Health and Wellbeing

This NBA Superstar Used 2 (Surprising) Words to Teach a Valuable Lesson in Emotional Intelligence

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By Justin BarisoFounder, Insight It’s rare for professional athletes to admit weakness. It’s even rarer for them to do this. As the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors continue their slugfest to determine the NBA’s 2019 champion, one player is already preparing for next season: The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. Not that long ago it appeared that Antetokounmpo and the Bucks would be playing the Warriors for this year’s championship. The Bucks had cruised through the playoffs, and were up two games to zero against the Toronto Raptors. But the Raptors went on to win the next four games in a row–a remarkable feat considering the Bucks hadn’t lost three games in a row the entire season. The Raptors managed to defeat the Bucks by tooling their defense to focus on stopping the young team’s star (who’s affectionately known as “the Greek Freak” due to his Athens upbringing and monstrous athletic prowess). In a recent interview with The Athletic, Antetokounmpo acknowledged that Raptors players Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol gave him particular trouble. Giannis admitted that now the series is over, “every day in his head,” he continues to see Gasol and Leonard coming at him. Then, Antetokounmpo went on to say something remarkable to his opponents: “Thank you. Thank you, because Gasol and Kawhi made me a better player. I’m not trying to be sarcastic. I’m being honest. They’re going to push me to be better.” “Thank you.” It’s rare for professional athletes to admit weakness or to credit opposing players for […]

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Chronic Illness

23andMe Scientist to Present Data on the Genetics of Type 2 Diabetes at American Diabetes Association Conference

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June 3, 2019 By 23andMe under 23andMe Research, Education By Eloycsia Ratliff, MPH, 23andMe Medical Education Project Manager We know that diet and exercise play an important role in a person’s likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, but what role does genetics play? That’s a question 23andMe researchers have been investigating, and at a meeting of the American Diabetes Associations (ADA) Annual Conference on June […]

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Chronic Illness

Anesthesia for Chronic Pain?

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  Ketamine is an anesthesia used since the 1960s and has since been proven to work for Chronic Pain and Mental Illness. My pain levels have been through the roof and walking the last 15 days has been difficult. I made the decision to try something radically different. I had my first Ketamine treatment was yesterday. I  read about the LSD […]

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Health and Wellbeing

America’s Mental Health Crisis-Bring Change to Mind

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Bring Change To Mind Washington Post Live     Last week, our Co-Founder Glenn Close spent the day on Capitol Hill at the invitation of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to advocate for Stabenow’s Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act.This legislation would renew and expand funding for clinics that provide a comprehensive set of mental health and addiction treatment services. Glenn started the day with a Washington Post Live event on mental health and the addiction crisis and participated in a number of meetings with House and Senate leaders throughout the rest of the day.Photo: BC2M Co-Founder Glenn Close, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).  Learn More

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Health & Beauty

What Are Parabens—and Do I Need to Worry About Them?

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Real Simple By Eleni N. Gage Updated: October 12, 2017   These preservatives are common, but health concerns have cropped up.  Parabens have been widely used in products to prevent bacteria growth since the 1950s. “About 85 percent of cosmetics have them,” says Arthur Rich, Ph.D., a cosmetic chemist in Chestnut Ridge, New York. “They’re inexpensive and effective.” New York City dermatologist […]

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Advocacy

Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey are joining forces on a new documentary series about mental health and well-being.

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by Imogen Calderwood  April 16, 2019 The pair will be co-creators and executive producers of the series, according to an announcement on Wednesday from Kensington Palace via Harry and Meghan’s new Instagram account, SussexRoyal.  The multi-part series is due to be broadcast next year on the recently announced US streaming service, Apple TV+, which will launch this autumn. It’s not yet known, however, how viewers in the UK will be able to watch.  According to the statement, the show will “focus on both mental illness and mental wellness, inspiring viewers to have an honest conversation about the challenges each of us faces, and how to equip ourselves with the tools to not simply survive, but to thrive.”  The palace said the series would build on the Duke of Sussex’s extensive work on mental health.   Instagram Harry has previously spoken out about the “quite serious effect” the death of his mother, Princess Diana, had on his life, and said that he has “probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions.”  “I truly believe that good mental health — mental fitness — is the key to powerful leadership, productive communities, and a purpose-driven self,” said Harry, in a statement about the documentary.  He also revealed that he feels the “huge responsibility to get this right as we bring you the facts, the science, and the awareness of a subject that is so relevant during these times.” “Our hope is that this series will be positive, enlightening, and inclusive — […]

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Health & Beauty

Almohadillas desmaquillantes caseras

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Sauce y sabio por Stampington Necesitará alrededor de 14 almohadillas de algodón2 TB. bruja hazel1 TB. aloe vera gel1 TSP. aceite de almendras dulces 1/4 TSP. Jabón de castilla Jarra de 4 oz con almohadillas faciales de algodón con tapa 14 Para hacer Agregue los ingredientes a una jarra de 4 onzas. Agitar suavemente el frasco para combinar los ingredientes. Agregue las almohadillas faciales de algodón al frasco, presionando las almohadillas hacia abajo en la liguid. Las almohadillas absorberán la mayor parte (o todo) del líquido. Asegure la tapa del frasco y guárdela en la teperuture de la habitación. Para usar Quite la almohadilla facial humedecida de la jarra y limpie su cara con ambos lados de la almohadilla para quitar el maquillaje. Lávese la cara con un limpiador facial después de usar las toallitas. Dado que la solución solo contiene 14 almohadillas faciales, necesitará hacer una nueva solución cada dos semanas.

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Chronic Illness

PAIN COMMUNITY UNITES TO RESPOND TO FEDERAL DRAFT REPORT

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May 1, 2019/ U.S. Pain Foundation The 90-day public comment period for the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force’s (PMTF) draft report came to a close April 1, with more than 6,000 individuals and organizations submitting feedback. Among those to comment was the Consumer Pain Advocacy Task Force (CPATF), a coalition of pain patient-related nonprofits, including U.S. Pain Foundation, which submitted a 25-page joint letter. In addition to U.S. Pain Foundation, the CPATF letter was signed by the Center for Practical Bioethics; CHAMP (Coalition For Headache And Migraine Patients); Chronic Pain Research Alliance; For Grace: Women In Pain; Global Healthy Living Foundation; Headache and Migraine Policy Forum; International Pain Foundation; Interstitial Cystitis Association; RSDSA (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association); and The Pain Community. “We are very grateful that so many patient organizations joined together to respond to this report with one, unified voice,” says Cindy Steinberg, U.S. Pain Foundation’s National Director of Policy and Advocacy and the only patient advocacy representative on the PMTF. “While the draft report holds a lot of promise, from the patient perspective, we had a number of important suggestions for ways to improve or expand on its recommendations.” Of note, the CPATF letter commends the draft report’s emphasis on individualized care and encouraged further emphasis of that point. CPATF also urges PMTF to go further and recommend that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) formally revise and reissue their 2016 guidelines on opioid prescribing […]

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Chronic Illness

CLEARING UP 12 COMMON MYTHS ABOUT MEDICAL CANNABIS FOR PAIN

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April 18, 2019/ U.S. Pain Foundation   Ellen Lenox Smith is Co-Director of Medical Cannabis for U.S. Pain and a U.S. Pain Board Member. She lives with two rare conditions: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and sarcoidosis. After years of struggling to find pain relief without side effects or adverse reactions, she discovered medical cannabis. A retired school teacher, Ellen is now a renowned patient advocate and works tirelessly to encourage safe, fair access to all treatment options, particularly medical cannabis. She has spoken at numerous conferences on cannabis access and been featured widely in the media on the topic. She is also the author of two books: It Hurts Like Hell!: I Live With Pain—And Have A Good Life Anyway and My Life as a Service Dog. Below, she clears up common myths surrounding medical cannabis for pain. MYTH #1: ALL  PEOPLE WHO USE CANNABIS MUST BE “STONED” OR “HIGH.” Truth: this only happens if you use too much medication. People living with pain get pain relief; people using it socially and not in pain, get high! In addition, medical cannabis is made of two components: THC, which causes the mental effects associated with feeling high, and CBD, which produces bodily effects. Various strains of cannabis have different ratios of THC and CBD, which means that not all strains create as much of a “high” feeling. MYTH #2: EVERYONE WHO USES THE SAME STRAIN EXPERIENCES THE SAME RESULT TO USING IT. Truth: Each body can have […]

