Many, many, many (did I mention many?) years ago, I was visiting a family friend when I was first introduced to a form of Eastern Medicine tradion. I was still in high school when my friend moved to New Jersey. So, we hopped in my Chevy Nova and drove from Long Island to stay for a few days.

By the time we arrived, I had a full-blown migraine. This was long before migraines were taken seriously, let alone had medication specifically prescribed for them. When my friend’s mom saw me, she immediately asked if she could try acupressure on me.

Did you know that when you woke up this morning, you woke up with a gift? That gift is the power of choice. Not only is it a gift, but it’s also a right you get to enjoy each day. And the better you understand it, the more transformative your life can be. No matter what your situation may be, and the challenges that you're facing, you always have a choice. Your choice may be between two things or many things, but that power of choice lies in your hands. That power of choice gives you an opportunity to move toward a path in your life to make positive and amazing changes.

I remember when I was trying to process my trauma, someone in my recovery group recommended that I take some deep breaths. Here I was, getting swallowed up in memories from my past, and she was telling me to breathe. I thought she was joking, but I heeded her advice, and lo and hold, she was right.

Deep breaths worked. Who knew what we do subconsciously when applied with conscious thought, could bring such serenity? Certainly not me. Now, it's a favorite tool in my toolkit, a reminder that I have the power to calm my mind and body when tensions start to rise.

Learning how to identify and then manage our triggers is one of the most important part our journeys toward a healthy lifestyle. It can also be one of the most challenging, so it’s important to make sure you give yourself grace as move through this part of your recovery and healing.

As you move along your journey, you may experience a myriad of complicated feelings. They’re like cracks in your self-esteem and self-worth. You may even consider yourself broken, perhaps beyond repair. I want to assure you this is not the case. Your experiences make you valuable. They make you who you are today: a strong, determined individual, who's putting one foot in front of the other as you move towards a healthier and happier you. The fact that your human spirit keeps striving towards betterment is a testament that you are not broken. Instead, you're using your experiences to redefine and strengthen yourself.

One of the most challenging parts of recovering and healing is going through triggers and accepting they may happen. Triggers, especially in the beginning, can pop up out of nowhere, and we need to have some tools in our toolkit to manage them.

One of those great tools comes from DBT (Dialectical behavior therapy) called ACCEPTS

Automatic Negative Thoughts (aka ANTs because they can line up and march around our brain) can hinder our forward progress. I also called it my "addict voice" because it liked to whisper those negative thoughts in my ear when I was feeling BLASTed (bored, lonely, angry, stressed, tired).

We need to learn to run with patience:

•       We can benefit more from recovery and healing when we aren’t trying to rush the growth.

•       We can commit to the process.

•       We can settle in and allow the progression of self-discovery to happen.