Getting Unstuck

Every so often I start to feel stuck, like I'm just spinning my wheels and making no progress. When I start to feel stuck old patterns reemerge. Negative self talk dominates my inner dialog. And the darkness starts to creep back in. At these times I like to mentally review everything I have done in my life.

Mindfulness and Depression

Depression could very often feel like a trap. It's a deep well that seems to get deeper and darker by the second. Very often medication can help bring about a return to normalcy, but it easy to get reliant on medication.

I was diagnosed with extreme depression in 2006 and started taking meds shortly thereafter. I took a variety of different SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor) for many years. At one time I started to think of the medication as a maintenance medication and resigned myself to the fact I was going to be on these drugs for the rest of my life.

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.

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.

C'mon be Happy

I believe that all life is a choice. Everything we do. Everything we are. Everything we believe and everything we feel is a choice we make. I choose to be happy every day. People may say I'm being Pollyanna or I'm living in a fantasy world. They may say it's impossible to be happy all the time because of all the "bad things" that happen. I am a behaviorist. That means I believe things are neutral. It is our thoughts about things and what we choose to focus on that gives meanings to things.

How to Cultivate an Attitude of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is defined by Psychology Today as "a state of open, active attention on the present." For many people that definition is a bit "woo woo." It may conjure images of incense and candles while they sit crossed legged on the floor chanting "oom." Psychology Today goes on to explain, "when you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience."