Health – Page 3

Challenging your Health

I’ve been scared of not feeling my legs again since 2007, when I could not feel both legs and I was forced to in bed for a few months; a long time. It was absolutely scary, beyond infinity and beyond scary. This summer, I felt super scared again.

I was siting, being stressed, trying to stay afloat of everything I had to do amidst of going through a lot of other things. I began to fall down. I felt like I wasn’t doing well, my body was aching, my system was crashing and with that came Jes tumbling down. I was following rules. I was doing what I was supposed to do in other areas of my life. I was helping others out, being kind, getting productivity in, working under the pressures of what I had to fix. I was doing all of that except for one MAJOR thing… I was not taking care of me. As a person who was use to going on that morning walk or evening walk I had placed that to the side. I was afraid to challenge other’s and not say anything. I’d placed my health to the side. I wasn’t even going to the gym. At one point I was told to act like I was working during my finals to push through and get it done. And I didn’t want to disappoint and I didn’t want anyone mad. I’d already felt like a failure in more ways than one. I was scared of loosing it all.

I was challenging the wrong things. Others perception of me; what people thought of me. I allowed everything else to take a hold of my time and forgot to take care of me.

Thankfully, I have amazing mentors and they helped me out so much. I tend to choose amazing people in my life. I’m very blessed I have them, I did a good job in picking them for my inner circle, for my life. They defiantly helped me.

So… after loosing most things and I ended up in the hospital. After coming out of the hospital and getting all these things done, I challenged myself. I told myself I would restore and walk again without pain by the end of the summer’s end. I told myself I would take care of everything I had to take care of before I had to go back to saving one life at a time. I challenged myself to be emotionally strong and say what I needed to say before the summer ended. I challenged my health. Everyone around me kept telling me take it slow, one step at a time… and I did.

I started testing my limits, testing my self, one step at a time. When the pain was too much I would stop. My doctors told me, if it hurts don’t do it. And it did hurt and after a few more steps I stopped. Today two months later I’m walking 3.5-4 miles 4-5xs weekly, again. I’m back to where I was. I’m cooking for myself and feeling like myself again. I’m even saying what I felt and feel again. I’m being honest with how I’m feeling. I’m no longer worried if expressing myself is going to cause something else to go wrong. That is no way to live. I’m not letting anyone or anything stop me from taking care of me and voicing myself. I’m recouping slowly everything else I lost, but for now, i’m being strong. Back to who you know me to be. Many didn’t even know all I went through, I guess you will have to buy my book eventually to read about it…

For now, I’m eating all my meals, I’m drinking loads of water and I challenged myself. I’m challenging my health. Everything is one step at a time.

I doing it.

I’m not it alone though, I will tell you that. I don’t do it without supervision or without caution. I have an awesome team to help me with that; mentors, medical teams, friends, parents, family, people around me to be there for me. I learned that lesson a long time ago to keep my circle tight.

I took a Healthy Me Pause (when everything around is crumbling down and all you have to do is take care of you and get strong to keep going on). I had to. It was all too much.

You will see me walking, hiking and baking, and I’m taking care of me. I was reminded “you can’t help the world and people in it if you are not taking care of you.” Its words I preach all the time. And now I’m an example why I preach them… It’s just that simple. God first, You and then all things. Challenge yourself to take care of you first. People will say it’s hard, I won’t lie it has its moments. However, it’s that or not being well at all. You would be amazed at what a walk can do, of how making time for you and your friends can do. Its simple once you make the time for that.

I hope you have a good time with your challenge, whatever it may be.

Smile (if you want),

Jes Sofia Valle

The Living Breath Project: Think. Listen. Breathe.

Think. Listen. Breathe.

Think about 42. Forty-Two Feelings to work through, actualize seven emotions that help you accomplish living life. I was influenced by someone today that has worked 20 years on helping others doing that.

Meet Genie O’Malley. She is an author, humanitarian, and social entrepreneur, teaches individuals the importance of Emotional Wellness as the governing force of our relationships to others, our quality of living, and our potential in life.

She states “quite often individuals are taught to disconnect to feeling and emotions, fearing the outcome will be to fall apart and lose control of their lives. O’Malley understands through both her professional and personal life that individuals draw self-power through the vulnerability of life circumstances, teaching others that reconciling our experiences emotionally directs our lives into success and self-approval.”

