u/Youknowkitties

I've been in IFS therapy for about a year and I feel I'm making good progress, particularly in the sessions themselves. However, I struggle to check in with my parts between sessions, and I feel that that is hindering my progress.

I think of my parts as children, and when I spend time with them in Self it is very calming for them: it makes them feel seen, heard and safe, and my life is much easier as a result.

However, if I don't spend any time with them all week, they feel neglected and try to MAKE themselves heard, e.g. my protectors will get very loud with self-criticism, or my exiles will make me feel very sad/lonely.

I know that I probably need to spend maybe 20 minutes a day sitting with them all, listening to them, and bringing some Self energy to them, so that they feel safe and calm. And yet I find this kind of solo inner work almost impossible. Can anyone relate?

I guess I have a part who struggles with stillness/silence/solitude, which I should investigate...

I'm looking for some sandals that I can wear walking around during the day - comfy, stylish, flat or with a low heel, and good quality. I don't mean hiking sandals, just day to day comfy sandals. So many of them are made of leather 😞 Thanks

'Like all new prime ministers, when Mette Frederiksen secured a third consecutive term as Denmark’s head of government this week, she promised her administration would take steps to “improve the everyday lives” of the country’s inhabitants. Unlike most new prime ministers, however, she specified that her left-leaning coalition's policy programme would be not just for “the people who are in Denmark and the ⁠generations to come” but also “for the animals”.'

An inspiring article about how the suffering of pigs became a dominant campaign issue in Denmark. Also a reminder that most people do care about farmed animal suffering (deep down) and can create change when they band together.

I also loved: 'for the first time in 130 years Denmark will not have an agriculture minister. In their place will be a minister for nature and animal welfare'.

Obviously we want a vegan world, not just better welfare for animals, but it's a significant step in the right direction.

Every time an anti-vegan troll engages with vegan content online, they increase the reach and visibility of that content. The more engagement, the more the algorithm pushes the post into the mainstream - i.e. into the feeds of other non-vegans.

Sometimes vegans are preaching to the converted online, as their followers or friends are vegan - anti-vegans trolls help us to reach non-vegans.

Non-vegans are unlikely to go vegan after seeing a single post, but the more posts they see, the more seeds are planted, and the more likely they are to go vegan - just as we all did.

So the next time you see an anti-vegan troll picking a fight online, don't get angry. Get happy that they're spreading the vegan message and they don't even know it. (Of course if they're being really unpleasant, block them.)

I was left alone to play a lot as a kid (around 7 years old), and if I was sitting in silence for too long I would start to get a strange sensation that everything around me was slowing down and distorting, as if was moving into a different world.

At the same time, I would hear a man's voice, talking about me in a distorted, mocking voice - I can't remember the details, only that it was frightening. I would have to leave my bedroom to make it stop, and sometimes I would go and play the piano to drown it out, but that wouldn't always work - sometimes the sound of the piano would also become distorted and slow.

I now believe this was derealisation, with an auditory hallucination. Did anyone else experience anything like this in childhood? It used to happen regularly when I was a kid, but I haven't had anything similar in adulthood.

My childhood wasn't overly traumatic, but my parents argued a lot, my brother picked on me, and I was left on my own a lot, so it wasn't a happy home.

Preferably dark chocolate, not too sweet/sickly, without avocado in it. Silken tofu is OK as long as you can't taste it - I like the taste but I know some people don't and I'm cooking for guests. Thanks!

I'm 46 and lately I've been noticing that my memory is declining. A couple of examples from this week: I got an email notification that I had a meeting in 15 minutes, and then promptly forgot about it and missed the meeting. My manager also direct messaged me with a question - I began researching it, got distracted and forgot all about it until two days later.

I'm on oestrogel (two pumps a day) and progesterone (200mg cyclically) and they have been helping with my other symptoms. I believe I'm otherwise healthy, get enough sleep, drink lots of water, healthy diet, no alcohol.

Please let me know if anything helped your memory. Thanks!

Edited to add: Thanks so much for all the useful advice. Lots of people mentioning creatine so I'm going to start taking that. I already take Omega 3, iron, b12, vit D, but I'll get a blood test just in case. I'm also going to try upping my oestrogel to three pumps. I will report back if things improve!