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you know, even Jesus. Well, you know, I mean, even to pop cried. You feel me so miss me with that hard stuff. They get so wrapped up into what they're doing with the bees, they forget about what's causing them to stress, even for a little bit. Just a lot of times. It helps fast gets people out of their house each week, hang out with other vets, get some activities. Exercise therapy is not one size fits all. For some, talk therapy is a helpful tool for their mental health. Others may need to think outside the box, like smashing glass bottles or cuddling with farm animals. Here at Stitch, we celebrate the ways everyday people are making this country a kinder place to live. One incredible story at a time and kindness, after all, comes from within. Our first story is paving, or should we say, shaving the way for men of color to be able to open up about their feelings. An effort to fight stigmas about mental health is happening in barbershops across the country, so I come into this galaxy away from the worries and I step into his China and I sit down and I just give my all to him I express how feeling or how my day was We don't necessarily open up right away about your feelings. We, uh, actually go through these four principles you alluded to the confessed project trains barbers with guiding principles like effective listening to normalize, talking about mental health, that ear for validation. And then you have that positive communication, and then you have the removing of the stigma of not being able to be vulnerable to open up as a African American male. You know, I'm saying studies show that black men have a myriad of issues. They worry about daily, like poverty, unemployment, issues with police and their sense of inclusion within society and often times when you don't have a sense of belonging, it actually weighs on you. You know what I mean? I don't care who you are. You can act like a tough and all of that and say me, me, me, me, myself and I and all of that man. But at the end of the day, you probably hurting to Dominic grew up often getting ridiculed for his colorful style and how different he was. Now he has a sense of pride thanks to the program and J. He has given me so much confidence to embrace who I am as a person to be different. The advice he'd give to his younger self proves that just be yourself. Be confident in who you are and just go for it. Believe in your dreams and aspirations and just fight for who you are as a person up next, An unconventional way of expressing emotions is helping people get their frustrations out. One bottle smash at a time. Somebody said, I can't believe that we're allowed to just do this. A practice that some might consider out of the ordinary is a huge stress relief for patrons at the 412 rage room. We realized that there's rage out there and people have raged, but there's really hasn't been a good way to release that. And so we're just offering a fun way to release your rage. The business allows people to smash all kinds of things. Bottles, televisions, computer monitors. If it's breakable, you'll probably find it here. There's a wide variety of things you can break to release your rage, and also people can bring a few items themselves. As long as we pre approve it, make sure nothing is going to be harmful or detriment. But you might be thinking why, for many, it's a way to release pent up emotion or aggression. I just know the feeling that you get when you release the anger that you may have inside, and I know how it's a release and you and you feel better, and then you can go out and deal with a little bit more and to be able to carry on while it's not an accredited form of mental health therapy, an hour or so spent, breaking and smashing seems to help those who have gone to the rage room. Yeah, and not to mention it's also fun to break things When you think of therapy animals. Dogs are probably the first thing to come to mind. These next critters prove dogs aren't man's only best friend. Scattered Joy Farms uses beekeeping along with other animal therapies to help veterans with PTSD practice the art of calm. If it makes you focus on what you're doing, makes focus on not getting these upset. So you're not thinking about other things and you're focusing very much on your movement and your activity and being very calm because the bees need you to be very calm thing. These donkeys, named Cookie Celeste and Jesse helped college students take a break from cramming for finals to relax things like this. And just like having fun with other people and seeing people happy helps you not feel so stressed out. And finally, you've heard of a bull in a China shop. But this £2000 bowl in a nursing home named Oli is as gentle as any other therapy animal boy. Oh, I used to animals. You are, yes, gorgeous giraffes, ducks and kangaroos. Oh my, a former preschool teacher is creating unique comfort animals in our next story. It was always something that was in my classroom. After working as a preschool teacher for 14 years, Tanya was familiar with weighted objects being used to help Children experiencing anxiety. But they weren't always convenient. Therapist would send weighted vest or born gets there's a hot, and if you're the only one in the classroom and you're carrying this big blanket, sometimes that stands out a little bit, so why not a huggable horse instead, Not everybody is born with everything that everybody else is. So let's let's have something that matches you and tells you that you are beautiful no matter what. He's my newest piece, Panya says. The weighted animals also help Children with sensory disorders. I wanted to be the light in the dark. When the pandemic pushed her away from her teaching career, Tanya knew she still wanted to help Children. She launched her brand, the Firefly Patch, and her animals are sold both locally and online. It is weird to be living your passion to be able to do your passion. Teaching was my passion and still is that Covid showed me that it's okay to change camaraderie, physical activity and connecting with others who have had similar experiences helped to ease the minds of the veterans in this next group. Christina is familiar with the unique challenges veterans face, especially those with disabilities. So I was in the Army for 10 years, and I know a lot of veterans coming home. Just you also just get swept back into community, and oftentimes veterans wonder where they fit in. So when you get veterans together, it's just it's like a safe place, and everyone can understand whether you've been in combat or not. Um, what you've been through. She created the organization veterans, adaptive sports and trading or vast, where veterans can connect and de stress through physical activity and friendship. This program has literally saved my life. Their sports range from cross country skiing in the winter to archery, biking and tennis in the summer. For members like Patty, the impact has been profound. I'm having a blast. It's unbelievable. I mean, I was in a real major depression three months ago, and now I'm out here and I go hiking on Mondays. Come here on Wednesdays. It's been an incredible transformation for me. It's just the camaraderie. Knowing that somebody you know, I can understand you, someone cares about you. It's a we laugh. We joke. We make fun of each other in a good way, and it's just kind of a stress relief. We hope you enjoyed learning about these unique approaches to mental health therapy. Yeah,