I asked her one question only.

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How did she start your digital download?

“Over the past 21 years, I discussed, tested, lectured, created products, wrote publications, and built multiple platforms of distribution for the Living Breath Process nationally with much acclaim. With QUICK START Emotional Wellness Companion I was able to touch on both how the invention came to fruition as well as take the individual on a journey of how it has touched the lives of over 270,000 people as it began to discover itself.”

The Living Breath Project has assisted individuals, families, and communities by bringing emotional harmony to conditions of Mental Health that are a direct result of anxiety, trauma, and emotional breakdowns or conditions. As the founder of the Living Breath Project, she has spent her career aiming to achieve today’s outcome which was to provide an agile, cost effective, and results driven digital platform that helps every day people become unstuck of symptoms from emotional conditions driven by day to day circumstances.

The Living Breath Project is dedicated to providing our suite of 42 QUICK START Companions and comprehensive Emotional Wellness Community Services.”

www.livingbreathproject.com

“Mental Health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” World Health Organization

What is beyond being poor?

There is a land not far from where we live; I’d say about 4-5 countries far away (depending if you count side to side)… too far to walk to yet many do so every day, where several communities seek to learn new ways to be sustained. Where women and men are rich in land and are learning to cultivate the dirt with no water, no shovels, and for many no plan. The other part of the land is green fruit filled, where bees are kept, they make honey that helps their communities grow.

I recently traveled to Nicaragua for a long weekend to meet a group of people who are creating positive social change. They are beyond working bees. They are leaders in communities helping advance people lives. Raising communities the way they’ve been taught how.

In this team there are leaders, one traveling and telling people all over the world of his non-profit. His job takes him everywhere and through what he makes he started this act of love his name is Vince. I call his Cosgrove. His partner Victoria, she operates the non-profit that is literally saving people’s lives. This non-profit is called Sweet Progress. They help communities help their people become entrepreneurs so they can stand on their own. There are women, children and men with undiagnosed disabilities, people who don’t have the ability to talk, or walk, and people that have no control of their body and children with resiliency far beyond what poverty is known to create. And just because they have such resiliency should they continue to live in such ways? They are choosing not to and choosing to advance in life.

How you ask? Here is one of many ways:

I met a woman, she could not speak, she has two children, and she is learning how to make dresses so she can sell her works and feed her children, pay for her children’s schooling needs. A typical story you hear in the “third world scenes.” What you don’t know is that she lives in iron wooden stick hot open shelter home with little to no water. You only get one hour to pour and fill your buckets for every few days. The water wells, ponds and lakes have dried up, there use to be water all around them. Now, there is no walking 5-15 miles to get a gallon of water (it takes me 1 hour alone to walk 3.5-4 miles alone, imagine that). There is no water to cultivate their lands. A few years ago they where finally given the deeds to their lands. These communities created in old cane fields were given to them as payment for their hard work as a company they worked for broke during the Nicaraguan wars. This once was a land of the biggest company that grew sweet cane in Central America they once had sweet lands.

She is but one of many social entrepreneurs I will tell you about in my next few posts. All I can tell you now is to buy their honey, to help them mend their lives and lands.

www.SweetProgress.org

More later: What is beyond being poor

Have a positive and giving day,

Jes

Heal Orlando – Sana a Orlando

We are still human in this world. And Anyone i’ve met no matter their color or their belief or their struggle or their lack of, is still a human. To us, life matters. Mental Health for all matters. And Here at BOH we try to help out in this department as much as we can as we too live our lives helping others. So when we were asked to support Heal Orlando. We said, Heal Orlando, Heal our lives, heal from all the things being shown in the media. We are here to show you that there are many communities who care.

Todavía estamos en este mundo y somos humano . Y cualquier persona que he conocido, ya siendo de color o su creencia o su lucha o su faltas diferentes para nosotros todavía es ser humano. Para nosotros, la vida importa. Salud Mental para todos importa. Y aquí en BOH tratamos de ayudar en este departamento lo más que puede, como también nosotros vivimos nuestras vidas ayudando a otros. Así que cuando nos pidieron para apoyar Heal Orlando . Dijimos, Heal Orlando, Sana nuestras vidas , curar de todas las cosas que se muestran en los medios que duele al mirar… abrimos la comunicación. Hay muchas comunidades ayudando y les queremos dar de ver.

