Bringing Mindfulness to Life®

This blog post comes courtesy of Sleepopolis.

by Josh Hurst

Oftentimes, anxiety makes its way into our daily lives. It could be the result of work stress, difficult relationships, a sudden move, or a tragedy. And although this anxiety manifests in different ways, one common result is insomnia.

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, what happens when everyone’s presence is constantly felt? Obviously we love our family members, but the simple fact is, spending most (or all) of your time together at home can leave you all feeling a little crazy. We all need time alone, a chance to let out stress, and the resources to battle cabin fever. Without these options, it’s easy to find ourselves in the red zone.

I took an unbiased look at my own behaviors, especially the ones that I’m not particularly proud of, and they are indeed based on trauma that has come back as a reaction not a memory, as Bessel van der Kolk explains in his work.  It’s so easy to lose our rational voice when we are suffering. 

“I don’t meditate because I’m not good at it.”  I’ve heard this countless times and my reply is always, “the reason I meditate is because I’m not good at it.”

Recently adversity seems to be the name of the game and it takes a lot to survive it.  It's everywhere we look.  Sometimes it's hard to feel the difference between drowning and swimming, but hope can't be lost.

Technology and information have evolved at an incredible rate.  Everything is available to us at all hours of the day and the content never ends.  You could read or watch for millions of years and still not digest it all.  The human brain isn’t wired to handle this extreme overload, especially the fragile brain of a child.  Taking breaks to allow the brain to heal and process our world is essential.