How to use normal activities to rewire your brain for success.

4 Tips for Easing Household Tension During Self-Isolation

If your family has been self-isolating for the past few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may feel like you are at your wit’s end. Whether you are working from home while trying to make sure your young children don’t get into trouble, or you have older kids who are frustrated by missing out on certain milestones, tensions might be running high in your household. Even as some states ease up on social distancing restrictions, life still doesn’t feel quite “normal,” and many kids are struggling to adjust. These tips will help you address several common issues that families have faced during the pandemic and cultivate a happier atmosphere in your home.

Processing Complicated Emotions

The past few months have been a very emotional time for everyone, and your kids may have complicated feelings about everything going on in the world. Without an outlet, they may be more prone to tantrums or outbursts.

Set aside time to work on art projects with your kids, which will give them an opportunity to express themselves. Art is especially beneficial for children with disabilities, who can gain confidence as they explore their creativity. Get materials for finger painting, clay sculpting, or making fun collages, and let your kids go where their imaginations take them. Don’t forget to compliment their finished work!

Avoiding Boredom

Many of your children’s favorite pastimes, like playing team sports or going to kid-friendly museums, may be off limits right now. Therefore, you’ll need to find ways to stave off their boredom. When your kids get bored, they may be more likely to get irritated and pick fights, so it’s in your best interest to help them stay entertained.

You may want to buy a few age-appropriate gadgets that can help alleviate boredom, such as smartphones or basic fitness watches designed for kids. If you want to guarantee that you’re investing in devices that are right for your child’s age group, you can check out some helpful information provided by companies like Verizon. Yes, kids should have a balance between screen time and physical activity, but purchasing the right gadgets can definitely help you enjoy some peace and quiet in your household!

Getting Enough Sleep

During these stressful times, you and your family members may be having trouble sleeping. Your kids might be tossing and turning every night. But when everyone is struggling with a lack of sleep, you can easily end up dealing with high tensions in your household.

Try to get to bed a little earlier each night, and take steps to ensure that your children are sleeping properly. To create a soothing bedtime routine for your kids, Our Parenting Life suggests asking yourself a few important questions like, “Which comfort objects do they need to sleep with?” and “What should definitely be included in their nighttime rituals?” By determining the answers to these questions, you’ll be able to make sure that your children sleep soundly. Try focusing on calming activities like meditation or yoga before bed. Discover Brillia suggests trying fun, animal-themed yoga poses like cat pose, butterfly pose, and rabbit pose!

Giving Everyone Space

One problem plaguing families in isolation? In a full house, it can be hard to find space for yourself. Even young children need “me time,” and without it, everyone feels a little cranky. Let your children know that if they need time for themselves, it is okay to let other family members know not to bother them. They can choose quiet, solo activities like reading, playing with their stuffed animals, or even simply taking a nap.

Self-isolation has been especially difficult for families with children, and parents everywhere have had to deal with problems that they never imagined themselves facing. It can be hard to support your children and focus on your own well-being during such a tough time. But by tackling these issues head on, you can lower tensions in your household and put smiles on your children’s faces!

Photo via Pexels

Article by Emma Grace Brown

The corona virus has hit us all hard.

Forcing us to drop all our habits, obligations, and everything we control in our lives.

We find ourselves being forced to surrender to something bigger than what we can control.

For some this is catastrophic, for others it can be heavenly.

In what way can this be blissful, when we are forced to self quarantine.

Only with a deep letting go and total acceptance of things as they are can we find peace in this chaos.

What would it take to accept, let go and just be?

What creative outlets can you find in this period? What new thought patterns, habits, self care can you take pleasure in?

Is this an Invitation to write, draw, play music, read, clean your house, spend time with your family, etc...

I support you in this home process and still will come to you for a mobile massage in San Francisco, West Marin and North Bay. 

Please stay healthy, reinforce your immune system, as I am doing. And reach out if I can be of service to your self care process! 

An Introvert’s Guide to Self-Care: Knowing What You Need and How to Make it Happen

Check out this article by Melissa Howard!

If you asked 10 people on the street how they practice self-care, you’d probably get 10 different answers. Yet no matter how any one person puts self-care into practice, the general idea is the same: It’s all about making time to care for yourself - body, mind, and soul. For introverts, how you do this, what you need from self-care, and even how you think about self-care can be wildly different than it is for extroverts. This is why it’s so important to discover your own unique self-care needs and the best way to make sure they’re met.

Prioritize Your Health

While this doesn’t apply to all introverts, the personality testing blog Truity explains that it isn’t uncommon for people who are introverted to struggle with the idea of putting themselves first. Switching up this mindset takes ongoing practice, but you have to start with actions, and the mindset will eventually follow.

One of the most important things to realize is that staying on top of your health needs, both physical and mental, is not selfish. Start by scheduling regular exercise into your week. A fitness routine will not only benefit your body, but can also reduce stress. If you’re a little short on motivation, a fitness-tracking device can be a helpful aid. By tracking and monitoring your activity, it’ll be easier to set and meet goals, and you won’t need a workout partner to keep you motivated. There are many fitness trackers and smartwatches on the market, including devices that have cool safety features like SOS, fall detection, and heart rate monitoring.  