So we share with you this news:

“LGBTQ leaders in Orlando came together to form The LGBTQ Alliance. The LGBTQ Alliance is unified in support of the LGBTQ community and Hispanic communities and the City of Orlando. The Alliance grieves with the parents, partners, siblings, children and friends who lost their loved ones.

In a spirit of unity and recovery, the LGBTQ Alliance created The HealOrlando Project to help survivors and victims’ families get the help they need.

By visiting HealOrlando.org, community members can seek necessary resources or offer their assistance.

Tras el ataque en la discoteca Pulse el pasado 12 de junio, los líderes de la comunidad LGBTQ se han unido para formar la Alianza LGBTQ, para ofrecer apoyo a las comunidades hispana y LGBTQ, y a la ciudad de Orlando. Esta coalición se une al duelo de padres, parejas, hermanos, hijos y amigos por la pérdida de sus seres queridos. En el espíritu de unidad y recuperación, la Alianza LGBTQ lanza hoy el Proyecto HealOrlando, con el fin de que sobrevivientes y familiares de las víctimas reciban la ayuda necesaria.

Al visitar HealOrlando.org, la comunidad tendrá acceso a diferentes recursos y también podrá ofrecer su ayuda.
The LGBTQ Alliance comes together with support from the below:

Christ Church Unity Orlando
Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention
Come Out With Pride
Equality Florida
GLBT Community Center of Central Florida
Hispanic Federation
Hope & Help Center of Central Florida
Human Rights Campaign
Impulse Group Orlando
Libby’s Legacy
MBA Orlando
Miracle of Love
Orlando Gay Chorus
Out + Equal
Orlando Youth Alliance
Pulse of Orlando
PFLAG
The Venue
Two Spirit Health
Watermark
Zebra Coalition

You are not alone.

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I came across someone at Starbucks today who looked very sad. They said, I am alone. My response was, well dayum I guess I’m invisible today. I looked around and said, well i must be seeing ghost. In the midst of laughter I heard a cry in her voice. It broke my heart. We spoke about why she came to LA and how she was struggling. A story I hear all the time. Being an LA woman, I hear it all the time. And every time I hear it, it breaks my heart. You choose to come to LA for a dream… and you feel alone.

Nevertheless, I listened. Her tears began to flow, there was nothing she could do, she said. I felt bad. What can I do? My rapid thinking…make her smile, dig up her buried hope and make her believe once again why she was here again.

There are times where you may feel alone. These are reasons why you are not.

You are with you. And in you, the most important is your faith, what ever brought you to where you are at. What triggered you to come to LA? What makes you do these things? And lastly, You have other people around you. Your choice is to make the best of it and befriend them or make an acquaintance.

If YOU CHOOSE to be alone, then its your choice. But regardless… logically you are not alone. You may feel alone, but you are not physically alone. Heck! for all i know Mars have red Martians that become red dust when they see something orbit and they hide… that’s my imagination there… LMAO.

I wish you well in what you do. I hope you know that when you think you are alone, I hope you know there is always someone around you, and strangers ready to make you smile. Not everyone is a stuck up LA person. And when you think you are alone, keep in mind that there is someone like me is thinking of people like you that feel alone.

The best of everything! A Repost From 2014

Hope you enjoy your week.

Jes Sofia Valle 🙂

Beauty is Everything…or is it?

