“The autonomic nervous system is divided into the sympathetic system, which is often identified with the fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic, which is identified with what’s been called the relaxation response. When you do yoga – the deep breathing, the stretching, the movements that release muscle tension, the relaxed focus on being present in your […]
“Suffering is not holding you. You are holding suffering. When you become good at the art of letting sufferings go, then you’ll come to realize how unnecessary it was for you to drag those burdens around with you.” – Osho Mindfulness has been found to have great psychological benefits. It improves mood, reduces stress […]
Many people have fond memories of their college years. It is likely, however, that they forgot about the stress and angst of those years. The truth is that college is generally very stressful for most students, from the uncertainty of freshman year, to the social stresses of emerging adulthood, to the anxiety of launching into […]
“Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel.” ― Jean Racine Difficulties with emotions are at the heart of the majority of mental health problems. Depression, anxiety disorders, panic disorders etc. afflict hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Unregulated emotions create suffering for the individual and their families and […]
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is most commonly found in children, but for about half it persists into adulthood. It’s estimated that about 5% of the adult population has ADHD. Hence, this is a very large problem that can produce inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and emotional issues, and reduce quality of life. The most common […]
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is one of the first secular based mindfulness training programs in the west. In fact, it could be argued that the development of MBSR was what launched the mindfulness movement in the west. The movement took off probably because MBSR was shown to be so very effective in the treatment […]
“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs A sage once said “you can […]
Stress is a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium. Given this definition, it seems that in the modern world most components of our life are stressors. Some stress (acute stress) is positive and actually strengthens the body, it can be exciting, and it keeps us on our toes. But […]
Mindfulness has been repeatedly shown to be beneficial for mental health. Training in mindfulness can decrease stress, anxiety, and depression at every level of severity. It can improve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, suicidality, PTSD, substance abuse, eating disorders, and major mental illnesses. It is as yet unclear how such a relatively simple technique […]
Our emotions impact our lives in many ways. They provide much of the pleasure and happiness in life. They also torment us with painful, unpleasant, feelings that interfere with our well-being and happiness. Many mental illnesses involve distorted or exaggerated emotions. So a key to our happiness and our mental health is the ability to […]