DBT OC Blog
How do DBTOC Staff Self-Care?
Posted by DBT Center of Orange County in Benefits of DBT, Mindfulness, Wellness
We at DBTOC believe self-care is vital to our well-being. When we don’t take care of ourselves we can feel exhausted, depleted and resentful. On the other hand, when we are practicing self-care, we tend to have more energy, feel better, think more clearly and make steps to accomplish our goals and live a life aligned with our values.Our team has been revamping our personal self-care routines and learning new ways to support each other’s wellness. We attended a workshop to be curious about our current self-care practices and brainstorm ways to improve our regimens. We attended a yoga class as a team. We want to now share with you some of our team’s self-care tips!
Exploring The Science Behind Yoga
Posted by Kathy Du Vernet, M.S., CYT, E-RYT 500 in Mindfulness
A new film on UPLIFT, The Science Behind Yoga, interviews a variety of experts to discuss the scientific evidence showing the many benefits of yoga. This, along with other research on yoga and meditation, is good news for yogis to share with their more skeptical friends who often want to see “hard evidence.” As yogis, we have personally experienced and touted the benefits of our practices, and now modern science is reporting significant evidence supporting many of our claims!
Yoga and meditation can help re-shape the brain as well as reduce stress and anxiety
According to neuroscientists, as individuals continue to meditate and engage in meditative body-mind practices such as yoga, the brain actually begins to reshape itself. Studies have shown that yoga and other mindfulness-based practices can reduce stress and anxiety, and improve physical health by activating the parasympathetic nervous system which allows an individual to relax. Over 160 of these studies have shown that meditation had a positive effect on improving anxiety and stress, and research with people who had clinical levels of anxiety found that 90% of those studied experienced significant reductions in their anxiety.
7 Mindful Eating Tips
Posted by DBT Center of Orange County in Mindfulness
National Eating Disorders Awareness week is February 21-27. The goal is to increase attention and provide information to the public about eating disorders. By increasing our awareness, we can intervene sooner and improve the likelihood of recovery for millions of people suffering. For more information about events in your area please visit www.nationaleatingdisorders.org.
Loving Kindness
Posted by Erin Keller in Mindfulness
As we start a New Year, the word ‘resolution’ comes up more often than not whether it’s starting a new diet, making the bed regularly, or implementing an exercise routine in one’s daily life. When I sat down to write my own resolutions for the 2016 year, I intentionally wanted to think from a DBT perspective. One of the key concepts in DBT is that of Mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of being aware of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in the present moment. I have recently taken up yoga and appreciate the meditative state it provides me whether done in the morning to calmly start my day or done in the evening to wind down the day’s events. With wanting to continue this practice on a regular basis in the New Year as one of my resolutions, I was reminded of the DBT skill, ‘Loving Kindness Meditation.’
The Power of Mindfulness
Posted by Ashley in Mindfulness
Yesterday in our Intensive Outpatient Program, Kathy Purdy MFTI, led a mindfulness practice with group members. Kathy, who has had many years of training in yoga and meditation practice, took the group on a mindfulness walk, inviting them to notice their surroundings and to focus on the ‘spaces in-between’. One group member wrote the following poem about her experience. Our DBT team is extremely touched by this beautiful and insightful writing and wanted to share it with you.
Mindfulness Practices: Short, Simple and Sweet
Posted by Keren Clark, LMFT in Mindfulness
The first skills learned in DBT skills training those of mindfulness. In DBT we actually refer to them as skills to “learn to take hold of our minds”. The skills taught in the modules that follow are based upon or require some facility with mindfulness, with being able to take hold or our minds, to be used effectively. To that end, we would like to offer a small primer on some short, simple and sweet mindfulness practices.
How to Get to Wise Mind
Posted by Dr. Michele Lob PsyD., MFT, CEDS in Mindfulness
We are shaped by our thoughts; We become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
I was thinking about Dialectical Behavior Therapy the other day and how it has changed my life! With roots in Zen philosophy and behavioral theory, my practice of DBT has changed my relationship with myself, others, and the way I view the world. I used to be an emotionally reactive person who functioned primarily in what we DBT’ers refer to as Emotion Mind. This is when you allow everything to ‘get to you’. People who love you tell you that you are too sensitive; too reactive! I came to realize that this way of being in the world does not make for a happy, balanced, and peaceful life. I used to function on hypervigilance, hypersensitivity, and reactivity.
