated with the progress you are making. When your support system follows up with you they have a guideline of what it is that you need from them. This can avoid any communication breakdowns or feelings of resentment, etc. Ultimately you will have to decide which type of support you need whether it’s in the form or a therapist or friend whichever is going to suit your needs on your current journey.

The above tips of creating balance, focusing on positive outcomes and seeking out support will help you navigate and feelings around fear of rejection or self doubt when those experiences arise in your life.

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How To Thrive Mentally, Emotionally, And Spiritually

November 19, 2020 Brandi Jackson

How To Thrive Mentally, Emotionally, And Spiritually

Life can feel so hectic, heavy, and overwhelming and at times. Our natural fast paced energy current of work or school, sleep, and then starting over the next day can make us feel like something is missing or that our ability to be present has been compromised. In those moments of realizing we feel emotional disconnection we have the opportunity to choose to thrive mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

It’s like taking an aspirin when you have a headache. When we feel emotionally stuck it’s important that we work on our needs sooner than later to reduce the imprint of pain, sadness, anxiety, or coping in harmful ways. In the paragraphs below, expect to learn some tools and perspectives you can use to feel more alignment with actionable ways to create more emotional peace and emotional engagement to thrive more as you go through each day.

Start Bringing In Intentional Coping Practices

One of the fastest ways you can start to feel more mental, emotional, and spiritual energy in the “thriving” department is to start bringing in intentional coping practices that align with your spiritual self. This is where you can start to look at your spiritual wellness routine to check for 2 things specifically. 1. How often do you practice your spiritual routine? And 2. How fulfilling is your practice? If you’re feeling disconnected or as though you might need to freshen up your practice, it may be helpful to redesign your spiritual hygiene routine to feel true to who you are and what you need currently. This could be daily prayer, this could be meditation, this could be church or spiritual gathering, this could be learning or devotional time to connect or nurture your spiritual self.

Your connection to your spiritual beliefs and or faith can help you to feel more self-connection in the process of your personal practice for spiritual/ emotional health. Spiritual connection fuels our emotional wellness as well. When we have a spiritual or faith practice we are nurturing our inner-self, which helps us to feel more, centered, safe, and less reactive because we’re coping emotionally through the spiritual practice.

Spend More Time Without Distractions

It’s also very tricky to feel inner-self connection and peace within ourselves when we focus more on external factors, external entertainment via social media overconsumption, and external experiences that will continue to be beyond our control. We want to increase down time where we can focus on internal factors, internal entertainment via hobbies, and internal experiences like being clear of our own primary needs. It’s going to be easier to thrive with awareness of what you need, giving yourself what you need mindfully, and also accepting the journey of self can look different everyday.

The more time we make to avoid distractions to increase efforts to thrive, the better your outcomes and patience will become.

Create a Self-Care Routine

There’s a lot of value in practicing self-care and I’m referring to the inner-self focused self-care variety. This isn’t where getting massages, painted your nails, or taking a bubble bath will have the same level of impact as journaling, walking meditation, or talking about feelings with a safe support. Try to create a realistic approach to self-care that focuses on fueling your inner self. I recommend a daily journaling practice to clarify your emotions, thoughts, fears, and successes to start.

Quick Sidebar, I’ve worked with my share of amazing clients that tell me “I know I should” when it comes to journaling more. When we think of things in a “should” based way, we’re keeping the distance in place. Decide if this is something that can help you to stop thinking about “the shoulds” and other areas where you’re technically judging yourself. Please know it’s actually easier to get up and start your journal practice by grabbing a pen and paper and writing than getting tangled in a ”pass/fail” thought pattern. Try to not worry about what you should do. Instead, refocus as quickly as possible to turn off the pass/ fail thought system happening to get up, get a pen and write down your thoughts without focusing on the 100% best version of your progress. Let’s choose the authentic imperfect but true version instead.

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How To Reduce + Heal Post-Traumatic Stress From Your Body : Holistic Therapy

November 18, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

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How To Reduce + Heal Post-Traumatic Stress From Your Body : Holistic Therapy

A theme that I have been noticing in my client therapy sessions is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and ways to manage and heal. PTSD manifests in different ways that affect our mental and emotional health such as flashbacks, avoidance behaviours, negative or intrusive thoughts, depression, self doubt and more. The mental and emotional piece involves working through that trauma to heal. Additionally, there is the physical impact of trauma experience. Trauma settles into our minds and bodies and we have to work at both to heal them.

