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The holidays do not have to be a stressful time filled with elaborate gifts, crazy meals, and massive amounts of baked goods. Sometimes we get so busy with all of the shopping, and wrapping that we forget the true meaning of Christmas. We forget that there are those who may be less fortunate struggling to make ends meet, struggling to feed their children, or struggling to find joy in this season.

Volunteering your time, adopting a family to buy gifts for, ringing the bell for Salvation Army, or giving to those less fortunate are all great ways to spread holiday cheer this season.

Check out these local resources to find out where you can volunteer…

• Volunteer Wyoming
• Christopher’s Sock Project
• Cheyenne Animal Shelter
• Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless
• The Salvation Army
• United Way of Laramie County
• Cheyenne’s Christmas Angels
• Needs Inc
• University of Wyoming
• Interfaith
• Northern Colorado Holiday Volunteer + Charity Opportunities
• United Way of Larimer County
• Salvation Army Fort Collins
• Salvation Army Loveland
• Salvation Army Greeley
• United Way of Weld County
• Guadalupe Center

You can also Contact your local schools, shelters or food pantries to see if they know of any needs within our communities. There are so many ways to give, especially during the holidays! Kindness is contagious, spread that stuff everywhere!

Happy Holidays!

LIV HEALTH’S HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
for aging or disabled loved ones!

Christmas is coming!! Yes I’ll say it again…
CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

In like 20 days (but who’s counting?)

This year we thought we would come up with a holiday gift guide for you all! We know this time of year may not be jolly for everyone and if that’s the case for you LIV Health can help! We offer in-home counseling and case management. Yep that’s right IN-HOME counseling and case management. If this time of year gets you in a funk, reach out, let us know how we can help! It’s easy to get started…WE PROMISE…For those of you who need help finding a gift for that person who has everything, check out these options below for some ideas and inspiration…

An Amazon Echo or Google Home
(we’re sure there are probably a million other versions) as well, but this could be a great option for anyone, any age! Play music, make phone calls, call for help, the options are endless!

Dr. Eby is passionate about using evidence-based psychological treatments to serve clients across the lifespan. She has experience conducting individual, family, and group therapy – as well as psychological assessment – with folks across a broad range of cultural backgrounds, ages, and developmental stages. She takes a compassionate and thoughtful approach to help clients transform their relationships with their difficult thoughts and feelings and find new meaning by engaging in what’s most important to them in life.

Dr. Eby serves the Cheyenne and Northern Colorado areas.

Check out our latest blog post on Cultivating Compassion, and why you might want to…
https://wp.me/p8CiNC-85

CARE THAT COMES TO YOU!
Getting started is easy…click HERE to get started today!

BY DR. RACHEL EBY

Did you know that you can actually increase your levels of compassion – both for yourself and for others? This post focused on how you can increase your compassion for yourself (and why you might want to!). Here are 3 ways you can cultivate more compassion for yourself:

You might want to find out how much self-compassion you have already and see if it changes after practicing these exercises over time! Test yourself HERE.

Practice this five-minute self-compassion break from Dr. Kristin Neff once a day, or whenever you feel like you could use it: CLICK HERE 

Try this BRIEF WRITING EXERCISE: 
Scientific research has suggested that those who have more compassion for themselves, are actually MORE likely to achieve their health-related goals, are LESS likely to experience burnout our caregiving fatigue, and feel a GREATER sense of well-being.

Keep in mind, that when beginning to practice self-compassion, people often experience more pain at first. Dr. Neff states this may be due to:

• Becoming mindful of the pain
• Becoming aware of the conditions under which we were not loved
• Learning to relate to ourselves in a very unfamiliar way

This means we have to allow ourselves to be slow learners when practicing self-compassion. We can meet this pain with acceptance and by offering ourselves compassion for struggling with having compassion! You simply can’t go wrong.

References:
Ferreira, C., Pinto-Gouveia, J., & Duarte, C. (2013). Self-compassion in the face of shame and body image dissatisfaction: Implications for eating disorders. Eating behaviors, 14(2), 207-210.
Neff, K. D., Rude, S. S., & Kirkpatrick, K. L. (2007). An examination of self-compassion in relation to positive psychological functioning and personality traits. Journal of research in personality, 41(4), 908-916.
Svendsen, J. L., Osnes, B., Binder, P.-E., Dundas, I., Visted, E., Nordby, H.,  et al. (2016). Trait Self-Compassion Reflects Emotional Flexibility Through an Association with High Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability. Mindfulness, 7(5), 1103–1113.
http://self-compassion.org/tips-for-practice/

Have you been wondering how to go about getting started with LIV Health?

Well…it’s easy!

Let’s set up and appointment -right in the comfort of your own home – to assess your needs and see how our services can best benefit your unique situation.

You do not need a referral from a doctor. You can do the referral yourself!

Click HERE for easy access to our referral form.

Once we receive your referral you will be assigned to a case manager or therapist, that person will be the one to call you and set up your first appointment. No bouncing around from person to person, no office visits, sitting in waiting rooms or long intake process. We are here for you!

