Saturday, May 23, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Business of Being Born
Thanks to one of my most favorite persons...I wanted to introduce you to a movie called
The Business of Being Born. It is produced by Rikki Lake and directed by Abby Epstein. Fantastic and a must see for any couple considering getting pregnant. Here is the link and please spread the word. Bless these folks for producing this! http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/
The Business of Being Born. It is produced by Rikki Lake and directed by Abby Epstein. Fantastic and a must see for any couple considering getting pregnant. Here is the link and please spread the word. Bless these folks for producing this! http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Swine Flu Pandemic - Fact or Fiction
By Dr. Joseph Mercola - www.mercola.com
Urgent and vital information you need to know about the new swine flu threat.http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/28/Swine-Flu.aspx
Urgent and vital information you need to know about the new swine flu threat.http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/28/Swine-Flu.aspx
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Chiropractic Response to Stress - A Perfect Union!
Why Chiropractic Care is Perfect for Dealing with Stress!
It is Time to Set The Record Straight!
Everyone who comes into my office is complaining about stress. Stress accentuates tension in the body by simply increasing cortisol from the adrenal glands and that, in effect, will increase blood sugar, respiration and muscle tone resulting in increased pain in various parts of the body, headaches, muscle spasms and altered chemistry in the body. This culminates in you feeling on chemical overwhelm and “lousy”. There certainly has been enough literature that supports the brain’s impact on healing and physiology. When we feel alright, in balance, we tend to feel all is well with the world and sometimes even forget about any pains we previously had. Enter the home of Chiropractic Care!
The nervous system controls and coordinates physiology. This is not a point of view or belief system – this is scientific fact. All healthcare providers in their respective universities are taught that. The nervous system completely dominates and affects organ systems which affect our physiology – thyroid hormone, adrenal hormones, male and female hormones to name a few.
When we are under stress, the adaptation to that stress is the nervous system. Stress can be defined as physical (how we sit, sleep, work, previous car accidents, sports injuries), mental (how we think, our mood,) and chemical (food we eat, drink, air we breathe, meds, supplements we take). The goal of the nervous system is to mediate stress so that our physiology is adaptive and not reactive. When it is adaptive, we stay in balance with our health. When it is reactive, we usually, over time, will feel sick or “off” with our energy, healing, health status.
Chiropractic is not just about back and neck pain. It is about your life. Seriously. When spinal bones get out of alignment from daily tasks of sitting, sleeping, working , playing, previous injuries , and they are not addressed…over time this will take a toll and have a negative impact on your health. This is fact.
It is like going to the dentist and finding out you have a cavity. The cavity did not develop the night before the dental exam. It was growing, like cholesterol in your arteries…unnoticed. Most people would not just say “Thanks Doc for the info, I’ll keep that in mind. Have a good day!”. They would schedule a time to immediately take care of it, right? Dentists would drill your tooth to get rid of the cavity and a medical doctor would likely put you on a cholesterol lowering drug to deal with your high cholesterol.
The point is: even though you had absolutely no symptoms…that cavity, that cholesterol is.still having a deleterious impact on your teeth, on your body. If you ignore the cavity…you are a likely candidate for root canal – it is not a question of “if” but “when”. If you ignore the cholesterol warning, you are a likely candidate for a heart attack – we see it over and over again. So – what does this have to do with chiropractic care?
Even though misalignments in the spine usually have no symptoms – it is like the cavity example – ignore it and it will come to affect your health much more than you realize in time to come. The reason misalignments have no symptoms? It is because nerves allow you to feel. If you decrease ability to feel – you will likely feel less or nothing at all. Usually people come into my office when they feel too much – at this point the other end of the spectrum is operating – the nerve is not on a low dim, it is instead on high alert – irritation, pain, inflammation, obvious muscle spasm.
