Oprah.com

Do you want to be happier, more connected to others and a better problem-solver? Karen Salmansohn says we all once were Zen masters when it came to interacting with the world around us, but our brains change as we age—becoming more focused and inhibited—and now you may need to retrain your brain to expand your consciousness. Take her advice and tap into the little buddha inside of you!

How To Recover From 10 Types of Demotivation

http://www.productiveflourishing.com/how-to-recover-from-10-types-of-demotivation/
by Cath Duncan on July 13, 2010

Motivation is central to creativity, productivity and happiness. Motivation is what causes us to act, and when we act, we create movement, growth and change, we feel involved, masterful and significant, we feel powerful through experiencing how we can change the world, and we create more of what we love in our lives. And all of this gives our lives purpose and happiness.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Guide to Avoiding Avoidance

Dr. Martha Beck does it again. More  fabulous and useful advice.

Is there really such a thing as good grief? Does fear of suffering only increase suffering? For the fastest way through bad times, read on….
Melanie’s life was shrinking like a cheap blouse in an overheated dryer. At 30 she’d developed a fear of flying that ended her dream of world travel. Within a year, her phobia had grown to include—or rather, exclude—driving. After the World Trade Center attacks, Melanie became terrified to enter the downtown area of any city. She quit her job as an office manager (the potential for mail-based terrorism was too big) and called me hoping I could help her devise a way of earning money from home. “Everybody tells me my fears aren’t realistic,” she said. “But I think I’m the most realistic person I know. It’s a dangerous world—I just want to be safe.”

Written by Orion Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder

Love this blog by Brooke Castillo

http://brookecastillo.typepad.com/

http://brookecastillo.com/

Wanting not Having

I’ve recently been doing some work with a design coach on finding out what my “home style” is and how I want my home to be decorated.

It has been a very revealing journey.

Martha Beck is the first person who really taught me that our homes are really metaphors for our lives.  So, of course, it would make sense that I would be redecorating and redesigning.

As part of my homework, I was to find images on the internet and in magazines that I loved and would want for my own home.

April 30, 2010, 11:51 am

The Talents of a Middle-Aged Brain

After we hit 40, many of us begin to worry about our aging brains. Will we spend our middle years searching for car keys and forgetting names?

The new book “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind,” by Barbara Strauch, has the answers, and the news is surprisingly upbeat. Sure, brains can get forgetful as they get old, but they can also get better with age, reports Ms. Strauch, who is also the health editor at The New York Times. Ms. Strauch, who previously tackled teenage brains in her book “The Primal Teen,” spoke with me this week about aging brains and the people who have them. Here’s our conversation: