​As 2025 comes to a close, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the year that has passed and set meaningful intentions for the year ahead.

​By reflecting on personal growth and creating realistic goals, you can enter 2026 with a sense of purpose and direction. Here’s how you can approach this reflective process:

Before jumping into goal-setting, take a step back to evaluate your journey throughout 2025. Reflection allows you to celebrate your successes and learn from challenges.

1. Review Your Achievements: Start by writing down everything you’ve accomplished—big and small. These could include personal, professional, or emotional milestones. Celebrate each success, as even small steps forward contribute to growth.
2. Assess Your Challenges: Consider the difficulties you faced over the year. What lessons did these challenges teach you? Acknowledging obstacles and how you overcame them helps you learn and build resilience for the future.
3. Evaluate Your Values and Priorities: Think about how your actions this year aligned with your core values. Did you spend time on what matters most to you, or were there areas where you felt disconnected? Understanding these insights will guide your goals for 2026.

Goal-setting isn’t just about achieving success—it’s about creating a roadmap for the kind of life you want to lead. The key is to make your goals specific, measurable, and aligned with your personal values.

1. Start with Your ‘Why’: When setting goals for 2026, ask yourself why you want to achieve them. Is it to grow professionally, improve your well-being, or deepen relationships? Understanding the underlying motivation gives your goals purpose and direction.
2. Break Down Big Goals: Large goals can feel overwhelming, so break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. For example, if your goal is to improve your physical health, start by setting specific targets like exercising three times a week, improving your diet, or getting enough sleep.
3. Stay Flexible and Adjust: Life is unpredictable, and sometimes you may need to adjust your goals as circumstances change. Embrace flexibility and give yourself permission to reassess your goals regularly.
4. Focus on Progress, Not Perfection: Instead of aiming for perfection, focus on continuous progress. Celebrate each step, and remember that growth often involves setbacks. As long as you’re moving forward, you’re on the right path.

​As you reflect on 2025 and set intentions for 2026, aim to approach the coming year with clarity and purpose. By understanding your past and setting thoughtful goals, you’re preparing to step into the new year with confidence and excitement.

​The holiday season often brings with it moments of joy, connection, and relaxation. However, it can also be a time of stress, especially when it comes to navigating complex family dynamics and managing high expectations. Here are some practical tips to help you prepare for a peaceful and fulfilling holiday season.

Family gatherings can bring out the best and worst in us. The stress of organizing meals, traveling, and keeping up with traditions can sometimes be overshadowed by unresolved conflicts, misunderstandings, or differing expectations. To handle these dynamics with grace:

1. Set Healthy Boundaries: It’s important to set clear boundaries before the holidays begin. If certain topics or behaviors cause tension (e.g., politics, past grievances), it may be wise to gently steer conversations away from those areas or communicate in advance that you prefer to avoid them.
2. Practice Empathy and Patience: Everyone experiences the holidays differently. Try to put yourself in others' shoes and understand that family members may have their own stresses and emotions. Practicing empathy can help defuse potential conflicts and allow for smoother interactions.
3. Embrace Flexibility: Sometimes, things don’t go as planned—whether it’s the dinner being late or a disagreement arising. Allow yourself to adapt and stay flexible, embracing imperfection in favor of connection.

​Expectations for the holiday season often come from multiple sources—society, family, and even ourselves. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, here are a few strategies to help manage that stress:

1. Prioritize Self-Care: Amid the holiday hustle, it’s essential to carve out time for yourself. Whether it’s through mindfulness, exercise, or simply taking a break from the festivities, maintaining your well-being should be a top priority.
2. Simplify Plans: While it’s tempting to try to make everything perfect, consider simplifying your plans. Not every tradition has to be upheld, and not every event needs to be attended. Choose what brings you joy and peace, and let go of the rest.
3. Realistic Expectations: A key cause of holiday stress is the pressure to meet high standards. Remember, it’s okay if things aren’t perfect. Focus on enjoying the present moment and being grateful for what you have rather than striving for unrealistic ideals.
4. Manage Time Wisely: With so many tasks on your plate, effective time management is crucial. Break down big tasks into smaller steps and use tools like to-do lists to stay organized. Ensure there’s also time for relaxation.

The holiday season can be both meaningful and stressful, but by managing expectations and setting healthy boundaries, you can create a positive and enriching experience for yourself and your loved ones.

​In today’s fast-paced world, stress can feel like an inevitable part of life. However, understanding stress and learning how to manage it is key to maintaining a healthy mind and body. Let’s take a closer look at the sources of stress and effective techniques for managing it.