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Chronic Illness

PAIN CONNECTION ADDS FOUR SUPPORT GROUPS AND NEW MONTHLY CALL

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May 1, 2019/ U.S. Pain Foundation   Finding community support is essential to living with chronic pain. With that in mind, Pain Connection, a program of U.S. Pain Foundation, continues to expand its in-person and conference call support group offerings nationwide. Along with three existing monthly “Pain Connection Live” support group calls, there will now be a morning call on the third Thursday of each month from 10-11 am EST. The first call will be May 16. Existing calls are held on one evening, one afternoon, and one Saturday each month. To learn more or register for a Pain Connection Live call, click here. In addition, four new in-person support groups have been added in CA, AL, and NJ. All support groups are led by a person with pain who has received intensive training from Gwenn Herman, LCSW, DCSW, Clinical Director of Pain Connection. Costa Mesa, CA  Date: Second Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is May 14. Time: 11 am – 1 pm Location: Panera Bread at 3030 Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa, CA. (Meet against the back wall.) Contact: Kristie McCurdy, MSN, RN, at CRPSsurvivorsOC@gmail.com San Francisco, CA Date: Second and fourth Friday of each month. The next meetings are May 10 and May 24. Time: 12 – 1 pm Location: 1701 Divisedero Street, 5th floor conference room, San Francisco, CA. (Elevator available.) Contact: Cessa Marshal at cessamarshall@yahoo.com or 415-637-1812. Pell City, ALDate: The first meeting will be May 2. Time: 6-7:30 pm. Location: The Brook Besor Coffee Shop, 4204 Martin St. S., Cropwell, AL […]

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Chronic Illness

FDA, CDC REACT TO HARM TO PAIN PATIENTS

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May 1, 2019/ U.S. Pain Foundation Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reacted to the unintended harm to people living with chronic pain as a result of policy measures intended to ameliorate the opioid crisis. On April 9, the FDA issued a Safety Announcement citing “serious harm,” including “withdrawal symptoms, uncontrolled pain, psychological distress and suicide” as a result of sudden discontinuation or rapid dose decreases in opioid pain medication. The FDA will now require changes to the prescribing information for health care professionals that will provide guidance on how to safely reduce or taper patients off opioid medications. The agency states that there is no standard opioid tapering schedule; rather, a schedule must be tailored to each patient’s unique situation considering a variety of factors, including the type of pain the patient has. The FDA is also warning patients not to suddenly stop taking their opioid medication, as this can result in serious problems. Even when patients gradually reduce these medications, they may still experience withdrawal symptoms such as chills and muscle aches. If these are excessive, patients are encouraged to contact their health care provider. Feeling the pressure from the FDA action, a letter from more than 300 health care practitioners, and increasing news coverage of harms to people with pain, three CDC Guideline authors, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, said the Guidelines have been misapplied and applied inflexibly in […]

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Health and Wellbeing

What doctors don’t learn about death and dying

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IDEAS TED.COM Oct 31, 2014 / Atul Gawande Dying and death confront every new doctor and nurse. In this book excerpt, Atul Gawande asks: Why are we not trained to cope with mortality?     I learned about a lot of things in medical school, but mortality wasn’t one of them. I was given a dry, leathery corpse to dissect in my first term — but that was solely a way to learn about human anatomy. Our textbooks had almost nothing on aging or frailty or dying. How the process unfolds, how people experience the end of their lives and how it affects those around them? That all seemed beside the point. The way we saw it — and the way our professors saw it — the purpose of medical schooling was to teach us how to save lives, not how to tend to their demise. The one time I remember discussing mortality was during an hour we spent on The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy’s classic novella. It was in a weekly seminar called Patient-Doctor — part of the school’s effort to make us more rounded and humane physicians. Some weeks we would practice our physical examination etiquette; other weeks we’d learn about the effects of socioeconomics and race on health. And one afternoon we contemplated the suffering of Ivan Ilyich as he lay ill and worsening from some unnamed, untreatable disease. The first times, some cry. Some shut down. Some hardly notice. […]

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Caregiver

The messy, complicated truth about grief

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IDEAS TED TALKS May 1, 2019 / Nora McInerny Mourning the loss of a loved one isn’t efficient, compact or logical, and it changes us forever, says writer Nora McInerny. She explains why. I quit my job shortly after my husband Aaron died in 2014 following three years with brain cancer. It made sense in the moment, but I needed money to keep my son and myself alive so I went to a networking event to hopefully make connections. I was introduced to a successful woman in her early 70s who everyone referred to as a “legend.” She wanted to meet me for coffee and I thought, “What could she possibly see in me?” What she saw in me was herself. She had been 16 when her boyfriend died. He was her first love and they were teenagers in a different era, when it was perfectly plausible that you would be married after high school. Instead, he went to the hospital one day and never came back. She learned later that he’d died of cancer, which his parents had kept secret from him and from his friends. They didn’t know how to talk about it, and they didn’t want him or his friends to worry. This boy had died decades ago. She was married, a mother and a grandmother. And she told me about his death as if it had happened weeks ago, as if she were still 16, still shocked and confused that […]

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Celebrate Life

First Try At Self-Care Day

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I’m waiting on the rain, Griffy and Shaggy are demanding my full attention. So far my first “self-care” day isn’t going so well. I do have cup of tea and will try again later. I have The Self Love Workbook beside me for when they take a nap. The book is written by Shannia Ali, PhD. The brief over view […]

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Chronic Illness

U.S. Pain Foundation

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U.S. Pain Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with chronic conditions that cause pain. HERE ARE SOME OF THE PROGRAMS WE OFFER: Awareness & Advocacy Programs INvisible Project Advocacy Program Pain Awareness Month Points For Pain Medical Cannabis Program Support & Empowerment Programs Pain Connection Pain Ambassador Network Pediatric Pain Warriors Share Your Story Education Programs Take Control of Your Pain Learn About Your Pain Pain Medicine 411 Pain Education Portal (PEP) Talks Clinical Programs National Coalition of Chronic Pain Providers and Professionals To learn more, visit: uspainfoundation.org Melinda Sandor Ambassador-Texas U.S. Pain Foundation

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Chronic Illness

I’ve Been Nominated For The Disability Award

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I’m blown away Stacey Chapman at https://fightingwithfibro.com awarded me The Disability Award. You have to check out her site, here’s the original award post,  https://fightingwithfibro.com/2019/04/27/the-disability-award/ Her sunny personality welcomes you with every post, she’s informative, topics are fresh, up to date and she reviews products we might be interested in. She is very knowledgeable. Following her is a must. As part of my nomination, I choose other Disability Bloggers to give this award to. They are as follows: Wendy at  simplychronicallyill.wordpress.com Patricia at  https://patriciajgrace.wordpress.com Colly at https://dopaminequeen.com Alyssia at https://fightingmsdaily.com Mackenzie at lifewithanillness.com Robert at https://robertmgoldstien.com Gavin at https://sedge.com Nominees: Please answer the questions, choose your own nominees and develop your own set of questions. Stacey’s questions are so good I’m going with her’s. Display the award badge. What was the first sign of your illness? My chest and right clavicle starting hurting and would not go away for months. What is your worst symptom and how do you cope with it? Whatever it takes, pain meds, a nap, meditation, looking at the flower garden, put feet in the pool, letting them float. What one thing about you has changed as a result of your struggles? I understand people with all types of disabilities better. What words of advice or encouragement would you give to someone else suffering? Accept it, embrace your illness as part of your daily life and work on what relieves your pain. Name one good thing that has come out of having […]

