Category: Everyday Life

Identifying True Hunger Vs False Hunger- Updated 5 Steps to Eating When You Are Truly Hungry

Jul. 16 Everyday Life 1 comment

We are all born with the innate ability to know when we are hungry. As babies, we naturally got fussy or cried in response to sensations of hunger. We learned to use words as toddlers to ask for food when we needed it. As we grew and became able to obtain food on our own, however, many of us began to eat for reasons other than pure hunger.

This may have been to soothe uncomfortable feelings such as sadness, fear, stress, or boredom or simply because good food was readily available. Other triggers might have been meal times, seeing/smelling food, and people or places connected in the mind with eating. The more we ate when we were not hungry, the more our natural hunger signals became distorted and difficult to recognize.

When people repeatedly eat for reasons besides hunger, physical sensations that mimic true hunger and create a false drive to eat emerge and are reinforced. The simplest way to learn to distinguish true hunger from false hunger is to begin paying attention to the body’s hunger cues again. When the body is truly hungry it sends signals to the brain, which then creates specific physical sensations that are interpreted as a need for food. We each feel these physical sensations somewhat differently. Because they can vary from person to person, it is important to learn how your own true hunger begins and progresses over time.

False hunger signals can be as intense as true hunger signals, but they are usually not felt in the same way or at the same time as true hunger. For example, you may experience false hunger in the upper area of your throat, but not at the same time that you feel true hunger around the lower sternum. The easiest way to start identifying false hunger is to pay attention to the sensations that are occurring in your body whenever you know that you are not hungry but want to eat anyway. Often, this can be done when you have finished a meal but crave something more, such as dessert or seconds of a favorite dish. In this situation, your body does not actually want more food. It is your mind sending false hunger signals that makes you believe that you need to eat more.

You can also use the time of your last meal as a way to help you distinguish true hunger from false hunger. If you want something to eat but had a meal less than two hours earlier, you are probably not really hungry, yet. Rather than eating, you can take time to become more aware of what your false hunger feels like. If you are an emotional eater and recognize that you are wanting to eat as a result of stress, boredom, or some other emotion, then take time to notice the physical sensations associated with the emotions that are driving you to eat.

Five Steps to Eating When You Are Truly Hungry

 

1. Before you decide to eat something take a few deep breaths, close your eyes, and tune in to the physical signs of wanting food.

2. Take time to notice the location and intensity of the sensations, and then decide if what you are experiencing is true or false hunger.

3. If it is true hunger, you will probably want to eat. If it is false hunger, you might decide to wait.

4. Try not to judge yourself or your actions no matter which decision you make.

5. Continue to practice these steps before eating and you will begin to shift back to the natural rhythm of eating when you are truly hungry.

Dr. Stephanie Coate is a licensed psychologist who holds a doctoral degree in clinical psychology and a masters degree in transpersonal psychology. She created The Awareness Diet out of her personal and professional knowledge with the intention of providing an alternative avenue to help people heal their relationship to food and their bodies. Dr. Coate provides individual coaching on the program and can be contacted for information about this or other inquiries at stephanie@awarenessdiet.com.

 

 

If you would like to learn more about how to improve your relationship to food and your body, visit awarenessdiet.com where you will find a comprehensive program to guide you in this process. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get tips and up to date information!

 

Death is Your Body Letting Your Soul Go Home

Jun. 28 Death 3 comments

Death is not what we think it to be.
Death is simply your body letting your soul go home.
It is just the time when your soul
Doesn’t need its body anymore and it goes home to rest.

Earth is not the end all
Not even Earth is forever.

We come here to grow our souls.
Once we are done, we have to go somewhere.
So we go were we came from.
Home.

And we are whole again with knowledge
And without challenges as we know them now.

When someone passes
We get scared because of how or why
However it has to happen.

Our bodies themselves are designed to age with experiences
So that we know we are almost done
Until we are done.