​Stress doesn’t always present itself in dramatic ways. Often, it builds up gradually, and we may not even realize we’re stressed until it’s too late. Some common stress triggers include:

• Work-Related Pressure: Deadlines, long hours, and high expectations can create a constant feeling of pressure.
• Relationship Challenges: Conflict or misunderstandings with loved ones can add emotional strain.
• Health Concerns: Worrying about personal or family health issues can create chronic anxiety.
• Financial Stress: Economic uncertainty or personal financial difficulties often bring about stress.

Identifying your specific stress triggers is the first step in managing it. Once you’re aware of the situations or thoughts that cause stress, you can develop strategies to cope with them.

​Managing stress involves both immediate coping strategies and long-term approaches. Here are some effective methods to reduce stress and improve mental well-being:

1. Mindfulness and Meditation: Practices like mindfulness meditation help you become more aware of the present moment, reducing stress and promoting emotional regulation. Research has shown that regular mindfulness practice can lower cortisol levels and enhance relaxation (Goyal et al., 2014).
2. Physical Activity: Exercise is one of the most effective ways to relieve stress. It increases endorphins, which are the body’s natural stress relievers. Whether it’s yoga, running, or dancing, finding a physical activity that you enjoy can make a significant difference.
3. Deep Breathing Exercises: Simple deep breathing techniques can immediately reduce the body’s stress response. The 4-7-8 breathing technique, for example, can help calm the mind and relax the body.
4. Time Management: Poor time management often exacerbates stress. Setting clear boundaries and prioritizing tasks can help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed.
5. Social Support: Talking things out with a friend or therapist can help reduce stress. Social support acts as a buffer against the negative effects of stress and provides emotional comfort during difficult times.

Stress management isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s important to experiment with different techniques and find what works best for you. By taking proactive steps, you can better manage stress and maintain both mental and physical well-being.

​Forgiveness is often misunderstood as a sign of weakness or a way of excusing wrongdoing, but research shows that it’s actually a powerful tool for enhancing mental well-being. Let’s explore why forgiveness is so important and the steps you can take to bring it into your life.

Forgiveness isn’t about letting the other person off the hook or forgetting the wrong. It’s about releasing yourself from the emotional weight of the offense. Holding onto anger or resentment can have significant effects on mental and physical health. Studies have shown that unforgiven anger and grudges can increase levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. For instance, a study by the Mayo Clinic found that forgiving someone can lower the risk of depression, reduce anxiety, and even lower blood pressure (Mayo Clinic, 2015).
 
On the flip side, forgiveness has been linked to better emotional health. A study published in Psychological Science found that individuals who practiced forgiveness had lower levels of heart rate and stress hormones, which points to a reduction in physical and emotional stress (Lawler-Row, et al., 2008). The ability to forgive allows us to let go of negative feelings, which can help cultivate peace and emotional resilience.

​Forgiveness doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s not always easy. However, there are steps you can take to foster a forgiving mindset:

1. Acknowledge the Hurt: Before you can forgive, you need to acknowledge the pain caused by the situation. Understand your feelings of hurt, anger, and betrayal.
2. Empathize with the Other Person: Try to see things from the perspective of the person who wronged you. This doesn’t mean excusing their behaviour but understanding their motivations and struggles.
3. Decide to Forgive: Forgiveness is a conscious decision. While it’s normal to feel anger, actively choose to release it. You don’t have to do this for the other person’s sake—it’s for your own well-being.
4. Let Go and Move Forward: Once you’ve made the decision to forgive, it’s important to move forward. Holding onto past grievances keeps you emotionally stuck. Choose to focus on the present and future, and try to free yourself from resentment.

Forgiveness isn’t a one-time act—it’s a process that can be revisited. It’s not always easy, but it’s a crucial step toward healing emotionally and improving mental health.

Being physically distant from other people has a significant impact on our emotional well-being. The recent "lockdown"  has created a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety for many people of all ages. 
Our normal daily routine is disrupted and the idea of being homebound for such a long time can be daunting and overwhelming. People living alone could feel very lonely during this time. Yet this could also be a time to connect emotionally with significant people in your life.  

Below are a few simple ways to do so:
-If you are alone in your home during  phone or chat via whatsapp with someone daily, Having a pet with you an also help to feel less alone.
-If you have children connect with them emotionally through playing, play board games, do arts and crafts, paint, create artworks with clay. Playing with children can also help parents to relax and destress.
-Make sure you do fun activities in your home and use humour.
-Do calming exercises with other people in your home daily such as stretching, listening to calming music, and breathing in a rhythm.
-Journalling or writing about your emotions is a great way to reflect on your own emotions and process. 
-It could also help to have a daily routine in place otherwise the days could feel very long. A reset day during this time every now and then could also help you to cope. Please click on the link below to read about how to structure a reset day.
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Many of us are led to believe that creativity is only for artists, poets, writers and performers.....When in actual fact creativity is needed in various other areas of society. Creativity links strongly to problem solving skills. The ability to engage in problem solving is situated in the frontal lobe of the brain. Some of the other areas that are also associated with this brain region is divergent thinking, flexibility, self-monitoring and personality. To read up more about the frontal lobe click here. Innovative ideas or creative solutions is important for the workplace, parenting, social issues in communities, teaching, education, science, and engineering, to name a few. 