Stored trauma

When you think of a traumatic experience that you have had you may notice that you tend to have lingering pain symptoms that are near the location that the trauma occurred. Sometimes it's a matter of how we are physically responding to the trauma that occurred. For example, you may notice that you have back or shoulder pain or that your posture changes. For trauma that has occurred to your physical body you may notice that parts of your body may be holding onto that trauma. For example, survivors of sexual assault may find that they have a lot of trouble with their gut or you have a lot of back pain. It may be helpful for you to do a body scan to determine the places that you feel ongoing pain. The pain in your body could be completely separate from trauma however, if you have experienced a traumatic experience it’s worth exploring if the unexplained continued pain could be a result of that. There may be an overlap in times where you have been putting your body through a lot of energy expenditure which could activate unhealed trauma. I’m going to share some ways that you can begin to release trauma stored in your body so you don’t need to carry around that heavy energy with you. It’s important that you give yourself time, space and willingness to work on your healing. You can begin with body work exercises but it’s helpful to compliment that with discussing the trauma to process it and find clarity. Usually this is done with support such as a therapist or someone else that you can trust to open up to and that has the skills to walk you through releasing and healing.

Begin a body work practice

Body work practice is essentially working your body through different healing techniques that should help you feel energy and trauma release. My number one suggestion for a body work practice is Trauma Informed Yoga. This particular practice is meant to connect you back with your body. When you experience trauma there can be a lot of disassociation to your body and your mind tends to separate from your physical body. There are many great practitioners out there that are offering this tool. It’s a very powerful way to reconnect and realign with your body.

Tune in to your body

Another great way to heal, reduce or release trauma on your body is to things like taking baths, participate in mindful stretching. Taking baths in particular is a great way to connect with the experiences you are having within your body. It’s a way to practice enjoyment and feeling safe within your own body. Baths can remind us of being in the womb which can help us feel a sense of safety. To up the luxury factor in the bath you can add in things like epsom salts, aromatherapy, play calming music, do a meditation or practice speaking self love affirmations.

Embrace yourself

The final tool I find helpful for physical release is a technique that originated from Peter Levine. This technique involves you embracing your own body when you are feeling trauma. You are grounding yourself by holding your body and taking deep breaths. This helps slow your mind down and calm yourself down so you can process what is happening. It’s a good time to remind yourself that you are safe when you are feeling triggered physically. This technique can also be used when you are not feeling triggered as a way to nourish your body and assist with release,

The three tools and techniques above are just some of the ways that I personally recommend to start your healing work. Of course you can also work with a personal therapist or wellness coach. These tools are worthy considerations that could be helpful on your journey.

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5 Ways To Reduce Depression + Anxiety Symptoms: Holistic Therapy Tips

November 17, 2020 Brandi Jackson

5 Ways To Reduce Depression + Anxiety Symptoms: Holistic Therapy Tips

There’s so many ways to cope and manage depression and anxiety symptoms. This of course is great, but there are also benefits to trying coping methods that have been specifically documented as result-based (consistently effective and studied via scientific research). It’s always a good idea to have some basic tools in your tool kit where you can feel equipped with increased odds of taking care of yourself when you need relief.

It’s tricky because each of the coping recommendations will work in different ways to support and maintain health mental health but for some of the recommendations, timing and preventative practice (practice when symptoms are low) will help support mental health stability and maintenance outcomes best. Below, I’m going to share 5 coping methods that can help you reduce, maintain, or prevent anxiety or depression symptoms.

1. Journaling Can Reduce Depression & Anxiety Symptoms

Let’s begin by looking into journaling as a mental wellness practice that has big payoff. The action of journaling about your thoughts and emotions helps to create distance between yourself and your thoughts. This method helps your mental health in a couple of different ways. One, you gain physical distance from your emotional thoughts by physically writing them down on paper. You also secondarily get the benefit of seeing your thoughts outside of the emotional experience that happens (inside our heads) when we think emotionally. There’s something about writing your feelings or irrational emotional thoughts down that can trigger logical thought to come in and stabilize you emotionally when you write or journal.

2. Talking With Supports Can Help Your Symptoms

There’s great power in talking with supports about your depression or anxiety symptoms. It’s worthy to determine an approach to managing your mental health by

Speaking about your feelings, which in turn will increase emotional validation and self-connection. When you are able to speak about your feelings in a safe space you can additionally create distance from your emotions and decide how you want to make meaning of your feelings. Talking about your emotions will also at times increase your decision-making response where you decide what you want to do about how you feel. Talking about your feelings can increase empowerment to change in small ways that eventually or immediately add up to symptom reversal.

3. Eating More Veggies Can Reduce Symptoms

There’s a popular saying “you are what you eat” and there’s actually a grain of truth to the old saying. Our mental health is impacted by what we eat. Nutritional deficiency is a cause that can trigger symptoms. Just think of not having enough water, eating processed sugars and starchy simple carbs. Your mind and body will not be able to do it’s daily functions of digestion, metabolism, circulation, and so on if your body is running to problem solve how your energy resources need to be allotted based on your internal health needs or delays. For example if you don’t eat enough veggies and drink enough water you may find that constipation is more likely. When constipated our body has a response of energy drain from stool being held to long in our bodies that you simply won’t have the same energy as someone who is “regular”. Our body is smart enough to focus on taking care of us and figuring out how to keep us going but will also conserve our resources if we are under supported nutritionally.

