Breathing Hope!

I have been sharing a lot of the different strategies that I use to keep myself going on my life journey over the last few weeks. I have shared about playing music, mindfulness, finding balance, and surrounding myself with people I find to be positive and loving. One of the strategies I have been using for the last year or so I haven't shared yet and the other night as I sat working on some new pages in my Smash Journal I realized I haven't shared much if anything about this side of my self care routines. I have shared with you about using a traditional journal to sit and write out whatever is on my mind with no boundaries or judgment of what comes out of the pen onto the page. I however am always attracted to more then just pen and paper, the creative side of me must show with color. It is a piece of who I am. So I started a Smash Journal. For those of you who may have questions on what a smash journal or art journal is, it's very simple. I journal and write while usin...

      Mindfulness brings about a refreshing clearness to life and the visions I have for myself and the life I choose to live. Mindfulness brings mental and emotional warmth, the kind you physically feel when you drink a warm cup of coffee or tea on a bitter winter day.  Mindfulness brings laughter, expression, and understanding.  Mindfulness brings self awareness and self worth allowing you to grow to your full potential and capacities.  Mindfulness brings peace of mind, body, and soul to connect your whole being.  Mindfulness bring balance.       Over the last six or so weeks I have been sharing with here on my blog the struggles I have been facing with my depression and anxiety battle. Last week I shared that the situation seemed out of control and in some regards felt unmanageable and I enlisted help from many others around me to find strength and perseverance in the never ending journey to find balance within...

    These past few weeks have been extremely challenging for me. I have been in one of those ruts again. One of those ruts filled will anxiety attacks, panic stricken dreams, and depression creeping into everything I did. I returned to school two weeks ago this past Sunday and for me those first two weeks were difficult partly because of the change in routine, all of the things swirling in my head in my personal life, and adjusting to being a student in a college classroom again after spending last semester student teaching every day. Along with those struggles came the realization that in 4 short months I will graduate leaving this place that for me has come with so many positive changes. In my four years here at LVC I have found myself and learned that I could stand on my own two feet which I often have questioned and some days still do.     With all of this change, realizations, and thoughts going through my head it has been very hard to keep myself p...