Living Is A Messy Business: Emotional and Physical Pain

Science is rapidly proving that the mind, brain, and body are tightly linked. Though emotional and physical pain register in the body similarly, the long-term effects of emotional pain are actually greater than those of physical pain.

World Cup football teams with a higher proportion of players smiling in their official portraits have scored more goals on average in all group phases since 1970.

We feel good when both the rational and emotional parts of our brain interact perfectly and are in balance. Things to do with our feelings and emotions are dealt with by the right side, while the left side handles analytical thinking.

When we decide between alternative courses of action, an immediate consideration is whether our choice will serve us: make us happier, fulfill a desire, increase our comfort, enhance our security or boost our wellbeing.

Miracles happen all the time. You probably know someone who has had a miracle happen to them, or maybe a miracle has happened to you.

Memories of past events play a key role in how our brains model what’s happening in the present and predict what is likely to occur in the future, according to a new study.

Finding a way to engage more fully in our lives and open ourselves to greater love, peace and happiness is a yearning many of us feel. Yet we tend to occupy ourselves with daily distractions and busy-ness, only to watch the days slip by without connection to any meaningful core.

What begins as an exercise that may take three to five minutes can quickly become an automatic habit, easily accomplished in seconds and integrated into your life as unconscious competency.

You can probably acknowledge that in your past, you held a distinctly lesser image of yourself, and have judged yourself, made assumptions about your worth (or lack thereof), or seen yourself through a dark filter of insecurity, cynicism, or pain. You also have experienced repetitive patterns of ...

How will the evolution of humanity’s consciousness be reflected in leadership practice? How will the aims of leadership evolve, and what will leadership look like in the new “global” world?

Before I met my wife I was always rushing; rushing to get to the store, rushing to reach my goals, rushing through life hoping to get there faster.

Words work as a glue, allowing us to group together different experiences under one label.

By the time my patients pick up the phone to make an appointment with me -- or to call any healer, for that matter -- two very important steps have occurred first. First, they have decided that something is awry in their life, something is not as they want it to be; and second, they have decided to do something about it. They are at a gateway...

If we’ve learned anything, it’s that we create less of whatever we fail to reward and more of what we reward. It should therefore come as no surprise that the creative outputs and capacities of our two most neglected centers—heart and spirit—are marginalized in society today.

One of the biggest questions in ageing research is whether there is a ceiling on how long human beings can live.

While healthy eating, regular physical exercise, stress man­agement, and getting enough sleep constitute advice that our grandparents might have provided, we all need the tools to move from knowing to doing, from thought to belief to mas­sive action.

The busy habit is just like any other habit — breaking it takes practice. You may be accustomed to rushing from place to place, saying yes when you really need and want to say no, or being the go-to person all the time, and it’s exhausting! I’m sure you know far too well what that feels like...

When we suppress our originality, we lose touch with the source of our vitality and initiative. One of the unwritten codes I came to believe in was, "If everyone else is doing it, don't." Through the years I have learned that when using this approach many individuals in all walks of life have...

How much is success down to skill or just a lucky break?

Many of our choices have the potential to change how we think about the world. Often the choices taken are for some kind of betterment: to teach us something, to increase understanding or to improve ways of thinking. What happens, though, when a choice...

Writing about positive emotions may help to reduce stress and anxiety, according to our new study, published in the British Journal of Health Psychology.

"You know, girl, after forty-eight years, need I remind you of that old adage -- God never puts more on your plate than you can handle." She sat for a long moment, then looked me straight in the eye and said, "Right now I'm very clear about one thing: I need a smaller plate!"

An emotion is something we attach to an event and it arises as a result of our interpretation of the event. This emotion is not inherent in the event but is always the result of our opinion or interpretation of what’s happening.

Grief is an important emotion. Not an easy one, but it’s how we digest the experience of loss and transform it into something that has depth and meaning. People who have owned and transformed their grief are like heavy boulders that can stand unmoved in the midst of hurricanes, providing shelter and refuge to others.

Transport experts have warned that rising inner city populations and demand for new infrastructure could lead to more collisions, serious injuries, and possibly fatalities involving heavy vehicles, such as trucks.

In the spring semester of the school year, I teach a class called ‘Happiness’. It’s always packed with students because, like most people, they want to learn the secret to feeling fulfilled.

Writer Michael Hobbes says there are too many stereotypes about millennials. So, there are three things that every millennial should know. The first one is that there is no evidence for any of the stereotypes about us.

Habit patterns provide a structure that enables us to easily perform routine things. The danger is we often continue with the habit pattern because we are used to it, even when it is no longer effective and satisfying. The idea of taking a new path is to be awake to our patterns and create new...

Human beings have essentially two modes or mind-sets that we operate or live in, with, of course, some shades of gray in between. We have what you might call a healthy mode, and another, which you can think of as reactive. When we are in our healthiest state of mind, we 'dance' with life. We're...

