There are consequences to living in a future-oriented way: Doing so robs you of your very life. You prevent yourself from being fully present and engaged in the moments of your actual life, which is occurring right now, by always looking forward to the next thing. And, if you cannot be satisfied with this moment as it is, you will not be able to appreciate – or be satisfied by – any other future moments as they are.
Read MoreAutumn anxiety is a real thing! Neurochemical, biological, and psychological factors all contribute to an increase in anxiety symptoms and low mood in the fall. But, we can thrive and live fully in the fall with increased awareness and intentional practices.
Read MoreLike anxiety, the Howler ramps up it’s response to being avoided, escalating to explosions, curses, and insults!
Read MoreAnxiety thrives in the paradox, in the irony. The harder we try to get rid of it, the more anxious we feel. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, turning our intentions against us, and creating the very thing we are trying to prevent. And, it sneakily makes us believe that we’re in control and that certainty is attainable.
Read MoreAnxiety - like the boggarts of the wizarding world of Harry Potter - shifts its shape to the thing each person fears the very most. Your anxieties are drawn from your individual insecurities and the earlier experiences in your life that build their foundation.
Read MoreThe way real long-term change happens isn’t sexy. And it doesn’t happen just because it’s January 1st, or a Monday.
Read MoreGratitude is not fluff, nor is it toxic positivity. The goal of grateful living is not to pretend that everything’s fine, or to live in a fantasy world populated by puppies and rainbows and unicorns… In fact, gratitude is most especially important at the worst times of our lives.
Read MoreParadoxically, the intuitive attempt to keep yourself safe and comfortable, the effort to avoid anxiety, only serves to increase the anxiety. Although the immediate act of avoidance may result in a moment of relief, it only serves to exacerbate (make worse) and perpetuate (allow it to continue) your experience of anxiety.
Read MoreYour thoughts, what you tell yourself, your self-talk are powerful determinants of anxiety. And the thoughts that create anxiety are often untrue, even irrational.
Read MoreThe threat center in our brains are turned on by our own thoughts, by threats created in our minds, rather than from legitimate physical threats in our environment. And our body responds as if we were facing a lion, a true threat to our survival.
Read MoreThe present moment is the only moment that you actually have available to you. You spend the actual moments when you are alive anticipating future moments and remembering past moments so you never get to enjoy and thrive in the moments when everything is okay.
Read MoreRecognize that you have a choice with regard to whether these thoughts define you … or not. Know that this inner critic, this negative voice, has become an accepted part of your identity, and it will take considerable time, effort, energy, and most especially compassion, to root it out. But, it can be done.
Read MoreYour negative voice, your inner critic, has been created by your individual circumstances, the things that you have placed emphasis on, the things you feel ashamed about, and the things you think are wrong with you and must be changed. This critic will therefore be a very specific, individualized manifestation of you. The more detailed and specific you can embody it to your own experience, the better you’ll be able to craft personalized, effective responses to it.
Read MoreWe work to heal the self-hatred and the self-loathing, and be able to respond to that critical voice … so that weight loss does happen, but it happens as a side effect of the deeper, more emotional work that’s happening … because that’s what is really holding us back.
Read MoreLearning to tolerate – and even embrace – uncertainty is a skill that can be learned. And, doing so can change your life.
Read More“STOP IT!” just identifies an unwanted thought and attempts to shove it away while making you feel badly about yourself and ignoring your emotional experience.
Shoving the thought aside and ignoring your feelings simply exacerbates the very things you’re trying to stop.
Read MoreSourdough baking, should you choose to heed the call, provides an opportunity to reflect, look within, and improve your emotional wellbeing.
Read MoreChoose how you’d like to spend your days. And then expend the effort to claim them … to catch them, and fully live them.
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