So, you had trouble falling asleep. Again. Or, you woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. Or both. Why does this happen and what to do about it? The following is excepted from “Up at 4 A.M.?” by Amy Spencer, in the magazine, Dr. Oz The Good Life, Jan-Feb 2015 (an oldie, and hopefully a goodie). What happens If we’re not sure how something will play out, our primitive mind prepares us for the worst possible outcome. Survival Back in our cave days, our ancestors needed to be prepared to fight or flee to survive. Key The primitive part of the brain—the amygdala—thinks our idle ruminations are urgent matters that need to be dealt with right away, as if they are real emergencies. Wide Awake And there we are, wide awake, ready and alert, to battle the catastrophe that we have imagined. What To Do Take some deep, relaxing…
Tag: Lee Holden
Qi Gong To Calm The Mind and . . .
. . . might help with your writing. Note from Marlene: I have wondered why we humans seem to easily focus on the negative and sometimes have difficulty seeing the positive. The following from Qi Gong teacher Lee Holden explains why we tend to think about things that cause stress and anxiety: The nature of the mind is to dream and wander. Even when the present moment is completely perfect, it’s normal for thoughts to run off into the past or future. Sometimes, daydreaming can provide valuable insights that lead to joy. However, most of the time, the mind isn’t quite so generous. More often than not, the mind’s natural tendency is to ruminate on thoughts that produce stress or anxiety. Luckily, Qi Gong provides powerful tools for calming the mind and returning to peace. In this article, we’ll discuss the nature of human thinking, as well as share three…