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Sharing – Don’t Touch Me: Unwanted Affection Causes Stress
Turns out, we’re all a lot more complicated. If you read the rest of the article, what you’ll see is that none of this is simple, not only is there the line between wanted and unwanted affection, there’s also a point where we’ve simply had enough and don’t want more, and that line is not going to be the same for everyone.
All of this leads me to believe that the best way to navigate this in romantic relationships, or just with family and friends, is to communicate openly about what we want and don’t want.
Believe it or not, abuse survivors, you can do that. You can create your own boundaries, and ask for what you want in any relationship. It just takes some time to learn how.
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Sharing – Shower Meditation: Wash Away Your Stress and Anxiety
So, maybe Steven’s suggestion to start with a shower meditation might work for some of you who struggle like me. I’m going to try it, assuming I remember to actually do it instead of rushing to get finished and on to the next thing!
How do you incorporate mindfulness or meditation into your daily activities? Does it help you?
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Why do we get Stressed About Replying Quickly?
My first thought, obviously, was about the workplace and the culture we have created there that rewards being “always-on” but I think so much of this pressure permeates beyond work. As technology has become commonplace we all live with this pressure and this expectation. Think about it, how many times in a given week are you apologizing to friends and family because you couldn’t get back to them right away?
I do it all the time.
Heck, I’ve gotten text messages while having lunch or dinner with a friend, catching up with someone I haven’t gotten to see much for the last couple of years, and then apologized for doing that and being unavailable. Why? That makes no sense but we live in a culture where being connected to technology all the time also means that we should be responsive all the time. Or at least we feel like we should. Frankly, that’s a lot of pressure.
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Reviews Elsewhere – Trauma Survivor’s Guide to Coping With Panic Attacks by Nicole Dake
I found this review by Kevin C of this book by Nicole Dake and was immediately drawn to the title. As a trauma survivor panic attacks have been a part of my life at various times and I know the same is true for many other survivors I’ve talked to.
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Sharing – Five tips on setting boundaries for your mental health
The other thing to keep in mind is that no one else is going to set the boundaries for you that you need. They will set the boundaries that they want for you. That includes family, friends, and employers. They won’t know the limits of your mental health, and they may not even care about them. Some will, but you still need to draw them yourself and then communicate them.
And, maybe. most of all, allow everyone to set their boundaries and respect them. Maybe we could all get some improved mental health if we all understood that a little bit better.
