COVID, Uncategorized

Speeding in School Zones

Angry Driver: What did you pull me over for?

Police Officer: You were going 50 mph.

Angry Driver: So …

Police Officer: You were in a school zone. The speed limit is 20 mph.

Angry Driver: Its my constitutional right to drive as fast as I want. You have no right to restrict my freedom.

Police Officer: Driving 50 mph in a school zone is dangerous.

Angry Driver: I was in an SUV! There is no way I was in any danger!

Police Officer: It’s not about you. You were endangering the children  who were playing there. You are under arrest for reckless driving.

———–

Mask protect OTHER people. Wear a mask.

Stress

Review and Redo

The “review” and “redo” techniques are powerful ways of training helpful habits. I received a request for instructions on these techniques from a participant in an online course on resilience that I am co-facilitating.

The instructions are adapted from a presentation I gave in Helsinki in Jan 2019 to health care professionals who worked on rapid resuscitation teams in hospitals.

For those who want to download a pdf of the instructions you can find that here:

Outline for Review and Redo

Continue reading Review and Redo →

Audio, Breathing, Health, Stress, Video

Breathing for Recovery from Stress

The following instructions are to help with stress and are not meant as treatment for any medical conditions. If you have any discomfort from any technique then stop using it.

Recovery breathing maintains our reserves.

Stress tends to wear us down physically and emotionally. In the model of stress that I use, this comes from our reserves being depleted. When our reserves are depleted we feel physically exhausted or emotionally drained. Even thinking about doing something can feel too much for us.

We need to maintain our reserves no matter what type of stress we are dealing with. Breathing techniques can help us do that.

We can optimize the rate we recover from stress by developing three aspects of breathing. These are

  1. Enjoying the breath
  2. Pacing the breath
  3. Deepening the breath

Continue reading Breathing for Recovery from Stress →

Education, Stress

Scammers and Unease

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I am working on various ways of presenting material. I had a request for an audio version of posts so I will include that here as well as the text version.

I read a recent report on scammers preying on people’s fear of COVID-19 to sell them bogus cures. I thought it would be interesting to apply the unease modulation model of stress to understand how scammers work and how to protect ourselves.

Continue reading Scammers and Unease →

Audio, Relaxation

Tibetan Bowl Sounds

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I have a Tibetan bowl that many people have found quite relaxing. However, not all people like the same pitch. This post links to a page that has a number of differently pitched Tibetan bowl sounds. Each link on the page will take you to a 5 min track of a Tibetan bowl at a different pitch. Find one you like and relax.

One purpose of these Tibetan bowl tracks, the paced breathing tracks, and any of the relaxation tracks you can find on this site is to help you relax and recover from stress.

Another equally important function is that they should help you disengage your attention from useless focusing on what is making you uneasy and enable you to shift your attention to what may reduce your difficulty. More on this in a couple of days.

Tibetan Bowl Sounds Various Pitches

COVID, Relaxation, Stress

Paced Breathing for Brief Relaxation

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Our parasympathetic nervous system helps us recover from stress. When we breathe at a slow pace, generally between 5 and 7 breaths per minute for adults, our physiology shifts into a recovery state in which natural restorative processes become more active. This is associated with activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and it will occur within a few seconds of beginning that breathing pattern.

The link below points to a page with a series of videos that you can use to breathe with.  Pick a pace and breathe with it. If a particular pace does not feel soothing then try a different pace. You are looking for a breathing pace that feels effortless and soothing. Your body should settle into it effortlessly. Most people like a pace between 5 and 7 breaths per minute. Continue reading Paced Breathing for Brief Relaxation →

Audio, Guided Meditation, Nature, Relaxation

Guided Meditation for Peaceful State

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This is a guided meditation that uses vocals mixed with nature sounds. The intention is to help you experience a peaceful state of mind and body.

This track was mixed to be listened to on headphones for the best experience.

This meditation uses several nature sounds tracks that are licensed from Karl Hamilton at www.naturesounds.ca

The tracks used are

  • Wind in Pines
  • Forest Stream
  • Relaxation Brook
  • Silver Falls
  • Broad-Winged Hawk
You can find these and many other excellent nature recordings at his site.

 

Contemplation Health Performance Relationships Spirituality