We live in a society in which we are constantly inundated with beauty. Advertisements constantly tell us what we need to buy to be beautiful and accepted. Instagram gurus are now making thousands, if not millions (see: Michelle Phan) for making tutorials on how to conceal that pimple or rock that smokey eye. Don’t get me wrong, I love make up, and I love checking out all the latest hair trends. But where are the ads that are calling us to become the best version of ourselves? Why is society so driven to create images rather than character?
Growing up, my parents, well my grandparents who raised me, did their best. I look back now, and being a mom, I realize they weren’t perfect, but they gave me all that they had. My grandmother, whom I miss dearly, in a misguided effort to keep me focused, used to tell me that I wasn’t pretty, like my best friend…that I had better focus on my grades. In her effort to keep me from being boy crazy and self-obsessed, she did some damage to my self-esteem that she didn’t realize. I literally thought that I was ugly, well into my late 20s.
Now before you start feeling sorry for me, let’s take a look at this in a different perspective. Because I didn’t think that I was beautiful, it allowed me to cultivate and work on other aspects of who I was becoming. I wanted to be considered generous, kind, helpful and supportive. I wanted to be an accountable and trustworthy person. I wanted to be unselfish, thinking about the big picture and needs of the team vs. me.
Realizing that looks aren’t everything allowed me to look for traits and qualities in others that had nothing to do with their looks. I wanted friends and lovers who loved others, who were generous and hard working. It didn’t matter to me what someone looked like, I wanted to understand their heart, their work ethic and their values.
So based on those values, and hard learned lessons, it’s interesting to interact with people today who are literally obsessed with appearance…yet have empty hearts and selfish perspectives towards others. We are constantly fooled and made to feel inferior by others highlight reel via social media.
Beauty is really about how you treat others, how you value yourself, your true self, and what you contribute to the world around you. Beauty is found in serving in a soup kitchen, or holding an open door for someone else. Beauty is on display when we put the needs of others before our own. We are at our most beautiful when we are seeking a life that serves the needs of others. We are beautiful when we are living out the purpose for which we were placed on the earth. We are beautiful when we choose to do what’s right, even when no one is looking. Beauty comes from building character, and working to become the best version of ourselves…a lifelong work.
So while selfies likes, and advertisements seem to dictate what beauty really is made of, remember that true beauty comes from within.

Stay Beautiful,

Brandise

BeautybyBrandise.com

Ten ways to #Advocate for your #Parents

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One thing I am noticing is that our bodies become frail as we get older. I mean, that is a given… but you don’t see it until you actually see your parents go through it, and how much you took care of yourself shows as you get older … (this may be partially true).

I’m currently at the point where my parents are going to the doctors more often. They are getting small but significant procedures done and its interesting because they are doing it back to back…meaning, one week my mom, the other week my dad. (Ahhhh :-)!) And I WANT to be there for them, even if by their side in the hospital. Luckily, I have an awesome schedule and my parents schedule their appointments to be the first appointment of the day and I can see clients in the evening, but living a caretaking life is no joke.

I can only imagine what it must be like to be in the shoes of others that cannot accompany their parents to see the doctors. Now that I’m older, I ask… do a lot of parents even get their check ups done?

Luckily to my advantage, our family knows that doctors can actually help. Growing up as a hospital kid, they learned to advocate for me. I guess those tables are turning and its time to advocate/support them. So…Here are…

Ten ways to advocate for your Parents

1. Listen to your parents and to the doctors. They are defining the issues.

A lot of people go to the doctors and don’t use the knowledge the doctors give you – parents tend to do things their way and sometimes forget what the doctor says.

2. Learn to ask for second opinions. Gather information. Sometimes this helps, not only can one doctor miss something, but you gain assurance that its not just your doctor telling you something, its now two or three.

3. Know your rights!

HIPPA (Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act). Know what the hospital/clinical settings should be doing to protect your parent’s information.

If your parents do not speak English (in the USA), ask for a Translator. Though you may be able to translate, don’t place the burden of having to tell you parents’ things and later feeling emotions due to it. Let a professional do it, its their job, not yours. Also, there may be some medical terminology that sometimes-even professionals can’t comprehend because getting certain news about your parents can be shocking.

4. Have them Ask, Answer and make their own Decisions: Read about the conditions that they have, knowledge is power. They will want to ask you questions. Guide them to ask their doctors…gently/ sometimes sternly depending on how stubborn your parent(s) is/are…lol

Example: “mom/da/grandma, I read that this is what it is (hand them a brochure in their language), but I think you should defiantly ask the doctor as they know a lot more about this subject.”

The reason for this is to empower your parent and help them become advocated for themselves, if not already. This allows them to make an informed decision as oppose to a generalized statement “OK.”

5. Paperwork: Help keep and teach your parent how to keep their paperwork in one binder, so that if they every need anything, its all there. Doctor appointments, past and current medications. Have tabs, Label them, Past and Present. This way if their doctors (new doctors) ask about their history and your parents don’t remember, they have a binder. Also, you can always ask your treating team for a summary of services (HIPPA).

6. Help your parents set a plan for their health. Ask questions. Its better to ask than to assume. When can they fit in exercise? What can they do or not do (mobility wise). When is their next doctor appointment? What are their general health goals?

