People with mental health challenges, no matter the severity, can thrive in the workplace and be valuable team members. Allies play an important role by helping to provide the empathy and compassion they need to overcome key challenges. Our collective will, empathy, and compassion can break down the formidable barriers...
Knowing when and how to engage with someone who may be struggling with their mental health can be difficult. Talking about mental illness isn’t easy, particularly at work and particularly for people with a mental health condition. You don’t want to jump to conclusions about someone or seem judgmental. You...
Education on mental health issues is the foundation for helping people be better allies. If you’re a leader, encouraging or instituting better education at your company is a big-picture way you can be a mental health ally. You will likely experience a mental health challenge at some point in your...
For entrepreneurs, their minds can be the greatest asset they possess, especially during these life-changing times. In general, an entrepreneur's brain is certainly configured differently from others. Studies have shown that when it comes to identifying and selecting opportunities, a founder entrepreneur's mind thinks differently. But this brain power needs to...
As 2020 ends, we find ourselves entrenched in today's new normal, where being healthy is primarily defined as not getting sick with the pandemic virus. Our lives have become all about face masks, hand sanitizer, disinfectants, and social distancing. Yet, being healthy is more than being disease-free. Think of wellness...
On average, you will take around 16 breaths per minute. This means you will take 23,040 breaths just today and 8,409,600 breaths this year. Out of all those breaths, how many can you remember taking consciously? Although breathing is an important part of your autonomic nervous system, your body's control system...
In recent years, companies have hopped on the bandwagon of creating products that tout brain power-boosting abilities. Notably, energy drinks or pill supplements filled with artificial sweeteners, caffeine, and a plethora of unspoken chemicals that can wreak havoc on your body and your brain, the very thing it promises to...
Whether you have intermittent bouts of stress, anxiety, and depression or it’s a chronic problem, you can change. When you adopt positive habits, they can have a powerful effect on many areas of your life. Let’s take a look at three habits you can adopt today to ease stress, anxiety,...
Doctors, lawyers, managers, and business executives are so smart they don’t get addicted right? Most of us know that this is absolutely not right. High achievers thrive in most areas of life, so an addiction is often the first big challenge where hard work and smarts don’t cut it. I...
Mindfulness—including practices such as yoga, journaling, meditation, and more—has surged in popularity in the last several years. People typically seek out these activities to control stress and improve mental and emotional wellness, but with limited research on the physical impacts of the practice and no reimbursement incentives from health plans...
Individuals are burning out at an alarming rate. People feel the constant demand to deliver, so they're either burning out or they're leaving their professions altogether, due to high stress and burnout. With COVID-19, this is becoming more prevalent and amplified, due to all the demands from working from home...
It was a throwaway comment, and you were unaware that it was demeaning. But now that a colleague has brought the slight to your attention, you realize what you said was offensive. As a person who wants to be a good ally to your colleagues of any race or ethnicity,...
Although Don Draper had another kind of crisis, it was a crisis nonetheless. We - on the other hand - have been inadvertently thrown into a global pandemic that - like it or not - is still in full effect. Risks of infection are still present, jobs have been lost...
Many have suffered profound losses during the pandemic and have not had sufficient opportunity to grieve. Almost all of us have experienced loneliness. There will be more cases of anxiety and depression, and some survivors and their families will have post-traumatic stress syndrome. Access to mental health services was often poor before...
If you don’t already, you will soon know someone who has been ill with Covid-19 and survived. They will be our friends, our family, our neighbors, and our colleagues. History will judge us by the way we treat them. Unfortunately, as my and others’ research makes clear, stigma has exacerbated the suffering...
Obviously, no one could predict or be fully prepared for a pandemic, so to say that some have had a smoother transition than others would be a gross understatement. From learning new vocabulary words to incorporating new and more frequent hygienic practices to seeing all of your peers and clients...
It's quite plausible that the most difficult part of 2020 has been uncertainty. Uncertainty about how contagious COVID-19 really is and when it's going to end (and how). We face uncertainty about the travel that we have planned. Uncertainty about the economy. Uncertainty about our jobs. Yet, uncertainty can be...
Just like you can catch a cold or the flu, you can catch anxiety too, be it from a friend venting about her job troubles or watching a TV interview with survivors of a natural disaster. Given how the human brain is wired, “it’s all too easy for us to 'catch'...
Life is hard for working parents — and you don't need to be one to know it's the truth. Several industry surveys consistently report that a majority (60%) of North American parents have experienced burnout at work. Top symptoms cited by researchers included such colorful descriptions as "extreme frustration," "constant exhaustion"...
We are living in an era of technology obsession and smartphone addiction. I hear it all the time: “I can’t go anywhere without my phone” or “I feel anxious when I’m not able to check email” or “If I’m not on my social feeds, I feel like I’m missing out.” Not...
Skater Dan Jansen, seeded first in the world for several years between 1984 and 1994, failed to win it in 3 consecutive years. His coach suggested he focus on “being technically correct, aggressive, fluid, and to have fun. With little pressure to win, he skated like a champion, stayed focused...
There are thousands of studies that have shown mindfulness meditation can positively impact mental and physical health. Whether it’s by reducing stress, improving sleep, increasing focus, or improving relationships, research shows mindfulness works. While the research on mindfulness, especially digital mindfulness programs, is still growing, there is evidence to support the use of...
A few weeks ago a very odd thing happened at this party. A billionaire entered the room and all real conversations ceased. Everyone’s energy instantly focused on the man who is revered as a tech celebrity because he had built a very, very successful corporation. People gawked. To the chagrin...
