First:   Establish a quiet place in your home.   Use a candle, a cross, icon or other meaningful symbol for focus.  Pick a book of short devotional thoughts or spiritual / Scriptural readings.    Decide if you want to sit or kneel and prepare your place accordingly with a pillow, mat or stool.  When it is time, go to your quiet place and wait silently for a moment; breathe…relax…gently focus or close your eyes.   After awhile read your devotion then be quiet again and let the thoughts settle in….pray….don’t leave quickly, but quietly move back into your day.  

1.  5 minutes in the morning:   How you begin your day is most important!     Almost every important religious tradition speaks to the necessity of starting the day correctly.    After one of the busiest days recorded in Jesus’ ministry, the next morning the disciples found him out alone, having risen early to pray.    Get up just 5 minutes earlier and spend it in quietude and you will come to see what a difference it will make!

2. 5 minutes at lunch:   If at home, go to your quiet place again or find some place at work where you can retreat for just 5 minutes.    Go there around noon and shut out all thoughts of work.   Sit quietly, eyes closed, and body relaxed.    Breathe gently and just think about your breath.  Recall, if you wish, the truths of your early morning devotion.    Keep your thoughts away from work, problems, or ”to-do”s.   For a few minutes, just be at peace.   End with a simple prayer of thanksgiving and then resume your day’s activities.

3.  5 minutes to end the day:    As the day ends, return for just a few moments to your quiet place.    After your few moments of relaxing, focusing and breathing you may want to give thanks as you recall the day just past.    Briefly examine your conscience and pray, clearing it of all that disturbs you.   

Try using this 15-minute a day refresher for a month and see if your sense of peace and calm have increased and stress decreased.  You’re worth it!

That’s probably similar to what most people think about when they hear the phrase “ boundaries in relationships” – that we need them for self-protection.  But boundaries imply much more than that.   In fact , if that is our main notion, then trying to erect some could cause more harm than good for ourselves and for the people in our lives.

Boundaries are about our ‘space’, for sure, and it needs to be acknowledged and honored.   But boundaries include taking responsibility for our own behavior and choices, not just being on the alert for the other person’s perceived boundary-crossing.   Our personal boundaries or “ownership”includes such things as:

• My attitudes
• My thoughts
• My feelings
• My desires
• My values
• My limits
• My abilities
• My choices
• My behavior

Boundaries start with self-control, not control of others.    They define us as persons and help us know just exactly what we can and should be working on changing, if anything!     It actually sets us free to know that we are not responsible for changing the behavior, thoughts or feelings of those people around us.   We can influence them, of course.    But our real task in life is to best manage our own lives – that which we do “own”- and see to it that it is a life of integrity, honesty, intentionality and generosity.     Loving relationships begin with the freedom created by a healthy understanding and respect for boundaries.  And this begins today with me!

Don’t let the holiday blues mar what should be a time of joy and love.

The holidays tend to introduce a bittersweet mix of joy and sadness into our normal lives. On the one hand, they’re a delightful time to gather together with people we love to share meaningful family and sacred traditions. But on the other hand, it is full of expectations and sentiment, loneliness and tension that often bring the dreaded holiday blues.

Some people approach the rush of gift buying, decorating and baking, parties and extra activities with excitement and anticipation. But memories of happier times and of loved ones who used to be a part of our lives can combine with overcommercialization of what once seemed beautifully simple and bring us to the dread and stress of the holiday blues as the days click off and the holidays draw near.

Symptoms of “Holiday Blues” can include headaches, muscle tension, problems with sleep, melancholy, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and excessive thinking and worrying. This is not to be confused with clinical depression or seasonal affective disorder. Remember, these holiday blues are situational and short-lived. Shortly after the New Year begins, they will pass! And remember that many of these feelings are a normal response to a very stress-filled time of year. That being said, here are a few common-sense tips to help you manage those holiday blues and chase away the Grinch:

1. Watch your diet!

Most people start slipping into poor eating habits, especially with those extra sugar-and-fat-laden holiday goodies. This will only deplete your body of proper nutrients, adding to that run-down, stressed-out feeling. A healthy, balanced diet will strengthen a sense of well-being and give you the energy to manage extra responsibilities and keep your immune system resilient against seasonal colds and flu. Use caution to not overconsume alcohol; it’s a depressant. Moderation is the key to all drinking and eating.

2. Exercise

Our regular exercise program is often the first thing to go when the schedule gets jammed. But we need those endorphins that get stimulated by physical activity to boost our faltering mood. There’s nothing like getting your blood pumping and your muscles working their hardest to encourage the feeling of “I can do it!” Moderate exercise will help you to get the replenishing sleep that you also need during stressful times.

3. Take quiet time

Though you may feel you must jump out of bed and start running through your day – and keep going until you drop to sleep, take a few minutes of quality time at the beginning and end of the day and intersperse a few breaks in the middle of the day for calmness and re-centering. Relax, breathe deeply and focus outside of yourself and away from your busyness. Pray, contemplate, meditate. Find a devotional reading to deepen your thoughts. Remember: “This too shall pass!”

