Tag: change

September is Suicide Awareness Month.

Death is a horrible topic. It shouldn’t exist to begin with. Even grieving death hurts deeply. But what happens when you want it, death? When the beauty within yourself turns ugly and all you know is the ashes of broken life?

Logically, we see suicide as the murder of oneself. It goes against common sense. But more than murder, on an emotional and physical level, it’s a soul’s cry of hopeless desperation.

Why would someone want to take their own life?

 The reasons are a million and one, but it comes down to this, the world is not as it should be right now. And encounters with that brokenness that has reached the depths of who we are and escaping the pain of that brokenness can be consuming.

Suicide is like a volcano; the very core and foundation holds the danger. When a volcano goes off, the effect is not only the ash and molte ...

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Almost everyone has heard of self-esteem. It’s fortunately being talked about more frequently within society. However, another concept about the self that needs to be addressed along with self-esteem, is self-compassion. Dr. Kristin Neff describes self-compassion as “being warm and understanding towards ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate rather than ignoring our pain”(http://self-compassion.org). Self-compassion is the idea that just as we offer kindness and compassion to others when they fall short, we offer the same to ourselves. Why does it tend to be so much easier to offer compassion to others and not ourselves?

 

We are not perfect. No matter how hard we try, we will never be perfect. Self-compassion meets us in our imperfection. It allows us to say, “I messed up but I still have value and am still important”. When we s ...

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Sleep hygiene may seem like an odd term. When we think of hygiene, we often think of brushing teeth or showering. Hygiene can refer to practices that maintain our health. Sleep is an important part of every person’s health. It can have an impact on mental health as well. As summer is nearing its end and school schedules begin, it is a good time to create structure and habits that foster health. Sleep hygiene is often overlooked as one of those crucial practices for our well-being.

 According to the CDC, school age children should be getting 9-12 hours of sleep per night. Teens need 8-10 hours per night, and adults should get 7 or more hours of sleep per night. It is important to note sleep disturbances can increase one’s risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, obesity and depression (https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/chronic_disease ...

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