Going back, since the nervous system controls and coordinates physiology and chiropractic is the only health profession that deals with correcting misalignments to the spine and resultant insult to the nervous system and your physiology, chiropractors and the chiropractic field is uniquely positioned to deal with your stress from a “causative” angle. In my office, I use specific technology to locate and correct irritation to the nervous system caused by spinal misalignments. And guess what…I correct the spinal misalignments very safely – not by drilling them out and not by medicating them out. I don’t do any invasive treatments in my office and I usually get fantastic results. My patients love to get “adjusted” as there is an immediate feeling of well being that
re-establishes neurological tone to the body, equipping it with just the arsenal it needs to innately adapt to the stresses of life.
So, next time you feel stressed out…just know that stress is just the effect of what has already been occurring in your mind and body for days, weeks and years of being on neurological overload. If any of this makes sense, please do yourself a favor and check into chiropractic care to address your stress. When you get adjusted, your body releases hormones to balance your mind and your body. Most people notice wonderfully positive differences almost immediately with their stress and energy levels and also very impressively with better sleep, memory, concentration, quality of life. Your life will change and you will feel like a million! Oh and something else important to note: chiropractic has been around since 1895 – I think that shows staying power! It is interesting to me that other professions are finally picking up on the wisdom of our founders DD and BJ Palmer by noting that neurological tone can impact the status of health. This has been the tenet and philosophy of chiropractic from the beginning. You know what I love – how brilliantly chiropractic was so ahead of its time!
As Albert Einstein once stated: Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
It is Time to Set The Record Straight!
Everyone who comes into my office is complaining about stress. Stress accentuates tension in the body by simply increasing cortisol from the adrenal glands and that, in effect, will increase blood sugar, respiration and muscle tone resulting in increased pain in various parts of the body, headaches, muscle spasms and altered chemistry in the body. This culminates in you feeling on chemical overwhelm and “lousy”. There certainly has been enough literature that supports the brain’s impact on healing and physiology. When we feel alright, in balance, we tend to feel all is well with the world and sometimes even forget about any pains we previously had. Enter the home of Chiropractic Care!
The nervous system controls and coordinates physiology. This is not a point of view or belief system – this is scientific fact. All healthcare providers in their respective universities are taught that. The nervous system completely dominates and affects organ systems which affect our physiology – thyroid hormone, adrenal hormones, male and female hormones to name a few.
When we are under stress, the adaptation to that stress is the nervous system. Stress can be defined as physical (how we sit, sleep, work, previous car accidents, sports injuries), mental (how we think, our mood,) and chemical (food we eat, drink, air we breathe, meds, supplements we take). The goal of the nervous system is to mediate stress so that our physiology is adaptive and not reactive. When it is adaptive, we stay in balance with our health. When it is reactive, we usually, over time, will feel sick or “off” with our energy, healing, health status.
Chiropractic is not just about back and neck pain. It is about your life. Seriously. When spinal bones get out of alignment from daily tasks of sitting, sleeping, working , playing, previous injuries , and they are not addressed…over time this will take a toll and have a negative impact on your health. This is fact.
It is like going to the dentist and finding out you have a cavity. The cavity did not develop the night before the dental exam. It was growing, like cholesterol in your arteries…unnoticed. Most people would not just say “Thanks Doc for the info, I’ll keep that in mind. Have a good day!”. They would schedule a time to immediately take care of it, right? Dentists would drill your tooth to get rid of the cavity and a medical doctor would likely put you on a cholesterol lowering drug to deal with your high cholesterol.
The point is: even though you had absolutely no symptoms…that cavity, that cholesterol is.still having a deleterious impact on your teeth, on your body. If you ignore the cavity…you are a likely candidate for root canal – it is not a question of “if” but “when”. If you ignore the cholesterol warning, you are a likely candidate for a heart attack – we see it over and over again. So – what does this have to do with chiropractic care?
Even though misalignments in the spine usually have no symptoms – it is like the cavity example – ignore it and it will come to affect your health much more than you realize in time to come. The reason misalignments have no symptoms? It is because nerves allow you to feel. If you decrease ability to feel – you will likely feel less or nothing at all. Usually people come into my office when they feel too much – at this point the other end of the spectrum is operating – the nerve is not on a low dim, it is instead on high alert – irritation, pain, inflammation, obvious muscle spasm.
