Self-Care Archives

Preparing your Shelter from the Storm

There will always be storms, but it’s how prepared you are is more the question. Prepare a shelter from the storm for yourself and those to come. There’s a storm coming. I can smell it. It’s a mental health storm, and it’s brewing to be a big one. A […]

Anxiety & Stress

What’s in Your Emergency Mental Health Grab Bag

A crisis hits and the scaffolding around your life seems to shake, but you have a Mental Health Grab Bag, and so you know you can get through this. An emergency hits, or maybe it’s just seeing certain family members. Something gets added to your stress load, and the […]

Uncategorized

Nine Acronyms for Mental Health

Often you need a little acronym to remind you of a path to follow. Here are nine acronyms to help your mental health. Over the years, I have collected a set of acronyms that have helped my mental health and those I have conversations with. These are acronyms that aid […]

Mental health Spiritual Practices

I’ll sit with you in the dark

Ever found yourself in a dark place? A simple state of sadness can throw you in such a place. At least l experience that often. I used to be depressed, severely depressed, the kind of state that makes it hard for facial muscles to react to other people’s joyful interaction. […]

Getting Well Staying Well Spiritual Formation

Can you Take in the Good and Let it Nourish?

So many good things go unnoticed, but when we learn to take in the good and let it nourish, then our whole direction of a life can change. My neighbors have some small children. Yesterday, while walking in the garden, one of the little boys ran up to me to […]

Anxiety & Stress

What’s Your Ambient Stress Level?

It surrounds us all the time. Ambient stress. We probably aren’t even aware of it, but we can do something about it when we recognize it. I have one of my favorite and most cherished items on the wall above my desk. It is a barometer that measures the pressure […]

"A person or symbolic figure carrying a heavy burden, representing emotional overwhelm and the need for support."

Anxiety & Stress Spiritual Practices

The Cup. Paying Attention To What Fills and Drains

We are like a cup in which energy both fills and drains. But we can grow by paying attention to the cup and understanding the fillers and the drainers. It was always a challenge to get them to care for themselves. They were always giving out to others, and I […]

Spiritual Practices

Sharpening: A Spiritual Habit for Better Mental Health

Life will blunt your edge. The knocks, the scuffs, the micro-abrasions and who you are gets dulled. Having a daily sharpening practice keeps your mental health having a fine edge. I was getting frustrated. I was cutting down a tree with my chainsaw, and it was taking forever. The teeth of […]

Mental Health is ... Giving Grace to Failure and Rethinking Expectations

Getting Well Staying Well Mental health

Give Grace to Failure and Rethink Expectations

When we have realistic expectations, we can build resilience and an internal wisdom that is gentle with our humanity. We can grace ourselves and others when there is a failure to meet expectations. What caused the breakdown? Was it a genetic weakness? The piling up of expectations? Lack of sleep, […]

Faith & Mental Health

Three Mental Health Assurances For When The Wire Brush Scratches

Life can be hard, and maybe even harsh at times, but in the end, something beautiful and good can emerge from the struggle. Love is like that. It was an old climbing rose that hadn’t been well cared for. When I started to do some gardening work on an old […]