Basic Information Latest News Blog Entries Yoga For Mental Health How Technology is Changing How We Relate The Realm of Giving and Generosity Mindfulness for Busy People Effective Listening in Small Groups Believe It’s Possible 3 Ways to Know If You’re Saying Yes Too Much Words of Wisdom Warm Up This Winter By Embracing Mistakes Helping Yourself Speak Your Truth What is Toxic Shame? What's YOUR Biggest Challenge for the New Year? Navigating Life's Challenges Improving the Quality of Life as We Age The Third Noble Truth – The Noble Truth of the End of Suffering The Second Noble Truth – The Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering Why Are We So Busy? The First Noble Truth – The Noble Truth of Suffering Discovering Your Best Personal-Professional Energy: Reconnecting with Your Spiritual Homeland - Part II Discovering Your Best Personal-Professional Energy: In the Context of Health, Aging & Time - Part I Give Yourself a Break! Get a Better Night's Sleep Changing the Machinery of Upset Why We Lie to Ourselves Too Much Pretending Excuses, Excuses A Mistake Is but an Error: An Ironic-Poetic Odyssey for Human Authenticity and Audacity 9 Clever Ways to Gain Confidence Understanding Human Behavior Emotional Needs - More Subtle and Sensible Than You Think Thought Versus Reality Life Goals and the Perception of Time: Do It Now! The Myth of Emotional Security How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? Being at Peace with the Pain of Others Celebrating Transitions in This Season of Change Thinking and Beliefs What Will You Do With the Rest of Your Life? The Key to Overcoming Procrastination Eight Ways to Take Care of Yourself During a Health Crisis It's Not Only Okay to Reach Out During a Health Crisis - It's Recommended The Machinery of Upset How to Be Mentally Strong Antidote to Busy: 5 Simple Ways to Find Time for You Is the Intention a Goal or Already Realized? Being Proactive About Problem-Solving Natural SPEED: Stress Resiliency Shrink Rap™: Safe Stress Survival Strategies Be Amazed 10 Things You Should Never Give Up For a Relationship Emotion in the Brain Be Mind Full of Good Steps to Self Reliance Expressing Your Intentions Kindness to You is Kindness to Me; Kindness to Me is Kindness to You Using Your "Free" Time to Enrich Your Life Integration of Mind and Brain The Meaning of Life Can You Truly Be Yourself At Work? Grow a Key Inner Strength Five Tips to Make You More Successful Are You a People-Pleaser? Evolutionary Neurobiology of Shame Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine? Whose Decision is It Anyway? What is the Mind? Getting the Respect You Deserve Volunteering in Later Life: Rewarding or Stressful? What Is Mindful Presence? How to Say No to People You Care About Are Your Needs Getting Met? Key Points of Letting Go Discovering Love in the Face of Imminent Death Feel Whole Empathy: Your Most Potent Skill For Building Closer Relationships Would You Let a Crowd Diagnose You? Intention of Harmlessness Weak and Strong The Art of Letting Go Games and Manipulation: The Games People Play U.S. Army's Wounded Warrior Program Aims for Multifaceted Wellness Right Intention What Do Running And Knitting Have in Common? Both Can Make Us Feel Better Developing a “Buddha Brain” Through Gratitude Tickets To Paradise: A Good-Hearted Tale Do Freely Orthorexia Nervosa on the Rise in the Quest to Eat Healthy Wholesome Intentions – The Neurology of Intention Developing An Inner Protector "Hope Dealers" Inspire Youth to Achieve True Wellbeing Learned Optimism Key Points of Awareness It's Far Too Simple: An Adapted Zen Parable Perfectionism's Trap: Matthew McConaughey's Impossible Chase The Secrets of Persuasion Relax Needless Fear Around Others Everyman's Dance Troupe Teaches Lessons about How to Live Well Incessant Drip, Drip, Drip — A Universal Story Your Opinion is the One That Counts! How the Three Pillars of Exercise Benefit Mental Health Core Beliefs and Happiness Do Life Challenges Make Us More Creative? A Meditation on Gratitude Stop "Shoulding" All Over Yourself and