4. Routine Exercise Gives You Energy + Mood Management

Routine exercise is wonderful for your health and wellness. When you spend time getting your heart rate up your heart and circulatory system is strengthened. Exercise also helps our brains receive more oxygen, which triggers chemical endorphin release, which is similar to taking medication to reduce symptoms for depression, anxiety, ADHD, Stress, and confidence. Consider working out at least 4x per week with moderate exertion for dependable symptom relief.

5. Connecting With Your Interests Helps You Heal

The power of having a hobby is more real than many people realize. When we have personal interests that place us in a state of learning we also gain deeper sensations of self-connection and joy. It’s important that when picking up hobbies or returning to hobbies for increasing happiness that you focus on habits that feel possible without years of practice to enjoy. Utilizing hobbies also allows for focused practice on tasks, which increase feelings of being in a state of flow where you may even feel calm, peace, and engagement similar to mediation. Hobbies are great for disconnecting with consumption via social media or seeing what others are doing but instead to focus on your craft and feel increased enjoyment and down time.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Celebrate Yourself More Often

November 16, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Celebrate Yourself More Often

When you work hard to get things done it can be exciting just to think, “Yay, I’m glad it worked out and I got it done” and next pivot our attention and start looking at the next task to be done. In society there’s a not so subtle push to rush, run, and sprint to get things done, and then take on even more things to work on. The pace of following a moving target of goals also creates a feeling of being on a continued hamster wheel with little to down time or time to reflect in-between. When we feel as though we’re on a revolving hamster wheel in our lives, it can also make us feel a sensation of emptiness emotionally. Without making space to feel more connection to our wins, obstacles, and growth opportunities we can miss out on the beauty of feeling more present and presence in our day to day lives.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to walk you through 2 methods to increasingly celebrate yourself more often. This will help you stay anchored in self-connection, which ultimately makes us feel more centered and confident.

Stop and Savor The Small Victories

When you decide to work on your goals it’s worthy to also celebrate your small victories on your way to task or goal completion. It may seem odd to stop and celebrate completing another day of effort placed towards your goal but, trust me it’s a great way to nurture your practice.

Imagine if we celebrated all of the small efforts that create the end results of growth, increased knowledge, or success and accomplishment. It’s like enjoying a long beautiful scenic car ride without having to wait until you get to the final destination on your road trip. You’ll naturally get more from your experience and efforts. Remember to stop and enjoy the view on your journey to success, not just when you get to the top of the mountain as they say.

Create A Celebration Ritual

If you don’t normally practice celebrating your small victories you may not have a celebration ritual worked out just yet. That’s okay, let’s start thinking of different ways you can celebrate, smile, and savor your small wins. Sometimes we attach a large celebration to the completion of a goal like going out to a nice dinner, getting a new outfit, inviting all of our besties over to have wine and dish about the job well done. This is fine to celebrate the whole experience but you can decide how to celebrate based on what feels right and best.

Sometimes we don’t go big-party mode at the end of the goal, we might just opt to rest or have a drink, or shift in to downtime mode so we can rest a while post goal completion.

But if we focus on the journey instead of the end result you get a bunch of milestones that will be within your view for celebration. Some simple ways to celebrate the journey while on the journey may be to smile and verbally commend your own progress. You can say “great job on x, y, z” as though you are talking to a friend (you’re the friend). You can break into a mini- journal session to process and savor your win, aim for a single paragraph or go for a whole page just to feel more present and celebratory. You can also talk with a friend or support about your recent win and of course please be open to remember that our loved one’s may not be as engaged or happy (as we would be) about our play by plays so they may be supportive in their own ways but your happiness is not reliant on how much your loved one demonstrates enthusiasm for your updates and successes. That’s our job for our goals, we are the one’s who need/ will be excited at 100%+ percent.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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The Power Of Down Time: Holistic Therapy Tips For Anxiety: How To Feel Better

November 13, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

The Power Of Down Time: Holistic Therapy Tips For Anxiety: How To Feel Better

Today’s tips focus on the power of downtime and the value of not having anything that needs to be scheduled or focused on. I find this really valuable especially for people who are working on their anxiety or stress management or simply focusing on improving their overall wellness. Slowing down and not having every minute accounted for allows you to connect with yourself and figure out what you need. Sometimes we can be quite busy just tending our personal responsibilities and letting off steam by vegging out in front of a screen at the end of our action packed days. There's some magic attached to creating windows for intentional "me time" and self recovery where we feel more engagement, presence, and self connection.

Connect with yourself

Slowing down and not having every minute accounted for allows you to connect with yourself and figure out what you need. It’s important to tune in to ourselves and really ask our minds and bodies what they need. It may be cozying up in a comfortable piece of clothing or relaxing in a bath, whatever is calling to you at the moment. If you slow down and listen your body will typically tell you what it needs. Connecting with your inner self is something I work with many of my clients on and would love to help with if you find that’s something you’re struggling with.