LIV’s Mission:

Whether you’re seeking help managing the day-to-day care of a sick or aging loved one, hoping to find a personalized counseling solution that finally feels “right,” or need expert direction and assistance with navigating the complex world of healthcare systems for yourself or someone close to you… rest easy. You’ll feel right at home when you trust your care to LIV Health.

BY LEO BABAUTA: ZENHABITS.NET 

It’s not hopeless: with some small steps, baby ones in fact, you can get started down the road to positive change. 

Yes, I know, it seems impossible at times. You don’t feel like doing anything. I’ve been there, and in fact I still feel that way from time to time. You’re not alone. But I’ve learned a few ways to break out of a slump. 

When I fall out of exercise, due to illness or injury or disruption from things going on in my life, it’s hard to get started again. I don’t even feel like thinking about it, sometimes. But I’ve always found a way to break out of that slump, and here are some things I’ve learned that have helped: 

1. One Goal. Whenever I’ve been in a slump, I’ve discovered that it’s often because I have too much going on in my life. I’m trying to do too much. And it saps my energy and motivation. It’s probably the most common mistake that people make: they try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible — I’ve tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that’s hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal. 

1. Find inspiration. Inspiration, for me, comes from others who have achieved what I want to achieve, or who are currently doing it. I read other blogs, books, magazines. I Google my goal, and read success stories. 

1. Get excited. This sounds obvious, but most people don’t think about it much: if you want to break out of a slump, get yourself excited about a goal. But how can you do that when you don’t feel motivated? Well, it starts with inspiration from others, but you have to take that excitement and build on it. For me, I’ve learned that by talking about it, and reading as much about it as possible, and visualizing what it would be like to be successful (seeing the benefits of the goal in my head), I get excited about a goal. Once I’ve done that, it’s just a matter of carrying that energy forward and keeping it going. 

1. Build anticipation. This will sound hard, and many people will skip this tip. But it really works. If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, don’t start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That’s a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. Because by delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal. 

1. Post your goal. Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (“Exercise 15 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal also helps. 

1. Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so. 

1. Think about it daily. If you think about your goal every day, it is much more likely to become true. To this end, posting the goal on your wall or computer desktop (as mentioned above) helps a lot. Sending yourself daily reminders also helps. And if you can commit to doing one small thing to further your goal (even just 5 minutes) every single day, your goal will almost certainly come true. 

1. Get support. It’s hard to accomplish something alone. Find your support network, either in the real world or online, or both. 

1. Realize that there’s an ebb and flow. Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it doesn’t do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, read about your goal, ask for help, and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back. 

1. Stick with it. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Even if you aren’t feeling any motivation today, or this week, don’t give up. Again, that motivation will come back. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a little bump in the road. You can’t give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and you’ll get there. 

1. Start small. Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you’re thinking too big. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 2 minutes of exercise. I know, that sounds wimpy. But it works. Commit to 2 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 2 minutes. It’s so easy, you can’t fail. Do it at the same time, every day. Just some crunches, 2 pushups, and some jogging in place. Once you’ve done 2 minutes a day for a week, increase it to 5, and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 15-20. Want to wake up early? Don’t think about waking at 5 a.m. Instead, think about waking 10 minutes earlier for a week. That’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake 10 minutes earlier than that. Baby steps. 

1. Build on small successes. Again, if you start small for a week, you’re going to be successful. You can’t fail if you start with something ridiculously easy. And you’ll feel successful, and good about yourself. Take that successful feeling and build on it, with another baby step. Add 2-3 minutes to your exercise routine, for example. With each step (and each step should last about a week), you will feel even more successful. Make each step really, really small, and you won’t fail. After a couple of months, your tiny steps will add up to a lot of progress and a lot of success. 

1. Read about it daily. When I lose motivation, I just read a book or blog about my goal. It inspires me and reinvigorates me. For some reason, reading helps motivate and focus you on whatever you’re reading about. So read about your goal every day, if you can, especially when you’re not feeling motivated. 

1. Call for help when your motivation ebbs. Having trouble? Ask for help. Join an online forum. Get a partner to join you. Call your mom. It doesn’t matter who, just tell them your problems, and talking about it will help. Ask them for advice. Ask them to help you overcome your slump. It works. 

1. Think about the benefits, not the difficulties. One common problem is that we think about how hard something is. Exercise sounds so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. But instead of thinking about how hard something is, think about what you will get out of it. For example, instead of thinking about how tiring exercise can be, focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re done, and how you’ll be healthier and slimmer over the long run. The benefits of something will help energize you. 

1. Squash negative thoughts; replace them with positive ones. Along those lines, it’s important to start monitoring your thoughts. Recognize negative self-talk, which is really what’s causing your slump. Just spend a few days becoming aware of every negative thought. Then, after a few days, try squashing those negative thoughts like a bug, and then replacing them with a corresponding positive thought. Squash, “This is too hard!” and replace it with, “I can do this!

OUR CASE MANAGERS DO IT ALL…

Case Management by definition is a collaborative process that assesses, plans, implements, coordinates, monitors, and evaluates the options and services required to meet the client’s health and human service needs.

LET LIV BE YOUR NAVIGATOR.