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Advocacy

VATIC Foundation’s Support for Trauma and PTSD

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  This organization is doing amazing work by helping people transition from a traumatic event. They offer support for those who suffer trauma-related symptoms and PTSD. Please visit their website, https://vaticfoundation.com for more information.  M OUR MISSION AT THE VATIC FOUNDATION After a traumatic experience, you will go through a period of transition. The Vatic Foundation backs people during the transitional phase who are wanting to start a new career or finish post-secondary education. The heart of the VATIC Foundation is to offer a lending hand to any individual recovering from a trauma-related event/PTSD. Our foundation awards educational grants to individuals looking for a new start. Our Aim: Ensure new career paths are met, Encourage participation in our community; Contribute a positive means for coping; Provide awareness; Protect people from further psychological harm; Return individuals to familiar routines; Make sure you’re not alone after a traumatic event. What does this mean for the VATIC Foundation?  It’s a cut-and-dried response; Our goal is to remain outspoken about mental health, trauma, PTSD, Complex-PTSD, while delivering the groundwork, strength, courage, or even the confidence we depend upon during a period of desolation.

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Health & Beauty

Frizzy Hair Remedies

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    Willow & Sage by Stampington At Home Remedies While regular conditioning is helpful to tame frizzy hair, there are more remedies that smooth the outer layer of hair while reparing it for healthy growing. Applying any of the following treatments can improve shine and make hair more managable. Honey Coconut Hot Oil Treatment You will need 1 TB. […]

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Health and Wellbeing

Parathyroid/Health Overview

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If calcium levels are low the body goes to your bones to look for calcium, this can lead to Osteoporosis. Anytime your calcium levels are high it shows the Parathyroid is working overtime trying to level your calcium, high calcium is a serious condition. All four of my Parathyroid Glands are not functioning properly and I have the beginning stages of Osteoporosis in my right hip. I have tumors on all four glands, two are small and the two lowers glands have tumors approx. 3-4 inches long. The surgeon will remove and possibly all four once the surgeon takes a look. The surgery itself is only 15-30 minutes with total recovery time approx. three weeks. I am waiting on my surgeon for the surgery date, I expect the surgery to happen in next two weeks. Please, read description and graphic below.  I’ll keep you posted on how the surgery goes and any other information I learn. M You have four Parathyroid Glands on the backside of the Thyroid, they are very small but play a very important role in your health, they keep calcium levels in the body and if calcium level become low the Parathriod Gland produces more hormone to compensate for the low calcium levels.   Illustration of the 4 parathyroid glands located on the back side of the thyroid. We all have 4 parathyroid glands.Parathyroid glands control the amount of calcium in our blood. Everyone has four parathyroid glands, usually […]

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Chronic Illness

How Many Pills A Day?

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44 pills a day Most of the medications I take are for Mental Illness and Chronic Illnesses. I am blessed we have good insurance which covers most of the cost. There are two prescriptions that cost over $500 after coverage. I don’t like to take pills and can only take one at a time which can take 10 minutes to […]

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Bipolar Disorder

Medication Check List

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How often do you update your medication checklist with all of your doctors? I make a habit of taking an updated list to every appointment. It’s up to me to keep everyone informed. That doesn’t mean side effects or mishaps don’t happen. I fired my Lyme doctor because he prescribed medicine in a class I was already taking. In this case, drugs from that class don’t mix with another in that category. It made me Psychotic for a week, walking in circles in the house 24 hours a day, I thought I learned a new language and was with my tribe of Indians. It was a horrible experience. It was half of my responsibility, doctors dispense too many medications to know all the side effects. My habit is to go to FDA.gov and read the Prescribing Instructions from the manufacturer. I can read all the side effect data and know what to look out for. In this case, I had put the medication aside for a week because I was too sick to look up the information and too stubborn to ask my husband for help. I paid the price. We have to manage our medications along with the doctor, they only have 15 minutes at best and most of the time new prescriptions aren’t written till the end of an appointment. Read the information given by the pharmacy. The information will at least include the most common side effects […]

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Childhood Learning

Constantly Evolving: Puberty and Menstruation — Guest Blogger Dr. Lori Gore-Green

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Constantly evolving is a new series documenting the ways in which women’s bodies change. Based on the time of the month or period of life, the series hopes to highlight the magnificence of the woman’s body. The previous “Constantly Evolving” article focused on external physical changes girls experience when going through puberty. In conjunction […] Constantly Evolving: Puberty and Menstruation — Dr. Lori Gore-Green

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Health & Beauty

What You’re Missing If You Think Self-Care Is Just Candles And Bubble Baths

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Womens Health By Marissa GainsburgApr 2, 2019 Pampering yourself is great, but challenging yourself? Way better.  I can’t believe I did that. The words flashed through my head over and over like a GIF as I walked alongside thousands of exhausted runners to exit Central Park. I’d just crossed the finish line of the TCS New York City Marathon—my first 26.2—and my cheeks, wrinkled up to my eyes, ached almost as much as my legs. When a photographer snapped a picture, I broke out in happy tears until a weird but powerful calm came over me. I can’t. Believe. I did that. It’s a sentiment I’d chased several times over the past year, the first on a rock-climbing trip in Joshua Tree National Park, then during an intensive hike up two “14ers” (mountain slang for Colorado’s multiple peaks exceeding 14,000 feet). I’d spent months training for each of the three events, dedicating weekdays and Saturdays to workouts and Sundays to recovery—or self-care, as we call it: I foam-rolled, pretzeled my limbs in candlelit yoga, read novels in bed, splurged on $11 smoothies, slathered my skin and hair in masks…you know, the works. Yet even on my most Zen days, nothing came close to the perfect peace I felt after pushing my body to a point it had never been. At first, the fitness editor in me chalked up the bliss to endorphins. But as I melted into the massage table at Connecticut’s serene Mayflower […]

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Bipolar Disorder

Special education teacher’s “mental health check in” for students inspires other educators

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BY CAITLIN O’KANE APRIL 5, 2019 / 12:00 PM / CBS NEWS A special education teacher from Fremont, California, made a “mental health checklist” for her students. Now, teachers around the world are doing the same.  Erin Castillo posted a photo of her mental health poster on Instagram and it went viral. She made a version of it available to download for free, and teachers around the world are posting photos of the chart in their classrooms. The mental heath checklist asks kids if they are “great,” “okay,” “meh,” “struggling,” “having a hard time” or “in a really dark place.” Students are encouraged to write their names on the back of a post-it and stick it on the poster under the section describing how they’re feeling.  If they put their post-it in the “struggling” section, they know they should try speaking with an adult about their feelings. If they say they are “having a hard time,” or “in a really dark place,” Castillo checks in with them.  The teacher knows it’s important to take time and focus on mental health – especially for high school kids.  “My heart hurts for them,” Castillo wrote on Instagram. “High school is rough sometimes, but I was happy that a few were given a safe space to vent and work through some feelings.” Castillo teaches high school English to special education students, as well as a peer counseling class to general education students, she told CBS News. Her […]

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Health and Wellbeing

Clear the toxins from your life-Avoid these ingredients

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People Magazine April 22, 2019 Three ingredients to avoid According to Nneka Leiba, Director of Environmental Working Group’s healthy-living science program. Parabens Often used as a preservative in cosmetics and personal-care products, the ingredient is believed to mimic estrogen and potentially cause hormone disruption. Formaldehyde Found in some nail polishes and hair smoothing treatments, it can lead to myriad skin irritations and was deemed carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Phthalates Commonly used as a solvent in the fragrances that scent aftershave, lotion, soap and more, the chemical has been linked to reproduction issues in men.

