Anorexia Nervosa

There is More talk about Self-Care than the Most Critical Key to Happiness and Great Relationships of all types——-“SELF-LOVE”.

With this in-depth look at what Self-Love looks like-for your own personal growth, I would like you to take an honest look inwards and determine if you Practice Self-Love.
If you’re not, or if you’re not doing all of the bullet points given below, don’t worry— “Each morning, we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”

As always, let’s have a great conversation about this topic below 👇 in the comments where you can use this space for your own place in your mental wellness journey. Not your mental illness journey— I am here as a friend to guide you through to the other side as much as possible—yes, that is where I stand, and the magic only happens if you let me—so how about more group members join in for your sake.

The Mighty friends that have opened themselves up to this opportunity are telling me and showing me that they are really starting to get it, and they are taking bigger, new, determined steps in their lives.

"Self-Love" refers to a deeper internal state of accepting and valuing yourself unconditionally, while "self-care" focuses on taking practical actions to maintain your physical and mental wellbeing, like getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and engaging in activities you enjoy; essentially, self-love is the mindset that drives you to practice self-care. Self-Love is the mindset too that heals the pain and keeps you in the light, Determined to keep pushing away any darkness and to stop doubting yourself.

Key points to remember:
* Self-love:
* A feeling of intrinsic worth and acceptance, regardless of circumstances
* Becoming your own best friend - treating yourself with the same respect and understanding you would give a close friend.
* Be the love you never received.
* Includes embracing your flaws
* Foundation for setting healthy boundaries and prioritizing your needs
* learn to say no when needed and clearly explain why
* Don’t seek Anyone’s validation
* Positive self-talk: Use encouraging language to speak to yourself, focusing on your strengths and accomplishments.
* Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings, recognizing negative self-talk and actively replacing it with positive affirmations/relabel upsetting thoughts
* Say something nice to yourself in the mirror — looking into your eyes & smile at yourself & say “I love you”and your name. (Yes, I actually stop myself to do this & it’s Wonderful)
* cultivate self-compassion
* Encourage Yourself
* Talk to someone you trust who *Has The Capacity To Listen*-and, Another Big Key Here is that ***Being vulnerable - completely honest and thorough- about what you’re going through with someone else is a major form of self-love because you’re taking the time to dig deep, regardless of how uncomfortable it is, And, on top of that, you’re showing yourself that you want to work out whatever’s going on with you***
* avoid comparing yourself to others
* practice gratitude
* Seek out opportunities for growth
* Creating a safe zone all your own is an act of self-love because it gives you a designated area where you can focus on your needs and emotions instead of other people’s. The key here is creating a space that feels good and peaceful when life is neither of those things.
#MentalHealth #Mindfulness #Selflove #Selfcare #Selfharm #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Suicide #Trauma #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Agoraphobia #BingeEatingDisorder #EatingDisorders #EatingDisorder #ChronicIllness #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #LymeDisease #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #PTSDSupportAndRecovery #PTSD #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #AutonomicDysfunction #AuditoryProcessingDisorder #Deafness #ADHDInGirls #ADHD #AspergersSyndrome #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Addiction #CerebralPalsy #IntellectualDisability #Disability #Blindness #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorderBPD #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #Migraine #IfYouFeelHopeless #BrainInjury #MotorDisorders #MultipleSclerosis #RheumatoidArthritis #Arthritis #Grief #Loneliness #AnorexiaNervosa #Relationships #SocialAnxiety #FamilyAndFriends #Caregiving #CrohnsDisease #CysticFibrosis #AlopeciaAreata #Cancers #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #ParkinsonsDisease #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #Stroke #Diabetes #SelfharmRecovery #RareDisease #DownSyndrome #AddisonsDisease #IrritableBowelSyndromeIBS #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #ObsessiveCompulsiveandRelatedDisorders #ObsessiveCompulsivePersonalityDisorder #DissociativeIdentityDisorder

And then, we will all Keep Doing This VITAL, easy, short practice.

One of the many things I learned from the “Resilience Skills” University online course I took that I keep teaching you about here only in this group is that Resilience Needs Mindfulness.

And, 1 of the first things to learn about Mindfulness is how to practice conscious breathing and why.

Mindfulness conscious breathing exercise to practice daily 3 or 4 times—
In/Out: This is the first practice on Conscious Breathing:

breathe in (a good, deep inhale), and say or think “I know that I am breathing in”,
breathe out (a longer, full exhale), and say or think “I know that I am breathing out”

After a while of practicing this, you can shorten the cue words to saying or thinking simply “In” on the Inhale, and “Out” on the Exhale.