Most of us are addicted to email. Some estimates say we spend nearly five and a half hours each weekday checking it.

To explain what good luck is and how to create your own, Nick Offerman leans on the wisdom of Tom Waits, Socrates, Tom Jefferson and Nick Offerman.

At some fairly early point in our lives, we solidify our perspective -- the way we look at the world -- into a filter through which all our senses pass. Turning your world upside down by learning to see it from another's point of view rearranges habitual patterns.

Although the healing pro­cess can really occur in three simple steps — find your willingness to see differently, give your willingness to your Inner Therapist, and trust that it is done — I find that I often need more ways to separate myself from the ego because it hangs on so tightly. Or, perhaps, because I hang on to it so tightly.

New research digs into how setbacks affect the pursuit of our goals, such as weight loss.

Problems can be overcome by just thinking about them differently. Often, says Benjamin Hardy, people think problems are going to be far worse than they actually are.

The heart is a key concept in shamanism, a specialized term that refers to one’s deep source of aliveness, spiritual center, soul, or core. The word core itself comes from the French word coeur, meaning “heart.” It is understood to mean our individual, localized expression of the Great Spirit, God, or Universal Consciousness. It is our individual wave moving upon the greater sea of spirit.

Happiness is the current wave. It’s in book names, article titles, Coke ads, McDonald’s Happy Meals, and, you name it. I think happiness is a general word that encompasses the pure physical body sensations of the emotions of joy, love, and peace.

When something is taking place and you don't feel in harmony within yourself, ask yourself one simple question: "Where is this coming from?" Keep repeating the question and take it step by step until you get to the "bottom line" -- a basic belief you hold which is instrumental in creating your reactions (and your reality).

It can seem like there’s never enough time – not enough for sleep and not enough for play, not enough for cooking and not enough for exercise.

Least effort is expended when your actions are motivated by love, because nature is held together by the energy of love. When you seek power and control over other people, you waste energy. But when your actions are motivated by love, there is no waste of energy, your energy multiplies and accumulates.

I interviewed numerous people who have regrettable ink and most admit their decision to get a tattoo was impulsive and not really contemplated. Their experiences with having a bad tattoo included suffering from severe depression and panic attacks. Some people even resort to therapy and antidepressants over a bad tattoo.

A decomposed, mummified body of a man was recently found by forensic cleaners in a Sydney apartment. The apartment’s owner is thought to have suffered from hoarding disorder, and police believe the decomposed body had been there for more than ten years.

Awakenings may hap­pen because of some alarming event like a negative medical diagnosis or the death of someone you love. An awakening may rise out of necessity or it may come as a “sobering” of a drunken ego overwhelmed with guilt. Once awakened, we must prepare ourselves for the jour­ney.

Most people who seek out Buddhism think that practice will enable them to eliminate their pain and provide them with a state of permanent happiness. But the reality is that all that Buddhist practice will do is help us develop the skills to cope with this constant dissatisfaction and not turn our pain into suffering.

When Google promoted a software engineer named Chade-Meng Tan to the role of “Jolly Good Fellow”, his career – and the entire culture of Silicon Valley – took a sharp turn.

Life is a great school, and nature is the ultimate teacher, but without awareness, or free attention, we miss life's teachings. Awareness transforms life experience into wisdom, and confusion into clarity. Awareness is the beginning of all growth.

Do we have the right to believe whatever we want to believe? This supposed right is often claimed as the last resort of the wilfully ignorant, the person who is cornered by evidence and mounting opinion

There is a meme that speaks directly to the hearts and minds of the overly self-conscious. Perhaps you’ve seen it; it goes something like this

Each of us passes through an array of experiences that creates a beautiful but complex weaving of life. Here is how you can find impressions from your past for the purpose of directing your future...

From stories dating back to my childhood, I have memories of the lamb as being the weak one... The one who followed innocently... the one who had to be sheltered... the one who had to be picked up and carried to its nourishment and to its shelter. I recall seeing a lamb at its birth, and its legs were unable to support its weight. The lion on the other hand has...

The bummer about 'shoulds' is that when we are dominated by them, we are also dominated by the fear of being rejected or abandoned in some way, because that's the core emotional fear that activates many of them. These ongoing fears leave many of us drained and exhausted...

Worrying about things we have no control over is counterproductive. It makes you tense -- which, in turn, ruins your judgment. When you are worried, you live in a state of fear. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to be loving, helpful, and kind on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis.

Earlier this year, one of us visited a prominent U.S. medical school to give a lecture on the topic of burnout and how physicians can find more fulfillment in the practice of medicine.

I saw a man wearing a t-shirt that declared, "Baseball is life. All else is details." Like this fellow, each of us chooses something that brings us life, and all else becomes details. I encourage you to stay with what brings you life, and let the details be just that.