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Health and Wellbeing

Dementia Thoughts

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Dementia sucks, it’s fucking life sucking. I watched my granny die from Dementia, you don’t wish that type of death on anyone. Once she no longer knew who she or anyone else was it was crushing. I don’t want to die that way and have been vocal about it to the surprise of my husband, Therapist and Psychiatrist. My decision […]

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Advocacy

Taraji P. Henson Cries While Discussing Mental Health in the Black Community: ‘This Is a National Crisis’

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Variety ByDANIEL NISSEN Taraji P. Henson shed light on the history and stigma of mental health in the black community at Variety’s Power of Women NY presented by Lifetime.  Henson received the honor on Friday for her work with the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation. “Our vision is to eradicate the stigma around mental health in the black community by breaking the silence and breaking a cycle of shame. We were taught to hold our problems close to the vest out of fear of being labeled and further demonized as weak, or inadequate,” said Henson. Breaking down in tears, she called the state of mental health for black people a “national crisis.” “My dad is one of the reasons I started this foundation, and my son, and my neighbor, and my friends, my community, our children is why I keep going,” she said. The actress named the foundation after her father, who experienced mental illness after returning from his tour of duty in Vietnam. She continued, “The history of mental illness for black people in America stretches all the way back 400 years, 15 million people, and an ocean that holds the stories.” Henson reflected on the roles in her career where she has depicted the experiences of black women during Jim Crow segregation. She referenced Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician who helped launch the first man in space, and Catana Starks, the first black woman to coach a college men’s golf team. Finally, […]

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Childhood Learning

Actions Speak Louder…. Guest Blogger Army of Angels: Part 2

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This gesture is nice….but please don’t display blue pinwheels and claim to be against child abuse for the public eye, while treating victims with hate in private! I recently saw a school from our past, bragging about how much they care about this issue. Sadly, the AoA kids attended there during the worst of the […] via Actions Speak Louder…. — Army of Angels: Part 2

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Chronic Illness

HOLISTIC APPROACHES TO CHRONIC PAIN *U.S. Pain Foundation*

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March 4, 2019/ U.S. Pain Foundation By Deborah Ellis, ND, CTN If you’re like me, and millions of others, you’ve probably suffered with chronic pain for a year or longer. Chronic pain affects 50 million Americans, 20 million of whom have high-impact chronic pain. It has been linked to increased risk of major mental conditions including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Science understands a body in chronic pain continually sends stress signals to the brain, leading to a heightened perception of not only the pain itself but also the perceived level of threat. It’s a vicious cycle that’s hard to break or control. When a person is diagnosed with pain, the first line of treatment is typically pain medication. But while these medications may work for some people, in others, the side effects—ranging from nausea to heart complications—may outweigh the relief. For patients looking to explore a holistic pain management program, whether alone or in tandem with traditional medicine, there are a number of options to consider. Let’s review a few of the more common holistic strategies available today. Acupuncture Chiropractic Exercise Massage Stress-reduction techniques like mindfulness and meditation training Vitamin or herbal supplements Aloe vera ACUPUNCTURE Acupuncture, common in Chinese medicine, involves inserting thin, tiny needles into certain points of the body. Traditional Chinese practitioners believe acupuncture balances the flow of energy or life force — known as qi or chi. Western practitioners see it as a way to […]

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Change.org

Hope Is An Action

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April 2019 E-Newsletter Explore Your Definition Of Hope And Experience What It Can Inspire You To Do! Bring Change to Mind’s High School Program is proud to introduce its first collective call to action week for all participating clubs nationwide. Starting April 8th, we are dedicating this five-day campaign to the hashtag “Hope Is An Action.” We invite our entire community to join us in sharing this inspirational week with your family, friends, and social networks. Throughout this week, we aim to encourage communities to explore what hope means to them by exploring their own definition of hope, what it can look like, and experiencing what it can inspire you to do. These hopeful discoveries can be used to incite positive change while nurturing empathetic and compassionate conversations about mental health. For each day’s theme, BC2M has suggested a few different ways you can engage in this campaign. Most activities incorporate social media presence to spread the message throughout your community and throughout the greater BC2M community. We are thrilled to have our 180 clubs and more than 5.000 club members participate in our first BC2M-wide campaign activation and we can’t wait for you to be a part of this collective! Hope is something that everyone needs and it is particularly important to those living with mental illness. We ‘hope” that you will be inspired to join this growing movement of mental health advocacy and share the importance of compassion with […]

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BODY IMAGE

If you’re unhappy with your body, just repeat after us: You are the new hotness

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IDEAS.TED.COM Mar 28, 2019 / Emily Nagoski + Amelia Nagoski Ashley Lukashevsky Too many of us struggle to achieve a body ideal that’s just not obtainable by humans. It’s time to redefine what’s good, healthy and attractive on our own terms, say writers (and sisters) Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski. The Bikini Industrial Complex. That’s our name for the $100 billion cluster of businesses that profit by setting an unachievable “aspirational ideal,” convincing us that we can and should — indeed we must — conform with the ideal, and then selling us ineffective but plausible strategies for achieving that ideal. It’s like old cat pee in the carpet, powerful and pervasive and it makes you uncomfortable every day but it’s invisible and no one can remember a time when it didn’t smell. Let’s shine a black light on it, so you can know where the smell is coming from. You already know that basically everything in the media is there to sell you thinness — the shellacked abs in ads for exercise equipment, the “one weird trick to lose belly fat” clickbait when all you wanted was a weather forecast, and the “flawless” thin women who fill most TV shows. The Bikini Industrial Complex, or BIC, has successfully created a culture of immense pressure to conform to an ideal that is literally unobtainable by almost everyone and yet is framed not just as the most beautiful, but the healthiest and […]

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Health & Beauty

Therapeutic Lavender Oat Scrub

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Willow and Sage by Stampington   This itch-relief scrub is therapeutic on so many levels. It contains sugar to help exfoliate, oils to help hydrate, and oatmeal to help alleviate any irritation. The ground lavender buds are optional but they do add some spa-like qualities-yes, please. You Will Need 1 cup steel-cut oats Blender/Food Processor 1 TB. dried lavender buds Mortar & pestle […]

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Health and Wellbeing

From One Sarcastic Little Shit To Another – Happy Mother’s Day — Guest Invisibly Me

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This day can be difficult and painful for many; I don’t want to be insensitive covering Mother’s Day so please feel free to avoid this post if it may be triggering. There are many who don’t have a relationship with their mothers, and those who have traumatic ones. Then there are those who have said […] via From One Sarcastic Little Shit To Another – Happy Mother’s Day — Invisibly Me

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Celebrate Life

I Believe in You #WATWB Two Year Anniversary

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              Welcome to #WATWB # 22! We are sharing stories about people doing good work and bringing hope to the world.  To learn more about this monthly blogfest, visit https://www.damyantiwrites.com/we-are-the-world-blogfest/ and the WATWB Facebook page for more positive posts.   I saw Kevin Laue on television with a group of kids playing basketball. It was amazing to see the faces, looks of children feeling like they belonged for the first time. He is very upbeat and is making a difference in our youth across the country. Melinda Believe in you Tour Our mission is for every student in America to have someone who believes in them. That’s why we’ve created the Believe In You Challenge. The Challenge is for students to attend a school activity they never have before. Swim meets. Track meets. Plays. Choir concerts. Pick it, grab your friends, and go. Show each other that support! Share your acceptance of this Challenge using hashtag #BelieveInYouChallenge. If not you, then who? Believe in you Video Series    Just Click on Video STEP UP. IF NOT YOU, WHO? Believe in You is an episodic series designed to educate students and staff about the incredible power of believing in yourself, despite the challenges and trials that life may present. Hosted by Kevin Laue, and starring personalities from around the country who have overcome personal challenges to accomplish the extraordinary. Each episode comes with an accompanying […]

