A Visualization Exercise on Managing Expectations for Adults with ADDWritten by ADD Coach Jennifer Koretsky
As adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), we often find ourselves excited by new ideas and plans, but overwhelmed by what it will take to reach goals. Many of my coaching clients find themselves in this situation. They make a decision to make a change - a big change. Sometimes it's about moving up in world, like finding a new and better home. Sometimes change is about pursing a dream, like taking a passion for art and turning it into a career. And sometimes change involves a mental shift to become a better person, like learning to overcome anger. No matter what big and exciting change is on horizon, we can sometimes find that our impulsivity has us not only wanting - but expecting - change to happen much quicker than is actually possibly. We have unrealistic expectations of what we are able to accomplish when. When this happens, disappointment, lack of motivation, and even feelings of failure, are quite common. When one of my clients finds them self in a situation like this, I take them through a visualization exercise that I call "The Temple." The following directions will allow you to use this exercise in your own life. The Temple: A Visualization Exercise Step 1: Pick Goal Pick a goal that you are excited about - a change you really want to make. Step 2: Relax Sit back, relax, and close your eyes. Focus on your breath going in and out, and allow worries and concerns to be breathed away...just for a little bit. Step 3: Visualize a Temple Create - in your mind - vision of a beautiful, peaceful temple. It is your temple, and it can be anywhere. It can look any way you like. Get a very vivid image of this temple in your mind.
| | Pregnancy--Your Baby's Growth and Development Within the Womb Written by Larry Denton
Parenting does not start once a child is born. Good parenting starts even before you become pregnant. It begins by caring about what you eat, how much sleep and exercise you get and understanding about stress and responsibilities that come with parenthood. Understanding your baby's development during first trimester (approximately 12 weeks) can give you some appreciation of gentle care your body should receive during this time. Knowing how your baby is developing can also help you deal with your body to best nurture growing life inside you. Understanding importance of proper nutrition, vitamin supplements (particularly folic acid), early and regular prenatal care and healthy exercise, in addition to knowing dangers of caffeine, alcohol and tobacco, can improve your chances of a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. The most monumental and dramatic development of your baby takes place during first 12 weeks. This is when fertilized egg travels down Fallopian tube to implant in wall of uterus. Once that happens, powerful hormones are produced to sustain your pregnancy while your body continues to treat it like a foreign invader. The lack of hormone production at this stage is cause of some miscarriages. In first week after fertilization, pregnancy usually becomes established and embryo begins to grow and develop. During second week, groups of rapidly growing cells prepare to become specific organs and body systems. During week three, brain and heart begin to develop. Once twelve weeks have passed, limbs and all internal organs are fully formed. It is vitally important that you be extremely cautious about diet, drug usage, alcohol consumption and tobacco use during these first 12 weeks, since that is when most crucial development takes place. At beginning of second trimester, at around sixteen weeks, fetus is about five inches long and weighs approximately 4 ounces. Its heartbeat is strong and its skin is transparent. The body is totally covered in soft, downy hair called lanugo. By twenty weeks, fetus is a foot long and weighs about one-half to one pound. The fetus sucks its thumb and sometimes hiccups. During these middle months of pregnancy expectant mother will probably feel better than she did earlier or that she will later. Morning sickness (nausea) and fatigue usually lessen or disappear entirely. As baby's growth continues, expectant mother's uterus expands into abdominal cavity. Psychological changes in response to their changing appearance occur in most women during this portion of pregnancy. Some expectant mothers enjoy how they look, while others feel unattractive, inconvenienced and restricted. By end of second trimester, around twenty four weeks, fetus has grown to fourteen inches in length and weighs about one and one-half pounds. The eyes are open and fetus has a strong grip.
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