4. Simplify and believe that “less can be more”

Holidays provoke perfectionism. We are led to believe that our gift, our food, our party will make or break someone’s Christmas. It is rarely true that someone is that fragile! Determine to not overextend your bank account or your energy trying to make everyone happy. Share responsibilities for food preparation, cleaning, gift buying, etc. You by yourself don’t have to do it all! Sharing the work can also be sharing the joy, especially when done together.

5. Organize and plan ahead

Start early in the pre-season weeks and months and pace yourself for events and gifts so that by the time you get to important events you will be not be exhausted by last-minute preparations and buying that could have been done days or weeks earlier.

6. Limit social gatherings

Make room for the truly meaningful gatherings. Some can be saved for after the holidays. Do you really “have to” say yes to every invitation or attend every event? Prioritize and set some healthy social boundaries for yourself.

7. Consider volunteering

When we’re in the rush to buy and get more it’s good to have reminders that we already have so much – and so do most of the people on our gift list. Volunteering and giving to those who can’t give back help us to value as our best treasures those things that are not tangible: kindness, caring acts, simple pleasures. Life shared with others is a blessing providing mutual happiness for giver and receiver.

Beat the holiday blues

Don’t let your expectations overshadow the reality; holidays are to be enjoyed! Finding a few common sense ways to manage your holiday blues and stress will enhance and deepen your experience and the memories thereafter.

Life is too short to let it be dragged down by the holiday blues. Enjoy!

Image: Ho Ho Ho — Meowy Christmas, by Skley, on Flickr

When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold or something much more colorful like that.  (“It’s Not That Easy Being Green,” by the Muppets)

If we can be honest, one of the biggest hurdles to get over in life is accepting who we are.   Not that we don’t want to grow and improve, but first we have to start with the basic package: “me.”  

The problem starts when we compare ourselves with others. Someone’s always taller, thinner, richer, smarter, better looking.   Someone’s got more talent and social graces and attracts people and good luck like a magnet, it seems.  

And is it only imagination that everyone else out there doesn’t have all those hidden weaknesses you have, those insecurities and doubts, fears and emptiness?  Have you got the only troubled marriage?   Are you the only one who can’t make life work out right?  Oh why, oh why, can’t I be more like everbody else?   

“It could make you wonder why,” Kermie ponders.   

At about this point our defenses kick in and we begin excusing, avoiding, rationalizing, blaming or maybe just eating and drinking.  

But if we stop a minute and think about it, there’s something unique about “me” and my life.   I’m one of a kind.   The mold is broken.    For good or for bad, I have a place in this world and people around me with whom I will share a few moments or years in space and time.    I am a link between the generations past and future.   In my own daily life I have power and influence.   I can make other lives happier or sadder, richer or emptier, better or worse.  

Mother Theresa said something that I’ve never forgotten – that it doesn’t matter what you do;  what matters is the love with which you do it.  In some meaningful way you need to accept your intrinsic worth and value in this world – and that of those around you.  Whoever you are, you need to know that “green will do fine”, in fact “it’s beautiful”.   Even more, “it’s what I want to be!”… because the world will never have another you.

1.  First, grieving is a normal process that we all go through at one time or other.   We suffer loss and grief for many ‘normal’ situations, even good ones like a child getting married or leaving home for their first job.    Small amounts of grief are experienced when we move from one home to another, when a baby moves out of the crib and into a toddler bed, when a favorite holiday is over.  Of course, major losses stimulate greater amounts of grief reactions.  

2.  Second, there is a time for grief.   Losing someone is not something you ‘get over’, but you do learn to live with it.   You make an adjustment in your life, and that takes time.   It doesn’t help to avoid the thoughts and feelings of grief and mourning, but on the other hand, there are different ways people express their grief.   The expression of grief is unique to the person and occasion of loss.

3.  Third, occasionally a counselor can help.    Sometimes people wonder if what they’re experiencing is normal and they need someone to tell them they’re not crazy.  Sometimes friends and relatives aren’t able to help us much with our grief.   They might use cliches such as “He’s better off now anyway” or not understand why we’re not getting over it sooner.   Sometimes you might feel alone and isolated in your grief.   Everyone else seems to have gone on with life but you feel stuck.    Sometimes you may experience multiple losses or have unresolved losses from the past.   For these or for other complications to grief, people come for counseling to a trained therapist who can help them in the journey to a more integrated and pleasing life again.   There is hope!

In truth at least half of my practice is with individual adults of all ages, as well as children and teens.  

What MFT really refers to is the education and training I have received in the area of relationships.     If you think about it, most of our feelings of anxiety, depression, stress or loss are connected to the people in our lives, past or present.   