No one is here to live forever.
Until this day I do not anyone who is 150 years old.

We are just scared of death because of what we do not know
Not what we do know.

We are safe, even in death of our bodies.
Our souls are durable and endless and eternal.
Not even wishy washy to say that,
It is just the truth.

We are here to live
So while we are here we live
As our soul comes to do what it came to do.

Death isn’t about us
It is part of the plan.
God isn’t hurting us to “kill” us.

We have choices on Earth
And as humans there are many different ways to go home.
So when we don’t need our bodies
We leave those behind
And we go home to review what we have learned.

Some of us come back for more
And some of us decide to never come back.
No big deal, just choices, growth and love.

 

by Nadia Khalil

Image courtesy of F. Villate.

A Call for Love

Jun. 23 Everyday Life no comments

Everything people do in this world is an expression of love or a call for love.

by Walter E. Jacobson

When a child feels ignored, neglected and unloved because Mommy is spending more time with his little baby brother, and the child acts out, throws a glass against the wall and shatters it, it is not because he is evil or bad.

It is because he wants to get Mommy’s attention, he wants to get Mommy’s love, but he doesn’t know how to ask for it appropriately, so he asks for it in a confused, violent, aggressive way.

It is a call for love, and the best response Mommy can give to her child is to be understanding, compassionate, forgiving and loving, not angry, abrasive and punishing.

As we grow up and become adults, most of us still behave in the same way we did when we were infants. Hungry for love and feeling minimized, ignored, abandoned, unloved and unappreciated, we act out with our loved ones, attacking them in various ways.

Rather than saying, “I’m feeling insecure. I need your attention. I need your love. I need a hug,” we yell, we hit, we break things, we drink and drug too much, we drive our cars into trees.

At the next level are those who do the more horrendous acting out behaviors in their calling out for love, by mutilating and killing themselves or by mutilating and killing others.

It’s all a continuum, a matter of degrees. It’s all a variation of the same theme: love or a call for love, in which case, the response should always be the same: when someone is calling out for love, we look past their behaviors and we do our best to give it to them.

In terms of the people in this world who do horrific things, this doesn’t mean they should not be held responsible for their actions. It doesn’t mean we condone their behaviors. It doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be consequences.

What it does mean is that we should let go of our harsh judgments and rage in the process.

Let’s look at this at a level that can perhaps be better understood and tolerated by our mind: If we need to go to court to resolve a divorce settlement, we don’t need to go in with anger. We can go in with calm and be just as effective, if not more so. We can get what we feel we need and deserve, but without all the aggression, judgment and animosity. We do this for our own healing, for our own peace of mind.

Everything is a choice that starts in the mind. If we choose fear, what we’ll get is fear, anxiety, depression, anger and aggression, within and without, in all its horrific and terrifying forms.

If we choose love, we will see a world transforming within and without. And we will observe miracles happening, because miracles are the natural expression of unconditional love and forgiveness.


Walter E. Jacobson, M.D. is a board certified psychiatrist, motivational speaker, and author of Forgive to Win! His primary goal is to help people build their self esteem, overcome self sabotage, and get what they want in life.  To find out more about Dr. Jacobson visit his official site.

 

 

Image courtesy of KKFreshmeat.

Self-Loathing, Projection & The Power Of Love & Forgiveness

Jun. 23 Everyday Life no comments

Do you unconsciously project your feelings about your self onto others?  Do you know someone who does?

by Walter E. Jacobson M.D.

We all have, deeply embedded in our unconscious mind, a self-loathing part of us, regardless of how much self esteem we have, regardless of how much good we do in this world, and regardless of how proud of ourselves we are for our ethical and compassionate behavior.

That self-loathing, as irrational as it is for most of us who have done very little in the hurting others department, manages to generate guilt and shame which we do not wish to experience consciously because it would be too unpleasant.

So we unconsciously project it outwards onto others and see others as worthy of loathing and worthy of guilt and shame, rather than ourselves. And we feel better about ourselves, at an unconscious level, in the process.

