The Theory of Exercise (yinyoga.com)

All forms of exercise share two features in common: first we must stress the tissues, then we must let the tissues rest. Yang tissues do better when stressed in a yang manner and yin tissues do better when stressed in a yin way. Stress has many negative connotations in our culture because we forget the "rest" part of this equation. But to have no, or little, stress in our life is just as damaging as having too much stress. We need to stress the body, and we need to rest it. There is a yin/yang balance here that leads to health. Too much of anything is not healthy. Yang exercise targets the yang tissues: the muscles. Muscles love to be rhythmically and repetitively moved. Any static holds are brief. The muscles are elastic and can take this type of exercise. However, to apply yang exercise to yin tissues could damage them. Yin tissues, being more plastic, require gentle but long-held stresses. Imagine bending a credit card back and forth one hundred and eight times every morning. It wouldn't take many mornings of this for it to snap in half. The credit card is plastic, just as our ligaments are. To rhythmically bend ligaments over and over again, as some students do when doing drop back from standing into the wheel, can, over time, damage the ligaments, just like the credit card was damaged The warning here is … do not apply yang exercise techniques to yin tissues! Applying a yin exercise to yang tissues could also be damaging! Holding a muscle in a contracted state for a long period of time is called "tetany" [1] and may damage the muscle.

Is it better to tighten muscles (yang) or relax them (yin)? That depends on your intention. We tighten our muscles to protect our joints. We relax our muscles so we can exercise our joints. What is your intention in the pose you are doing?

Many health care professionals shudder at the thought of exercising joints; they have the mistaken view that all exercise is yang exercise. Despite this concern it is possible to exercise ligaments, bones, and joints. In fact, it is necessary. However, being yin tissues means we must exercise them in a yin way. And then, please remember the important second part of this equation - we must let them rest! [2]

There is a lot of research proving the importance of stress and rest beyond just developing strength physically, but it is beyond the scope of this journey to go into it further. [3] 

Link: http://www.yinyoga.com/ys1_0.3_theory_of_exercise.php

Can cognitive behavioural therapy really change our brains? (BBC)

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of talking therapy that's used to treat a wide range of mental health problems, from depression and eating disorders to phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It recommends looking at ourselves in a different way that might prove useful for all of us in everyday life. But what happens to our brains when we have CBT?

What is cognitive behavioural therapy?

CBT is based on the idea that problems aren't caused by situations themselves, but by how we interpret them in our thoughts. These can then affect our feelings and actions.

The way we think about a situation can affect how we feel and how we act

For example, if someone you know walks by without saying hello, what's your reaction?

You might think that they ignored you because they don't like you, which might make you feel rejected. So you might be tempted to avoid them the next time you meet. This could breed more bad feeling between you both and more "rejections", until eventually you believe that you must be unlikeable. If this happened with enough people, you could start to withdraw socially.

But how well did you interpret the situation in the first place?

 

Continue reading the main story

Common errors in thinking style

• Emotional reasoning - e.g. I feel guilty so I must be guilty
• Jumping to conclusions - e.g. if I go into work when I'm feeling low, I'll only feel worse
• All-or-nothing thinking - e.g. if I've not done it perfectly, then it's absolutely useless
• Mental filtering - e.g. noticing my failures more than my successes
• Over generalising - e.g. nothing ever goes well in my life
• Labelling - e.g. I'm a loser

CBT aims to break negative vicious cycles by identifying unhelpful ways of reacting that creep into our thinking. 

"Emotional reasoning is a very common error in people's thinking," explains Dr Jennifer Wild, Consultant Clinical Psychologist from Kings College London. "That's when you think something must be true because of how you feel."

CBT tries to replace these negative thinking styles with more useful or realistic ones.

This can be a challenge for people with mental health disorders, as their thinking styles can be well-established.

How do we break negative thinking styles?

Some psychological theories suggest that we learn these negative thinking patterns through a process called negative reinforcement. 

 

Graded exposure can help people confront their phobias

For example, if you have a fear of spiders, by avoiding them you learn that your anxiety levels can be reduced. So you're rewarded in the short term with less anxiety but this reinforces the fear.

To unlearn these patterns, people with phobias and anxiety disorders often use a CBT technique called graded exposure. By gradually confronting what frightens them and observing that nothing bad actually happens, it's possible to slowly retrain their brains to not fear it.

How does cognitive behavioural therapy work on the brain?

Primitive survival instincts like fear are processed in a part of the brain called the limbic system. This includes the amygdala, a region that processes emotion, and the hippocampus, a region involved in reliving traumatic memories.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

It seems that CBT really can change your brain and rewire it.”

Dr Paul Blenkiron, Consultant Psychiatrist 

 

Brain scan studies have shown that overactivity in these two regions returns to normal after a course of CBT in people with phobias. 

What's more, studies have found that CBT can also change the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for higher-level thinking.

So it seems that CBT might be able to make real, physical changes to both our "emotional brain" (instincts) and our "logical brain" (thoughts). 

Intriguingly, similar patterns of brain changes have been seen with CBT and with drug treatments, suggesting that psychotherapies and medications might work on the brain in parallel ways.

How effective is cognitive behavioural therapy? 

Of all the talking therapies, CBT has the most clinical evidence to show that it works. 

Studies have shown that it is at least as effective as medication for many types of depression and anxiety disorders. 

But unlike many drugs, there are few side effects with CBT. After a relatively short course, people have often described long-lasting benefits. 

"In the trials we've run with post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and social anxiety disorder, we've seen that even when people stop the therapy, they continue improving because they have new tools in place and they've made behavioural and thinking style changes," Dr Wild explains.

