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Search Results for "anxiety" — 1295 posts

CD Giveaway, Relax: 6 Techniques to Lower Your Stress

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Update: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen. Subscribe to Tiny Buddha to receive free daily or weekly emails and to learn about future giveaways!

The Winners:

Last year, a representative from More Than Sound reached out to me to share the publishing companyā€™s new mindful driving CD, Awake at the Wheel.

As someone who frequently deals with Los Angeles traffic, I especially appreciated the opportunity to hear and share a CD focused on making the roads more peaceful.

Recently, More Than Sound connected with me again to introduce their latest offering, …

Tiny Wisdom: Itā€™s OK to Say No

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“Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.” ~Josh Billings

Sometimes I feel immense pressure to do all kinds of things I donā€™t want to do.Ā The reality is, I often put this pressure on myself. I think about the things I should do. Or the things I think I should want to do. Or the things other people might expect me to do.

And all this thinking can drain meā€”before Iā€™ve gotten a chance to do anything. This is basically choosing to create anxiety where there …

Tiny Wisdom: Letting Go of the Stress of Rushing

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“Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.”Ā  ~Will Rogers

It was like a scene in a movie. I was waiting to cross the street while pedestrians were crossing the perpendicular one. A number of cars were piled up, with drivers waiting to turn when the people made it to the sidewalk.

Several impatient drivers honked, as if they didnā€™t understand why the first one wasnā€™t going. So that first guy stuck his head out his window and yelled at the pedestrians, ā€œCome onā€”hurry up!ā€

Then …

Stop Pushing: The Art of Relaxed Achievement

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“Some people think it’s holding that makes one strongā€”sometimes it’s letting go.” ~Unknown

A few weeks ago, I took a sip of my morning tea hoping that the day would be better than the prior ones. I had somehow tripped over the cracks of life and couldnā€™t seem to pull myself back. I had woken up feeling eager to start a new day, but like every other day of my life, within the first few hours, things had gotten off track.

I was stuck in a downward vortex of fear, anxiety and self-ridicule. I read my Yogi tea bag message, …

Cherish Your Challenges and Find Your Authentic Self

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“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” ~Bernice Johnson Reagon

My quarter-life crisis kicked into high gear about six months ago.

Take this as evidence: I quit my job. I quit my apartment and moved back home. I quit booze and boys. I quit gluten and sugar. I quit friendships Iā€™d imagined would last a lifetime.

Iā€™m not asking for an A+ or gold stars for my ā€œselfā€ work. I wasnā€™t hit by a spark of spiritual lightening and magically committed to this transformation. In a lot of ways, the …

11 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Time in the Now

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“To be alive is to totally and openly participate in the simplicity and elegance of here and now.” ~Donald Altman

Five years ago my life was a mess. I was anxious, worried, afraid, and running away from my feelings. I was running away from the present moment.

So, what happened?

I started applying what I knew, which were really simple things such as breathing, visualization, and being aware of my thought patterns.

I havenā€™t found the Holy Grail; I simply took action. I had no idea how much my life was about to change, I just knew something had …

Tiny Wisdom: The Triggers That Lead to Pain

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“The world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming it.” -Helen Keller

There’s a child wailing five feet away from where I’m sitting in the Farmer’s Market at The Grove. This is my least favorite sound in the world, and I often tear up when I hear it.

While I realize children often cry for reasons that have nothing to do with danger, I associate hysterics with fear and powerlessness, and it makes me want to do something. Since I generally can’t, it manifests in my body as anxiety–a fight or flight response with no outlet.

I’ve …

Giveaway and Interview: Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields

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Editor’s Note: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen. They are:

Several years ago, when I lived in New York City, I developed a love for yoga that started in a studio previously owned by Jonathan Fields. I didnā€™t know it then, but I would eventually look to Jonathan as a role model, mentor, and friend.

Author of Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love, Jonathan Fields is (in his own words) a dad, husband, New Yorker, author and speaker, serial wellness-industry entrepreneur, recovering S.E.C./mega-firm hedge-fund lawyer, slightly-warped, …

You Can Control What You Do Today

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ā€œWhat you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.ā€ ~Pericles

Life is full of challenges. These obstacles are the greatest teachers we can have.

As Iā€™m sure is true for all of us, I have struggled with many things throughout my life. I used to feel a sense of ā€œwoe is me,ā€ but Iā€™ve learned to leverage these experiences to make positive changes in life.

Donā€™t let your history dominate your life. We have a choice. You can let your past be the ruler of your lifeā€”or…

Living in Extremes: Releasing the Need for Chaos and Control

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ā€œThere is more to life than increasing its speed.ā€ ~Gandhi

The next time I feel it urgent to text someone off Craigslist after 11pm, I may think twice.

I was obsessed with attaining the body of a fitness model. I had recently been laid off and when life gets tough, I go to workā€”on my abs. Itā€™s hard to accept that I canā€™t sweat away my troubles or make my problems magically disappear by tightening my thighs.

I tend to be a little high-strung, and excessive exercise helps me cope. Or, it possibly just adds more fuel to the fire. …

Book Giveaway and Interview: One Minute Mindfulness

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Update: The winners for this giveaway have been chosen. Subscribe to Tiny Buddha to learn about future giveaways!

