How Mindfulness Can Help Us Cope with Parkinson’s Disease

Get more information on the 8-Week Mindfulness for People with Parkinson’s and Care Partners Program, February 6-March 27, 2023, supported by the Michigan Parkinson’s Foundation While the cause of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is largely unknown, increasing evidence points to stress as a possible risk factor in the development of the disease. It’s been postulated that prolonged emotional stress can trigger PD with increased loss of brain cells (neurons) in some brain regions. Although this idea has been contested, many authors of recent scientific publications have pointed to extreme psychological stress, emotional shock, and prolonged anxiety as risk factors in PD. […]

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Make Every Day Thanksgiving Day

Ahh, Thanksgiving! The day we set aside to give thanks for the abundance in our lives, for all those beautiful moments, and for all the people we cherish. A time to bring everyone together and count our blessings. So why is it that this is often a time when we feel overextended, under-resourced, and off balance? Like Sisyphus, the king in Greek Mythology who was sentenced by the Gods to push a boulder uphill, over and over again for eternity.  Balancing the many demands in our lives can truly feel more like drudgery than joy. Our natural tendency is to turn

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Change Your Brain with Mindfulness

It wasn’t all that long ago that scientists believed that our brains stopped growing and changing in our mid-20s. Then, new technologies were born. EEGs, PET scans, and fMRIs gave us the ability to observe the inner workings of living, functioning human brains, and everything changed! These amazing machines created a window into a brain that is constantly molding and re-molding itself from birth to death. When we learn something new or train in a new skill, our brains get bigger in areas that relate to that new knowledge. When we quit using certain areas of the brain, they shrink.

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I’m Not a Mess, Life is Messy!

“Life is hard!” It was such a relief when I first heard that phrase. Until then, I had believed that life was hard because of some internal flaw and that I was to blame. When I hit a bump in the road, my internal message was, “I am such a mess.” I had entirely missed the message that life is just messy. From my vantage point, all those other people were perfectly happy, enjoying wonderful vacations, and doing meaningful work because they had it together, not because they had found ways to triumph over the messiness of life. Struggling is

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What is Mindfulness and Should You Give it a Try? 

“To meditate is to discover new possibilities, to awaken the capacity that each of us has to live more wisely, more lovingly, more compassionately, and more fully.”  – Jack Kornfield, Meditation for Beginners Mindfulness and meditation have gotten a lot of press lately. They are teaching it in healthcare settings and therapists’ offices. Athletes swear by it, soldiers are finding it improves their resilience, and it helps school kids focus and learn. You may have heard that meditation is a great way to create more balance or maybe that you know someone who is convinced that it has helped them

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Bad Habits Thrive on Autopilot – Mindfulness is the Antidote

The brain is a habit-making machine! Every time I do something that brings pleasure, the brain lays down some tracks to help me remember that good feeling. For example, a coworker gives me a couple of Dove Chocolates, and I take them back to my desk. I get back to work, and things are humming along nicely until I get a distressing email. I start to feel the anger rising, and then I notice the chocolate and pop one into my mouth. Yum! A burst of pleasure rushes, the anger relaxes a little bit, and I go back to work

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Befriend Your Body with Self-Compassion

“before I could release the weight of my sadness and pain, I first had to honor its existence” —Yung Pueblo For thousands of years, our ancestors listened to the call of the body to inform the mind and spirit. At what point did we lose this ability? The body is the most amazing repository of wisdom. Our bodies tell us when we are tired, when we are in love, when we are peaceful, and when we are afraid. And yet, we consistently ignore the signals our body is sending us. Have we become oblivious to our most sacred source of

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9 Tips to Bust your Sugar Cravings

A little sweetness is okay.  Eating too much added sugar can set you up for endless cycles of wanting more.  Research suggests that too much sweet stuff plays a role in the development of heart disease, diabetes, and dementia.  Rather than the common myth of causing hyperactivity, excess consumption of simple carbohydrates zaps energy levels.   Foods made with sugar are delicious and sweet foods have a place in a healthy pattern of eating.  Cravings are complex experiences that can be driven by emotions, deprivation, environmental or social situations, and one’s eating pattern. While we can’t turn off the desire for

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Parenting is Like the Seasons

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.” Kahil Gibran We have all journeyed through the lessons of winter: hibernation, healing, and inner growth. We see gray skies and lots of cold, icy weather! It can be comforting to pull on warm, cozy clothing, wrap up in a blanket and enjoy a good book. We learn to endure, maybe even embrace the beauty of sparkling snow, and the fresh, brisk air.  Spring is a long awaited season, a time of renewed hope. We begin to see early signs of spring- our first robin, our

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The Gifts of Mindfulness

These days, the word “mindfulness” is everywhere. And apparently, practicing it is really helpful!  But what exactly is mindfulness and what does it do for us?  Mindfulness is the moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness of our inner and outer experience.  Mindfulness practices are the things we do to strengthen our brains and to make mindfulness accessible.  When we want our bodies to become stronger and healthier, we lift weights, do aerobic exercise, or practice yoga; when we want to strengthen our awareness, cognitive abilities, and internal sense of resilience, we do mindfulness practices. When I first started practicing mindfulness, I felt anxious

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