helping a depressed person, when a loved one is depressed

How To Support Someone With Depression

How to support someone with depression? There’s a lot being said about people who suffer from it and how to get help but I feel like not a lot is being said or expressed by those who have a loved one that suffers from depression.

I am one of those. A very dear person in my life has struggled with depression for years. It is hard for me to talk about this and I won’t go into details about my loved one ordeal. This is video is for you, the person who has a loved one who may be depressed. your support and encouragement can play an important role in his or her recovery.

Check out the video here:

I promise you, they appreciate it, even though it feels like you’re repeating yourself over and over and nothing. Rest assure, you MUST take care of yourself as well.

What you need to remember:

It is not personal
This is not a game, it is serious
Ignoring it, won’t make it go away
You. Can’t. Fix. It.

BUT your are the first line of defense in the fight against depression. Always remember that 2 ears 1 mouth ratio. Just encourage them to talk in a kind way and listen, listen, listen. And of course, ask if they need advice – don’t just offer it.

You can also try asking questions like:

Did something happen that made you start feeling this way?
How can I best support you right now?
Have you thought about getting help?

Avoid saying:

Just snap out of it.
What’s wrong with you?
Shouldn’t you be better by now?
It’s all in your head.
We all go through times like this.
Look on the bright side.
You have so much to live for why do you want to die?
I can’t do anything about your situation.

How to do take care of yourself???

Set boundaries: ask your loved one to get a therapist
Take some time for yourself every day, especially if you live with the depressed person
Seek support from a trusted friend – make sure they are discreet
Keep living your own life

How Constellation Therapy Can Affect Your Weight, Health And Happiness

There’s a unique type of detox (or cleanse) work that is more energetic and has to do with family dynamics.

Your relationship with your family can affect your weight, health and happiness. I’ve interviewed here a Family Constellation facilitator and therapist Natalie Berthold to learn a bit more about this powerful type of work.

Check out this amazing video and learn how constellation therapies can affect your health and happiness.

Interested in learning more about Natalie’s course? Click Here For Details!

Click Here For The Discount!

Are You Concerned About The Spread Of Ebola?

People are so concerned about Ebola -which is a highly contagious, terrifying and yet rare virus – with the media and our collective voices slowly creeping up to near panic!

While nobody seems terribly concerned about the chemicals and toxins in our food that are killing your loved ones by the millions.

Check out today’s video to learn more!

So what are you doing about it? Are you ready to embrace the near panic and hysteria or are you going to get obsessive about your health and well-being? Leave a comment below the video and let me know!

The ONLY Thing That Helps Me Stay Organized In A Crazy Busy World

Are you overwhelmed with all the stuff going on (or not) in your life?

Is it so overwhelming that it leads to expert procrastination?

Even a little clutter or lack of organization can quickly turn into overwhelming clutter that may lead to constant stress. And this constant stress is now known to increase your risk of issues like insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, obesity, heart disease and depression.

I’ve tried many systems to stay organized and disciplined and was always left looking for more. On this video I’ll show you the ONLY thing that has been effective for me and now it is used by my entire team!

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

The Food For Thought Summit Coming Soon!

For the last 4 months, I’ve been working on a little project that I’m really excited about and now I’m ready to share with you!

It’s called Food For Thought: The Mind, Body, Spirit Summit!

From April 14th-18th, I’ll be interviewing top wellness experts (doctors, nutritionists, therapists, coaches, best-selling authors) on how they manage to sustain a healthy lifestyle. All interviews will be available online at the Food For Thought website.

Since I know you’ve been searching for practical ways to live a healthier, more active lifestyle, the Food for Thought Summit is here to help you!

The #1 reason why people struggle to keep a healthy lifestyle is overwhelm. There’s just too much information out there! This summit will help you cut through the clutter, learn ways to stay motivated and create your own personal wellness revolution!

Click Here to check out the website and more details!

As a loyal member of my community you have immediate access to the summit and the Facebook Group Absolutely FREE!

SHARE this post with your friends so they too get FREE access to the summit.

Watch Me Get Hypnotized!

In this follow up video about the topic of hypnosis, I actually went a little crazy and agreed to let Grace hypnotize me in front of the camera!

I thought it would be awkward and that I’d have to delete the video but the experience was very very sweet. Check out my mini-hypnosis session and see for yourself what it is all about!

