Posts Tagged ‘Mindfulness’
The Impact of Mindfulness Practice within the Landscape of Treatment
By Jessica Breton, MA, LMFT, Executive Director OPI Mindfulness has become increasingly popular in the past decade, both in popular culture and in therapeutic practice. What, precisely, is mindfulness and how is it beneficial when used with treatment? What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is the practice of purposefully focusing your energy and attention on the present…
Read MorePaddle Boarding for Mindfulness (DBT)
For the past year, paddle boarding has become my favorite mindfulness experience during which I balance mind and body. It allows me to turn off the chatter in mind that is constantly making lists, assessing what I need to do, and worrying about the future. I am able to fully focus one-mindfully, a skill in…
Read MoreEating Mindfully – Practical Steps for Mindful Eating
Mindful Eating is a state of being in the PRESENT moment while eating a meal or snack in front of you. It requires immense focus/attention to sensations of the body, thus learning to fully trust the body to guide you to what you need for a full nourishing experience. Mindful Eating is so beneficial because the noise of the judgmental mind…
Read MoreBPD & Mindfulness: Learning to Be a Peaceful Warrior
I remember reading “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman, and instantly I fell in love. What is this emotion of love? And how does it distract or guide us towards something more? Who are we as people? What is the core of humanity? These types of critical thinking questions and analysis led…
Read MoreOPI Surf Club: Catching the Waves of the California Coast
Fortunately, the Optimum Performance Institute, is located only a few miles from the beautiful beaches of Southern California. With warm, sunny weather and ample interest among our current group of participants, OPI has recently launched its first ever surf club. Several staff members have been assisting participants with riding the waves each week. For some,…
Read More7 Ways to Successfully Cultivate Social Wellness for Life
What is social wellness? It is about nurturing ourselves, others and our relationships. Social wellness consists of not only balancing our own physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, but also actively participating as an interdependent piece of the bigger puzzle of humankind. Thus, even as we care about our personal connections, we also care about…
Read MoreMindfulness Kayaking in Malibu with the Life Coaching Department
On Friday, June 21, OPI’s Life Coaching Department offered its first “Life Coaching Outing.” We took nine participants to beautiful Zuma Beach in Malibu, CA for a Mindfulness Kayaking Experience. During the morning, participants were guided by life coaches to approach the event as an exercise in observing their thoughts and feelings when facing a…
Read MoreIntensive Outpatient Program at OPI Living Expands Services For Local Young Adults
Young adults aged 17–28 in the Los Angeles area who need help defining goals and becoming independent can now participate in a unique Intensive Outpatient Program at the Optimum Performance Institute. This program offers everything from individual and group psychotherapy, life coaching and career development classes to Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), yoga, tennis, hiking and…
Read MoreNew Meditation Club at OPI Explores Relaxation, Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Techniques
Within the past few months, OPI Living Program participants have started a Meditation Club, as one of the many activities available through the Department of Extracurricular Activities. Each week, participants gather to meditate and explore various practices, such as listening to guided meditations by psychotherapists like Belleruth Naparstek and Mary Maddox. Other meditative exercises attempted…
Read MoreWorking With Families & Young Adults With Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) – Part IV
Borderline Personality Disorder, Families and Solutions Parents of young adults with Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD Traits and Co-occurring Conditions are typically frustrated and feel helpless, even hopeless, about the possibility of change in their families by the time we see them here at OPI Living’s specialized OPI Intensive. Parents have endured so many years in…
Read MoreRemembering 9/11 and the Effects of Trauma and PTSD
It is impossible to forget the images and sounds witnessed the morning of September 11, 2001. The images will likely stay with us for years to come. Many of us are able to continue on in our normal everyday lives and every now and then take a moment to reflect on the terror that occurred…
Read MoreOPI Responds to Parent and Participant Requests: Changes are Made
JCAHO-accredited Optimum Performance Institute continues its dynamic tradition of rapidly responding to the individualized needs of Young Adults by making significant programming changes to its OPI Intensive for Young Adults with Borderline Traits, Borderline Personality Disorder and Co-Occurring Conditions (eating disorders, substance abuse, PTSD, mood disorders, etc.). OPI opened the specialized OPI Intensive about a…
Read More