Schedule it

The majority of us are so overwhelmed with our busy schedules that we forget to make quiet time for ourselves without our devices or someone relying on us. It’s important that you take time aside from your duties as a mom, wife, caretaker, etc for just you. You may need to plan your downtime and I know that may sound counterintuitive but oftentimes this is the only way you can achieve this much needed alone time.

Ditch the distractions

In addition to the positives of connecting with yourself to figure out what you need in the moment it's also valuable that you don’t have a point of attention during your downtime. It’s ideal that you set your devices aside so you don’t need to focus your attention on anything. I encourage you to go outside and get into nature whether that’s taking a walk, going to the beach or reading a book. If you’re looking to connect with yourself on a deeper level I would recommend implementing a journaling practice. Journaling will help you by getting your thoughts on paper so you are able to process them.

Quiet time

Quiet time is invaluable if you are seeking mental peace and calm and lower anxiety. Creating a relaxing space in your home where there are no external sounds such as tv, radio or phones gives you a chance to focus on your inner thoughts. Having space to focus on your thoughts will allow you to gain clarity on them. In a world that is constantly filled with noise it’s tremendously valuable that you allow yourself some quiet.

If you’re struggling to manage your stress and anxiety then I would strongly encourage you to do your best to implement the above tips into your life. Try to add more space in your life that is strictly dedicated to refilling your own cup, distraction free.

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I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Silence Your Inner Critic

November 12, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Silence Your Inner Critic

So you’ve decided to make some brave moves and get out of your comfort zone. You’re excited to learn something new or to do something new. Your new opportunity might be a new job; or it could be taking a class where you’ll learn something as beginner. You might feel excited and nervous at the beginning of your experience. Then, you may even be lucky to make it a few days before feeling self-doubt creeping in causing you to feel unsure if your new adventure “is going to even work”. Negative thoughts may slowly begin to circle in your mind as you embark on your new experience.

When we learn new things it can feel overwhelming and pressure packed. We approach with expectations to learn quickly, to remember everything, to avoid asking any perceived “stupid” questions, and to make absolutely zero mistakes. New experiences tug on our sense of imposter syndrome and self-doubt. If we listen to our inner critic too often or too long, the negative thoughts can take over our actions and cause us to stay stuck in life with limited growth or change because our negative and critical thoughts work to keep us safe from pain and fear. Growing pain is essential to our development and fear doesn’t always mean you need to stop what your doing. Sometimes fear is meant to remind you to proceed with care.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to share some of my favorite Holistic Therapy tools to silence your inner critic so you can continue to evolve and grow.

Catch and Release The Negative Thoughts

We as humans have negative and critical thoughts as a normal part of our thought process as we go through any given day or experience. Healthy behavior and response to critical and negative thought loops are what’s more important than having the thoughts occur. Something you can do to decrease the power of negative thoughts is to aim to be aware and to catch your negative critical thoughts as they arrive in your mind.

If you can catch your negative thoughts you can also dismiss your negative thoughts. You can affirm when you’re having a critical thought, review if there’s any proof that the thought is true and if the thought is productive for your task or goal and then; mentally dismiss the negative thought with a “no thank you”. You’ll want to ready yourself with an action or distraction to avoid letting the critical thought sit with you for too long. The more time the thought lingers, the more space and power it can take from you.

Assign An Action To Override Negativity

Once you become aware of the negative your thoughts and have finished dismissing it, you’ll be primed for an action or distraction to reorient your attention back on positivity or productivity. Consider finding an action that aligns with your goal that you can use to buffer negative thoughts and to create more distance. Think of actions that will support your goal. For example if you’re taking a new dance class and your feeling self-critical, consider the action of practicing your dance routine 10x before your next class. You can also choose to think 5 positive thoughts for every negative thought. I recommend you write your affirmations and positive self –talk down to have more subconscious staying power. Ultimately, you want to steal your positive narrative and hope back with actions and overriding your negative critical thoughts.

Celebrate Your Progress Every Chance You Get

Another great method to override your inner critic is to celebrate every little ounce of your progress on the journey. It could be as simple as you made it to another day of practice, it could be that you figured out something that was difficult, it could be that you dismissed a few critical thoughts while you kept at your goal. It could also be you celebrating that you haven’t opted to quit even with all of the negative thoughts trying to sway you. Your celebrations don’t have to be big milestones. Your celebrations can be for the smallest sign of progress or commitment. If you can see more opportunities to celebrate, you can have more “data” for staying committed. Make sure you celebrate every day.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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Best 5: Fall Self-Care Habits: How I’m Keeping My Energy Up & Staying Resilient I Holistic Therapy

November 11, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

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Best 5: Fall Self-Care Habits: How I’m Keeping My Energy Up & Staying Resilient I Holistic Therapy

Now more than ever is a great time to practice self-care and also how we can create nurturing, calm habits including healthy sleep and communication. I thought it may be helpful to share my top 5 self care tips and routine as lots of individuals are experiencing extra stress from the election, homeschooling, the ongoing pandemic and other everyday stressors.