If you are having a struggle dealing with your past…it probably involves people.    If you are feeling unworthy, isolated, and hopeless….it probably is about people.     Understanding yourself in the context of your relationships is a first step to unraveling the pieces and changing patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that aren’t working for you.   No one has to stay stuck forever.

Depression treatment without drugs is the first line of defense against this debilitating condition.

Are You Depressed?

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the very saddest and 10 being exhilaratingly happy, how are you feeling today?     How would you rate yourself on most days?    Many people report that they would like to know how about depression treatment without drugs.    If your depression is not serious -i.e. not clinical, or endogenous – you may be able to get some relief from applying some common sense solutions to lighten your load.

Depression Treatment without Drugs

1. EXERCISE:   Most of us now are well aware of the benefits of regular exercise.    Moderate regular exercise (vigorous enough to raise a sweat) raises our level of endorphines and lifts our moods.   We know that….now we just need to get out the door!
2. SLEEP:  Current studies correlate depression and sleep-deprivation.    If you’re someone who has difficulty with insomnia, you will probably complain that getting more sleep is not a simple change to put into effect.    You’re right!   But it sometimes helps to apply a few common sense solutions that over time can gradually add more rest to your life.    The K-State counseling center gives a good list of sleep strategies that can help provide depression relief without drugs.  Let me know what works for you.
3. GET UP; GET MOVING; GET OUT:    When you are feeling down do you decide to lie in bed all day?    You’ll probably end up feeling worse.   Instead, get out of bed, shower and dress and get out of your four walls.    That won’t make the problems go away, but will probably make subtle changes in your perspective that will help.
4. CALL A FRIEND:     Isolation contributes to even more turning inward, rumination and “wallowing”.    Sharing your life with others – even if you don’t feel like ‘dumping’ everything - is a well-known, temporary cure for the blues.
5. GET A CHECK-UP:   Be sure to rule out medical causes of your depression.     Tell your doctor/naturopath about your depression.    A test may reveal thyroid, blood sugar or other physiological reasons for being ‘down’.
6. WATCH YOUR SELF-TALK.    One of the major ways of treating depression with or without medication is “cognitive-behavioral’ therapy.    Negative self-talk, ruminating about things you can’t change, harboring anger and bitterness, etc. are all known to cause a dip in our production of endorphines.    It’s an amazing thing to consider that we all make our own “uppers and downers”.      A lifetime of depression can sometimes be traced back to a family system or a personal history of negativity, criticism and hopeless thinking.    It is often referred to as “learned depression”.    Chances are, you started life as a happy baby!
7. PRAY:   Quietness, prayer, contemplation and/or meditation are ways to help us get in touch with a vital source of peace and help us find meaning and acceptance in the midst of our struggles.    Retreats, worship attendance, confession. – whatever your faith community offers – is a resource that should not be overlooked.
8. GET PROFESSIONAL HELP:    If you find yourself stuck in a pattern of negative, downward thinking about life or about yourself, consider enlisting a professional to help you find a way to change those habits.      Note:   Serious, life-threatening and pervasive depression - referred to earlier as “clinical” – will require the care of a psychologist or psychiatrist for diagnosis and treatment.

You don’t have to continue to suffer from the dark and sad feelings of depression. Even if you do eventually need medication, these eight ways of depression treatment without drugs will be a good first step on your road to recovery.

Individual Counseling

In most cases, weekly sessions are best for an individual person to maximize their counseling experience.  A week is about the right amount of time to process the information, thoughts and feelings and be ready for more input.

Couples Counseling

For couples, a different frequency might work — such as  every other week — but couples also often do their  best week to week at least initially.   Time, experience and researchhas provided us with this ‘optimum.’  Think also of the timeliness of other activities in your life.

Working out only once a week would prove to be an ineffective exercise program;we know that a minimum of three 30-minute to 1-hour segments of time devoted to serious sweat are needed in you want to see progress.

On the other hand, exercising every day without a rest or working out for too long a stretch can have a negative effect.   There is a happy medium.

Cycles and Rhythm Are Important

Brushing and flossing your teeth?  Gotta be daily – hopefully at least twice.  Your car needs an oil change every 3,500 miles….your general health needs an annual check-up…your dog needs a walk every morning and evening.   Get it?   There’s a cycle and rhythm to life, and therapy is no exception.

I am not a therapist who starts from “here and now” and moves forward, though laying aside the past is certainly where we want to end up.

My approach is generally to encourage each person to tell their story, starting with their childhood.    Often I use what’s called a ‘genogram’ — diagramming the family tree on my whiteboard and noting the different personality styles, how people related, and what losses they suffered.   Patterns begin to emerge and make sense as we talk about how this might be impacting them in their current life.

This is especially important groundwork for Adult Children of Alcoholics, people recovering from abuse, and those with multiple deaths or losses through divorce.  Though it’s understandable why a person would just like to forget a painful or unpleasant past, taking time to revisit it briefly and thoughtfully in therapy can be surprisingly beneficial.    Out of this, healing can emerge like the phoenix rising from ashes to new life!