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Chronic Illness

The Importance of Having a Fibro Family for Support-Please Join Our Fibro Family! — Guest Fighting With Fibro

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The past two weeks have been really exciting for me, with so many readers or other Bloggers reaching out, commenting and emailing. It’s been SO great!! When I started blogging, I really had one goal: to try to use my experience of living with multiple chronic illnesses to help others-I somehow had to create a […] via The Importance of Having a Fibro Family for Support-Please Join Our Fibro Family! — Fighting With Fibro

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Bipolar Disorder

An Olympic training approach to managing bipolar disorder — Guest Shedding Light on Mental Health

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Guest Amy Gamble from http://www.sheddinglightonmentalhealth.com I was talking with a friend at the National Council on Behavioral Health’s annual conference in Nashville. We had just watched a movie about Andy Irons a world-class surfer who had bipolar disorder and died at 37. It was an emotional documentary. I felt sad. But the emotion that got my attention was anger. […] via An Olympic training approach to managing bipolar disorder — Shedding Light on Mental Health

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Health and Wellbeing

The Healing Power of Telling Your Trauma Story

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Psychology Today  March 6, 2019 Seth J. Gillihan Ph.D. Think, Act, Be When we’ve survived an extremely upsetting event, it can be painful to revisit the memory. Many of us would prefer not to talk about it, whether it was a car accident, fire, assault, medical emergency, or something else. However, our trauma memoriescan continue to haunt us, even — or especially — if we try to avoid them. The more we push away the memory, the more the thoughts tend to intrude on our minds, as many research studies have shown. If and how we decide to share our trauma memories is a very personal choice, and we have to choose carefully those we entrust with this part of ourselves. When we do choose to tell our story to someone we trust, the following benefits may await. (Please note that additional considerations are often necessary for those with severe and prolonged experiences of trauma or abuse, as noted below.) 1. Feelings of shame subside.  Keeping trauma a secret can reinforce the feeling that there’s something shameful about what happened — or even about oneself on a more fundamental level. We might believe that others will think less of us if we tell them about our traumatic experience. When we tell our story and find support instead of shame or criticism, we discover we having nothing to hide. You might even notice a shift in your posture over time — that thinking about or describing your trauma no longer makes […]

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Health and Wellbeing

Justin Bieber Opens Up About Mental Health on Instagram

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Teen Vouge By De Elizabeth March 10, 2019 Getty Images “Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.”  Justin Bieber got real about mental health again — and asked his fans for their continued support. In an Instagram post on March 10, the singer-songwriter expressed that he wanted to update his fans on what he’s been going through, in hopes that it will “resonate” with his followers. “Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird,” he wrote, adding that he always “bounces back” so he isn’t worried. Still, he said that having his fans’ support and positivity is helpful, adding that he’s been “facing my stuff head-on.” From the comments, it’s clear Justin’s fans have his back every step of the way. One fan, who shared that they experience depression, wrote: “Love you always and I hope you can find a way to feel better and more like yourself again.” Another Belieber told the singer, “We all believe in you!” View this post on Instagram Just wanted to keep you guys updated a little bit hopefully what I’m going through will resonate with you guys. Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.. I always bounce back so I’m not worried just wanted to reach out and ask for your guys to pray for me. God is faithful and ur prayers really work thanks .. the most human season I’ve ever been in facing my […]

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Health and Wellbeing

Throat got You down? Updated!

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  Magnolia Issue #10 Throat Soother 1 large lemon Ginger root, fresh 2″ knob Turmeric root, fresh 2″ knob 2 cinnamon sticks 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup honey Slice lemon, ginger, and turmeric paper-thin using a mandolin or sharp knife. Layer slices in a half-pint jar. Break cinnamon sticks lengthwise into several pieces and tuck them in jar. Add apple cider vinegar. Pour Pour honey into the jar, covering the other ingredients. Place jar in the refrigerator. The honey becomes thin syrup and read to use in 12 hours. To Use Stir up 1/4 cup into a hot tea or water: or take 1-2 tsp. syrup each hour as needed to soothe sore throat or cough. Shake the jar occasionally. Keep Refrigerated for up to three weeks. BONUS Grannies Recipe Mix equal parts honey, whiskey and lemon. Refrigerate in a pint jar, leave a spoon in and take a spoonful or two every time your throat needs it. Super Bonus Gramps Recipe Keep the bottle of Black Velvet on the nightstand, when you wake yourself up coughing, take a sig.

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Chronic Illness

22 Lesser Known Facts About Fibro — Fighting With Fibro

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Thank you for the information packed post. Reblogged from Fighting With Fibro. If you’re like me, you’re always trying to stay apprised of new information surrounding your illness(es). Sometimes, it seems like I never see anything new and oftentimes, it seems the data I read is just somehow recycled; one site to another. So I spent some time (okay, a lot of time) gathering facts that, maybe, […] via 22 Lesser Known Facts About Fibro — Fighting With Fibro

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Employment

Thoughts on Job Hunting: Interview Tips

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Interview Tips If a job requires a resume, always take an extra copy. Take it out at first of interview and lay in lap. The greatest interview is being able to give examples of tasks or projects. As your interviewer doesn’t want to read what you’ve already written, give day-to-day details. If you pitched in while someone was on maternity leave […]

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Health and Wellbeing

Thoughts on Job Hunting

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For many Spring Break is time to job hunt before the next school year starts. I worked in the Recruiting/Consulting/Staffing business for 30 years. I wanted to share some lessons that helped me and got me fired twice. Drawing the Line It can be difficult to draw the work/friend line for extroverted people, you may think your new lunch mates are […]

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Celebrate Life

Yo no….. Soy yo

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No soy  Lyme crónico Fibromialgia Demencia Neuropatía Agrofóbico Cierre de Centrado en la enfermedad Estancarse Culpable Desesperada Buscando simpatía Soy yo Una mujer Esposa Perro madre Hermana Determinado Honesto Cuidado de un fallo Amar Asustado Tener metas elevadas Vivir con síntomas Fuerte voluntad Mentalidad abierta Escritor Estudiante No es un jugador ¿Cuál te gusta?  Melinda

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Celebrate Life

Reading list: 23 female TED speakers tell us about the books that shaped them

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Ideas.Ted.Com Mar 7, 2018 / Rajpreet Heir Here are the books that profoundly influenced women from our speaker community, and they’re just as wonderfully diverse as TED itself. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë When I read this book for the first time as a deeply odd fifth-grader (or, as Jane says, “poor, plain, and little”), it felt like grasping onto a life raft that had been flung to me through the folds of time. Feeling such a kinship with Jane and with Charlotte Brontë herself made me feel, quite suddenly, less alone. I still re-read this book every couple of years, and it still speaks to something primal and yearning in me — the outsider woman who is finally seen, finds love, but also has the strength and self-possession to reject that love until she is able to accept it from a place of her own power and dignity. If you haven’t read it, do so immediately; if you read it a long time ago, it is well worth reading again; and if you, like me, can’t get enough of it, may I also recommend Wide Sargasso Sea, which is a prequel by Jean Rhys centered on the story of the mad wife in the attic. — Naomi McDougall Jones (TED Talk: What it’s like to be a woman in Hollywood) Good Woman by Lucille Clifton I read this collection of poems at a time of life when I was […]

