Need some inspiration? I loved this presentation!! Give it a try!
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Showing posts with label emotional health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label emotional health. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
A great post written by a girl recovering from an Eating Disorder
Kids in your life? Read this!! Eating disorders aren't always about body size or body image -- sometimes it's about feeling like life is out of control. Here's a great post written by a girl recovering from an Eating Disorder.
“What I wish parents knew about eating disorders…” by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on July 20, 2011
“What I wish parents knew about eating disorders…” by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on July 20, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
"The World is too much with us"....
...poet William Wordsworth complained over two hundred years ago. "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers." Today many women would agree with him. We're chronically exhausted from the "getting"-- the amount of energy spent earning a living and juggling the demands of home and career. And the reality of the recession means we're paying now for the "spending" of yesterday.
But despite all the doom and gloom that constantly assaults our senses, there is a way for us to ransom our lives and reclaim our futures: it consists in turning away from the world to recognize what in life makes us truly happy. For each of us, what that is will be different. But once we obtain this inner knowledge, we will possess the ability to transform our outer world.
"You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself," the pilot and writer Beryl Markham reminds us. We cannot let this continue to occur....
--an excerpt from Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach
It's amazing how the world never really experiences anything new -- it just keep turning. Wordsworth wrote 200+ years ago, Sarah wrote the above in 1995 and here we are again, experiencing many of the same things. The big question is, is it again? Or is it still?
But despite all the doom and gloom that constantly assaults our senses, there is a way for us to ransom our lives and reclaim our futures: it consists in turning away from the world to recognize what in life makes us truly happy. For each of us, what that is will be different. But once we obtain this inner knowledge, we will possess the ability to transform our outer world.
"You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself," the pilot and writer Beryl Markham reminds us. We cannot let this continue to occur....
--an excerpt from Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach
It's amazing how the world never really experiences anything new -- it just keep turning. Wordsworth wrote 200+ years ago, Sarah wrote the above in 1995 and here we are again, experiencing many of the same things. The big question is, is it again? Or is it still?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Great news for our kids!
Young teenagers who play sports are found to be happier with themselves and their worlds! Great news for parents!
Click here to read the article and study results!
Click here to read the article and study results!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Fear of Getting Fat captured on MRI
Here is an interesting observation:
Researchers looking for better diagnostic tools for eating disorders screened women to see who was at risk for body image issues. Once screened, the women were put in an MRI and shown pictures of women of different body size.
The researchers were surprised to see that when a picture of an overweight female stranger was put in front of the test subject, the part of the brain active when body image issues are present lit up --even in women who seemingly had no real body image issues. --Sure, the response was not as large as those with known body image issues -- but it lit up no the less. (and to a much, much greater degree than did the male test subjects under the same conditions).
It just goes to show something we have known for a while -- even the most secure women are susceptible to body image issues -- it's just the culture we live in.
For more information on this study, click here.
Researchers looking for better diagnostic tools for eating disorders screened women to see who was at risk for body image issues. Once screened, the women were put in an MRI and shown pictures of women of different body size.
The researchers were surprised to see that when a picture of an overweight female stranger was put in front of the test subject, the part of the brain active when body image issues are present lit up --even in women who seemingly had no real body image issues. --Sure, the response was not as large as those with known body image issues -- but it lit up no the less. (and to a much, much greater degree than did the male test subjects under the same conditions).
It just goes to show something we have known for a while -- even the most secure women are susceptible to body image issues -- it's just the culture we live in.
For more information on this study, click here.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
An interesting risk factor for Heart Disease
Loneliness.
We are social creatures by nature. When I was a kid, I heard about a study where a baby monkey would rather spend its time on a wire frame covered by a soft blanket than on a bare wire frame with a bottle attached to it. I have heard that some people in nursing homes die from lack of human touch.
In this study, researchers have linked loneliness to higher blood pressure, lower sleep quality, and dementia to name just a few. The really great news though?
The most effective treatment for loneliness is working on how people view themselves and others. It's not all about finding 4000 hobbies that keep you in the presents of people 24/7 (which is good because I could never survive that much socialization!)
