5 Ways to Stay Happy and Healthy Around the Holidays
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham defined happiness as “the experience of pleasure and absence of pain.” And this time of year – this sacred, sentimental time of year – we often uphold this definition of happiness. We go to parties. We make plans to see family and friends. We give and receive gifts. We seek out the special people, places, and things that give us pleasure. But when I read Jeremy Bentham’s words, I wonder… what is pleasure, and what is pain? We think of these things like they...
Can you relate to Camille’s story?
When I first met Camille, no one in her life would have guessed she was struggling. She had done well throughout her schooling. She had a husband she loved, a job she found fulfilling, and a strong support circle of close friends and family. If you saw her life from the outside, you would probably think she “had it all together.” Certainly, if there was one word that came to mind when you saw her life, it was not “unstable.” And yet, when she first walked into my office, that was the very word...
What’s your brain type?
122 years ago, biologist Karl Landsteiner was working at the Pathological-Anatomical Institute of the University of Vienna when he made an odd observation – an observation that no human had made before. He was combining blood samples when he saw them becoming thick with little clumps. He noticed this would happen when samples from two different donors were mixed together. This piqued his interest, so he decided to follow up. He had not been experimenting with this idea long when he noticed...
What you DON’T do, matters.
Do you know that your body is a machine? I have said this before, but it bears repeating. We often forget. Your body lifts. It lunges. It computes. It flexes, darts, dashes, drives… Your body is a beautiful machine – a multitalented, multifunctional tool that allows you to do everything you’ve ever done. Every happy memory, every photo-worthy smile, your brain and body made possible. What makes us different from other machines, though, is that we choose what we put inside ourselves. Cars run...
Be wary of “muddy” thoughts
What do you think your life would be like if you spent every day in a muddy hole in the ground? Each day you would wake up in the mud. You would do your work in the mud and eat your meals in the mud. When work was done, you would rest in the mud. And then, at the end of the day, you would lay down to sleep in the mud. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, you are in this hole, surrounded by mud and muck. What do you think your life would be like? It’s easy to think that your clothes would be dirty....
You know the feeling…
Your stomach hurts. It is grumbling so loud, they can hear it in the next room over. You are watching the clock but time has slowed down to a crawl. There’s a sharp pain that comes and goes, but a dull ache that’s there at all times, reminding you it’s been a long time since your last snack. You know what that feels like… I’ll bet you even know what it tastes like! Hunger is not a pleasant feeling. There is a reason it’s not a pleasant feeling – it is supposed to remind us to refuel! But...
5 ways to stay hydrated for optimal brain performance
Today, I want to share with you how to do one of the most important things you can do for your brain… In my recent posts, I have been covering 7 cheap, simple ways to boost your brain performance. Eating healthy, exercising, getting better sleep – these activities are foundational to your brain’s wellness. But just as important as what you fuel your brain, how you refresh it, and how you move so that it stays fit, is how you hydrate your brain. It is one of the best things you can do for your...
Your brain on sleep
Finally, it’s 10 PM. The last few customers are filing out of the restaurant and when they’re outside, you lock up the front door. It’s closing time. Then, you turn around and look at the whole dining room. After a full, bustling day of serving customers, the dining room is looking run-down and needs to be prepared for tomorrow. Even though the restaurant is closed, the work is far from over. Now, this scenario may not be familiar to you. But whether or not you have ever worked in a dining...
How All-or-Nothing thinking cripples so many’s brains and mental health. Do you think like this?
Does a small mistake ruin your whole day? Do you feel best about yourself when you’ve been making all the right choices? Would you call yourself a perfectionist, obsessing over tiny details to get them all, each and every one, just right? This kind of thinking is called “all or nothing thinking.” And it is the enemy of progress. “Perfectionism” is a word we hear thrown around a lot – we think it just means that someone has high standards for themselves. But believe it or not, all or nothing...
“Why” matters more than “what”
Let’s do a quick exercise that will offer you some important insight… Take a pencil and a piece of paper and write down everything you’ve eaten today – meals, snacks, and even beverages, too – from the time you woke up to now. If you’re reading this in the morning, try writing down what you ate yesterday. Don’t leave anything out. Then, next to each item, write down why you ate that thing. Now, you might be tempted to write down, “I was hungry,” or, “It was lunchtime.” But that’s not what I...
Better Brain Performance – You can start today!
If there are two things I want to communicate to you with these emails, it’s these… Your brain is at the center of everything you do and everything you are. How you take care of your brain is how it takes care of you.This all-important world-driving supercomputer can only serve you if you serve it the way it needs to be served. These two facts are not just the reason I write to you each week – they are the reason I chose my career as a healthcare provider. They are the reason I go to work...
Brain aging IS optional!
Unfortunately, we live in a world that time is not kind to… Time changes everything it touches. Food goes bad. Pavement cracks. Paint chips and gets bleached by the sun. Entropy enters systems and breaks things apart. We get older; our bodies start to slow and our brains begin to shut down. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Well… I guess that’s not totally true. Time does change everything. But it doesn’t have to change things so much. If you keep food safe, it stays good to eat longer. You...
In psychiatry, there is no one answer…
I know I say it often, but it warrants repeating: your body is a beautiful and complex machine! Trillions of specialized cells working together to make up tissues, to compose organs, to collaborate as systems, to support your daily doings… it is a work of art. But given how complex it is, one symptom could mean a dozen or more different causes. When you are talking to a friend and they say, “Oh, my stomach hurts,” you do not rush to tell them to have a snack. They could be in pain for many...
The supercomputer that is your brain
Over the last few weeks, we’ve talked a lot about the brain… Its central role in your life and the world – the importance of meeting its needs – how you should treat it, and how you should not treat it, if you want to live a life of less trouble… And today, I want to take you behind the curtain and give you a closer look at the supercomputer that is your brain. You see, your brain is a beautiful, complex, and magnificent machine – a mechanism composed of ten times more neurons than there are...
9 things you can do today to help your brain
Last week, I asked you a question: would you rather fill your car with water, juice, or laundry detergent? Of course, this is a ridiculous question. Your car was not built to run on any of these things, so they would do nothing to get you home… and worse yet, they would probably damage your vehicle permanently. But what happens when your car gets exactly the kind of fuel it needs? It becomes an invaluable tool – something that functions just as it is built to and takes you wherever you need to...
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Get My Blog Posts Right in Your Inbox Every Week