Blog

My teen group recently brought to my attention their struggles with anxiety and depression during this holiday season. I was pleasantly surprised, and proud, that they were questionning whether there were other ways to cope with their struggles besides turning to a quick fix. Inspired by them, I put together 5 steps to a healthy and joyful lifestyle that we can all practice together. Look out for the BONUS!

Take a minute to think about what you expect from a loving relationship with a partner. Does your list contain any of the following common expectations? 

o     Healingpast wounds

o     Meetingall of your current emotional needs

o     Fulfillingfantasies and idealizations of how life should be

o     Making up for other less rewarding aspects of life  / making your life "whole"

Any one of these expectations alone can be a very tall order! Not surprisingly, relationships often buckle under these kinds of pressures. So, what to do? Learn to take care of and give to the relationship;  in other words, give instead of trying to get the love you want.

An interesting irony of human life is that the path to getting stronger emotionally is actually to be more vulnerable. To not only accept and embrace our feelings of vulnerability but to actively GIVE our vulnerability to others. What does that mean? And, how do we do it?

There is so much talk these days in our personal and professional lives about the importance of people ‘connecting’. Business networking is about connecting, good personal relationships need connection between two people, therapists ask couples, ‘do you feel connected?’ And the current mother of all connecting species: “friending” on Facebook!