Zen Bite: In Tough Economic Times
The team at This Emotional Life asked me to address a post they received from their Facebook fan page:
Deployment Diary: Beware of Hippos
It looks like someone has scattered Shrek’s ashes over Colonial Williamsburg.
Christina
Christina is a student at Harvard. For years, her fear of flying prevented her from joining her friends on trips around the country and overseas. Her phobia manifested itself physically with sweating and shakiness in anticipation of the flight and hyperventilating when she was on the plane. Despite trying to rationalize her fear, she found flying so uncomfortable she eventually stopped.
Since undergoing intense cognitive-behavioral therapy Christine has learned techniques to control her anxiety. She still doesn’t enjoy flying but has made enough progress to...
What can you do to lower your kids’ future therapy bills?
“You’re right, I’m the worst mom ever, this will give you another thing to tell your future therapist,” you say to your daughter. While kidding – at least halfway – the modern parent is beginning to see therapy in their child’s future as inevitable, a necessary part of being a mentally healthy adult.
Shopping for stress
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Dr. Peter Whybrow, Director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, comments on the effects of our consumer lifestyle. Saying that “(People) have been told somehow that if they gather material goods, they will feel better…in the process of gathering these goods they’ve stressed themselves to the point where they’re extraordinarily anxious, depressed.”
Positive and negative stress
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky explains that stress in the form of stimulation is a positive force in our lives, but too much stress can have adverse affects on the brain. He explains how chronic stress affects our memory and decision making, saying that “Your memory goes down the tubes with chronic stress."
Understanding stress
Dr. Bruce McEwen, Director, Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University, answers the questions, What is stress? Does stress harm the brain? and, What can we do to protect ourselves from stress?
Eat, Pray, Love…and Relax
Elizabeth Gilbert, the best-selling author of the book, Eat, Pray, Love, talks about why divorce produces such a high level of stress, how she discovered her own pathways to happiness, and why we must stand firm against the river of forces of stress in modern life.