Others-Everything in Life is a Choice A Caring, Joyful Heart The Secrets of People That "Get It" How Socrates' Students Chose Themselves Helping Adult Children Affects Well-Being of Older Parents Anticipation Versus Doing 10 Secrets of Successful People Binge TV Watching on the Rise Mind Changing Brain Changing Mind Being Sedentary Changes the Brain (And Not for the Better) Are Workplace Wellness Programs Worth It? The Fun House of Mirrors — Seeing Light in Everyone Why Do We Fail to See Beauty? Thoughts on the Joshua Bell Experiment The Power of Intention Conquering Inertia Water Your Fruit Tree Anxiety Free New Year’s Resolutions One Trick to Break Bad Habits Learning from the Fatal Flaw Freeing the Sculpture From the Stone What Does the Latest Dream Research Tell Us? Not Much Essential Fatty Acids and Mental Health Instant Gratification Cowardice or Choice: From Vice to Voice Raising a Grateful Family A Beautiful Mind — Saying Goodbye to What Cannot Be True Five Ways to Escape the Cycle of Rumination Creating Lasting Happiness in the New Year When Self-Focus Becomes a Hazard Empathy Versus Sympathy: Brene Brown My Cup Overflows: A Zen Tale Adapted Three Favorite Ego Games Enjoy Sobriety How Will You Use Your Gifts? Seeing Through the Ego's Fantasy-Reality Gap Accept Difficulty Worrying Too Much? The Beauty of Saying "No" Can Neurofeedback Help Musical Performance? Handling Blocks to Any Inner Practice—Meditation, Yoga, Gratitude, Mindfulness The Ego's Way of Handling the Now Are You Mentally Strong? 5 Ways to Train a Calmer Mind in 5 Minutes IV Drip Bars: Is This the New Path to Wellness? The Psychological Importance of Gratitude and Gratefulness Late Sociologist Warned About Multitasking's Effect on Wellness Affirming Your True, Authentic Self The Importance of Gratitude and Gladness for a Happy Life Celebrate the Ordinary! Train the Healer Within Turning a Negative Nelly Into a Positive Polly The Benefits of Suffering and the Costs of Well Being: Secondary Gains and Losses Optimism Bias, Ignoring Warning Signs The Evolution of Our Species Reframing: Finding Solutions Through a New Lens How to be More Hopeful Let It Go A Walking, Talking, Breathing Miracle—Y-O-U! A One-In-Several-Billion Shot Let Things Change Questions To Live By Five Ways to See a Problem in a New Light Accept Them as They Are Three Components of a Commitment: A Universal Tool The Long Term Consequences of Being Bullied Be Smarter than Your Smartphone Accept It History Shows that Exercise Boosts Mood Make a Difference Grow Inner Strengths Meaning Depends Upon Context, Egos Make Up All the Meanings & the Context of All That's Real is Being Aware of Awareness Itself Possible Direct Control - Staying on the Playing Field Must You Win an Argument and Lose a Friend? Enjoy Four Kinds of Peace Live Longer By Believing You Will What Do You "Have To" Do in Life? Posture and How it Changes Your Feelings The Five Businesses and an Inner Meter on Manipulation What You Look for Is What You Get: Learn 5 Ways To Change Your Looking Offending Rules, Bending Rules and Upending Rulers While Defending the Rule of Life Free Yourself from Self Sabotage Introversion Gaining the Respect It Deserves Embrace Your Introverted Self To Escape the Box, Embrace Paradox A Better Way to Get Healthy Habits to Stick Taming Our Inner Dialogue Seeing Three Domains - Illusory, Empirical World, and Absolute The Pros and the Cons of Cosmetic Surgery from a Psychologist's Viewpoint How to Cultivate Gratitude Motivation: What to do When You Don't Feel It When Nostalgia is a Good Thing Being Presence Itself - Enliven the Quality of Your Life Relationships and the Meaning of Courage The Power of Witnessing: How Would a Fish Know It is in Water? The Visionary Emperor Encounter Seeing Through the Unreal, Reveals Purely What is Real Get Out of the War 10 Ways to Stick to an Exercise Program Dealing with Liars Want to Change Careers? You're Not Alone Who is Unhappy? What is Natural Happiness? Drop the Load Sleeping, Eating & Gaming, Oh My: The Blood Sugar-Blood Pressure-Out for Blood