New Experiences - Geoff Straw - Counselling

Facing NEW Experiences

Geoff Straw — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 03:04:00 +0000

“In facing new experience or in facing death, eventually we need to let go of our supports and trust what happens. We need to free ourselves from relying on any props whatsoever. That does not mean we need to prepare ourselves intellectually and emotionally or train our mind and heart through meditation and contemplative practices. Those things are important – but at some point , after all that hard work, we need to drop everything and take a leap. Each time we take such a leap, it is tremendously liberating. We discover that death is teaching us how to be completely alive.”
– Pema Chodron

Originally posted 2022-05-16 12:12:02.

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What does it mean to be present?

Geoff Straw — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 03:03:56 +0000

We often spend much of our time thinking about the future, or the past. As a result, we miss the experience of being here now, or being present. Richard Rohr describes the importance of presence as an opportunity to learn and to grow. He writes,

“To be present is to know what you need to know in the moment. To be present to something is to allow the moment, the person, the idea, or the situation to change you.” (Breathing Underwater, 2011)

We become receptive and willing to let go of rigid programs, thoughts, beliefs and behaviours that may be holding us back from self awareness.

To practice being present, bring your focus to your breathing, even for just a few minutes and notice what it feels like.

Originally posted 2023-05-24 12:21:40.

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Being grateful promotes health and well-being

Geoff Straw — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 03:03:54 +0000

There has been much focus over the past several years on the practice of gratitude and how it can positively influence our emotional and mental health. A recent study (Brown and Wong, 2017) looked at University students who were suffering from anxiety and depression and seeking counselling support. Participants in the study who wrote letters of gratitude weekly to another person for three weeks reported significantly improved mental health , compared to control groups who only received general counselling support.

The authors write, “…practicing gratitude on top of receiving psychological counselling carries greater benefits than counselling alone, even when that gratitude practice is brief.” The researchers also studied the brains of the students and found that this brief practice of gratitude positively influenced brain functioning.

So what are the implications of this study, and many others like it? Finding a way to be grateful may be a powerful way to shift your mood and overall health. Incorporating a gratitude practice into your daily life does not need to take a lot of time or effort and the payoff may be astounding.

Some ideas:

Write letters to friends , family or even people you haven’t met expressing something about them that you are grateful for
Make a list of things in your life that you are thankful for – these can be big things or small things
Visualize the positive aspects or experiences in your day that make you feel good
Express verbally your gratitude to others, or to yourself even
And then…. observe what begins to change in your life 🙂

Originally posted 2023-02-19 12:20:10.

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