Take a listen as I discuss parenting as a trauma survivor with the wonderful Jenny Mansour @succulent_heart_healing! We talk all things from what to say to our kids regarding trauma to how we can take care of ourselves as parents ✨ It’s not always easy, but we certainly are not alone 💜
Let's Talk About It: Mental Health!
It is crucial to keep the conversation going around mental health. It is ok to not be ok. Let’s eliminate the shame and guilt surrounding our mental states. Let’s listen and support each other. Let’s take care of ourselves.
Stay well, friends 💜
Let's Talk About It: People Pleasing!
As with most things, there are pros and cons to “people pleasing”. As a people pleaser myself, I am learning ways to say no, speak up for myself, share opinions, and know that I am not any less of a good person ❤️
Let's Talk About it: Body Positivity!
I’ve always been in a rollercoaster of gaining weight, losing weight, telling myself I’m not thin enough blah blah BLAH! But it’s time to focus on loving today’s body! Not the body from 10 years ago. Not the body from before I had my kids. Not the body from when I got married. To-day’s body ❤️
So let’s all love on ourselves and be present with how we currently look. Easier said than done, but if we start small, it can be our new way of thinking ✨
**Check out @ashleygraham and @alexlight_ldn for amazing, inspirational women who are truly paving the way for women of all sizes!
Let's Talk About It: Triggers!
Triggers can happen at any time, small or large, unexpected or expected. And this week we were handed the mother load of triggers. Bill Cosby’s release evoked a mental and physical response of anger and shock and disappointment and so much more.
What do we do when a trigger occurs? Especially when it is unexpected, as triggers often are. In this installment, I discuss the raw truth behind my triggers and ways to cope.
Let’s continue to not stay silent. Let’s continue to support eachother. Let’s continue to take care of ourselves.
Stay well, friends ✨
Click the button below to listen and view this installment!
Let's Talk About It: Forgiveness!
Forgiveness is no easy feat. I blamed myself for years for not “fighting back” or “fleeing” from my attacker. The guilt becoming so unbearable at times that I would just sob.
But slowly over time, I began to understand that I did what I needed to do in order to get out of the situation alive. If I had fought back, I might not be here today. If I had tried to flee, I might not be here today. That spin on my decision making eventually led to forgiveness. Forgiveness of my actions. Forgiveness of my thoughts. Forgiveness of myself. And with that forgiveness came a wave of peace and the heaviest weight off my shoulders.
I still may not forgive everything and everyone regarding my case, but none of that seems to matter since I am at peace with myself.
Earlier this week, I discovered @theunsilentsurvivor, reading that “the body decides the best way to get through trauma without dying.” Could that not be more true! It spoke to me, and I know it will speak to others too.
Take care of yourselves and always remember you are not alone in whatever journey you are on ✨
Click the button below to watch the entire installment!
Let's Talk About It: Self-Care!
Join me in discussing self-care and my spin on it from the beautiful Outer Banks in North Carolina! We can all get burned out, run down, exhausted. And for those recovering from trauma, these can be even more so.
Taking a drive, doing your favorite hobby, journaling, just to name a few, I talk about my personal self-care success with all three. Bonus, one of these explains how I landed on the title of my book, Beads!
Self-care is essential to our well-being. However you can escape reality and truly unwind, I say go for it. In the meantime, let’s talk about it✨
Take care of yourselves, friends!
Click the button below to view this installment on Instagram!
Let's Talk About It: Reporting!
My personal experience with reporting my rape was awful, to put it bluntly. The detectives did not believe me and instead “interrogated” me to try and poke holes in my story.
Reporting a rape can be extremely difficult, discouraging, and defeating. Join me as I discuss reporting statistics, my personal reporting experience, and two @netflix shows that accurately depict what the reporting process can look like ✨
And always remember, you are not alone ❤️
Click the button below to view this installment on Instagram!
Let's Talk About It: Medication!
Talking about medication has always been hard for me. The reason it's been hard is because I feel like we've been taught to believe that if we need medication, there's something wrong with us, that needing meds is a bad thing.
So, I wanted to share some of my experiences with medication and what it's done for my mental health in different stages of my life. Throughout recovery, having my babies, during many other pivotal moments. I've been on medication and I've decided to come off of them, and back on again, the journey continues. Medication is essential to my life, and really, it helps me be me! ♥️
I'm here to tell you: there is 100% nothing wrong with needing medication. You know what's right for you and collectively, we all need to take care of our mental health as best as we can. ✨
Click the button below to go watch this installment on Instagram!
Let's Talk About It: Therapy!
May was Mental Health Awareness Month, so I'm talking about one thing that's helped me so, so much throughout my recovery from trauma: therapy. Lots and lots of therapy. A lot of us learned to believe that going to therapy is a sign of weakness. If we ask for help, it means there's something wrong with us. Here's the truth. Its incredibly difficult to ask for help, to admit when something might not be quite right within ourselves. It takes strength and bravery to face our inner demons. There is no shame in going to therapy.
I'm sharing some of my experiences with therapy including finding the right therapist, ways we can work to not feel ashamed of asking for help, and the many benefits I've experienced since prioritizing talk therapy.
I see you. You are loved. We are in this together. 💛
Click the button below to go watch this installment on Instagram!