Mood Charting

What is Mood Charting, and why do we think it’s so important? In simple terms, mood charting is making notes, either on paper or electronically, about what your mood is at about the same time each day.  The chart can include other data points, such as hours of sleep, or type and duration of exercise, but the main idea is …

True Self Care

Self-care is critical for a healthy life.  Because we can’t meet others’ needs if our own go unheeded.  Because to lead by example for our families, for our workplaces, for our communities, we have to show what a healthy life looks like.  Because self-care is not a reward, it’s the basic fuel that keeps the whole show running. But how …

take pleasure

Take Pleasure

What’s the best way to cope with stress?  Our friend Rick Hanson, whom we frequently quote in this blog, wonders why people don’t Take Pleasure.   There are so many fun things to do, some take hardly any time or money, why don’t we just take time out to smell the roses, or the dinner cooking, or the perfume…  Why don’t …

Stress and the Coronavirus

Stop. Breathe. Think. How to deal with stress when you’re stuck at home and the TV keeps sending in more and more scary images?  Stop. Breathe. Think. Our brains are hardwired to deal with threats by the primitive fight or flight response.  Adrenaline flows, higher thinking goes offline, emotional and bodily responses take over, blood pressure goes up and you …

Surviving Christmas Holidays

Survival Strategies for the Holidays Reviewed

Why should you need survival strategies for the holidays? Aren’t they supposed to be fun? That’s part of the problem of course, there are so many expectations and hopes wrapped up in holiday season that it’s easy to end up feeling disappointed. If things haven’t worked out for you in a relationship or someone close to you is passed away this …

Avoidance Behavior – Nancy

Avoidance behavior, or avoidance coping, is a way of trying to stay calm by trying not to pay attention to disturbing thoughts or feelings.  Avoidance may work in the short run, but it also tends to take a short term problem and make it a long term one. James Edgar Skye, a bipolar blogger we follow, has a blog post …