April Recap

April Recap

Why a photo of this juniper berry branch? Read on if you’re curious. Or even if you’re not really curious, read on.
Last night was another amazing group, with 25 people joining us including 4 very brave firs-timers – Radhakrishna, Peter, Chris and Jose – welcome to the group and we look very forward to getting to know you.

We split the group into two, and here are some of the topics discussed:

Scanning Ahead
One very intelligent and career driven member talked about his morning stand-ups at work, and how he catches himself scanning ahead way too often in anticipation of a stuttering moment. He knows the content very well, but his thoughts often escape him as the focus relies on fluency. Most of us can surely relate to this.

Mindful Communication  
The topic of pausing when speaking came up, the challenge of doing so, and generally being able to control your tempo, specifically during public speaking. Many of us agreed that stuttering or not, an effective speaker is a mindful speaker, one who is present, one whose focus is on the now. Or one who prepares a shit-ton in advance.

There really isn’t a good time to get out
The idea of facing our fear came up, as it usually does, and how there really isn’t a good time to put yourself out there – sometimes we just have to get out on the playing field. Just Do It – this is our new innovative slogan we came up with it last night. This mindset can only help us grow, desensitize, become resilient and help us find our voice – our own voice that must be heard. Together we can help each other.

Most of us went across the street to our new hangout place and some of us even educated the friendly staff on the topic of stuttering. The name of the place – Juniper, just like the coniferous plant from the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae.

Hope to see you all at our NYC Stutters Spring Outing on Sunday May 3rd. All the NYC chapters are getting together at Central Park for some drinks, snacks and some great company. RSVP if you haven’t already!

Enjoy the beautiful day everyone.
– Stavro | www.nycstutters.org