Going back, since the nervous system controls and coordinates physiology and chiropractic is the only health profession that deals with correcting misalignments to the spine and resultant insult to the nervous system and your physiology, chiropractors and the chiropractic field is uniquely positioned to deal with your stress from a “causative” angle. In my office, I use specific technology to locate and correct irritation to the nervous system caused by spinal misalignments. And guess what…I correct the spinal misalignments very safely – not by drilling them out and not by medicating them out. I don’t do any invasive treatments in my office and I usually get fantastic results. My patients love to get “adjusted” as there is an immediate feeling of well being that
re-establishes neurological tone to the body, equipping it with just the arsenal it needs to innately adapt to the stresses of life.
So, next time you feel stressed out…just know that stress is just the effect of what has already been occurring in your mind and body for days, weeks and years of being on neurological overload. If any of this makes sense, please do yourself a favor and check into chiropractic care to address your stress. When you get adjusted, your body releases hormones to balance your mind and your body. Most people notice wonderfully positive differences almost immediately with their stress and energy levels and also very impressively with better sleep, memory, concentration, quality of life. Your life will change and you will feel like a million! Oh and something else important to note: chiropractic has been around since 1895 – I think that shows staying power! It is interesting to me that other professions are finally picking up on the wisdom of our founders DD and BJ Palmer by noting that neurological tone can impact the status of health. This has been the tenet and philosophy of chiropractic from the beginning. You know what I love – how brilliantly chiropractic was so ahead of its time!
As Albert Einstein once stated: Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Irony of Life: March is Brain Injury Awareness Month
The recent death of actress Natasha Richardson sheds light on how what we feel symptomatically has absolutely nothing to do with our true state of health. What appeared to be a minor fall unfortunately cost Ms. Richardson her life.
So many questions emerge as to how events may have unfolded differently. One thing is clear: Don’t waste time with asking a person if they want medical treatment and actually listening to what they tell you. How should they know? They may not be in their right state of mind and this could cost them a permanent disability and even their life.
It is obvious that immediate medical attention like a brain CT Scan would have been indicated and likely averted death or severe brain injury to Ms. Richardson. Even so, according to news reports, there was no medical helicopter available to escort Ms. Richardson to a facility who would even be able to handle a traumatic brain injury case. She needed to actually fly back to New York to be taken care of. Four hours passed and we know what the consequences were now.
The first ambulance that was sent to the ski resort in Mont Tremblant, 80 miles northwest of Montreal where there was a hospital who could handle brain injury, was sent away. I wonder how that could be – what folly that mistake was. Then an ambulance was sent to her hotel after she had symptoms and complained of a headache. Then she was rushed to the hospital. I am actually surprised the ski resort did not have more clues as to how to handle injuries of this sort given that their business is skiing and people can get seriously hurt. It is not as if Canada is a 3rd world country…
Then she was moved to a Montreal hospital. All these hospitals were apparently unable to respond appropriately to Ms. Richardson’s grave condition. Hours are passing at this time. Critical time for the brain to go into massive deterioration without oxygen and surgery to correct the bleed.
This is from the Huffington Post March 21 by Bonnie Fuller:
How can it be possible for a healthy 45 year-old woman to take a spill on a "bunny hill" and end up brain dead within the day?
That's the question that I posed to neurologist Dr. Dexter Sun, who practices at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell in New York City. First of all, rest assured he said: this is a highly unusual case. Normally, a tragedy like this occurs only after a very heavy impact accident, says Dr. Sun.
With that said, Dr. Sun explained that there are three particular possibilities that could account for Natasha Richardson's state:
1. "She may have a fairly rare underlying hematology condition called hypocoagulation, in which she lacks a blood clotting factor," says Dr.Sun. This could be a genetic factor which had gone unnoticed throughout her life until now. When the clotting factor is missing, a minor bleed can become a hemorrhage.
