Mindfulness

It’s Just a Half-inch

A few weeks ago I posted an article about practicing gratitude even in the storm of discomfort and suffering. That article was precipitate by a nine-month sports injury and finally surgery.  I am currently in the recovery mode with physical therapy twice weekly. I hope to get the bright shiny heavy-gage stainless stee......... more »

Virtual Reality

Now I am really showing my age and old fuddy-duddy-ism! I don’t know about you but I find the various commercials on TV about Virtual Reality units puzzling. First, a disclaimer. I have never tried one, so I don’t really know what I am missing…perhaps. I do understand how one can be transported to another part of......... more »

Cloud Gazing

So, how long has it been since you took time to gaze at the clouds? No, I don’t mean sticking your head out the door to check the weather. I mean really taking time to lie down on your back and spend time watching the cloud formations. Frankly, for me it had been quite a long time since I had done that. Sure I hav......... more »

For the Change Averse

Since the name of my psychology practice is the Center for Positive Change, one might get the idea that I am interested in the process of change. And that guess would be absolutely correct. It would also be correct to note that many of my neighbors and patients are change averse. They tend to be averse to change in the......... more »

Sticky Fingers

The character of your existence is determined by the energies to which you connect yourself.   (Hua Hu Ching: The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu, Chapter 24)   Back in ‘17 Way back, long, long, ago…in 2017 it seemed that most people I came in contact with were desperately trying to hold on to something st......... more »

Shipwreck 101!

"The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that ......... more »

Mindfulness and Mental Flexibility

This piece is about one of the virtues of having a Mindfulness practice. It is an effective way to gain mental flexibility. When I was younger I heard stories of older people being on the ground with the inability to get themselves off the floor. I remember thinking how odd that must be…just get up…right? Later,......... more »

UNEXAMINED NOOKS AND CRANNIES

First the inventory, then the point. In the smallish cupboard below our built-in micro-wave and regular ovens there is the most interesting and curious assortment of stuff. There are two white plastic baskets, same size, side by side. The left-side basket is completely unremarkable and thus uninteresting: Plastic ba......... more »

Coming to Your Senses: hearing

For those of you who have been following my last three posts, you know I have been writing about Mindfulness. Our last article was on Mindful “seeing”. This time I would like to suggest you experiment with another sense… your hearing. Again, I would like to suggest a simple Mindfulness exercise. Just go for a ......... more »

Coming to Your Senses: sight

My last two posts were about this thing called Mindfulness. At this point I would like to suggest a simple Mindfulness exercise. Just go for a slow walk of about 15 minutes. You can be anywhere: your yard, your neighborhood, in the woods, along the shore, or in a city. Step 1 Simply focus on the various colors and sh......... more »

Mindfulness:  Two Main Branches of Meditation

  #1       Concentration Practice (sometimes called Samadhi) This is where most people begin their meditation practice. Here we practice focusing our attention on something neutral (i.e., our breath, sound/mantra, candle flame, etc.) We assume the so-called “regal posture” meaning not slouching or......... more »

What Is This Mindfulness Stuff?

“There he goes again. Every time I ask him to take the trash out he throws a fit!”                                                        or perhaps “Ok doc so my blood sugar is elevated. That just makes me a sweeter lady doesn’t it…what’s the big deal?” These are just exa......... more »

640 on your AM dial

"From the front page of USA TODAY, Wednesday, May 3, 2017 – “World War III:  Americans are thinking about the unthinkable.” So it’s not only me!  All this macho missile rattling. It’s not that I think that the US and the People’s Republic of North Korea are really going to throw down plutonium, but, th......... more »

Would You Drive Blindfolded?

Another cyclist died. Killed by a car. This cyclist was a brilliant 25-year-old teacher who led a group of cyclists on a cross-country trip to raise money for affordable housing projects. It happened on a Thursday morning in Oklahoma. The driver apparently reported to police that she had been looking down at her cell p......... more »

The Wandering Mind

We are all familiar with the experience of having our mind wander. We're reading a book, and realize we've read the same page 5 times without any recollection of what we just read. Or when we are driving and realize we are way off course, but were so lost in thought we had no idea that we had missed our turn. As dis......... more »

Two Important Words

The 1st Word On “that” beautiful mid-July afternoon, I was finishing my salad at lunchtime, looking over emails, and waiting to see my next patient when the phone rang. In my typically rather positive phone voice I answer, “Good afternoon, Dr. Berry speaking”. My urologist, Alan Kowitz, was on the other end of......... more »

911 Mindfulness

On this 15th anniversary of 9/11, my mind has been wandering back to where I was when I first heard about the attacks. I remember that I was driving to work in San Rafael California. I remember the shock and the cloud of disbelief that followed me around that day. I'm sure many of you can remember the details of your d......... more »