Q: I feel helpless in the face of the world’s suffering. I don’t know what to do about the pain I see all around me. It’s driving me crazy. Well, you know, it takes a lot of energy and attention to drive yourself crazy. If you redirect that energy away from “feeling helpless” and bring […]
If you are like most people, you may often feel as if your mind is tormenting you and there is no escape. Ironically, when the torment is very vivid, our mind is actually dull, lacking in clarity and creativity. Of course we can’t enjoy our mind in such a state and we feel trapped because […]
We human beings have an amazing capacity to form positive mental habits. Every day we have innumerable opportunities to change the channel. We can shift from a fearful state of self doubt to an empowered state of peace and happiness. In my previous article, I talked about two ways we can do this by noticing […]
Do you start and end your day immediately thinking about your “To Do” list or your “To Avoid” list or a mix of both? If so, you may have gotten used to a constant level of stress or anxiety and a speedy thinking mind, jumping form one line of thought to another: “I absolutely have […]
Distress, worry . . . irrelevant!? Most people are interested and puzzled by this proposition – some angered! How can I not be worried or distressed about being unemployed, sick, or because of a significant loss? I find in working with clients that the main causes of confusion about the needlessness of distress relate to 4 […]
If we feel upset when things go wrong or something unpleasant and unexpected happens, we’re not exactly unique in this world. But if we develop the habit of holding on to these upset feelings, we may resort to drinking too much, using drugs, or overeating (using food like a drug) in a futile effort to try and feel better. We don’t even […]
Do you ever get an anxious feeling . . . followed by a fearful thought that something must be going wrong? Then the thought that something is wrong makes you feel more intense anxiety . . . which makes you believe the fearful thought even more? Maybe you start repeating this thought to yourself, or elaborating […]
Anger comes from a creeping sense that we are small and in some way lacking. We’re usually unconscious of this sense of smallness, but it makes us cling to what I call “lower self qualities.” If we are to let go of these troublesome qualities, we need to be clear about what they are. Instead […]
Anxiety — What is it good for? Absolutely Nothin! I am writing to myself as much as to you today. Because over the years I’ve noticed there’s a sneaky quality to my anxiety. Whenever I notice it sneaking up, I’ve developed certain ways of talking to myself, to rouse the courage to challenge this self-defeating attitude. Here are my […]
At the end of this post you’ll have learned three science-backed ways to beat stress – methods that will bring a profound relaxation into your days, even if you’re a person who must make many daily decisions. By way of introducing these techniques, you’ll find it useful to know what scientists have discovered about how […]
