Taking Care of Your Body

This is the coping skill that I always tell my clients: "We should have talked about how you were doing in this on your first week of group." This specific skill under the Emotion Regulation module is called the PLEASE skills which is an acronym for: treating physical illness, balance eating, stay away from drugs and alcohol, get balanced sleep, and exercise regularly.

The reason I wish this skill was talked about on Day 1 of DBT Skills Group for my clients is because it is very possible that one can work hard to apply skills to mental health and relationships but can only go so far when any of these PLEASE skills are out of whack. This has been a common topic in my DBT Skills groups this month. Whether it is one month or six months into treatment, clients will admit where they struggle the most. It can be anything from too much alcohol consumption, only eating one meal a day, drinking more caffeine than water, or trying to fall asleep at night with the TV on.

Whenever I teach the PLEASE skills in group, I give supplemental material from Dr. Mark Hyman. He wrote a book called the UltraMind Solution which is a New York Times Bestseller. The subtitle of his book is: The Simple Way to Defeat Depression, Overcome Anxiety, and Sharpen Your Mind: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First.

I will always tell my clients I do believe in psychotropic medications. But I also strongly believe in what Dr. Mark Hyman is saying about how we need to take care of our bodies for our own mental wellbeing.

This month, I have had clients make some strong intentions in group about how to apply the PLEASE skills. The following are some of the favorites I am hearing. I will share the intention and then what is reinforcing them to make these changes.

1.) Exercising by walking 20-30 minutes a day outside in order to alleviate anxiety and help reduce stress.

2.) Staying away from alcohol in order to not experience heightened depression on top of what is already present.

3.) Eating three meals a day instead of snacking or restricting in order to improve mood and have improved levels of concentration.

4.) Improving sleep hygiene by winding down at night with soothing tea, stretching, or meditation instead of being on screens in order to get better sleep.

In terms of treating physical illness, I wanted to share an apple cider drink recipe that is used by functional medicine doctors to help treat a cold, sore throat coming on, and is designed to enhance immunity. I have used this drink on myself when I feel a cold coming on and/or cannot get rid of a cough and it works wonders! Here it is below:

Apple Cider Vinegar is truly incredible for our bodies both topically and mixed in foods/drinks. It has a variety of benefits that include killing harmful bacteria, boosting skin health, promoting weight loss, helping control blood sugar levels, easing heartburn and indigestion, and more…

Ingredients (makes 1 cup):

• 1 cup hot water

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1/2 tsp ginger powder (optional)

• 1 lemon wedge squeezed

How-To:

1. Combine the hot water with apple cider vinegar. Then fully dissolve the honey in the hot water and apple cider vinegar mixture.

2. Add cinnamon and ginger to the mixture.

3. Squeeze the lemon wedge into the drink and stir. Enjoy while warm. Add more hot water into the drink if it has cooled.

How would you assess how you are doing with the PLEASE skills?

What changes do you need to make the most? How are you hoping it would affect your mental health and quality of life?