Blog Archives - Page 2 of 10 - barehands.com.au

How to ‘hold your space’ in the face of adversity

Roxy Lebsanft2016-06-10T16:42:14+00:00June 30th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Overwhelm|Tags: anxiety, Confidence, Success|

We’ve had people ask us, “How do you stay confident in the face of other people’s criticisms and judgements?” Confronted with an onslaught of negative opinion or being around negatively focused people can easily impact your feelings of self-worth. You can end up doubting your own judgement and wondering if you really are… (what everyone says you are). How do you find your way in a world which is inclined this way? You need buffers. Buffer zones protect your worth [...]

Lacking confidence some days? 3 quick tips to gain more…

Roxy Lebsanft2016-06-09T15:51:36+00:00June 23rd, 2016|Categories: Blog, Overwhelm|Tags: anxiety, Confidence, Success|

Maybe you’ve experienced some of these feelings: a lack of confidence in your ability, feeling that you have to keep people happy and the frustration, oh the frustration that no matter how much you do, it doesn’t feel like enough? These feelings are in plague proportions for a good majority, so take comfort in knowing you’re not the only one. Here are three things I’ve learned that may help you gain a foothold on confidence and self-worth. 1. Be willing to [...]

Looking for transformation – here’s a tip

Roxy Lebsanft2016-06-09T07:31:46+00:00June 16th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Communication & conflict, Low mood|Tags: Commitment, Happiness, Joy, relationships|

Writing to you now as a blissful and content Mrs. Hibbins, rather than Ms. Lebsanft, I wanted to share something that has been a little surprising and given cause for reflection. My husband and I have been together now a decade, so we’ve already spent a long time in a relationship and I thought that marriage wouldn’t really change anything greatly, yet it has. On the outside it’s subtle but internally, it’s deeply transformative for both of us. The only [...]

How to stop getting cranky – 5 hot tips

Laurie Morrison2016-06-09T06:56:20+00:00June 9th, 2016|Categories: Anger, Blog, Communication & conflict, Family|Tags: anger|

“How can I stop getting cranky at my kids? A question emailed to us a week or so ago, by one of our lovely readers, asking for tips. It’s a great question and we’ve all had moments when we feel wretched because we turned into a she-wolf for a moment and bit a loved one’s head off. Tip One: Know your early warning signs Are you feeling irritable, tired, overwhelmed, have a headache, etc.? At these times, it’s worth refraining [...]

The Fijian secret to happiness…

Roxy Lebsanft2016-06-02T12:03:23+00:00June 2nd, 2016|Categories: Blog, Communication & conflict, Low mood|Tags: Fear, guilt, Happiness, Joy, play|

Bula… as they say in Fiji, where I’ve just spent a week on honeymoon, right up in the Yasawa Islands. It was bliss and not long enough, but I’m grateful. I was struck by something that has stayed with me. Fijian people are HAPPY! Not just a few - all of them, all day long! When they introduced themselves and asked, “What do you do back home?” and I said I was a “Psychotherapist”, they looked at me puzzled. “What’s [...]

How to thrive, even in adversity

Laurie Morrison2016-05-25T22:28:07+00:00May 25th, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: anxiety, Balance, change, Community, health, Learning, relationships, Success|

Mel Gibson is quoted as saying, “I’ve learned that a bitter experience can make you better.” No doubt you have proved this too. It CAN make you better but it requires having adequate support, coping mechanisms and resources. A recent study reported on the critical role that mothers play in helping children thrive or flourish in adversity.* Adverse Childhood Experiences** (ACEs), situations like a family breakup, the death of a parent, living with someone who is depressed for more than [...]

Relationships you can TRUST for life!

Roxy Lebsanft2016-05-17T20:23:13+00:00May 18th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Communication & conflict|Tags: friendship, Trust|

One of my lovely students shared this summary of Brene Brown’s, Anatomy of Trust, recently and I thought it was worth sharing and reflecting on for sustainable relationships. If we’re contemplating what sticks relationships together and what builds strong connections, one of the most pivotal elements is trust. Often when there’s a relationship issue, the underlying problem is a lack of trust, so how do we build it so that we have friendships you can trust for life? According to [...]

Family culture: it’s in your hands

Laurie Morrison2016-05-12T14:12:07+00:00May 12th, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: change, Communication, connection, Learning, optimism, relationships, Success|

Family... You can't live without them and, sometimes, it's jolly hard to live with them! Whatever the nature of our family and relationships, regularly taking a moment to reflect on what family means to us and the type of family culture we want to belong to, is really useful. If there's a prevailing mood of cooperation and respect within your crew, that's great! If you feel there's room for improvement, that's great too because now is the perfect time to [...]

