By: karengray | July 08, 2019

National Simplicity Day is observed on July 12th in honor of Henry David Thoreau Thoreau is well-known by many for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. In our increasingly fast and busy lifestyles, National Simplicity Day is an opportunity to take a step back and think about slowing down, decluttering, and striving for balance.


For some, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed in the hustle of keeping up with the everyday demands of work, education, family, friends, and other responsibilities. Others may feel that they have a good handle on things, but may still feel out of balance, as if something is missing or they aren’t moving forward in the way they’d like to.


To restore balance and simplicity, it can be v...

Category: Self Care 

Tags: emotions, stress, NLP 

By: karengray | April 15, 2019

When we look at it simply, your comfort zone is a behavioral space, or a mental space, where your activities and behaviors fit inside a nice steady routine and pattern that minimizes stress and risk. It provides a state of mental security. When you stay inside your comfort zone you benefit in obvious ways, enjoying regular happiness, low anxiety, and reduced stress.


The idea of the comfort zone goes back to 1908 when psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John D. Dodson explained that a state of relative comfort created a steady level of performance. When we are able to maintain a steady and predictable state, then we can anticipate consistent results. And this sounds pretty good, until we want things to change.


In order to maximize performance w...

Category: Self Improvement 

Tags: stress, success, goals 

By: karengray | February 26, 2019

I became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in the summer of 2001. After completing my certification, I started working with my town’s ambulance service. I lived in a small town in rural Vermont, and the ambulance calls were rarely anything like you see on TV or hear about from larger cities, but we certainly kept busy.

 

Most of our calls were to the local ski area, and the nursing homes, and the occasional car accident. Most of them were pretty non-eventful and I don’t remember them. But some of them were really bad and those did have a lasting negative effect.

 

I started “dealing” with the emotional toll like a lot of my peers, I went out after the call was over and drank. In other words, I didn’t deal with it at all. The stre...

Category: PTSD 

Tags: self care, stress, anxiety 

What is Scarcity Mindset and How is it Hurting You?

By: karengray | December 10, 2018

I want to take a minute and step away from the Holiday theme to talk about something called the Scarcity Mindset. In short, this is the feeling that there is not enough ______ to go around. This perception is stressful and ultimately harmful to our success, and you can let it go.


There are enough jobs, enough clients, enough hours in the day, and enough money for everything you need. Once you fall into the trap of thinking that there isn't enough of these things, then you set yourself up for anxiety, stress, bitterness, and missed opportunities.


What is Scarcity Mindset?

We have all heard some version of the term “Predetermined Destiny”, meaning that what you focus on is what you get. As it turns out, there is a lot of truth in that, and it ha...

By: karengray | November 26, 2018

For many of us, the Holiday Season means family, friends, caroling, gathering, feasting, and parities, shopping and gifts. And for many of us the Holiday Season also means stress, anxiety, and fears.


We could talk about the ways and reasons that we get stressed out preparing to impress family and friends with a holiday feast, and we could discuss the emotional traumas that resurface when we think about facing family that we might otherwise avoid, and we could even talk about whether it is the winter driving or that we have to fly across the country that sends us into a panic attack.


And yes, we could talk about how people tend to fall back into bad habits this time of year, giving in to cravings, indulging a little more in the alcohol, and ho...