Atlantic Coastal Therapy

Everyone has an inner child that needs attention, and no matter how old you are, your inner child is still there and begging for your attention.

Thought this was too good not to share.. Be Open BY MADISYN TAYLOR As we live, we will go through the processes of opening to new information, integrating it, and stabilizing our worldview.... Living in an information age, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the constant influx of scientific studies, breaking news, and even spiritual revelations that fill our bookshelves, radio waves, and in-boxes. No sooner have we decided what to eat or how to think about the universe than a new study or book comes out confounding our well-researched opinion. After a while, we may be tempted to dismiss or ignore new information in the interest of stabilizing our point of view, and this is understandable. Rather than closing down, we might try instead to remain open by allowing our intuition to guide us. For example, contradictory studies concerning foods that are good for you and foods that are bad for you are plentiful. At a certain point, though, we can feel for ourselves whether coffee or tomatoes are good for us or not. The answer is different for each individual, and this is something that a scientific study can't quite account for. All we can do is take in the information and process it through our own systems of understanding. In the end, only we can decide what information, ideas, and concepts we will integrate. Remaining open allows us to continually change and shift by checking in with ourselves as we learn new information. It keeps us flexible and alert, and while it can feel a bit like being thrown off balance all the time, this openness is essential to the process of growth and expansion. Perhaps the key is realizing that we are not going to finally get to some stable place of having it all figured out. Throughout our lives we will go through the processes of opening to new information, integrating it, and stabilizing our worldview. No sooner will we have reached some kind of stability than it will be time to open again to new information, which is inherently destabilizing. If we see ourselves as surfers riding the incoming waves of information and inspiration, always open and willing to attune ourselves to the next shift, we will see how blessed we are to have this opportunity to play on the waves and, most of all, to enjoy the ride.

Happy Thursday.... "If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results." -- Jack Dixon

Have a great September 1.....

Happy Tuesday. We all have some story that reminds us of heartbreak from either the recent past or longer. We can use this "story" as part of our journey without letting it rule our present. In our life now we all have some kind of pain, whether it be sadness, frustration, regret or anger et, etc. Notice this pain within yourself, watch it closely, and see that it’s caused by whatever story you have in your head about what happened in the past . Your mind might insist that th...e pain you feel is caused by what happened (not by the story in your head about it), but what happened in the past is NOT happening right now. It’s over. It has passed. But the pain is still happening right now because of the story you’ve been subconsciously telling yourself about that past incident. Note that story does not mean fake story. It also does not mean true story. The word story in the context of your self-evaluation doesn’t have to imply true or false, positive or negative, or any other kind of forceful judgment call. It’s simply a process that’s happening inside your head: You are remembering something that happened. You subconsciously perceive yourself as a victim of this incident. Your memory of what happened causes a strong emotion in you. So just notice what story you have, without judging it, and without judging yourself. It’s natural to have a story; we all have stories. See yours for what it is. And see that it’s causing you pain. Then do your best to change your response Of course, as I'm sure you are aware, that's sometimes much easier said than done. Letting go and responding better in the present takes guidance and practice so give yourself a gift and practice telling yourself something more empowering to help use this to change your response..

Happy Monday, Although the current world issues are ever present on our minds now, we need to think about how a "mind shift" could help change our attitudes. Thinking about bringing awareness to the narrative you’re telling yourself, about yourself. You have a narrative about yourself (or perhaps a series of them) that you recite to yourself daily. This is your mental movie, and it’s a feature film that plays on repeat in your mind. Your movie is about who you are: you ha...ve a chubby tummy, your skin is too dark, you aren’t smart, you aren’t lovable you aren’t good enough. Start to pay attention when your movie playswhen you feel anxiety about being who you arebecause it affects everything you do. Realize that this movie isn’t real, it isn’t true, and it isn’t you. It’s just a train of thought that can be stoppeda script that can be rewritten. 2. Rewrite the script (edit the storyline of your mental movie). Your new script will replace that played-out one that keeps running in your cerebral theater. And this time you will consciously craft it. Start with the fact that you are a good person who is learning and working on getting better. Then ask people who love you to tell you why you’re lovable. And ask people who respect you to tell you why they do. Use their stories as scenes in your new movie script. Then fill in the blanks with recent moments and outcomes in your life that you are grateful for. Try to focus on the things you don’t celebrate enough, and the things you don’t give yourself enough credit for. So take this as a bottomline... Think better about yourself, and live better despite your challenges! Hang in there... See more

