Tag: self-care

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S.P.E.A.R. STOP PAUSE EMOTE ALLOW REST – LOVE, WENDY

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We all have feelings and emotions. Some days they may stop us in our steps and say, “Hello, I need to be acknowledged!” Sometimes this may be a delayed trauma response, or it may be a culmination of chronic stressors where we feel overwhelmed.

Give your feelings a voice. Honor your emotions.

“STOP. PAUSE. EMOTE. ALLOW. REST. – S.P.E.A.R.“

S.P.E.A.R. and S.W.I.M. Into Wellness! (You can read about this in my book, Write Pray Recover:A Journey To Wellness Through Spiritual Solutions and Self Care https://a.co/d/a8lzF4O

When you feel triggered, or you feel your symptoms escalating…S.P.E.A.R.

This is a non-linear recovery plan that is specific to your health and wellness goals.

STOP where you are.

PAUSE TO BE PRESENT. PATIENTLY PROCESS. Take one slow deep breath through your nose, and exhale slowly through your mouth.

Repeat three times. Your breath is your most accessible tool to intervene with your physiology in real time. Focus on your breath to align with the present moment.

EMOTE safely anything that you are feeling. You are allowed to feel whatever you feel!

Try the Alternate Nostril Breathing below to self soothe as you release your feelings/emotions.

Allow yourself to feel, and take whatever time you need. Practice extra self care.

ACCEPT your emotions and feelings. Take as long as you need to practice acceptance and validate what you are feeling in a safe space without self judgement. Acceptance promotes peace.

REST and RE-ALIGN, and allow yourself time to process. Hydrate!

Write about it! Take your time with this step. Then, RE-FRAME using a healthy mindset and being open to new perspectives to re-frame the experience as you move forward. Ask yourself, “In moving forward, how can I use my self awareness of this trigger/ stressor in conjunction with my self regulation skills in order to navigate constructively? (Daily self care to stay ahead of the stressor? Take a “time out?” Etc.)

For those who mean well by telling you to “Focus on your blessings! Be positive,” give yourself permission and power to realize when others do not know how to support us appropriately, and do not have the skill, or the experience and words that we may need at the time, and know that they mean well. And, some may be uncomfortable observing as we experience emotions and feelings because it may force them to go within where they may be suppressing their own feelings and emotions that also need validation.

We ALL have mental health.

When we are feeling mentally unwell, we do not need to “focus on our blessings and all the positives in our lives.“ What we need is a safe space, and the time, however long that is for us, to experience the experience.

S.P.E.A.R. yourself into the experience. Ask for support if you feel you need support. This begins the healing process.

Whatever healthy practices you need to heal, do it…and take your time.”

To read more about my S.P.E.A.R. and S.W.I.M. Into Wellness component of my “Integrative Approach to Wellness” program, read my book, Write Pray Recover:A Journey To Wellness Through Spiritual Solutions and Self Care. https://a.co/d/a8lzF4O

Love and blessings,

Wendy

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A Love Letter to our Wellness in Recovey Community – Love, Wendy

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Thank you for trusting me with your personal stories yesterday and last night.

Wow.

There is so much truth to the fact that we ALL have a story, and that when we share our stories, it allows us to feel supported, and to support others who are experiencing challenges, adversity and heartbreak.

Please know that suffering does not discriminate. However, as we come together and we share our experiences, and we pray for each other, we build a loving community, a spiritual community, where we also build resilience. And the more we practice resilience through healthy practices, daily, the stronger we become…the more resilient we become.

We adapt and navigate with mindful determination through the stress, we continue to be productive, go to work, enjoy our family and friends, love, laugh, cry, all together, knowing we are not alone. One day at a time. One hour at a time. One moment at a time.

I shared my personal story of my own 13 year recovery from substance use disorder as well as my daughter’s ongoing battle with this life threatening disease. You reached out privately to share your similar story and experience. And so many of you told me you had not shared before. To unpack that build up of burden is a relief to our physical and mental health.