The context where you do brainstorming to foster creative ideas is a crucial component of this unique process. For many people it is difficult to come up with creative ideas in their open plan office space, but when they find themselves in a funky coffee shop/sit in nature the ideas and dreams seems to flow easily. The English social psychologist  Graham Wallas, came up with a wonderful theory "The Art of Thought", which describes 4 stages of the creative process practically. The first stage is preparation, this is where the problem at hand is investigated. The second stage is incubation, where unconscious processing of the problem occurs. The third stage is illumination; when the train of associations start to link up and this could lead to a "flash of insight".  The fourth stage is verification, during this stage the validity of the idea/the possible solution is tested. You can read up more about theses stages when you  /click here

Creativity is also about self-expression and through this process your unique voice can be heart and disclosed. This process could enhance your sense of self-awareness and foster personal growth. Visionary leaders could benefit from the ability to think creatively, especially when feeling stuck and lacking progress or development in their context. The problem solving process could lead to character development as endurance, preservation and determination is often necessary to reach the end goal and to implement and maintain the creative ideas.

One of the essential values is that - It teaches us courage.

Please note that all information provided by yourself would be confidential.

All of us have a relationship with food. For some of us the relationship  seems to be a nurturing one, where eating sooth us emotionally. For others  the relationship with food is a very restricted one, where food intake is monitored constantly and this seems to go hand in hand with high levels of anxiety, stress and guilt. For some eating is a crucial coping mechanism, such as having a chocolate to feel better after a break-up or a way of mending relationships through saying sorry with something sweet. Food is an important component of building relationships with significant others through sharing a meal, or cooking together as a family or as friends.

According to experts such as Patrick Holford, a London, England–based nutritionist  and Dr. Dhawan; certain foods influence our emotions.  Dr. Dhawan indicates that food affects our metabolism, hormones and neurotransmitters which impacts our energy levels, ability to concentrate and how we feel. Holford noted that omega-3 fatty acids in fish and avocado oils may relieve or help protect individuals against depression. Further research has shown that vitamin D deficiency can cause low moods; and oily fish is high in vitamin D. If your low mood  persists and you find it extremely difficult to cope you might need to visit a health professional to support you in this regard.

During this holiday season it might be worthwhile to pay some attention to your relationship with food, to increase your self-awareness and nurture your emotions, so that you will have enough emotional capacity to deal with what lies ahead in 2016.

The emotional connections or attachments formed between parents/caregivers and their child will have a significant impact on a child's emotional development. It is important for children to form secure attachments (strong emotional connections) with their parents/caregivers. Parents can do a great deal to encourage emotional connections with their child. Below are a brief description of five interventions that can encourage your emotional connection with your child:
 
1. It is very important to be affectionate towards your child. Parents have an important role in helping children understand their own and other people's emotions. As a parent/caregiver you can describe emotions to your child and teach them how to express their own emotions. To gently touch/hug your child shows warmth and physical affection. If your child has been diagnosed with Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Reactive Attachment Disorder or if your child are Sensory sensitive, physical touch and emotional connections could be challenging.

2.Your child seeks and needs to know that they have  a sense of safety and security.  Children experience a sense of security if you as a parent consistently tend to their physical and emotional needs.  It is crucial for parents to set appropriate limits or boundaries for children and to adhere to the set limits as this consistency and structure can create a safe space. It will be in your  child's best interest if both parents set similar limits, otherwise a child could experience confusion and they could become more anxious and fearful.

3. Parents need to model to children how to be warm and affectionate towards other people. If your child displays inappropriate interaction with others, intervene immediately and teach your child how to engage in an appropriate manner with other people.

4.Teach your child how to effectively communicate their needs and be sure to listen and pay attention to the needs your child communicates. Children need to be taught how to ask for help when needed, and they need to know  who they can go to for help in their various contexts. Such as telling your child if they experience difficulties at school they need to speak to their teacher. 

5. Do special activities with your child on a regular basis, especially activities you know your child enjoys. If you engage in special activities with your child this shows your child that you care and value them and this could enhance your child's self-esteem. Spending time with your child strengthens your emotional connection. This provides an opportunity for you as a parent to invest emotionally in the well-being of your child.

The above mentioned are only basic guidelines, it is still important to consider the unique temperament of your child. Make sure you as parents are accessible to your children to further the emotional understanding that you have of your child.