Make Your Home Clutter Free

As an introvert, you may spend more time at home than most. But did you know that a cluttered home can cause stress and dampen productivity? To eliminate clutter, go room by room and sort items as “Keep,” “Donate,” and “Toss.” Give away or get rid of any clothing that you haven’t worn in over a year. Come up with some creative storage solutions; for instance, you can bring in furniture that doubles as storage like a storage ottoman bench (can be purchased for under $50). Once you’ve completed your decluttering tasks, give your home a one-time deep cleaning to make it really shine. You can DIY this job or hire a professional cleaning company (maid services in San Francisco charge an average of $177 per visit).  

Do a Self Check-In

Unlike a check-up from your medical or mental health practitioner, a check-in is something you can (and should) do daily, all on your own. As silly as this may sound, consider setting a self check-in reminder on your phone or smartwatch to stop and ask yourself how you’re feeling. Are you tired, energetic, anxious? If something seems off, this gives you the chance to figure out what’s going on and take time to decompress. You may need to unwind, often with quiet activities like reading or doing something creative.

An easily overlooked cause of feeling “off” is a lack of nutrients. Especially if you eat well and exercise, you may assume all your nutritional needs are met, but you could have a deficiency without even realizing it. In fact, USA Today reports that almost 10 percent of Americans have some type of nutrient deficiency. Thankfully, this crucial self-care need has an easy solution: taking a multivitamin. All adults should take multivitamins, at every age, to eliminate those deficiencies. Quality multivitamins can boost your energy, improve gut health, and even have positive effects for your skin.

Be a Savvy Socializer

One common thread that is true for just about anyone with an introverted personality is that some social interactions can leave you feeling drained of energy. However, every social situation is not created equal. You may have to accept certain situations that are draining, like an annual office party you just can’t get out of. However, what you can do is be mindful about who you spend time with and how. Contrary to popular thought, many introverts actually enjoy and are energized by the right kinds of social interactions.

It can actually be extremely empowering to recognize when you have control over certain social engagements. Mind Body Green calls these “high-quality interactions.” This simply means choosing the people in your life who lift your spirit and the situations (like small groups) that are fulfilling - not draining.

On top of everything else, always stay open to possibilities. While a quiet, relaxing evening at home may be your ideal way to recharge, you may find that a coffee date with a good friend is just as helpful. There isn’t a right or wrong way to do self-care as long as you’re doing what’s best for you.

By Melissa Howard

Photo credit: Rawpixel

For 2020

Holidays, family, travel can bring us into many emotional states. Time with loved ones, or time with people we may have challenges with, the whole icon of the holidays, all this creates movement inside. We can choose to just be a bystander or allow these inner movings to come to awareness.

Perhaps you also ate and drank too much, stopped the exercise routine, over spent, over indulged.

Now is an invitation to reconnect with your inner alignment. Imagine the person you want to feel like right now. Notice all the accumulation of both mental, emotional and physical baggage that you may have accumulated during the holidays.

How to find a new space of lightness, clarity and peace?

Take a moment just to sit still, breathe, notice. As you exhale allow what wants to come to the surface to arise. Allow that to be, notice and release. As you inhale bring in the space and vibration of who and what you want to be this 2020. As you exhale, release all that blocks that… Allow it to flow out of your body, down your shoulders, your arms, your legs, release completely…

Take a moment daily to breathe in the morning and become the feeling and vibration of who you want to be this 2020.

It’s just a question of choice. Choose you and who you want to be daily… release all that doesn’t contribute to that amazing, incredible being you can be. Blessings…. for 2020

We've got the whole world in our hands

Between climate weirding, and the desperation of humanity and the planet. Why should we go get a massage when we could be out doing something? For me, the planetary change starts from within. When we learn to heal ourselves, we can extend our own reflection into the world around us. We build concrete walls and rip open the earth, constantly in search of that one more thing we think we need. We consume, more and more to satisfy a never ending sense of scarcity. In all this we destroy a living planet by our petrol use, plastic, ressource scavenging for material for the latest technology. If we can go down to the source, within our bodies and truly feel. Allowing ourselves to be touched, to feel what is alive in the hurts and pains that linger in our muscles unconsciously. Can we come to terms with our own sense of lack, can we find a moment of silence and peace to come back to a whole place, void of lack, filled with plenitude?

Hydration, Fascia, mitochondria

When you have an hour, I highly recommend this interview with Dr. Zach Bush. Understand how to hydrate for anti aging, the memory stored in the water of our fascia, energetic transfer and restructuring of our water… it’s fascinating and makes you understand why massage and movement is fundamental!

The soul of the world

We

We have forgotten we

The soul of the world is in pain it is crying it is wailing

It is unheard it is ignored

It is alive and breathing and forgotten

Where did I forget that I am you and I am the microbial life as I am a whale and I am water

Where did I forget that the material that makes me is in all life?

Where did I forget that I am a minuscule part broken off of a larger source?

