A recent randomized-controlled test study from November 2022 caught our eye as it found that participants that fully engaged with an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program experienced reduced anxiety levels at the same levels as those taking 10-20mg of escitalopram, commonly sold under the brand names Lexapro and Cipralex.

Whether you call it ruminating, intrusive thoughts, perseverating or just plain “I can’t turn my brain off”, repetitive thoughts that bring discomfort show up quite regularly. Applying polyvagal theory connects repetitive thoughts to a sympathetic nervous system state.    Five tips to calm racing thoughts and disengage from sympathetic nervous system.

Facial gestures, tone of voice, or certain statements from someone in your family can provoke activation of your ‘fight or flight’ response (sympathetic nervous system and this state will dictate the type of behaviors and thought patterns that will follow. Building awareness of your physiological state, such as ‘fight or flight’, can be key in bringing in coping mechanisms to ease family or relationship tension, stress and disagreements. We have some tips to help ground your nervous system so that you can soften the discomfort and still enjoy time with family.

What we do know is that emotions don’t just disappear over time. Feelings are akin to energy and the energy of an emotion needs to be released in some way or fashion. Writing about what you are holding, feeling, experiencing deep inside of you is a great way to express and release this energy.

The recipe below is a collaborative effort between myself and a functional nutritionist to find and then evolved over time to include cranberries and pears to align with the autumnal season. I brought this dish to a Thanksgiving dinner at a friends house a couple of years ago, mainly so I had a potato dish to indulge in that was dairy-free; was surprised how much everyone liked the dish and made it disappear before anyone could have seconds.

It is a commonly held misconception that the brain is beyond repair. Even the medical establishment has asserted that once we kill brain cells, they are gone forever. The fact is, the brain can repair itself, and as science is now proving, there is real benefit to simple practices that can help keep our brains sharp and elastic throughout our lifetime.