A warning tale … ask for help before crisis point!

Roxy Lebsanft2016-05-06T08:07:45+00:00May 2nd, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: advice, anxiety, patience, support|

I apologise for this being a longer than normal blog but feel free to use it as an amusing short story to enjoy with a cuppa. I can laugh about it now. In my psychotically optimistic mode, a few months ago I decided to tackle making my wedding cake. I haven’t made a fruit cake before or iced a wedding cake, which will become very obvious as you read on. Step One - ask an expert! I went to the [...]

Take Time to say Thank You

Laurie Morrison2016-04-28T17:59:17+00:00April 28th, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: Communication, connection, health, optimism, relationships|

Taxi driver, nutritionist, chief cook, 24/7 counsellor, cleaner of houses, first aider, dispenser of kisses (and bandaids!), laundress extraordinaire, proof reader, cheer leader, police woman, diplomatic adviser, financial adviser, career coach, keeper of dreams and secrets...all roles that go hand in hand with being a mother. I almost forgot to mention that she’s also the source of unconditional love and wisdom, but that goes without saying! Remind yourself that you're doing a great job As mum it’s easy to forget [...]

Thank you mum

Roxy Lebsanft2016-04-20T17:29:30+00:00April 20th, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: anxiety, patience|

As you may have heard, on Friday 29th the Bare Hands crew will be down out River Quay, Southbank, between 11am and 1pm. We’ll be asking people to send a message to mum and say, “Thank you”. You’re welcome to join us and say hello. There will be giveaways, freebies and smiles aplenty and we’d love to meet you in person if we haven’t already. I thought it was timely to say my thank you to my mum this week. [...]

Difficult Conversations Made Easy…Easier

Laurie Morrison2016-04-14T18:40:58+00:00April 14th, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: change, Communication, Compassion, judgement, optimism, relationships, Success|

You’ve probably discovered, like I have, that some conversations are hard to have. As a result they can be put off; sometimes forever. Usually, it’s the fear of hurting someone’s feelings or of feeling hurt by what they might say that stops us from taking action, but in the end that doesn’t yield the best result for anyone. When situations are left unresolved, angst builds and relationships suffer. Feeling confident to discuss things as they arise helps avoid misunderstandings and [...]

Patience… who would like more?

Roxy Lebsanft2016-04-06T06:11:49+00:00April 5th, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: anxiety, patience|

My hand is up high on this one! I feel like the girl sitting on the box, unable to open it because it’s not quite time yet. The last 3 months seem to be providing me with ample opportunity to find strategies for gathering patience. As I sit down to write to you I’m still waiting for results. Yesterday was particularly tough, having undergone another thyroid biopsy last week, in the hope of getting a definitive finding. I expected news [...]

What Does Your Happy List Reveal About You?

Laurie Morrison2016-03-31T23:23:09+00:00March 31st, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: change, depression, fun, health, optimism, resolutions, time|

At the beginning of last year, as a grade 9 survivor (no small feat!), Miss 15 decided that grade 10 was going to be a happy year. To her credit, she decided to record one thing on her calendar, at the end of each day, that made her happy. Simple enough. What started out as an idea became a personal challenge to see if she could stick to it. Most days her happy moment was something simple...taking the dog for [...]

One question that could help a relationship last a lifetime…

Roxy Lebsanft2016-03-21T10:47:33+00:00March 21st, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: Compassion, love, Marriage, relationships, Success|

Easter is almost upon us and hopefully this means some R&R for you. With that in mind and contemplating what type of Easter would be worth having this year, I remembered a conversation with a student last week and wanted to share. My student is a gentleman in his early 70’s who has just retired, survived life-threatening illness and has commenced study for a new career in counselling. We were chatting and he shared he’d been married for 45 years, [...]

An open letter to my friend… ‘You are enough.’

Laurie Morrison2016-03-17T17:42:53+00:00March 17th, 2016|Categories: Blog|Tags: Acceptance, anxiety, change, Compassion, self-worth, stress, struggle|

To my friend, This comes today to say, “You’re special!” I want you to know how much I value and appreciate you for the wonderful woman that you are; a woman I proudly call ‘my friend’. I see you struggling at the moment and I’m reminded of some wise words written by Brene Brown in The Gifts of Imperfection. She said, “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” Our [...]

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