Mindfulness Helps When "Normal is Broken" 07/19/21

<p>"Normal is broken," Melanie and guest Erin Doerwald agree. Erin's a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, mindfulness facilitator, and mindfulness program developer based in Santa Fe, NM. She was the Program Director for <a href= "http://www.nmsip.org/"><span class="s1">The Sky Center of the New Mexico Suicide Intervention Project</span></a> for many years and developed the core programming of Sky’s <em>Toolkit for Wellbeing</em> model. Finally, she's a member of <span class= "s2">the Board of Directors of <a href= "https://www.vallecitos.org/"><span class="s3">Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center</span></a></span>.</p> <p>Erin's an expert when it comes to mindfulness and how to manage when normal is broken.</p> <p>She's also an incredibly articulate and compassionate psychotherapist who shares insights on life in a (sort of) post-pandemic world.</p> <p>What does the process of meaning-making look like? What's resiliency? What's that "skillful place in the middle" that Erin mentions?</p> <p>This conversation is wide-ranging, in-depth, full of curiosity and insights and laughter and hope.</p> <p>For the truth is, there's always hope. There is always a way to create a little more space in our nervous systems and psyches. Which allows us to adapt to an ever-changing world, deepening into what's real and true and good and possible.</p> <p>Erin mentions the internationally respected resiliency researcher, Dr. Ann Masten.* Resilience is basically the capacity of a system, whether that be an individual, a family, an organization, or a culture, to adapt in adverse circumstances.</p> <p>One of the ways to strengthen our ability to adapt in adverse circumstances, to strengthen our resiliency muscle, is by practicing mindfulness.</p> <p>How that works is a big part of this episode.</p> <p>Among other things, Erin works with individuals and families in therapy, and <a href= "https://www.hellowellnesstherapy.com/classes">teaches virtual affiliated mindfulness classes from UCLA</a>.</p> <p>Mindfulness, "normal," s