Moving right along in our series about the 6 things we need to thrive (as noted by the Canadian Mental Health Association ), today we look at sense of contribution . This is a bit different to our sense of purpose, although has similar qualities. As we learned yesterday, our sense of purpose helps to define our priorities and helps to give our future meaning and security. Contribution tends to be more about the act of giving and can even include altruism - which is the act of

Yesterday we began a series on the 6 things we need to thrive as noted by the Canadian Mental Health Association . We continue today with a sense of purpose. Our sense of purpose is tied to our future and is often what motivates us to live a full and satisfying life. It is also tied to what allows us to feel as though we are moving forward - an important factor in our individual growth. But the word purpose can trip us up sometime. We can fall into the trap of linking it i

The Canadian Mental Health Association states that in order to thrive, there are 6 things we need to have a sense of : self, purpose, contribution, hope, resilience and belonging. In today's post, we will look at sense of self. What does it mean to have a good sense of self? Our self-identity is how we define ourselves, and is a life long process. Starting when we were children, our self-identity is often created by the roles we played in our families, what we heard about

The self-reflection question today is a bit more practical: "Am I waking up in the morning, ready to take on the day?" What is our attitude in the morning? I have to admit that lately, my mornings have felt a bit dull. Perhaps it is the darker, cooler mornings. Perhaps I find myself a bit sadder these days as we build up to the anniversary of my mom's death. Perhaps it is simply the day of the week. Probably a combination of all three of these things, I have come to notice t

Today marks the start of Mental Illness Awareness Week. Why is this important? Because: In any given year, 1 in 5 people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness. Approximately 8% of adults will experience major depression at some time in their lives. By age 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness. Suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds and 16% among 25-44 year olds. Stigma or discrimination a

We are coming into Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 6 - 12, 2019) ; an important time to address mental health as the seasons are changing, and the grey days can affect our emotional well-being. In an article entitled "My Mental Health is Your Mental Health" by Marissa Lair and featured on the Canadian Mental Health Association website, we meet Marissa, a young woman who speaks about her own story of feeling misplaced. Writing about her own experience upon graduating

I recently attended a workshop where the guest speaker was lecturing about the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. One of her slides touched briefly on facing adversity and I jotted them down and thought I would expand on them here. It was noted that the sourced website was: https://www.6seconds.org/ When facing adversity, challenges or circumstances beyond our control we can ask ourselves three questions: Is this permanent? Very often what feels permane

In our ongoing series on self-reflection, we come to question number three: "What do I want to be known for?" This is an interesting question as it really probes at our self-identity. Will we choose to be known for a role that defines us such as who we are as a parent or the type of work we do? Or will we lean into qualities and characteristics that we aim to be in our every day life? Will we be known for our interests outside of work? For the type of friend that we are? I w

In a recent article entitled "Anxiety and depression: why doctors are prescribing gardening rather than drugs" by Yvonne Black and featured in The Conversation , we read about the benefits of being outside and how it can greatly benefit our emotional health. Following the idea of social prescriptions, doctors in the UK have begun to prescribe “nature prescriptions”, with doctors there recommending walks and activities that allow people to connect with the outdoors. One of

During elementary school, every time I visited the office for something, I would see a poster that hung up on the wall. It was a Scholastic poster (any Canadian child knows Scholastic book orders!) and it was of a kitten hanging on to a rope. The caption included the famous words of Franklin D. Roosevelt: "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt I suppose as a child what really enamoured me to the poster was the cute kitten,

I have just returned from our annual girls weekend; this time our destination was the Windy City of Chicago. Here are 6 tips for planning a weekend getaway: Go with people you love to be with . Our little group is made up of my friend Nat, my two girls, and my niece. We travel well together, take things in stride, and are all open to new experiences (including navigating the subway system!). Walk the city. Probably one of the best ways to truly see the city was by walking it

I came across this quote that resonated with what it means to be silent: "There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you'll never understand what it's saying." - Sarah Dessen So often, we fear the silence; it feels too empty. But that is the perfect time for reflection. When we slow things down to silence, that is when we can really think. That is when we can catch up with ourselves

Self-reflection is an important part of getting to know ourselves; it is a requirement in "doing the work." The self-reflection question for today is: "Am I using my time wisely?" This appears to be quite a simple question. And yet, it is worth the moments we take to think about how we are using our time. Do we say "yes" to everything? Do we wake up in the morning and don't stop until our head hits the pillow at night? Do we choose mindless activities as a way to zone out or

Building on yesterday's post in which we learned from Iyanla Vanzant what she learned about relationships, today we take a look at what Trevor Noah has to say about his own experience. "Born a Crime" is Trevor Noah's memoir of childhood. Trevor Noah is a South African comedian, who writes about his life growing up in South Africa during the tail end and aftermath of apartheid. I appreciated this quote from the book: "Relationships are built in the silences. You spend time w

In a recent podcast with Iyanla Vanzant on Oprah's Supersoul Conversations, Iyanla had this to say about what she learned about herself in relationships: "I learned three things: I learned the depth of the wound with my father. Because every man that I was in relationship with, I was trying to get something from that I didn't get from my father. Number 2, I learned the depths to which I would degrade myself to get someone else's acceptance. And then, the other thing that I

I came across this quote by Jonathon Lockwood Huie: "Adventure is the child of courage." - Jonathon Lockwood Huie What often holds us back are our fears. We are afraid of the unknown, of change, of transition. We will often waver in our decisions, plagued by self-doubt. It can keep us in limbo, or feeling stuck for a long time. I often talk about how curiousity tempers fear. In order to begin to move past our fears, we have to lean into our curiosity, gathering information a

In our final post on SEEDS, we look at what Dr. John Arden considers to be the fifth seed to nurture our brain: Sleep . Dr. Arden notes that what best promotes brain function is deep sleep: "There's an architecture to sleep. The most important stage is called stage 4 sleep – that's the deepest sleep. Good quality sleep is critical for your ability to think clearly the next day. Creating a good sleep hygiene and having good sleep practices is critical for mental health and

In our series of SEEDS - what Dr. John Arden writes are the ways that we can nurture our brain, we explore the fourth seed which is: Diet. We are all pretty versed these days in what it means to eat healthy; avoiding trans fats, fast foods and sugar while loading up on fresh vegetables and fruits. It means less processed foods, and balanced amounts of whole grains, dairy and protein. Sometimes, the lesson we need to learn is moderation and portion control. In any case, whe

Moving right along in our series by Dr. John Arden , we explore the third seed of how to nurture a healthy brain: Education . Dr. Arden states: "Every brain has 100 billion brain cells. Each cell is connected to 10,000 other brain cells. And those connections get more plentiful, and more robust, as we learn more things." This really isn't about education (although taking a course in higher learning never hurts) but rather about challenging the neural pathways in our brains

Yesterday we began a series on the work of Dr. John Arden who writes about the SEEDS of a healthy brain. Today we look at Exercise as the second seed that we can cultivate to best support our brain function as we age. This is what Dr. Arden says about exercise: "Up until about 11,000 years ago, all humans were hunter-gatherers and moved about 10 miles a day. Today, it's extraordinarily rare for any of us to move 10 miles a day. But we have the same bodies, and our bodies ha