“When we continue to practice like this, something wonderful happens—-we stop the thinking.
This is already a miracle happening because when we think too much, we are not truly ourselves. But this way, our mind and our body becomes aligned/in the same place; instead of our body here but our mind is elsewhere— in the past or in the future.

If we practice breathing in and out with some concentration, we attain what is called the oneness of body and mind.
The body and mind are unified and you begin to be there truly yourself.

When you are not really there, you cannot see things clearly and deeply. You miss everything, everything seems to you not clear, vague.”

Running to the future or going back to the past- you miss life, that is only here in the present moment.

Breathing in and out consciously is how to get back to the present moment.

What you are looking for —joy, inner peace, freedom …is all in the present moment.

If you feel agitated and not solid, vulnerable, breakable — then you practice this in order to get solid again:

Practice sitting in a stable position and practice breathing in and out. Saying “breathing in, I see myself as a mountain, breathing out I feel solid.

From time to time, a very strong emotion overwhelms us. That emotion could be anger or despair or fear. And when we are overwhelmed by a strong emotion we feel very vulnerable, like we may die, But we are more than our emotions. We are more solid than we think. And therefore, practicing being solid like a mountain is very helpful.

Source: Thich Nhat Hahn’s The Art of Mindful Living (read by the great man himself on YouTube — I am always so calmed by his voice even.)

#Mindfulness #MentalHealth #Selfcare #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MoodDisorders #PTSD #PTSDSupportAndRecovery #Agoraphobia #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #Trauma #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #AnorexiaNervosa #Addiction #EatingDisorders #Selfharm #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Grief #Suicide #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #CerebralPalsy #Cancer #MultipleSclerosis #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ADHD #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #PanicAttacks #PanicAttack #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyCondition #Relationships #FamilyAndFriends #RareDisease #RheumatoidArthritis #Arthritis #CrohnsDisease #NarcissisticPersonalityDisorder #Caregiving #SocialAnxiety

This is about choosing to look forward with hope and curiosity even when the path ahead feels uncertain.

To embrace the future, you must first accept that change is inevitable.

Life is a series of transitions and every ending, no matter how painful, creates space for a new beginning.

It’s easy to focus on what we have lost; to mourn the life we thought we’d have; or the plans that didn’t work out; but by fixating on what’s gone, we miss the opportunities unfolding before us. The beauty of what’s next lies in its potential; it’s the possibility of discovering something you’ve never experienced —- meeting someone who changes your perspective or stepping into a version of yourself you never imagined.

The future is not something to fear; it’s something to be curious about; what lessons are waiting for you; what dreams are yet to be realized; what joy is just around the corner?

Embracing the future requires a shift in mindset. It’s about reframing uncertainty as an adventure rather than a threat; yes, the unknown can be scary, it can make you feel unsteady and vulnerable; but it can also be exhilarating.

The greatest stories in life often come from stepping into the unknown; from daring to take a leap even when you don’t know where you will land.

Think of a time in your life when something unexpected Led to a positive change.

These moments remind us that life often works in ways we don’t understand in the moment, but they lead us to exactly where we need to be.

To embrace the beauty of what’s next, you also need to cultivate trust of yourself, and trust in the process of life.
Trust that you are resilient enough to handle whatever comes your way. Trust that even if things don’t go as planned, they can still turn out beautifully.
And trust that the challenges that you face are shaping you into someone stronger, wiser, and more capable.

It’s important to remember that moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting the past; the past is part of your story; it’s okay to carry it with you; but don’t let it hold you back; use it as a foundation to build upon, not a weight that keeps you anchored in one place.

Embracing the future also means staying open to possibilities— sometimes the beauty of what’s next doesn’t look like what you expected — it may come in the form of an opportunity you didn’t seek, a path you didn’t plan, or a version of happiness you never considered.

Being open means letting go of rigid expectations and allowing life to surprise you.

And finally, embracing the beauty of what’s next is about living fully in the present.

The future isn’t something that exists out there in the distance; it’s something you create moment by moment.
Each decision you make, each step you take, is part of shaping what’s to come.

Here’s to a Happy New Year 🎆🎊 🎉 Together, we will make it Great!

Your friend in this hard thing called life,
Dawn

#MentalHealth #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MoodDisorders #Depression #ChronicIllness #Disability #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #EatingDisorders #SocialAnxiety #Agoraphobia #Selfcare #Selfharm #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PTSD #Trauma #Grief #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Suicide #ChronicPain #Mindfulness #resilience #Fibromyalgia #Migraine #POTS #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ADHD #IfYouFeelHopeless #AutismSpectrumDisorder #CrohnsDisease #Addiction #AnorexiaNervosa #Relationships #Caregiving #FamilyAndFriends

Simply remember or find/Google/ask Alexa or Siri……a line or part of a line from a song or a song title that was written for Empowering all of us.

