Wake-up Your Brain
With These Posts
Deri’s blogs and video posts include emerging information, tools, tips, and strategies for living a positive, mentally-healthy life – at work and beyond!
We Called It a ‘Walkie Talkie’—We Didn’t Know It Was Also a ‘Brain Gain’
My friends, Audrey and Jacqueline, and I started walking over the last few years – especially during the long winter, in-between our southern get-aways. We knew we loved our “Walkie Talkie’s”; the exercise, connection, and camaraderie were always invigorating. What we did not realize is the real brain-boosting power of combining walking and talking; improving…The Joy of Slow: Time Out to Tune In and Turn On
My friend, Jennifer, told me about a fantastic App called?Insight Timer. I’ve been using it over the last few weeks. It’s filled with hundreds of thousands of meditations to choose from, and you get to see yourself amid a world-wide community of meditators. It is very cool! And, it’s free! One meditation I tried last…
Do You See What I See?
Recently, I purchased a one year licence to use Zoom, a video conferencing service. I had experienced it prior to purchasing it and I liked the opportunity to interact with many people while being able to see them. For years I have used conference call lines for large groups; I now plan to replace that…
Helpful or Unhelpful: What Thoughts Will You Think Today?
A young woman approached me after a keynote presentation recently. She liked an exercise we did on reframing negative situations into something more positive. She told me about how she has suffered from anxiety for years; largely related to a sexual assualt she suffered as a teenager. She liked the reframing exercise because it was…
Six Strategies to Add Some Bounce to Your Step this Spring!
It’s Spring! A time of birth, of renewal, and awakening! Here are six strategies to help you Bounce (or ‘spring’) into Spring! Be Positive Begin each day with a minute of mindfulness. As soon as your alarm goes off, lay quietly for a minute…to ?arrive? in your body (try a body scan to ‘wake up’…
My Valentine to You
It is the month of love. I remember as a young girl in elementary school, it was so exciting when Valentine’s Day arrived. Way back then (yes, I was in elementary school in the stone age!), we kids would carefully hang our folders around the classroom and then throughout the day, other kids would add…
What’s Written All Over Your Face?
Have you looked in the mirror lately? Have you caught a glimpse of yourself as you walked by a store window, or entered a mirrored elevator? Did you like what you saw? Would you be attracted to you? Would you want to move toward you, or away from you? I am not referring to your…
We Need to Talk: Opening the Doors to a Dialogue about Mental Health in the Workplace
Every day I visit workplaces across this beautiful country (and beyond) and I hear stories of the challenges facing people as they conduct their lives. We all have a story. Many of us are unable or unwilling to share our story with others. We are afraid to truly let others see us and know our…
Performance Appraisals: More Harm than Help
I started my career in HR. I was educated in, and then spent years staunchly supporting, a core foundation of effective HRM practice; Performance Management. Every year or so, we HR Practitioners rolled out the Performance Plan to the leadership team, and then relentlessly chased them down to get their performance appraisals done on time.…
Back to School 101
(Today’s Blog Post features Jasmine Zyzniewski {see her bio below}, who is working with me as an intern as part of her practicum at?Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, Manitoba.) September is always an exciting month for university students. Summer is winding to a close and the motivation to start learning finally kicks back into high…