1. Get up on time

If you consider yourself a night owl at the moment but want to start getting up early then I recommend practicing getting up early. Eventually your circadian clock will shift to match your habits. If you want to create more hours in your day by getting up earlier. The other benefits of getting up early are having quiet time to yourself before others are awake, you have time to do more self care practices so when you go to sleep at night you feel more fulfilled.

2. Drink a green smoothie

It’s important that we get our nutrition in but it can sometimes feel like you don’t have time. I have found that making my smoothies in bulk for the week and putting them in mason jars for easy access makes the goal of getting proper nutrients much more achievable.

3. Meditation

To me, meditation = medicine. I find that having time to meditate everyday is very valuable but during extra stressful times I try to make a commitment to meditate at least fifteen minutes per day. This gives me an opportunity to clear my mind. If it’s helpful for you I recommend breaking up the fifteen minutes into five minutes 3x a day. For instance, five minutes in the morning, afternoon and before going to bed to keep your mind cleansed throughout the day.

4. Journaling

I make sure to do at least one page of journaling per day. Journaling helps me to clear my mind by having everything written out on paper and organized. When I journal I also include a list of things I am grateful for. This helps uplift me and keep me focused on the positive. Another journal prompt I use is celebrating myself. This is a great tool for filling your emotional cup of self acceptance. As an example instead of saying “I am grateful for…” you would say “I did a great job at…” or “Good job (your name) when you did x, y, z. Practicing this will allow you to feel more centered and at peace with yourself. I have created The Holistic Planner Self-Care and Wellness Journal which includes a journal prompt per day as well as a daily habit tracker and daily gratitude section.

5. Exercise

Get up and move your body! This can be in whatever way you prefer, personally I enjoy running and lately I have explored getting back into dance through dance certification programs. Exercise is a great way to take care of your mind and body.

In closing I just wanted to share these tools with you and give you some practices you can apply to your life as we move into the period of Seasonal Affective Disorder and post election season. The important thing to remember is despite whatever may happen is that we can manage if we are taking better care of ourselves first. We can’t control most of what happens in the world however we can control how we show up in the world.

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Practice Courage And Growth

November 10, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Practice Courage And Growth

I get it, courage is something that we all aspire to practice on some level. We as humans naturally want to be successful and able to do things that can feel emotionally difficult with grace and intention. Most humans are usually busy with their many responsibilities and trying to nurture themselves with enough sleep, food, and down time in between all of the other responsibilities they have going on. Opportunities to practice courage will show up in our busy schedule most often as moments “we need to put our foot down” and correct some interaction that we find simply unacceptable. As a parent, my own courage is often called on when supporting my children in their school setting. Courage for some may show up in the work place when your co-worker attempts to hand you their workload. It takes courage to say no, “wait just a minute” and then correct the interaction for long term change.

There’s also a secondary style of courage. Courage can also happen when we self assess personal opportunities for growth and to then step up to close the gap. This can be a personal goal that is important for long-term health or wellness like finally starting a weekly budget. Another version of self assessed courage is to do something you’ve dreamed of doing because it will bring happiness or fruition like learning to dance, learning to box, or finally starting that Podcast.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to share some of my favorite Holistic Therapy tips to help you practice courage and personal growth with more ease and enjoyment.

Do Something That Makes You A Beginner Again

It may be difficult to silence perfectionist thoughts and self-doubt on the road to practicing more courage but if your mindful that the elements of fear will be present, you are more likely to be able to manage any negative thoughts coming in. Please see perfectionist thoughts and self-doubt as possible and a natural part of having a new experience. Starting as a beginner again will help to keep our perspective in balance vs. being in a continued mind state of expert which can cause limits to how creatively we’ll be able to think and work.

When we learn or experience something new, it’s important to cancel out the automatic thoughts of fear or potential doom by remembering that you can take on the challenge and be successful. Remember your reasons of “why” attached to creating change in your life. A simple tool that may help is to complete a post-courage journal session about what went well from your practice, what made you feel good in practice, and one thing that you want to keep practicing to improve. You are the person who can make your courage-based action and process stick. It’s important that your mindset supports progress long term instead of immediately. Try to self-coach patience and small wins in order to feel more present in your efforts.

Share Your Journey With Supportive Friends

It’s a big value upgrade to your personal growth to share your goals and active journey with friends and loved one’s who can support you and help you maintain some accountability. Tell a few friends about what your working on and ask them to check back with you along the way so you can feel supported with positivity even when the going gets rough. Your friends will help you hold the vision when you feel low motivation. Just make sure to keep communicating as you go.