Too good not to share.. 1 Tiny Yet Hard Step You Need to Take for Yourself Too often people overestimate the significance of one big defining moment and underestimate the value of making good decisions and tiny steps of progress on a daily basis. You’re probably familiar with what’s known as the Serenity Prayer. It goes like this:...Continue reading

Happy Thursday, Wanted to share some thoughts during this very difficult time in our lives.I want to remind you that TODAY is the first day of the rest of your life. The road ahead is wide open. You CAN think better and live better! But first you need to give up... 1. Who you once were in the past. When times get tough, our worst battle is often between what we remember and what we presently feel. Thus, one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make is when to stay put and struggle harder or when to just take your memories/lessons and move forward. Sometimes you have to step outside of the person you’ve been, and remember the person you were meant to be, the person you are capable of being, and the person you truly are today. 2. Overlooking everything that’s wonderful right now. When you stay stuck in regret of the life you think you should have had, you end up missing the beauty of what you do have. Not all the puzzle pieces of life will seem to fit together at first, but in time you’ll realize they do, perfectly. So thank the things that didn’t work out, because they just made room for the things that will. And thank the ones who walked away from you, because they just made room for the ones who won’t. What's in front of you right now is a great opportunity! The bottom line is that the biggest and most complex obstacle you will ever have to overcome is your own mind. Let that sink in for a moment. You aren't responsible for everything that happens to you in life, but you ARE responsible for undoing the debilitating thinking patterns these undesirable outcomes create. Again, when you think better about your circumstances, you are able to live better in spite of them.

Happy Monday, I read this in an email and thought I would share this message... We are all in this together, so always be kinder than necessary. What goes around comes around. No one has ever made themselves strong by showing how small someone else is. Everyone you meet is learning something, is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something. Know this. And be extra kind today. In other words, don’t just preach online.... Actually do the difficult things, too. Be compassionate in whatever way you can. Be a beacon of hope to people you pass on the street. Embody what you preach. Many of the kindest gestures you’ll ever make, and the most important things you’ll ever do, won’t come easy and will never be seen publicly. Do them anyway

During this time when our future is so uncertain we tend to distract ourselves away from stressors. However our distractions show up as avoidance to cope with our anxiety and this is not always a healthy way to manage our stressors. We think of avoidance as a healthy coping strategy but it is exactly just the opposite. What we need to learn is how to compartmentalize our thoughts instead of avoid them. Avoidance ,distraction or numbing is when you continually distract your an...xiety(thoughts) away from the problem and never work towards a solution. This can be very unhealthy when it comes to major issues that you have at least some control over changing; such as a job loss, conflict in a relationship, etc. If you consistently avoid thinking of how to make these types of situations better, the problem will likely never get better. I call these coping tools , safety strategies- tools that our brain has come up with in order to protect the "hijacking" of our brain. We have either underestimated our ability to handle the "threat" or overestimated the "threat" itself. This only amplifies our anxiety. On the other hand, "compartmentalizing" your thoughts can be very helpful. This is when you are able to distract your thoughts away from the troubling or stressful situation, but only for a certain amount of time; with the plan to come back to it and deal with in a productive way. We can also learn how to reset these safety strategies so that we do not get hijacked by these thoughts. Hope this helps in our time of "uncertainty".

Good Morning, In my opinion this word is so underused and I feel we need to be very mindful in today's situation .. Have a great day.. INTEGRITY: We can do the right thing, despite the temptations we all face

Great article for today.... How to Practice Letting Go (When You Catch Yourself Holding On) WRITTEN by MARC CHERNOFF How to Practice Letting Go (When You Catch Yourself Holding On)...Continue reading