What did you think? Mumbo Jumbo or inspirational? Let me know in the comments box below!

The Power of Hypnosis

Do you believe in hypnosis? I must admit I didn’t until I met the woman I’m interviewing on this video.

In fact, I tried hypnosis as part of a therapy session years ago and I thought it was a bunch of bologna! But when I met Grace, she was very graceful (and patient), explaining to me what hypnosis was and more importantly, what it wasn’t!!

Check out this interview to learn more.

What’s your opinion about this controversial topic? Did we convince you to at least do your own homework and find answers? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

My First TEDx Talk!

A few months ago I was invited by the amazing women at Barnard College to be part of their TEDxBarnardCollege event.The video is now available on YouTube and of course I immediately wanted to share it with you all here.

My talk is part personal story, part motivational message. I poured my heart and soul into this talk, shared things that most of my closest friends didn’t know about and in the process, became stronger and wiser.

I’m sharing this talk with you here in hopes it can inspire you in some small measure. Thank you for listening!

My Issues With Body Image Issues

I don’t know about you but I’m sick and tired of the skinny obsession in this country.

It’s bullshit. LADIES, we’re supposed to HAVE CURVES! I have yet to meet a man that doesn’t like curves in a woman’s body.

For me, this is a highly spirited topic and I hope this video will help motivate you and see your own beauty and worth!

What’s your take on this issue? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

SHARE this video with your beautiful friends, to remind them that they are beautiful and totally worth it!

3 Simple Steps To Eliminate Negativity

You must defy pessimism and negativity at all costs. Negativity has nothing good to offer and creates limitations and stunts growth.

Do not allow your mind or outside forces to lower your expectations. You are capable of magnificent things, simply because you are human.

There are lots of talents in you waiting to be developed and used for your own good and the good of all. Remember you are a creature of God; your own existence is a gift, a miracle.

Continue to see your life in this light and you will see how your daily chores, plans, and goals will develop in a peaceful, joyful way. There is no reason why you should not have a lot of fun and live a happy life as a positive thinker starting now.

Your thoughts are powerful tools that, if used positively, can help you reach your goals. On the other hand, negative thinking can affect our bodies, our work, and our plans in the same negative ways as diseases. Following are some techniques to help overcome and eliminate negativity:

Don’t give negative thinking any power. Thoughts and ideas only become powerful when you, the thinker, empower them. If you have a negative thought and decide to ignore it, or if a negative person tries to bring you down and you quickly dismiss it, you can move on without being affected by it.
Use positive thinking to counter negativity. If someone tells you that you will never be financially independent, you should automatically tell yourself, “I am going to be financially independent faster than originally planned.” The same works for other aspects of your life. When thoughts about relationships come to your mind, for example, and you start thinking that you will never fall in love again, you counter-act by saying, “I will meet a special person and will be in a loving, meaningful, long-lasting relationship soon.” By doing so, you will take the power away from your negative thoughts, and give it to a positive one. This will not only help you get rid of negativity, it will help you become a more positive individual by always seeing the “glass half full”.
Be aware of your thoughts and try recognizing them as negative or positive. Continue to nurture the positive thoughts, and write down on a piece of paper as many of the negative ones as you can remember. Then read through the list, and analyze them, recognizing that they are simply negative ideas. Think of them as pieces of your mind that you just removed and placed on the paper. Once on the paper and out of your head, they can remain there forever. Quietly acknowledge this and part ways with your negative thoughts.

Use these or any other techniques to move past the negativity in yourself and others, and you will see how much easier the process of living becomes. There is no need for any of your thoughts to haunt you or hurt you in any way. Your thoughts are one of the few things in this world you can control, and you should allow them to empower you, not the other way around.

7 Lessons Inspired By Nelson Mandela

Every time I think of Nelson Mandela, the great South African leader, the first thought in my mind is…

“we need more like him!”

We are ready and in serious need of leaders to inspire us and motivate us with action and words.

Leadership is hard to define, mostly because it means different things to different people. We know it requires knowledge, strength and compassion. We expect leaders to be fair, to share our values and provide direction.

That to me is what leaders like Mr. Mandela represent.

As a Hispanic woman, health advocate and entrepreneur I strive to one day become a strong leader in my community and emulate the leadership values that I learn from people like Nelson Mandela.

