​Grow I Am Self-development Active Learning Platform is Born
Center To Awaken Kindness Dedicated to Individual and Couples Counseling
 
September 24, 2024
 
Originally when we created the Center to Awaken Kindness, the plan was to provide individual and couples counseling as well as to create a number of innovative mental health self-care tools. As time has passed, we have learned that it would likely be best to separate the two entities - counseling from the innovative mental health tools. So, we have created the new Grow I Am self-development active learning platform and are working to create new content and rebrand specific parts of the current Center to Awaken Kindness to the Grow I Am platform, such as the Awaken Kindness Network and DaRevsUSA to name a few content areas.
 
Grow I Am is focusing specifically on providing self-development content in both digital (videos, podcast, etc.) and printed (journals, guides, books, etc.) formats. We plan to grow Grow I am as an active adult learning platform examining a number of life issues through our academic lens of clinical social work, ritual studies, and systematic theology.
 
Center to Awaken Kindness is being dedicated specifically to individual and couples counseling, along with blogs and social media supporting those populations.
 
Join us to celebrate the journey of growth together.
 
Peace & Blessings,
Penny & Bill
Center to Awaken Kindness

Couplehood/Marriage means enjoying life with the person you love, need some ideas? Try these…

1. Make Hand Holding a Special Moment: We’ve all held hands, but you can make it extra special. Whether you‘re lying in bed, taking a walk, or out in a gathering…. hold your partner’s hand and squeeze it gently three times to let them know… “I … love … you.”
2. Sometimes Simple Things Are Best: Consider doing something simple, inexpensive, and fun together. Encourage each other to come up with a date idea, then do it ! Be intentional about setting aside some quality time together, to continue deepening your relationship.
3. Promise Again – Everyday: Remember why you are a couple – what special bond created your journey of couplehood and keep it in mind – especially in the hardest moments (and for sure, those will come and hopefully pass). Take time to be grateful for the gift of the relationship while promising the best of that gift to your partner again and again.
4. Listen in Love and Minimize the Negative Triggers: Simply, listen sensitively and react spontaneously to the needs of your partner. Remember, in relationships we often learn how to trigger each other in both negative and positive ways. Consciously become aware of this in order to trigger the positive in each other and minimize the negative triggers.
5. Pray Unceasingly:  We suggest all couples learn to pray – to God, the Great Whatever, your Higher Power or however you define that which is larger than you and your relationship. Pray for each other, the relationship, and be grateful for the gifts and good things bestowed by the Great Whatever on your relationship. Do this in both the hard and good times (both will come and go).

Peace & Blessings,
Penny and Bill
Co-Founders
Penny & Bill Company, dba Center to Awaken Kindness

Penny Taylor and Bill Ressl have been married for over 30 years and each has worked with individuals, couples, and families for over 20 years. In addition to creating creative content for the Center to Awaken Kindness, both also currently offer counseling for individuals and couples, as well as serve as consultants to churches.

Growing up, Saint Nicholas Day was always a special event in the Ressl household. We would wonder... did Saint Nicholas leave a present or not? Would there be a small gift - or some coal or worse? An old tradition from Eastern Europe, the celebration of Saint Nicholas Day is a time to be grateful for the little things in life and to remember that we are in the season of Advent... a time to prepare for Christmas Day. This year we celebrate by offering a free Mini Mindful Graphics Illustrated Jesus is Born graphic novel. It is only a sample of the complete edition, but it offers an opportunity to experience all the integrated mindful practices that are within every Mindful Graphics Illustrated graphic novel from Penny & Bill Company. Click Here to Download your free Mini Mindful Graphics Illustrated. Print it out - trim the pages - staple - and enjoy! No strings attached, our gift to you for this Saint Nicholas Day 2022!

It’s been a little while since we posted – and for good reason, we’ve been in the midst of a transformative moment! Yes, we’ve been in conversation with insurance companies, billing services, etc., etc., - setting up our ability to offer teletherapy and on-ground therapy in Brookfield, Illinois. In addition to our other services, we are now happy to offer confidential, HIPAA compliant out-patient behavioral health therapeutic services in the State of Illinois.
 
Discover all we offer on our website https://www.CenterToAwakenKindness.com
 
Learn More About Our Therapeutic Offerings at Psychology Today:
 
More about Penny Taylor: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/penny-taylor-brookfield-il/1007685
 
More about Bill Ressl: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/bill-ressl-brookfield-il/1003907
 
And this is only the beginning… so stay tuned!
 
Peace & Blessings,
Penny & Bill
 
#mentalhealth
#hope
#awakenkindness
#therapy
#clinicalsocialwork
#socialwork
#psychologytoday
#anxiety
#depression
#stress

We are interested in Graffiti Art – the type you see on train cars 🚃; Prehistoric Art - drawings found in caves; and the images of fossilized footprints 👣 imprinted in mud by travelers from many years ago. In our mind, these abstract symbols from present to past, are theological messages communicating and conveying/expressing the cultural needs, voices, and stories of society.
 