Continue reading the main story

Find out more

• Watch David, 25, and Wayne, 24, use CBT to help with their mental health in Inside My Mind on BBC Three, 7 August 2013 at 8pm, and afterwards on iPlayer
• Find out more about mental health in the It's a Mad World season on BBC Three

CBT may not be for everyone, however. 

Since the focus is on tackling the here and now, people with more complicated roots to their mental problems which could stem from their childhood, for example, may need another type of longer-term therapy to explore this. 

CBT also relies on commitment from the individual, including "homework" between therapy sessions. It can also involve confronting fears and anxieties, and this isn't always easy to do. 

Ultimately, as with many types of treatment, some people will benefit from CBT more than others and psychologists and neuroscientists are beginning to unravel the reasons behind this. 

Fuente: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/23590545

Muladhara (OWH)

Also known as the 1st or Root Chakra, the Muladhara (sometimes spelled as mooladhara) is considered by many to be the most important Chakra (although we know they are all important, right?) because it is the Chakra that connects us to our physical world. Located at the base of our spine, it is the root chakra that governs over our physical energies, giving us a sense of safety and security with other people and ourselves.

It is important to balance this chakra first before balancing the others, from an energetic stand-point, as it is widely believed that this is where we draw our life force energy from (see kundalini reiki). If you are not properly grounded (or rooted into the ground) you simply can not balance the other chakras properly.

If your root chakra is in balance or open properly, you will feel secure in your world and daily tasks will seem effortless. You will not have any doubts about your place in the world and things will work for you, whether it be with relationships, money or with a career. You will work with the world and not against it!

Over-Active Root Chakra:

If the root chakra is over-active you may experience anger, annoyance and even aggression towards people and events in your life. Greediness and controlling others and becoming biligerant to those who challenge your “authority” may be a problem. You might become dependant on the security from other people, your job, or specific habits and because of this you will have very rigid boundaries – making it very difficult for you to accept change. You may also become very materialistic or impulsive and think that your value or self-worth exists in having such things. Problems with an over-active sex drive may arise due to the over-activeness of the root chakra.

Under-Active Root Chakra:

If your root chakra is under-active you may feel disconnected from the world around you, including from your body. You will feel disorganized and consequently this will reflect in your world. You will lack focus and discipline and you may even become afraid, anxious or restless in your daily interactions. You will probably experience a lack of stamina, depression or desire to do or to want anything out of life. You will have trouble obtaining financial security and will find yourself with no, or very little boundaries.

Physical symptoms of an Imbalance:

Weight-loss/gain, over or underactive sex drive, poor immune system, anemia, depression, laziness, irratible bowel syndrome are all possible physical symptoms of an imbalance within the root chakra.

Healing the Muladhara

There are many ways one can begin to balance their Chakras. Below you will find several useful methods, including colour, nature and sound therapy!

Affirmation for the Root Chakra: I am safe in the world around me. I belong in this world, and am a part of Gaia (mother-earth). I am at peace with my surroundings, with the people and the events that occur.

Colour of the Root Chakra: The root is associated with the colour red. Picturing a red lotus flower at the base of your spine will begin to balance it. Lighting red candles while focusing on your root chakra can also have this effect.

Organs/Glands governed by the Root Chakra: Reproductive Organs, Large Intestine, Immune System.

Crystal Therapy for the Root Chakra: Azurite, Bloodstone, Chrysocolla, Obsidian, Golden Yellow Topaz, Black Tourmaline, Carnelian, Citrine, Red Jasper, Smokey Quartz.

Nutrition for the Root Chakra: Red Foods, such as red apples, strawberries, red cabbage. Ginger, carrots, or beets, or foods with “roots” and foods that are high in protein, such as eggs, meat, beans, nuts.

Aromatherapy/Essential Oils for the Root Chakra: Sandalwood, Cedar, Rosewood, Ginger, Cloves, Black pepper, Rosemary.

Healing the Root Chakra with Nature: The muladhara’s element is Earth. Simply getting out and experiencing the sounds and smells of Mother Nature will have a positive effect on this chakra. Sitting on the grass, under a tree is an ideal spot to sit and allow yourself to absord these earthly energies!

Sound Therapy for the Root Chakra: The root vibrates in harmony to “C” Note. Additionally chanting “LAM” will have a positive effect on this chakra!

Source: http://www.oneworldhealing.net/chakra-healing/muladhara/

The Formula of Success

 

"One ship drives east, and another drives west,
   With the self-same winds that blow.
 ’Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales
   Which tells us the way they go.

"Like the waves of the sea are the ways of fate
   As we voyage along thru life.
 ’Tis the set of the soul which decides its goal
   And not the calm or the strife."

                —Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

What is the eternal question which stands up and looks you and every sincere man squarely in the eye every morning?

"How can I better my condition?" That is the real life question which con-fronts you, and will haunt you every day till you solve it.

Read this chapter carefully and I think you will find the answer to this important life question which you and every man must solve if he expects ever to have more each Monday morning, after pay day, than he had the week before.

To begin with, all wealth depends upon a clear understanding of the fact that mind—thought—is the only creator. The great business of life is thinking. Control your thoughts and you control circumstance.

Just as the first law of gain is desire, so the formula of success is BELIEF. Believe that you have it—see it as an existent fact—and anything you can rightly wish for is yours. Belief is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

You have seen men, inwardly no more capable than yourself, accomplish the seemingly impossible. You. have seen others, after years of hopeless struggle, suddenly win their most cherished dreams. And you've often wondered, "What is the power that gives new life to their dying ambitions, that supplies new impetus to their jaded desires, that gives them a new Start on the road to success?"

That power is belief—faith. Someone, something, gave them a new belief in themselves and a new faith in their power to win—and they leaped ahead and wrested success from seemingly certain defeat.