Triangle How to Create Great Personal Goals Choice - Level III: The "Will" without a Willful Doer Chooses You Can Always Begin Again What Makes People Happy? Essential Steps to Self-Forgiveness and Overcoming Guilt Choice - Level II: Developing a Workable Structure For Choice How Exercise can Change the World: Discovering your Hidden Self The Mozart Effect: Fact or Fiction? Choice - Level I: Seeing Through Obstacles to Living by Choice What Defines a Successful Life? Nurture Happiness Be Generous Feelings Are Authentic and Valid — Perceptions and Beliefs Are Suspect Practice Being Here 24/7 SPEED/Resiliency Shrink Rap™:Safe Stress Survival Strategies The Importance of Feeling Safe Are Good Surprises Ever Harmful? Accept Dependence Your Diet Affects Brain Function, New Study Shows Find Greatness in Yourself Can Stress Make You Fat? How Negative Energy Effects Adults, Teenagers and Children: What We Can Do To Change it Critical Thinking is Not Critical, Just Looking for Truth & Reality: The Heart of Asking Questions That Reveal "What Is" On Becoming More Perceptually Objective, Empathic and Accurate: Or Getting Your Head Out of the Clouds of Negative Assumptions and Premature Judgments Change How You Think and Change Your Life Being an Outstanding Steward of Life Itself — What We Can Learn From Animals The Art of Happiness A Virtual Mindfulness World in the Making Healthy Feeling Processing Are Emotions a Choice? Personal Identity: Meanings over Memories Give Them What They Want How Social Norms Affect Our Decisions The Power of Personal Boundaries Build Self-Trust Have Your Ethics Slipped? Recognize Suffering in Others The Sixteen Laws of Emotions: Recognizing Moods and Emotions to Return to Healthy Feeling Processing Why Time Management is So Yesterday To Stabilize Weight and Improve your Self-Esteem, Research Shows the HAES Approach Is a Winner! “Let’s Just Wait and Watch It” — Let’s NOT! The Mentality of “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It” Can Kill You 3 Days to Prime a Habit Transform Ill Will Hospitals Take Notice of Bedside Manner - Finally Social Isolation May Affect Mortality More Than Simply Feeling Lonely Ego Can Be a Superb Servant and a Tyrannical Master: Recognize Four Functions of Ego Cultivate Good Will How Giving to Others Can Improve Your Mood Come to Center Kids, Cupcakes, and Guns: How Our Cognitive Distortions Suffocate Our Children Protecting Your Brain: New Research Points the Way Sister Jean is a Picture of Wellness at 93 Years “Good Enough” Isn’t Even Close Make Good Bargains The Lure of Facebook Mediterranean Diet May Benefit Your Noggin as Well as Your Heart How Does Exercise Improve Mental Health? It's Complicated Will's Five Dynamic Laws of the Universe The Final Five "N & N" Tools and Techniques for Saying "No" (and Meaning It) - Part III Do You Believe in Miracles? Why Self-Compassion Trumps Self-Esteem Be Kind to Yourself: You Just Might Age Better Taking It Easy Can Actually Boost Your Productivity Social Traps and Beyond: The Situation is Hopeless But Not Serious "N & N" - No & Negotiate - Tools and Techniques for Saying "No": Establishing Priorities, Setting Limits, and Solving Problems - Part II The Greater the Effort, the Sweeter the Reward (and the Harder the Loss) Speak Truly Rewiring a More Balanced Brain Have You Lost Your Sense of Wonder? Integrative Health Care: The Prince of Wales is Right on the Money The Greatest Barrier and Passageway to Effective Communication at Work: “You”! Does Emotion Help or Hurt Your Performance? Why Is It Hard to "Just Say 'No'"?: Ten Barriers to Asserting Your Individuality, Intentionality, and Integrity - Part I Mindfulness Research Makes Us Take a Deep Breath Benefits of Meditation and How to Get Started How Does Your Income Determine Your Well-Being? Own Being Responsible? — Absolutely, Make Others Responsible? — You Must Be Kidding! Facebook and Emotional Well-Being: Three Ways to Keep Things Positive Lived by Love Want A Mental Health Boost? Connect Kids to Mindfulness Do We Need Anxiety? Thoughts for Entering the New Year Reaching Out: Strategies for Addressing Loneliness Dump the Resolution and Adopt an Acronym What I Learned about Engagement, Motivation, and Leadership from a 13-Month Old - Part I Telehealth: A Modern Path to Wellness Want Relief? Spread It Out Don't Quarrel Is Lack of Sleep Hurting Your Health? Attention Restoration Theory: Was Thoreau onto Something? Why Can't I Stick to My New Year's Resolutions? In These Heart Breaking Times, Remember: We Are The Other. Message for 2013: The Beauty of Compassion Wellness Resolutions for the New Year 5 Tips on How to Keep New Years' Resolutions Trust in Love Do You Seek Happiness? Twenty Ways to Promote Peace in Our World Trust the Teacher Within Make a Difference Holiday Blues? 9 Tips to Cope with Holiday Depression Bruce Springsteen in Concert: What Life Lessons Does He Teach Us? Open Your Eyes and Alleviate the Winter Blues One Breath at a Time A Caring Request to Keep Your Feet (and ALL of your toes) on the Ground The Intricate Ties between Depression and Insecurity Lean into Good on First Waking Do You Eat at Café Gratitude or Bitter Bistro? Empathy: It's About Happiness, Too Believe It Or Not: Skeptics Brains Are Different See Deep Wants Life Cannot Be Reduced To Numbers Want to Feel More Peace? Look at Your Expectations The Anatomy of a Poker Face Thanksgiving and Gratitude in Hard Times Embarrassment: Powerful and Puzzling Don't Rain on the Parade How to Make an Anti-Bullying Program a Bad Thing (Do Not Try This at Home) Community Development: An Untapped Resource in Mental Health Treatment Want to Get Tougher in Life? Be Vulnerable. Regret: How You Can Reshape the Past See Good Intentions Shame: The Core of Addiction and Codependency Should Doctors Prescribe Lifestyle Changes? We Don't Need to Wait for Thanksgiving Now and Then, Stress Is a Good Thing Don't Let Waiting Become Regret See Progress Three Errors in Judgment We are All Too Inclined to Make To Caffeinate or Not to Caffeinate? Making Personal Health Decisions Must Remain Personal Purpose, Purpose, Purpose Speak Wisely Be Sure to Taste Your Words Feeling Bad about Being Sad Cultivating Patience in Everyday Life Unexpected Causes of Tiredness See Life from an Infant's Eyes New and Old Friendships Alike Help Us Age Successfully 6 Ways Mindfulness Can Improve Your Daily Life Drop the "Shoulds" If You're Happy and You Know It…Wag Your Tail? How to be Wise About Fear Let It R.A.I.N. Why I Love Rock 'n' Roll: Healing Music for the Soul The Art of Routine Ways We Think That Can Make or Break Us - Part 2 Insisting on Fairness & Justice is a Recipe For Conflict, Misery & Suffering Are You Blind? He Said... Put the "I" in Independence Ways We Think That Can Make or Break Us - Part 1 Find Your Own Way The Brain in Your Gut How Our Brains Adapt to Trust and Betrayal Tech Support to Help Us Count Our Blessings The Risk and Reward of Emotional Agility: How to Know When to Let Go Choose Beginner’s Mind Are Compassion and Pride Mutually Exclusive? Garbage Detection and Brilliance Spotting Can You Predict Your Emotional Future? What You Need to Know About Generation Xhausted Wake Up to Good News What We Can Learn from Our Kids Behold the SuperAgers! Change the Channel Mental Health First Aid: A New Concept Helping Communities Find Connection Bottom-Up or Top-Down? How We Generate Emotions Find Stillness The Thoughts that Hold Us Back - And What to Do About Them "Off With Their Heads!"—Danger! Danger! Guillotiners Ahead! - Identifying and Protecting Yourself From Expediency-Driven Guillotiners 4 Steps to Forgiveness Forgive Enjoy the Little Things An Interview with Margaret Moore, B.S., M.B.A., on Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life Cultivating Everyday Spiritual Experiences Minimize Painful Experiences Conscientiousness and a Happier, Longer Life Training the Self-Care Habit Friends And Marriage Relax, You've Arrived How to Be Emotionally Aware - No Cat Ears Required Happiness, Sandwiches and George Carlin Peeling the Onion—Uncovering Our Wounds in Therapy Hugging is Good Medicine Hold