A Dancer's Struggle

"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are" (Marilyn Monroe). Oftentimes, more often than not, we perceive ourselves as our negative thoughts. We can intentionally do it or not. These negative thoughts are normal. Thinking of fighting off these thoughts or beating them can be overwhelming in the sense that they will automatically go away after one time of "beating them up." Instead of this mindset, we can use it to defuse them and detach yourself from made-up perceptions of yourself inside your head. Throughout treatment, I have found or been introduced to nine techniques to use that I find helpful when I am being invaded by unhelpful views of myself.  Cognitive fusion is having the frame of mind that "I am my thoughts, and what I am thinking is true." Some examples of these ideations could be, "I am not as pretty as him/her. I will never succeed in life. My legs are too big. I do not do enough movement for food." A simple exa

It is normal to have a smaller window of tolerance during stressful times. The idea of the "window of tolerance" was developed by Dan Siegel, a clinical professor of psychiatry. When someone is inside their window of tolerance, they are in their best state and can function and flourish in events that day. When you are in this window, you feel as if you can deal with whatever is happening in your life. You might feel stress or pressure, but it does not bother you too much or to the point where you crumble. As an example, here you can be alert but not overly anxious. When we are pushed out of our window of tolerance, there are two states of arousal you can be pushed into: a mix or somewhere in between. There is no set definition of what someone might be feeling. The Window of Tolerance is not black and white because feelings and emotions are not black and white, there are lots of grays in between.  Hyperarousal Zone: When in this zone, you might feel anxious, angry, out of co

(Set Point Weight) The body uses energy for many things. We need energy for brain power, moving around, sitting, standing, emotions, etc. When we are not getting enough food, aka "restriction," our body slows down. The body will go into survival mode and only use energy for what is absolutely necessary. Due to this, the metabolism ultimately slows down. From here, the body has to heal from this period of time when it hasn’t been fueled properly. Restriction does not look the same for everyone. Just having those mental labels about "good" and "bad" foods and neglecting groups of foods can still exhaust your body and brain. Mental restriction and physical restriction both take a toll on your body. The body needs way more energy than expected. If someone's labs are ok that does not mean someone has found their set point weight.  Set-point theory is brought into play during recovery, but this is something that needs to be talked about more. Your "set