Can Technology and Mindfulness Get Along?

I started meditating in January. I’ve managed to stick with it daily thanks to the app I use. It teaches a technique for stressful situations called notation. You untangle yourself by answering questions like: Is this a thought or an emotion that I’m experiencing? Can I describe it as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral?

This is how I discovered that technology and mindfulness don't have to exist in separate silos, and I learned I could create an escape hatch as needed.

This technique helped me us technology for a mindful, Clark-Kent-like escape.

Parenting Example Ahead, But Technique Works Generally. Don't Blow Off As a “Just for Moms” Situation.

Grocery and dress shopping with my 5-year-old daughter was hard on the best of days. On the day I'm describing, I had a migraine, and my girl was in one of her tennis ball machines moods that afternoon. She was full of questions and demands, varying her speeds, unpredictable, throwing up lobs every so often. Her temper tantrum had long ago pushed me into a blank zone beyond coping.

I tried to use my Headspace approach: Is this a thought or emotion that you’re experiencing? It wasn't working. I just felt overwhelmed and frustrated.

Suddenly, I was able to look at the situation as if I wasn't stuck in the middle of it.

This hilarious little girl is suddenly a small crazed human. embodying the Buddha's words, "suffering is attachment." She’s a vision of every person who has ever wanted anything.

I took this quick photo of her that was funny and also incredibly, deeply, true. 

I imagined myself trying to explain the Buddha’s teachings to her in the middle of the store. Well, Alice, as the Buddha so wisely noted, the root of all suffering is attachment. Now please hand me the one with the purple puffy sleeves, because it is a size 5/6. HA.

I had made myself laugh.

Laughing = oxygen.

I had started to come back to life in the smallest way.

"It was the same pretty as the one I got, but it had a rose."

She chose one that looked the most like a wedding dress, and we left the store. But we were far from done with our struggles. We still had the car ahead of us, and the tragedy of saying goodbye to the dress she didn’t get. “But you got a dress!” Alice, I’m sure you remember our conversation about the Buddha, right? Cherishing what we spoke about in the 3rd aisle of Ross’s?

The technology + mindfulness escape hatch was happening through the combo of the photos and the voice in my head.

 I could empathize with my girl while feeling the absurdity of our situation. Here I was, stuck inside a horrifically pounding head, trying to find space to calm down. Here she was, trapped inside her suffering. The pain of decision-making! I knew it, too. The scale of her emotions was so tempestuously, Liberace grand, but the nugget was universal.

The hatch really cracked open when I broke out the Voice Memos recorder on my iphone and interviewed her. The interview freed us both. She’s breathing! It helped me breath, too. I started to explore her story from a new angle. We were in it together. The funny bits are best. I’ll remember that for the next time.

Using a mindfulness technique, I learned to:

• Tune in to an awareness around thoughts and feelings as they hit.
• Get some oxygen to my head when I needed it.
• Find my own funny escape hatch using my smartphone's camera and audio recorder
• Create something tangible to share with others, building a bridge off the island.

Give it a try and see if it works to get you out of your next stressful situation. Worst case, you’ll be creating something new. Ideally, you’ll find yourself laughing.

All the tools you need are right on your phone.

Originally published April 9, 2015 on Medium. Transferred to Bevoya.com Sept 2, 2017.

What's Up with Thyroid Problems and Anxiety?

In the past few years, numerous friends have mentioned that they're facing thyroid issues. Invariably, it seems like my sensitive, thoughtful friends are dealing with everything from hypothyroidism to thyroid dysfunction to thyroid cancer. It's made me want to look at the relationship of the thyroid and endocrine system to the nervous system.

Remember high school biology?

•  The fast-moving sympathetic nervous system sends signals to the adrenal glands, which, along with the thyroid are part of the endocrine system. 
• This sympathetic nervous system manages "flight or fight" responses, affecting those of us with anxiety.
• The adrenals release hormones like pregnenolone, adrenaline, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA and cortisol into the bloodsteam. These are for key hormones anxiety sufferers.
• The slower moving parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the body's "rest and digest" functions.
• The thyroid is strongly influenced by the parasympathetic nervous system. 

