Finding Peace – Mindfulness

This wonderful introduction to mindfulness is by guest author Ashley Davis Bush, LCSW who is a psychotherapist and author of Shortcuts to Inner Peace. 


It’s tempting to think that you need the tropical beach, the hammock by the lake, the walk in the woods, the yoga retreat or the special meditation cushion in order to feel the “ahhhhh” of inner peace. We all have certain props or places that we use to jump start that special sensation of anchored contentment. [Read more…]

Family Roles: Their connection to codependent behaviours

The family ‘role’ that may have been assigned in childhood could explain why codependent behaviours are experienced in adulthood.

We can look to our childhood family for clues as to how we may, or have, developed a codependent relational style. Families can be viewed as an emotional unit which operates within their own unique complex system. ’Roles’ for each member of the family system can exist. These roles are mostly flexible and members can drift towards one or more. However, when there is dysfunction present – perhaps difficult issues that are not being addressed – these roles can become rigid and later, impact behaviour in adult relationships.

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Pain is Inevitable – Suffering is Optional

This quote, “Pain is Inevitable – Suffering is Optional”, is not easy to attribute to the originator, but some think it may derive from Buddhist traditional philosophy, and it certainly fits, regardless. The quote, and what it can mean, is also one of the most powerful metaphors to be heard and explored in the therapy room. This short post explores for you the reader, some of its potency.

 

When touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, were to shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pains of two arrows; in the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental. Courtesy – fakebuddhaquotes.com/pain-is-inevitable-suffering-is-optional/

 

 

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