Show Up Present For The Learning Journey

Here’s the secret sauce that makes all the difference in your growth and courage practice. Show up as present as you can possibly be. It might be hard as you work on change to stay present, observant, positive, and enthusiastic with high energy but you will need to try. Being present helps immerse you into your experience at a deeper level, you will be more apt to infuse what your learning into your life with more dynamic approach when you are present. Presence is a tool that helps you use more of your experience to your benefit because you have a greater view of how your efforts can be applied to your lifestyle.

Consider actions to increase presence such as paying attention to your/ in your experience, putting your phone on airplane mode, stepping away from loved ones and children to have time to focus on your task and making the intention to show up with positivity and openness. Having clarity in how you show up gives you a path to be present to truly absorb all the courage and growth that’s located inside your change making and courage based actions.

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Relax More

November 9, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Relax More

In most cases it’s common to experience moments of stress throughout the average weekday. You wake up, prepare for work or school, and then you transition or travel to start your day. You may feel stress based on what needs to be taken care of for the day like the work/ school work, the timeline of the day, traffic, lunch or dinner prep, cleaning, support and time with family or your partner. It can be difficult to spot time that will “great for just relaxing only” without having an additional goal of multitasking.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to share some of my favorite holistic therapy tools that can help support you to relax more during the day.

Reduce And Boundary Social Media Time

There’s something special about not being tied to our screens that helps us to feel calmer and more engaged in our life as we go through the day. If you want to feel calmer throughout the day and to feel ease of more time relaxing, consider spending less time on your phone/ screens. This may feel difficult to imagine but if you comb through your social media or screen time use patterns and ask yourself if every minute you spent was useful or needed you may find the answer to be a no. The difficult part of social media is the addictive behavior to have our phones in our hands or close by at any given time for multipurpose use. Our phones have games, social media access to friends and celebrities, can answer questions for us in seconds, and in some cases will support us to do our work or check our work emails just so we feel “in the know” even if we’re not on the clock.

Our phones are in some ways quite magical and delightful based on our own personal whims for x,y, and z. However we can as a result become more impulsive and addicted to using our screens and phones to do one quick social scroll, checking the news, or emails to feel validation then falling down the rabbit hole from there.

Consider creating boundaries around your time on social media and on your screens. This will increase your experience of relaxation where you can feel more in control of your attention, sensations of impulse, and memory. If your have a greater sensation of awareness it will naturally be easier to feel more relaxed and in tune with your needs to give yourself more support.

Make The Intentional Decision Throughout Your Day

Another possible tool you can use to increase your relaxation is to make the intention to feel more relaxation during the day. Write down your intention and brainstorm different actions you will take during the day to experience more relaxation. Write all of your brainstorm ideas down. Maybe your actions listed will include going for a walk, taking short meditation breaks, stretching, listening to music while you work etc. Get a clear idea of your relaxation options and next, set up a reminder system to do 3-4 ideas from your relaxation list. You can use your phone, email, a post-it note system, ask a friend/ partner support accountability. From there practice your new system of relaxation breaks. Assess how you feel. Then, keep practicing.

Intentionally Use Your Days Off To Relax

Last but not least treat your days off like a literal vacation to catch up on rest and to restore your energy reserves. Consider if you need more down time and if so, avoid filling your weekend with excess errands, socializing, and other commitments. Sometimes it makes sense to reverse the tradition of social gathering on the weekends to social gathering on a weekday in order to keep your weekend schedule light and relaxing. Ultimately you have the option to decide how you spend your time. You may also enjoy looking more deeply into your strategies around time to increase time and space for relaxing more often.

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Holistic Therapy Tips For Depression & Seasonal Affective Disorder

November 6, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

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Holistic Therapy Tips For Depression & Seasonal Affective Disorder

As we near the time of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and depression I wanted to have a conversation around holistic tips to combat these subjects. Both of those subjects can overlap so ideally we need to keep working on our depression plans and also have a plan in place for when things feel extra overwhelming. It’s important that we know what to look for when it comes to Seasonal Affective Disorder. If you’re feeling symptoms such as low mood, isolated behaviours, difficulty sleeping or getting out of bed, irritability, or generally just feeling down you may be experiencing SAD.

Intentional Care

If you are experiencing the above symptoms then I encourage you to have a plan in place to deal with your symptoms. By no means does the plan need to be perfect because oftentimes people who experience SAD will struggle to manage. In an effort to not overwhelm you with all of the things you can do to manage your depression, I’m going to keep these tips short and sweet. Starting with a small plan will allow you to do what you can. You intentionally do something for yourself in an attempt to lift yourself up. Even when we are at our lowest energy point I believe that there are still small things that can help us. I’m not implying that we need to do everything however I believe it can be harmful when we tell ourselves that we can do nothing. An example of this is, if you are struggling to get out of bed everyday then I would encourage you not to give in to the temptation of staying in bed because it feeds the negative behaviours. Instead, I would encourage you to set a small goal of getting out of bed even if that means just moving to the couch. Small actions can go a long way overtime.

