Amy Knize MA, LCPC

06/29/2025

Whenever you notice you are in pain, remember you have three steps you can take:

1️⃣ Mindfulness: Hold your thoughts and emotions in mindful awareness. Observe them without judgment. 🧘‍♀️

2️⃣ Shared Humanity: Remind yourself that encountering pain is part of the shared human experience. We are all in this together. 🌍

3️⃣ Kindness: Offer yourself the kindness and care you deserve.💖

Why not walk through the doorway today? Let’s practice self-compassion together. 💫

06/28/2025

Boundaries are not a problem 🤍👏

06/28/2025

What if we could recognize our faults and look to see what is beyond them?

What if we could see, with great tenderness, the painful unmet needs that have shaped our behaviors?

For many of us, this process is the work of a lifetime, one that requires the active support of loved ones, therapists, spiritual teachers, or healers.

Yet it begins the moment that we are willing to look at ourselves through the eyes of compassion.

05/18/2025

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a reminder to take a moment for ourselves when stress strikes. Our natural threat response can often lead to fight (self-criticism), flight (isolation), and freeze (rumination). But self-compassion offers a powerful antidote, helping us downregulate these responses and cultivate peace within.

By practicing kindness, mindfulness, and connecting with our shared humanity, we activate our care system (the tend and befriend response), reducing stress and fostering resilience.

Research shows that this shift into self-compassion can lower cortisol levels and increase heart rate variability, making us less defensive and more balanced.

This month, let’s prioritize mental well-being and show ourselves the kindness we need. Take a pause, place your hand on your heart, and remind yourself that you are worthy of care and compassion.

03/23/2025

12/31/2024

I hope you end the year feeling peace, not pain.
I hope you look back with gratitude, not regret.
I hope you accept the past and stay confident in the present.
I hope you are ready to step boldly into what's
ahead..

Unknown ⭐

Artist Credit: Thomas Little

12/31/2024

Cheers! We made it!

On the stroke of midnight tonight, you can resolve to be better, if you like…
to be fitter,
to eat cleaner,
to work harder.

On the stroke of midnight tonight,
you can resolve to become a whole new you,
if you so choose.

Or, you can take a moment to acknowledge
all you already are.
Because it’s a lot.
You’re a lot.

And you deserve to be commended.

On the stroke of midnight tonight, perhaps you could congratulate yourself, for coping.
For breaking, again,
and for rebuilding, again.

For catching the stones life has thrown at you,
and using them to build your castle that little bit stronger.

You have endured, my friend.

And I don’t see the need to resolve to become a whole new you,
when you are already so very much indeed.

Happy new year.

You made it.

Now let us face another 365 day-turn, arms wide,
accepting, embracing and ‘seeing’ each other,
for all we are..

Donna Ashworth ✨

Artist Credit: Manka Kasha

12/31/2024

As the clock strikes twelve
We are beckoned through the door
Into a new year.
Go forward slowly..no need to rush,
everything is waiting for you.
What will you be taking with you?
and what will you be leaving behind?

Here awaits a blank canvas
For you to fill with new experiences.
Paint it brightly, live it joyously.
Welcome each trial and accept
every tribulation as they unfold.
Carry yourself with grace
and in difficult times, look to
the wisdom you have gained
thus far, to accompany you through.

In a short while new buds will be
appearing and fresh growth will resume
in all it's glory.
Bask in the beauty that each season
will inevitably bring.
Celebrate each gift and mourn each loss
All is part of the wheel of life, so generously
given to each of us.

And remember to give thanks for each
and every new blessing coming your way ..
So go now, the door is open,
the future awaits
A new year has been gifted ...

Happy New Year from Serendipity Corner ⭐ C.E.Coombes

Credit to unknown artist
Art sourced via Pinterest