Dealing with anxiety through spiritual practice

by Ryan Rivera

What is spirituality, if not the process of learning how to see life in perspective? What is a spiritual seeker, if not a person who aims for detachment from his lower self? Most people don’t realize this, but following a consistent spiritual practice can be a highly effective way to deal with anxiousness; in the same way, certain methods of anxiety management can be described as being almost spiritual in nature. (more…)

Take a Snapshot of Your Soul

"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man." So wrote Alexander Pope in the 18th Century. Indeed to know yourself is a lifetime's pursuit, as the light of experience continually exposes new facets of what we are, as well as modifying that which is already known.

Taking a snapshot of your soul can be likened to checking the position of a boat that's been left on autopilot for a while. It involves stepping back from the actual living of daily life, identifying what's important, and as a result maybe tweaking your direction a little. (more…)

Don't Say You Don't Have Time

A great paradox of the technological era is that despite each wondrous new invention the demands on our time become ever greater and the promise of a leisure society seems further away than ever.

Take for instance the ubiquitous cell phone; before these little marvels appeared, being out of the office meant being off duty, nowadays we are on call 24/7. Or the Internet, the truly fantastic global computer network that places a world of knowledge at our fingertips; the trouble is we're now so overloaded with information we often can't begin to sift the (little) meaningful content from the (mass of) dross. (more…)

Up time, down time

Every moment's a precious gift to be used to its full potential. But don't you ever get periods (hours, days, even weeks) when you just want to allow time to pass doing nothing particular at all? We all do, and there's no need to feel guilty.

As human beings we are creatures of limited energy existing for a while within a universe of infinite potential. We each have to determine how we allocate our time and resources to best serve our particular life path. (more…)

How to Stop Feeling Bad

It seems the majority of people suffer some form of stress, depression, or anxiety at some time or another. But what are the causes, and what can we do to improve matters?

We can feel bad for various reasons:

• the past
• yourself
• your circumstances/situation
• future worries
• world problems (more…)

How's your Event Horizon?

In physics an event horizon is the boundary around a black hole, beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. In human terms it's the whole range of things past and future that affect us in any way in the moment of now.

It's no coincidence that the same word - present - is synonymous with both 'now' and 'gift'. The moment of now is truly a gift not only to be cherished but also utilized to its full potential. Eckhart Tolle's Spiritual bestseller The Power of Now describes the benefits of limiting one's attention to the present. (more…)

When Life Seems Too Much

Isn't life wonderful? Like a County Fair with so many attractions and activities all vying for - and demanding - your attention. So much to see, so much to do. The trouble is, you're only human. That means you're limited, with only so much time and energy to give.

It can be overwhelming. And that's why stress and its close relatives depression and anxiety are running at epidemic proportions in the modern world. (more…)

Stress Free for Good

10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness by Dr. Fred Luskin and Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier

Despite living in the age of technological marvels stress and related mental problems have reached epidemic proportions in the Western world. The effects of stress upon the body are real as demonstrated by well-documented "white coat hypertension" in which patient's blood pressure is significantly higher when measured by their doctor compared with readings measured at home. It's now widely held that much physical illness either has mental problems at its origin, or is worsened by the patient's state of mind.

Paradoxically, instead of saving time, technology is actually placing people under pressure to achieve more within the the finite limits of each day. And there's the rub. Many stress management techniques have been developed over the years, but often they require significant commitment from the already pressed subject. And often they don't get applied at all. (more…)