Acknowledge my situation I am parenting in the pandemic. I am living in extraordinary times. My life is not normal. I am not in control of the world around me. This can feel uncomfortable and even painful at times. As a parent, I feel additional pressure because I am concerned for my children. I may want to change the world to make it safer and more supportive for them. This can take tremendous energy. I have come to appreciate that … Read More
What is ‘positive mental health’? The Canadian Public Health Agency defines mental health as: “the capacity of each and all of us to feel, think, act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face. It is a positive sense of emotional and spiritual well-being that respects the importance of culture, equity, social justice, interconnections and personal dignity” – Capacity to feel, think and act. This definition recognizes that to be healthy, each … Read More
We are undergoing immense change and uncertainty. We all want to put students first, yet look around and it is easy to recognize an escalation in the pace of change. All of our systems are feeling the pressure of adapting to intense uncertainty and the external demands often exceed the ability to cope, resulting in breakdown. Schools feel the intensity every day, as children arrive with tensions from home, as parents react out of fear and frustration and teachers, … Read More
We all react. I have surrounded myself with great, intelligent men. I consider them my peers, I value their insight and I rely on their counsel. Yet they frustrate me with their decisiveness and their different perspectives. I react. In turn, they react to my impatience and frustration – sometimes with avoidance, sometimes with frustration. Bottom line – we don’t maximize our effectiveness. Through my work with Logosynthesis, I have come to appreciate that the exercise is for me to … Read More
I live in Nova Scotia and on Monday, my children will not be attending school as a labour dispute between teachers and the province escalates. I am observing the reactions from the perspective of my lessons in Logosynthesis and I am going to offer a few words in an attempt to broaden the conversation. The common theme on social media is ‘If you care about our children you would …’. Yes, we should all care about our children! But our reactions … Read More
I believe we all want to be good parents but what we hold in our heads and our hearts isn’t always in line with the behaviour we exhibit. As parents, we hold fantasies of how our children should be based on our beliefs and past experiences. And when things aren’t as we had imagined, we react. Often we are not even aware of what triggers our reactions. What are some of our fantasies? ‘My child will be the best athlete or the … Read More
It is normal to react to situations in everyday life Self-coaching puts you in the driver’s seat. You learn how to notice what bothers you and take action to feel better and to achieve your goals. You are human and in everyday life you make choices. You also react to what happens around you. At times, these reactions can impact your health or get in the way of what is important. While this is normal, learning to resolve memories and … Read More
THE HEALTHY LIVING PLAN is a forum to share my learnings and perspectives on personal development with the aim to stretch all of our thinking beyond our comfort zone so that we can build upon but are not limited to our habits and the teachings of our parents and our professions. I am a dietitian but this is not in the scope of dietetics practise. I have an MBA and although organizational behaviour theory has certainly plays a role, this is … Read More
Losing my cool as a parent! As a parent, I truly want to do a great job raising my children. However, I admit that I get stressed. I have been known to raise my voice and lose my cool when things don’t go as I feel they should. I know what I should be doing and how to do it but in the moment, all good intentions are put aside and I react. The key motivator for me to work on … Read More