It’s very convenient and emotionally sustaining when we project it onto people who deserve it, so to speak, by their despicable actions. And we don’t think twice about it. They clearly deserve all the judgment and animosity they get directed at them. They clearly deserve to be made to feel guilty and shamed.

But when we project it onto other people who haven’t necessarily done anything terrible to deserve our harsh judgments, with the exception of not treating us the way we wish to be treated or not thinking or behaving the same way we do, the mechanism of discharging internal angst by pointing the fingers at others becomes more obvious, if we are willing to look at it.

So what do we do about this?

Certainly, at the level of our personal relationships where judgments are flying left and right, if we remind ourselves that our judgments are actually a reflection of our own embedded guilt and shame, and if we can see those we area judging as loving beings who are confused and have lost their way (regardless of how badly they are behaving towards us), then the best approach is to catch ourselves and stop attacking them with our judgments, because we will, essentially, be healing our projections and healing ourselves in the process.

We can disapprove of their bad behavior. We can encourage them to take responsibility and we can insist on consequences. We can avoid them. We can set boundaries. There are any number of solutions available to us.

The key is to judge the actions, not the actors. The key is to demonize behaviors but not people, because when we demonize others we are demonizing ourselves at a deeply embedded level, reinforcing our guilt, shame and self-loathing.

At the level of people in the world who assault, abuse, maim and murder: again, it is in our best interests to despise the behaviors but to not demonize the people. They are not evil, despite the evil that they do.

They are mentally ill. They are children of God, like all of us, who are severely damaged in their incapacity to love because of the love they never experienced themselves.
Ultimately, when our consciousness can handle this revolutionary concept, it can evolve further to appreciate that everything in this world is an illusion, a bad dream we will one day wake up from, in which case, we don’t even need to hate horrific behavior.

When we wake up from a nightmare, thanking God that all the murder and rape we saw in the nightmare never really happened, we have no need to hate those in our dreams who perpetrated the murder and rape.

When we are enlightened and wake up from this nightmare we call reality, we will also appreciate that everything horrific in this world never happened, and there is no need for hate or for sorrow.

This is certainly an idea that most of us cannot get our mind around. We cannot tolerate this idea nor accept it to any degree because of all the horrible evil and terrible suffering that is obvious all around us and can’t be presumed not to be real.

I can’t argue the point. I have no proof except for my own experiences which are anecdotal and can be easily dismissed by those who wish to do so. Nonetheless, I maintain that everything we see in this world is a projection of our internal thought system.

If we keep love, compassion, acceptance and forgiveness in the forefront of our mind, we will see, to an ever-increasing degree, a world that reflects that, a world of cooperation, harmony, generosity, success and abundance.

If we choose at the core of our consciousness to embrace fear and judgment, then we will continue to see a world that is full of scarcity, lack, limitation, competition, aggression, war, famine, disease and death.

There are only two thoughts, love and fear. And everything we see in this world is a projection of one or the other.

 

Walter E. Jacobson, M.D. is a board certified psychiatrist, motivational speaker, and author of Forgive to Win! His primary goal is to help people build their self esteem, overcome self sabotage, and get what they want in life.  To find out more about Dr. Jacobson visit his official site.

 

 

Image courtesy of Morbidboy23.

Trust Your Intuition and The Right Choices Will Always Be Made

Jun. 17 Everyday Life, Featured Posts, Goals no comments

What you choose to create in your day, and what you wish to experience – is entirely up to you.

Amidst such a choice, you are truly the only one who must decide exactly what your experiences will be, and how they will come to be experienced by you.

Today, in the understanding and consideration of this internal power, always be willing to follow your intuition, whenever important choices must be made, by you.

As you remain guided from within by your intuition, may you go on to create and experience, not just all that you want, but all that will come to benefit you in your life – and nothing less.