Do you remember the picture Harold Lloyd was in two or three years ago, showing a country boy who was afraid of his shadow? Every boy in the countryside bedeviled him. Until one day his grandmother gave him a talisman that she assured him his grandfather had carried through the Civil War and which, so she said, had the property of making its owner invincible. Nothing could hurt him, she told him, while he wore this talisman. Nothing could stand up against him. He believed her. And the next time the bully of the town started to cuff him around, he wiped up the earth with him. And that was only the start. Before the year was out he had made a reputation as the most daring soul in the community.

Then, when his grandmother felt that he was thoroughly cured, she told him the truth—that the "talisman" was merely a piece of old junk she'd picked up by the roadside—that she knew all he needed was faith in himself, belief that he could do these things.

The Talisman of Napoleon

Stories like that are common. It is such a well-established truth that you can do only what you think you can, that the theme is a favorite one with authors. I remember reading a story years ago of an artist—a mediocre sort of artist—who was visiting the field of Waterloo and happened upon a curious lump of metal half buried in the dirt, which so attracted him that he picked it up and put it in his pocket. Soon thereafter he noticed a sudden increase in confidence, an absolute faith in himself, not only as to his own Chosen line of work, but in his ability to handle any situation that might present itself. He painted a great picture—just to show that he could do it. Not content with that, he visioned an empire with Mexico as its basis, actuallyled a revolt that carried all before it—until one day he lost his talisman. And immediately his bubble burst.

I instance this just to illustrate the point that it is your own belief in yourself that counts. It is the consciousness of dominant power within you that makes all things attainable. You can do anything you think you can. This knowledge is literally the gift of the gods, for through it you can solve every human problem. It should make of you an incurable optimist. It is the open door to welfare. Keep it open—by expecting to gain everything that is right.

You are entitled to every good thing. Therefore expect nothing but good. Defeat does not need to follow victory. You don't have to "knock wood" every time you congratulate yourself that things have been going well with you. Victory should follow victory—and it will if you "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." It is the mind that means health and life and boundless opportunity and recompense. No limitation rests upon you. So don't let any enter your life. Remember that Mind will do every good thing for you. It will remove mountains for you. 

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Bring all your thoughts, your desires, your aims, your talents, into the Storehouse—the Consciousness of Good, the Law of Infinite supply—and prove these blessings. There is every reason to know that you are entitled to adequate provision. Everything that is involved in supply is a thing of thought. Now reach out, stretch your mind, try to comprehend unlimited thought, unlimited supply. 

Do not think that supply must come through one or two channels. It is not for you to dictate to Universal Mind the means through which It shall send Its gifts to you. There are millions of channels through which It can reach you. Your part is to impress upon Mind your need, your earnest desire, your boundless belief in the resources and the willingness of Universal Mind to help you. Plant the seed of desire. Nourish it with a clear visualization of the ripened fruit. Water it with sincere faith. But leave the means to Universal Mind.

Open up your mind. Clear out the channels of thought. Keep yourself in a state of receptivity. Gain a mental attitude in which you are constantly expecting good. You have the fundamental right to all good, you know. "According to your faith, be it unto you."

The trouble with most of us is that we are mentally lazy. It is so much easier to go along with the crowd than to break trail for ourselves. But the great discoverers, the great inventors, the great geniuses in all lines have been men who dared to break with tradition, who defied precedent, who believed that there is no limit to what Mind can do—and who stuck to that belief until their goal was won, in spite. of all the sneers and ridicule of the wiseacres and the "It-can't-be-done’rs."

Not only that, but they were never satisfied with achieving just one success. They knew that the first success is like the first olive out of the bottle. All the others come out the more easily for it. They realized that they were a part of the Creative Intelligence of the Universe, and that the part shares all the properties of the whole. And that realization gave them the faith to strive for any right thing, the knowledge that the only limit upon their capabilities was the limit of their desires. Knowing that, they couldn't be satisfied with any ordinary success. They had to keep on and on and on. 

Edison didn't sit down and fold his hands when he gave us the talking machine. Or the electric light. These great achievements merely opened the way to new fields of accomplishment.

Open up the channels between your mind and Universal Mind, and there is no limit to the riches that will come pouring in. Concentrate your thoughts on the particular thing you are most interested in, and ideas in abundance will come flooding down, opening up a dozen ways of winning the goal you are striving for.

But don't let one success—no matter how great—satisfy you. The Law of Creation, you know, is the Law of Growth. You can't stand still. You must go forward—or be passed by. Complacency—self-satisfaction—is the greatest enemy of achievement. You must keep looking forward. Like Alexander, you must be constantly seeking new worlds to conquer. Depend upon it, the power will come to meet the need. There is no such thing as failing powers, if we look to Mind for our source of supply. The only failure of mind comes from worry and fear—or from disuse. William James, the famous psychologist, taught that "The more mind does, the more it can do." For ideas release energy. You can do more and better work than you have ever done. You can know more than you know now. You know from your own experience that under proper mental conditions of joy or enthusiasm, you can do three or four times the work without fatigue that you can ordinarily. Tiredness is more boredom than actual physical fatigue. You can work almost indefinitely when the work is a pleasure. 

You've seen sickly persons, frail persons, who couldn't do an hour's light work without exhaustion, suddenly buckle down when heavy responsibilities were thrown upon them, and grow strong and rugged under the load. Crises not only draw upon the reserve power you have, but they help to create new power:

“It Couldn't Be Done”

It may be that you have been deluded by the thought of incompetence. It may be that you have been told so often that you cannot do certain things that you've come to believe you can't. Remember that success or failure is merely a state of mind. Believe you cannot do a thing—and you can't. Know that you can do it—and you will. You must see yourself doing it.

