Adults Can Take Recess Too

Stress from the economy has many adults in a rut, which is exactly why motivational speaker Karen St. Julien of Concord decided to take her message on the road. Her talk is called “Recess – It’s Not Just for Kids.”

“I had a lot of stress in my life, but no recess,” said St. Julien, who spoke at the on Wednesday to two guests. “When I got laid off from my job in 2009, trying to create a new job was stressful.”

A domestic tour manager for 12 years, St. Julien explained how once we reach adulthood, we don’t have time to let go of stress. Her goal for the evening was teach others how to take a step back and learn to take a recess.

“We forget how to have fun like we did in recess when we were children,” she said.

Throughout the evening, St. Julien had guests take fun, non-stressful, entertaining brain-teasers and guessing games.

With a smile on her face, she passed around a yellow, air-filled balloon with a smiley face on it, and instructed them to say what they liked to do for fun.

Next she had the participants to write down their favorite color and three adjectives to describe it, as well as a favorite animal and three adjectives to describe the animal. She explained the psychological meaning behind the exercises.

“The adjectives describing the color are how you see yourself, and the adjectives describing the animal are how others see you,” she said. “What you think of yourself is most important, and I want to inspire you to think the best of yourself.”

Happy to be turning 66 at the end of February, St. Julien gave a personal testimony about an enormous challenge she overcame 26 years ago.

“I was released from a mental institution. I was struggling to overcome depression. I hated myself and was suicidal,” she said. "I was in the psychiatric ward for seven and a half months.”

St. Julien said it took work learning to love herself.

“Today I’m so grateful to be alive and turning 66. The little things in life mean a lot to me and I learned to focus on what’s important in life,” she said.

She had her guests take a gratitude inventory by writing down three things they’re grateful for in their life, three things they’ve accomplished and three obstacles they’ve overcome.

And instead of watching the news every night, filling her brain with violence and negativity, St. Julien inspired her guests to do what she does – the opposite.

“Before I go to bed each night, I read 40 affirmations,” she said. “It’s the last thing on my mind.”

“We have to remember to stop and have fun, to take a recess,” she concluded.

For more information visit St. Julien's Web site or you can send her an e-mail at: karenst1@yahoo.com.