By

By Theresa

Provisional Psychologist, Change for Life

Within an instant, our minds can transport us back to a memory of our favourite childhood holiday before quickly whisking us away to thoughts of groceries that we need to pick up on the weekend. Our minds can also transport us to more distressing places like painful memories or worries about catastrophic events that may be in our future. This time travelling can keep us out of touch with important things in the here-and-now, like our physical needs, relationships and occupations. As a result, many of us regularly experience cognitive and emotional fatigue.

Mindfulness, the practice of purposefully paying attention to the present moment, has been shown to reduce stress, increase productivity and help with the management of chronic illnesses. If you’re thinking that this sounds a lot like meditation, you’re not alone. Many people assume that they can’t practice mindfulness because they have struggled to meditate in the past. However, the purpose of mindfulness is not to find relaxation, stop our racing thoughts or access a greater understanding of ourselves (although many report that they experience these secondary benefits as a result of regular practice). Instead, mindfulness comes from switching off our inner time machine.

There are many extended mindfulness exercises available for free on the internet, but learning to pay attention to the present moment can begin in the smallest moments of our everyday life. For example, you may decide to notice what it feels like to take a deep breath when waiting at traffic lights or to feel for discomfort in your body each time you wait for a website to load. Over time, these small moments add up to strengthen our abilities to rest in the present and get some space from our distressing thoughts and feelings.

It is important to remember that it’s pretty difficult to get mindfulness wrong. Yes, it can be tricky to remain focused on the present for extended periods of time. However, as long as you pay attention to the here-and-now on purpose, even if just for a brief moment, you have practiced mindfulness. Even if you notice your mind begin to travel to the past or future, as long as you have noticed this time travelling you have become aware of your own thoughts, which is an essential part of becoming truly mindful.

Simply put, you don’t need to dedicate large pieces of your day to focusing on your present moment experiences when you’re just beginning this practice. Instead, try to notice the feeling of the sun on your skin, the smell of your new laundry powder or the way that a pen feels in your hand. Notice how your favourite shirt feels against your skin, the sounds your pet makes when they nap or the way that your mind jumps from thought to thought. Perhaps you will become very skilled at prolonged mindfulness one day, but for now, turn that time travelling switch off and connect with one thing in the here-and-now.

By Melanie, Provisional Psychologist, Change for Life

“emotions are, in essence, impulses to act, the instant plans for handling life that evolution has instilled in us.” – Daniel Goleman

Anger is sometimes described as a secondary emotion.

What does this mean?

Sarah was on her way to swimming class after school. She had had a long day at school and her teacher gave her class a surprise test. When Sarah got to the pool, she asked her mum if she could have a cookie. Her Mum said no as it was not a good idea to eat just before going into the pool. Sarah got angry and started to yell at her mum and refused to get into the pool.

Why was Sarah angry? Was she merely angry or was she feeling tired from school and hungry because she had not eaten much during lunch? It seems the latter might just be the case.

Anger is often explained using the “Anger Iceberg”. If one needs to know anything about an iceberg, it is that more than 90% of it is underwater. What we see on the surface is only 10% of it. Similar to the Iceberg, Anger is the 10% that we see displayed on the surface. We see the yelling, screaming, and hitting. However, what we do not see are the underlying emotions that anger is trying to protect.

Anger is felt by everyone, it is a valid emotion of its own and should not simply be dismissed. However, it is important to remember that sometimes anger is used to protect how we truly feel about something. Back to Sarah, her anger was protecting her feelings of tiredness and hunger, and possibly not knowing how to express these emotions accurately to her Mum.

Understanding anger and its origins can help us to navigate relationships and teach our children to understand each other better.

Strategies:

• Identifying the triggering event
• Identifying the underlying emotion that anger is protecting.
  • This can be done by recognising the thoughts you had following the event and using other synonyms to describe the way that you feel rather than “angry”.
• Telling someone to “calm down” generally does not help. Rather, giving the person some space and approaching the issue with sensitivity and curiosity could be helpful.
• Taking deep breaths and squeezing a stress ball
• Engaging in activities that keep you calm e.g. listening to music, going for a run, cooking, taking a shower etc.

Making School Mornings Easier

Dr Malini Singh, Psychologist, Change for Life

For parents, school mornings can pack in all the stress of a normal day into just a couple of hours.   Here are five ways you can make school mornings easier, leading to happier kids and less-frazzled parents:

Be Strict About Sleep: You almost certainly give your kids a bedtime, but be sure you’re sticking to your own as well.  Everyone differs in how much sleep they need, and you know how much is enough.  Do yourself a favor by getting to bed on time so you’re less cranky and more able to deal with the hurdles of the morning with ease.

