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- Prepare your Relationship for Marriage
- Prepare your Relationship for Baby
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info@illuminate-online.com

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Check out Illuminate‘s latest Instagram posts

Looking to tame jealousy in your life?⁠ Follow

Looking to tame jealousy in your life?⁠ Follow these 4 steps for taking control!
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1) first, notice the feeling of jealousy showing up⁠ 👀
2) pause⁠ ⏸
3) reflect on what message it is carrying⁠ 🤔
4) then see if you can arrive at a different conclusion by reframing its meaning⁠ ✍️
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We can’t eliminate jealousy – it’s part of the human experience – but we can learn to be curious and learn from it, instead of having it control us!⁠ 💪

We asked you what emotion you wanted to understand

We asked you what emotion you wanted to understand & control better... an overwhelming majority voted for jealousy! So here we go! Historically it is rooted in our pursuit of survival - it’s a fear that one’s partner will be or has been unfaithful sexually or emotionally (and therefore your offspring may not survive). But this is just part of the puzzle🧐!
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Modern-day jealousy often arises in response to other people in our lives – friends, colleagues, siblings, or even complete strangers on social media :)⁠ 🤷🏼‍♀️
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💰🏡👰🏻‍♀️When we witness those in our circle (or those we admire) achieving certain benchmarks or status, in the form of career, relationship/family life, money, or possessions, we naturally have a reaction. We are WIRED to COMPARE ⚖️. As social creatures, peer comparison is a reliable metric that tells us how we are doing in life🏆.⁠
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So your first response may NOT be excitement when your best friend tells you some big news 💍, which is often followed by feeling guilt or shame about your reaction! And this can create a toxic mindset that won’t serve you. ⁠ Know that jealousy is a complex emotion that runs deeply in our DNA 🧬 to protect what we have and remind us about those things that matter to us.⁠
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Stay tuned for tips on how to tame the impacts of jealousy!⁠
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#illuminate_counselling #therapy #therapistsofinstagram #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealth #emotionalhealth #emotionalintelligence #selfawareness #jealousy

Secondary emotions are ones you likely experience

Secondary emotions are ones you likely experience often - they arise when two (or more) basic emotions are activated at the same time in your brain 🧠 (see yesterday’s post on primary emotions if you are confused already😉)
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To understand these more complex feelings, it can be useful to understand what they are made of! It’s like mixing paint 🎨 - just like 💛 + 💙 = 💚, our emotions combine to create a distinct human experience, but you can still see their core elements of you look 🔍
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Swipe for examples!

How much do you think about your emotional system?

How much do you think about your emotional system?⁠
Did you know there are 8 Primary Emotions that humans (and all mammals) experience? (reference: Plutchik Model of Emotions)⁠
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🏆 Each one of these emotions has a specific, survival goal in mind. It's quite amazing - without our conscious awareness:⁠
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👀 First, our senses take in information about our surroundings;⁠
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🧠 Then, our brain makes a decision about what emotional reaction to trigger ⁠
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🏃🏻‍♀️ Which then moves our body systems to respond in a way that meets the needs of our current situation. ⁠
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All of course with the end goals of:⁠
✔️ keeping us safe⁠
✔️ accumulating resources (food, shelter), ⁠
✔️ gathering information about our surroundings,⁠
✔️ and creating supportive social bonds. ⁠
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So we have our emotions to thank for still walking this earth! ⁠🌍
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Have you thanked your emotions today? Sounds ridic

Have you thanked your emotions today? Sounds ridiculous, we know, but hear us out.⁠😉
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Why is this worth doing? Beyond their SUPER interesting functionality, understanding your own emotions better may result in improvements to your: ✔️ self-awareness⁠
✔️ self-compassion⁠
✔️ sense of control of your life⁠
✔️ decision-making, as well as:
✔️ increased overall emotional intelligence, which opens up all sorts of possibilities in career, relationships, and overall happiness and satisfaction, etc. ⁠Sounds pretty good right?
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Follow along this week as we explore different facets of our emotional system and hopefully you will learn a thing or two✌️ We want to hear from you - how has understanding your emotions better helped you in your life? Or is it not something that has been on your radar?
Comment below👇

See what you notice when you catch that judgmental

See what you notice when you catch that judgmental voice in your head...Is there space for something else?⁠
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What would you do with all that extra space in your mind that judgment once occupied? ⁠
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🔅We want to hear from you, drop a comment below!🔅⁠
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#IlluminateCounselling #Illuminate_Counselling #TherapistsofInstagram #TherapyisCool #EckhartTolle #Eckhart_Tolle #SelfAwareness #Judgment #CBT #CognitiveBehavioralTherapy

Nonjudgmental awareness is arguably the quintessen

Nonjudgmental awareness is arguably the quintessential mental health strategy we all need to master! ☝️⁠
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💪This awareness helps us feel more IN CONTROL of our thoughts and ultimately more in control of our reactions to our experiences. ⁠
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For example, instead of our anxiety controlling our experiences, we can take a step back from certain situations, notice them in a different way, and then respond differently. ⁠
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🔅RESPONDING instead of REACTING feels so much better doesn't it? 😀⁠
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1. Use our post about the CBT Iceberg to first understand your thought cycle and get an idea of what to pay attention to.⁠
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2. Become your "OBSERVER SELF" to notice your thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and behaviours. ⁠
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3. Most likely judgmental thoughts about what you are noticing will show up - just note that you had a judgmental thought (label it using the 'Unhelpful Thinking Styles' post we did). ⁠
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4. Come back to noticing your thought cycles. ⁠
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5. Repeat - it does get easier over time! ⁠
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🔥Hot tip - Write down what you are noticing or talk it out with a trusted support person. ⁠
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#IlluminateCounselling #Illuminate_Counselling #CBT #CognitiveBehavioralTherapy #Therapy #therapistsofinstagram #NonjudgementalAwareness #NonJudgement #MindfulnessPractice #Anxiety #Depression #Stress⁠

🧠Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the mos

🧠Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the most widely used approach in the mental health world. It's quite effective, pretty straightforward, and helpful for many different challenges. ⁠
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It's based on the idea that our thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and behaviours are all connected, and work together in a cycle ♻️⁠
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👓How we react to an event is filtered through our own unique lens (the way we see the world). A key part of CBT is understanding and increasing the awareness of this lens, and how it impacts our thought cycles.⁠
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This lens is shaped by many things including:⁠
🔅Messaging we receive growing up (from caregivers, society, media, etc.)⁠
🔅Our various identities (culture, gender, race, etc.)⁠
🔅Overwhelming/traumatic experiences as a child & adult⁠
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💪The more we nurture a certain way of thinking, the stronger it becomes - this works for both positive and negative thought cycles. ⁠
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WHY USE CBT?⁠
To become more aware of your thought cycle & start gaining control over it. When you gain control over your thought cycles, you spend less time being REACTIVE and more time being RESPONSIVE. ⁠
In other words you get to feel more in control of your reality. Sounds pretty good right?⁠
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👩‍🏫If you want to learn more about how to apply CBT to your own life, connect with a mental health practitioner who's trained in this approach. There's also a TON of free resources online if you search for CBT (just make sure it's from a reputable resource). ⁠
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💡In the meantime, keep practicing NON-JUDGMENTAL awareness around your own thought cycles. ⁠
See what you notice!⁠
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#Illuminate_Counselling #mentalhealth #therapistsofinstagram #therapy #anxiety #depression #stress #CBT #cbttherapy #cognitivebehavioraltherapy #CBTcycle #thoughtcycle

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info@illuminate-online.com

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