by Richard Amaral | Oct 23, 2022 | Depression, Emotions, Lifestyle, Mental Health
In January 1999, I moved to Portland, Oregon, in the US. It was my first semester of graduate school at Lewis and Clark College. I spent my undergraduate years attending the University of Toronto at Mississauga – a 15-minute car ride from the comforts of...
by Richard Amaral | Sep 24, 2022 | Emotions, Mental Health, Mind-Body Health
Death is a part of life. And no matter how prepared you are for someone’s death, you are never ready for it. All the best laid out funeral plans can never prepare you for the emotion of losing a loved one. Before her death, Queen Elizabeth II had approved...
by Richard Amaral | Aug 14, 2022 | Emotions, Mental Health, Mind-Body Health
I’ve always considered myself an optimist – I look at the glass as half full. But like everyone else, I go through periods where I lose confidence, feel stressed and anxious, and start doubting myself…and the glass seems empty again. During those...
by Richard Amaral | Jul 23, 2022 | Balanced living, Counselling and Psychotherapy, Depression, Emotions, Mental Health, Mind-Body Health, Psychology, Thinking, Trauma
In my last post, I wrote about how we sometimes feel stuck at one or several moments in life and in many different areas (e.g., career, hobbies, spiritual journey, relationships). But while some people can work through this feeling of ‘stuckness,’...
by Richard Amaral | Jun 26, 2022 | Anger and Aggression, Emotions, Mind-Body Health, Psychology
We’ve been dealing with some sweltering temperatures here in Ontario lately. While I’ve heard my share of people complaining about the heat, I’ve also heard many people expressing gratitude for the beautiful weather. So, I thought about what life...
by Richard Amaral | Jun 18, 2022 | Change, Emotions, Lifestyle, Mind-Body Health, Stress, Thinking
I enjoy having plants around my home. It helps clean the air, adds colour to any space, and it feels rewarding to take care of something and then watch it grow. While all plants seem to grow differently and at different rates, nothing grows as tall or as...