What I have learned over the years in working in this field, and having the lived experience is that we NEED each other, and we experience comfort when we feel a part of a loving community. And we all deserve to live in peace and wellness, no matter our circumstances.

WE are not alone when we speak our truth and ask for what we need. And inherently, we know what we need to feel better. It will look different for everyone, and will change over time with our circumstances.

Love, kindness, support, prayer. COMMUNITY.

KEEP SHARING.
KEEP PRAYING.

Find whatever healthy practice provides you with wellness and peace, and take time for your self care every day.

You have the right to live your life in peace, joy, and wellness.

You can read my entire story in my book Write Pray Recover:A Journey To Wellness Through Spiritual Solutions and Self Care on Amazon and online bookstores worldwide. https://a.co/d/iUCD8NW

Thank you.

Love and blessings,

Wendy ❤️

BOOK, Harmonious Health 4 Life

A Gentle Reminder of Self Care – Love, Wendy

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The holiday season is here, and I like to remind our community how important practicing self care is every day, and especially during the holiday season where we may feel triggers more easily when engaging with people and specific situations that we may not engage in during the rest of the year.

Prioritize your well being. No job or relationship is worth jeopardizing your wellness.

Purposefully create a safe, quiet space for healing. You will NEVER be able to heal in the midst of chaos or in the company of those who are infusing unhealthy behaviors into your space and causing you anxiety.

The thought that family bonds are “forever and unbreakable” sadly is a fallacy. ANY person who consistently infuses toxicity, drama and triggers anxiety into your space is NOT enriching your life and wellness.

Healthy relationships should enrich, not complicate your life into a spiral of confusion and despair.

Make peace (this takes time and should not be “set” to a timeframe) with the people and situations that are not serving you and discharge them from your life. If we don’t accept these realities and eliminate the emotional and toxic stressors from our lives, it WILL significantly hamper our recovery from the situation and keep us stuck in a dysfunctional mindset and relationship/job/situation.

Your only job in practicing self care is to re-visit your own expectations of self, create realistic, achievable goals, and to create a small action step to achieve that goal. Move forward slowly and strategically. Offer yourself as much time as needed to heal.

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO FEEL WHATEVER YOU FEEL FOR AS LONG AS YOU FEEL IT.

YOU are the one who is in charge of your thoughts, behaviors, relationships, happiness, and on the flip side, the unhealthy connections that exacerbate and fuel anxiety, sadness and can even manifest in physical symptoms of dis-ease.

There is NO quick fix.

Being in a hurry to “fix” it only fuels anxiety.

It is a daily process of reminding ourselves of how we want to feel, daily, and how we want to be received by others. What kind of environment do we want to create for ourselves and those we CHOOSE to allow into our space.? We need to ask ourselves, “What will bring me joy today? What do I need in this moment to feel peace? How do I need to love myself today?”

Inherently, we all know the answers to these questions.

The way in which we respond to these self reflection questions directly influences the reality that we create including the relationships and situations that we choose and allow into our space.

1. Speak your truth to yourself first. “To thine own self be true.”

2. Be selfish with your energy. CONSERVE your energy by not expending it in any negative connections through worry, anxiety, anger, etc.

3. Set healthy boundaries. Say “I love myself and my body. My boundaries will speak to others what I will and will NOT accept into my space and energy.”

4. Make a mindful decision to create a safe space for yourself whether at home, at work, or out enjoying fun times with others. Make a mindful decision to never engage in an energy that will drain your own energy.

5. Empower yourself through self care, self compassion and self preservation. This is the way that we empower and teach others.

For more on self care, read my book, Write Pray Recover: A Journey To Wellness Through Spiritual Solutions and Self Care available on Amazon and online bookstores worldwide. Or click here: http://www.writeprayrecover.com

Wishing you a blessed and peaceful holiday season.

Love and blessings,

Wendy