"If you think you are beaten, you are;
   If you think you dare not, you don't;
 If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,
   It's almost a cinch you won't;
 If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
   For out in the world you'll find
 Success begins with a fellow's will—
   It's all in the state of mind.

"Full many a race is lost
   Ere even a race is run,
 And many a coward fails
   Ere even his work's begun.
 Think big, and your deeds will grow,
   Think small and you fall behind,
 Think that you can, and you will;
   It's all in the state of mind.  "If you think you are outclassed, you are;
   You've got to think high to rise;
 You've got to be sure of yourself before
   You can ever win a prize.
 Life's battle doesn't always go
   To the stronger or faster man;
 But sooner or later, the man who wins
   Is the fellow who thinks he can."

There's a vast difference between a proper understanding of one's own ability and a determination to make the best of it—and offensive egotism. It is absolutely necessary for every man to believe in himself, before he can make the most of himself. All of us have something to sell. It may be our goods, it may be our abilities, it may be our services. You've got to believe in yourself to make your buyer take stock in you at par and accrued interest. You've got to feel the same personal solicitude over a customer lost, as a revivalist over a backslider, and hold special services to bring him back into the fold. You've got to get up every morning with determination, if you're going to go to bed that night with satisfaction.

There's mighty sound sense in the saying that all the world loves a booster. The one and only thing you have to win success with is MIND. For your mind to function at its highest capacity, you've got to be charged with good cheer and optimism. No one ever did a good piece of work while in a negative frame of mind. Your best work is always done when you are feeling happy and optimistic.

And a happy disposition is the result—not the cause—of happy, cheery thinking. Health and prosperity are the results primarily of optimistic thoughts. You make the pattern. If the impress you have left on the world about you seems faint and weak, don't blame fate—blame your pattern! You will never cultivate a brave, courageous demeanor by thinking cowardly thoughts. You cannot gather figs from thistles. You will never make your dreams come true by choking them with doubts and fears. You've got to put foundations under your air castles, foundations of UNDERSTANDING and BELIEF. Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your BELIEF in yourself.

Are your surroundings discouraging? Do you feel that if you were in another's place success would be easier? Just bear in mind that your real environment is within you. All the factors of success or failure are in your inner world. You make that own inner world—and through it your outer world. You can choose the material from which to build it. If you've not Chosen wisely in the past, you can choose again now the material you want to rebuild it. The richness of life is within you. No one has failed so long as he can begin again.

Start right in and do all those things you feel you have it in you to do. Ask permission of no man. Concentrating your thought upon any proper undertaking will make its achievement possible. Your belief that you can do the thing gives your thought forces their power. Fortune waits upon you. Seize her boldly, hold her—and she is yours. She belongs rightfully to you. But if you cringe to her, if you go up to her doubtfully, timidly, she will pass you by in scorn. For she is a fickle jade who must be mastered, who loves boldness, who admires confidence.

A Roman boasted that it was sufficient for him to strike the ground with his foot and legions would spring up. And his very boldness cowed his opponents. It is the same with your mind. Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is started, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance, if you attack in earnest and meet each obstacle with resolution. But you have got to start things.

"The Lord helps them that help themselves" is a truth as old as man. It is, in fact, plain common sense. Your subconscious mind has all power, but your conscious mind is the watchman at the gate. It has got to open the door. It has got to press the spring that releases the infinite energy. No failure is possible in the accomplishment of any right object you may have in life, if you but understand your power and will perseveringly try to use it in the proper way.

The men who have made their mark in this world all had one trait in common—they believed in themselves! "But," you may say, "how can I believe in myself when I have never yet done anything worth while, when everything I put my hand to seems to fail?" You can't, of course. That is, you couldn't if you had to depend upon your conscious mind alone. But just remember what one far greater than you said—"I can of mine own self do nothing. The Father that is within me—He doeth the works."

That same "Father" is within you. And it is by knowing that He is in you, and that through Him you can do anything that is right, that you can acquire that belief in yourself which is so necessary. Certainly the Mind that imaged the heavens and the earth and all that they contain has all wisdom, all power, all abundance. With this Mind to call upon, you know there is no problem too difficult for you to undertake. The knowing of this is the first step. Faith. But St. James tells us—"Faith without works is dead." So go on to the next step. Decide on the one thing you want most from life. No matter what it may be. There is no limit, you know, to Mind. Visualize this thing that you want. See it, feel it, BELIEVE in it. Make your mental blue-print, and begin to build!

Suppose some people DO laugh at your idea. Suppose Reason does say—"It can't be done!" People laughed at Galileo. They laughed at Henry Ford. Reason contended for countless ages that the earth was flat. Reason said—or so numerous automotive engineers argued—that the Ford motor wouldn't run. But the earth is round—and the twelfth or fifteenth million Ford is on the road.

Let us start right now putting into practice some of these truths that you have learned. What do you want most of life right now? Take that one desire,concentrate on it, impress it upon your subconscious mind.
Psychologists have discovered that the best time to make suggestions to your subconscious mind is just before going to sleep, when the senses are quiet and the attention is lax. So let us take your desire and suggest it to your subconscious mind tonight. The two prerequisites are the earnest DESIRE, and an intelligent, understanding BELIEF. Someone has said, you know, that education is three-fourths encouragement, and the encouragement is the suggestion that the thing can be done.

You know that you can have what you want, if you want it badly enough and can believe in it earnestly enough. So tonight, just before you drop off to sleep, concentrate your thought on this thing that you most desire from life.

BELIEVE that you have it. SEE YOURSELF possessing it. FEEL yourself using it.
Do that every night until you ACTUALLY DO BELIEVE that you have the thing you want. When you reach that point, YOU WILL HAVE IT!   

Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/tsoa/tsoa18.htm

Thinking in a Foreign Language Makes Decisions More Rational

To judge a risk more clearly, it may help to consider it in a foreign language.

A series of experiments on more than 300 people from the U.S. and Korea found that thinking in a second language reduced deep-seated, misleading biases that unduly influence how risks and benefits are perceived.

“Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language as you would in your native tongue?” asked psychologists led by Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago in an April 18 Psychological Science study.

“It may be intuitive that people would make the same choices regardless of the language they are using, or that the difficulty of using a foreign language would make decisions less systematic. We discovered, however, that the opposite is true: Using a foreign language reduces decision-making biases,” wrote Keysar’s team.

Psychologists say human reasoning is shaped by two distinct modes of thought: one that’s systematic, analytical and cognition-intensive, and another that’s fast, unconscious and emotionally charged.

'Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language?'

 

In light of this, it’s plausible that the cognitive demands of thinking in a non-native, non-automatic language would leave people with little leftover mental horsepower, ultimately increasing their reliance on quick-and-dirty cogitation.

Equally plausible, however, is that communicating in a learned language forces people to be deliberate, reducing the role of potentially unreliable instinct. Research also shows that immediate emotional reactions to emotively charged words are muted in non-native languages, further hinting at deliberation.

To investigate these possibilities, Keysar’s team developed several tests based on scenarios originally proposed by psychologist Daniel Kahneman, who in 2002 won a Nobel Prize in economics for his work on prospect theory, which describes how people intuitively perceive risk.

In one famous example, Kahneman showed that, given the hypothetical option of saving 200 out of 600 lives, or taking a chance that would either save all 600 lives or none at all, people prefer to save the 200 — yet when the problem is framed in terms of losing lives, many more people prefer the all-or-nothing chance rather than accept a guaranteed loss of 400 lives.

People are, in a nutshell, instinctively risk-averse when considering gain and risk-taking when faced with loss, even when the essential decision is the same. It’s a gut-level human predisposition, and if second-language thinking made people think less systematically, Keysar’s team supposed the tendency would be magnified. Conversely, if second-language thinking promoted deliberation, the tendency would be diminished.

The first experiment involved 121 American students who learned Japanese as a second language. Some were presented in English with a hypothetical choice: To fight a disease that would kill 600,000 people, doctors could either develop a medicine that saved 200,000 lives, or a medicine with a 33.3 percent chance of saving 600,000 lives and a 66.6 percent chance of saving no lives at all.

 

Results of two tests of foreign-language effects on framing biases. In each, people were given the choice between sure savings or an all-or-nothing bet. Bars show how many people preferred sure savings when the choice was framed in terms of gains (black) or losses (gray) and considered in their native language (left pair) or second language (right pair). Image: Keysar et al./Psychological Science

Nearly 80 percent of the students chose the safe option. When the problem was framed in terms of losing rather than saving lives, the safe-option number dropped to 47 percent. When considering the same situation in Japanese, however, the safe-option number hovered around 40 percent, regardless of how choices were framed. The role of instinct appeared reduced.

Two subsequent experiments in which the hypothetical situation involved job loss rather than death, administered to 144 native Korean speakers from Korea’s Chung Nam National University and 103 English speakers studying abroad in Paris, found the same pattern of enhanced deliberation. “Using a foreign language diminishes the framing effect,” wrote Keysar’s team.

The researchers next tested how language affected decisions on matters of direct personal import. According to prospect theory, the possibility of small losses outweigh the promise of larger gains, a phenomenon called myopic risk aversion and rooted in emotional reactions to the idea of loss.

The same group of Korean students was presented with a series of hypothetical low-loss, high-gain bets. When offered bets in Korean, just 57 percent took them. When offered in English, that number rose to 67 percent, again suggesting heightened deliberation in a second language.

To see if the effect held up in real-world betting, Keysar’s team recruited 54 University of Chicago students who spoke Spanish as a second language. Each received $15 in $1 bills, each of which could be kept or bet on a coin toss. If they lost a toss, they’d lose the dollar, but winning returned the dollar and another $1.50 — a proposition that, over multiple bets, would likely be profitable.

When the proceedings were conducted in English, just 54 percent of students took the bets, a number that rose to 71 percent when betting in Spanish. “They take more bets in a foreign language because they expect to gain in the long run, and are less affected by the typically exaggerated aversion to losses,” wrote Keysar and colleagues.

The researchers believe a second language provides a useful cognitive distance from automatic processes, promoting analytical thought and reducing unthinking, emotional reaction.

“Given that more and more people use a foreign language on a daily basis, our discovery could have far-reaching implications,” they wrote, suggesting that people who speak a second language might use it when considering financial decisions. “Over a long time horizon, this might very well be beneficial.”

Source: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/04/language-and-bias/

Citation: “The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases.” By Boaz Keysar, Sayuri L. Hayakawa and Sun Gyu An. Psychological Science, published online 18 April 2012.

What is a phobia? (BBC)

A phobia is an intense fear or feeling of anxiety that occurs only in a particular situation that frightens you. 

This might be something as seemingly logical as a fear of heights, or as illogical as a fear of the colour green. At other times you don't feel anxious. For example, if you have a phobia of spiders (as millions of people do), you only feel anxious when there's a spider around, otherwise you feel fine. 

About one in ten people has a significant phobia, although few people seek treatment.