When I was a child, I remember my mother using time-outs as punishment. However, even then, I enjoyed going to my room to think about how I was behaving and what I needed to do "to be a good boy". I enjoyed my time-out then, and I still do...

One of the main things that stops people from bringing their dreams to fruition is a lack of confidence. When you are confident, you know you will handle whatever comes up in the best way you can and move on. Regardless of what happens, you will still be whole and complete unto yourself.

If you want change in your life, then you are the one who must do the changing. When you change, then all the other people in your world will change in relation to you. Are you willing to change? All you have to do is change some thoughts and release some beliefs. Sound simple? It is. However, it's not always easy...

Tattoos are something you are going to wear and stare at for a long time. Once you decide to get a tattoo, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the body’s energy zones and how they interlock together as one consciousness.

Each event in our life builds off other events emotionally so that they create our core themes. Every perception, drama, trauma, relationship (both the good and bad ones), fear, belief, success, and failure are rooted in our core themes. They're all just waiting for ...

I understand why people  feel unsettled, confused, and even frightened by what they observe going on in our world today. Everywhere we look we see chaos and change, disruption and destruction. We see suffering and privation; we see inequality and constriction of opportunity. We see a positive future for ourselves only dimly, at best.

The moment we can ask ourselves “Does this thought have anything to do with reality?” “Is this thought true?” we are starting to wake up. This understanding breaks the bondage, which is our total identification with thoughts, and empowers us to wake up from the dream state.

Your brain is a fascinating piece of machinery. It has remarkable capacity for development. Very subtle changes in how the brain develops, or in how it responds, can lead to us experiencing the world in vastly different ways.

There comes a point when you must decide if you want a life that is fear-driven or one founded on love and hope. Establishing this premise is tantamount to bringing your healing to the next level. Remember, each gain will be incremental. You'll catch the negative voices faster; you'll dismiss them more quickly...

Understanding the biology behind consciousness (or self-awareness) is considered by some to be the final frontier of science. And over the last decade, a fledgling community of “consciousness scientists” have gathered some interesting information...

Is self-control something you can acquire, like a new language or a taste for opera? Or is it one of those things you either have or don’t, like fashion sense or a knack for telling a good joke?

Endowing people with social power inflates the socially-toxic component of narcissism called exploitation and entitlement, according to new research.

We may be born surrounded by people and circumstances who will set us gently on our journey -- or we may have more difficult conditions. Those who, on Earth, seem to be our harshest taskmasters, may be very close to us in our soul group.

You might think of courage and honesty as lofty ideals, almost impossible to attain. What happens if, instead, you regard them as everyday virtues that will help you keep your heart open? To keep your heart open, you must be honest about everything, even your simplest experiences.

Using the word consciousness in any discussion can be confusing because it's a word used to mean so many things. As Jung defines it, consciousness is the perception of a relationship between a subject (my ego) and something else that's either outside of me or part of my inner world. Becoming conscious, in the Jungian sense, requires a committed effort to know ourselves, but this effort rewards us with a sense of energy, assurance, and peace.

With all the technology and modern conveniences we enjoy, living should be easier and more prosperous for everyone. Still, for many there is a gradual erosion of the quality of their lives. The energies that have supported the economic and religious systems of the world in the past are evolving and changing.

Margaret Wheatley talks about how, in the midst of chaos, our greatest challenge is to believe in our own goodness; how we are all afraid of change; how, when fear augers in, leaders must demonstrate patience, forgiveness and compassion; how we must approach chaos with humility rather than blame and negation...

Some of the first things that often need to be overcome when seeking to engage a higher degree of balance in one's life are the all-too commonly-held myths and misconceptions about Life Balance and how to achieve it. Here are four of the most prevalent ones in our society...

Today, millions of previously gracious, loving individuals have been enrolled in madness. They, or perhaps we, now hate the President and rage against a rigged system. Self-righteousness doesn’t alter the frequency of our personal energetic broadcasts, be they loving or hateful. We witness the reflection as escalating “terrorism” of various kinds. As within, so without.

The history of this quest for quietness, which I’ve explored by digging through archives, reveals something of a paradox: The more time and money people spend trying to keep unwanted sound out, the more sensitive to it they become.

Problems with our ability to manage or maintain our pursuit of pleasure often lie at the root of many neuropsychiatric disorders such as addiction and depression.

One of the foremost scholars of cultural myths Joseph Campbell (a man with a clear connection to the divine feminine) pointed out that one function of myths is to put one’s way of life in harmony with nature. The myths of our current culture seem to separate us from nature.

Since we originated in the essence of infinite and unconditional love of self, you may be wondering, then, "How did we end up stuck in this experience of life as a struggle?"

