Grief can feel overwhelming I love the change in season from winter to spring. The days are longer, the sun is warmer and the colours are more vibrant. Yet not everyone is in a position to look forward with anticipation. I was speaking with a colleague yesterday who was struggling with moving forward since her mother passed away before Christmas, at the beginning of winter. ‘I want to be on pause’. She was connecting with a sense of not wanting … 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 may know that ‘worry’ is unproductive and that it stresses our immune system, however it is a natural emotion in this situation. This emotion is triggered by frozen perceptions from past experiences. When we resolve the trigger, the distressing thoughts, emotions and sensations disappear.
Use this guided meditation to experience relief related to coronavirus. It is normal to be reacting with worry, fear and anxiety related to coronavirus. Whether it is concerns related to finances, our own health or simply the media, coronavirus can be constantly on our minds. We can even experience symptoms in our bodies from the distress. Are you looking for relief? Willem Lammers, the founder of Logosynthesis, has developed a specific protocol to use the power of words to resolve … Read More
I don’t like to lose my cool. I have been known to lose my cool when life gets busy and demands are urgent. It is not something that I like to admit but I notice it in the tone of my voice, the tension in my jaw and the squinting of my eyes. I get in a reactive mode and in the moment, my concern is not about the feelings of others but rather that others pay attention to me. … Read More
Recognizing our natural reactions. Trauma. My natural reaction to the word is to close in, back away and shut up. It is not comfortable for me to talk about suffering and I don’t like to talk about things that are not comfortable. I was born into a culture and a family where we didn’t spend a lot of time talking about our emotions or our reactions. And so, I learned to be resilient. I handed my suffering to God and … Read More
“Real power is, I don’t even want to use the word: ‘Fear.’” Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump in an interview with Bill Woodward and Robert Costa, March 31, 2016 Fear is a derailer ‘Is fear real power?’ Certainly many will respond with a ‘Yes’ because it triggers a response and it drives action. But fear simply implies ‘power over others’. Fear relies on position and authority to trigger reactions in others. Generating this emotion does not allow space for others … Read More
Why improve productivity? Improving productivity allows us to achieve more with less. We often think of this as achieving more financial benefit with less of the organization’s financial resources. There is also great opportunity to achieve more with less of our personal resources. Think for a moment of the time and/or energy that goes in to building our personal resources: exercise; healthy eating; sleep and others. We work hard to have energy available to spend on work. In turn, this … Read More
We are undergoing immense change and uncertainty. Certainly we all want to put students first. Yet look around and it is easy to recognize an escalation in the pace of change and uncertainty that is resulting in a shift in focus away from students. 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 … Read More
Anxiety is common in Canada. Individuals are looking for a preferred treatment for anxiety. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, mood and/or anxiety disorders are common and individuals are active in learning more about the condition: In 2013, an estimated 3 million Canadians (11.6%) aged 18 years or older reported that they had a mood and/or anxiety disorder. Most people with mood and/or anxiety disorder(s) are currently taking, or have taken, prescription medication(s) (93%), but few (20%) have received … Read More