mindful relationships

I was recently interviewed by Christine Clarridge of the Seattle Times for a lifestyle article that ran on Mother’s Day. The article, How to improve your relationship with your mom, addressed just that—improving your relationship with mom. Although Mother’s Day has come and passed this year, the article offers some valuable tips on how you can work on healing even the most tumultuous relationship with your mother, as well as developing mindful relationships with other people in your life all year long.

As humans we are designed to be in relationships and live in community, although trauma, losses, betrayals, conflicts and challenges of all kinds create tension and disconnection. It’s also easy to let some relationships fall by the wayside as days become busier and busier and modern technology breeds feelings of disconnection.

The good news is that regardless of the past, it’s always possible to reframe a relationship—or at least your perspective on it. Through developing clarity, practicing gratitude and compassion and staying present, you can engage in the practice of developing mindful relationships and experience more peace, joy and connection in your life.

Samara V. Serotkin, Psy.D. is a Seattle-based clinical psychologist and mindfulness-based coach. Dr. Samara SerotkinSerotkin, the author of “The Relationship Between Self-Actualization and Creativity,” has served as an advisor to multiple startup companies and presented at national conferences on topics ranging from mindfulness meditation to creating behavioral change.