INTRODUCING A NEW PRACTICE LOCATION!

I am excited to announce that I will be moving out of my current office in Northwest Portland and into a brand new location in Northeast Portland. Benefits of making this transition include:

·       more daily and weekly availability for client appointments,

·       greater scope of services (adding focus groups for clients and professionals),

·       increased client privacy,

·       easy access to public transportation and increased parking,

·       increased access to additional medical providers.

Client appointments will begin at this office starting Monday, Feb 24. 

Please visit www.dprochniak.com for the most current and up-to-date information. 

In addition to this move to a new office location, February and March will see a host of presentations and workshops that I am honored to have been invited to participate in and present at:

·       February 2-7 West Coast Post Trauma Retreat

www.wcpr2001.org

·       February 12-14: Northwest Peer Support Conference

www.clackamas.us/sheriff/peersupport

·       March 7-9: A Head of Healing Veteran Retreat
             www.a-head-of-healing.org

Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts. 

This brief 20 minute cider spent a lengthy amount of time on my website. Those who consider themselves to be introverted possess a significant amount of creativity, intuition and leadership abilities of their own which oftentimes may go unnoticed.

Learn a bit more about what speaker Susan Cain has to say about the special characteristics of introverts and how these individuals make a significant contribution to our daily lives.

Mindfulness Challenge: Final Week: Movement

This is the final week of the eight-week mindfulness challenge. This week's challenge is to practice mindful movement whenever you can. As you walk, notice the movement of your muscles, joints and ligaments. Notice how they interact with each other. As you sit in your chair, become aware of how the chair supports your back and legs. As you ride your bike, bring your attention to the connection of your limbs, and breath.

Bring your awareness to all your movements for any given period of time and feel how they are connected with each other. What do you notice?

Mindfulness Challenge: Week Seven: Acceptance

While at first glance, acceptance may seem like a more accomplishable notion than others in this challenge, but you may soon find that it is more challenging than originally anticipated. Acceptance is the acknowledgement of all aspects of a situation; the truth. While one does not necessarily have to LIKE each and every aspect, one may find great benefits to merely acknowledging them as true and accepting them. Oftentimes we may experience a hang-up through attachment to a particular outcome. This attachment to outcomes is what may cause us to suffer instead of accepting things for what they really are and moving on. 

Oftentimes, acceptance follows a period of intense emotional turmoil or anger. It is this struggle and suffering that depletes our energy and moves us from a place of balance to imbalance. 12-Step teachings state that "acceptance is the answer to all our problems" (AA Big Book, p449). Whether or not you are a 12-Stepper, there is certainly some truth to this idea. It urges to us to let go our attachments to outcomes that WE desire, that fit US, and to go with the flow. 

How long have you been swimming up stream instead of letting the river take you to where it wants you to go? 

Mindfulness Challenge: Week Six: Non Striving

Have you ever played with a Chinese Finger Trap? It's a small tube in which you insert both index fingers and they become stuck. The harder you attempt to pull them apart the more solidly the trap holds your fingers. So how does one release their fingers from this annoying toy?

The concept of non striving is somewhat like a Chinese Finger Trap. Have you ever pushed to try to achieve something so badly or pulled someone along a path which he or she was not willing to follow? What happened? Was the reward worth the work? As events are meant to happen they will happen and it will most often times not be on our own time.

This week's mindfulness challenge is to practice non-striving. This does not grant allowance to be lazy, but it asserts the notion of "what is is and what will be will be". Do not attempt to push or pull events to occur. Just let them occur as they will.

Mindfulness Challenge: Week Five: Stopping to Smell the Roses

Handfuls upon handfuls of studies have been published citing research related to our sense of smell. In fact, it has been proven that not only is our sense of smell one of the fastest-reacting senses, but it is also significantly tied to our memories. This article helps to explain the whys and hows.

This week, allow your self to stop and notice smells around you and your reactions and responses to them. Whether you're out for an evening walk or eating lunch in a park, just notice. Practice being nonjudgmental and just notice.

Mindfulness Challenge: Week Four: Mindful Eating

We're switching it up just a bit this week, folks. Mindful eating is an interesting challenge in and of itself. Eating mindfully assists us on so many levels. If we take the time to really appreciate our food, whatever it is, for exactly what it is, then it assists to enhance our experience of it.

As you are eating, notice the texture of each bite. Are there particular flavors which you notice more than others? Attempt to notice each separate element which is a part of your food.

As we begin to eat mindfully, we may notice that we become satiated long before we may have imagined, either in our bellies or our minds.

Try this: Take three raising and set them each in front of you. Take the first raisin and simply eat it. Take the second raisin and with your fingers, notice it's texture. Smell the raisin. Roll it between your fingertips. Place the raisin in your mouth and notice its texture with your tongue. Squish it between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. Roll it around. Swallow the raisin. Lastly, simply eat the third raisin. What do you notice? Was your experience similar to that of the first, or was it slightly different? How?

This week's challenge is to eat one mead a day, mindfully.