Wellness
-
Posted: September 29, 2015
We got this question from a man asking about guided imagery for healthy boundaries and BR replied that she inadvertently already answered that question the previous week when dealing with a query about guided imagery to help with codependency issues, because they are different faces to the same coin. See below:
Question:
Do you have any guided imagery for healthy boundaries?
Jason K.
-
Posted: March 06, 2015
Check out this fabulous video depicting the true nature of the motion of our solar system as we hurtle through space. These computer graphics and the powerful music scoring this helical universe are simply awe-inspiring. I'll bet you get completely hooked and won't be able to stop watching it after just one viewing. But that's okay. If you read this week's update (link), you know that experiences of wonder reduce inflammation in the body! Check it out.
Little did I know at the time that by doing this, I was lowering my levels of inflammatory cytokines!
-
Posted: January 30, 2015
Not surprisingly, I found this story on the Facebook page of Margaret Dubay Mikus, poet, physician, photographer and artist. How do you like that smile? Allow me to introduce 77 year old Willie Murphy. She weighs 105 pounds....
The Mighty Murphy first began lifting weights four years ago, starting with five pound dumbbells. Today, this grandmother from Rochester, New York can deadlift 215 pounds and she was recently named the 2014 Lifter of the Year by the World Natural Powerlifting Federation.
Murphy, who can easily do one-handed push-ups and pull-ups, also took home titles at the WNPF World Championships for deadlift, power curl, and bench press -- and she weighs only 105 pounds.
-
Posted: December 02, 2014
Belleruth,
I was recently at a professional conference (I am a clinical psychologist, male, 34 years old) where I sat through several presentations. A couple were adequate and far too many were a dull rehash of things I already knew.
As is often the case, I came away thinking that I didn't learn anything and I could have done a much better job than most of the "experts" I had to listen to.
I am frustrated because I don't know how to get myself to the point where I'm not in the audience but at the podium. How do I go about getting there? You seem to have managed to do this, so I want to know how you did it. I'm hoping for an honest answer.
Tim K.
-
Posted: May 11, 2014
Researchers from UCLA conducted a randomized controlled trial of a web-based, self-guided, multimedia stress management and resilience training program (SMART-OP) with a stressed but healthy sample.
Sixty-six participants were randomized to SMART-OP or an attention control (AC) group that received marketed videos and published material on stress management.
Participants were evaluated on self-report measures and the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Analyses were based on study completers (N = 59).The SMART-OP group reported significantly less stress, more perceived control over stress, and rated SMART-OP as significantly more useful than the attention control arm. In addition, the SMART-OP group showed greater within-task α-amylase recovery at post-assessment.
-
Posted: March 21, 2014
We got this really interesting question from a woman last week, and it’s something we’ve heard before. So we thought this would be a good place to post it. She’s not obsessed with fear of cancer, just wants to know if it might do her some long-term good. Check it out.
Question:
Belleruth,
Would it be a good preventative therapy for me to listen daily to your Meditation for Cancer CD?
Or would I be putting thoughts in my head?
I am not really obsessed at all about it, but at age 60, I would like to heal any start of cancer cells.
My mother had breast cancer, and I've also lost a close friend to cancer, and am close to another who is in remission, so it is on my mind.
Maddy -
Posted: February 10, 2014
This delightful video clip of an adorable toddler discovering rain for the first time has been making its way around the internet. The reasons for its popularity will immediately become obvious. Give yourself a treat and check it out – for the first, second or yes, even the dozenth time.
Kayden + Rain from Nicole Byon on Vimeo.
-
Posted: October 14, 2013
Researchers from the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, UK, took a first step in identifying a cognitive marker for optimism that could provide a modifiable target for innovative interventions to promote optimism, which research has already shown can benefit general well-being and mental and physical health.
They hypothesized that the ability to generate vivid positive mental imagery of the future would be associated with an optimistic disposition.
A community sample of 237 participants completed a survey comprising measures of mental imagery and optimism, along with socio-demographic information. -
Posted: July 01, 2012
I challenge you to watch this video of the Laughing Bodhisattva, hard at work spreading his own version of jocular healing on the subway - and not start laughing (or at least chortling) yourself.
-
Posted: October 15, 2011
Researchers from the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain in Davis, California, investigated the effects of a 3-month intensive meditation retreat on telomerase activity and 2 measures of perceived stress - . (Telomerase activity reverses cell aging and is a predictor of long-term cellular viability. Aging is accelerated by chronic stress)
The two measures of perceived stress were Perceived Control (associated with decreased stress) and Subjective Distress. In addition, the authors investigated whether two qualities developed by meditative practice - increased Mindfulness and Purpose in Life - accounted for retreat-related changes in the two stress-related variables and in telomerase activity.