Many people are concerned about the whales… Good-hearted people feel helpless, and ask, “is there anything that we can do?” When I asked the whales for their guidance, they gave us three practical things that we can begin to do immediately that will have positive implications not just for them, but for all of us.

The results can often be dramatic when people start to love themselves, give up pretending, and really learn how to relax. Two processes can happen spontaneously even when you are not having professional treatment: catharsis and abreaction. It can be a little alarming, but you will feel better as a result of it.

Stocks have been on a bumpy ride lately as concerns over a trade war prompt investors to rethink their appetite for risk. But what prompts people to take risks in the first place? A desire for wealth? Fear of failure? Personality? Gender? Age? Education? Race?

A question that often arises is "How do we know what is right for us?" How do we find our 'proper' place in life, whether we are talking about employment, living location, vacation spot, etc? It seems that whatever the question, the solution is always the same...

For most people, deciding what to do in life is a pretty tough decision. Maybe that's why so many of us avoid thinking about it. Besides, when we simply react to life as it presents itself, we can make life itself responsible for what happens to us, rather than taking any responsibility ourselves.

A negative condition is anything you perceive as lacking in joyful experience for yourself. Another person may perceive that experience to be joyful and a definitely positive condition. Conditions are relative, for in essence, there is no reality, but simply your perception of it. All is relative.

Following the Heart Path is not complicated. A child can do it. But the resistance from inside your mind and from the world around you creates a lot of static in the signal and can be very difficult to navigate through. These challenges arise at every stage.

It was one of those days when the world was supposed to come to an end. The planets had achieved the crucial alignment, the ancient prophecies were being fulfilled, and psychics confirmed this would be the turning point. Hordes of people were rushing to safety at spiritual power places around the globe...

A French waiter hit the headlines in March 2018 when he contested his dismissal from a Canadian restaurant for his “aggressive tone and nature”.

All work can be meaningful, if you approach it with the right attitude (with love and respect for others). Many people think it is 'beneath' them to perform menial tasks. But all work is valuable, and in order to find meaning in your work, you must first find the lesson.

Research from cognitive psychology shows that people are naturally poor fact-checkers and it is very difficult for us to compare things we read or hear to what we already know about a topic. In what’s been called an era of “fake news,” this reality has important implications for how people consume journalism, social media and other public information.

When it comes to success and failure, the message is loud but overwhelmingly simple: do one and not the other.

Women have long had the self-destructive habit of discounting themselves and their natural abilities. This is a common gremlin, assuming that what comes easily to us is not valuable or unique. It's all part of our training to push others into the limelight and be a support person rather than...

The new World Happiness Report again ranks Denmark among the top three happiest of 155 countries surveyed – a distinction that the country has earned for seven consecutive years.

Believe it or not, your tattoo, and what it represents, is cap­tured in your consciousness. It is immortally etched into your cel­lular memory and will either enhance or lower your vibration, based on the intention and emotions imbued at its creation.

Most of us can access a supportive voice when we speak to small chil­dren or animals. That’s your Inner Nurturer voice! It may feel difficult to access if you haven’t practiced it very often, but it’s there. If you have trouble accessing your own Inner Nurturer voice, you can...

Granny was satisfied with life. Despite adversity, she did not dwell on or run from the disappointments of life; she courageously faced hardship by grieving, accepting, forgiving, and moving on. She made mistakes. But instead of living with regret, she made the effort to make a better choice the next time she faced a similar situation.

A knowledge of basic psychology can be extremely useful in giving us insights into our psyches so that we can learn our true needs. Anne Miller, a friend of mine, was a mother of five children when she started studying psychology on her own. From this she learned that she wanted to become a lawyer, and...

When we look at the various stories we tell ourselves about our lives, certain patterns become apparent, and it may be possible to discern in these patterns two (or possibly more) dominant themes. One might represent the “old story” of one’s life, and the other the “new story.” The first is often associated with various wounds one is born into or has grown into as a member of this culture. The second story represents where one is going, and is consistent with the healing of these wounds.

It seems to me that many of the battles within humanity today arise because most of us have no idea how to differentiate what we believe from what is true. We don’t know how to separate our opinions from bare facts. We have not been consistently encouraged to critically think...

Many people say they cannot enjoy today because of something that happened in the past. By holding on to the past, no matter what it was or how awful it was, we are only hurting ourselves by refusing to live in this moment to the fullest...

Dyslexia affects up to 10% of the population and is widely accepted as a learning difficulty that can cause problems with (among other things) reading, writing and spelling. But it hasn’t always been this way.

Our earliest ancestors had an innate understanding of the Universe and the nature of the Soul. As keen observers of the natural world, they marked the waxing and waning cycles of the sun and moon, the yearly rotation of the seasons, and the birth, death, and rebirth of their crops each year. They saw the sun rise at dawn and disappear on the horizon each night, only to be reborn the next day, repeating the sacred Circle of Life...