How To Eradicate Your Emotional Health Problems Including Insomnia

The stresses and strains of everyday life can bring with it a variety of emotional health problems. These can include depression, anxiety, insomnia, irritability and panic attacks. In this article I write about each of these potential problems and suggest solutions to overcome them.

Depression

I am sure that we all become depressed at different times of our life, I certainly do. It is easy to let things and people get us down. We can start to feel sorry for ourselves and to think that the world is working against us.

The brain has two halves, positive and negative. In these periods of depression the negative side assumes control and it can become very hard to get out of this rut.

I see the positive side of my brain as an apple and the negative side as a pear. If I only ever eat pears, I will not be able to experience the joy of eating apples. In short I have to give the positive side a chance to help me to reach a state of happiness and I need to learn to ignore the negative.

Anxiety and panic attacks

At times people start becoming anxious about their future or even about their present situation. This can in certain cases even lead on to panic attacks.

In my opinion worrying does not help the situation, it only makes things worse. I have to say that I do worry and that the cloud of doom does descend over my life at regular intervals. When this occurs I try very hard to break the cycle and I even talk to the demons in my head. I have a battle of wills with them. I tell them that they will not win and that I will not stress anymore. This is not that simple but is what I try to do.

Insomnia

Having trouble with sleeping at night can happen for a number of reasons, the main one of which is stress. Other causes are snoring, an intake of too much caffeine, a noisy environment or depression.

I have written about stress and depression already, it is also time to cut down on the coffee. A simple suggestion in potentially solving insomnia, is to read a book in bed before attempting to get to sleep. This book should help you to get your mind away from any anxieties you may have, it should relax your body and should also tire your eyes.

Irritability

When people lose sleep or work to hard they can become over tired and this can lead to irritability. This can cause people to have a higher pulse rate, making their muscles feel tight and can leave people also feeling anxious and lethargic.

It is important to therefore ensure that you obtain a good amount of hours sleep per night (at least seven)and that you only work a certain amount of hours per week. Money is important to people, however in my opinion health should be the priority.

Solutions to these emotional health problems

I have come to realise that I need to treat myself from time to time. I have always found it difficult to relax and would often feel stressed and under pressure.

I now use various methods at different times of the year to help me to chill out a bit and to reward my body. These include aromatherapy, using herbal products, attending tai chi lessons and I have even tried Yoga. I must admit I could never get to grips with Yoga, however have heard it can prove to be very beneficial to people who can.

Meditation

My favourite form of relaxation is by meditating. I do this by sitting on a straight back chair and by basically concentrating with my eyes closed. I pay particular notice to my breathing and it has certainly helped me to see things in a much clearer way.

In conclusion there are many ways of reducing emotional health problems and with determination you are able to see your way to a better and brighter future.

Steve Hill

Tags: meditation, stress, sad, happy, panic attack, depression, lethargic

How Meditation Can Change Your Life in 2006

Are you stressed out? Do you worry about your physical health? Your mental health? Your spiritual health? Do you wish you had less stress and anxiety in your life and more peace and harmony?

Well, I felt all of these things a few years ago and I thought I was going to go crazy or die. I was working 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week at a very stressful job. I had a wife and two kids at home who wanted, and deserved, my time and attention. I had a mortgage, two car notes, tuition, medical bills, overdue taxes, and credit card debt coming out of my ears!

I was running nonstop through my days trying to take care of everything and make everybody happy but I never had enough time to take care of myself. In bed at night, my heart would pound from stress and anxiety. I worried about my job, my marriage, the kids, the bills, the house, my heath, and even my sanity.

My health was of particular concern. I felt tired all the time. I was gaining weight. My back was always hurting. Climbing even one flight of stairs left me breathless and dizzy. I felt like I was falling apart physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I was really worried about myself but I didn’t know what to do. I tried the gym, several fad diets, home exercise machines, and even time management programs. I had about the same results with each new thing I tried. They all seemed to help at first, but I just couldn’t stick with any of them for very long. I now realize that they didn’t work because they were all short term fixes to a long term problem. I had to change my life.