Wants Lightly Self-Advocacy vs. Hypochondria: Where Do We Draw the Line? Trust Yourself and Take Some Baby Steps A Unified Theory of Happiness: Interview with Andrea Polard Psy.D. Why Support is Important for Dealing with Food, Weight + Body Image Issues Let It Go Rule-Bound Adjustment is Deadening - Rule-Flexible Adaptiveness is Enlivening Rest Your Weary Head Inclining Your Mind to Happiness: Just 5 Things The Importance of Family Pets, Grieving the Loss of my Best Friend, Bonnie Exercise: Building the "Can Do" Muscle Our Obsession with "More" When Does Vicarious Trauma (VT) Become a Sign of Codependency? - Part II Generativity as a Path to Wellness Why You Just Can't Stop Texting and Driving Gift Yourself When Does Vicarious Trauma (VT) Become a Sign of Codependency? - Part I Cultivating Resilience before Mental Health Problems Begin A Mindful and Compassionate Approach to Anger in Relationships The Essence of Healing, Governing, Service, Judgment and Contribution Create Peace in Yourself The Protective Effect of Having a Purpose in Life Enjoy Now Are Mental Health Apps the New Generation of Self-Help Books? The Downside of Expectations Is Hating Someone Because They are Different a Mental Illness? Find What's Sacred Thich Nhat Hanh Shares Some Good News Complacency, Apathy and Resignation Be Banished and Transformed Successfully Negotiating the Crisis-Trauma, Grief-Transition Passage: Six Emo-Existential Questions The Benefits of Self-Questioning Part One Clean Air = Clear Thinking (Or How Pollution Undermines Cognitive Health) Having Trouble Exercising? Cultivate a Mindful Habit Avoid the Rush More Evidence That Staying Active is Good for the Brain Spring Cleaning for Your Social Network Lessons Learned from Almost Dying: A Personal Journey Steps Back are Not Setbacks: Finding Solid Ground Can Be Essential Bridging the International Corporate Geo-Cultural Divide or Presenter Beware and Buyer Be Aware Defining Your Own Spiritual Path Being Kind to Your Body is Healing to the Mind To Trust or Mistrust - Part I Find Your North Star Change Your Body, Change Your Mind Being Positional, Non-Positional and Taking a Stand Men are from Earth and so are Women Multidimensional Wellness: Powerful Concept and Practical Tool Cling Less, Love More Follow Your Dreams Start Feeling Joy Now! What Can I Do? The Seven Options Available For You In Any Situation Be Grateful for the Good and Graceful During the Bad In Challenging Times, No More “Inner Child”: Boldly Bring Your Inner Chutzpah Pay Attention Three Components of a Commitment: A Universal Tool When Calmness is a Trigger for Fear and How to Change it Retraining Your Brain Toward Greater Freedom The Grammar of Committed Action: Speaking That Brings Forth Being The Strength and Stamina of Your Willpower Make a Valentine's Resolution An Interview with Gerti Schoen on The Gentle Self The Secret Ingredient to Making Change Stick Be Benevolent When is Compassion Idiotic? Inspiring Power and Partnership: An Interactive and Interdependent Perspective Catch A "Wild Pitch?" You Must Be Kidding! Breaking Bad Habits Using The Now Effect Don't Beat Yourself Up Are Reasons Complete Nonsense? A Three-Minute Course Admit Fault and Move On Positivity in Relationships is Contagious A Simple Life Lesson for Us All: The Late Shirley Levine An Interview with Brenda Knight on The Gratitude Power Workbook Put Yourself on Your Priority List Can You Live Without the Internet? It's Shocking How Little People Settle For, How Much They Put Up With and How Much Better They Deserve 5 Tips on How to Keep New Years' Resolutions Elisha Goldstein’s Top 10 2011 Mental Help Posts Be the Body A Tip for Happiness: Turn Routine into Wonder Holiday Blues and Depression Single and Alone for the Holidays? 