Though we understand the above as facts, stress's effect on the everyday functioning of the glands is a cause of much confusion and discussion. Let's trace how that played out in my own journey.

Cortisol, the frenemy that's here to stay.

Cortisol is a strong theme in my writings on anxiety. It's a big part of the hormone wave I've been learning to face in my own life. I first learned about cortisol in the months leading up to my Generalized Anxiety Disorder diagnosis by my neurologist. I was seeing a family nurse practitioner at One Medial Group here in San Francisco. After hearing my list of physical symptoms including nausea, headaches, light-headedness, and bloating, she suggested we test my adrenals and cortisol rhythm over the course of a 24-hour period. I spit into a small test tube over and over at pre-defined times. A few weeks later she received the results of my test. This is what they looked like:

This is where we get into debate territory. It starts with how to interpret the results of a test like this. Naturopaths would point to my low levels of cortisol in the morning (when it's supposed to be high) and high cortisol at night (when it's supposed to be waning down) and say that I was showing signs of adrenal "fatigue." Many endocrinologists would say that there is no such thing as adrenal fatigue. "Your adrenals either work or they don't," they say. Julie Deardorff, Chicago Tribune reporter writes about the controversy, saying:

Adrenal fatigue proponents say the condition can affect anyone but is often triggered by a serious illness or injury, allergies, poor nutrition or intense social, emotional or physical pressure. Perfectionists and those who feel trapped or helpless, don't get enough rest or have a stressful job are especially vulnerable, they say. 

My FNP looked at my cortisol patterns and summarized that something was off in the way that my adrenals were functioning. She drew a Venn diagram I still look at from time to time.

She said, "We need to look at all of these different factors when trying to figure out what's happening with you. We started with adrenals, and now we need to do a thyroid test. Eventually we will do a hormone test over the course of a month to see what's happening there as well."

So I had my blood taken that day and got my thyroid hormones levels tested. Later that month, I spat into a test tube again, this time to get a read on my hormone levels.

I had investigated every circle in the Venn diagram above but neurotransmitters. I went to see my neurologist, and that's when I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I began taking the SSRI Lexapro and in the following year, along with important lifestyle changes, I saw my symptoms improve. For me, the neurotransmitter section of the diagram was the one I needed to address to see improvement.

Hey, aren't we here to talk about the thyroid?

Yes. If every person has their own factors affecting their own Venn diagram, and each of the circles can affect each other, how is the thyroid affected by stress, anxiety, and mental illness?

I don't know.

But I am seeing the pattern of thyroid issues in the stressed-out people around me. That, along with this diagram and the testing framework I used a few ago, has me seeking answers to that question. Do you have thoughts about it?

If you're a doctor who has treated patients for co-morbid thyroid and adrenal issues, I would love to hear from you. If you are a patient who has sought answers for your own thyroid issues, I want to hear from you.

Together we can tackle this sea of confusion by sharing findings, learning from each other, and connecting the dots.

Please share a comment below!

George Lakoff on How to Frame Disturbing Political News

Guidelines from a cognitive scientist about how to deal with what's happening in our country.

Originally, this was a post I shared on Facebook describing what a friend learned when she saw the well-known UC Prof of Linguistics and Cognitive Science  George Lakoff  (UC Prof of Linguistics and Cognitive Science) speak on Sunday, Jan 29 as part of the Praxis Peace Institute speaker series.

When I first wrote this simple top ten list, it immediately soared to the top of my "most clicked" posts. It has gotten more traffic than anything else I've ever posted. I think it's a testament to how much we are all looking for clear, simple coping advice for our current American political turmoil. 

1. Don't use his name.

2. Remember this is a regime and he's not acting alone.

3. Do not argue with those who support him. It doesn't work.

4. Focus on his policies, not his orange-ness and mental state.

5. Keep your message positive; they want the country to be angry and fearful because this is the soil from which their darkest policies will grow.

6. No more helpless/hopeless talk.

7. Support artists and the arts.

8. Be careful not to spread fake news. Check it.

9. Take care of yourselves; and

10. Resist!

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To dig into Lakoff, start with Don't Think of an Elephant.