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Abuse

How to change your relationship with food — and stop eating your feelings

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Ideas.Ted.Com Mar 4, 2019 / Daryl Chen   Jenice Kim Here are three common-sense tips to help you feed your hunger and not your emotions, from dietician Eve Lahijani. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community. To see all the posts, go here. Imagine if eating were as simple as, say, refueling a car. You’d fill up only when an indicator nudged towards E, you couldn’t possibly overdo it or else your tank would overflow, and you’d never, ever dream of using it as a treat. Instead, for many of us, eating is anything but straightforward. What starts out as a biological necessity quickly gets entangled with different emotions, ideas, memories and rituals. Food takes on all kinds of meanings — as solace, punishment, appeasement, celebration, obligation – and depending on the day and our mood, we may end up overeating, undereating or eating unwisely. It’s time for us to rethink our relationship with food, says Eve Lahijani, a Los Angeles-based dietician and a nutrition health educator at UCLA. She offers three common-sense steps to help get there. 1. Reconnect with your hunger. So many things drive us to eat — it’s noon and that means lunchtime, it’s midnight and that means snack time, we’re happy, we’re anxious, we’d rather not bring home leftovers, we’re too polite to say […]

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CBD

Learning about the Endocannabinoid System — My Wellness Journey

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A great reblog by My Wellness Journey. Please check out her site where you will find other fascinating posts. One of the most interesting things I have learned about in the past few months is that all humans (and living creatures) have an Endocannabinoid system which is naturally present inside of our bodies. Apparently this system was discovered in the 1980’s. The science behind this fascinates me. All throughout our body systems we have […] via Learning about the Endocannabinoid System — My Wellness Journey

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Health and Wellbeing

Frugal Friday [ 08/03/2019 ] — Invisibly Me

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Special Thanks to Invisibly Me for the Reblog Happy Friday, everyone! Breathe a sigh of relief as the weekend is here, you’ve survived another week, and tomorrow is a new day to start afresh. Here are just a couple of finds for this issue of Frugal Friday – Enjoy & have a restful weekend 🙂 Free Letter Samples & Templates Citizens Advice have […] via Frugal Friday [ 08/03/2019 ] — Invisibly Me

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Health & Beauty

Beauty Tools 101: Clean or Toss

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Willow and Sage by Stampington If you’ve ever noticed your skin or scalp acting out, it might be due to lack of clean beauty tools. Properly cleaning your everyday tools not only removes leftover makeup, oil, and dirt and keeps the tools usable longer, but also reduces the chance of bacteria causing breakouts, rashes, and infections. Follow this cheat sheet […]

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Abuse

7 Signs You Have An Intense Emotional Bond With A Toxic Person

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Bustle By KRISTINE FELLIZAR When you’re in an unhealthy relationship, the best and obvious thing for you to do is leave. But sometimes that’s easier said than done. If you’re in a trauma bond, therapists say it will make leaving that situation even harder “A trauma bond is an intense emotional bond between people that usually forms as a result of a toxic or abusive dynamic,” Samantha Waldman, MHC, an NYC-based therapist who specializes in trauma and relationships, tells Bustle. A past history of abuse or exposure to it can make a person more likely to form trauma bonds. For instance, people who experienced some form of neglect or abuse from childhood may normalize this behavior as an adult because it’s what they “learned.” As Dr. Connie Omari, clinician and owner of Tech Talk Therapy, tells Bustle, trauma bonding includes the tendency for a person to connect with others based off the needs of their own traumatic experiences. “Because trauma involves some unmet emotional or psychological need, the relationship serves as a way to meet this need, even when it’s not done so appropriately,” she says. “It looks very dysfunctional and typically includes one or more forms of abuse.” These bonds aren’t limited to romantic relationships. You can form a trauma bond with friends, family members, and even co-workers. When you’re in a trauma bond, you’ll find yourself continually drawn to someone even though they cause you significant pain. It’s […]

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Chronic Illness

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before My Chronic Illness

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New York Times By Tessa Miller  Feburary 18, 2019   Finding out you have a chronic illness — one that will, by definition, never go away — changes things, both for you and those you love. Seven Thanksgivings ago, I got sick and I never got better. What I thought was food poisoning turned out to be Crohn’s disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that doesn’t have a cure. It fools my immune system into attacking my digestive system, resulting in what I can only describe as the attempted birth of my intestines through my butthole. It’s a cruel and often debilitating disease. Since that first hospital stay, I’ve had colonoscopies, biopsies, CT scans, X-rays, blood and stool tests, enemas, suppositories, rectal foams, antiemetics, antidiarrheals, antivirals, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, opiates, steroids, immunoglobulin, biologics and three fecal transplants (if you want to hear a story about my 9-year-old poop donor and a blender, find me on Twitter). My disease is managed now thanks to an expensive drug called infliximab, but the future is unpredictable. IBD works in patterns of flares and remissions, and little is known about what causes either. When I was diagnosed, I didn’t know how much my life would change. There’s no conversation about that foggy space between the common cold and terminal cancer, where illness won’t go away but won’t kill you, so none of us know what “chronic illness” means until we’re thrown into being sick […]

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Genetic Studies

Genetics of insomnia more similar to psychiatric conditions than to other sleep traits

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February 25, 2019 By 23andMe under 23andMe Research   We’ve always known that getting enough sleep is important and can have a significant impact on one’s health, but scientists have just begun to unravel the genetics behind why some people are more prone to sleep problems. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults report short term problems, while about 10 percent report chronic insomnia. It’s also the second most common mental disorder. Recently, 23andMe collaborated with researchers from VU University Amsterdamand Netherlands Institute for Neuroscienceon one of the largest genome-wide analysis studies to identify genes associated with insomnia. Published in the journal Nature Genetics, the study used data from more than 1.3 million consenting research volunteers from the 23andMe database and the UK Biobank. “Our study shows that insomnia, like so many other neuropsychiatric disorders, is influenced by 100’s of genes, each of small effect,” said Guus Smit, a VU-University neurobiologist involved in the study. “These genes by themselves are not that interesting to look at. What counts is their combined effect on the risk of insomnia. We investigated that with a new method, which enabled us to identify specific types of brain cells, like the so-called medium spiny neurons.” Study Size The sheer size of this research cohort enabled us to ask questions about genetics of insomnia and its relationships with other conditions and sleep-related problems individuals may face. With this large dataset, researchers […]

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Chronic Illness

Zechstein Magnesium Chloride Mother Earth’s 250 Million Year Old Healing Treasure

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Last week Fighting With Fibro  shared a cream that worked on her Fibromyalgia pain. It was a magnesium based product, being curious I had to understand the difference of the type she purchased. The magic word is Zechstein, many products claimed to relieve pain and a host of other problems but they didn’t have Zechstein included in ingredients. https://fightingwithfibro.com/2019/02/19/finally-something-that-actually-works-for-my-fibro-and-rls-pain/ I could not find the […]

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Family

Why Yoga? 6 Steps to Relieve Anxious Moods Naturally

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  By Donna C. Moss Last updated: 11 Feb 2019 I’m anxious. Anxious traveler. Anxious driver. Anxious mother. There I said it. It was only when I found yoga with psychotherapy that I could regulate it on the spot. Now I use mind/body approaches in all my work. Why? Science has shown that the body keeps the score. Google anxiety, google yoga. The breathe complements our nervous systems. Calm the breathe and you calm your mind. Do a child’s pose. Legs up the wall, forward fold, butterfly, mountain and alternate nostril breathing. Then see if your body is more relaxed. You can do this right in the session. Now summon that deep relaxation each time you need it. Yoga, a centuries old practice, takes the focus on your breathe to the places that scare you. I remember the first time I tried yoga, I almost passed out. The teacher came over not too gently and said, you’re actually not breathing. I was mortified. But it was true. Every time I bent my head down I came up dizzy, probably due to shallow breathing. This was the beginning of my ten year yoga journey. I am now 200 hour yin yoga trained. It beats drugs and alcohol by a long shot. It actually teaches the cells of our bodies to be less reactive and more flexible. The very thing we need in this chaotic world. If you hold the poses just […]