People develop phobias to all sorts of things. Each phobia has its own name. Some (of a very long list) include:

• Musophobia - fear of mice
• Peladophobia - fear of bald people
• Amathophobia - fear of dust
• Pnigophobia - fear of choking or smothering
• Maieusiophobia - fear of childbirth
• Homichlophobia - fear of fog
• Arachibutyrophobia - fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth

Phobias make people avoid situations they know will make them anxious, but this can make the phobia worse. A person's life can become increasingly dominated by the precautions they take to avoid a situation they fear. You may know there's no real danger and you may feel embarrassed by your fear, but you're still unable to control it. It's better to confront your fears, even if it's in a very careful way or with the help of a trained therapist. 

A phobia is more likely to go away if it began after a distressing or traumatic event.

What's the treatment?

Cognitive behavioural therapy - a 'talking treatment' where you learn all about the thing or situation you are scared of and how to change your behaviour - has a high success rate in phobias. Your GP can refer you.

Antidepressant medications may also be used even if you aren't depressed. They work by interfering with brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) such as serotonin which may be involved in causing anxiety symptoms.

Anti-anxiety medication such as diazepam are rarely used, as they can be addictive, but may be offerred on ‘one-off’ occasions such as for people with flying phobias who have to take a flight for work or holiday. 

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/emotional_health/mental_health/mind_phobias.shtml

11 Habits of Highly Successful Dreamers (thechangeblog.com)

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

Walt Disney certainly was a dreamer, and his imagination and dreams resulted in creating fairytale destinations that revolutionized the entertainment industry and epitomized the magic of creative thinking.  Walt Disney, the dreamer, imagined things that the common person could never have fathomed, and his example of creativity has been a major inspiration to millions of people worldwide.

Despite the compelling example of Walt Disney, not all dreams lead us down the right path, and in fact many dreams not only don’t come true, they can lead the dreamer astray and even turn into nightmares, leaving us more crippled rather than free. At times, we need to know when to give up a dream and replace it with a new one.

What happens to dreams that lead us astray?  What happens to the dreamers that needed to give up their dreams?  Some mourn the loss of their dream as a gap in their lives puts a wedge in their lives, while others dust themselves off as they come to the realization that even though their dreams were not realized, they can move on with undaunted faith in newer dreams.

What differentiates these dreamers?  What determines who will be broken by dreams and who will be mobilized by new dreams?  The following 11 habits seem to be determining factors of how resilient is the dreamer, even despite the fact that some of their dreams ended up turning into nightmares.

1.  Successful dreamers are flexible – they know when to hold them and know when to fold them!

As in the song by Kenny Rogers, healthy dreamers know when it is time to let go of one dream and trade it for another. They realize that some dreams just don’t come true, and even they do, those dreams might not turn out the way they had hoped or expected.  For some, dreams of a happy marriage are replaced with a painful and bitter divorce. Likewise, our dream job or even career might end in disenchantment or even failure.

Sometimes you need to stop reaching because life did not support your dream, no matter how much you wanted it!  Healthy dreamers do not see it as a defeat but rather see it as a foundation for conjuring up new dreams that fit them better now based on their experience.

2.  Successful dreamers have one foot on the ground while they leap into the air.

While they let their imagination soar, they do not lose their senses and sensibilities.  They have at least one foot planted on the ground.  They plan, they work, they execute their dreams, and do not expect quick fixes and miracles that will magically transform their lives. They don’t keep their heads in the proverbial clouds and think that if they dream hard enough, all their dreams will somehow come true. Rather they plod along in reaching for their dream, and realize that actualizing their dreams take a lot of work and effort.

3.  Successful dreamers know that happiness is in pursuing their dreams as much as in reaching it.

Healthy dreamers do not have pre-conditions to happiness. They realize the process is just as important as the product. While going towards their goals, they do not wait for life to turn out in reaching their dream – they see their life “turning out” as they go.  They know that happiness comes from within and even if they achieve their wildest dreams on the outside, they realize that attitude will make or break their life adjustment. They don’t put their life on hold thinking that reaching their dreams will make it all “perfect”. In other words, they do not wait for reaching their dream to make them happy, yet focus on being happy in the process.

4.  Successful dreamers don’t put all their dreams in one basket. 

Successful dreamers do not have all or nothing thinking. They also have already made peace with the fact that life is not often fair, and do not expect that the stars will align and all their dreams will come true, despite their best efforts. They also realize that even if a dream comes true, it might not be what they wanted or needed after all. So they do not hinge too much on any one dream and constantly try to achieve a life balance or dreams in the works.

5.  Successful dreamers don’t see disappointments as aberrations in life, they see them as stepping stones towards successes.

These individuals can break their dreams into smaller pieces if the whole dream does not turn out. They make mosaics or stepping stones out of their broken pieces of their dreams rather than give up on their dreams altogether. Instead of being miserable with so many broken pieces of dreams, they enthusiastically work with what they have to replace an old dream with a new one, that is more within their reach.

6.  Successful dreamers love to learn and use their “Inner GPS”.

As their dreams evolve and take new shapes as they mature, dreamers keep learning lessons of what did and did not work in pursuing their dreams. They build on their experiences of what they learned as their dreams take shape. They constantly are recalibrating themselves like a GPS. They are sensitive to the fact that their dreams are taking them on a detour, and they readjust accordingly. They constantly take stock of their dreams and ideals to achieve a constant state of equilibrium.

7.  Successful dreamers are propelled by courage rather than crippled by fear. 

Some people cling to dreams out of fear, and others pursue dreams with courage. Those who are too needy and clingy to their dreams are often disappointed as the dream, even if they attained it, did not give them the security and confidence they has hoped for. Old fears replace new fears. On the other hand, healthy dreamers are courageous souls who possess the seeds of resilience that they can weather missteps along the way.

8.  Successful dreamers move past the past.

Successful dreamers don’t live in the land of “what ifs” and “if onlys.”  They are not blinded by the future or blindsided by their past  – they focus on how they can actualize their dreams without putting their life on hold. They plan for tomorrow, learn from the past, but live in TODAY!