Since this top ten list went viral and suddenly got a lot of attention, I added this followup to set the record straight.

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Update after Viral Explosion - Feb 8, 2017

This list and post has gone viral on Facebook (including a 4K share attributing his points to Coretta Scott King) and as a result Professor Lakoff has made this statement:

"The 10-point list going around, attributed to me, is not quite accurate. I'll be back soon with something better."

As soon as Professor Lakoff fine tunes these points, I'll be adjusting and amending accordingly here. Stay tuned.

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And then - Feb 9, 2017

In response to me about the list: "It’s quite alright! We want good, hopeful ideas to go viral. You could not have anticipated the response would be so massive. It’s a good sign that goods ideas can travel. The key is to produce more of them. Thank you for your effort. And enjoy this Washington Post story, which attributes the list to Bernice King…"

Final Update — February 10, 2017

Professor Lakoff has now released his official list! He calls it “Ten Points for Democracy Activists.” Here’s it is:

Ten points for Democracy Activists by George Lakoff

1. To understand the basic issues, read:
   A Minority President: Why the Polls Failed, And What the Majority Can Do
2. Know the difference between framing and propaganda: Frames are mental structures used in thought; every thought uses frames. Every word in every language is defined relative to a mental structure — a frame. Frames, in themselves, are unavoidable and neutral. Honest framing is the use of frames you believe and that are used to express truths. Propaganda expresses lies that propagandists know are lies for the sake of political or social advantage
3. Hold Republicans accountable. Trump is dominating the media, partly to establish his authority, but mainly to divert attention and provide cover to Republican leaders. Keep focused on Republican actions. Minimize publicizing Trump — his image, his name, his tweets.
4.  Focus attention on substance, not sideshows. Trump’s attacks on freedom, democracy, and the innocent matter more than his tweets. Positively and strongly reframe his pre-emptive framing.
5. Focus on democracy and freedom. In a government by, for, and of the people, there is, or should be, no distinction between the public and the government. The consequences are:
   1. Empathy: government should care about, and for, the public
   2. Transparency: government should inform the public truthfully;
   3. Freed om and Opportunity: the private depends on public resources, both for private en terprise and private life. For example, if you’re not educated, you’re not free. If you have no health care, you’re not free. If you’re impoverished, you lack opportunity.
   4. Republicans are destroying all of these by: Removing “regulations,” which are public protections; Imposing gag rules and budget cuts on government agencies removes transparency; Privatizing education, protection, communication, infrastructure, nature; etc. are attacks on freedom)  
6. Be careful not to spread fake news. Check it out, on the “big four” non-partisan political fact-checkers — Politifact, Factcheck.org, the Washington Post’s Fact Checker, and Snopes.com. Subscribe to real news.
7. Understand the brain’s politics: All ideas are physical, embodied in neural circuitry. The more the circuitry is activated, the stronger the circuitry gets and the more deeply the ideas are held. Worldviews are complex neural circuits fixed in the brain. People can only understand what fits the neural circuitry in their brains. Real facts can be filtered out by worldviews. “Alternative facts” are lies — falsehoods that follow from ideologies that are fixed, that define one’s identity and so are taken as ‘higher truths.”
8.  Remember: We’re the POWERFUL American Majority. No more helpless/hopeless talk. Anger, fear and cynicism benefit Trump’s GOP. Remember: Don’t think of an elephant! Don’t use Republican language, or repeat their positions, even to negate them. Frame using ideas you believe and real facts that are contextualized and morally framed. Avoid isolated facts and numbers. The best resistance is positive persistence.
9. Be positive: frame all issues from a progressive moral viewpoint. Take the viewpoint of the public good, not corporate profiteering. Take the viewpoint of the impoverished and weak, not the rich and powerful. Take the viewpoint of preservation, not the destruction of nature.
10. Join the Citizens’ Communication Network: until it is officially functioning, you can unofficially join by following me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/George-Lakoff-Official-165643503477608/) and Twitter (@GeorgeLakoff) for regular thoughts and updates.

