In my previous post about how your brain codes information in neural pathways, you learned that you can change your brain. Through a process of severing negative neural pathways and creating new ones with more positive associations, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) can help reduce feelings of tension or disturbance. Getting ready for a job interview? Have to spend time with your…
Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit like my mom on her 60th birthday when she announced, “No more physical presents! From now on, just give me experiences. I want to see more, hear more, feel more.” So when I discovered an upcoming Tibetan Crystal Bowl concert at a local enlightenment center, it piqued my interest. I decided my mom and…
When Shan Mussulman’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May 2012, he held the vision of her as being healthy and cancer-free. It wasn’t easy. None of her doctors believed the disease could be cured and neither did she, but four months after Shan started her on a comprehensive health strategy, the cancer was gone. Shan is now dedicated…
Today’s dizzying pace of new technology is quickly leading people to question whether most tech headlines are science fiction or fact. The list of startling advances goes on and on. I’ve selected nine of them that will dramatically affect our daily lives: 1. Nanobots. The wind-up toy with flashing lights I had as a kid was primitive compared to the super-miniaturized robots…
I remember a Zen story about a woman who wanted to become a nun but was told she was too beautiful. She persisted, but the abbot of the monastery wouldn’t relent. Her desire to study Zen and to take Buddhist vows were so strong that she took hot coals from the fire and burned her face so badly that she…
In my childhood, I spent many afternoons at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. My father loved the exhibition pavilions there, and to keep me occupied and not bored when I was too small to understand intellectually what I was viewing, my parents gave me a sketchpad and crayons or colored pencils and I would sit and draw. At…
One of the first things Lynn asked when she settled into my office for help overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder was, “Can’t we just erase the memories that are making me feel this way?” As a trauma survivor myself, I understood Lynn’s plea. I carry quite a few memories that have made my life miserable at times. Instead of seeking to…
I used to love listening to my grandmother talk. Raised in Ohio but a Southerner for the bulk of her adult life, she had a quirky accent. When she came to visit us in New York, my younger brother and I would jump onto her bed every morning and demand that she read to us. This gave us more time…
I had the opportunity to speak with the remarkable Gayathri Ramprasad, whose memoir Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within (Hazelden)—called a “a cross-cultural lens to mental illness”—was recently published. Her harrowing experiences with depression, the social stigma depression sufferers endure, and her courage in helping herself and others bring a new perspective to an…