6 Strategies for Surviving and Even Thriving the Holidays Alone Withdraw Attention, Interest and Feeding Unhappy Thoughts,and Natural Happiness Arises and Blossoms Back to Basics Knowledge is an Obstacle to Knowledge Enjoy Every Last Sandwich The Impact of Exercise on Your Mental Health See the Good in Others This Thanksgiving Try the Mindful Gratitude Practice Want a Healthier Life? The Mindful Diet Start Now: 3 Steps to Success in the New Year This Holiday Give Yourself and Your Partner the Gift of your Presence Be Friendly Pattern Recognition: A Key to Success in Doing Anything Well Who is the One with Mental Illness? Know You're a Good Person John's Story: A Critical Reminder to Us All Step into the Clouds: Relieving Stress The Mindful Freudian Slip The Renew Your Life Challenge Do You Ever Recover from Emotional Pain? The Answer is Yes The Architecture of All Change Processes See Beings, Not Bodies Drop Tart Tone The Top Seven Sources of Stress and Their Remedies Lower the Pressure Receive Generosity Basics of Living: Breathing, Standing, Walking and Sitting: Safeguards of Well Being and Listening Within An Acronym that Guides us to Mental Health Balancing Joining and Separation Keeping It Real — Do You Get It? You Can Feel Safer: Is There Really a Tiger in Those Bushes? Your Primary Spiritual Relationship - Love for Yourself An Interview with Lama Tsering Everest 21 Ways To Turn Ill Will to Good Will GROKKED: Being Seen, Heard and Known For Who You Are A Phrase to Save Your Day How Did Humans Become Empathetic? Am I Normal? Dreams: More Than Fantasies and Wishes The Wolf of Hate 7 Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Posts You Might Find Interesting Self-Responsibility/Self-Accountability Qualifies You as an Adult Taking in The Good Acknowledgment Transcends Pride and Humility Altruism: The Power of Social Media Healthy Friendship Can you Improve Life Satisfaction by Changing Your Focus? Video Blog: Confidence 3 Steps to Say Goodbye to Old Beliefs that Keep You Stuck The Brain in a Bucket Developing An Inner Meter on Manipulation — A Critical Life Skill Facebook: A Cold Hard Look Life: Bringing Back the Missing Puzzle Pieces Why Do Smart and Successful People Do Dumb and Self-Sabotaging Things? What's Your 500 Year Plan for Humanity's Mental Health? My Beef with the "Secret" Beliefs, Roles and Stories Can Be Useful At Times or Create Suffering: Recognition, Disillusionment, Disidentification & Surrender is Freedom Itself Want to Make Change? Listen Beliefs Are Not to Be Believed 6 Keys of Assertive Communication Straight Feeling Talk: "I Anger Myself", "I Delight Myself"—It's All An Inside Job What is the Gift You're Meant to Give? A Question to Balance Your Brain Becoming Happier: A Will and a Way Are Meditators Better Decision Makers? Is Lady Gaga Destroying America or Is She Holding up a Mirror for us to Reflect? Safety to Express Feelings: The IPA Spring Retreat Monitor Your Thoughts and Improve Your Mood The Power of "I Can" Getting Unstuck: Changing How We See Difficulty 3 Steps to Jumpstart Happiness Today Ten Tips to Improve Happiness Awash in Harm, Do No More Harm: The First Law of All Health, Healing, Wellness and Well Being Can We Really Trust Our Intuition? Treating Depression with Medication: A Philosophical Approach What an Apparent Poor Sense of Direction Revealed about the Mind Withdraw Attention, Interest and Feeding Unhappy Thoughts, and Natural Happiness Arises and Blossoms What the Future Holds (From the Perspective of Two 30-Year-Olds) Three Components of a Commitment: What Qualifies as a Commitment and a Committed Person Take My Advice, I'm Not Using It Twisted Upside-Down Communication Survival Tips for Singles During the Valentine’s Season Another View of Forgiveness Lessons From the Other Side of 80 We All Need to Take This More Seriously Obstacles and Obscurations The Benefits of Routine Needless: You Can Have Almost Anything You Want(So Long As You Don't Need It!) Mindfulness in Daily Life The Junction of Political Awareness and Mental Health Why We Fear Success and What to Do Excellent Self-Programming with the Unconscious The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind: Part Four: Precious Human Birth The New Year: Recognize, Release, Refocus Recharging Yourself Through Relationships and Giving to Others A Fresh New Year Upon Which to Embrace Change