You are welcome to add in even just one. This is easy because it is not even your words that you are adding in or articulating. The words have been given to us.

For example: I often think of this part of line from a song: “I am going to dance on broken glass.”

And this part song title, part of a line of the lyrics:
“Better Days are coming, if no one told you.”

And this longer one section of another great song:
“DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK THAT I COULD BE;
I'M THE ONE AT THE SAIL
I'M THE MASTER OF MY SEA.”

And this small section of a song that I hold close to my heart:
“Just remember who you are; how you were never one for folding; how you never liked the corner; how the dark don’t even know you.”

Let’s Go Big on this one.

Let’s make this a holiday gift you can give for free that could be exactly what Many others need Right Now.

This ties in with the image I chose for this because we are going to be taking inspiration from Christopher Reeve aka Superman in the 1978 film who famously said "A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles".

So, I say YOU are a hero.

One of our Mighty family with a boatload of reasons to question this quote and anything, just a couple days ago, found, and in a way, smartly challenged my about 4 months old post with Christopher Reeve’s other famous quote “Once you choose hope, anything is possible.”

So, if you know anything about me, you know I accepted this challenge to help her and to help even more of us.

So I went to work for all of us— researching and drafting an impactful reply (and I can at times put hours into this work for all of us.)
Because YOU are worth fighting for.

So, I researched how he could say these profoundly optimistic and empowering statements when he, Christopher Reeve, a former role model to the world as Superman, was paralyzed from the neck down after a horse riding accident at age 42. His mother wanted doctors to remove his life support, because she thought that he wouldn’t want to live like this, but he fought back.

So the meaning to his quote about HOPE is: Hope, in this sense, is a decision. It is the most important decision we can make.

This choice of Hope also is not just wishful thinking, it has to be rooted in a Believing, it must be in the form of Optimism, and it must be held together by handing it over to a trust in ourselves, a trust in the universe having our back, to any form of spirituality that does not even need to be religion based faith.

Absolutely Right Now, All of Our Mighty Family Needs help with feeling Empowered to be Hopeful and Optimistic And YOU can be a hero and participate in this mission that is greater than all of us, greater than our own social anxieties, greater than our own fears and doubts, greater than our fatigue…

Whenever you see this post, especially through the rest of the entire holidays —All of them coming up for all denominations and through and past New Years…add in a line or part of a line from a song, or a song title, that was written for Empowering all of us. That was written to speak to all of us. To Connect All of Us.

GAME ON.

GAME FACE.

YOUR friend in this hard thing called life,
Dawn

#Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MoodDisorders #Selfharm #Selfcare #Grief #ChildLoss #BipolarDisorder #Suicide #SuicidalThoughts #SuicidalIdeation #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #ChronicPain #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome #Fibromyalgia #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #PTSD #Trauma #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #AlopeciaAreata #AutoimmuneThyroidDisease #CrohnsDisease #AdrenalInsufficiency #AutonomicDysfunction #Cancers #LymeDisease #Migraine #ParkinsonsDisease #MultipleSclerosis #RareDisease #ADHD #BipolarDepression #AnorexiaNervosa #EatingDisorders #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #AutismSpectrumDisorder #AspergersSyndrome #Addiction #CerebralPalsy #RheumatoidArthritis #Arthritis #Disability #AddisonsDisease #ChronicIllness #CysticFibrosis #DownSyndrome #Epilepsy #MyCondition #musictherapy #Music #Songs #MightyMusic #IfYouFeelHopeless #WarmWishes #Agoraphobia #SocialAnxiety

Brene Brown, PhD was one of my first and most impactful teachers at the start of my healing journey and wow, did she get me so far because she is an Emotions Researcher —- she spent the past two decades studying Courage, Vulnerability, Shame, and Empathy.

I can’t recommend her enough to also empower you on your healing, growth, and evolving journey to wellbeing and moving you towards your full potential to the best version of your authentic self.

You can watch her videos on YouTube and you can find her transformative best-selling books, videos, and articles, and even resources like workbooks on her website Brené Brown

What I want to emphasize here is that you should never feel alone in your journey because there are so many thought leaders and experts in whatever it is you are struggling with or with what you want to get better at that have already walked the same path and figured out this complex, but not yours alone - human experience. Seek them out - Google them, search for them on YouTube— keep looking out for my posts and my conversations threads and replies to others where I keep giving out these free resources for all of what we need to better understand to thrive. You can always ask me too, and I will be happy to do what I can to help find the expert who can help you with Self-Empowerment. There is a very good chance that expert’s name or advice/wisdoms are already in my copious notes in my phone. I am a constant learner about life, emotions, psychology….and I take detailed notes so I have at my fingertips what I will need to thrive and to fill the gaps in my emotional intelligence and self-development—- all of the critical things to thrive in life empowered that many a therapist never shared with me.

I hope that Self-Empowerment becomes your new favorite term too.

And these critical terms that start with the word “Self”: Self-Regulation (includes emotion regulation and our own regulation of our physiology like our breath, and our heart rate); and Self-Awareness, and Self-Acceptance, and Self-Worth, and Self-Esteem, and Self-Love, Self-Compassion, Self-Efficacy, Self-Discipline, Self-Discovery, Self-Respect.
Am I missing any? Each one is of critical importance for all of us to master ourselves.

I never want you to feel alone, not seen, not validated, powerless, flawed, worthless, or any of that stuff because literally, to be very clear - it is b*llsh*t.

Please Don’t let those thoughts have any say to get the best of you, they are just thoughts - which are just mental events on autopilot, they are not facts -they do not hold any meaning unless we give it power and meaning.

Here is one of the very Motivational and Self-Empowerment talks by Brene Brown that I Especially hope that you will embrace to help you not just survive but thrive more through the difficult holidays right here For us not Against us.

“Part of redefining your narrative is deciding what role you want to play in your own story.

Are you the hero who rises against the odds?
Are you the creator who builds something beautiful from the rubble?

Or are you the person who remains stuck letting the past dictate the future?

The choice is yours.
And, it starts with a single decision that I Will Not Let My Pain Define Me.
I Will Let It Refine Me.

Your life is a story and every experience- both good and bad becomes a chapter in that story.

But here is the truth that many of us overlook— you are the author.

You have the power to decide how the story is told; how the events are interpreted; and what meaning you give to the things that happens to you.

Redefining your narrative is not about erasing the past or pretending it didn’t happen.
It’s about choosing to see it through a lens of growth, resilience, and possibility.

Often we get stuck in narratives that no longer serves us.
Perhaps you told yourself that a failure defines your worth; or maybe you adopted a story of victimhood where everything that went wrong is proof that life is unfair.

These narratives can feel real because they are rooted in genuine pain or disappointment, but just because they feel real doesn’t mean they have to remain the dominant story of your life.

Redefining your narrative starts with awareness. Ask yourself what story have I been telling about myself in my life. Is it a story of defeat, scarcity, or limitation?

Is it a story where someone else’s actions hold all of the power?

Once you identify the narrative that you have been carrying, you can begin to rewrite it.

*One of the most transformative ways to redefine your narrative is to shift your perspective on hardship.*

*Instead of viewing challenges as evidence of your inadequacy, consider them as chapters of growth.*

What did you learn from that relationship that didn’t work out?

What strength did you develop from that setback?

What doors opened after the one you wanted closed?

*When you redefine your narrative, you take ownership of your story.*

*This doesn’t mean ignoring the pain, or pretending everything was okay, it means looking at the past with compassion and choosing to see yourself not as a victim but as a survivor, a learner, and a person who is continually evolving.*

*It’s also important to remember that your narrative isn’t just shaped by what happens to you; it’s shaped by the meaning you assign to those events.*

Two people can go through similar experiences and come out with entirely different stories.

*One may see rejection as proof they’re not enough, while the other sees it as redirection towards something better — which meaning will you choose?*

With warm wishes,

You friend in this hard thing called life,

Dawn 🤗

#MentalHealth #MightyTogether #Mindfulness #CheerMeOn #CheckInWithMe #DistractMe #WarmWishes #IfYouFeelHopeless #Suicide #Selfharm #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #ChronicIllness #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Agoraphobia #Anxiety #Depression #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MoodDisorders #SocialAnxiety #Addiction #Disability #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PTSDSupportAndRecovery #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #BipolarDepression #BipolarDisorder #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #EatingDisorders #AnorexiaNervosa #ADHD #Relationships #FamilyAndFriends #CerebralPalsy #AutismSpectrumDisorder #AspergersSyndrome #RareDisease #AlopeciaAreata #Cancers #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyCondition #MultipleSclerosis #AutonomicDysfunction #PTSD #Cancer #ParkinsonsDisease #Migraine #ChronicPain #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #CrohnsDisease #RheumatoidArthritis #Caregiving