I am not separate, every particle within my body is a microscopic part of a larger source

This larger source is broken off into billions and billions of particles dispersed in the world

As a mother always is connected to her child through a physical connection as her blood and DNA is in her child’s blood and DNA so they are forever interconnected

As our bodies are interconnected with every material on this planet

We cannot cut off our interconnection we can only cut off ourselves in our minds from the whole

We have delved into the realms of our minds and identified with its awesome potential to become the identity that we created, in our own head

We have used our brains to create the image of who we are, as the artist mistakes himself for his painting but forgets that the painting is an extension of himself and not himself

So, we have forgotten that our life is delicately intertwined with all life

We have become so self-absorbed in a false myth of success and domination that we have separated from ourselves and thus from all things

Why does the dying of whales, seas, forests, indigenous tribes, nations, animals, plants and life not affect us more deeply?

Why do we see that as a problem to be solved in the future after our immediate race for financial security?

Who’s lie did we buy and think it was our own truth?

What can be done with this deep sense of hopelessness as the images of the world’s collapse are imminent?

This sensation of estrangement from the seeming destiny of the planet…

Better to close the blinds and the windows and watch from a safe distance behind a virtual screen as the news bits can be scrolled through as we prefer to “like” a cat video than a nation starving. 

Better to numb ourselves than feel the pain of disconnection from life.

Better to numb ourselves than allow the connection and writhe in pain from the suffering of the entire planet

How to maintain hope?

How to believe?

How to start somewhere when it all seems as futile as an ant in front of a giant. 

Can we remember that we are part of life?

Can we remember the life that is affected with our every move?

Can we remember that my action is intertwined with the entire world?

How can I feel?

How can I feel?

How can I feel?

Can I dare to feel?

Can I spend my time not numbing but investigating?

Researching how my life’s actions are intertwined with all things?

How can I make one more sustainable action to promote life rather than destroy it?

Can I for once think in WE and not just in I?

Can I remember that if I think in WE, I’m supporting my I?

.Carly

Massage as a wholistic system

interconnected system of self, world, body, mind, energy, etc…

Somatic Massage

The body is a whole system.

Physical, psychological, emotional, energetic. When we work on the physical we affect the whole.

Bringing awareness of energetic blockages and seeing images related allows energy to circulate allowing a new story to be written.

What can we do with this relaxation, this surrender, this letting go ?

How can that allow us to let go of the identity and story that we hold on to in our bodies that affects our current relationship to life as we live it ?

Can the energetic flow that is allowed to circulate in a massage become a source for doing good in the world ? 

Bringing awareness to our hurts, wounds and blockages allows energy to flow in those spaces.

What good could we do with the new energy that flows, how can we contribute to the better wellness of a whole planet ? 

Carly

About interconnection

Better to feel numb and complacent than to feel a passion you can’t do anything about. 

The world around is dying but as long as I have my inexpensive chairs made in China made from the carbon imprint of airplanes, boats, cars , chemicals, non bio-degradable plastic and polluted rivers. It cost 5 times less than the chair from the local store, that by the way, is now out of business. But if I bought that non existant local chair for 5 times more, I have to work that much more at a job I hate to support the planet. 

Which is worse ?

It feels like we are a serpent biting its own tail, a machine that once started can never be stopped. To dismount the entire system would call for a dire disaster. Or a drastic wake up call. And thus perhaps the wake up call is allowing the planet to begin to die, where food becomes scarce, poor quality, and expensive, where people work costantly to pay for bad food and small houses, where drinking water costs a small fortune, where we become bigger slaves than we already are. 

When the whole world goes on strike against eachother, because in reality we can only blame ourseselves for thinking about just looking out for ourselves for so long. We can curse the precursors, the selfish in the beginning who made us all become selfish for fear of lack. 

But in the end we can only curse ourselves. 

So what to do ?

Go plant seaweed because the reefs are dying. 

Save the oceans now as the temperature still goes up unless they stop tilling. 

They’ll stop tilling when we start demanding quality food. 

We will start demanding quality food when we begin to see our wallet suffer from hospital bills.

We will begin to see more money when we stop giving it to people who use it to supply products that hurt the planet. 

We will begin to see more money when we begin to repair our sensation of inner lack that must be filled by objects. 

We will stop feeling the sensation of inner lack when we stop looking at all we don’t have and begin appreciating what we do have. 

We will begin appreciating what we do have when we begin to have real relationships, real exchanges, real quality time spent in nature, planting, building, growing, in family, in community, in prayer, in worship, in gratitude, in respect and in working together. 

Reviving the spirit of gift, of roles, of a biodiverse community of people, animals and nature living together. 

When we aren’t dependent on money for food and shelter. We won’t have to chase after someone else to produce our food, to make our furniture, sell us our phones, offer us jobs in the city, where we fill our houses and minds with distractions to numb the part that has died. 

Perhaps we must get to the point of massive urgency to drop all our norms, what we have been accustomed to, to truly understand the value of food, water, sun, rain, shelter, people, animals, trees, bugs, etc… 

When the privileged get things taken away one by one only then do we recognise the hole that is left when it is no longer there, and when we get the point of feeling the pain of a howling hole, we will act… but hopefully we can awaken to the urgency before the reconstruction is too massive to take on… 

Carly