December 2022

Non-Striving Zen Stones

Year in review: Being alive is a wonderful gift

The year is drawing to a close — time for a review of the year and a look ahead. If I’m not certain how long I will live, I want to do everything I can to be in tune with my values.  When people need help to survive, I want to help as many people […]

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Childhood Trauma, Kindheitstrauma, Four F, Vier F, cPTSD

Childhood trauma forms: unwanted children and their reactions

Childhood trauma forms: when children learn that they are not wanted Children are completely dependent on the people around them. If a child must learn that it is not wanted by parents or primary caretakers, it cannot interpret that situation as abusive. In a child’s world, people cannot be bad and evil at the same

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young child sitting in a garden looking skywards Kleinkind in einem Garten umgeben von Blumen mit dem Blick zum Himmel

Childhood trauma reactions – what happens in the brain during extreme fear

Childhood trauma responses: Neurobiology To understand what childhood trauma reactions do in the brain, we need to understand what trauma is in the first place. For example, subjective conditions must also be distinguished in addition to objective conditions. A situation is objectively traumatic if the event caused extreme stress for most people, an armed robbery,

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Childhood Trauma, Kindheitstrauma, Four F, Vier F, cPTSD

Childhood trauma – exercises “Half smile” and “Willing Hands”

Taking control of our facial expression by half-smiling and hand positioning by creating a willing hand A great sensory body awareness skill, half-smiling and willing hands, allows us to physically take control of our facial expression and hand positioning. Remember that your body connects to your mind, so by using your face and hands as

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christmas_tree, decoration, loneliness, einsamkeit

Loneliness – HOW-TO for coping with lonely holidays

Loneliness: Being alone is not loneliness For many people, the Christmas and New Year holidays are a time of celebration with the family. Christmas parties at work, baking biscuits during Advent, giving presents on Christmas Eve, family meals on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and numerous religious celebrations fill hearts with joy. However, when all

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young child sitting in a garden looking skywards Kleinkind in einem Garten umgeben von Blumen mit dem Blick zum Himmel

Childhood Trauma: Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) – HOW TO

PMR: What is that? Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is used to reduce anxiety. The technique was introduced by the American doctor Edmund Jacobson in the 1930s. This technique alternates tension and relaxation of all the body’s important muscle groups. In this way, PMR gradually achieves a state of relaxation. With increasing practice, more and more

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Childhood Trauma, Kindheitstrauma, Four F, Vier F, cPTSD

Childhood trauma: a son’s story of his father’s transformation from a violent criminal to a loving parent

Aeon features this story about a son honouring where his father’s turbulent life has taken them both. From violent criminal to loving parent, this video chronicles the father’s turbulent life and how he found a path to love through helping others, art and fatherhood. In Violator, the Los Angeles-based filmmaker Edward Robles chronicles the turbulent life

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