2. It's possible that Natasha could have been taking a blood thinner like coumadine, for another medical condition, that would have made it much more likely for her to bleed after any head injury, according to Dr. Sun.
3. Finally, and most likely, she did have a harder spill than what has been reported. Sometimes when this happens "you can have a high level cervical spine fracture or a fracture at the base of the skull," says Dr.Sun. When this occurs, and the injured person continues to move around as Natasha did -- not realizing that she was seriously hurt -- the spine can touch the brain stem and cause a severe brain injury.
A high impact fall on the head can also cause three different types of bleeding within the brain: 1) an intracranial hemorrhage, which begins as a microscopic rupture of a blood vessel deep within the brain, 2) a subdural hematoma, which is a bleed that occurs in the dura, which is the outer layer of the brain, or 3) an epidural hematoma, which is a hemorrhage, that takes place between the outer skull and the dura.*
As for why Natasha initially seemed perfectly fine after her spill, apparently the hemorrhage can begin in one small spot in the brain and then grow in intensity.
All of these types of bleeding and the cervical spine fracture, result in dramatic swelling of the brain and pressure in the skull, which also pushes down dangerously on the brain stem, which is the center of life, according to Dr. Sun.
Big question: Was there ever a chance to save Natasha Richardson's life? If she hadn't insisted that she was fine and walked back to her room, could prompt medical treatment have made a difference?
Since initially there was no indication that Natasha's life was in danger, it's unlikely that she could have been saved. She would have needed to be rushed into the hospital and into a CT scan in a matter of minutes, according to Dr. Sun.
"If she had gone to the hospital and a CT scan indicated that there was bleeding, her skull would have been opened to relieve pressure, and she would have been given medication to relieve the pressure in her brain," he says.
Only then, would there have been a chance that she could pull through.
Tragic.
*The autopsy confirms that Richardson died from an epidural hematoma.
Would the helmet of saved her life? These are questions we really don’t have answers to. Most people do not wear helmets at all especially on the bunny slopes. Possibly now people will when they engage in activities that could possibly cause brain injury. It is just not something we naturally think about when going on an outdoor outing that is supposed to be fun, refreshing and seemingly safe for the brain.
More information can be found at: www.brainline.org and www.brainrecovery.com
So many questions emerge as to how events may have unfolded differently. One thing is clear: Don’t waste time with asking a person if they want medical treatment and actually listening to what they tell you. How should they know? They may not be in their right state of mind and this could cost them a permanent disability and even their life.
It is obvious that immediate medical attention like a brain CT Scan would have been indicated and likely averted death or severe brain injury to Ms. Richardson. Even so, according to news reports, there was no medical helicopter available to escort Ms. Richardson to a facility who would even be able to handle a traumatic brain injury case. She needed to actually fly back to New York to be taken care of. Four hours passed and we know what the consequences were now.
The first ambulance that was sent to the ski resort in Mont Tremblant, 80 miles northwest of Montreal where there was a hospital who could handle brain injury, was sent away. I wonder how that could be – what folly that mistake was. Then an ambulance was sent to her hotel after she had symptoms and complained of a headache. Then she was rushed to the hospital. I am actually surprised the ski resort did not have more clues as to how to handle injuries of this sort given that their business is skiing and people can get seriously hurt. It is not as if Canada is a 3rd world country…
Then she was moved to a Montreal hospital. All these hospitals were apparently unable to respond appropriately to Ms. Richardson’s grave condition. Hours are passing at this time. Critical time for the brain to go into massive deterioration without oxygen and surgery to correct the bleed.
This is from the Huffington Post March 21 by Bonnie Fuller:
How can it be possible for a healthy 45 year-old woman to take a spill on a "bunny hill" and end up brain dead within the day?
That's the question that I posed to neurologist Dr. Dexter Sun, who practices at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell in New York City. First of all, rest assured he said: this is a highly unusual case. Normally, a tragedy like this occurs only after a very heavy impact accident, says Dr. Sun.
