Details

Published: 02 March 2020

Coronavirus continues to spread around the world and the USA. This spread of the virus is causing people to suffer from anxiety and even panic. Fearing they will be affected by the coronavirus, people are changing their lifestyles, even avoiding social situations. How can we realistically emotionally cope with the coronavirus? Follow the PATH.

Coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization, is part of “a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases … Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.”

The idea of a virus, invisible to the naked eye, which can span the globe, is the subject of many a horror movie. Yet this isn’t a fictional movie, and people are getting ill and dying. Thus, the reality of the coronavirus gives us a reason to be anxious and scared. Our fear response keeps us safe and alive. So however you’re feeling about the coronavirus is healthy for you. 

I’m not a medical professional, so I’m not writing this article on how…

Read more: Coronavirus: How To Emotionally Cope And Reduce Anxiety

Details

Published: 24 February 2020

Pain management, typically utilized for those suffering from chronic pain issues, is popular for those choosing not to use narcotics for pain relief. According to a recent study mindfulness, a practice I speak of often has now been scientifically proven to help those suffering from chronic pain. As I’ve previously shared, I too suffer from chronic pain and so know how well mindfulness works for me, and how well it works for my clients. 

Pain management, when coupled with mindfulness, does not take away the pain, but the focus is on learning how best, healthily, to cope with the pain. Mindfulness does not ignore the miseries of life, it allows us to embrace the pain, recognize the pain, and then deal with the pain. A goal of mindfulness is to more fully understand all aspects of life, the good, bad, or otherwise. 

The definition of mindfulness that I use is the standard definition touted by the scholar Jon Kabat-Zinn: “a means of paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” In this definition, there is no mention of focusing only on the positives in life, but to pay attention to the present moment.…

Read more: Pain Management: How To Use Mindfulness To Find Peace

Details

Published: 05 February 2020

Social connectedness is what I feel is the key to a life of recovery from addiction. Social connectedness is that which holds us, as a society, together in support of each other. We function as a group of individuals in our ability to sense and believe in social connectedness. But what happens when I lose that sense of connectedness? What happens when society chooses not to allow some people to regain their connectedness?

Social connectedness is an issue I've seen during the past 20 years I've witnessed the disease of addiction manifest itself in many people, thousands probably.The textbooks and courses I studied were beneficial in theory. Those with whom I counseled taught me everything about what addiction means to them. They taught me why they're addicted, what makes it so challenging to live a life of recovery, and why is it so difficult to stop doing what they're doing.

Willpower Alone

As I begin this reflection on my understanding of addiction, let's start with a pet peeve of mine. Through the years many people have questioned me "why don't they just stop?" Let's think through this question for a moment. Of the thousands of people that I've dealt with…

Read more: Social Connectedness And Addiction: The Unparalleled Key To Success

Details

Published: 14 January 2020

The greatest threat to world peace, as I see it, is the fear caused by anxiety. My message is consistently about finding one's inner peace. Yet, the greatest threat we have to achieve that inner peace is anxiety and fear. One's anxiety quickly turns to fear, and fear can turn us against ourselves and against one another. Here are my 7 practical tips to reduce the greatest threat to world peace. 

The greatest threat to world peace is more profound than what we hear about in the news. The media will tell us that war, terrorism, poverty, climate change; these are the greatest threat to world peace. While I won't argue the point, what's the common denominator affecting societies and cultures? Anxiety and fear. 

According to the American Psychological Association anxiety is defined as an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. And what tends to cause most of our anxiety? The unknown, a sense of feeling out of control. 

When we don't know what the future may bring, or we feel a lack of control in our life, our anxiety rises. As the tension increases, the feeling of loss of…

Read more: The Greatest Threat To World Peace - What Is It?