Increasing joy in response to stress

Build in Joy

Time to build in more joy Anxiety, stress, loneliness, grief, and a welter of other emotions are becoming familiar to many of us during this pandemic.  Lockdowns and quarantines, being unable to visit or hug loved ones, worrying about employment, children’s schooling, and how to pay the bills – it’s no wonder it’s getting us down! The idea of increasing …

Resilience

How to develop resilience to face difficult times Resilience is a process that people can learn and activate to help recover from personal or community disaster, trauma or loss.  While it has sometimes been described as a trait that some people have and others don’t, it is better understood as a skill, or series of skills, that we can all …

Crime and Children – Nancy

How do we teach children to be confident, compassionate and resilient?  How do we keep our kids safe without scaring them too much?  In the past generation, the USA has developed a real obsession with protecting our children from violent crime.  Many of us are old enough to remember the first appearances of pictures of missing children on milk cartons.  …

Body Mindfulness and Peak Performance

If mindfulness training works to achieve peak performance in Navy SEALs and top athletes perhaps it’s not such a New Age idea. In fact what distinguishes people who are resilient in the face of physical challenges may be a natural capacity for the kind of self-awareness that mindfulness teaches. A New York Times article called my attention to fascinating research …

Befriending Stress

A colleague recommended this fantastic TED talk by Kelly McGonigal on the cardiovascular and social benefits of befriending stress (and potentially other negative emotions) as opposed to fearing these types of feelings. Kelly offers a fascinating perspective on oxytocin as a stress hormone that serves as a mechanism for resilience, helping people connect with others in times of challenge. Kelly …

Stress, Resilience and the Neurobiology of Depression

Dr. Eric Nestler, M.D. believes that when it comes to treating depression, we should be doing better.  Less than half of those with depression get better after receiving maximum treatment. Dr. Nestler describes depression as a broad syndrome hat involves many different diseases. Because the specific causes of depression cannot be identified, this disorder is difficult to treat. In order …