Recognizing and Working Well with the Unconscious The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind: Part Three: Karma The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind: Part Two: Suffering The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind: Part One - Impermanence 5 Steps to Connecting to the Good in Life Strategies to Communicate and Maintain Relationships Mindfulness, Intuition and the Brain A Vacation is Good For the Soul...and for the Relationship The Art of Pacing - Live Long and Prosper Depressed? Consider this Strategy Today Prime Your Mind for Good Did You Know? Some Surprising Data about Stress Can Increased Light Make You Fat? Your Mind: A Blessing and a Curse An Expert Interview with Darrin Zeer on Managing Work Stress Lessons Learned: Like Bridges Burned? Can How you Eat Change What you Eat and What you Weigh? 9 Ways Mindfulness Can Change Your Life How Lucky Are You? Musical Inspiration to Open to the Possibilities of Life 10 Ways To Finish The Race With The Bear On Your Back! "So What's the Point?" Help with Finding the Answers... New Research: Mindfulness and Adolescent Boys Change Your Mind, Your Brain and Your Life! A Bit of Humor that Can Change Your Day 3 Steps to Turn Negative Self Talk into Emotional Healing How a Flexible Body Makes a Flexible Mind The "Fallen" Realities of Human Nature 5 Ways to Renew Your Life Today The Great Illusion of Good and Bad Feelings 1-Minute Generosity: Helping Thousands in Need The Most Important Way to Start Your Day What is Docosahexaenoic acid and Why You Need to Know Thx: A 1 Minute Exercise Opening to the Space in Your Life: A Needed Reflection Saturday: The 12 Hour Unplug Challenge New Research: 5 Minutes Outside Can Boost Your Self-Esteem and Mood Psychedelics Good for Your Mental Health? 3 Questions to Consider on this Earth Day What You Need to Know about the Dangers of Meditating for Relaxation Four Steps to Bring On Happiness Who Killed Happiness and How to Get it Back! Resiliency: Rewiring the Brain from Self Harm to Kindness A Practice to Get Clear on Living the Life You Want Fighting Stigma: Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Wellness for Law Enforcement Personnel The Dangers of Compassion Texting While Driving: Breaking the Habit Feeling Depressed? 3 Steps to Happiness Hope: Our Greatest Antidepressant 5 Factors of Resilience to Engage Today! Be Happy Right Now! What About the Good News? The Psychology of Twitter, Mindfulness and Your Mental Health Meaning in Life: What Golf Balls Can Teach Us Peace in Oneself, Peace in the World Wake Up to What Makes You Happy! Want Mental Health? Lessons from a King Eco-Altruism and Your Mental Health Can Blogs Really Help? A Fundamental Attitude to Rediscover for Your Mental Health One Strategy to be More Successful Day to Day 1 Strategy for Everyday Mental Help Train Your Mind to Tame Your Stress This is it! Letting Go of Daily Struggle Is Web 2.0 a Source of Happiness or Addiction? A Sleep Deprived Nation: Three Steps to Getting Back on Track In Pursuit of the Happy Life: Three Tips Compassion: The Missing Link The Missing Link to Mental Health: Your Body Relationship problems? Consider this... How trying to avoid your fear, anxiety, and panic keeps it knocking on your door Help your brain help you live the good life: Neuroplasticity and your strengths Breaking down Martin Luther King's psychology of faith and how it can help you today... Your morning coffee or tea linked to happiness? Turn 2009 into the year for you! A tip from Albert Einstein and Quantum Physics on relationships and well-being Lending a hand in the new year can keep addictive relapse at bay What are you capable of? Abu Ghraib and your mental health Is Happiness Contagious? Here is one way you can catch it I dare you: Using gratitude to support your mental health Is the economy ruining your holiday season? 