Optimize Your Energy

Having low energy is a major factor in both Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression. When you are experiencing low energy I would encourage you to spend the energy you do have on things that have a higher return for you. For example, if you in a period where your energy is low and making it to the couch was a lot for you and you can’t think about making food for yourself then try to reach for quick foods that will provide you with energy such as fruits, veggies, nuts, etc instead of foods that may be highly processed, high in sugar or have a lot of carbs. The highly processed foods will make you feel more depressed in the end. Reach for healthy and whole foods as much as you can to optimize the energy you possess at the time.

Give Yourself Permission to Rest

During the times where you feel low energy or low mood then give yourself the grace of allowing yourself to rest. It’s completely acceptable to rest when you feel like you need it. If you are feeling like you need downtime then give yourself permission to do that. It’s important that you don’t beat yourself up over this because rest is such a vital part of recovery in any aspect of life. Appreciate yourself and your body for trying to get you through an episode of Seasonal Affective Disorder or depression. It’s perfectly okay that your best in the moment may not be what you would choose as your best if you were having an ideal day. The more we talk down to ourselves the less progress we make to get ahead.

Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression are things that affect numerous individuals. There is nothing to be ashamed of while you are dealing with it. Accept how you are in the moment and know that you will get better but it doesn’t all need to happen in the moment. Take some pressure off yourself and allow yourself the grace of recovering in whatever way works for you. By following these tips you can help yourself feel better faster.

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Wake Up Earlier

November 5, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Wake Up Earlier

For some it’s just going to be easier to wake up early. For others getting up early may not happen with any ease at all. Of course, there’s some choice benefits that are attached to waking up early for most in our daily American social and professional structures. If you wake up even 15-20 minutes earlier, you are gaining a free bonus 15-20 minutes to do something that you want to do; this is where new habit shifts can be made. Imagine waking up to have 20 minutes to walk each day, finally starting your hydration practice, getting in a brief meditation, or simply having more time in the morning before starting your workday. You’d be able to get things started or create more time in your day. You’re also more likely to sleep better when you wake up earlier vs. when you sleep in.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to share a few holistic therapy tools that can help you to wake up earlier. And we’ll review additional ways to spot opportunities from waking up even just a little bit earlier. Essentially the most powerful opportunity is to have more time and space to practice your most useful/ effective mood management coping skills and practices. What if you woke up 15-20 minutes earlier and as a result you were able to have time and practice for your mood management symptom improvement. What if your symptoms could be reduced by intentionally dedicating 15-20 minutes to your daily self care routine? It’s completely possible!

Go To Bed Earlier To Wake Up Earlier

It seems pretty simple to suggest that we all go to bed earlier in order to wake up earlier. You may be thinking, but what about those of us that have kids, partners, or insomnia? I think your children and partner may be supportive of the early bedtime plan or adapt if you share the importance and your “why” attached to your plan to get up earlier. Your children and partner are prone to want you to be healthy and happy so if they understand going to bed early is a part of getting to be healthier and happier, they may be easy to convince. Your children or partner might begin to go to bed earlier too. Remember, there is more than one way to spend quality time and it doesn’t have to overlap with when you would benefit from more time to rest to wake up happier and healthier.

Avoid Situational Insomnia

In regards to insomnia, I want to support you to first look at your daily habits that actively increase your likelihood of insomnia symptoms. Consider if you practice the behaviors below, you may not have long term insomnia but instead situational insomnia where the behaviors themselves are effecting your circadian rhythm success for restful sleep.

Spending long or consecutive time periods on screens/ social media/ or playing video games or games on your phone.

Watching TV late or before bed (blue light glasses can help but it’s better not to have screen time at least a few hours before bed).

Sleeping in warm clothing. Wear clothing that breathes well to allow your body to keep cool as your temperature changes while you sleep.

Avoid your phone and TV if you wake up in the middle of the night. Reach for your journal or a book instead.

Consider Melatonin, Tryptophan, Acupressure Mat Therapy, or Sleepy Time Tea before bed.

Write A List Of Good Reasons To Get Up Earlier

If you take even just 10 minutes to think about how you want to use your extra time in the mornings when you wake up earlier you may find yourself day dreaming about crossing off items from your bucket list. A great way to increase your inspiration to get up early will be to take some time to write down all of the potential benefits of what you want to get done and how you expect it to help you feel more in control of your time, mind, and mood.

This helps because when your alarm clock goes off the next morning you can remind yourself of your list of reasons that waking up earlier can include more happiness and health for your day ahead. When you start combing through your list of why it’s a better idea to get up earlier your more likely to get up even when you’re tired or unmotivated. Think of this “why” system as a tool to get up and create your own mini Christmas each day.