It is about learning to recognize the negative thoughts we let float around in our head and then reframe them into something more neutral. This is the same sort of intervension that is sometimes used for people with depression. Loneliness is more about how a person perceives their interactions with others because it downgrades the quality of the interactions they do get.
The mind really does effect the body -- treat the loneliness and the physical body gets healthier.
We are social creatures by nature. When I was a kid, I heard about a study where a baby monkey would rather spend its time on a wire frame covered by a soft blanket than on a bare wire frame with a bottle attached to it. I have heard that some people in nursing homes die from lack of human touch.
In this study, researchers have linked loneliness to higher blood pressure, lower sleep quality, and dementia to name just a few. The really great news though?
The most effective treatment for loneliness is working on how people view themselves and others. It's not all about finding 4000 hobbies that keep you in the presents of people 24/7 (which is good because I could never survive that much socialization!)
It is about learning to recognize the negative thoughts we let float around in our head and then reframe them into something more neutral. This is the same sort of intervension that is sometimes used for people with depression. Loneliness is more about how a person perceives their interactions with others because it downgrades the quality of the interactions they do get.
The mind really does effect the body -- treat the loneliness and the physical body gets healthier.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Burnout
Today at the Eating Coach blog, I talked about burnout (as it relates to chronic dieting). Burnout it a pretty interesting topic because it takes over so much of the person's life and seems, at least sometimes, to be unrelated to objective measures of success (promotions, salary, success in relationships, etc.)
Especially now, as the economy is slow to come back and jobs are still precious, I am running across more people feeling trapped in their current jobs -- unable to move because they fear there is no place to move to.
On top of that, there is a relatively new study that says parental professional burnout is related to their adolescent children becoming burned out in school. The study only cited the connection, it did not suggest a solution for the situation. But I think it is worth the reminder (as a new school year starts) that we do bring our work home with us and if you are burning out, your kids are going to be picking up those feelings and learning those behaviors. Just being aware of the connection might help break that cycle of burnout transference.
Especially now, as the economy is slow to come back and jobs are still precious, I am running across more people feeling trapped in their current jobs -- unable to move because they fear there is no place to move to.
On top of that, there is a relatively new study that says parental professional burnout is related to their adolescent children becoming burned out in school. The study only cited the connection, it did not suggest a solution for the situation. But I think it is worth the reminder (as a new school year starts) that we do bring our work home with us and if you are burning out, your kids are going to be picking up those feelings and learning those behaviors. Just being aware of the connection might help break that cycle of burnout transference.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Useful Emotions
For whatever reason, I haven't really ever given consideration to the idea that emotions are useful -- that I would cultivate one particular emotion because it would assist me in completing a particular task. Sure, I have seen the football player type guy yelling at himself to get himself pumped up for the game (and secretly thought he was stupid) but using emotions as tools??
Here is a study that talks about the usefulness of anger. Interestingly enough, the study authors found that study participants liked music and activities that made them angry if they had to complete a task that was confrontational (in this case, a shoot em' up video game).
On the flip side though, anger was not helpful when completing a task that was non-confrontational (a video game where the participant was a restaurant server trying to deal with her customers).
We have all heard the idea that anger is healthy and I believe that to be true but...it looks like perhaps we should give some consideration to how and when we are using that emotion -- perhaps it is the right tool for the job and perhaps not.
Here is a study that talks about the usefulness of anger. Interestingly enough, the study authors found that study participants liked music and activities that made them angry if they had to complete a task that was confrontational (in this case, a shoot em' up video game).
On the flip side though, anger was not helpful when completing a task that was non-confrontational (a video game where the participant was a restaurant server trying to deal with her customers).
We have all heard the idea that anger is healthy and I believe that to be true but...it looks like perhaps we should give some consideration to how and when we are using that emotion -- perhaps it is the right tool for the job and perhaps not.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Botox and your emotional connection to the world
There's a new study out that suggests that not only will that mom not be able to express her anger, she might not be able to feel it as intensly either. Now...before the curfew breaking teenagers rejoice too much, it's not just anger that would be dulled. The research was looking at the question, do emotions create expression or expression create emotion?
Apparently, it works in both directions -- you smile because you experience something positive but you experience something positive when you smile. And if you can't smile or frown? You will experience less depth of either of those emotions.
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