Thank you everyone for being so patient with me as I took another needed break. I deeply appreciate all of you.

I've recently been diagnosed with CPTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and in this episode, I talk about what CPTSD feels like and briefly touch on some of the memories I have recovered (not intentionally) and how they have contributed to my diagnosis. I also talk about what it feels like to remember traumatic experiences and reiterate how we are not alone in this journey. There is someone out there who needs to hear this, so I am going to say it: You are not alone. 

The wonderful Sean McMullen returns to Optimistically Depressed to talk about his excursions as Saltwater Sean, the thrills of discovering what lies under the sea, and how the exposure to cold water benefits him physically and mentally as it requires him to listen more closely to his body and mind. 

Have a listen and be sure to check out his YouTube and Instagram accounts under Saltwater Sean!

https://www.youtube.com/c/SaltwaterSean

https://www.instagram.com/saltwater_sean/

Are you looking for ways to improve your emotional and physical well-being? Do you struggle with some of your thoughts and feelings?

Pat Sebastien, CEO of Moodie Inc, & I sat down to discuss the app Moodie, which is designed to be your personalized wellness companion. Try it out and find a place to reflect, get helpful information, encouragement, guidance, and some coping activities.

Moodie enables you to change your mood through customized engagements called Actions and gives you the ability to create Routines that will help you create positive habits. The only way to change a behaviour is to practice doing it. This format will help you to understand your habits better.

You can click either of these links below to get 25% off your first three months!

http://feelingmoodie.com/opde/

http://feelingmoodie.com/optimisticallydepressed/

It's amazing how many contributors there are to the inability to regulate our emotions. They feel like this involuntary experience that takes over our body - you know the feeling - the anger takes over and all you see is red, or the sadness is crippling. It's like the only options we have are to let the emotions take over or to resist them. 

Turns out those aren't the only options. We can actually have a good relationship with our feelings, who woulda thought?!

Have a listen for good coping mechanisms and habits we can work on in order to love our emotions.

What do we all share? Our emotions. While the way we experience them is unique, the feelings themselves are what connect us. With something so powerful, we need to be aware of how we use them and, while protecting ourselves, we can also use the gift of emotions to create empathy. And that, friends, is how we can help heal the world.

So let's take care of our emotions and talk about them.

After a much needed break, I’m feeling mostly refreshed and ready to get back to all of you and share what’s been on my mind for the past six months.

It isn’t a surprise that it’s been rough, but it’s brought me to some realizations that were learned through tough lessons and many tears.

Thanks for waiting so lovingly for me and I am thrilled to finally continue our journey together.

It's Rumination time! 

I got more topics for discussion from you beauties and used the opportunity to practice being more honest and raw with my opinions. I can't wait until all this crap with Covid is over. One of you asked what I'm looking forward to doing when that happens so I talk a bit about that.

Next, I discuss my thoughts on the importance of taking responsibility for and maintaining our own mental health and not taking on the responsibility of anyone else’s. I finish off the episode by talking about the importance of listening to our bodies in order to allow the pain and discomfort associated with some feelings to move their way through, opening up room for the pleasant feelings to take up space.

Thank you everyone who contributed to this podcast with your discussion points. I hope you find this to be beneficial!

The glorious Lindsay Umlah joins Optimistically Depressed for a second time! 

I saw a post she made on Instagram about being enough and it struck me. There are many areas we need to work through when it comes to feeling like we measure up and believe me, I've been working on them. The first one I wanted to tackle was being enough as myself, with my personality and my opinion. I've made great progress in that area and I've been dedicating a lot of focus to it. But another area that haunts me is my body image. 

I know I'm not alone here. We each have our unique struggles with it. I have identified as being thin - very thin. And it was something I don't recall thinking much about growing up because I was a scrawny kid. But now I'm older and my body has some more miles on it. My body has changed. My eating habits change with the season, especially with emotional seasons. Let me tell you, over the past couple years, I have been through some dark emotional seasons, and I find comfort in food. As a result, my body has changed and I have felt so much shame about it.

Lindsay and I talk through these things along with some other good stuff. If you need a reminder of why you are enough and that you aren't alone in feeling like you aren't, this talk is for you.

Hey friends! 

This week I thought I’d do another rumination. I asked for some suggestions on what to talk about and suggestions were made! I talk on some tips I’ve learned on how to stay sane during quarantine and how to take care of ourselves. Then I venture a little into the world of astrology - something I’ve learned a bit about recently and am rather intrigued by. 

I hope all of you are doing well and this episode can help you feel less alone. Sending my love!

Anyone else feel like a caged animal right about now? Like you need to get out but you also have so much fear around going out because you don't want catch Covid-19 and bring it home to your family? 

Needless to say, the past couple months have been somewhat traumatic for all of us, which is why I think it is the perfect time to hear what Shannon has to say about C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and how EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy helped her reprocess and move through her trauma. This opened her up to many other effective practices when sorting through pain and abuse and continuing to release trauma. These practices include meditation, therapeutic writing and art therapy, which she now teaches through her counselling practice in London, Ontario.

Shannon is deeply compassionate person who instantly makes a connection and provides a safe space where you feel free to talk with her about anything. That being said, it may be helpful to know that Shannon provides counselling sessions over Zoom, so if you're looking for some extra help and counselling right now, I recommend checking her out. You can either find her at @moyer_and_co on Instagram, go to her website at https://www.moyerandco.com/ or you can also go to her other website, https://insighttimer.com/sweetstellas, where she provides guided meditations.