I knew I had a lot to learn, but I couldn’t afford to buy a bunch of books and everything at the library seemed to be outdated. So I made a habit of stopping at the local Barns and Noble on the way home from work each day. I read everything I could find on stress, anxiety, health, diet, and self-improvement. I felt like a cheat just sitting there reading the books without buying them but nobody seemed to mind. I usually bought a cup of coffee or tea just to ease my conscience a little.

I read a lot of great books with wonderful insights on improving one’s life. Not surprisingly, one subject came up over and over; meditation. I had tried to meditate several years earlier but had gotten frustrated and quit before really giving it a chance. But, I was desperate and determined to try anything that might help.

One book in particular said, “Start right now!” I was too embarrassed to sit in the book store and meditate, but I didn’t want to waste another moment. So I went out to my car, adjusted the seat into a comfortable position, set my watch alarm for 30 minutes, then closed my eyes and started counting my breaths.

That turned out to be a defining moment in my life. Of course, I didn’t have instant success. Mediation takes practice and can be very difficult at times. But making the decision to incorporate meditation into my everyday life changed everything for me.

I continued to stop at the book store each night for a while and split my time between reading and meditating. Nothing else had changed in my life. I still had a stressful job, my marriage, my kids, my house, and bills but, somehow, I was feeling better—less stressed—even more energetic!

No, it didn’t magically solve all of the woes in my life. But once I started feeling more relaxed and less stressed, I was better able to focus on the other things I needed to do to become mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy.

I soon started a daily meditation practice at home. I also began a reasonable exercise plan that included walking, a light workout, and yoga. These things combined with eating right (most of the time), have literally changed my life. I’m now happier, healthier, and at peace with the world around me.

I hope this story inspires some of you to take that first step and begin incorporating meditation into your own life. This is the perfect time to make the decision. What better New Years resolution than to change your life for the better? There are numerous meditation methods and practices out there and a myriad of resources available to you in book stores and on the web. I’m sure you can find something that works for you.

In fact, I’ve compiled a host of information on mediation, relaxation, yoga, and other related subjects at my website: www.imcalmer.com. I would also be very happy to share my own experience. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at mikes@imcalmer.com if you have any questions or comments.

In peace,

Mike Suzuki

Tags: meditation, meditate, relax, relaxation, stress, anxiety, self-help, new years resolution, health, mental health, self improvement

Effects Of Meditation

Once Western scientists first began studying the personal effects of speculation in the 1970s, they noticed that heart rate, perspiration, and other signs of emphasis decreased as the meditator relaxed. Scientists, like Richard Davidson, PhD (University of Badger State), have besides been considering the long-term of . In 1992, Davidson received an invitation from the 14th Dalai Lama to come to northern Republic of India and sketch the brains of Buddhistic monks, the foremost meditators in the world. Davidson traveled to Bharat with laptop computers, generators, and EEG recording equipment, thus initiating an ongoing work. Now, monks travel to his WI lab wherever they chew over while in a magnetic imaging machine or they watch disturbing visual images as EEGs record their responses to understand how they regulate aroused reactions.

Any activeness--including --will create new pathways and strengthen certain areas of the mind. "This fits into the whole neuroscience literature of expertise," says Stephen Kosslyn, a Harvard neuroscientist, in a New York Times article (14 September 2003), " taxi drivers deliberate for their spatial memory and concert musicians for their sense of pitch. If you do something, anything, even play Ping-Pong, for 20 years, eight hours a Day, there's going to be something in your head that's different from someone WHO didn't do that. It's just got to be." monks pattern three forms of : 1) focused attention on a single object for long time periods 2) cultivating pity by thinking about angercausing situations and transforming the negative emotion into compassionateness and 3) 'open presence,' "a Department of State of being acutely aware of whatever thought, emotion or sensation is present without reacting to it." Knowing the that has on the monks' brains, Davidson decided to realize what effect has on neophytes. He set up a cogitation with 41 employees at a nearby biotech company in Wisconsin River (Psychosomatic Medicine 65: 564-570, 2003). Twenty-five of the participants enlightened 'mindfulness ,' a accent-reducing form that promotes nonjudgmental awareness of the present and is taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

They knowing the praxis during a 7-hr retreat and weekly classes. During that 8-calendar week period, these participants were asked to think over for I 60 minutes each Clarence Day, six days a hebdomad. Brain measurements were taken before instruction, at the remainder of the eight weeks, and four months later. Measurements showed that increased bodily process in the left field frontal region of the nous, "an area linked to reduced anxiety and a positive excited State Department." Also, at the remnant of the 8 weeks, the participants and 16 controls did not ponder received flu shots to test immune responses. researchers took blood samples from them ace month and two months after the injections, they found that the meditators had More antibodies against the flu virus than the non-meditators.

