Ava Walters's Blog

Mindfulness breathing techniques are some of the most effective tools for managing stress, improving focus, and enhancing your overall well-being. (In short, it helps with our sanity!)

But what is mindfulness, really? At its heart, mindfulness means being fully present in the moment and aware of your thoughts, emotions, and surroundings—without judgment. It’s not about emptying your mind or achieving perfect calm. It’s about noticing and accepting the present moment AS IS.

So, where does breathing...

The ACT Hexaflex PDF you will get from this article is a visual guide to the core principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which is a new way of thinking about mental health that helps you live a meaningful life while dealing with difficult or unhelpful thoughts and emotions. At the core of ACT lies the hexaflex model, a framework of six interrelated skills that support psychological flexibility—the ability to handle life’s challenges effectively.

In this article, we’ll explore each...

Mindfulness is focusing your attention on the present moment in a non-judgmental way. It’s about tuning out distractions (internal and external) and focusing on what you’re experiencing right now rather than being caught up in the past or future.

A few months ago, I was talking to a friend about mindfulness, and she said, “Give me an example.” Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Well, you’re sitting right now. Are you sitting mindfully?
Jessa: What do you mean?
Me: Maddie, are you aware t...

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) combines acceptance and mindfulness strategies with behavior-change tactics to help individuals increase psychological flexibility (a.k.a. mental and emotional resilience). If you’re considering ACT therapy in a professional setting, you likely have many questions about how to find an ACT therapist, such as what to look for in a therapist, what to expect from sessions, how much therapy would cost, and more. Well, we’ve got you! Here’s a comprehensive guide...

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) facilitates psychological flexibility, which is one’s ability to adapt to uncomfortable and painful thoughts, emotions, and situations in a healthy and positive way. In ACT, you can achieve this mental and emotional agility through six core processes: Acceptance, Mindfulness, Cognitive Defusion, Self as Context, Values Clarification, and Committed Action.

Collectively, these six core skills are known as the “ACT Hexaflex model.” In this guide, we’ll break d...

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of psychotherapy that encourages people to accept painful thoughts, emotions, and situations instead of denying or avoiding them. ACT is built on the idea that agonizing or struggling over what you don’t like can make things worse. But if you can accept them as part of the human experience, then you can move on from it faster and focus on what truly matters—living a life guided by your values.

The main purpose of ACT is to help you develop psychol...

Radical Acceptance is about accepting reality AS IS—without resistance or judgment. It means fully acknowledging and accepting your current situation even when you’re unhappy or uncomfortable with it. It’s a life philosophy that aims to reduce suffering by embracing life’s challenges without trying to change or deny them.

As we go through life, we often face unexpected obstacles, hardships, and uncomfortable situations. However, rather than accept these sensations as a natural part of being human...

As you go through life, you’ll often come across situations that are hard, painful, or uncomfortable. Often, you want to deny or ignore these times or to wish for things to be different. But there is a transformative philosophy that supports a different way of thinking, one that can bring peace amidst chaos. This philosophy is called Radical Acceptance.

Radical Acceptance is not about passively resigning yourself to a difficult situation; rather, it involve...

Research shows that TEEN LONELINESS increases the likelihood of numerous negative outcomes, such as low grades, poor health, excessive cell phone use, and unhealthy choices like smoking.[1]

So, we’ve rounded up five things teens can do to combat loneliness.

#1 Reach out to others. We know it’s hard to make the first step, especially if you’re shy but try to do it anyway. It doesn’t have to be a big move. A smile, a nod, or a wave can already ...

Are you interested in starting a mindfulness routine? We don’t blame you because mindfulness offers so many benefits!

Mindfulness reduces stress.

One of the key benefits of mindfulness is its ability to reduce stress. A regular mindfulness practice can help you develop a greater awareness of your stress triggers and learn to respond to them with calmness and clarity.

Mindfulness improves mental well-being.

Mindfulness has been shown to have positive effects on mental health. It c...