My Stories
My blog and essays feature stories on healing from trauma, coping with disorder and practicing mindfulness
Understanding Our Feelings (and Connecting to Our Interoceptive Sense)
Typically, I don’t watch violent movies, but my husband had a screening for a film he helped produce, so I decided to go. I sat through most of the movie, which had some violent parts, but then when the violence got to be too much, I had to leave the theater. The next day, I noticed my fear response was heightened. With my daughter in the car, we went to the car wash where I felt trapped in line. There [...]
10-minute Journaling and Meditation Exercise
I remember when I first attempted meditation. I was living in LA. I was broke and directionless. I was surviving in fight-or-flight. I was scared and alone. And meditation started calling me—my soul started calling me—and over the last 20 [...]
Releasing Jade
I decided to call her Jade. My shadow self. The one whom my husband deemed the third person in our marriage. The one who had been by my side, living in my shadows, for 30 years. I finally named her [...]
Home for the Holidays (+6 Tips for Handling Traumatic Memories)
Our kitchen and laundry room are being renovated due to water damage, so we decided to move in with my parents during the construction. Which is taking about two months. And my parents’ house is the same house where I [...]
Having Gratitude (Plus a Journaling Prompt)
I was out with a friend the other night, and she described how she’d been feeling blah. Like things have been good, but she has no motivation. No drive. And it’s bringing her down. So I asked her if she [...]
3 Journaling Exercises for Self-care
Journaling saved my life. No, really, it did. When I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to, it was journaling that shed some light into my life. And helped me see in the darkness. But it doesn’t [...]
Hummingbird
Things are wonderful, but they haven’t been easy. We had water damage in our kitchen, so in the summer of 2024, they had to demo our kitchen. They removed the sink. They disconnected the dishwasher. They removed our peninsula and [...]
Parenting with My Shadow Self
We all have a shadow self. The yin to our yang. The dark to our light. The self within the self. For those of us who have suffered trauma, our shadow self may speak louder or more frequently. Our shadow [...]
Not Today’s Problem
Having a child has changed almost everything about my life, and while most of those changes are wonderful, some have their own set of challenges. Like getting things done. Laundry piles up, dishes stack, things go unfixed, all because I [...]
25 Self-care Tips
Self-care is everything. It’s not only how we take care of ourselves, but it’s what enables us to take care of others. Because we are no good to others until we are good to ourselves. So here are 25 self-care [...]
What to Do When You Can’t Take a Mental Health Day
It was a Friday. I was exhausted from the week and my daughter woke up ready for the day at 4. Luckily my husband took over at 6, but I crashed hard, missing our morning plans. Which made me feel [...]
New Year Self-care Goals: Devise a Plan
With the new year, it’s a good time to assess your self-care needs. To take inventory. And to see what you are (and aren’t) doing for yourself. I went back to work after a break over the holidays, and my [...]
Bringing Joy Back to Christmas (Plus 6 Tips)
Our daughter is 11 months old, and this will be her first Christmas. Considering I haven’t really celebrated Christmas since I uncovered my repressed trauma in 2018, everything feels new for me. And I’m feeling the joy of Christmas once [...]
“Loved reading this Jenna, what a great explanation of how your OT helped you. I have taken a few tips for a client of mine I am treating at the moment! Great post. Cheers!”
JAYNE OT