The Balanced Life, Huntsville Alabama

When I think of our forefathers who founded this country, I consider how they must have felt trapped by the way things were run in their home country of Great Brittan.  In addition to feeling trapped, other words that come to mind are oppressed, afraid, emotional, and at times hopeless.  And yes, it’s true, I’m making a stretch here to connect July 4^th’s Independence Day to this week’s blog, but I wonder if many of us feel the same way (trapped, oppressed, afraid, emotional, and at times hopeless) by the chaos in our lives. 

It’s that transitional time of the year again when summer break is officially winding down and there are less than two weeks before most schools start back.  For parents, it is sometimes a relief for their kids to go back to school, but for children and adolescents, it can be a feeling of dread to get back into the routine of schoolwork and waking up early. 

Less than two weeks until Christmas-- I hear that and immediately start to feel a twinge of panic along with a million different thoughts running through my mind.  Did I do this? Did I buy that? What about for this person? When is this event?

As a specialist in the treatment of anxiety disorders the past four years, I have seen a lot of anxious individuals. 

Anxiety and insecurity about our uncertain future abounds and everyone deals with anxiety and stress differently.

Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in the concept of mindfulness and how it can benefit those who practice it. There is more and more research coming out that supports the many benefits from a mindfulness practice.

As a specialist in the treatment of anxiety disorders the past four years, I have seen a lot of anxious individuals.  Some more anxious than others, but almost all of them despite circumstances or clinical diagnoses, share an underlying feeling of being overwhelmed.

Now more than ever, people of various backgrounds and cultures are coming together because we all have been affected by COVID-19 in some way or another.  One thing I know for sure, life certainly hasn’t stopped because of our current pandemic. 

Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in the concept of mindfulness and how it can benefit those who practice it.

Did you see the recent article Newsweek put out citing a recent study that Alabama is the most stressed state?