We recently came across such a message in a modern chalk drawing – the symbol of a human heart 💙 asking for kindness - a clear attempt to communicate what is on the minds of modern civilization. If you had a piece of chalk/paintbrush 🖌️ what would your petroglyph or wall art 🖼️ say or look like? What is the important message you would like to spread today? Might your artwork speak out about ending gun violence, climate change, or sharing loving kindness? As an advanced society what are we communicating today? What is at the heart ❤️ of being human here and now?

Our hope is that our mindful breathing exercises and other contemplative tools and practices will help hold stress and anxiety 😟 at bay in order to live enhanced healthier lives.

Now we know that many people think they will never need the services of a social worker. However, the fact is that we all face various life issues, and it is estimated that 90% of us will need a social worker sometime in our life. It could be working with a social worker at school, at work, being discharged from the hospital 🏥 as you place a loved one in a long-term care facility, working with a Hospice Social Worker, and the list goes on.

Social Workers are first responders, working in schools 🏫, in child welfare agencies, libraries, churches, and mental health centers. When people are suffering a social worker often help to secure assistance such as in cases of domestic violence, issues associated with poverty, and the list goes on. Giving people the best quality of life is one of the goals of the professional social worker. Social workers help people who are quietly suffering, working with families who don’t have enough food on the table, and the elderly who often have limited resources for daily needs like medication.

For additional information please visit a few resources listed below:
Discover all we offer at our website https://www.centertoawakenkindness.com/

Check out our Awaken Kindness by DaRevsUSA podcast https://awakenkindness.podbean.com/

Discover the power of journaling with a mindful journal https://www.centertoawakenkindness.com/mindful-journals.html

Come join the journey - check us out on your favorite social media network @DaRevsUSA

Peace & Blessings,
Penny & Bill, @DaRevsUSA

P.S. To learn more about social work and all that social workers do explore these links:
https://www.helpstartshere.org/
https://www.socialworkers.org/

The season of Lent is upon us. It is truly a time to think about life – Who am I? How do I interact with others? Do I share love with the world or war, hatred, oppression, and anxiety? Each of us has that choice. Do something different – use this mindful breathing video at least once per day for the next 40 days, during the season of Lent that begins today.

Lent is a 40-day journey toward Easter Sunday in the Christian tradition beginning on Ash Wednesday (March 2, 2022) when many Christians receive ashes on their foreheads as a reminder of Genesis 3:19: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Use this Lenten season to begin a journey of love with self and with others. Come celebrate the season of renewal. Be calm. Be refreshed. Be renewed.
 
This video is a guided journey through three mindfully contemplative exercises. Experience Mindful Breathing - inhale for a count of 4 - hold for a count of 4 - exhale for a count of 4 - repeat as needed or return to daily life. Experience Musica Divina as you listen to the music and to your breath as you breathe. Experience Visio Divina, use the visual element of a deepening of color for “Divine Seeing” - seeing the Sacred in the imagery of color. Use this perfect pick-me-up anytime and anyplace – at home or work – day or night. Available on AwakenKindnessNetwork.com

From the @DaRevsUSA, the Rev. Dr. Penny Taylor, LCSW and the Rev. Dr. Bill Ressl, LCSW from the CentertoAwakenKindness.com
 
Have a Blessed Lenten Season,
Penny & Bill
DaRevsUSA

Everyone needs to take a deep mindful breath. The 21st century demands hope and peace – not war and destruction. If we are to survive as a species, let us end the foolishness of war and demand civility grounded on hope and peace of all world leaders. If we are truly a civil humanity that loves and cares for another, let us make hope and peace the standards of our existence. Let it begin… here and now.

Take a minibreak - breathe mindfully and watch as hope and peace come alive. Experience mindful 4-4-4 breathing - inhale for a count of 4 - hold for a count of 4 - exhale for a count of 4. Repeat as needed.
 
Available on the AwakenKindnessNetwork.com from @DaRevsUSA, the Rev. Dr. Penny Taylor, LCSW and the Rev. Dr. Bill Ressl, LCSW at the CentertoAwakenKindness.com
 
#kyiv #ukraine #kiev #hope #peace #love #DaRevsUSA

Wishing you and yours a Happy Valentine's Day! Please enjoy this Red Rose 4-4-4 Mindful Breathing Exercise as our gift to you - use often and please share the joy.

Be Refreshed. Be Renewed. Find Meaning. Begin the Journey Today Here and Now...

Discover all the mindful contemplative tools we offer at CenterToAwakenKindness.com

Buy, Rent, and Subscribe to all our 12 Second plus Reset Mindful Moment 4-4-4 Breathing Exercise Videos at our Awaken Kindness Network... AwakenKindnessNetwork.com

Happy Valentine's Day!
Peace & Blessings,
Penny and Bill
DaRevsUSA at the Center to Awaken Kindness