Blog for
Chris Lauzon - Therapist, LICSW

In many of my previous posts, we’ve talked about the importance of self-awareness, recognizing our needs, and learning to pause before we react. When we do this well, we give ourselves the opportunity to choose intention rather than simply operating on emotional autopilot. But, let’s be honest, even when we know the tools, certain environments can still catch us off guard. Here is a tool for this, I call it The Visual Mantra.

Open your spice rack. Notice what’s there. Not just the garlic powder and sea salt, but the jars tied to chapters of your life. The cumin from the relationship where you learned to cook for two. The chili flakes from the season of intensity. The specialty blend you bought because they liked it. Some of those spices are years old. If you unscrew the lid, the aroma is faint. The color is dull. The potency is gone, yet we keep them.

Motivation “A” might involve adjusting a sleep schedule, working toward weight loss, reevaluating substance use (cannabis, caffeine, alcohol), improving diet, reconsidering social circles, or intentionally engaging in activities that promote connection rather than isolation. The specifics vary, but the origin is similar: an external pressure, expectation, or consequence prompting movement.

So much of our emotional energy gets spent managing how we are perceived: what they think, how we “come across” to others, whether we said the ‘right’ thing. It’s understandable, we’re wired for connection, but when we orient our inner world around external judgment, we slowly lose touch with ourselves. What you think about yourself matters far more than what they think about you.

Most individuals are taught that growth should be decisive, consistent, and flawless; if a person is going to change, they should do it “all the way,” if they are going to care for themselves, they should “do it right,” and, if they are going to meet their needs, they should do it “always.” YET, that very mindset often becomes the thing that keeps us stuck. If you’re in a mindset of exploring your needs, especially after stress, loss, burnout, or transition, I want to gently

The shift from summer to fall is beautiful in many ways, but it can also be deceptively draining. The end of summer vacations, less time with friends and family, shorter days, diminishing sunlight (and vitamin D), the start of the school year, the return of colder weather, and the looming weight of major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas; all arrive at once. Add to that the closing of another calendar year, and suddenly, what once felt abundant and energizing begins to

Somewhere along the road of growing up, many of us absorbed a lie: that life is a pass or fail test. You're either doing it right, or you're doing it wrong. Success or failure. Approval or rejection. We internalize this binary thinking early—at home, at school, in relationships—and it follows us quietly into adulthood like a shadow. But the truth is: real life happens in the gray. And that’s where the grace is.

10 to 15 minutes daily, with review of your process after 2 weeks of Notation, Processing, and Actioning, to see if it works for you.