The winners:

As you can likely tell from the number of author interviews/giveaways Iā€™ve posted during these last few weeks, Iā€™ve been receiving and reading a wide selection of books lately. One-Minute Mindfulness is now sitting on my coffee table, where I know I will refer it often.

The full title reads One-Minute Mindfulness: 50 Simple Ways to Find Peace, Clarity, and New Possibilities in a Stressed-Out World. It delivers on its promise.

From the Amazon Description:…

Tiny Wisdom: Stressing and Pushing for Success

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ā€œSuccess is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.ā€ -Albert Schweitzer

Last week, I was part of the studio audience for a taping of the Jay Leno show. One of the guests was Gleeā€™s Jane Lynch, who I learned has a new book out called Happy Accidents.

What struck me during her interview was her confession of struggling with chronic anxiety throughout most of her rise to fame. She always felt apprehensive about her decisions, unsure of whether or not she was doing the …

Giveaway and Review: the 2-Year Anniversary of Tinybuddha.com!

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Update: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen. They are:

It seems like just yesterday I wrote, ā€œItā€™s a pretty exciting week in Tiny Buddha world,ā€ before crafting a massive year-in-review post for the siteā€™s first anniversary.

Yet here we are again, a full year later.

So much has happened in this year, but instead of creating a lengthy year-in-review list, Iā€™m just going to recap the five biggest highlights, for the site and me personally. Iā€™ll also provide a selection of posts from the year that you may enjoy reading if …

4 Simple Tips for Confronting Someone Who Hurt You

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“To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.” -Unknown

For many years I maintained a relationship that I was not happy with. Iā€™m sure a lot of people have been there, or are there right now. I didnā€™t feel there was equality in the relationship; I always seemed to be the one giving, yet I consistently felt I was getting nothing out of it.

A close friend of mine asked me why I tolerated the behavior of the person in question.

As usual, a few excuses passed through my mind: the other person was …

Being Patient through Transformation: Trust, Change, Believe

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“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” ~Charles R. Swindoll

Ever noticed a chrysalis hidden within its cocoon? The final few moments before it emerges as a butterfly compose what science terms as metamorphosis, a transformation.

If you have been lucky enough to observe this process, which I highly recommend watching, youā€™d notice it has to struggle quite a bit before it gets all the attention for being the magnificent creature it is.

Itā€™s long and painful. However, while watching it, you may be tempted to clip off the outer covering of …

Tiny Wisdom: What Fear Really Means

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“Fear: False Evidence Appearing Real.” -Unknown

Sometimes we feel certain that we know exactly what we’re seeing. If you’re anything like me, odds are you’ve had plenty of opportunities to recognize your perception is often off.

A friend of mine once told me a story about a near-confrontation in the subway. She saw another woman dressed in what one might call Gothic clothing. Although my friend’s look was more conservative, she loved the other woman’s funky-looking shirt.

Unintentionally, she stared at it for a while, admiring the unique cut and wondering if she could pull that look off. When they …

10 Ways to Make Your Life More Playful

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“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” ~George Bernard Shaw

I was 25 and traveling through Ireland by myself. I was in Cong, a rural small town outside of Galway. It was quiet. Very quiet. Even though I had met people on my trip, I was starting to feel lonely.

I was thousands of miles from home. I had nobody around who knew me well or cared for me, and in the days before cell phones or internet cafes, I couldnā€™t just get in touch with my friends or family at the …

Balanced Living: How to Stay on Track

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“Continuous effortā€”not strength or intelligenceā€”is the key to unlocking our potential.” ~Winston Churchill

I declared myself a mess a long time ago. I lived in a constant, dull state of fear and anxiety. My emotions were more volatile thanĀ hurricaneĀ season, and not even I could predict how any given situation would affect me.

I may not have known it at the time, but I was miserable. I was trying to be someone I wasn’t and fit into a fast-paced life that I just wasn’t made for.

I was constantly overwhelmed by just about everythingā€”being stuck in traffic, waiting …

3 Questions to Help You Access Your Intuition

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“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.” ~Horace

During my second year at an arts conservatory, I took a detailed diagnostic test to determine the hemispheric dominance of my left and right brain.

People who tend to lean toward the left are logical, reality-based, practical, and intellectual, when people who tend to lean toward the right are artistic, intuitive, feeling, and imaginative.

On a horizontal linear scale from 1 to 10ā€”1 being the farthest left and 10 being the farthest rightā€”I tested 4.8. That means that I am basically balanced between both sides of my brain but lean .2 …

4 Simple Mantras to Help You Stay Positive and Happy

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“The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.” ~Swedish Proverb

Mantra, according to the dictionary:

Any sacred word or syllable used as an object of concentration and embodying some aspect of spiritual power.

Mantra, according to Sirena:

Things I say to myself to help me deal.

There are times we all go through that just straight up suck.

During these times, it can be hard to think about anything other than whatā€™s going on. We can become so consumed in our own misery that we often overshadow any glimmer of hope.…