Spring is a time for renewal. We see the birds return, the snow retreat for another season and the grass grow starting to. While we get busy around our home and cars sprucing everything up why don’t we take the time to spring clean our lives?

What unhealthy habits do you have that could use being tossed out?  Are there cobwebs in your thinking that could use a clean sweep? What stale or staled relationships do you have that could use a spring tune up?  Do you have a stash of old messages that prevent you from achieving your dreams? Are you holding on to old patterns of procrastination and inhibit you from reaching your goals? This Spring don’t just declutter your garage or patio – take action! Invest in yourself - give your life a renovation.  Call us today to renew yourself.

Parents help you child calm their fears by creating a worry bag together. Listen to Parenting coach Pam Dyson explain what she puts into a worry bag and how these items can help kids up to 10 years old learn to cope with their anxiety. Her best tip.... Parents if you're anxious you need to get a grip on your anxiety!

Pam Dyson's favorite items are;

1) BUBBLES
Blowing bubbles help children draw deep breathes in order to blow big bubbles. This is good for parents too. Who can be anxious with beautiful bubbles floating around? We know slow deep breathing calms us down. Slow, deep breathing utilizing the diaphragm and abdomen causes heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure to drop. Here's an easy bubble recipe.

2) NOTE PAD
Children of all ages can draw or write out what causes them to be fearful or anxious. Putting your fears and worries on paper gets them out of your head and then they may not seem so bad or this gives parents a place to understand what their child is afraid of. 

3) WORRY DOLLS
Guatemalan children believe that if you tell one worry to each doll and put the dolls under your pillow, when you get up in the morning your worries are gone. You can create a worry doll from an old fashion cloths pin or buy them a set in Ottawa from stores like Ten Thousand Villages. 


4) Pin Wheel
Here's a dry alternative to bubbles. Blowing on a pin wheel help children draw deep breathes. Deep breathing stimulates our  parasympathetic system which is responsible for relaxing.

5) Lavender Lotion
Lavender is a natural way to stimulation calmness. Of course massaging your child's body helps to calm your child. Remember being present and close to your child can help your child to calm themselves.

6) Squeeze toy
Squeezing a soft object helps your child to release tension. They may also find the repetitive motion soothing. 

7) Practice, practice, practice. 
Remember your child needs your help and assistance to learn how to self sooth and calm themselves down. Take out the worry bag with them when they are not worried so they learn the skills they need when they are anxious. Over time with practice, your child will internalize these behaviours and may not need to pull out the worry bag in order to conquer there fears.

Pam starts talking at about 1:44 into the segment. If there is anxiety in your home, call us today and talk to us about helping to calm down those fears. We can be reached at 613 -287-3799.

Sleep is essential for every human being. While scientists have figured out a lot about sleep, we still don’t understand everything there is to know about sleep. Every mammal, bird, reptile amphibians and fish require some sleep in order to function.  Even plants need a restful dark period in order to produce blooms. Here are some sleep facts you may not have heard of….

1.     When you sleep you’re brain recharges, your cells repair themselves, your body releases important hormones, your body temperature and heart rate decrease. You also need a period of sleep to consolidate your memories – this is one reason why cramming all-nighters for exams is a bad idea.

2.     We all need different amount of sleep depending upon our ages

Babies--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 hours
Children 3-12 yrs --------------------------------------- 10 hours
Teens 13- 20 yrs ---------------------------------------- 10 hours
Adults 21 - 65 yrs --------------------------------8 hours
Seniors  +65 yrs --------------------- 6 hours or less

3.     Dreaming is an important part of sleep. Without dreams we don’t feel rested.  Men have dreams about other men 70% of the time. Women dream equally about men and women. 12% of people dream only in black and white.

4.     One in four couples sleep in separate beds.

5.     Animals sleep different lengths. Kolas, brown bats, and pangolins sleep 18 to 22 hours a day. While giraffes, roe deer and Asiatic elephants sleep 1.9 to 3.1 hours a day. Giraffes sleep for only 5- 10 minute increments. Talk about a power nap!

6.     Dolphins have an incredible brain. When they sleep, only half of their brain sleeps. The other half stays awake to monitor their breathing cycles.

