Restoring Minds Wellness

  Past Trauma Past trauma can trigger responses in our bodies and minds and affect how we live our day to day lives. When others feel stressed or anxious, they often have the ability to “shake it off”. This is not always the case for people who have experienced trauma in their past, and struggle with the lingering effects. Trauma can make you feel like a captive in your own body and mind. When something triggers you back to the feelings during your past trauma, it can cause your body to react based on the past. This feeling can be so overwhelming, especially considering that your body is responding in a way that you may not understand. How Yoga Heals So how does yoga really help these responses and ultimately heal our minds? Well, one of the greatest things yoga teaches us is how to breathe. Yep, seems so simple right? Just breathing deeply has vast benefits on our entire bodies. Slowing down and lengthening our breath can lower the stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline. When we...

  It is difficult to find a thoroughly accurate treatment for trauma due to the overwhelming factors. The brain and the body are  effected ; and because of that, the internal belief system of the self. This is among other areas of functioning like having difficulty with family, friends, work, and capabilities. One way to get closer to an effective treatment is realizing that it is not just a matter of healing the brain or the body but rather both. Yoga is one of the best ways to bring balance to the self so one can manage the difficult psycho-physiological responses resulting from unresolved trauma.  Yoga is a hands-on practice of finding truth in oneself and externally of oneself to see that life, death, and religion are not what we seem to think they are but rather much more. An eternal energy and life force that lives inside each of us and is there waiting to be realized. Yoga is a practice of mind, body, and spiritual connectedness and awareness that goes beyond our d...

  Ever feel like you’re on this journey alone? I’ve had numerous clients tell me how their previous counselors were not very helpful; how they felt judged or humiliated, or even taken advantage of. You should never feel alone when in therapy. Your therapist is there to help you, guide you, listen to you, and most of all accept you. None of us are without blame or fault and all of us have limitations. I tend to tell my clients that we are all crazy, so really, none of us are because it’s normal to be all messed up. Some characteristics to look for in a psychotherapist include empathy, warmth, compassion, unconditional positive regard, and knowledge. Empathy:  You know they really care and they really understand even if they haven’t been in the exact same situation. They can share in your feelings with you no matter how scary. Making you feel not so alone. Warmth:  They really listen. None of this looking at the computer, talking to you with their back to you. I mean really...

  When we have negative symptoms we feel crazy because we can’t be the us we want to be. Problem is, we need to find out exactly what’s wrong. We all have some symptoms of diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5). The question is, do you fit the criteria enough for a diagnosis? Time restrictions are also considered. How long have you been suffering with this issue and how badly does it effect you. To be clinically diagnosed with a mental health disorder you must fit the required criteria, fit the time requirement, and these symptoms must also cause significant impairment in several areas of your life. This information is not to replace a clinical evaluation but rather for personal education while professional consult is still recommended. Keep in mind that at one time during your life you may fit this criteria while during another you will not. With this being said you may not always have a mental health diagnosis throughout your entire life. S...

  We hear about it all the time. You know your neighbor’s son who joined the military and came back a different person? Or the car accident you had last year and now you can’t hear a car horn without freaking out? Or the more common one where we don’t really talk about, the woman walking down the alley who was sexually assaulted and now she’s scared of the dark. It’s all around us but do we really accept them who suffer and support them the way they need? ? Do we recognize what impact it has on us as well? Sometimes the person we’ve known for years has symptoms of PTSD and we didn’t even know it. Here are a couple stories that can relate: A good relationship gone bad. John deployed for the military and left behind his wife Jenny and three small children. During this time Jenny took care of the kids and house to make sure everything was good while he was away. They were both excited to be back together when he discharged and came home. Unfortunately, when John arrived home he had li...

  Every once and a while we all struggle with your same old looking at the clock and counting how many hours you have left until the alarm goes off. Like some, you may even over use the snooze, myself included. However, suffering from insomnia is not as fun as knowing “It will be better tomorrow night.” Downsides to not getting enough rest include impaired judgement and decision making, slower reactions, lower work performance, immune system difficulties, higher anxiety, higher risk of developing depression, and overall a lower satisfaction with life. For those of you who suffer from endless sleep disturbance and want to get back on track but don’t know how, I hope the following is helpful: Setting your biological clock is one of the best ways you can get on a regular sleep schedule. For this same reason this is why pediatricians have been burning these sleeping habits in parents heads about regular bed times for kiddos. When you’re on a regular sleeping schedule your body has been...