By Michael Allison, performance and polyvagal coach “He will lie, cheat, steal and do whatever it takes to win!” No, this isn’t a quote about a former president; this is a text message I received from a parent of a 14-year-old junior tennis player. This parent was upset that his boy gave up and did…
By Rachel Culp and Kathleen Bogart Words have power. This is also true of the words we use around disability. If you scroll through news articles about people with disabilities, you may see words or phrases like “stricken with multiple sclerosis,” “burn victim,” or “suffering from polio.” This language is rooted in ableism and uses…
Source: Pexels CC, Meruyert Gonullu For decades, parents have been implored by various “experts” to do more for their children. Parents are urged to speak regularly to their children (at least 21,000 words per day to preschoolers, even apparently if there is nothing useful to say), play regularly with them, drive them to places they…
Source: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash Owning and caring for a dog has its costs. Financially, the average dog costs $23,000 to feed and care for over its 8- to 15-year life span. Emotionally, the hard reality is that most of us will outlive our dogs. The day will come when we have to say goodbye to a…
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When my niece was a teenager, she asked a group of her friends to guess the number of calories in a serving of corn nuts she was eating. Because none of them had ever eaten corn nuts before, she posed the question as more of a random game of trivia than out of any concern…
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Acts of service, words of affirmation, giving and receiving gifts, physical touch, and spending quality time are five types of endearment identified by Gary Chapman in his book, The Five Love Languages. Often a person prefers one mode of affection over another. For example, words of affirmation may be more meaningful to a partner than…
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One thing is very clear from the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial–the degree to which people readily believe or don’t believe information about events they know little to nothing about. Depp is suing Heard for alleged defamation in a 2018 Washington Post column where she identified herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence.”…
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Source: Noah Stillman/Unsplash When I was pregnant with my only child, I was back in contact with my mother; at thirty-eight, I had cycled in and out of estrangement numerous times, still hoping there might be a resolution. I did not know then, as I do now, that cycling in and out isn’t usual, as…
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This is the real secret of life to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play. ~Alan W. Watts Play is not just a state of pleasure, it is a physiological state that reflects a sense of safety. You cannot…
What’s Really Keeping You Up At Night and Stress Out? Source: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels Sleep is one of the most important factors in self-care, productivity, and human performance. However, according to the American Sleep Association, some 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults experience insomnia, the most common type of sleep…
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