Tags: meditation

Cultivate a Positive Mind-Set Through Meditation

You have the ability to create your own mind-set. Whether your attitude is positive or negative, is up to you. The ability to change your environment, circle of friends, and attitude, is within your control.

Just like a computer absorbs raw data, so does your mind. Within your mind a culture, within itself, has grown. Many people feel like they have no control of their own mind, because this culture has become negative. The negativity is a result of past experiences, being in a negative environment, or being under the influence of unconstructive ideas.

Similar to a computer virus, you have to identify it quickly, to avoid letting it spread within your mind. You can also pass this virus of negative thinking to people around you. As a result you are spreading negative energy around, like “weeds in a field.”

Much like a farmer, you cultivate too. The energy in your mind is the crop, and it is up to you, whether it is weeds or wheat. If you have a farm and let a field take care of itself; you will be lucky to have any kind of a crop, from it.
This is the same with the energy within your mind.

You have to option to pick quality seeds: Information, in the form of books, eBooks, DVD’s, CD’s, lectures, courses, workshops, and seminars. This is learning, for the sake of self-improvement, and it results in a positive mind-set.

However, your work is not finished, because you must still reinforce the lessons, and keep everything in a focused order. This might be compared to fertilizing, watering, and “weeding the mind.” You have to work at it continually or the weeds will grow back. This, my friend, is meditation, and one of the reasons why we meditate, in the first place.

Meditation is controlled focus on an object, thought, or task without judgment.
This process makes it possible to look at all situations objectively. You can find solutions, turn negative situations into positive learning experiences, and create your own positive mindset. As a result of this you will make new friends, reach goals, handle problems easily, and develop an indomitable spirit.

Remember the last time you made an accomplishment. That feeling, and that ability, are within all of us. It is a formula for success, but you have to take action. Action is something that the vast majority of people will never take.
Learn to separate yourself from “the pack,” through education, meditation, and action.

Tags: You have the ability to create your own mind-set. Whether your attitude is positive or negative, is up to you. The ability to change your environment, circle of friends, and attitude, is within your control.

Chakras And Flowers

How do you connect chakras, the energy centres of the body in Eastern tradition, and flowers, pretty, ephemeral, bright, cheerful manifestations of nature?

…by way of color therapy.. yoga energy balancing techniques…meditation… and a simple way of making yourself feel better and reenergized even if you don’t really believe in any of the above.

There are seven main chakras (as well as several others) in a line from the base of the spine to the crown of the head and one more newly recognised chakra just above the head which I believe is important. Each one is associated with various areas of physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. When the energy flow in one becomes blocked it can result in certain symptoms and vice versa. By keeping the chakras open and the energy flowing, we can maximise our body’s ability to keep well and heal itself.

One way of stimulating energy flow is by a simple visualisation. Each chakra has a colour of the spectrum linked to it. Focus on that colour and imagine that colour light pouring into the chakra and saturating it in pure coloured light, then visualise the chakra as a spinning disc of colour. Take 2 or 3 deep breaths as you do so. You can also repeat a mantra or affirmation to intensify the positive energy you are creating. Work through each chakra (see below for summary) in turn from Root to Crown to rebalance your whole energy level.

So what about the flowers? Whatever you use to visualise the colour would work, paint swatches, coloured stones or crystals, an image in your minds eye, but beautiful photographs of flowers saturated in the pure colour of each chakra can bring some extra flower energy into your life as well.

Flowers raise the vibrational energy around them, which is why they have long been associated with celebrations, brought as presents to new mothers, sick people, loved ones. Weddings and funerals are lavish with them. We are rarely aware of the spiritual connection these days, we just know that flowers cheer people up and make them feel glad. So flower photos as visualisation aids make sense and are beautiful to have around. www.aflowergallery.com has a whole section devoted to chakra flower photos.

There are books written about the chakras going into far more detail than there is space for here, as it is a deep and complex subject, with infinite, individual interpretations, but here is a basic, brief summary of the chakras and their associated areas and colours.

