How to Stop Letting Anxiety Control Your Reactions
“Physical Self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.” ~ Bessel van der Kolk For years, I thought my anxiety was a character flaw. I thought I could think my way through it. Reason with myself long enough, and I’d finally get to the other side of it. I never did. Every time I thought I had made peace with it, something small would happen, and […]
How Do You Raise Kids to Be Emotionally Mature?
Raising a teen is one of the last chapters in parenting. During these years, it’s easy to prioritize your child’s grades, sports, and other accolades, especially as they inch toward leaving the nest. While achievement is one marker of success, there’s another (often overlooked) skill that shapes your teen’s well-being and development: emotional maturity. According […]
How to Make Better Decisions in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence can summarize research, generate ideas, and analyze enormous amounts of data in seconds. The power of that little “Ask anything” AI prompt box is immense, but can it help us make wiser decisions? Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, author of The Human Edge: Smarter Decisions in the Age of AI, writes: AI has the power […]
For How Long Do You Need to Meditate?
Picture this: 71 adults signed up for a study comparing brief to longer mindfulness practice. Many had never meditated, while others had dabbled years before. Participants were divided at random into three groups: One group got 20 minutes of mindfulness meditation, a second group got five minutes, and the control group relaxed with audiobook excerpts […]
Who Do We Become When We Talk to Chatbots?
Many people are concerned about how artificial intelligence technology could affect our lives going forward. Will it create new jobs or take away people’s livelihoods? Enhance children’s learning or hamper it? Expand people’s views or homogenize our public discourse? Solve the loneliness crisis or make it worse? Sherry Turkle, a sociologist at MIT with an […]
How to Build a Habit by Starting Ridiculously Small
I love the idea of being a runner. In 75 minutes a week, I can reap the benefits of listening to uplifting music, getting out in nature, and getting morning outdoor light, all while exercising my dogs and getting enough cardio to measurably improve my health, happiness, and longevity. And at times in my life, […]
3 Ways Your Brain Adapts After Emotional Abuse
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ~C.S. Lewis I’m not sure why some of us have a tougher journey than others, but I can say I wouldn’t be who I am today if I hadn’t loved a narcissist. Most days now are […]
How to Deal With the Grief of an Aging Body
Body changes can raise disturbing feelings, such as looking in a mirror and seeing a reflection that may feel spiritually empty, unproductive, ugly, or weak. Unpleasant sensations such as pain, pins and needles, soreness coursing through limbs, and an inexplicable fog filling the head are a reminder that this body is not the same you […]
The Truth About My Marriage I Finally Had to Face
“You don’t have to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm.” ~Unknown Tomorrow, a court will grant me a divorce after eleven years of marriage. I’ve spent the last several months rereading a decade of my own life like evidence in a case, trying to understand how I got here. What I found […]
How I’ve Stopped Letting My Unhealed Parents Define My Worth
“Detachment is not about refusing to feel or not caring or turning away from those you love. Detachment is profoundly honest, grounded firmly in the truth of what is.” ~Sharon Salzberg A few months ago, my father informed me that he’d been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Although he seemed optimistic about the treatment, I knew […]