DE-STRESS: STRATEGIES, SOLUTIONS, & SELF-AWARENESS

DE-STRESS: STRATEGIES, SOLUTIONS, & SELF-AWARENESS

Debi Fries, MFT 818-635-4202

[email protected]

Meditation The practice of paying attention and focusing awareness, being fully conscious in the here and now

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“My l i fe has been f i l led with ter r ib le misfor tunes , most of which have never happened” – Mark Twain

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Meditate

The Sympathetic Nervous System •  Threat = fight or flight response •  Stress produces large amounts of cortisol and

adrenaline – This increases our heart rate, blood pressure, and

respiration

– Has the power to make us sick

•  The parasympathetic system reverses these symptoms and allows us to be more emotionally balanced

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Mindfulness and Meditation Can improve our ability to sustain attention, reduce stress, create new neural pathways, treat heart disease, improve sleep, reduce chronic pain, lower blood pressure, etc.

Mindfulness – •  The intention to be present

in the here and now •  Fully engaged in whatever

is happening •  Free from distraction or

judgment •  Soft, open mind          

Meditation – •  Simple exercise to become

mindful •  Providing optimum

conditions for training the mind to be calmer, cleaner, and kinder

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Self-Reflection

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Good Stress •  Improve Memory •  Enhance performance

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Hugging

•  Oxytocin is released when we are under stress –  Benefits of oxytocin are enhanced by social contact and

support •  When a hug lasts 20 seconds, there is a therapeutic effect on the

body and mind –  A sincere huge produces oxytocin – “the love hormone” –  Helps us to relax, feel safe and calm our fears and anxiety

•  Hugs not Drugs!

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INTEGRATED BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY (IBP)

•  A unique, non-invasive body-mind psychotherapy •  Shifts body-mind consciousness into highly integrated states of well-

being, constancy, and core sense of self •  Enables identity and release of holding patterns •  Teaches the somatic and mental health tools needed to sustain

profound states, despite interruptions •  Clients experience themselves, others, and the world around them

differently •  Allows for living in a highly integrated state of well-being, out of the

core sense of self •  Composed of breathwork, fragmentation, and interruptions

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BREATHWORK

•  Essence of the bodywork •  Reveals muscular holding patterns •  Puts people in touch with their

emotions, allowing a chance to re-experience their sense of understanding of well-being –  i.e. redeveloping a sense of self

and healthy narcissism •  Allows one to expand his/her body

and capacity for containing feelings

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FRAGMENTATION

•  Reversion to the primitive or potential self •  Differentiated body, emotions, and other people •  The sense of being annihilated, or losing one’s sense of identity •  Repair through bonding and mirroring –  Creating a consistent, complete picture or image of oneself,

forming a cohesive whole

INTERRUPTIONS

•  A break in the process in development of the self

•  Usually an injury that causes a child to develop defensive character styles to prevent further injury

•  Prevents or inhibits future growth of the self –  To resume development, one must go

back to the point where development was interrupted

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•  Core Self – the true nature with which we are born with, who we are genetically, energetically, and spiritually

•  Primary Scenario – the total environment or ambience into which a child is born

•  Character Style – the rigidified pattern of behaviors determined by the various injuries suffered during the early years of life

•  Agency – a habit of self abandonment in the guise of helping others

•  Basic Fault – the primary interruptions to our interior sense of wellbeing and constancy

•  Sense of Self – feeling of identity and continuity experienced in the body, as well as the cognitive/verbal structure of the mind

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Tools to Take With You

•  Breathing •  Mindfulness •  Meditation •  Exercise •  Nutrition •  Good Sleep •  Being out in nature •  Stay connected in loving relationships

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THANK YOU!

Debi Fries, MFT 818-635-4204

[email protected]

Take a little of this love and joy with you.

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