By taking daily action, living with integrity and following my intuition, I too hope to inspire others to follow their own path and let their light shine.

When looking to develop leadership skills, whether it is at home, with your peers at work or in the community, it is very helpful to look for mentors, role models that have spent years mastering leadership traits and putting them into practice.

I have many mentors but Nelson Mandela is very much at the top of that list.

I continue to learn many lessons from him, but the ones that remain timeless to me are as follows:

Inspire With Action

Motivate others with your words and actions. Give them courage, inspire them to learn more, instill in them a sense of possibility. Every action that you take will lead to a learning opportunity and will encourage moving forward movement in others. Teach others by example. If you do it, they will follow.

Be Better, Not Bitter

Nelson Mandela is the impersonation of this powerful lesson. He was put in jail by a brutal regime for 27 years simply because he was fighting for fairness and equality. But even while jailed, he continued to be a leader and the symbol of the struggles of South Africans.

Amazingly, after his release from jail, he became a stronger leader, not bitter or ready for revenge. He found common ground, embracing those who were once against him and helping the country bridge a seemingly impossible gap.

Fail To Plan, Plan To Fail

People fail to accomplish their goals many times because of this simple premise. Planning and organizing ahead of time is key to the success of any task or endeavor, whether in your personal or business life. Organize your ideas, write out a plan with actionable steps to take and deadlines and set out your goals.

Work With The Willing

Most of us have gotten caught up at least once in the emotional roller-coaster that is wanting to work with or help someone who has the talent, the potential or the need, even if that person is unwilling or incapable. Move on from those that don’t want to do or be where you want them to do or be.

And don’t carry their burden. Let them go through their journey and spend your time and energy looking for like-minded people that you can partner with.

Communicate

Communication is the simple act of getting a message across clearly and unequivocally to other/s. This sounds simple in theory but communication is one of the hardest things to do because there are so many things in play (body language, cultural idiosyncrasies among others) that can get in the way and cause confusion. Nelson Mandela is a master communicator, which is one of the top traits of a great leader.

Become A People’s Person

Nelson Mandela is an incredibly dynamic person who was able to motivate an entire country to work together and move past a very difficult time in their history for the benefit of all. He wasn’t attached to a particular ideology or goal. Instead, he was willing to build relationships on all sides in order to accomplish his goal of a united and successful South Africa.

Develop Strong Character

Madiba Mandela and his followers knew that they were doing the right thing, even it was dangerous and could have caused them their freedom (as it did for many years) or even their lives. But they had strong convictions and a strong sense of character and get got a lot of respect (and followers) because of it.

How To Conquer Fear

Today I want to be brave and discuss how to conquer fear.

I should know a thing or two about it.

For over 15 years I’ve been a passionate advocate to personal responsibility, healthy living, animal welfare and the power of positive thinking. Yet fear stopped me over and over form following my true passion and sending my message out into the world.

Fear is the one thing that impairs our ability to move ahead in life. Fears are natural occurrences, emotions that we probably inherited from the first men that walked the earth.

In fact, anthropologists believe that our ancestors survived because they learned to be afraid of certain dangers in the world and learned to avoid them for protection, thus, assuring their survival.

Fears are nothing but emotions that we feel in anticipation of danger or specific pain.

They are not uncommon. Most of us have been conditioned to protect ourselves from circumstances and dangers that we have not even experienced. We learn to be afraid of starting something new, making the first move, being creative or entrepreneurial, yet at one point or another, most of us realize that only when you face your fears and conquer them can you really move forward.

There are too many great things to do in this life to stay in one place for all eternity.

The strength to move past your fear is already within you. Continue to learn about yourself, and look for strategies that will help you conquer your fears.

Some of the ones that have helped me through the years are:

Maintain a positive attitude. Negativity about how you will not succeed or will fall so hard you’ll break your neck, are useless.

Use the “have to” mentality. Assume that you have no other option than to make the leap, and jump into a new experience. You know that are stronger than that, and no amount of reasons are enough for you to give up without trying.

Focus on the end result rather than the process.

Take one step at a time. If your fear is greater than you, you may not be able to face it all at once. Take baby steps, and try conquering little by little.

Be aware that your ego is powerful and will want to take control. Do not let small things get out of proportion. Always maintain perspective and be objective. If you cannot do it yourself, ask for help.

Replace all fears with confident thoughts and actions.