Live w/ Dr.Charryse 🧠

Hello, Khadrasphere. I'm so glad that you chose to come and be in this space today. Come on in, make yourself comfortable. Let us know where you are currently located. And then question of the day, where are you seeing growth? I'm going to move away from the part of you that is always looking at what you need to do differently. But take a moment and let's start right out the gate and let me know where you seeing growth. I'm Doctor Charryse Johnson. I'm a licensed clinical mental health therapist, mindfulness practitioner and author, and I use elements of mental health, mental fitness and a lot of neuroscience to really help you focus on what does it mean to be working towards a path of peace and harmony.

Good morning to all those who are listening live. I hope you have your java. I had a crisis come up and I didn't get a chance to get some coffee this morning. But as soon as we're done, I'll be able to get it. And again, as you're coming in, say good morning, let us know where you're located in this amazing earth that we live in. Everything about Earth isn't great, but it's amazing to be alive. And let me know where are you seeing yourself grow? Because there is so much power in you being able to acknowledge that all is not lost.

And even when there are situations where you feel like you're not seeing what you want to see, when progress is not visually happening the way that you want or tangibly taking place, it's important to know that there's always a level of growth that is occurring somewhere. Hopefully many of you have also seen a lot of the updates and new changes that are occurring with Cadre. Take a look at many of the other providers and content creators out there that you will love. And also notice that each day is focused Wednesdays our emotional well being.

So that's a great fit for me. I want to start us off a little different than we normally do and let's anchor in with a moment of mindfulness. Of course, this is optional, depending upon your comfort level, but even though it is early for many of you, who knows what you've already experienced today. So if you're comfortable, I want you to take one hand over your heart and one hand on your belly. Your eyes can be open or closed. I always invite you to close them as a sign of surrender and rest. It signals our vagus nerve and our nervous system to slow down and to take this opportunity to restore.

If you're in a position where you can place your back against something. Do that, signifying the support that is available to you in life. And then take a few inhales. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Sometimes in the world of yoga, we call these lion breaths because sighing releases tension in the body. And just try to let everything slow down. Allow your to do list to pause. Notice what you're carrying. What's filling your mind today? What's filling your heart today? What's filling your worries and your concerns.

And can you let it all just be without requiring your attention? Center on your breath. And then, if you're comfortable, I want you to add a smile to your face, just a slight smile. Bring so much hope to our brain, and hope is such a powerful resilience factor. And then, as you're ready, take one more deep breath into the nose and out through the mouth. And then open your eyes. And welcome to the moment that is something that you're going to continue to see me implement. I've done it before, bits and pieces, but I really want to consistently implement it.

I feel like we are now in a season where things are starting, are to ramp up, right? There's more request. We're out of the world where everything is virtual and the demand is still there. And so I want to focus today on the difference in your life between adequate peace and adequate pressure. And is there such thing as adequate pressure? But really peace versus pressure? You hear me talk a lot about the concept of peace, and I think in order for that to be something that fits for your life, you first have to determine, what does that even look like?

So you tell me, what are some elements of your life when this exists? Then you find yourself being able to operate in a place that you feel peaceful in whatever aspect. For me, something that would be included in my definition of peace is always going to be rhythm, in the sense of having a rhythm. In my day, being able to have routines and vital habits that help stabilize me and guide my day is something that creates a sense of peace in my life. So before we can even determine what we want out of peace and what that looks like and are we experiencing it, then we also have to recognize, what does that even mean?

Right? So I really want you to pare that down and come up with whether that's in this moment or over the next week or so, five different essentials that you feel like when these are happening in my life, I feel peaceful, or I feel a sense of peace and know this, that peace can exist even in the midst of chaos, in the midst of grief, in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of change, and in the midst of difficult moments. Because I do believe that we often think that peace only exists when everything is going our way, when we're eating perfect, when the scale is saying what we want it to say, when we had a great run, when we woke up and we felt energetic.

And while that's true, true peace can also exist on the mornings you wake up anxious, or the mornings you wake up low and your heart is heavy, or the mornings you wake up and you feel overwhelmed with all of the things that you have to do today. But it's also a process of cultivating that peace is not something that we are always going to wake up with every morning, nonstop, even when our routines are great. I really want you to think of it more like a pathway. Just like we talk about our wellness, being a pathway, our mental health, being mentally fit and strong and resilient, being something that is a path, it is a journey.

