I want to dive into the art of tuning in and communicating with our minds and bodies. You know that internal dialogue that helps us figure out what we’re feeling and what our bodies need.

I want to paint a picture here. Imagine you are going out with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. You get excited because you will share memories and stories, but most of all you want to spend time with your friend.

When the energy in my body feels too much, either positively or negatively, I find comfort in a variety of techniques that assist me in controlling and directing that energy. 

When a prominent feeling takes over, I can feel it in my chest, coating my rib cage and descending onto my beating heart like a thick stew. It’s difficult to let it disperse on its own, much less make it disperse myself. 

It took me a long time to realize that people experience their emotions in different ways. For me emotions are big. But for some, they are calm. For others, they are in between. 

When it comes to being sensitive to others energy, it’s easy to feel ourselves acting in ways and responding in ways that we typically would not.

What do you think of when you think of the mind-body connection? When we talked during the Squad session last month, I spent some time thinking about this question myself.

Graduate school as a first-generation Latina is not an easy task. You juggle various things and amid the work/school tasks, you also must work with the emotions that come up.

Have you ever caught yourself engaged in a silent conversation with yourself and felt a twinge of  embarrassment. Don’t worry; you’re not alone.

In the muted backdrop of my daily life, I, Ella, carried a secret burden that felt like a relentless weight.

Recently, I learned about “automatic negative thoughts” (ANTs). You might recognize these thoughts: they are the sort that just pop into your mind and douse it in a bucket of negativity.

When the words self-talk come to mind, what do you think about? Do you see yourself repeating affirmations in the mirror in the morning? Or do you see yourself walking down the street, muttering as you keep your composure?

Throughout my mental health journey, I’ve seen a lot of inspirational messages in aesthetics images scattered throughout classrooms and google image search results.

As someone who struggles with depression, I often feel like some days are pointless, or without purpose.

Have you ever dropped something on the ground, spilled something, got caught on a door handle, and immediately shouted out (internally to yourself, or out loud)

What happens when someone tells us something over and over? Sometimes these words get down into our soul and we believe what they tell us.

It is a common idea that a new year means new goals. This is going to be the year that we change ourselves. This is going to be the year that we shape ourselves into a better being. 

We all know that feeling of being startled. Maybe your friend jumped out of a closet to scare you. Maybe you just ran away from a barking dog.

Have you ever experienced responding to someone in a snappy way without meaning to?

There it is, U. Well, not quite your “U”, since this is a generalized diagram, but hopefully it will serve as the base for visualization of your “U”.