With that said, Dr. Sun explained that there are three particular possibilities that could account for Natasha Richardson's state:
1. "She may have a fairly rare underlying hematology condition called hypocoagulation, in which she lacks a blood clotting factor," says Dr.Sun. This could be a genetic factor which had gone unnoticed throughout her life until now. When the clotting factor is missing, a minor bleed can become a hemorrhage.
2. It's possible that Natasha could have been taking a blood thinner like coumadine, for another medical condition, that would have made it much more likely for her to bleed after any head injury, according to Dr. Sun.
3. Finally, and most likely, she did have a harder spill than what has been reported. Sometimes when this happens "you can have a high level cervical spine fracture or a fracture at the base of the skull," says Dr.Sun. When this occurs, and the injured person continues to move around as Natasha did -- not realizing that she was seriously hurt -- the spine can touch the brain stem and cause a severe brain injury.
A high impact fall on the head can also cause three different types of bleeding within the brain: 1) an intracranial hemorrhage, which begins as a microscopic rupture of a blood vessel deep within the brain, 2) a subdural hematoma, which is a bleed that occurs in the dura, which is the outer layer of the brain, or 3) an epidural hematoma, which is a hemorrhage, that takes place between the outer skull and the dura.*
As for why Natasha initially seemed perfectly fine after her spill, apparently the hemorrhage can begin in one small spot in the brain and then grow in intensity.
All of these types of bleeding and the cervical spine fracture, result in dramatic swelling of the brain and pressure in the skull, which also pushes down dangerously on the brain stem, which is the center of life, according to Dr. Sun.
Big question: Was there ever a chance to save Natasha Richardson's life? If she hadn't insisted that she was fine and walked back to her room, could prompt medical treatment have made a difference?
Since initially there was no indication that Natasha's life was in danger, it's unlikely that she could have been saved. She would have needed to be rushed into the hospital and into a CT scan in a matter of minutes, according to Dr. Sun.
"If she had gone to the hospital and a CT scan indicated that there was bleeding, her skull would have been opened to relieve pressure, and she would have been given medication to relieve the pressure in her brain," he says.
Only then, would there have been a chance that she could pull through.
Tragic.
*The autopsy confirms that Richardson died from an epidural hematoma.
Would the helmet of saved her life? These are questions we really don’t have answers to. Most people do not wear helmets at all especially on the bunny slopes. Possibly now people will when they engage in activities that could possibly cause brain injury. It is just not something we naturally think about when going on an outdoor outing that is supposed to be fun, refreshing and seemingly safe for the brain.
More information can be found at: www.brainline.org and www.brainrecovery.com
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Local Doctor Points to New Findings in Alternative Medicine
Our Cells Respond to Human Touch
(March 1, 2009). A 2-year research study headed by Gloria A. Gronowicz of the Department of Surgery at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, New Jersey, credits certain forms of alternative energy medicine with the successful stimulation and growth of normal human cell cultures.
Energy medicine includes such biofield therapies as Reiki, quikong and Therapeutic Touch (TT), according to Santa Monica, CA-based Dr. Lynn Kerew, D.C., M,P.H. The study focused on TT, which was credited with directly impacting how human cells respond to external stimulation.
Dr. Kerew points to the case report published this year in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. The findings suggest that external stimulation with TT may also be effective in decreasing abnormal cell growth in cancer patients.
In this particular study, three different cell cultures — fibroblasts (derived from neonatal foreskin obtained during circumcision), tendon cells (derived from human hamstring discarded during orthopedic procedures) and bone cells (obtained from healthy bone chips) — were grown and isolated.
All cultures were obtained from different patients. In addition, each of the three cell types that were simultaneously subjected to the various tests all came from different patients.
The cultures were subjected twice a week, over a period of two weeks, to the healing hands of three experienced TT practitioners. During that time, the cultures also underwent sham treatments, or they received no stimulation at all. Each experiment was repeated three times at a minimum.
