Nearly 50,000 thoughts barrage your mind daily, inundating you with a flood of feelings and emotions:  thinking, musing, fantasizing, planning, anticipating, worrying, liking, disliking, remembering, forgetting, evaluating, reacting, story telling and fabricating reality to conveniently fit your own truth.  You are doing this all day, every day, nonstop mental commentary.  Even more remarkable, 98% of […]

In the 17th century, French philosopher Rene Descartes famously pronounced his philosophy of mind-body dualism, declaring that body and mind were two separate entities.  As a man of science, he struck a deal with the Roman Catholic Church: Descartes would focus on human anatomy, leaving the church to focus on caring for the mind and […]

Hey, isn’t that Jim over there? I’m sure he saw me, why didn’t he say hello? I bet he’s mad at me, because of what I said at the party. Whatever. I don’t really care about Jim anyways. But…is he really mad at me? In case you haven’t noticed, you have a mental dialogue going on […]

Summer is fast approaching with seemingly endless sunny days just around the corner.  It may harken us back to our glory days, reminding us of those long, lazy carefree days we enjoyed in our youth.  Those fond memories of summer felt like they would last forever with eternal downtime to just relax, play and daydream. […]

The doctor gently tapped on the door and casually strolled in.  We shook hands, briefly making eye contact as he introduced himself while simultaneously reaching for his computer that rolled on an odd contraption with wheels.  “So, what brings you in today?” He asked, never looking up as he furiously typed on the keyboard.  “Well, […]

300…297…294…291…288…Every night when my head hits the pillow, I try to lull myself to sleep by counting backwards. Doing simple math like counting sheep is not enough for active minds so research shows you have to make more complicated calculations, such as mine where I start at 300 and go backwards by threes. Yes, I […]

Reflect on a time when you were in physical pain. Not an acute pain that took two aspirin to get rid of but rather a lingering, chronic type of pain that stubbornly won’t disappear. A good example may be when you threw your back out and it simply won’t heal the way you hoped for. […]

We all have an innate desire to seek happiness and fulfillment. But how we define these nebulous terms and go about our quest for the good life can vary dramatically among us. Many of us follow the path of materialism to the very end, perfectly exemplified by the maxim, He who dies with the most […]

Imagine biting into a juicy orange.  Can you taste it bursting onto your tongue and roof of your mouth?  It’s just one small example of the ability of the mind to conjure up that sensation just by merely introducing the thought, sight unseen of any orange trees.  Applying this to the broader spectrum of all […]

On solemn days, I often go to my favorite lookout point that offers a sweeping view of the valley below. There’s a small bench nestled between two large bushes that only the locals know, providing perfect solitude and tranquility . Across the valley are rows of houses perched on the hillside in the distance. I transport my mind […]