Hidden Barriers to Happiness Blog
Have you always wondered about the invisible forces that affect your health, wealth, relationships and happiness?
For over 25 years, first as a neuroscientist, then epidemiologist, and now as a Holistic Brain Health Practitioner, I’ve been passionate about identifying underlying causes of mental and cognitive health challenges. This blog reveals my discoveries from my academic training, my passion for functional medicine, psychology, sociology, energy medicine and what I’ve learned from identifying secrets held by the subconscious.
If you want more health, wealth, better relationships and more happiness, find out what could be getting in the way! When you sign up to get my Top 10 Tips for a Happy & Healthy Brain, you’ll also get 2-4 newsletters per month featuring my blog, “Hidden Barriers to Happiness”.
What are you waiting for? Knowledge is power!
Debunking the Myth that there is No Science Behind Energy Medicine
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that there is no science behind energy medicine. There has been tons of research coming from David Feinstein, Ph.D. Dawson Church, Ph.D., Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dean Radin, Ph.D., and many others, demonstrating the power of energy medicine. But despite this, there are still many who seem glued to the idea that energy medicine is not evidence based.
One of the leading contributors to this myth is Wikipedia. Many of its arguments used to claim there is no science to support energy medicine come from the lab of one researcher, Edzard Ernst, Ph.D. (more…)
How to Overcome Abandonment Issues
Do you know someone who has abandonment issues?
My client (let’s call her Anne to protect her identity) came to me struggling with backaches, headaches and vision problems that came with stress, exhaustion and overwhelm.
She had been struggling with these issues for years. But they were getting worse when she returned back to work after taking a leave of absence.
With all the pain and fatigue, she was finding it a real challenge to manage all her responsibilities as a mom and a new business owner.
One Simple Experiment to Measure Positive and Negative Energy
Most people intuitively know that the energy we project does matter, but according to Joachim Krueger Ph.D. in Psychology today, there is no way to measure the difference between positive and negative energy.
I beg to differ. I interviewed by Joshua Blatman for his Survivors2Thrivers podcast. Watch this little demonstration of what happens to coat hangers depending on the energy Joshua projects. Then feel free to try the experiment with wire coat hangers at home.
The experiment:
Find Love with the Emotion Code
Are you finding yourself single once again on Valentine’s Day?
With all the commercial reminders around this holiday, it can be a stark reminder to those of us who are single, of what we don’t have.
But I have good news for you! If you want to find love, I’m here to deliver a message of hope!
First here are a couple of things to consider to put this day in perspective:
One Question That Will Change Your Relationship With Yourself
I showed up to yoga, stressed to the max with everything I had to do. I had talk to give, taxes to do, people to get back to, a book to complete, and a blog article to write. As my yoga instructor was guiding us through her sequence, I found myself cycling between feeling overwhelmed about how I was going get everything done, what I should write my blog article about, and trying to remind myself that I needed to be present.
When suddenly I had an epiphany.
The Easiest Way to Stop Negative Self-Talk for Good!
My client walked into my office on guard. She was stiff and seemed unable to relax. While she had a pleasant demeanor, she really seemed to struggle with being at ease in her own skin. In short, she reminded me of me just a few years ago.
How the negative self-talk began
I learned that she had a narcissistic father who was very controlling and critical. With him she felt like she was always under a microscope, and that with every move she would make, she could be judged harshly. I knew exactly what that felt like. It is suffocating! That kind of treatment left us both with generalized anxiety, self-contempt and constant self-criticism. We both were constantly on guard. We struggled with knowing who to trust, and often felt defensive. For both of us, making decisions was fraught with anxiety. We would always be second-guessing ourselves, and overly concerned about getting things right. For her, the self-criticism and questioning her judgment continued long after her decisions were made!
The powerful effects of releasing negative self-talk
Just One Thing You Need To Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
As the New Year approaches, it is a great time to start thinking about what we can do to improve. But if we don’t have a good track record with New Year’s resolutions, we might find the idea daunting. We might even be wondering if it’s worth doing. Indeed a 1study that tracked people who made New Year’s resolutions found that only 46% kept their New Year’s resolutions past the six-month mark.
How To Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
But all hope is not lost! If 46% of the subjects were able to keep their New Year’s Resolutions, then what was different about them that made that possible?
What To Do When They Won’t Listen
She won’t listen!
Christine was in a new business partnership with 2 others in Arizona. She lived in Portland, and was stressed about this partnership. Her partner in Arizona took on more much responsibility than she could reasonably do, and important procedures were missed and not attended to. Christine tried to persuade her that she could do the accounting, and that they needed to have an overarching plan about how to distribute responsibilities. But her business partner was too mired in what she was doing to listen. She was stressed and frustrated by the potential consequences of what she foresaw happening with the business. She needed to be heard and valued, but she was starting to worry that regardless of what she did or said, her partner wouldn’t listen.
We talked about how to get her needs met.
I told her (more…)
Hygge: The Key to Survive Winter Anywhere
From Sunny California to long harsh winters
In my late twenties, I moved across the country to Rochester NY, known for it long, cold and harsh winters, with very little sun. Luckily, I met friend who decided that given where I was from, that he was going to teach me how to survive winter in upstate NY. When winter approached, he told me about the different types of clothing I needed to get to stay warm, and where to find them. He also taught me how to embrace what winter had to offer. He encouraged me to take up winter sports, like cross-country skiing, and ice-skating.
It worked! While many of my peers complained about winter, I had skiing to look forward to. Because of where we lived, I could ski from my doorstep! Cross-country skiing even helped me get around on snow days when it wasn’t safe to drive!
Apparently embracing the snow is one strategy the Danish use to get through their long harsh winters as well!
How the Danish survive winter
Known to be the happiest people in the world, the Danish have a practice called hygge that keeps them happy and content no matter how cold or windy it is outside!
What is hygge?
Can a Narcissist Change?
My client Betty is always positive, kind and good-natured. She asked me to work on some physical discomfort she was having. But I always ask if I can check in with the subconscious to make sure there isn’t anything more important to address. She agreed, and I discovered there was an issue at work that was causing a lot of stress.
Her coworker was harassing her.
Betty then revealed to me that a coworker was regularly coming to her cubicle to criticize or make negative comments about her work. This coworker was also frequently making complaints about her to management. She felt like she was walking on eggshells with this coworker. The situation was so stressful, that she was even considering quitting, even though she loved her job otherwise!
She already had a reputation for being difficult.
Before Betty had arrived at this job just a few months ago, this coworker had already had a reputation for being difficult to work with. Apparently several other coworkers had asked management for a reassignment from working with this woman, because she was known to be so critical!
Was she dealing with a narcissist?
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