7.     Do blind people dream in colour?  Well it depends on when they went blind. People who are born blind experience dreams involving their four senses, sounds, smell, touch and emotions. Those who went blind later in life still see images when they dream.

8.     We remember our dreams most accurately just upon waking it up. If you want to remember your dreams remind yourself to do so before you go to sleep and night. Then in the morning quickly write down your dream as soon as you wake up.  5 minutes after waking up you’re already forgotten 50% of your dream. 10 minutes later its 90% disappeared.

9.     We so desperately need our sleep. Sleep deprivation is harmful! It can lead to personally changes and negative health consequences.  Changes can be seen within as little as 10 days.

10.    Having trouble falling asleep?  There is truth to having a warm glass of milk before bed. Consuming too much alcohol will interfere with a good night’s rest. Stop eating at least 3 hours before you sleep. Get the TV out of your bedroom à never give a child or teen a TV in their room.  Prepare for sleep by starting to settle down and relaxing at least 30 minutes before you want to sleep. A cool room can help you get a better night‘s sleep. Black out curtains can help to keep light out which may prevent you from waking up  too early.

Sweet Dreams

People expect us to be busy, overworked. It’s become a status symbol in our society – if we’re busy, we are important; if we’re not busy, we’re almost embarrassed to admit it. Busyness is where we get our security. It’s validating, popular, and pleasing. It’s also a good excuse for not dealing with the first things in our lives.” (Covey et. al, 1994)."

I found this to be an interesting quote. Sometimes we need to really examine why we need to be so busy. Sometimes we keep ourselves busy to avoid the emptiness in our lives. Other times, we've been "trained" from an early age that slowing down and taking time for ourselves is called "laziness". What is it about being still that makes people uncomfortable? 

A quick internet searched revealed topics such as "How to handle a break up by keeping busy" or "How to keep busy between jobs".  It seems that keeping yourself busy can be a way to avoid your emotions. But why do we need to keep busy to avoid our emotions?  Negative emotions while unpleasant are a normal part of life. And yes while break ups are unpleasant it is an opportunity for self reflection and personal growth. The second article seemed to suggest that we only value those who are productive. And people must remain productive at all costs. But sometimes the reality is there are no jobs between the jobs you really want.

Stephen Covey really hits the nail on the head when he states being busy has "become a status symbol in our society." We need to step back and assess what is really important to us.  Are you really important because you stay busy? How do people value you.... for who you are? Or for what you do for them? There is a significant difference between being valued because you DO things for others versus being valued for YOU as a PERSON.

Take the time to sit back and examine your life. Are you busy all the time? What exactly are you doing which keeps you busy? Are you busy because there are many activities or events you choose to do for your own pleasure? Or are you busy because this is expected or demanded from you? Maybe it's time to sit back and watch the merry go round go by?

Sometimes you need to bring back some calmness into your day. It’s good to know that you can quickly create a sense of calmness through deep breathing. The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and less anxious you feel. Sit comfortably with your back straight with one hand on your stomach. As you breathe in through your nose feel your stomach rise. Exhale through your mouth; pushing out as much air, your stomach will sink.  Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale. In a short time you will feel more relaxed and calm.

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouths of young children. A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does 'love' mean?' The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. 

See what you think: 

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' 
Rebecca- age 8 

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. 
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' 
Billy - age 4 

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' 
Karl - age 5 

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' 
Chrissie - age 6 

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' 
Terri - age 4 

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' 
Danny - age 7 

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.. They look gross when they kiss' 
Emily - age 8 

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' 
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!) 

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' 
Nikka - age 6 
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet) 

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' 
Noelle - age 7 

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' 
Tommy - age 6 


'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' 
Cindy - age 8 

'My mommy loves me more than anybody.You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' 
Clare - age 6 

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' 
Elaine-age 5 

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' 
Chris - age 7 

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day' 
Mary Ann - age 4 

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' 
Lauren - age 4 

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) 
Karen - age 7 

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.' 
Mark - age 6 

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' 
Jessica - age 8 

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. 

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 
'Nothing, I just helped him cry' 

When there is nothing left, that is when you find out that love is all you need. 

Tell someone you love them today.