If they have a chronic illness, how will the team of doctors treat them? These questions you can ask your parents to ask their doctors. And explain to them that its always good to know what they should expect from the doctors, even though most doctors might say, we will take it one step at a time.

This helps…

7. Be patient, assertive but not aggressive.

Because these are your parents, you will want to get mad at the person who is treating them… this will not help the situation, it will only create more anxiety. And the whole point of you being there is to support.

A lot of the time, you will see yourself in their reactions, which is normal because…well…. They raised you and you learned things from them. So try to be patient with them and yourself.

8. Review with your parent. I will warn you, a lot of people who have acute or chronic illness with do one of two things; talk about it like there is no tomorrow, or not talk about it like there is no tomorrow…. Be patient. Be kind and remind yourself that you are there to support not live their life. This is also where things can get dicey. Because your parent may already know and may not want to review, your binder may help. Casually leaving the binder out might help them review their condition, but regardless, always refer them to talk to their doctors. Have a talk about it.

9. Remind them of their follow up appointments.

10. Be you. Its good to know yourself, and your positive attributes. Sometimes it’s also good to know if you are not fit to be your parent’s supporter and you need to step away.

Most of the time it’s hard to see our Heroes being frail. If for some reason your parent(s) ask you to be there for them and you don’t feel ready, have a conversation about it. Tell them why you don’t feel capable to help them. Explain it to them. Because with out an explanation, it usually just feels like a rejection or like you don’t want to be there for them.

11. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TOO!

I know I only said ten, but I added one because its needed.

Well… I wish you luck. And ALWAYS< ALWAYS>ALWAYS contact a doctor for support. Even if you yourself are a doctor. J

If your Parents need Insurance Click Here to find out how you can get then insurance. For Español haga clic aqui.

Smile (if you want),

Jes Sofia Valle, Founder, MA IMFT

Depression

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Everyone at some point in their life will feel blue or sad. However, these feelings are fleeting and within a few days the person feels like themselves again. Depression is nothing like that. Depression has sneaky way of creeping into a person’s life. Whether it is a new parent who wants to bond with their baby or a college student trying to study for exams. Depression makes people think that life is not worth living. When you have depression,your life is turned upside down. Depression affects your ability to function on a daily basis; including its effects on relationships, career, school, even tasks of everyday living, like brushing your teeth for a long period of time. Depression can cause physical aches and pain and even illnesses. Depression is serious.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health study in 2014, an estimated 15.7 million adults experienced a depressive episode. Depression is characterized by 5 or more of the following symptoms during the same 2 weeks timespan or more (for more information please consult your doctor or seek a mental health professional in your state)

Depressed mood most of the day
Lack of interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities you typically enjoy
Significant weight loss
Trouble sleeping almost every night
Feeling restless or slow moving
Extreme tiredness
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt daily
Inability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
Suicidal thinking

If you are suffering from depression please keep in mind the following: be compassionate , caring and kind towards yourself. Suffering from depression can be a frustrating and exasperating time. Depression is not a choice; it happens to people and there is hope. The causes vary so each person is unique therefore your recovery will be your own. Seek professional help: www.psychologytoday.com is a great starting resource if you do not know where to begin. Lastly, you are loveable and truly valuable.

Resources

National Institute of Mental Health. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Cautionary statement for forensic use of DSM-5. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).

BOH Blogger: Yaritza

Yaritza Zayas, MS, MFT, LPC

www.thesharecenter.net

Yaritza Zayas, is a Marriage & Family Therapist and a Licensed Professional Counselor . She is co-owner of SHARE Counseling & Therapy Services™, a private practice in Philadelphia, Pa. Yaritza graduated from Temple University with her B.S. in Human Biology and a minor in Anthropology. She earned her Master’s degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from Holy Family University.

Criticism in Relationships

Does Criticism belong in a Relationship? When asking this question we should always look at the true definition of the word. In this case the word is ‘criticism’. Criticism as defined by the Oxford Dictionary “The expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes.” This term often elicits feelings of negativity and results in one feeling defensive to the statements made. Other terms that may appear less offensive are; assessment, critique, evaluation, or observation. Truly they all have the same intent, which is to constructively identify areas for improvement.