9.  Successful dreamers are forgiving and grateful.

There is no place for the healthy dreamer in the land of “woulda, coulda, shoulda.”  They do not judge their immature dreams, they do not begrudge themselves for having been naive or even foolish.  They are not hard on themselves for not having the foresight of knowing what they now know in hindsight. They are grateful for second chances as they work their way towards fulfilling their dreams. They see each day as a new opportunity to forge ahead, and are grateful for the opportunities the new day can bring them.

10.  Successful  dreamers seek healthy support from others.

Those who seek support of others that support their dreams are much more resilient than “loners” who isolate themselves. They are perceptive enough to discern who supports their dreams and who does not, and they set limits with those people who are toxic influences on their development. They seek out people who do not feel threatened by their growth, and refuse to cling to people out of fear and insecurity. Rather, their relationships enhance their ability to dream, not stifle it.

11.  Successful dreamers never give up hope.

No matter if one dream went wrong or many of them, successful dreamers never give up hope. They keep hope alive with the confidence that no matter what, they will meet new challenges with confidence and optimism. They refuse to give up hope that their dreams, and even their life, will turn out well. For their bumps and bruises along the way, they are soothed and healed by their hopeful mindset.

How about you – Are you a successful dreamer?  What are your habits? What are your dreams?  I welcome comments!

Source:  http://www.thechangeblog.com/dreamers/

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (kidshealth.org)

All kids have worries and doubts. But kids with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often can't stop worrying, no matter how much they want to. And those worries frequently compel them to behave in certain ways over and over again.

About OCD

OCD is a type of anxiety disorder. Kids with OCD become preoccupied with whether something could be harmful, dangerous, wrong, or dirty — or with thoughts that bad stuff could happen.

With OCD, upsetting or scary thoughts or images, called obsessions, pop into a person's mind and are hard to shake. Kids with OCD also might worry about things not being "in order" or "just right." They may worry about losing things, sometimes feeling the need to collect these items, even though they may seem useless to other people.

Someone with OCD feels strong urges to do certain things repeatedly — called rituals or compulsions — in order to banish the scary thoughts, ward off something dreaded, or make extra sure that things are safe, clean, or right in some way.

Children may have a difficult time explaining a reason for their rituals and say they do them "just because." But in general, by doing a ritual, someone with OCD is trying to relieve anxiety. They may want to feel absolutely certain that something bad won't happen or to feel "just right."

Think of OCD as an "overactive alarm system." The rise in anxiety or worry is so strong that a child feels like he or she must perform the task or dwell on the thought, over and over again, to the point where it interferes with everyday life.

Most kids with OCD realize that they really don't have to repeat the behaviors over and over again, but the anxiety can be so great that they feel that repetition is "required" to neutralize the uncomfortable feeling. And often the behavior does decrease the anxiety — but only temporarily. In the long run, the rituals may worsen OCD severity and prompt the obsessions to return.

Causes

Doctors and scientists don't know exactly what causes OCD, although recent research has led to a better understanding of it and its potential causes. Experts believe OCD is related to levels of a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry signals in the brain.

When the flow of serotonin is blocked, the brain's "alarm system" overreacts and misinterprets information. These "false alarms" mistakenly trigger danger messages. Instead of the brain filtering out these messages, the mind dwells on them — and the person experiences unrealistic fear and doubt.

Evidence is strong that OCD tends to run in families. Many people with OCD have one or more family members who also have it or other anxiety disorders influenced by the brain's serotonin levels. Because of this, scientists have come to believe that the tendency (or predisposition) for someone to develop a serotonin imbalance that causes OCD can be inherited.

Having the genetic tendency for OCD doesn't mean that someone will develop OCD, but it does mean there's a stronger chance that he or she might. Sometimes an illness or some other stress-causing event may trigger the symptoms of OCD in a person who is genetically prone to develop it.

It's important to understand that the obsessive-compulsive behavior is not something that a child can stop by trying harder. OCD is a disorder, just like any physical disorder such as diabetes or asthma, and is not something kids can control or have caused themselves.

OCD is also not something that parents have caused, although life events (such as starting school or the death of a loved one) might worsen or trigger the onset of OCD in kids who are prone to develop it.

Common OCD Behaviors in Kids

OCD can make daily life difficult for the kids that it affects and their families. The behaviors often take up a great deal of time and energy, making it more difficult to complete tasks, such as homework or chores, or to enjoy life.

In addition to feeling frustrated or guilty for not being able to control their own thoughts or actions, kids with OCD also may suffer from low self-esteem or from shame or embarrassment about what they're thinking or feeling (since they often realize that their fears are unrealistic, or that their rituals are not realistically going to prevent their feared events).

They also may feel pressured because they don't have enough time to do everything. A child might become irritable because he or she feels compelled to stay awake late into the night or miss an activity or outing to complete the compulsive rituals. Kids might have difficulties with attention or concentration because of the intrusive thoughts.

Among kids and teens with OCD, the most common obsessions include:

• fear of dirt or germs
• fear of contamination
• a need for symmetry, order, and precision
• religious obsessions
• preoccupation with body wastes
• lucky and unlucky numbers
• sexual or aggressive thoughts
• fear of illness or harm coming to oneself or relatives
• preoccupation with household items
• intrusive sounds or words

These compulsions are the most common among kids and teens:

• grooming rituals, including hand washing, showering, and teeth brushing
• repeating rituals, including going in and out of doorways, needing to move through spaces in a special way, or rereading, erasing, and rewriting
• checking rituals to make sure that an appliance is off or a door is locked, and repeatedly checking homework
• rituals to undo contact with a "contaminated" person or object
• touching rituals
• rituals to prevent harming self or others
• ordering or arranging objects
• counting rituals
• hoarding and collecting things of no apparent value
• cleaning rituals related to the house or other items

Signs and Symptoms of OCD

Recognizing OCD is often difficult because kids can become adept at hiding the behaviors. It's not uncommon for a child to engage in ritualistic behavior for months, or even years, before parents know about it. Also, a child may not engage in the ritual at school, so parents might think it's just a phase.