Highly recommended background reading: The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant! and Moral Politics, 3rd edition.

Originally published Feb 3, 2017. Updated Aug 18, 2017.

Are you finding yourself Dead Sea Scrolling on news stories?

In the Beautiful Voyager community, when we find ourselves getting stuck reading the same social media stories or news feeds over and over, we call it "the dead sea scroll."

These days the news is unprecedentedly grim. There's no getting around it. We've never had a more divisive culture in America. It is tearing apart families and instilling a deep feeling of panic in many, many people.

The Dead Sea Scroll is particularly harmful to mental health at a time like this. That's why I posted this simple message today on Facebook.

I urge anyone who wants to escape the DSS to consider giving mediation a try. I use the Headspace app. Here's a little video on kindness from the founder of Headspace.

Whatever you choose to do, be it an experiment like changing your body temperature, listening to a pump-up soundtrack, or snowglobing away bad thoughts  or trying meditation techniques, I hope you will try something. Don't stay in the dead sea scroll.

Anxiety Does Not Make You Better At Work

It’s time to dismantle one of anxiety’s biggest myths.

An argument I hear frequently from friends: “Anxiety helps me. It helps me get things done on time. It helps me get the house clean. It helps me be good at my job.”

I say to them what I’m saying to you now: fear of fear — excess cortisol and adrenaline surging through your body — does not help you to be better at your job or family life. The campaigns you’ve mounted to avoid hormonal physical punishment may lead you to believe that you are better and stronger as a result of your struggles. But the truth is that’s just YOUR STRENGTH shining out despite impediment. That’s not anxiety’s good work.

Why accepting this truth is important.

It’s the first step toward superpower activation. If you have anxiety or you’re a perfectionist, like I am, you already spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out how to “fix” things. But in order to find the change you seek, it’s your relationship with anxiety that needs to change.

I cannot stress enough how difficult it can be for those of us with generalized anxiety to believe this is true. We have justified and internalized our own thought patterns for so long that changing them can feel as awkward as practicing a foreign language aloud. But believing this core truth about anxiety — that it is not helping you out in any way — is a crucial first step.

It does help you in one way, though.

If anxiety isn’t helping me in the way I thought it was, can I learn anything from it? Here’s how I think of it: instead of fighting against the cortisol and adrenaline surges, I try listening to them and allowing them to come and go. These hormone surges can be an incredible insightful tool. Once I learned to tune in to them, boundless wisdom awaited me. “Don’t take that job!” “Don’t hang out with that person anymore!” The absence of the surge also held great information: “You are happy in this place.” “You can see how others are reacting based on their own fears.” “You can approach things differently.”

It’s time to break up.

To get to the place of tuning in, you have to give up your old co-dependent relationship with your buddy anxiety. If you’re keeping it in a tightly wedged fixed place where it’s an obstacle to overcome, you might be keeping yourself from claiming the insight you deserve (you’ve worked hard for it, after all).

Originally posted Feb 9, 2016. Updated August 16, 2017  

Try: Giving Your Inner Critic a Silly Name

BY DIANNE JACOB, Food Writing Coach

Need a fresh idea for dealing with your inner critic? Of course you do. The critic never goes away. The issue is how to deal with him or her.

I read about an idea you might find useful: Give your critic a silly name. That way, his or her negative pronouncements about your abilities carry less weight.

I tried this approach with a talented client who can't seem to get around to writing. I suggested she name her critic Mildred. My client giggled. Suddenly, the critic seemed goofy. She had less power.

It makes sense to name your inner critic after Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce.

We talked about how helpful Mildred can be in other areas of my client's life: in food styling, recipe development, creating a beautiful home, and designing a photo for Instagram, for example. My client relies on Mildred to help her make good decisions through criticism. But somehow, Mildred isn't helpful to her when it comes to her own writing.

Ethel is a great inner critic name.

Isn't that interesting? Now the challenge is to get Mildred to help her in this final arena, where Mildred has been harsh. My client reports that "the writing has begun...slow and steady." Hooray!

