October 16, 2014

Mindfulness and Autism

Over the last few years I have become increasingly aware of autism and it's effects  on the family. Once only a word I heard at conferences it now gained greater importance to me as several of my friends' children were diagnosed with the disorder. They would call me and confide their fears and anger and confusion. We would sit and talk over coffee and they would share what they learned from their doctor or from an article they read or a conference they attended. As they learned, so did I. I was inspired to start researching autism for myself. What I discovered shocked me.  I saw myself and my childhood friends in the behaviors attributed to and found mostly in people on the autistic spectrum. I began to understand that all my friends and I were living somewhere on the spectrum but were never diagnosed. There is a lot more awareness towards autism today and tools for managing the disorder than there were in the 70s and 80s. This is a good thing.

October 13, 2014

Affirmations

If you a fan of Oprah Winfrey, Eckhart Tolle, or Wayne Dyer; or if you a practitioner of the Law of Attraction you have heard of affirmations. But what are affirmations and how do they "work?"

October 6, 2014

Mindfulness and Weight Loss

I stepped on my scale this morning and for the first time in many years I was under 170 pounds. The scale winked 169.5. This is no means my goal weight (that is between 140 to 145 pounds). But I am proud of myself.

October 2, 2014

Clear Visions

I've been thinking about Vision boards a lot lately. I know, I know. I'm late to the party. Vision Boards became marketable with the smash success of The Secret. Even before that the concept was explored with the popularity of the Law of Attraction and Abundance Mindsets. In fact, the 2002 book by Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualizations explored the ways you can use imagination and creativity to manifest the life you want. But why do Vision Boards work? What is the psychological reasons behind the metaphysics and the "woo."