1. Root - Red
Situated at the base of the spine.
Emotional grounding and ones roots. The excretory and reproductive systems and the immune system.
Mantra “I am in touch with the earth, my roots”

2. Sacral – Orange
A hands breadth down from the belly button.
Sexuality, creativity, financial issues, honour and ethics, one to one relationships.
Genital and urinary systems, bladder and prostate.
Mantra “I am a creative, sexual being”

3. Solar Plexus – Yellow
Over the solar plexus at the bottom of the rib cage.
Self-esteem, self-confidence and how you see yourself.
Digestive system, worries and fears, the stress of responsibility.
Mantra “I believe in myself”

4. Heart – Green
Over the heart.
Love, forgiveness, unconditional love. Relationships.
Circulatory and immune systems. Heart and lungs. Loneliness.
Mantra “I can give and receive love”

5. Throat – Blue
Centre of the throat
Communication, self-expression and will power.
Thyroid problems, sore throats, addictions(due to lack of will)
Mantra “I speak my truth”

6. Brow - Indigo
Centre of forehead
Intuition, intellect and mind, inner vision.
Brain and nervous system, eye problems.
Mantra “I see clearly”

7. Crown - Violet
Top of head.
Spiritual awakening, search for meaning. Our relationship to our spirit and God.
Central nervous system, overwhelming fatigue.
Mantra “I believe”

8. Soul star – White/crystal
Directly above the crown, about two hand’s breadths from the head
Awareness of ones soul and its connection to the conscious self.
Gives perspective on life and ability to see seemingly random positive or negative events as part of the soul’s journey.
Mantra "I transcend"

This is a personal, simplified interpretation of the chakras. Use it as a stepping stone to finding out more for yourself.

Copyright Kit Heathcock 2005
Tags: chakra, chakra colors, flower picures, chakras

Body and Mind

The following is an excerpt from the book The Shaolin Workout
by Sifu Shi Yan Ming
Published by Rodale; May 2006;$29.95US/$39.95CAN; 1-59486-400-4
Copyright ฉ 2006 Sifu Shi Yan Ming

As I go through my day today, I will remind myself to relax. Stay loose.
Be flexible in my body and mind.

It's most important to stay loose and relaxed in mind and body. To enjoy your life, you must be relaxed. When we were children, our bodies were loose, relaxed, and flexible. We could do splits, flips, jumps, and twists without thinking about it. We were pure mind in babies' bodies.

But you're never too old -- we just get too tense, too stiff. We think too much. One of the most important lessons you can learn doing the Shaolin Workout is how to get back that childlike relaxation and flexibility -- to be at home in your body again. It makes no difference if you are in your twenties, fifties, or eighties. Relax. Never feel old. Tell yourself you're not getting older every year -- you're getting younger!

Sifu explains that there are two kinds of meditation: action meditation and no-action meditation. In the West, we're most familiar with the no-action kind. We can all form images of Buddhist monks sitting with their legs crossed and their eyes closed, still and silent, for hours and hours, as they strive to achieve enlightenment.

The only problem is that too much no-action meditation can be as bad for your joints, your back, your neck, as sitting at a computer all day. This is what Da Mo saw happening to the monks at Shaolin. They spent so much time sitting in meditation that their bodies were as stiff as wooden dolls. He saw that Ba Tuo had not given them the proper tools to adapt Buddhism to Chinese life. Why do we meditate? To cleanse our minds and open our hearts. But if we burden our bodies with tension and pain, our minds and hearts can't be cleansed. Your mind and your heart and your body are inseparable.

Kung fu is action meditation. The goal of kung fu is to relax your body and your mind, to extend your body and your mind, to cleanse your body and your mind. To be relaxed in your body, and relaxed in your life, is how you live fully in the present, experiencing this moment, here and now.

In our modern world, there's another benefit to action meditation. We all have lives, jobs, families. We have wonderful things coming into our lives every day. Who among us has the time to sit and meditate for hours a day, like monks in a monastery? As you'll find out, a half-hour of action meditation can be as liberating, for your body and your mind and your heart, as several hours of no-action meditation.