TT was performed by sweeping hand motions at least 4-10 inches above the plate without ever touching the specimen itself, for a period of 10 minutes, twice a week. “These hand motions direct positive intentions through the hands,” explained Dr. Kerew. Control groups of the cultures underwent sham treatments — random hand motions without any thoughts or intentions — or they received no treatment at all.
All cultures were assessed at the same time. The results were obtained by statistical analysis and were rather surprising: TT resulted in a measurable change in all three cell cultures. Osteoblasts (bone cells) showed a significant increase in cell growth, compared to the untreated cells; a slightly smaller increase was seen in fibroblasts (cultures from neonatal foreskin).
But the largest increase in growth compared to the control group occurred in tenoctytes (cells derived from hamstring tendon).
“We see that human touch has the capacity to affect even cell growth and thereby has a real healing potential,” exclaimed Dr. Kerew. “More studies are needed, but the findings also give hope to many patients who suffer from abnormal cell growth — in particular cancer patients. By and large, energy medicine treatments, in particular TT, promise significant benefits for our bodies.”
Anyone wishing more information may contact Dr. Lynn Kerew, whose office is located at 3435 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite 101, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Office Phone Number: 310-399-0337
Reference:
“Therapeutic Touch Stimulates the Proliferation of Human Cells in Culture” by Gloria A. Gronowicz, Ankur Jhaveri, Libbe W. Clarke, Michael S. Aronow, Theresa H. Smith, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 14, Number 3, 2008.
(March 1, 2009). A 2-year research study headed by Gloria A. Gronowicz of the Department of Surgery at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, New Jersey, credits certain forms of alternative energy medicine with the successful stimulation and growth of normal human cell cultures.
Energy medicine includes such biofield therapies as Reiki, quikong and Therapeutic Touch (TT), according to Santa Monica, CA-based Dr. Lynn Kerew, D.C., M,P.H. The study focused on TT, which was credited with directly impacting how human cells respond to external stimulation.
Dr. Kerew points to the case report published this year in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. The findings suggest that external stimulation with TT may also be effective in decreasing abnormal cell growth in cancer patients.
In this particular study, three different cell cultures — fibroblasts (derived from neonatal foreskin obtained during circumcision), tendon cells (derived from human hamstring discarded during orthopedic procedures) and bone cells (obtained from healthy bone chips) — were grown and isolated.
All cultures were obtained from different patients. In addition, each of the three cell types that were simultaneously subjected to the various tests all came from different patients.
The cultures were subjected twice a week, over a period of two weeks, to the healing hands of three experienced TT practitioners. During that time, the cultures also underwent sham treatments, or they received no stimulation at all. Each experiment was repeated three times at a minimum.
TT was performed by sweeping hand motions at least 4-10 inches above the plate without ever touching the specimen itself, for a period of 10 minutes, twice a week. “These hand motions direct positive intentions through the hands,” explained Dr. Kerew. Control groups of the cultures underwent sham treatments — random hand motions without any thoughts or intentions — or they received no treatment at all.
All cultures were assessed at the same time. The results were obtained by statistical analysis and were rather surprising: TT resulted in a measurable change in all three cell cultures. Osteoblasts (bone cells) showed a significant increase in cell growth, compared to the untreated cells; a slightly smaller increase was seen in fibroblasts (cultures from neonatal foreskin).
But the largest increase in growth compared to the control group occurred in tenoctytes (cells derived from hamstring tendon).
“We see that human touch has the capacity to affect even cell growth and thereby has a real healing potential,” exclaimed Dr. Kerew. “More studies are needed, but the findings also give hope to many patients who suffer from abnormal cell growth — in particular cancer patients. By and large, energy medicine treatments, in particular TT, promise significant benefits for our bodies.”
