No matter how I curate my social feeds, it seems that never a day goes by without seeing "good vibes only" somewhere on my phone, expressed by one or more smiling people. I cringe every time I see that phrase—partly because the statement is obnoxious and partly because I harbor...
Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself If you suspect that 21st-century technology has broken your brain, it will be reassuring to know that attention spans have never been what they used to be. Even the ancient Roman...
Being depressed can make you feel helpless. You're not. Along with therapy and sometimes medication, there's a lot you can do on your own to fight back. Changing your behavior -- your physical activity, lifestyle, and even your way of thinking -- are all natural depression treatments. These tips can...
Every day in this world is a shaky, uncertain, constantly changing landscape — and that causes us to try to get control. We create lists, systems, routines, schedules, comfort foods, comfortable environments we build our whole lives and identities around these comforts and control. We try to control the uncontrollable...
Are you a good enough friend, employee, partner, or parent? Are you thin, attractive, smart, and nice enough? If you have doubts about yourself, you’re not alone. In fact, clinical psychologist Ronald D. Siegel has heard them from many of the clients he’s worked with over nearly 40 years—and grappled...
Feeling the need to be in control is natural. It's something we all inherently want, and we feel best when we know exactly what is going on in all the different areas of our lives. It's important to realize, though, that we can never control everything. Trying to do that...
When we decide to create a new habit — exercise, healthy eating, meditation, writing — we can get excited and optimistic, and have an idea of how it will go perfectly. This is such a hopeful time! Unfortunately, reality has other plans. Our perfect idea of how our new habit...
Deciding to tell the people you love that you're struggling with depression is a big step. Not only is it challenging to find the energy to reach out to people, but there are naturally worries about how the news of your diagnosis will be received. Unfortunately, there are too many...
A majority of parents rarely, if ever, discuss race/ethnicity, gender, class or other categories of social identity with their kids, according to a new, nationally representative survey of more than 6,000 parents conducted by Sesame Workshop and NORC at the University of Chicago. The researchers behind Sesame Street say the...
Yale Medicine providers say virtual care for mental health has many benefits. What once seemed futuristic—receiving health care through a screen—has not only become common place, but preferable for certain medical visits, including mental health. Both adult and pediatric providers say that offering care via telehealth (real-time visits through a...
Conventional wisdom refers to commonly held and widely accepted ideas and beliefs. It can encompass ideas that are generally held by the majority of people as well as long-accepted expert opinions within a field or institution. This type of knowledge can have both benefits and drawbacks. Sometimes these ideas allow...
Keeping our emotions close to our chest can often feel safer, but it isn’t always the healthiest way to move through life. This approach prevents us from discussing our needs (which can turn into a cyclical issue) and prevents us from truly connecting with others. Over the long term, bottling...
We often can spot complainers, when it’s other people — they’re the kind of people who always seem to be complaining, negative, stuck in victimhood. It’s harder to see it when we’re the ones who are complaining so often. And in fact, in my experience most of us are in...
I’ve come to the realization that most of us don’t allow ourselves to feel joy most days. Sure, maybe on some kind of big occasion, we’ll let ourselves run around whooping with joy… but mostly not. Think about you past week: have they been joyful and wondrous? Or routine, full...
At the end of a day of work, there can be a simple practice of wrapping things up and shutting down for the day. But so many of us feel guilty at simply stopping, and this feeling that we should be doing more … it drives some of us to...
One of the most rewarding changes in your life can be finding peace with a morning routine. I’ve made it a habit to wake before most of the world, at about 4:30 a.m., and just enjoy the quiet and solitude. It has made all the difference in the world. I...
Most of us have something on our task list we’re avoiding or a project we’ve been putting off. Think for a moment: what’s the task or project you’ve been avoiding lately? Some possibilities: That report you don’t want to write Your book or blog you’ve been meaning to write The...
Sometimes it can feel like we’re stuck in life, doing the same things we’re unhappy with, over and over again. Maybe you’ve been procrastinating on your meaningful work, or getting stuck in indecision or perfectionism. Maybe you’ve been putting off exercise or meditation, getting your finances in good shape, or...
Underlying much of what we do is an uncertainty, an anxiety, a fear, doubts, dissatisfaction, and ultimately depression. And we react to these anxieties, dissatisfaction and uncertainty in so many unhelpful ways: we seek distraction, we eat unhealthy food, we procrastinate, we get caught in a cycle of anxiety and...
We live in uncertain times. Actually, things have always felt uncertain to the people who live in those times, but these days it might feel even more heightened, with the hyperconnectivity of the internet, social media and constant messaging, comparing ourselves to everyone else, and a very tense, divisive political...
In The Eye Of The Hurricane How to Build Resiliency in Stressful Times? In the wildest of hurricanes, the eye of the storm is strangely calm. After the hurricane washes over land, clear skies and calm winds often follow. I think we can all agree that so far 2020 has...
I was heating my lunch at the microwave shortly after teaching a class on mindfulness. I was hungry, had a million things to do at work and wanted to quickly get on to what was in front of me.
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