Shift Your Life Mindfulness

Archive for mindfulness

Nature Awareness & Mindfulness: The “Sit Spot”

By Shift Doctors · Comments (1)

Sunday, October 30th, 2011

Wild Wanderings With Richard Cleveland

The Shift Doctors (TracyLatz M.D. & Marion Ross PhD.) have had the opportunity to take a wonderful Wild Edible and Medicinal Plant course in the mountains of North Carolina with Richard Cleveland, the Founder of The Earth School. During the past 17 years Richard has taught nature awareness and survival skills to thousands of people of all ages. He is an avid outdoorsman, fishing guide, writer, public speaker and a self-trained Naturalist. Some have called him “The Upstate’s Survivorman.” He teaches children as well as Navy Seals nature awareness and advanced self-reliance skills.

Richard’s Vision for Earth School is to create an environment where people can learn, share and respect the many gifts of Nature to connect with their roots (Mother Earth) once again. In this article, Richard describes a type of mindfulness practice which, with intention, can assist in reducing anxiety, pain, and stress. When using Richard’s technique, it is important to just be, observe and create awareness.

The Sit Spot – “An Experience for Life”:

Here’s a great idea to enhance your Nature awareness skills and it works for everyone! I call it a “sit spot”, (or “secret place” when I teach it to children). The good news is you usually don’t have to travel far. Here’s the concept…find a slightly out of the way place on your property, or perhaps at a nearby park and simply sit down, relax and just observe. You can even bring a chair if you’d like, though I prefer to sit on the ground to connect more directly with Mother Earth. This is a place that you should go to several Read More→

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Categories : Body/Mind/Spirit, Consciousness, Holistic Living, Marion Ross PhD, Meditation, Mind Body Spirit, The Shift Doctors, Tracy Latz MD

Tags : Anxiety, awareness, Earth, Earth School, Edible Plants Course, Marion Ross Ph.D., Medicinal Plants Course, Meditation, mindfulness, Nature, Pain, Richard Cleveland, shift your life, stress, Survival, The Shift Doctors, Tracy Latz M.D.

Breath: The Mindful Means of Reducing Stress

By Shift Doctors · Comments (1)

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Breathing is something we all do ever day of our lives. How many of us are aware of how we are breathe or how deeply? We can breathe automatically without thinking about it or we can breathe mindfully. When we choose to breathe mindfully, it can assist us to become more centered, lower our blood pressure and reduce stress. One technique for mindful breathing which has worked well for ourselves and our patients is utilizing this Rhythmic Breathing Exercise:

Rhythmic (or Box) Breathing is not only a helpful technique for rapidly decreasing stress, anxiety, heart rate or blood pressure, it also prepares you for a meditation or a peaceful night’s sleep.

Think of your breathing pattern as if it were a box or rectangle drawn on a piece of paper with the breathing in being the left upward drawn line, holding your in-breath as the line on the top of the box from left to right, breathing out as the line going downward on the right side, and then the holding of the out-breath being the line from right to left on the bottom Read More→

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Categories : Marion Ross PhD, Meditation, Mind Body Spirit, Personal Transformation, Self-Help, The Shift Doctors, Tools, Tracy Latz MD

Tags : Breath Work, Marion Ross Ph.D., mindfulness, Self-Help, Shift Doctors, shift your life, Stress Reduction, Tracy Latz M.D.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: What Is It & What Can Be Done About It?

By Tracy Latz · Comments (3)

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Dr. Tracy Latz, M.D., M.S. is a respected, board-certified, practicing integrative psychiatrist who has worked in the past “in the trenches” in a regional state psychiatric hospital and in local county mental health center systems in North Carolina as well as in community hospital settings. She has done both inpatient and outpatient work with the seriously mentally ill. Dr. Latz received her bachelor degree in Biology from Wake Forest University, a masters degree in Immunobiology from Georgetown University, and her medical degree from Wake Forest University Medical School/Bowman Gray School of Medicine. She is now in solo private integrative psychiatric practice in a suburb of Charlotte, NC in Mooresville, NC. She has written a landmark article on PTSD/Dissociative Disorders in a peer-reviewed journal, co-authored 2 books on personal transformation, recorded 2 meditation CDs to assist others with creating inner peace, filmed self-help integrative medicine videos, and has contributed to or been interviewed by many mainstream media outlets including CNN, Good Housekeeping, SELF, Glamour, AOL Health, Woman’s Day, Fitness, Whole Living, and Health – to name a few. You can find out more about Dr. Latz at www.shiftyourlife.com

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can affect anyone who has experienced a trauma that is outside of a person’s usual life experience. In order to develop PTSD, a traumatic event must be experienced by you first-hand or the traumatic event may have involved another person that is witnessed by you. During this type of traumatic event, you think that your life or others’ lives are in danger. You may feel intensely afraid or feel that you have no control over what is happening around you or to you.

Events that may induce PTSD in some people include: combat or military exposure, child sexual or physical abuse, terrorist attacks, physical or sexual assault, serious industrial or motor vehicle accidents, or natural disasters, such as a fire, tornado, tsunami, volcanic eruption, hurricane, flood, mudslide or earthquake. After the event, you may feel frightened, confused, or angry. If these feelings don’t go away or worsen over time, you may have PTSD. These symptoms may begin to disrupt your Read More→

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Categories : Alternative Medicine, Articles, Body/Mind/Spirit, EFT, Inspiration, Integrative Medicine, Marion Ross PhD, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Self-Help, The Shift Doctors, Tracy Latz MD

AMAZING QIGONG RETREAT!

By Marion Ross · Comments (0)

Monday, June 8th, 2009

This was a magical weekend of mindfulness and healing. A doorway was opened in my consciousness and I experienced profound healing and energy.
I was at a qigong retreat over the past 3 days. The duel joy of belonging a strong, loving sense of community and practicing in the group energy of 80 people is amazing. What a great way to reawaken your connection with the energy field- the living matrix. We all shared similar goals – to increase our awareness, sense of connection, and to heal ourselves and others. A doorway was opened that allowed us to embrace new perspectives.

Join us at our next gathering in a conference setting. It’s an invitation to reawaken your soul and transform your world.
Go to www.tcmconference.org, or call 1-888-TCM-6909. for more information. CMEs; NCCAOM PDAs (pending).

Shift Your Life,
Docmarion

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Categories : Holistic Living, Personal Transformation, Self-Help

Tags : AMAZING QIGONG RETREAT, Consciousness, energy, healing, magical weekend, mindfulness