Get a Head Start the Night Before:  It’s tempting after a long day of work to put off what you can until the next day.  Yet, leaving things for when your brain is still waking up only makes things harder.  Make preparations for the next morning, like putting out breakfast bowls and the kids’ clothes, part of your nightly routine.  Once dinner, cleaning and homework help are out of the way, you can relax knowing you’ve made the next day as easy as possible.

Make Time for Yourself:  Getting up earlier might sound like the last thing you want to do, but even 10 minutes to yourself with coffee and the morning paper can help you relax.  With a peaceful mindset, you can then get started on waking up the kids and preparing for the day.  A calmer attitude sets you up for the rest of the day.

Make Getting Ready Early Fun:  Giving yourself and your kids enough time to get ready is key to avoiding rushing around and getting stressed.  It can be difficult for kids to see the benefit of getting to school on time, as they’re usually reluctant to go in the first place.  If you offer a small treat for finishing early, like 15 minutes of cartoons before leaving, children often get ready on time by themselves.  Even better, make treat time something you share with them, either by watching their shows as well or doing some drawing or playing together.

Give Everything a “Home”:  If you’re always scrambling to find the car keys, school bags or shoes, make sure you set places for all these things so you know where they’ll be.  Tell your kids it’s important to put everything back in its proper place, and supervise until they make it a habit.  You’ll find you spend less time looking for everything and more time enjoying your mornings together and being on time.

With everyone sleepy and thinking of the tasks for the day ahead, mornings with kids can often be the most stressful part of the day.  By implementing some structure, planning and fun time into the routine, school mornings can become a lot less stressful and set you and your kids up for a great day ahead.

What is a Sensory Diet?

Felicia Sexton, Occupational Therapist, Change for Life

As we go about our daily life, we are continually surrounded by a buffet of sensory input. Whether working in a brightly-lit office or simply walking down a crowed street, our lives are filled with sensations. The different types of sensory input can the broken down into seven senses: auditory (sound), visual (sight), taste (oral), touch (tactile), smell (olfactory), proprioceptive (body awareness), and vestibular (balance and movement). The first five are the most common senses that we know and use. Proprioceptive input is any activity that provides pressure to joints and muscles. Anytime we squeeze through a tight space, hold something heavy, hug someone or jump up and down we are receiving proprioceptive input.

The way our brain processes the sensory information we receive from the world around us, can impact how we go about our day. Even though we may experience each of the senses throughout the day, just like with food, everyone has unique preferences for certain types of sensory input. We may start the day with a cold shower to wake us up, or perhaps position our desk to be in bright light or a quieter spot, maybe even go out of our way to avoid certain strong smells. These preferences can be referred to as a sensory profile and can be used to create a sensory diet. A sensory diet refers to the type and amount of sensory input a person needs in order to function throughout their day at an optimal level. Sometimes without even knowing it, we all have ways of meeting out our individual sensory needs. For example, after sitting for a long time, we may find ourselves tapping a leg or flicking a pen (increasing tactile or movement input). Some people may chew on a pencil when feeling stressed or drink a cup of tea to help them relax. There are countless sensory strategies that can be used to help us stay alert when feeling tired, or alternatively, calm us down when feeling agitated, stressed or just needing to relax.

One thing that is important to note, is that there is no right or wrong sensory profile or diet. Similar to one person preferring sweet foods and another person preferring savoury; a sensory profile is just a part of what makes us individuals. Knowing our own personal sensory preferences can help us pick strategies that keep us working at our best.

For children, it can sometimes be challenging knowing what sort of sensory inputs match their sensory needs. This is especially the case when it comes to sensory information they have never experienced before. Some sensory information can be overwhelming; bright lights, loud noises, strong tastes or even certain smells might become distressing if they fill up a child’s sensory needs too quickly. Alternatively, a child might actively seek out colourful toys, things that make fun sounds, certain food or smells they find appealing. Helping a child explore their sensory needs can help them develop good sensory strategies and allow them to better engage with daily activities, both at home and in the community.

Knowing what type of sensory input a child might find alerting, exciting, calming or relaxing, means that those sensory inputs can be used to create effective sensory strategies. Potentially decluttering a visually stimulating desk or listening to calming music, might help a child concentrate. Some children may prefer more active sensory inputs, such as taking a break from tasks to bounce on a trampoline or do star jumps. The key to a beneficial sensory diet is to find that “optimum sensorimotor input” a child needs before, during, or after an activity to keep them going. Remembering, that for each child this is going to be different. Each sensory diet should be based on an individual child’s needs and preferences.