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist I have had experience helping families and have done extensive research on the subject of criticism in relationships. One cannot have a truly healthy relationship with another if unable to express areas of improvement. This results in the relationship becoming unbalanced and creates resentment and hostility. No one wants that in their romantic relationship. The romantic relationship is about developing a healthy and balanced partnership in which both parties equally work to develop and strengthen this partnership over time.

Terms such as ‘constructive criticism’ have been developed to help ease the uncomfortable blow of being told that one is not performing to expected or needed standards. One popular technique with giving criticism effectively is often referred to as the ‘sandwich’ or ‘hamburger’ technique. In a nutshell, this is to deliver a strength, problem, and strength. However this requires much more skill and is not that simple. The following is generally a good technique:

Self-evaluation: Check your own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Ensure that your intentions are to improve the relationship versus wanting to complain.
Timing: Never do this in the heat of the moment when you are feeling angered by what you are wanting to criticize. This will simply lead to a fight. Timing also needs to be considered for the other person. It is often helpful to ask for a good time to talk. This will help the other person be prepared and more open to listening
Positive Acknowledgement: Start off by acknowledging what your partner does right! If you can identify some things that are even related to what you want to criticize, this will be an added benefit. We all want to know what to do as well as what not to do. Include a significant amount of praise when doing this.
Constructively Criticize: You want to state the criticism with a suggestion. This helps to offer a solution, and most importantly use “I-statements” whenever possible!

“I notice when things have been stressful for you and I need help, the response is often in a harsh tone. This makes me feel upset and avoid asking for help. Please use a calm tone when responding to me or ask me if I can give you time to be in a better space, before you help me.”

This will help the other person to know how it impacts you along with showing understanding and offering an alternative solution.

Positive feedback: remind them what they do right and, if possible, examples that are related of times they did things right. Be sure to thank them for being the partner they are and for listening to you.

Encourage feedback: encourage them to share their feelings and thoughts and listen to and truly consider what they have to say. Make sure you are ready for some constructive criticism yourself.

Recourses:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-healthy/value-of-constructive-criticism.aspx

http://www.families.com/blog/marriage-tips-constructive-criticism

http://www.portofpeacecounseling.com/2013/08/09/8-tips-to-give-your-spouse-constructive-criticism-lovingly/

http://www.unh.edu/hr/sites/unh.edu.hr/files/pdfs/tool-2.pdf

Michelle Natale LMFT

Michelle is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has been working with youth and families for over 17 years.

Michelle graduated from Chapman University with her Masters in Psychology; emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy.

Michelle earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California State University at Northridge.

Mourning

The death of a loved one is one of life’s most stressful events. It can be the catalyst of major emotional crises to those who mourn. Grief is the internal (emotional) reaction to the death of a loved one whereas mourning is the external (behavioral) reaction of this grief. Whether the death was expect or unaccepted, a variety of emotions arise. These include but are not limited to:

Denial
Disbelief
Confusion
Shock
Sadness

Yearning
Anger
Humiliation
Despair
Guilt

Historically, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ 5 Stages of Loss, where readily used to explain grieving; this is no longer practiced to support mourners. There are no strategic stages to grieving. Grief is a journey marked by easier moments and moments of hardship. One never gets over the death of a loved one. We simply learn to live with the loss and learn healthier ways of coping. In essence, creating a new normal.

The intensity and longevity of grieving emotions and mourning behaviors varies; everyone is different in their journey. However, there are strategies a person can use to take care for themselves through the grieving process.

Seek support. Whether is in the form of friends or relatives or professional help. Seek to express what you are feeling and going through at this time.
Take care of your health. The stress the body goes through after the death of a loved one can lead to physical complications. Make sure to care for your physical well being; be sure to eat well and get plenty of rest. Be aware of the danger of developing a dependence on medication or alcohol to deal with your grief.
Avoid making major life decisions. Give yourself time to adjust to the death. Another change can further complicate your emotional health and further your stress level.
Be patient. It can take months or even years to absorb a major loss and accept your changed life.

Remember, with support, patience and effort, you will survive grief. Some day the pain will lessen, leaving you with cherished memories of your loved one.

Resources:

National Alliance for Grieving Children. 2016. Web. 30 Jan 2016.

Gupta, Sanjay. “How Grief Can Make You Sick.” Everydayhealth. Every Day Health Media, LLC. Web. 28 January 2016.

Richardson, Angelle. Personal interview. 29 January 2016

Yaritza Zayas, MS, MFT, LPC