“In creating the day that I
wish to experience, let me follow
my intuition and create – only
that which benefits me.” ~ Eleesha


Eleesha is a Spiritual Author and Writer of Inspiration, she is well known on Twitter for sharing her original inspirational quotes and daily affirmations to help inspire people from all walks of life. In her upcoming new book ~ ‘The Soul Whisperer’, Eleesha shares a profound collection of her auto-written soul affirmations, motivating insights, and empowering reflections to help transform lives. Visit her web site http://eleesha.com to experience the power of her original inspiration.

 

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This article was posted with author consent. Please contact Eleesha for any re-posting of this article.

 

A Positive Attitude During Difficult Times

Jun. 15 Stress 3 comments

We are told that if life gives you lemons you should make lemonade.  But let’s face it, sometimes you want to throw that lemon right back with as much force as you can muster.  When you’re facing an empty refrigerator, or an eviction notice, or the loss of a loved one, it is hard to see the positive side of life and remain happy and strong.  In theory we know we should maintain a positive attitude but putting it into practice in real life is hard.  Or is it?  The fictional story below is an inspiring example of how one person managed to make lemonade even when faced with his mortality.  Enjoy!

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!” Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs; they would follow him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood. I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life.”

“But it’s not always that easy,” I protested.

“Yes, it is,” Jerry said, “Life is all about choices When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. It’s your choice how you live your life.”

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he left the back door of his restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Want to see my scars?”

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared?” I asked.

Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘He’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked. “Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything.” ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead’.

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we always have a choice.  We can choose to remain bitter or to smile and move on.  We can choose to remain chained by fear or break those chains and start enjoying life.  We can choose to live, or we can choose to die.   The choice is always yours to make.  No one else can make it for you.

 

This story is courtesy of the View on Buddhism website.

To purchase a copy of the image on this post go to Adila’s site on Deviantart.

Emotional Guide to Actively Looking For a New Job.

Jun. 14 Unemployment no comments

Haven’t found a job yet?  Try changing your approach.

Although the US unemployment rate is down a couple of points from last year, a large percentage of people are still unemployed, underemployed or just plain unhappily employed.  In a time when we have identified our work and financial status with our esteem, this could be pretty devastating.  Being out of work lowers not only our vibration  about money and finances but also how we feel about ourselves as people.  When you factor in the process of searching for a job, that vibration lowers even further.

You find a job that you feel you are perfect for, send in resume and cover letter and hope for the call back.  You go to all the employment agencies and you do everything you have been taught to do in order to find a job. You might get some interviews, maybe even some second interviews but then you never hear anything again. How you are feeling about yourself might be at an all time low.

The first thing to do is stop thinking yourself to the point of craziness. The second step is to take a step back and evaluate how you approach the job search.  You might find that you might need to approach it from a completely different way.  The most important action you can take is to be active in not only your pursuit of a job but also of your mental well being.

Patty Sigmon-Maize has been looking for work for almost a year now. Conversations with her inevitably include phrases such as:  it’s hard, the economy is bad, no one is hiring, I’ve sent my resume every where and no one is calling back, etc.  (Do you hear yourself reflected in any of these comments?)

It can be defeating, a lot of times you are dealing with the fears of age, no longer having a clear career path and how to find a job in this economy.

Not long ago I checked in with Patty again and I was happily surprised.  The conversation went a very different direction. Instead of focusing on the reasons she was not employed, she decided to change the way she approached the job search.  She was very upbeat and energetic as she told me about a job strategies workshop she was taking and how it had taught her a new way to actively look for a job: both mentally and physically.

In going to the California Employment Development Department she found the link to Experience Unlimited, an organization that provides job seekers a forum to meet and provide each other support.  The also offer the following:

  • Workshops on job search strategies, résumés, interview techniques, and networking
  • Résumé evaluations and mock interviews
  • Networking opportunities
  • Access to on-line job listings
  • On-line résumé postings through CalJOBSSM
  • Special events and guest speakers
  • Use of computers, printers, copiers, telephone, fax, and Internet

From joining the workshops, she then learned that one of the local universities was offering a free 6-Day Advanced Job Transition Course being taught by John Hall, who is a job coach to mid career managers and professionals who are plateaued, bored, or in transition.

