Today, we’re going to chat about triggers.  Have you ever noticed that you can come into contact with a particular smell and it brings back certain memories from another time or place in your life?  How did this affect you?  Did it evoke positive emotions, negative emotions, feelings, or thoughts?  This is what we’re going to talk more about today.  What are these things?  How do they form, what they mean and how we can overcome the ones that promote negative impacts on our lives.

https://www.nami.org/recovery/understanding-mental-illness-triggers/#:~:text=A%20trigger%2C%20sometimes%20referred%20to,brought%20on%20or%20worsened%20symptoms.

https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-a-trigger

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2167702620921341

https://campushealth.unc.edu/health-topic/understanding-mental-health-triggers/#:~:text=Ways%20to%20Help%20Someone%20Who%20Gets%20Triggered&text=Learn%20to%20engage%20in%20difficult,share%20on%20their%20own%20timeline.

Loneliness is a universal human experience like hunger or thirst. It is a natural signal that something is missing from our lives—in this case, human connection. While everyone experiences loneliness, some people are more susceptible to acute or chronic loneliness, meaning that it affects them more profoundly and even possibly more deeply. 

Loneliness has many different causes. These vary from person to person. We don't always understand what it is about an experience that makes us feel lonely.

Certain life events or experiences may make you feel lonely, such as:

Improving mental health can feel quite daunting overall, but you’re more likely to achieve

this outcome if you set and track goals. Whether you’re trying to set better boundaries with a friend or prioritize self-care, mental health goals are a helpful tool for making strides with your general emotional well-being.

SMART goal setting:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-related

“Forgiveness involves willfully putting aside feelings of resentment toward someone who has committed a wrong, been unfair or hurtful, or otherwise harmed you in some way. Forgiveness is not merely accepting what happened or simply stopping your anger. Rather, it involves a voluntary shift of your feelings, attitudes, and behavior, so that you are no longer overcome by resentment and can express compassion or generosity toward the person who wronged you.”

“Forgiveness is the capacity to reclaim your peace of mind when something has happened to disturb you. As we go through life it is inevitable that we are going to hurt one another. In fact, as our world becomes more complicated and interconnected, the opportunities for conflict only seem to increase. We have the choice whether to respond to these hurts and conflicts with anger and hostility, or with forgiveness.”

https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/blog/2023/9/19/respect-the-key-to-success-happiness-and-strong-relationships-?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw_LOwBhBFEiwAmSEQAYYiYEGzYMYl3q34FNAnEJAJzDM5CNZajFjKkN25Bkxe_xPM0m-RuhoC1VwQAvD_BwE

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/some-assembly-required/202307/the-mental-health-benefits-of-forgiveness

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/the-power-of-forgiveness#:~:text=Practicing%20forgiveness%20can%20have%20powerful,esteem%3B%20and%20greater%20life%20satisfaction.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/04/20/forgiveness-mental-health-benefits/

Dr. Karen Cureton is a licensed naturopathic physician, acupuncturist, passionate neuroplasticity practitioner, and co-creator of the Wired for Wellness program.  She has walked through her own journey with complex chronic illness, anxiety, depression and PTSD and was able to personally realize the life changing impacts that can be had from rewiring your brain and rebalancing your nervous system.  As a result of her own experiences, she has since been able to help many clients do the same.

https://drkarencureton.com/

https://www.getwiredforwellness.com/

https://www.instagram.com/drkarencureton/

Today, we have a very special guest with us, Meg Smeraglia.  Meg is an Occupational therapist, Human Design Guide & Aromatherapist. She weaves together the science of occupational therapy with the holistic & spiritual realms such as Human Design, Astrology, Aromatherapy, Reiki & much more.   We’re going to chat more about all of this on todays episode.

You can find Meg using the links below:

https://www.wholebeingot.com/about

https://www.instagram.com/wholebeingot/

“Helping you lift weights and fuel your body without restrictions”

Welcome to the Empower Podcast.  Today, we have a very special guest with us, Julia Ledford.  Julia has her own business in the fitness and nutrition world.  She was a Division One Rower at Clemson University so she has so much personal experience on the subject.  She has been met with struggles on her own journey and she's gonna chat with us today about some of these things.   

In today's podcast, Mandi will share about her journey through life, mental illness and trauma. You'll hear specifics of her story and the process that helped her to become the person that she is today.

https://www.crisistextline.org/

Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the United States, anytime. Crisis Text Line is here for any crisis. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from our secure online platform. The volunteer Crisis Counselor will help you move from a hot moment to a cool moment.

https://988lifeline.org/

The 988 Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the United States. 

Dave Gluskin is a father of two, classically trained cellist, DJ, electronic music producer, one half of the group Audiotrap, and owner of Electrocell Studios where he offers among other things, one on one and group training opportunities for aspiring musicians and creatives.  He is a good friend of my husband's, has agreed to come on and chat with us today about some of his life experiences, things he’s learned and ways that he’s grown throughout life “stuff’.   He and Rob met on Twitch which is an online streaming service.  During Covid, they started becoming more involved with twitch by streaming DJ sessions.  Of course, everyone was quarantined or had limited places to go and limited things to do so this became an outlet for many and a way to grow friendships despite the pandemic.

https://electrocellstudios.com/

@davegluskin - instagram

soundcloud.com/davegluskin

Mind, Body, Spirit with Rob

In previous episodes, we’ve talked about how overall mental health encompasses ongoing wellness and happiness relating to emotional, psychological  and social well being.  In short, it’s all about the mind, body and spirit and keeping these three in balance with each other.  Today, we’re going to dive into this concept a bit more as it relates to real world experiences.   Rob is here with us today and he’s going to share some of his life events and how he was able to incorporate aspects of mind, body, spirit wellness to improve his overall being, situation and to help him work through the trauma of the life happenings.

High Level Model

Practical Strategies

Personal development books (physical/audio)