And that means it will always be something that we have to work on cultivating in the whole realm and context of our life. So one of the things I said is, begin to think about what brings you peace, what elements are important. And then the next question that I want you to consider and reflect on, what are barriers to your peace? What blocks your ability to experience peace? If we think about it from the world of neuroscience, when we are experiencing a distressing situation and our limbic brain or lizard brain, limbic system and our lizard brain, that old paleolithic part of our brain has said, warning, warning, warning, this is a threat, then the body is not in a peaceful state.

And the challenge with that is our brains are wired to survive. And so when we get into those moments, then our brain says, be impulsive. Do whatever you want to do in order to create a lift. And sometimes that's when we get in trouble. A lot of times that's when we get in trouble and just trouble in the sense of we start making choices that actually don't bring us back to a place of peace. They begin to take us and move us away from that direction. So then the last question I want you to reflect on, on the area of peace in is, what am I currently doing that is stealing my sense of peace?

And think about things in terms of being hard on yourself, not being kind or compassionate to yourself, not resting, not eating, in a way that honors what makes your system feel peaceful. Because we can notice physical sensations in moments where we've put something in our mouth that isn't conducive and then that leads us into the land of pressure. Pressure can be a helpful element in our lives when we view that pressure as positive or fuel, or when we're in a situation where that pressure is something that we can welcome, but it doesn't come at the expense of our piece.

I'll give you an example. If you are working towards a project, a creative project, and you've decided in order for me to get this done, I need to set some specifics, some parameters, and I need to make sure that I meet those points. There is some pressure there because you're working to put something out into the world at a specific time, and you've got to study and you have to map this out. And you might have to pass an exam, or you might have to give something to the next person so that they can take it.

That is a welcomed pressure. That doesn't necessarily come at the expense of your piece, unless you take yourself off of the list. But that's an example where pressure is appropriate and adequate because it's motivating you towards a goal or something that you have for your life. So reflection here on the side of pressure is, do you have enough push to keep you motivated? I'm using some words interchangeably, but I think that's important. Do you have something right now that is that appropriate and adequate amount of pressure because it is pushing you towards being more?

Let me give you a caveat. Every difficult situation in your life isn't always there to crush you. Sometimes there are moments that challenge us physically and mentally, because it is a creating a pressure that helps us rise and recognize, wow, I didn't even realize I was capable of that. I wasn't sure that I could, but I stayed at it, and I continue to do so, and you continue to win. One thing that I want you to consider about pressure and the moments that pressure has exceeded its purpose is when you're starting to feel that pressure physically.

It's showing up through headaches, tight shoulders, sciatica, back pain, various physical parts of your body that are wearing down because you're putting too much pressure on yourself to continue to show up a specific way. Pressure is out of context in moments that you're putting pressure on yourself at the expense of your mental health. So when you notice you are trying to grind, which is not a helpful coping skill, by the way, and as a result, you are also anxious and irritable and having a difficult time sleeping or not feeling mentally clear, when you feel like the pressure is overwhelming you and tearing you down and you want everything to stop, then we know you've moved away from peace, and pressure has taken too much room in your life.

So, question for reflection. Where are you experiencing pressure in your life? And that's a personal question that you can answer. But I want you to be able to lean in and really focus on these things. Because even when you feel like all your days are great, when we get still, when we get quiet, we realize what's really there. And so I want you to consider, where are you feeling pressure in your life? And here's a tough question. If I had coffee, I would sip here. Where are you the source of that pressure?

Where is your mentality, your choices, your inaction, and your beliefs about yourself creating pressure that does not have to be there? Bless me. And then the last reflection question for the side of pressure. Because, you know, I'm always about you moving from thought to action. I want you to hear these things. I want you to experience this moment. But I also want you to leave here and be able to walk off of this until we get back together next week. So the last question that I want you to reflect on, whether it's in your journaling, whether it's with a friend, with a partner, whoever is.

Where are you willing to release some pressure? Where are you open to embracing? You're not who you've always been. You're changing. You're in transition. Your needs are different. Your desires are different. Where can you embrace? I'm not who I used to be. And that's okay. And the key word in that is willing. Because typically, the amount of pressure that we put on ourselves is conducive to two things. It's conducive to the lies we've been told and believed about pressure, and also conducive to the people we allow in our lives who add to that pressure.

Lots of food for thought. This is one that I want you to come back to, to listen to, to reflect on and to act on. And then as you move throughout the rest of the week and you begin to make choices and you notice thoughts that you're having about yourself, I want you to ask yourself this simple question. If I do this, if I choose this, if this is how I nourish myself today, will this move me toward peace or pressure? The choice is always yours. And of course, I hope you choose that beautiful lane right in the middle where peace exists and there's just enough pressure to keep you going, but not to crush you.

I hope you have a fabulous and fantastic week. And I'll see you again soon. Have a good one.