Kung fu and martial arts represent a refined form of action meditation. But any exercise program can be a form of action meditation -- running, swimming, playing tennis, riding a bike. In the West, we speak of that point in an exercise routine where we "get in the zone," where we "release endorphins," where we achieve "the runner's high." Those are all Western ways of approaching the same concept: action meditation. A relaxed mind in a relaxed body.

As you go through your day today, relax. Stay loose. Be flexible in your body and in your mind. Enjoy your beautiful life every minute of the day.

Reprinted from: The Shaolin Workout: 28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior's Way by Sifu Shi Yan Ming ฉ 2006 Rodale Inc. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098. Available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher by calling (800) 848-4735 or visit their website at www.rodalestore.com.

Author
Sifu Shi Yan Ming, a 34th-generation Shaolin warrior monk, is respected not only in the martial arts world but also in the entertainment world by stars like Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, and the Wu-Tang Clan. His kung fu classes have been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, New York Daily News, and Entertainment Weekly. Brian Gray of Inside Kung Fu magazine has called him a "living treasure of China." He has also appeared on the Discovery Channel, MTV, and CNBC, among other major networks. Sifu Shi Yan Ming lives in New York City.

Tags: Meditation, mind, body, workout, king fu, shaolin, fitness, wellness, Buddhism, health

Binaural Beats - What They Are, How They Work & What They Can Do For You

Binaural bests were first discovered in 1839 by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. However, Dove didn‘t realise the full potential of this technology, he merely observed that it occurred. It was another 134 years before Gerald Oster penned an article called "Auditory Beats in the Brain" which was published in Scientific American in 1973.

It was proposed that a binaural beat occurs in the brain if you apply slightly different frequency sine waves independently but simultaneously to each ear. This beat affect is created by the brain itself and is largely due to the structure of the brain's internal wiring.

These binaural beats are auditory brainstem responses, originating in the superior olivary nucleus of each hemisphere of the brain due to the interaction of the two different impulses.

The frequency of the two tones is between one and 30 Hz. Lets take the example that the difference between the two tones is 10 Hz. This 10 Hz difference is experienced within the superior olivary nuclei as a beat . The brain has a tendency, through the frequency following response, to resonate at the same frequency as the auditory stimuli being presented. In our example this would be 10 Hz, which is that frequency of the Alpha state. If we offer a binaural frequency of 5 Hz, the brain will begin to resonate with that and produce Theta brainwaves. If we present a binaural beat of 3 Hz, Delta brainwaves are detected. Alpha, Theta and Delta brainwaves are connected to altered states of consciousness that can be used to reprogram the subconscious mind, eliminate negative thought schemas and release emotional connection to memories.

In layman’s terms all this means is that you can relax, put on some stereo headphones and let your mind synchronize with the binaural beat frequency to create real measurable changes in your mind and body.

There are immediate benefits of using these beats such as the creation of relaxed states, aided sleep or even energy boosts. However, this is not the limit of binaural beat technology. It is also possible to produce very unusual states of consciousness like lucid dreaming, creativity, out-of-body experiences, and transcendental meditation, to name but a few. However, there are also very real permanent benefits from using binaural beat technology. This technology has been used to create some very dramatic life changes.

The Monroe Institute have over forty years experience changing effects on states of consciousness with the use of binaural beats in their audio sound patterns, called Hemi-Sync. Centerpointe have conducted a lot of research into the use of binaural beats also. They created a program called Holosync which concentrates more on self improvement and achieving a higher level of conscious interaction, by creating desirable emotional, physical and environmental changes through a reduction in your anxiety threshold. They use their technology to reprogram your brain, remove old emotional thinking and negative emotional connection to long buried memories. You can even create your own affirmations later in their course to reprogram your beliefs.

These technologies can be expensive but the overall benefits of there use are immeasurable. However, there are cheap alternatives to both the above mentioned. Binaural beats in audio technology now come in affordable one CD sets. These can be used to instantly create a variety of different states such as sleep, meditation, creativity, lucid dreaming etc. You can also get your hands on software to create your own binaural beats but I believe, when dealing with brain entrainment, this should be left to those with more experience. The technology is fascinating and it works but you really won’t know that until you try it yourself.


Tags: binaural beats, holosync, monroe institute, meditation, altered states, yoga, hypnosis, self improvement, self help, trance, personal development, anxiety, stress