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Depression

Depression Affects 15% of New Moms. A New Guideline Could Help Prevent It

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TIME By JAMIE DUCHARME February 13, 2019 A new recommendation from a group of independent experts convened by the government could help more new and expecting mothers avoid depression, one of the most common complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The recommendation is the first from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on preventing perinatal depression, which strikes during pregnancy or after childbirth and affects almost 15% of new mothers. The guideline states that clinicians, namely primary care providers, should provide counseling services, or references to them, to all pregnant and postpartum women at increased risk of perinatal depression. The guidance could help prevent mental health issues in this vulnerable population, and prompt more insurance providers to cover counseling services for pregnant and postpartum women. After reviewing the relevant research, the USPSTF specifically recommended that at-risk women try cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which focuses on changing a person’s thoughts to change how they feel, or interpersonal therapy, which focuses on building relationship skills. Those at heightened risk of depression include single, young and lower-income mothers, people with a history of depression and women showing depressive symptoms including low energy and mood. The proactive focus of the recommendations is important, says Jeff Temple, a psychologist in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, who was not involved with the task force. Past USPSTF recommendations have focused on screening for existing depression among all adults, including […]

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Celebrate Life

Powerlifter Lifts 2-Ton SUV Off Man Trapped Underneath #WATWB

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  February 19, 2019 A powerlifter in Michigan is being hailed as a real-life superhero after his quick actions helped save a man pinned under a rolled over vehicle. Ryan Belcher, 29, was preparing to leave work last Thursday when he heard a loud crash outside his workplace. He noticed an SUV flipped upside down, and he rushed outside toward the wreckage. Ryan said there was a man trapped under the vehicle begging for help. Belcher, who is 350 pounds and can deadlift over 800 pounds, recalled thinking at the time, “this is where I need to be. All the training I’ve been through… this is the time where it’s really going to pay off.” But the Jeep Cherokee he was about to try and lift weighed roughly two tons. “I just jumped right in,” Belcher told Fox News. “I seen a window that was broken out of the back of the vehicle and I knew if I can swing the vehicle in a certain direction I can free him from that pole. So, I just stuck my arms in and I don’t know I just grabbed it, lifted it up and started pushing and all I heard was that’s enough we can get him.” The man Belcher saved and another woman suffered serious injuries in the crash. No fatalities were reported. On Sunday, Belcher went to the hospital to visit the man he helped rescue. “I got to meet […]

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Chronic Illness

U.S. Pain Foundation Ambassador Network

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Last week I joined the U.S. Pain Foundation Ambassador Program. The work the organization does for people with chronic pain is hands-on and at a government level. There are endless opportunities for you to support the organization with the time you have available. I have to learn how to do screenshots on MAC OS quickly, I’m attending a Webinar on Thursday.  Melinda Dear Junior Ambassador, I would like to personally welcome you into the U.S. Pain family! By joining our Pain Ambassador Network, you are taking action and choosing to help us advocate on behalf of the pain community. Our goal is to support you and provide you with the tools needed to raise awareness. The U.S. Pain Foundation is a nonprofit organization created by people with pain for people with pain. We want the experiences you have as a junior ambassador to be full of fun and excitement. Our mission is to educate, connect, empower, and advocate for pain warriors as well as their families, caregivers, and friends; the hard work and dedication of ambassadors like you is what allows us to fulfill this mission. We greatly appreciate the time, energy, and passion that you have chosen to dedicate towards raising awareness! To thank you for your commitment as a volunteer, we will be sending you a starter package in the mail. We encourage you to use these resources to empower yourself. As a junior ambassador, we would also like […]

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Children

MANAGING FIBROMYALGIA IN CHILDREN

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Welcome to Remedy, a blog by U.S. Pain Foundation. Remedy aims to provide people with the support they need to thrive despite chronic pain. It features the information about promising treatments, tips and strategies for self-management, resources for coping with the emotional and social effects of pain, unique perspectives from patients, clinicians, and caregivers–and much more. To submit an article idea, email contact@uspainfoundation.org. Posted: January 14, 2019   By Brent Wells, DC, a chiropractor and founder of Better Health Chiropractic and Physical Rehab If your child feels tired and achy, you may not worry initially. After all, there’s nothing urgent about what seems to be mild, general discomfort. However, if your child is constantly in pain, exhausted, having trouble sleeping, and experiencing intense moods, he/she may have fibromyalgia. This condition is fairly common in adults, but parents and clinicians may overlook the possibility of juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome — that is, fibromyalgia in children. JUVENILE FIBROMYALGIA SYMPTOMS TO WATCH OUT FOR Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by pain and fatigue. According to experts, children will often describe this pain as “stiffness, tightness, tenderness, burning or aching.” This pain can last for months and is often accompanied by other symptoms that affect a child’s overall well-being, energy level, and emotional health, including: Tender spots on muscles Difficulty sleeping and fatigue Aches, including stomachaches and headaches Lack of focus or memory Anxiety and depression If your child is experiencing these symptoms, you should […]

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Chronic Illness

Fibro Friday: Hamster Wheel

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Repost I’ve struggled with Chronic Lyme, Fibromyalgia, and Dementia for six years, every week it’s a follow-up or test for the latest ailment. I’ve made the decision to step off the Doctor Hamster Wheel in 2019. I saw a Rheumatologist two months ago, the clueless PA told me there wasn’t Lyme in Texas. REALLY? The doctor named a few possible illnesses and took my blood. The doctor’s visit was a bust but the lab work revealed my Calcium is high. Which can cause serious complications? She suggested having my Parathyroid checked. WOW, something came out of the lab work, I have another ailment to deal with! I saw the Endocrinologist, it was straight forward. A blood test, a scan at the hospital and possible surgery. We scheduled the scan immediately since it was affecting my heart. I fell down the stairs and banged myself up a good one. I landed a perfect 10! NO, I can’t lean my head back for two forty-five minute sessions. The test was rescheduled. 2019 is starting like the other six years, with a heart test scheduled, a Parathyroid scan with possible surgery, and a test for Traumatic Brain Injury from the fall. There are a few days left in 2018, I want to know who I am, how have I changed in that time. I developed Agoraphobia, haven’t driven in six years and have only seen the inside of doctor’s offices. I took the first step […]

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Friday Quote

Celebrity Friday Quotes

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“Too many people are buying things they can’t afford, with money that they don’t have… to impress people that they don’t like!” Nothing to do w/ “books” — Just like the quote!” ― Will Smith   “I don’t like to share my personal life… it wouldn’t be personal if I shared it.” ― George Clooney   “What’s the whole point […]

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Health and Wellbeing

When a Patient Dies by Suicide — The Physician’s Silent Sorrow

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New England Journal of Medicine January 24, 2019 Dinah Miller, M.D. We talk about the toll suicide takes on families and the tragedy for the people who’ve died. What we don’t openly talk about is suicide’s toll on the doctors who have treated these patients. But when a patient dies by suicide, it leaves us profoundly changed. The news came by text as we drove home from brunch. My patient had died that morning by suicide. I read the text and wailed. My husband was driving, and our adult children happened to be away, traveling together on an exotic journey. I struggled to gather words, and my husband held control of the car through those excruciating moments when he thought something horrible had happened to our kids. I calmed down enough to tell him that the tragedy involved a patient. He was relieved. I was not. U.S. suicide rates increased by 25.4% between 1999 and 2016.1 It’s been estimated that at least half of psychiatrists will lose at least one patient to suicide during their career.2 There are no estimates on how many primary care physicians will have the same experience, though they often treat psychiatric disorders. Among people who complete suicide in the United States, 46% have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, and many more people have undiagnosed mental illness. We talk about the toll suicide takes on families. They experience grief, guilt, regret, anguish, anger, and stigma, […]