5 steps to a better holiday Does a green life mean a mentally healthy life? Breaking down Barack Obama’s Psychology of Hope and how it may help you in trying times… How avoiding your pain sinks you deeper into anxiety and depression…without you knowing it How you can be in the flow of life more often and increase your happiness How might Google keep your brain on its toes? What does an Iraqi war veteran have to teach you about stress? The mental help of a smile, what's in it for you? Why we don’t exercise and the how to cultivate self control Too smart for our own good? How we perpetuate stress and how to change! Forgive for 'You'; 5 ways to get started today! What do Barack Obama and Sarah Palin have to do with your mental health? Our Fast Paced Lives How to better motivate weight loss Exercise promotes happiness and can have an antidepressant effect Videos Links Book Reviews 10 Minute Solution: Butt Lift 10 Minute Solution: High Intensity Interval Training 101 Ways to Meditate 29 Gifts 3-In-1 Total Body Fitness with Desi Bartlett 30 Minute Ab & Butt Blaster 5 Day Fit Yoga 5 Mega Miles with Toning Band 7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups 8 Keys to Body Brain Balance 8 Keys to Practicing Mindfulness A Journey Into Yin Yoga A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being A.M. 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Freeing the Sculpture From the Stone Will Joel Friedman, Ph.D. Updated: Jan 20th 2014 I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.
The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we hit it. —Michelangelo
After more study and numerous sketches, Michelangelo began his creative journey, chipping away all that was not David, freeing David from the marble slab. When everything finally had been chipped away, only David remained.
See the unreal as unreal and discard it. It is the discarding the false which opens the way to the true... —Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That
As the essence of David was freed from inside a block of marble, so letting the ego fall out of the way reveals True Nature. Advaita Vedanta, a branch of Hinduism, calls the process of removing unawareness in order to unveil True Nature to be one of negation and renunciation, or "neti-neti" ("not this, not this"). The true meaning of "nirvana" is extinct cessation, that is, the cessation of everything that is unreal, lacking Truth. It is this process of removing and letting go all that is unreal that unveils what remains-the real.
Not knowing what anything is in Truth, one recognizes what is not who one is, allowing for its continuing release and surrender. Symbolically, freeing Michelangelo's David frees Life to live. Through this lifelong process, what remains-"iti iti" ("this, this")-is real and true. To name this realization would only turn it into yet another projection. Therefore, one returns to Silence-timeless, causeless and formless I AM.
Advaita Hindu mystic Ramana Maharshi offers this analogy for how the Self is covered over by ignorance: "Consider observing a room full of junk. If you want some space, you cannot bring it in from the outside. What is necessary is to get rid of the junk and the space will simply be revealed since it was there all the time." Empty out a filled-to-the-rafters garage, and all you will notice is space. Even when all the junk was in the garage, the space was always there! Even as space is easily seeable once the "stuff" is removed, so the timeless is revealed once all that fills time is released, just as the needless is unveiled once all needs are recognized as illusions. People speak of the space in the room, building and Earth, while overlooking that actually the room, building and Earth are all in space all the time. The Self ever remains.
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Having had a vision of a mammoth statue of the Biblical David, Renaissance artist Michelangelo went from quarry to quarry looking for a slab of the finest alabaster Carrara marble he envisioned to hold David within it. After many visits to the best quarries and much reflective "seeing," Michelangelo finally spotted his David inside a huge slab of stone and arranged to have it transported to the studio.