Anyone wishing more information may contact Dr. Lynn Kerew, whose office is located at 3435 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite 101, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Office Phone Number: 310-399-0337
Reference:
“Therapeutic Touch Stimulates the Proliferation of Human Cells in Culture” by Gloria A. Gronowicz, Ankur Jhaveri, Libbe W. Clarke, Michael S. Aronow, Theresa H. Smith, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 14, Number 3, 2008.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
It's 12:00 - Do You Know Where Your Mind Is?
There’s a funny print cartoon that has a man and woman sitting on the couch staring at a TV screen and the caption below reads, “It’s 12 O’clock, do you know where your mind is?”
As time goes on and we grow up from children to adolescents to adults, for many of us, somewhere along the way life begins to become routine. Day in and day out whether we’re walking, driving, talking, eating, going to the grocery store, or being with our families our minds get kicked onto auto-pilot and continue to develop their habitual ways of thinking, interpreting, expecting, and relating to other people. These habits of the mind can keep us stuck in stress, anxiety, depression, or even addictive behaviors.
Here are a few habits of the mind and a mindfulness practice to help you break out of auto-pilot and gain more control over your life.
Common habits of the mind that are not effective for well-being:
Catastrophizing - If you’re prone to stress and anxiety, you may recognize this habitual mind trap. This is where the mind interprets an event as the worst case scenario. If your heart is beating fast, you may think you’re having a heart attack. If your boss didn’t look at you while walking down the hall, you thinking you’re going to get fired. You get the picture. This style of thinking will support increased stress, anxiety, and even panic.
Discounting the positive and exaggerating the negative - The news is wonderful at supporting us with this one. This is where we habitually reject or minimize any positive feedback and magnify the negative feedback. The glass is always half empty. If you catch yourself saying something positive and then saying “but” followed by a negative, you are practicing this. “I got a 95% on this test, but I didnt’ get a 100%”. Without awareness, this style of thinking will likely land you in a depressed mood.
Blaming - Be careful of this one. We all do it, pointing the finger at someone else for our woes or point the finger at ourselves for others woes. “If my boss wasn’t so hard on me at work, I wouldn’t be so anxious” or “It’s my fault my parents got divorced”. Just check in with yourself after noticing this style of thinking. It doesn’t cultivate any solutions and just makes you feel stuck, anxious, or depressed.
Cultivating the ability to be more present to these mind traps will help you break free from them and shift your attention on more effective ways of interacting with life. If you notice catastrophizing, actually say to yourself “catastrophizing is happening right now”, then bring your attention to your breath for a moment to steady your mind and then ask yourself, “what are some other possible reasons why my heart is racing fast (e.g. , I just ran upstairs, I’m nervous)?
If discounting the positive, come back to the breath, and then switch the “but” to an “and” so at least the positive statement get its equal weight, being more realistic and balanced. If blaming, call it out, say to yourself “blaming is happening”. Remind yourself that blaming simply isn’t effective for anyone and then come back to your breath to steady your mind and bring yourself back to the task you were just doing.
This is not an easy process, yet an important one for regaining control from the ineffective habits we develop in our minds. If we’re not mindful in our daily lives, our minds could just fall into their habitual states to the point we’re on our deathbeds asking “where did it all go?”
Just check in with yourself during the day, look at the clock and say, “It’s X O’clock, do I know where my mind is?” You may catch yourself in some mind traps and if not, just notice whatever you are doing in the moment and then continue if you still want to be doing that or change if you’d rather be doing something else.
Try to be patient through this process and not judge yourself if you find the mind traps arising. Judging yourself as bad or wrong is another mind trap that holds keep you stuck. Breathe in, breathe out, and just redirect your focus.
As always, please comment below on thoughts or questions about this blog. Do you notice when you’re on auto-pilot? What kind of mind traps do you catch in your daily life, what works for you? Writing below helps create a living wisdom that we can all share and benefit from.
Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and conducts a private practice in West Los Angeles. Check out Dr. Goldstein's acclaimed CD's on stress prevention, depression, and addiction -- "They are so relevant, I have marked them as one of my favorites on a handout I give to all new clients" ~ Psychiatrist.