From this course she learned not only how to get the interview, but how to get 10xs as many interviews, self branding, researching perspective companies but she also learned her fears surrounding looking for a job, what kind of jobs would be right for her personality and more importantly, how to be more involved in you and your job search.

When faced with a huge challenge, there are a lot of people out there that have taken what could be a very scary time in their lives and are turning their situation around and living the happy life most of us just dream about.  So the question is why not be one of those happy people?  Why not take this time to really explore what will make you happy?

 

EDD Website http://www.edd.ca.gov/

Visit John Hall’s Official Site to learn more about his Advanced Job Transition Course

Feature Photo courtesy of Blogcatalog.com

Visit our article Michael Losier’s Unempolyed or Employable for more information on how to change your vibration surrounding your job search.

 

Unemployed or Employable: Law of Attraction’s Perspective

Jun. 14 Unemployment no comments

Listen to Audio Unemployed or Employable

Michael Losier is the bestselling author of Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don’t. Michael recently wrote an article and held a tele-class entitled, Unemployed or Employable?  From Michael’s article and tele-class we learn how we can change our vibe surrounding our current work situation.

Michael is not only looking to help us find “A” job, he gives the tools to help you find the “Ideal”  job.

The first step in using the Law of Attraction is… In order to get different results (going from unemployed to employed) the first thing that needs to change is your vibration. Changes to YOUR vibration will change YOUR results.

When working with Law of Attraction it is important to understand one key factor:

The Law of Attraction’s  job is simply to match vibration. It does not think, it does not judge, it only matches what you are putting out there.

Since a vibe is really just another word for a feeling, explore your feelings surrounding being unemployed or unhappily employed. If you are frustrated, scared, depressed or feeling rejected then the Law only knows to send you more of that vibe.

So how do we change our vibration?

Here is the cool part, the Law of Attraction lives only in the moment.  There is no memory chip reminding it that for the last couple of weeks you have been feeling really down about your current work situation. So the moment you start to send out a different vibe, the law obediently follows the new vibe. 

In order to get a different result you need to RESET your vibe. How do you do that?  Simple,  just hit the reset button and go from stating what you don’t want to what you do you want.

Replace the word “unemployed” in your conversations and in references to your employment. Your new frame of reference is that you are “employable.”

Michael uses a very simple formula to help you go from the negative words,thoughts and vibrations that you are currently having and teaches us to re-frame those words, thoughts and vibes into stating what we do want.

By the time you are finished listening to the audio, you will already feel the difference in your mood, posture and most of all your vibes. Take notes, do the homework and you are guaranteed to get different results

Michael Losier is an expert in Law of Attraction and Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP).  He has authored two books and is in the process of releasing the third.  He’s a coach, speaker, and trainer.

Click here to read Michael Losiers full article Unemployed or Employable?

Visit Michael Losier’s official  website to learn more about Law of Attraction.

 

Panic Disorder and Anxiety Will Not Kill You

Jun. 14 Stress 8 comments

Contrary to some of the information found on some blogs on the internet, panic disorder and anxiety attacks will not kill you.

I have been running across a lot of articles lately talking about anxiety and panic disorder. Like most information found on the internet, you have to really do your research in order to find credible sources from experts in the field. While I’m not an expert, what made me decide to add to the list of writers about these subjects was some disturbing  blog posts that anxiety or panic disorder are life threatening and can lead to death.