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Government

Coordination of Care or Conflict of Interest? Exempting ACOs from the Stark Law

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New England Journal of Medicine Perspective Genevieve P. Kanter, Ph.D. and Mark V. Pauly, Ph.D. Suppose you are a Medicare-insured patient with coronary artery disease. You will visit, on average, 10 physicians at six practice sites in a given year.1 Such fragmentation of care has spurred efforts by health care systems and payers to coordinate the delivery of care by multiple providers in a range of settings. Hospitals and physician practices are merging at increasing rates to form integrated delivery systems with the goal of delivering harmonized services across the continuum of care — from initial primary care visit to hospital admission to nursing facility discharge. In addition, under the Affordable Care Act, hospitals and physician groups are encouraged to form accountable care organizations (ACOs) that jointly contract to deliver care to specified populations of Medicare beneficiaries. Care coordination has become a central theme of new payment and delivery systems and is believed to be an indispensable strategy for eliminating delivery inefficiencies, controlling costs, and improving outcomes. There is, however, at least one downside to care coordination arrangements: they clash with existing regulations on financial conflicts of interest in medicine. This set of regulations, collectively known as the Stark law, prohibits physicians from referring patients to providers when a financial arrangement would allow the referring physician to benefit from such a referral. For example, physicians who have a profit-sharing agreement with a nursing home are prohibited from referring their Medicare and […]

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Caregiver

Guest Post with Harry Cline from newcaregiver.org

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When it comes to Caregiving you may have questions regarding the options like where to live, type of facility or helping your loved one remain at home. Questions like Government benefits, health insurance, home care, and the never-ending questions that continue as your loved one ages. Please welcome Author Harry Cline of The New Caregiver’s Comprehensive Resource: Advice, Tips, and […]

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Family

23andMe Receives FDA Clearance for Genetic Health Risk report that looks at a Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Syndrome

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  By 23andMe on Tue, 22 Jan 2019 17:03:37   23andMe received FDA clearance to report on the two most common genetic variants influencing what is called MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP), a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome.This new clearance is part of… The post 23andMe Receives FDA Clearance for Genetic Health Risk report that looks at a Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Syndrome appeared first on 23andMe Blog.

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Celebrate Life

Stream of Conciseness Saturday #soSC Affirm

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The Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “affirm.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy! Praying each day affirms my belief in God is strong and unwavering.   Join us for the fun and sharing good media stories   For more on the Stream of Consciousness Saturday, visit Linda Hill’s blog. Here’s the link: https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/18/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-19th/ Here are the rules for SoCS: 1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write. 2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop. 3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started. 4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy […]

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Childhood Learning

La educación sexual de Netflix es genial, pero se pone mal la terapia y no es la única.

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Espía digital POR ABBY ROBINSON 28/01/2019 La nueva serie de comedia dramática británica Sex Education es un golpe inmediato, que pega a los estudiantes de la escuela secundaria Moordale y sus preocupaciones basadas en el sexo justo en frente de su cara sin previo aviso o disculpa. Porque esto es un espectáculo en una misión: “[se trata de] animar a la gente a arrancar la venda de la ayuda y tener esas conversaciones incómodas, torpe sobre el sexo, en lugar de embotellar todo en el interior, o pensar que tienen que ir en línea para obtener las respuestas, ” escritor Laurie Nunn le dijo a Digital Spy y a otra prensa. “Para tratar de hablar con sus compañeros o-si pueden manejarlo-a sus padres, o a sus amigos. “Realmente pensamos que eso les va a ayudar a tener relaciones sexuales más saludables. ” Es un propósito noble y por eso, nada es sanitizado. Las preocupaciones que los personajes están lidiando están pintadas en los colores más ruidosos, enfáticamente salpicado a través de la pantalla porque, como el reparto y la tripulación tienen contras “La primera campana de alarma que experimenté cuando vi que era la forma en que sugirió que el sexo y la terapia de relaciones era algo completamente dividido de la salud general de la gente y el bienestar mental, ” profesor Sarah Niblock, Director Ejecutivo del Reino Unido Consejo de psicoterapeutas, le dice a Digital Spy exclusivamente. “Eso […]

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Childhood Learning

Netflix’s Sex Education is great – but it gets therapy wrong And it’s not the only one.

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Digital Spy BY ABBY ROBINSON 28/01/2019   Netflix’s brand new British comedy-drama series Sex Education packs an immediate punch, sticking the students of Moordale Secondary School and their sex-based concerns right in front of your face without warning or apology.   Because this is a show on a mission: “[It’s about] encouraging people to rip the band-aid off and have those uncomfortable, awkward conversations about sex, rather than bottle it all up inside, or think that they have to go online to get the answers,” writer Laurie Nunn told Digital Spy and other press. “To try and talk to their partners or – if they can handle it – to their parents, or to their friends. “We really think that that’s going to help them have healthier sexual relationships.”   It’s a noble purpose and because of that, nothing is sanitised. The concerns that the characters are grappling with are painted in the loudest colours, emphatically splashed across the screen because, as the cast and crew have consistently emphasised, Sex Education is nothing if not real. It does the heavy lifting, having those all-important yet toe-curling dialogues – about relationships, identity, and what healthy, consensual sex looks like – that most of us swerved like Fast & Furious drivers during our younger years, and often still do. Sex Education is just that: an education. (And we love it, by the way.) But it could be accused of falling short in […]

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Health and Wellbeing

What old story about yourself are you still believing? Here’s how to find it and change it

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Ideas.Ted.com Jan 24, 2019 / Mary Halton Many of us hold deeply ingrained beliefs about ourselves that are simply not true. You can start to free yourself from them by editing your narrative, says psychiatrist John Sharp. Every weekday for the month of January, TED Ideas is publishing a new post in a series called “How to Be a Better […]

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Health & Beauty

Eight Benefits to Tamanu Oil

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Feb./March/April Edition Willow and Sage by Stampington Tamanu oil is derived from the Tamanu tree, which originates in the Polynesian islands, tropical Southeast Asia, south India, and the tropical African Coast. With antioxidants, antibacterial, anti-inch, and healing properties, it has been used for skin care as well as hair care. The smell is slightly sweet and someone nutty, the color […]

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Health and Wellbeing

Channeling The Pain Of Depression Into Photography, And Finding You Are Not Alone

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December 31, 20189:49 AM ET BECKY HARLAN In a particularly difficult season of depression, photography was one of the tools Tara Wray used to cope. “Just forcing myself to get out of my head and using the camera to do that is, in a way, a therapeutic tool,” says Wray, a photographer and filmmaker based in central Vermont. “It’s like exercise: You don’t want to do it, you have to make yourself do it, and you feel better after you do.” In July, she published Too Tired for Sunshine, a book of her photos from that period, taken between 2011 and 2018. Some of the images show a stark beauty, others a raw loneliness, and some capture hints that the world may be slightly off-kilter. Photographically, Wray says she’s drawn to light, the honesty of dogs and “things that are humorous and maybe aren’t trying to be.” Making these images helped keep her buoyant. Having a camera functions as “a sort of protection, a buffer that gives me a reason to be somewhere,” she says. “It helps me move through an environment with a purpose when I might otherwise feel out of place.” And, like exercise, photography provides a kind of release. “When I’ve made what I think is a good picture, I can feel it, and everything else momentarily falls away.” Through creative expression, Wray says she’s able to focus her “ruminating or obsessing” into “something bigger.” “There were moments that I felt […]

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