If you're wanting an interactive program to find relief from anxiety and stress, check out Dr. Goldstein's progressive online behavioral change program in Aliveworld. Dr. Goldstein is also available for private psychotherapy.
As time goes on and we grow up from children to adolescents to adults, for many of us, somewhere along the way life begins to become routine. Day in and day out whether we’re walking, driving, talking, eating, going to the grocery store, or being with our families our minds get kicked onto auto-pilot and continue to develop their habitual ways of thinking, interpreting, expecting, and relating to other people. These habits of the mind can keep us stuck in stress, anxiety, depression, or even addictive behaviors.
Here are a few habits of the mind and a mindfulness practice to help you break out of auto-pilot and gain more control over your life.
Common habits of the mind that are not effective for well-being:
Catastrophizing - If you’re prone to stress and anxiety, you may recognize this habitual mind trap. This is where the mind interprets an event as the worst case scenario. If your heart is beating fast, you may think you’re having a heart attack. If your boss didn’t look at you while walking down the hall, you thinking you’re going to get fired. You get the picture. This style of thinking will support increased stress, anxiety, and even panic.
Discounting the positive and exaggerating the negative - The news is wonderful at supporting us with this one. This is where we habitually reject or minimize any positive feedback and magnify the negative feedback. The glass is always half empty. If you catch yourself saying something positive and then saying “but” followed by a negative, you are practicing this. “I got a 95% on this test, but I didnt’ get a 100%”. Without awareness, this style of thinking will likely land you in a depressed mood.
Blaming - Be careful of this one. We all do it, pointing the finger at someone else for our woes or point the finger at ourselves for others woes. “If my boss wasn’t so hard on me at work, I wouldn’t be so anxious” or “It’s my fault my parents got divorced”. Just check in with yourself after noticing this style of thinking. It doesn’t cultivate any solutions and just makes you feel stuck, anxious, or depressed.
Cultivating the ability to be more present to these mind traps will help you break free from them and shift your attention on more effective ways of interacting with life. If you notice catastrophizing, actually say to yourself “catastrophizing is happening right now”, then bring your attention to your breath for a moment to steady your mind and then ask yourself, “what are some other possible reasons why my heart is racing fast (e.g. , I just ran upstairs, I’m nervous)?
If discounting the positive, come back to the breath, and then switch the “but” to an “and” so at least the positive statement get its equal weight, being more realistic and balanced. If blaming, call it out, say to yourself “blaming is happening”. Remind yourself that blaming simply isn’t effective for anyone and then come back to your breath to steady your mind and bring yourself back to the task you were just doing.
This is not an easy process, yet an important one for regaining control from the ineffective habits we develop in our minds. If we’re not mindful in our daily lives, our minds could just fall into their habitual states to the point we’re on our deathbeds asking “where did it all go?”
Just check in with yourself during the day, look at the clock and say, “It’s X O’clock, do I know where my mind is?” You may catch yourself in some mind traps and if not, just notice whatever you are doing in the moment and then continue if you still want to be doing that or change if you’d rather be doing something else.
Try to be patient through this process and not judge yourself if you find the mind traps arising. Judging yourself as bad or wrong is another mind trap that holds keep you stuck. Breathe in, breathe out, and just redirect your focus.
As always, please comment below on thoughts or questions about this blog. Do you notice when you’re on auto-pilot? What kind of mind traps do you catch in your daily life, what works for you? Writing below helps create a living wisdom that we can all share and benefit from.
Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and conducts a private practice in West Los Angeles. Check out Dr. Goldstein's acclaimed CD's on stress prevention, depression, and addiction -- "They are so relevant, I have marked them as one of my favorites on a handout I give to all new clients" ~ Psychiatrist.
If you're wanting an interactive program to find relief from anxiety and stress, check out Dr. Goldstein's progressive online behavioral change program in Aliveworld. Dr. Goldstein is also available for private psychotherapy.
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