I have been living with panic disorder for approximately 9 years. Like most people, I was diagnosed with the disorder after ending up in the hospital due to what I thought was a heart attack. Over the years, there are times when I need to be on medication and in therapy; however, for the majority of time I am able to handle the panic through multiple techniques. My number one technique has been based on the fact that my therapist asserted that no one has ever died or passed out from panic disorder.  I have repeated these words over and over during every attack and it has worked marvelously well.  No matter how hard the attack is hitting, I at least know that I will be okay once the episode is over.

If the opposite had happened and my therapist had told me that my worst fear during a panic attack could possibly come true and I could die from it, I do not know  how I could have mentally made it through those really, really hard times. My recovery would have suffered a serious setback.

After reading those frightening blogs, I decided to do some research to figure out if they were right or if my therapist had been right.  Here is what I found.

In an article on the Anxiety Network titled What You Fear the Most Cannot Happen, psychologist Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D., explains how panic disorder does not lead to passing out, dying or some of the other thoughts that run through your head when in the moment of an attack.

… Because of these feelings of panic, it’s very common to “invent” or attribute danger to the accompanying bodily symptoms. Remember, though, that NO ONE has ever had these things happen to them as a result of a panic attack:

“I’M GOING CRAZY“: No one with panic attacks and anxiety has ever gone “crazy”. In fact, because you realize that you have panic attacks, this is just another indication that you are not going crazy. People that “go crazy” lose contact with reality. Anxiety people are too much in contact with reality. Thus, people with panic and anxiety problems NEVER “go crazy”. It simply cannot happen.

“I’M GOING TO PASS OUT”: Temporary dizziness leads people with panic to feel that they may pass out. This is not possible because, during panic, your heart beats faster, and your blood pressure rises. As the blood pressure rises, it becomes impossible for you to “pass out”. When people faint or “pass out”, it’s because of a sudden DROP or lowering in blood pressure.

“I’M HAVING A HEART ATTACK”: when the heart begins to beat quickly and people experience “palpitations”, they sometimes feel a heart attack is occurring. In the first place, the heart can beat quickly and continuously for a long period of time without causing any damage. Although heart palpitations seem to occur in the left side of the chest, there are many DIFFERENCES between panic attack and a real heart attack. During a real heart attack, the primary symptom is a crushing sensation inside the chest and a pain that is continuous. During a panic attack, the attention is focused on the quick and rapid beating of the heart itself. (“I can hear my heart beating even in my ears!”) People having panic attacks are NOT experiencing heart problems. A real heart attacks produces crushing internal pain that doubles people up and drops them to the floor. They DO NOT hear their heart beating nor do they care. The intense, crushing pain is the only thing they can pay attention to.

“I WILL STOP BREATHING AND SUFFOCATE”: Sometimes panic sufferers feel that because they can’t catch their breath (and are hyperventilating), they will suffocate. This is impossible because you cannot pass out and suffocate.  It feels like you can because the mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your bloodstream is out of proportion. That is why people feel weak, dizzy, lightheaded, and faint. Suffocation is not a possibility during a panic attack.  In a few moments, as the body gradually calms down, breathing returns to normal, and the other symptoms gradually go away.

“I’M LOSING CONTROL”: Experiencing many anxiety symptoms all at once can cause a person to feel that they are “losing control” of themselves. Sometimes the fear is of acting nervous and foolish in public where others will be able to notice. Sometimes the fear is of being rushed to the hospital in an emergency vehicle. For other people, it is the fear that losing all control proves they are crazy and may have to be institutionalized. Actually, the fact that you think you could “lose control” guarantees that this is not really possible. The only people who really “lose control” are people who are not aware of this and are not ever concerned or bothered by “losing control”.

Read Full Article

 

Just a few more…

Before It Happens Know that a panic attack will not harm you
“In therapy, we teach patients that although panic attacks are uncomfortable, there’s nothing physically dangerous about them,” says Kimberly Wilson, Ph.D., a cognitive-behavioral therapist in the San Francisco Bay area and a psychiatry instructor at Stanford University.

Article from Women’s Health Magazine

 

Coping with Panic/Anxiety Disorder

When you feel the symptoms of panic/anxiety disorder (PAD), tell yourself –continually—that what you are experiencing is anxiety and not a heart attack and that anxiety cannot kill you. Dr Stanley Goldstein –Author and Psychologist

Read Original Document


Some tips that worked for me personally:

1.   Get a physical. A thorough check-up will allow you to have peace of mind and you can then rule out that there is nothing physically wrong with you.

2.   Get a prescription. There are times when your panic might be more than you can handle and medication will be needed. Be okay with that and realize that if you take the correct steps to control your disorder, the need for medication will not be forever.

3.  Get a therapist. Discussing the circumstances that led up to the attack with a professional will enable you to put events into perspective and determine what could have led to the attack.  You will also learn how to talk yourself through the situation so that you can emerge from it quickly.

4.  Meditate. Taking a moment for yourself to be calm and mentally prepared in situations that have the potential to trigger attacks can help you stave off feelings of fear.  It doesn’t have to be for long and you can meditate anywhere.  Check out our article the 1 minute meditation for ideas on how to do this.

5.   Inform those who need to know about your condition. Teach your friends, family members and relevant co-workers what to do in case you are experiencing a panic or anxiety attack . Tell them what to say and what not to say.  Usually, someone just talking to me about really mundane stuff would help me get out of my head long enough for the feeling to subside.

6.   Talk to yourself. My personal mantra was, “I’m OK, no one has passed or died from this.” I also made sure to walk and move slowly so that I would not raise my heart rate more than it already was.

7.   Talk to others who are going through the same thing. Join groups or blogs for people with panic disorder. It really helped me to know that I was not alone. This is happening to lots of people and all of them were very willing to share their experiences and the tools that help them cope when panic hits.

The Truth of the Robber

Jun. 14 Everyday Life 1 comment

by Susan Gilchrist Navas

Today, I handled a case wherein the defendant walked into a nursing home and robbed a worker at knife point.  He had committed a similar crime several years ago, and had been in and out of prison for a while.  His attorney asked me for some discovery and we continued the case.  When I finished in court and returned to my office the defendant’s father came to the lobby and asked to speak to me.

He is a lovely man, and he told me he had just fired the lawyer.  He said the lawyer asked him for more money and was not handling the case to his son’s satisfaction.  He told me his son wanted to plead guilty and be done with the case.  His son realized that the evidence against him was daunting, (DNA proof among other things) and did not see the use of fighting it.  He asked if we could handle the plea that day.  The father and I had a wonderful conversation about life, children, free will, and how we are all free to make our own negative choices irrespective of the love that surrounds us.  At the conclusion of our conversation the father told me he felt such relief, and how glad he was that he came to see me.

Later in the day we called the case again, and I spoke to the defendant.  Among other things I told him I really hoped he would take the time he would spend in prison to learn.  I told him to go the AA and NA meetings, to read books and learn to think of possibilities.  He told me there is so much more to him than who he is today, I told him I know that.  We talked about his choices, and that he still has many to make.  We laughed a bit, and he had clear eyes and a moment of clarity.

He pleaded guilty, he smiled at his father, and everyone felt the relief and freedom that happens when we deal with truth instead of games.  Life is not a game, it is simply a school and we cannot learn anything if we fight it at every turn.  Dealing with life straight on gives us chances and choices, and when we are mired in avoidance, we are stuck.  Stagnation breeds only the muck of the mire and there is no opportunity for change.  It takes courage to accept, and that courage is a breath of fresh air that allows us all to exhale.

His father thanked me, and he said he did not think he was allowed to talk to me but was glad he did it anyway.  I told him he can talk to me and anyone else and I thanked him.  I gave him my card and told him he could call me anytime.  I hope he does.

Susan Gilchrist Navas is a Deputy District Attorney in Southern California.  You can read more of her experiences with truth in the legal system by going to her blog: Truth is Our Teacher.

 

Drawing courtesy of TIFA-FF.