A couple of years ago — long before COVID-19 was an unfortunate glimmer in the CDC’s eye — some therapists made the decision to switch from in-person therapy to telemedicine. If you are someone who has usually struggled with opening up to therapists, it may be easier to be vulnerable if...
Emotional exhaustion lies at the heart of burnout. As your emotional resources are used up in trying to cope with challenging situations — such as overwhelming demands, conflict, or lack of support at work or at home — your sense of well-being and capacity to care for yourself and others is...
We’re all experiencing the COVID-19 crisis. This current state of our world involves considerable stress, overwhelming changes, and overall disruption to our daily lives and routine. While we’re all waiting for things to resolve, and therefore for the day when we can return to normalcy again, the goal is for...
It seems ironic that when we are tired, our minds are often the most active. Lying in bed waiting for sleep to come, it can feel as though there’s an entity inside us, chattering away at record speed, ruminating and overthinking, and working against us — the voice of doubt and judgment that...
Everyone who has ever held a job has, at some point, felt the pressure of work-related stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. In the short-term, you may experience pressure to meet a deadline or to fulfill a challenging obligation. But when work...
Multitasking and constant interruptions at work can lead people to display negative emotions in addition to stress, according to a study published last month and led by researchers at the University of Houston. Researchers used an algorithm to analyze the faces of knowledge workers while they completed an essay writing task. One...
Meditation is wonderful in that it’s free, always available, and amazingly effective in short-term stress reduction and long-term health. The benefits can be felt in just one session. An experienced teacher can be helpful but isn't absolutely necessary. You can learn many effective meditation techniques from a book or from...
Are you stressed out about your finances? If you’re not, that would make you something of an outlier. Research from the Stanford University Center on Longevity and Fidelity investments reveals that the average person experiences four stressful life events each year. Some of these — for example, getting married, having a baby, or starting a new job —...
Your soul is a liar. Surprised? I know it’s sad. We love to believe that our soul is pure. But energetically speaking, it’s the part of us that has free will to choose its beliefs. At times, it can be out of alignment with divine energy. If we came to...
The holiday season is upon us. It is a time to relax, reconnect with family and friends, enjoy lavish dinner gatherings, attend celebratory parties, and exchange gifts. As the winter equinox brings us the shortest day of the year in late December, we can reflect on our past and ruminate...
Millennials present quite the paradox—they’re simultaneously the most connected and the loneliest generation. In 2018, a national survey by Cigna of more than 20,000 Americans ages 18 and over showed that most U.S. adults are considered lonely. That particular study found that that the youngest generation of those surveyed was the loneliest of all....
Most of the scientific literature about treating anxiety and depression is rooted in either a cognitive-behavioral perspective or a pharmacological one. Despite many advances, sometimes these methods are not enough. A certain percentage of men and women will not benefit from CBT, medication, or a combination of the two. Even...
Do you ever feel like your mind lies, sends you in circles, manipulates you, or gets you way off track? This doesn’t mean that the mind can’t help you with useful facts and information to guide your choices, but the mind has too much capacity for fear and logic, and...
Focusing on perfection is limiting and self- punishing; focusing on practice leads to growth and expansion. There is a point when my clients get a puzzled look on their face as they realize perfection and self-discovery mix like oil and water. Underneath that puzzled look is the thought “I can’t...
There are many worthy places to apply the adage “To give is to receive”, but some of the most titillating and rewarding in your relationship are in the areas of love and sex. I’m not talking about being virtuous, although being virtuous often leads to feeling happy. I am talking...
“The greatest gift you can ever give another person is your own happiness.” - Abraham Hicks. What if adding more pleasure to your life could help you live longer, look younger, lose weight and improve your sex life? Would you consider adding more pleasure to your daily routine? All these benefits and...
Relationships can be one of the greatest sources of joy. The place where we feel the most loved, safe and happy to be alive. They can also be hard. Most of us who have been in a long-term relationship might agree that there are times when managing our life together...
We all want to be somewhere else. We have phantom pangs of missing out on something wonderful. It must be better over there, because look, I can see it on my Facebook feed. Then the cryptic, pinging tweets begin; something about a margarita sunset that will last deep into the...
Time is finite. No reason to get sad, morose, or uneasy about it. In fact, you probably responded the way most do upon reading – “Well, of course, everyone knows that.” If that were true, it would seem carpe diem would be on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Flash forward....
In her book Reclaiming Conversation, Sherry Turkle, Ph.D., outlines the ways in which our reliance on digital messaging has changed the way an entire generation connects with each other. She poses that face-to-face interactions foster key human experiences like vulnerability, intimacy, and empathy—experiences that technology simply cannot offer. Turkle’s research...
As economic and political turmoil strengthen, your peers insist on challenging convention, families continue to destabilize, and social media increasingly disrupts our emotions, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed, anxious and frustrated these days. Anxiety is commonplace in the workplace, communication gaps may be widening in your life, and great...
What’s the difference between those who lead an active lifestyle, continually aspire for optimal physical and mental greatness, and train for the sake of their long-term health, versus the New Year’s resolution crowd? It’s elementally simple, but vastly complex: mentality. We’ve heard it a million times, but I had to...
Do you ever experience a moment of synchronicity or happenstance that has an instant way of getting your attention? It doesn’t have to be connected to a momentous event; rather it could be quite simple. For instance, on a whim, you call last minute for a Saturday night dinner reservation...