An open letter to do better with anxiety

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Do you ever wonder why, as a parent, it is so difficult to help a loved one who is suffering from anxiety?  Anything you might suggest to reduce the anxiety can set up the fear of possible failure, which in turn can feed the anxiety itself.  I’d like to get together with people who grapple with this problem here in Warren. This is important to me because I know that when anxiety is not well managed horrible things can happen. My son Alex suffered from undiagnosed anxieties throughout his youth, his teenage years, and his early adult years. His self-medication… Continue Reading

Walking Meditation

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Walking meditation is a practice that combines movement with mindfulness, allowing you to connect with your surroundings and enhance your awareness. It can be done anywhere and at any pace, making it accessible for busy individuals. The practice can be done in a quiet space, such as a park or a corridor, and involves focusing on your breath and body movements. Walking meditation can help reduce stress, improve cognitive flexibility, and strengthen emotional regulation. It is a dynamic form of meditation that can be integrated into daily mindfulness routines. Continue Reading

“Civic Grief”

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Civic grief is an emerging idea. It is not about specific grievances and it is not about political differences, although both can contribute to civic grief. Civic grief is about unspent community love with no where to go. It is a symptom of collective self defeat and the mindset of a conquered and colonized people. It can become a catalyst for violence and it must be named if it is to be overcome. Continue Reading

Sound Therapy

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While the concept of specific sound frequencies having healing properties is popular in some alternative healing practices, it’s not scientifically proven. However, some frequencies are associated with potential benefits like stress reduction and improved mood. For example, 432 Hz is thought to have a relaxing effect and promote better sleep, while 528 Hz is linked to stress reduction and potential DNA repair according to DonovanHealth.  Here’s a more detailed look at some of the frequencies and their associated claims: 432 Hz: This frequency is often referred to as the “natural” tuning and is believed to have a calming effect, potentially reducing anxiety, lowering… Continue Reading

Poem for Grieving a Lost Pet

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This poem was developed through a conversation of Kevin M.C. Dye with Anthropic’s Claude, a private communication during the week ending in February 8, 2025 From Your Mack: A Love Note My human who smells of lavender and dawn,who moves like moonlight across our wooden floors—I want you to know: I am still tracking your scentthrough the vast territories of forever. Remember how I knew your sadnessbefore it reached your face?How I could taste the salt of your tearsbefore they fell? My nose never lies:your happiness was summer grass,your worry was autumn leaves,your love was warm bread rising. Here’s what I learned in… Continue Reading

Grief & Anxiety go Hand in Hand

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What does grief have to do with peer support for anxiety?  Grief can cause anxiety.  Anxiety can complicate grieving.  This cyclic relationship between unexplored grief and unrecognized anxiety can persist and intensify for years. Grieving is delayed when the recognition of the reality of a traumatic loss is repressed or when the grieving emotions are suppressed.  The two forms of interrupted grieving differ.  Repressed acknowledgement of loss is a conscious reaction that can occur when other urgencies demand immediate attention. When the distracting urgencies fade, the reality of the loss can be acknowledged, and grief can resurface.  A less recognized,… Continue Reading

Library Exhibit of Handheld Labyrinths

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Throughout the months of January and February, the George Hail Library in hosting an exbibit of several styes of handheld labyrinths along with a collection of books describing the history, the use, and the design of labyrinths, along with a directory of laboratories in the Southcoast area. Handheld labyrinths are useful when labyrinths are not available or accessible with walking. Hints for walking handheld labyrinths include getting in a thoughtfully comfortable position, using your non-dominant hand (to slow your finger walk), circle the labyrinth several times, breathing slowly and deliberately, and, of course, feel you contact to the labyrinth. Continue Reading

The Anxiety Crisis

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It may be a sign of an improving society to see that anxiety itself is rising as a concern and an opportunity.  Anxiety affects anyone who pays attention to life around us, and it adversely affects almost all of us at some time or another either acutely (immobilizing us) or chronically (nudging us to self-administered reactions).  Many will accept the “just get over it” or the “it’s a normal part of life” thoughts about burdensome anxiety.  And any of us will self-medicate our way through anxious times with comfort food, social alcohol, or natural or pharmaceutical “remedies.”   Surely it is… Continue Reading