When a child with OCD tries to contain these thoughts or behaviors, this creates anxiety. Kids who feel embarrassed or as if they're "going crazy" may try to blend the OCD into the normal daily routine until they can't control it anymore.

It's common for kids to ask a parent to join in the ritualistic behavior: First the child has to do something and then the parent has to do something else. If a child says, "I didn't touch something with germs, did I?" the parent might have to respond, "No, you're OK," and the ritual will begin again for a certain number of times. Initially, the parent might not notice what is happening.

Tantrums, overt signs of worry, and difficult behaviors are common when parents fail to participate in their child's rituals. It is often this behavior, as much as the OCD itself, which brings families into treatment.

Parents can look for the following possible signs of OCD:

• raw, chapped hands from constant washing
• unusually high rate of soap or paper towel usage
• high, unexplained utility bills
• a sudden drop in test grades
• unproductive hours spent doing homework
• holes erased through test papers and homework
• requests for family members to repeat strange phrases or keep answering the same question
• a persistent fear of illness
• a dramatic increase in laundry
• an exceptionally long amount of time spent getting ready for bed
• a continual fear that something terrible will happen to someone
• constant checks of the health of family members
• reluctance to leave the house at the same time as other family members

Diagnosing OCD

OCD is more common than many other childhood disorders or illnesses, but it often remains undiagnosed. Kids might keep the symptoms hidden from their families, friends, and teachers because they're embarrassed.

Even when symptoms are present, a parent or health care provider might not recognize that they are part of a mental health disorder and may attribute them to a child's quirkiness or even bad behavior.

Doctors consider OCD to be a pattern of obsessive thinking and rituals that does one or more of the following:

• takes up more than an hour each day
• causes distress
• interferes with daily activities

OCD in kids is usually diagnosed between the ages of 7 and 12. Since these are the years when kids naturally feel concerned about fitting in with their friends, the discomfort and stress brought on by OCD can make them feel scared, out of control, and alone.

If your child shows signs of OCD, talk to your doctor. In screening for OCD, the doctor or a mental health professional will ask your child about obsessions and compulsions in language that kids will understand, such as:

• Do you have worries, thoughts, images, feelings, or ideas that bother you?
• Do you have to check things over and over again?
• Do you have to wash your hands a lot, more than most kids?
• Do you count to a certain number or do things a certain number of times?
• Do you collect things that others might throw away (like hair or fingernail clippings)?
• Do things have to be "just so"?
• Are there things you have to do before you go to bed?

Because it might be normal for a child who doesn't have OCD to answer yes to any of these questions, the doctor also will ask about how often and how severe the behaviors are, about your family's history of OCD, Tourette syndrome and other motor or vocal tic disorders, or other problems that sometimes occur with OCD. OCD is common in people with Tourette syndrome.

Other disorders that often occur with OCD include other anxiety disorders, depression, disruptive behavior disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disorders, and trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling). PANS, a rare condition that stands for Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, also has been associated with having OCD. 

Treating OCD

The most successful treatments for kids with OCD are behavioral therapy and medication. Behavioral therapy, also known as cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT), helps kids learn to change thoughts and feelings by first changing behavior.

Behavioral therapy involves gradually exposing kids to their fears, with the agreement that they will not perform rituals, to help them recognize that their anxiety will eventually decrease and that no disastrous outcome will occur. For example, kids who are afraid of dirt might be exposed to something dirty, starting with something mildly bothersome and ending with something that might be really dirty.

For exposure to be successful, it must be combined with response prevention, in which the child's rituals or avoidance behaviors are blocked. For example, a child who fears dirt must not only stay in contact with the dirty object, but also must not be allowed to wash repeatedly.

Some treatment plans involve having the child "bossing back" the OCD, giving it a nasty nickname, and visualizing it as something he or she can control. Over time, the anxiety provoked by dirt and the urge to perform washing rituals gradually disappear. The child also gains confidence that he or she can "fight" OCD.

OCD can sometimes worsen if it's not treated in a consistent, logical, and supportive manner. So it's important to find a therapist who has training and experience in treating OCD.

Just talking about the rituals and fears have not been shown to help OCD, and may actually make it worse by reinforcing the fears and prompting extra rituals. Family support and cooperation also go a long way toward helping a child cope with OCD.

Many kids can do well with behavioral therapy alone while others will need a combination of behavioral therapy and medication. Therapy can help your child and family learn strategies to manage the ebb and flow of OCD symptoms, while medication, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), often can reduce the impulse to perform rituals.

Helping Kids With OCD

It's important to understand that OCD is never a child's fault. Once a child is in treatment, it's important for parents to participate, to learn more about OCD, and to modify expectations and be supportive.

Kids with OCD get better at different rates, so try to avoid any day-to-day comparisons and recognize and praise any small improvements. Keep in mind that it's the OCD that is causing the problem, not the child. The more that personal criticism can be avoided, the better.

It can be helpful to keep family routines as normal as possible, and for all family members to learn strategies to help the child with OCD. It's also important to not let OCD be the "boss" of the house and regular family activities. Giving in to OCD worries does not make them go away.

Reviewed by: Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, MD
Date reviewed: May 2012

Source:  http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/OCD.html?tracking=P_RelatedArticle#