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Best 3 Tips: How To Heal A Negative Body Image: Start To Feel MORE Body Positive and Confident

November 4, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

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Best 3 Tips: How To Heal A Negative Body Image: Start To Feel MORE Body Positive and Confident

Body image is a different experience for women of all different races and cultures. The social and cultural expectations can vary between races as well. The experiences that I am most interested in are black women's experiences since my clients are primarily dealing with body image awareness, recovery and acceptance. I’ll also be speaking specifically about the experience of body image in a black women’s body because I live in one. Having body confidence doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to be cocky, it’s more about appreciating what you see in the mirror. I wanted to share some of my best tips for creating a healthy body image.

Age Gracefully

In my personal experience over the years I have experienced my body fluctuate between sizes and weight. Before and after I became a mom, my body went through many changes that I have had to adjust to. Throughout your life you can expect your body to go through changes. I encourage you to anchor yourself in the process of understanding, allowing and appreciating the process of our body changing in peace. Even if you need to pause and breath or incorporate body love into your meditations. Each time our body shifts into the next season we don’t want to have the same emotional struggles as the previous season because it is a natural part of the human experience. As you are growing and evolving as is your body. Each decade will provide you with a new body to live in and some change you can control however some you can’t and that’s ok. We should be showing gratitude to our bodies for carrying us through life as they do.

Appreciate Yourself

One of the ways you can appreciate yourself is actively taking time to attend how you look and practicing self care. This could mean doing your hair, your makeup, getting your nails done, putting on a nice outfit etc. Looking your best helps you to feel your best. Of course you don’t need to get done up everyday but in my experience the more we take time to attend to ourselves the more confident and happy. Something like wearing clothing that reflects our personality on the inside can really go a long way in boosting our moods and body image. Personally, a pattern that always uplifts me is polkadots. When I wear them it feels like the inner parts of me that I enjoy are reflected to the outside.

Apply Effort

Body image is a wonderful thing to focus on and take pride in but like anything else it can only improve if you apply time, effort and attention to appreciate. It isn’t about looking good for others or trying to look perfect its about doing it for you because you deserve it. You can absolutely have days where you’re rocking a messy bun and sweats but I would encourage you to make a habit of putting effort in on your appearance at least a few days a week. During the times of quarantine it can be especially easy to fall out of a loving relationship with your body because you aren’t necessarily going out so you are reaching for sweatpants or leggings and not putting in the effort you normally would. Even if you don’t consider yourself a makeup person think of other ways to love yourself like doing a body scrub or having a bath.

To conclude, you don’t want to be avoiding looking at your body because that only increases the divide between you and your body. With any good relationship where you are hoping to enhance the connection it’s going to take time and love to grow. Be patient with yourself and understand that it may take some time to feel confident and body positive but by following the above steps they can help you get there. If you ever need extra support then I would be happy to help with my holistic therapy practice.

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I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

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The Body Is Not An Apology The Power Of Radical Self-Love By Sonia Renee Taylor: Book Review

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The Power Of Taking A Break: The Secret Sauce Of Empowerment

Temporarily quitting

Benefits of a break

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The Power Of Daily Gratitude And Self-Celebration for Depression, Anxiety, & Stress Management

What is gratitude?

Putting it into practice

Self Celebration

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How to journal, benefits, and prompts for anxiety, depression, and stress management: mental health

Materials

Freewriting

Journal Prompts

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Fear of Rejection: How to Reduce F.O.R. To Feel More Confidence & Peace: Holistic Therapy Tips

Create balance

Focus on a positive outcome

Seek support

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How To Thrive Mentally, Emotionally, And Spiritually

Start Bringing In Intentional Coping Practices

Spend More Time Without Distractions

Create a Self-Care Routine

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How To Reduce + Heal Post-Traumatic Stress From Your Body : Holistic Therapy

Stored trauma

Begin a body work practice

Tune in to your body

Embrace yourself

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5 Ways To Reduce Depression + Anxiety Symptoms: Holistic Therapy Tips

1. Journaling Can Reduce Depression & Anxiety Symptoms

2. Talking With Supports Can Help Your Symptoms

3. Eating More Veggies Can Reduce Symptoms

4. Routine Exercise Gives You Energy + Mood Management

5. Connecting With Your Interests Helps You Heal

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Celebrate Yourself More Often

Stop and Savor The Small Victories

Create A Celebration Ritual

MY #1 HOPE:

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The Power Of Down Time: Holistic Therapy Tips For Anxiety: How To Feel Better

Connect with yourself

Schedule it

Ditch the distractions

Quiet time

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Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Silence Your Inner Critic

Catch and Release The Negative Thoughts

Assign An Action To Override Negativity

Celebrate Your Progress Every Chance You Get

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Best 5: Fall Self-Care Habits: How I’m Keeping My Energy Up & Staying Resilient I Holistic Therapy

1. Get up on time