anxiety | Silver Magazine

Mind

Wisdom of the elders

It does not start well, the morning Zoom meditation with the yogi in Rishikesh, along the Ganges River in Northern India. He is late. I almost click off. The he appears. Sometimes video, or audio, but not both. Then the connection settles down. Then it is interrupted multiple times. Then he shines a flashlight on the whiteboard where the mantra is written, phonetically, in block letters. It appears out of the gloom. It turns out to be a good meditation. The sound quality is erratic, but that is standard. Afterwards, the yogi explains how many things went wrong: weak signal, then computer updating, then power lost. Meanwhile, he is coming off a nine-day fast. He is weak. Has a mild fever, in fact. “Everything went wrong,” he said. Then he started to laugh. “So many obstacles,” he said, smiling. Then a pause. “We need challenges,” he said. Meditation is not

David Holt April 27, 2021

Mind

How to curb your anxiety

The feeling of excessive worry, negative thoughts, and fear are all common in people. But too much of these kinds of thoughts could be affecting your well-being. Give your mind a break with these stress-busting tips. Stress is a common, natural response to daily life circumstances. However, when symptoms start reoccurring and get difficult to control, anxiety might be creeping in. Anxiety is a feeling of nervousness, worry or fear about a situation and/or event that can cause many emotional and physical symptoms to occur. However, if it becomes debilitating and interfering with daily life, therein lies the problem. The feeling of panic, excessive worrying, negative thoughts, inability to concentrate, catastrophizing, accelerated heart rate, and lightheadedness are just some of the symptoms that could be hijacking your well-being. It’s an evolutionary response to fear, one that can consume your mind and tackle your body, bringing you on a downward spiral. According to the National

Daniela DeFeo December 14, 2020

Mind

Food Addiction and the Brain

Food addiction can be a normal response to too much stress. Doesn’t matter. There are ways to get your life – and eating habits — back under control. “Betcha can’t eat just one?” Especially if it’s one of your comfort foods – something unhealthy you reach for reflexively when the pressure of life is suddenly too much. Food addiction. It’s that subconscious need to feel good right now, which can only be satisfied by the first bite of something sweet, salty, or savoury that we experience as safety. It’s emotional eating for your mind, where you’re more addicted to the feelings you get from the process of eating than from the food itself. Food addiction is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, there is an organization, The Food Addiction Institute, which is dedicated to the understanding and treatment of the illness. Like drug or alcohol addiction, food addiction can

Jennie Graham December 2, 2020

Longevity

Touch Deprivation: The Why Behind Your Unexplained Sadness

The skin is the largest organ in the body. It has millions of touch receptors that send signals to the brain each time you touch something or somebody or they touch you. This exchange of information, especially when it involves another human, is accompanied by a neurochemical reaction within the body. Unfortunately, there is also a different neurochemical reaction that takes place in the absence of touch. It’s an understatement to say that we like human connection, the truth is that we need it. As much as we need human touch, it’s the one thing we all seem to be lacking. Between the initial stay-at-home orders and now the social distancing, most people are feeling the effects of touch deprivation. Some people have even expressed a sense of jealousy when seeing people touch in movies or on television shows. That’s because touch is so vital to our ability to thrive.

Judy Gaman August 27, 2020

Mind

The importance of self-care

Self-care is an activity that we do to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although it’s a simple concept in theory, it’s something we very often overlook. Here’s how to put you first. In today’s day and age, it’s easy to neglect taking care of ourselves because we’re just so busy all the time. We’ve got a ton of things to juggle—from trying to excel at work, managing our relationships, to handling our kids and pets, and striving to maintain some sort of social media presence. It’s a lot to handle, and usually the first thing to fall off the to-do list is self-care. Most of us grew up believing that the more you sacrifice, the bigger the reward. In fact, for many of us, the idea of taking a break to eat a proper lunch, or exercise, or hang out with friends feels a lot like “slacking,”

Sonia Jhas August 2, 2020

Mind

5 ways to boost your self-confidence

Building self-confidence takes time and effort but when we do it helps us achieve our dreams. It’s no surprise that self-confidence is crucial to succeeding in every sphere of life. People often try unsuccessfully to boost confidence through various psychological methods, not realizing there are simple remedies to build self-worth. Self-doubt is common but not useful. Building self-confidence takes time and effort but when we do it helps us achieve our dreams. A Guide on how to build self confidence Aromatherapy Essential oils have been used for decades to calm the body and the mind. To feel inspired, try using rosemary oil. It makes you feel invigorated and acts as a nourishment for your soul. When you are relaxed and calm, you feel more in control of your emotions and actions. Consequently, your self-confidence gets a leg-up. Aromatherapy is known to take your mind to a place where you could

Erika Long June 18, 2020

Travel

9 tips for expedition travel planning

Anxiety about adventure travel is normal. So start small and plan carefully. Your comfort zone will expand. You will open to a world of possibilities. There’s no doubt we are living in a stressful world: 24-hour news saturates the airwaves with doom and gloom stories from around the world. Social media amplifies even the smallest crisis. It is analyzed, shared and played over and over before your eyes. It’s no wonder people suffer from travel anxiety and have second thoughts when stepping on an airplane. Dave and I started traveling in earnest in 2000. It was a different time indeed. Most of the places we visited were unknown to our friends and family. They may have heard of the names of the countries we visited, but knew nothing about their political situation, religious beliefs or culture. Today, people have formed an opinion of everywhere we go. Unlike years ago, today

Deb Corbeil June 7, 2020

Health

When anti-depressants aren’t enough

Seventeen years ago, Dr. Stuart Eisendrath piloted research into the therapeutic effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on people experiencing clinical depression. Ever since, he has been helping those who struggle with depression dramatically improve their symptoms and quality of life by changing how they relate to their thoughts and feelings. In When Antidepressants Aren’t Enough: Harnessing the Power of Mindfulness to Alleviate Depression (New World Library, October 1, 2019), Dr. Eisendrath outlines an easy-to-implement MBCT program that has been scientifically proven in a U.S. National Institute of Health study to bring relief to chronic sufferers of depression by helping them realize that their thoughts are not their reality. We hope you’ll enjoy this Q and A with him about the book. Q: What is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)? A: MBCT is a blend of some aspects of cognitive behavior therapy with mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation is an ancient Buddhist technique that has been secularized

Alex Hurst January 9, 2020

Health

Finding the root cause of pain

“The closer one is able to get to the root cause and resolve it, the more likely it is to find a cure or significant long-term pain relief,” says Dr. Ko. Like Dietrich Klinghardt, MD, originator of this Four-Component theory in treating chronic disease, he asks the patient, “What was happening at the very beginning of the pain problem?” This often gives clues about the area to focus on. For example, structural causes of low back pain include car accidents, falls, collision sports and traumatic childbirth. These often lead to strained sacroiliac joint ligaments, which Dr. Ko treats with Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injections. Biochemical causes include Celiac disease (gluten sensitivity—only 50% of patients have bowel complaints), hidden infections such as Lyme disease, and exposure to toxins such as pesticides on a farm or golf course, heavy metals and solvents. Psychological problems include post-traumatic stress disorder (a screening question is to

Dr. Marco De Ciantis and Dr. Paolo De Ciantis December 31, 2019