This is just a brief post to announce that I have published my new book ‘Morning Walks – A Mindful Journey’ on Amazon Kindle!
Morning Walks; Kindle Book Released!
Author: Paul Harris
Mental Health Awareness Week: Kindness & Self-Compassion.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and the theme is kindness. While a lot of the focus will probably be aimed at being kind to other people, I would like to focus on Self-kindness and the positive effects it can have on our physical and mental wellbeing.
In my last blog, Why Now May be a Good Time to Start Meditating, I highlighted how dangerous negative thoughts and emotions, such as anxiety, can be for our health.
The further we traverse into the uncharted territories that this pandemic is presenting to the world then the more important actions such as kindness are. As people become more afraid and stress increases, words such as kindness, love and care seem to get forgotten, replaced by anger, frustration and an urge to find someone to blame.
Numerous studies have shown that emotions such as anger and hatred can be a significant cause of premature death. Dr Redford Williams at Duke University, and Dr Robert Sapolsky at Stanford University have conducted studies that showed how anger, rage and hostility are particularly damaging to the cardiovascular system. Read more
Why Now May be a Good Time to Start Meditating.
Being in a prolonged period of stress and fear is exhausting, and it will be having a massive impact on your mental and physical well-being.
An 8 year study of 68,222 adults (published in the British Medical Journal) found that even mild anxiety produces a 20% greater risk of death.
Research also shows that negative emotions such as fear, pessimism and resentment depress our immune system.
That’s the bad news; the good news is that there is something we can do to help ourselves; to aid in boosting our immune system and our general well-being, and that is ‘meditation’. Read more
Strange Days….. Dealing With Self Isolation, Fear & Panic.
“Panic is a sudden desertion of us, and going over to the enemy of our imagination.” – Christian Nestell Bovee
The current situation with Coronavirus has probably given a lot of people an insight into panic, and how our brain and body reacts to situations of immense stress and fear.
The well used phrase ‘panic buying’ sums it up perfectly. As soon as we are confronted with fear, we go into fight or flight; this is our primeval reaction that has been hardwired into our brains during prehistoric times (Understanding Anxiety, Panic & Depression: Part 1 – Anxiety). This is just another example of where this built-in response isn’t really suited to the modern world. It is natural to want to protect ourselves and our loved ones, hence why some people have turned to stockpiling food, but this has a negative effect on the communities that we live in. Read more
Time to Get Outdoors, Whatever the Weather….
I guess it is stating the obvious to say that the weather has a massive impact on our mood. When the sun shines we generally feel better than when it is wet windy and grey.
Normally I don’t mind a bit of rain and wind; after all, us Brits are used to it (sniggers from my friends and relatives in South Africa) but the last couple of months have been a real struggle for me. It seems as though every day I have had to battle through high winds, and wade through sticky, gooey mud. I battle depression anyway, but I find that the worse the weather, the lower my mood.
One of my neighbours recently saw me walking down the road with Leo in the rain; he smiled and said “that’s why I have a cat….” can’t really argue with that.
This year the storms seem relentless, and the normal, cold crisp, frosty days of winter that I really love, have been very scarce. Read more
