Lynne Berrett

Visualizations and guided imagery are time-honored ways to do forms of meditation that work for many people in many situations. But as I said before, we’re not all alike, and even for ourselves it pays to have a treasure box full of different techniques to call on when we’re stressed.

I thought about that this morning as I sat in the dentist chair and had my gums gouged and teeth scraped, all in the name of keeping as many in my head as possible for as long as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

I was talking to a friend the other day and was reminded of the importance of learning a number of different ways to harness normal anxiety.

She was recalling a major operation she underwent a few years ago. To prepare for it, she explored Eastern and Western methods for decreasing anxiety. She was surprised to find how much they helped her through that difficult time. She still uses techniques she learned then, when other stresses come up in her life now, ranging from work pressures to family conflicts.

You don’t have to be faced with an operation or serious illness to experience debilitating anxiety. Many stresses in our lives–good as well as bad stresses, I should point out–arouse the feeling. Read the rest of this entry »