A sensory diet can include sensory input from any of the senses and often includes a list of activities that can help your child meet their own personal sensory needs. These activities can include sensory inputs that their body is craving/seeking or ones that help to keep their body calm (activities that helps them settle, focus and self regulate. Sensory strategies can also be used to address a child’s sensory tolerance or sensory sensitivities. For example, when a child becomes upset during grooming, picky eating and other sensory behaviour. By using sensory strategies and a sensory diet, it can help your child to function at their highest potential and participate more fully in their daily life activities.

If you are interested in finding out more about your child’s individual sensory profile and sensory diet, you can contact an occupational therapist for help with developing strategies and supports for both you and your child.

The Non-Diet Approach – Weight Loss Is Not The Answer.

Kimberly Nelson, Dietitian, Change for Life

Weight loss counselling (essentially dieting) is the traditional treatment modality that Dietitians are trained in, despite flaws in the evidence base and evidence demonstrating that it is ineffective and can cause more harm than good. Research shows that dieting is almost synonymous with weight regain within 2-5 years (NHMRC, 2013; Mann et al, 2007). The Non-Diet approach (essentially weight neutral counselling) does not refute the associations between health and a higher weight but queries the causative factors driving them. A systematic review of 16 studies by Clifford et al (2015) demonstrated that a weight neutral approach resulted in weight stability at 5 years, improved biochemical markers, sustained healthy behaviours and improved psychological outcomes such as self-esteem, disordered eating and depression. Most importantly there were no negative outcomes.

The Non-Diet Approach is a paradigm based on the principles of Health at Every Size® (HAES®), which rejects the focus of weight as a determinant of health and sees it as a consequence of numerous factors affecting an individual’s health. It accepts and respects the natural diversity of body shapes and sizes; values eating in a flexible way by listening to our body’s internal cues; and moving for enjoyment rather than a desire to be thin. The Non-Diet Approach is the model of Dietetic practice of HAES®. It’s 5 core principles are grounded in accepting and embracing – body cues, all foods, body shape, joyful movement and non-diet nutrition to enhance self-compassion (see model below). Healthy behaviours like being physically active, eating the recommended serves of fruit and vegetables and having higher self-compassion, have more of an influence on a person’s health than their weight (Clifford et al, 2015). By taking this weight neutral approach with our patients and treating people with a BMI above the ‘healthy’ range the same as those considered to have a healthy BMI, we can reduce our own weight bias and improve our ability to actually help those who are stigmatised for being in a larger body.

Two-year-old children: what to look out for

An important question parents ask is what their two-year-old child should be saying or how they should be interacting with other children in their age group. Children from bilingual families can differentiate their languages as young as two years of age, and possibly earlier. In terms of developmental milestones, research suggests that there is no outstanding difference between bilinguals and monolinguals, when the learning opportunities for both languages are taken into account. Read More “Two-year-old children: what to look out for”

How to get kids to eat more veggies

Have mealtimes become increasingly stressful in your household? Are your children refusing to eat vegetables or try new foods? Fussy eating amongst toddlers and young children is relatively common. Below are 10 tips to get your kids eating more vegetables and trying new foods. Read More “How to get kids to eat more veggies”

Happy Parents: Happy Teens

One of the commonly seen problems in teenage years is the changes in mood and emotions. As the brain is changing rapidly, teenagers can be prone to feeling low and finding their world confusing. One risk of being depressed as a teenager is that there is a risk of experiencing greater levels of depression as an adult. An important factor that can help teens develop resilience is to model resilient behaviour from their parents. Adolescents whose parents have depression can be more prone to depression in adulthood compared to teenagers whose parents have healthy mental health. Growing research shows that the mental health of mothers plays an important role in how much adolescents improve when they get stressed and depressed. Similarly, the role of fathers can be very important in understanding how depressed mood develops and how severe it can get in adolescents. Read More “Happy Parents: Happy Teens”

What is Occupational Therapy?

As a Paediatric Occupational Therapist, we get asked all the time what it is that we really do! Lots of parents are often confused about what occupational therapy (OT) really is.  So, let me sum it up in a nutshell for you. Occupational therapists help children take part in every area of their life to the best of their ability. For kids, this usually means playing, school, family, and self-care (such as toileting, feeding and dressing). For a child to take part in these activities they need concentration, coordination, motor skills, perceptual skills, and the ability to keep their mind and body calm and focussed so they can learn. Our goal is to help children to become more independent and skilled in these areas. Read More “What is Occupational Therapy?”

Healthy Eating During the School Holidays

Keeping everyone busy and entertained during the summer holidays can be a challenge. Making sure everyone is maintaining a healthy diet can be even more challenging. When the kids are on holidays, routines and schedules change and healthy eating is suddenly not a priority. This can lead to eating higher amounts of discretionary “junk” foods which a high in calories, sugar, unhealthy fats and salt. Read More “Healthy Eating During the School Holidays”