It all sounds quite logical, but as we know, taming the inner critic is a slippery process. I've dealt with her messages in my head forever. But I'm naming her Bertha now, or maybe Ethel. Already I like her better.

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If this experiment works for you, hit the heart (no login required) to let others know they should give it a try!  

Try: Slow TV

Let extremely chill Norwegian vibes cover you in relaxation.

National Firewood Evening. Enough said.

My friend Carl (sharer of great ideas in How to Deal with an Anxious Partner) told me that he found himself watching a two-hour train ride to Oslo on Netflix.

"Oh yeah?" I said. "What happened?"

"Literally nothing," he said. "And it was great."

Carl had discovered Norwegian Broadcasting Company’s “Slow TV,” which has been running on Netflix since last August. In the words of the Daily Beast's Daniel Bukszpan:

If you’re wondering what happens on these shows, the answer is simple—nothing. Nothing happens on any of these shows at all, unless you consider the two-minute firewood-stacking explainer preceding the six hours of crackling log action to be “something.”

Train Ride Bergen to Oslo

I loved what Carl said about watching this ride, 

It's almost like you readjust your watching behavior, such that when the train comes through a tunnel and you see a new incredible panorama, it is genuinely exciting. You just get lulled into it.

If your nervous system is running ragged, this experiment could be just the thing for you. It seems like an amazing thing to have on in the background when you're working on something else. I wonder if I could scratch out the time to go through my personal household filing while watching the Norwegian National Knitting Night? Sounds like a winner to me.

If this experiment works for you, hit the heart (no login required) to let others know they should give it a try!  

Anxiety and Your Body : An Intuitive Connection

By Vishal Verma 

Anxiety is very common at all ages. Even youngsters and the elderly experience it.

If you were to pick out 20 random people off the street I can assure you, at least 15 would have faced anxiety at some point in their lives. 

Considering that, I want to explore:

What does anxiety do to your body?

The answer is not as complicated as you might think.

Let's start from the top of the human body. How does anxiety affect hair?

You've probably heard about people losing their hair due to stress. Do you know that people who take medications to address anxiety or depression are even more prone to hair loss? Or that they can lose hair at an alarming rate? Here's why. Anti-anxiety and anti-depressive medications are made to relax both your mind and body, helping suppress your symptoms. In some cases, the medication can lead to low potassium in you body (or a low RBC count). When that happens, you lose your hair from all over, even your arms and legs. [Editor's note: Please don't let this dissuade you from trying medication! It doesn't happen in all cases, and medication can really help if you need it. Thank you, MA]

Back to the body. In particular, your trunk and waist. When you're experiencing mental trauma, you start to feel even the smallest of glitches that you might never have paid attention to in the past. Cramps, upset stomach, or even stressed eyes are some examples.

In anxiety you tend to pay more attention toward small aches and pains for no apparent reason. It seems as if there is always something wrong with your body even when everything is "completely fine". I've seen people rushing to the emergency room because of a rapid heart beat. Of course, it turned out to be normal anxiety or a panic attack. 

If I could convince you of one thing it would be:

YOUR BODY IS DOING JUST WHAT IT IS MEANT TO DO.

On to the lower part of your body. This is where you might feel more funny or awkward/stressed when experiencing anxiety. 

Your legs are wiggly, your fingers are tingling. You might suddenly notice you can't walk straight. At times it feels as if something is eating your leg or legs from the inside. 

This is a very common symptoms of anxiety, my friend. It reminds me of an expression I once heard:

YOUR MIND TAKES YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. 

I could go on. Your sexual drive is lowered, your stool is weird. Worrying more ends up scaring you more and causing more symptoms.

A Personal Experience

One day, I came across the line "You start to live with what you have, all you need to do is accept it." For some reason, after I read this line, my life got so much easier. I found my anxiety is less problematic and my mind more relaxed. 

ACCEPT WHAT YOU HAVE AND NOT RUN FROM IT 

Have a healthy life, everyone. Cheers to the beautiful world out there :) 

Vishal Verma is a 25-year-old man in India with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. He wants to share his experiences so that others know they aren't alone.