Lighthouse Paulina Rybak

23/02/2026

www.thepushupchallenge.co.uk/fundraisers/paulinarybak/the-push-up-challenge
The push-up challenge continues! 1000 pushups on the clock so far! Any donations greatly appreciated! 💪🏻🔥

17/02/2026

2000 Push Ups & The Weight We Carry
Yes, that is me. A psychotherapist doing push-ups.
With the DSM-5 on my back.
Symbolic? Slightly dramatic? Absolutely.
This month, I’m taking on 2000 push-ups to raise funds for Samaritans.
Because here’s the truth.
When the therapy room closes…
When sessions end…
When it’s 2am, and the thoughts feel louder than logic…
Samaritans are still there.
They sit with people in their darkest moments.
They listen without judgement.
They hold space when everything feels unbearable.
As therapists, we work hard. We hold stories. We carry weight.
But we cannot be the only support.
And I actively encourage my clients:
If you are in crisis, if you feel unsafe, if the night feels too heavy- call Samaritans.
116 123.
Free. 24/7. Always someone there.
This challenge is my way of turning physical effort into practical support.
2000 push-ups.
A bit of sweat.
A bit of muscle ache.
Nothing compared to the emotional weight people carry in silence.
If you can donate, I’d be incredibly grateful. www.thepushupchallenge.co.uk/fundraisers/paulinarybak/the-push-up-challenge
If you can’t, share.
If you need support, please reach out.
We are not meant to carry this alone. 💛

15/02/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16GNEKWX2H/?mibextid=wwXIfr

11/02/2026

I'm doing 2,000 push-ups in 23 days as part of The Push-Up Challenge to raise awareness and funds for mental health. This target represents the 2,000 people who died by su***de each day, worldwide.You can push for better mental health too by donating to my fundraising page and supporting this important cause: www.thepushupchallenge.co.uk/fundraisers/paulinarybak/the-push-up-challenge All proceeds enable Samaritans to answer more calls for help from those at crisis point or feeling suicidal. Any donation, big or small, is really appreciated!

P.S. A 100% on target in past 7 days! 🔥💪🏻

09/02/2026

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02Aaq1pWk2HP6WJNaLY8JKTK2CYuFg2HkLq4Y571r1JB28rpUGFyEucXRzzxPMGxtsl&id=61587222414873

Monday, 7 am

Self-care doesn’t belong to weekends only. It happens on ordinary Mondays too.

A 7 am gym session before the day fills up. Because the work I do is emotionally deep, relational, but mostly stationary. And if I don’t move my body on purpose, my nervous system carries the cost.

Weight lifting is one of my favourite grounding practices. There’s strong research showing that resistance training supports emotional regulation, especially for neurodivergent nervous systems. Repetitive, heavy, predictable movement. Clear start and finish. Muscles working, mind quieting. The body coming back to here and now. Lift. Breathe. Rest. Repeat.

This isn’t about aesthetics or pushing harder. It’s about regulation. Capacity. Sustainability.

Looking after myself like this isn’t optional or indulgent. It’s part of my professional responsibility. Because my clients deserve me resourced, present, and regulated. So yes, Monday mornings matter. Movement matters.

Doing what keeps you well enough to care for others matters. If your work keeps you still, take the chance to move when you can. Your nervous system will thank you 💛

08/02/2026

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05/02/2026

I am completing 2,000 push-ups in The Push-Up Challenge to enable Samaritans to answer more calls for help from those at crisis point or feeling suicidal. Will you donate? https://www.thepushupchallenge.co.uk/s/148868/162860/s

03/02/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CMLmrRmh5/?mibextid=wwXIfr

How often do we treat self-care like a bonus? Something to earn.
Something to fit in after everything else is done. Usually when we’re already exhausted.

In the therapy room this week, and so many weeks before, the same belief surfaced again: “I’ll look after myself once I’ve worked hard enough.”

But that’s not how anything performs well.
We don’t run a car through harsh conditions all day and then reward it with an MOT. We service it so it doesn’t break.
Fuel, checks, maintenance. Not indulgence. Prevention.

Your nervous system works the same way. Good food isn’t a treat. Sleep isn’t optional.
Movement isn’t something you squeeze in if you’re “good enough”.

Nature, light, calm, a decent environment. These are not luxuries.
They are what allow you to think clearly, regulate emotions, show up, deliver, care, and create.

Self-care is not the prize after productivity. It’s the infrastructure that makes productivity possible.

Unshrinking hours are about remembering this.
Before the breakdown. Not after.
If this hit a nerve, that’s not weakness.
That’s wisdom knocking. Hello from my mid- day gym session💙

02/02/2026

Masking, compensating, assimilating.

Three words I hear almost daily in the therapy room. Often whispered with relief. Sometimes with exhaustion. Very often with a quiet question underneath: “Is it just me?”

Let’s break them down, human to human.

Masking
This is when an ND adult hides their natural ways of being to appear “acceptable”.
- Smiling when overwhelmed.
- Rehearsing conversations.
- Suppressing stims.
- Forcing eye contact.
It works. Until it doesn’t. Masking is like acting in a full-time role with no backstage break.

Compensating
Here, the nervous system finds clever workarounds.
- Overpreparing.
- Perfectionism.
- Working twice as hard to stay afloat.
- Using anxiety as fuel.
It often gets praised. High functioning. Successful. Resilient.
And yet the cost is invisible and cumulative.

Assimilating
This goes deeper.
It’s not just doing what others do but believing you should be like them.
- Questioning your instincts.
- Doubting your needs.
- Internalising the idea that difference equals failure.
This is where self-erosion quietly begins.

Now the part that matters clinically.
When years of masking, compensating and assimilating pile up, many ND adults hit a wall. Energy collapses. Executive function drops. Sensory tolerance disappears. Joy goes offline.

And very often this is labelled as depression. Sometimes low mood is there, yes. But what we often see is neurodivergent burnout. A nervous system that has been running in survival mode for far too long.

You cannot reason your way out of a nervous system that needs safety, permission and rest.
You cannot positive- think your way out of chronic self-abandonment.

Healing here is not about fixing. It’s about unlearning. About finding ways to live with less performance and more truth.

And maybe, just maybe, letting your brain take off the costume when it is safe to do so. It was never meant to be worn forever.

If this landed, you’re not broken.
You’re tired.
And that makes sense.

01/02/2026

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25/01/2026

hours Sunday!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Dwjyb4r8S/?mibextid=wwXIfr

23/10/2025

This photo captures something deeply personal- the act of holding space for both ourselves and the parts of us that still long for warmth, safety, and love.

In therapy, we call this inner child work or self-parenting. It’s about learning to nurture yourself as you would a child- to listen without judgement, to comfort without fear, and to offer the acceptance you may have once needed most.

Every adult carries within them a younger self who wants to be understood. When we connect with that part, healing becomes not just possible, but transformative.

💛 I’m currently offering a free 30-minute consultation for anyone curious about starting this journey.
👉 Book here: www.lighthouse4u.co.uk