Your Great Journey

Identifying the real meaning of thoughts can be tricky, especially for anyone struggling with chronic worry. Today, clinical psychologist and anxiety expert Dr. David Carbonell discusses his approach to dealing with to worrisome thoughts. It involves new ways of responding to them, rather than trying to eliminate them.

Today we’re sharing an excerpt from the popular audiobook The Worry Trick: How Your Brain Tricks You into Expecting the Worst and What You Can Do About It, by Dr. David Carbonell. This audiobook shows how anxiety hijacks the brain and offers effective techniques to help you break the cycle of worry—once and for all.

In this episode, Dr. Carbonell talks about how it’s easy to get fooled by our thoughts— especially worrisome thoughts. The real meaning of the worrisome thoughts generally has little to do with the subject matter of the thoughts. In this excerpt, he shares his approach to dealing with chronic worry.

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Finding a solution to the problem of chronic worry is going to involve new ways of responding to it, not efforts to abolish it.

The Worry Trick

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We all know that men and women think differently. When women don’t understand how the male mind works, it can lead to frustration, misunderstandings and difficult relationships. Today, psychologist Shawn T. Smith offers insights into male psychology, and some practical tips for women to help them better understand and connect with the men they love.

Today we’re sharing an exclusive conversation with psychologist Shawn Smith. He discusses his popular audiobook The Woman’s Guide to How Men Think: Love, Commitment, and the Male Mind. This audiobook is a practical and humorous guide for women who want to learn the secrets of the elusive male mind and improve their relationships.

In this enlightening conversation, Shawn Smith offers advice to help to women get what they need from their relationships by understanding how men think and learning to see the world the way they do. His tips will help women learn how to work with men to cultivate understanding and communication in relationships, without expecting men to be creatures that they aren’t.

Shawn T. Smith, PsyD, is a psychologist in private practice in Denver, CO. He is also author of the audiobook The User’s Guide to the Human Mind, and writes a blog at ironshrink.com. Smith enjoys various manly activities, including being a husband and father. He lives with his wife and daughter, and their dog. Visit his website here.

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[Smith] offers women a code to male thinking… Readable, practical, and wise, I recommend this book to all women who want to understand men and to all men who would like a better understanding of themselves.

author of "Getting the Love You Want"

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When you’re meditating, does it ever feel like you‘re struggling or working hard? Do you have a sense that you should be having a different experience? Even in times like these you can learn to rest and relax. Today we’re exploring the Buddhist meditation skill of “right effort”—being fully in the present while naturally moving toward more peace, clarity, and awareness.

Today we’re sharing an excerpt from the audiobook The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation: Mindfulness, Concentration, and Insight, written by Richard Shankman. This audiobook is a practical guide to building a strong meditation practice using mindfulness, concentration, and insight. New meditators will find step-by-step instructions and hands-on skills they can easily put into practice. Experienced meditators will find a complete guide for deepening insight and cultivating deeper stages of concentration.

Meditation teacher Tara Brach says this about The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation: “It’s a wonderfully clear, simple yet thorough book on how to practice Buddhist meditation!”

In this episode we explore the idea that meditation practice is about learning. With this point of view, you don’t need to worry or strain because whatever happens, it is teaching you. Developing the meditation skill of “right effort,” will help you let go of struggle and open to the present moment. You’ll begin to meet yourself with kindness, compassion, and a sense of exploration and experimentation.

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Be as happy and relaxed as you can. Find the freedom in the moment while practicing in a way that heads in a skillful direction. Sometimes it may feel like you are working very hard, but even in those times you can learn to rest and relax.

The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation

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What happens when the ground beneath your feet gives way? A relationship ends unexpectedly, success turns to failure overnight, a loved one dies, or you receive a diagnosis out of the blue. In times of deep uncertainty, we often have the sense that our world is spinning out of control. Jeff Foster studied astrophysics at Cambridge University. He now holds meetings around the world, gently pointing people back to the deep acceptance inherent in the present moment. Today, we offer his comforting and inspiring words for times of deep uncertainty.

Today we’re sharing an excerpt from Jeff Foster’s audiobook, Falling in Love with Where You Are: A Year of Prose and Poetry on Radically Opening Up to the Pain and Joy of Life.  He invites you to discover a deep YES to your life, no matter what you are going through. You’ll see crisis as an opportunity to heal, pain as an intelligent messenger, and your imperfections as perfectly placed. Jeff will guide, provoke, encourage, and inspire you on your lonely, joyful, and sometimes exhausting pathless journey to the home you never, ever left: the present moment.

In this excerpt, Jeff Foster shares comforting and inspiring wisdom about the vast intelligence at work in our lives, an intelligence that breathes us at night, beats our heart, and heals our wounds. He asks us to consider what might happen if we stop clinging to old dreams, mourn their loss, and face the raw, broken-open reality of things as they are?

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What happens, when, just for a moment, we stop trying to figure it all out, we stop clinging to old dreams and we face the raw, broken-open reality of things as they are? What happens when we actually take the radical and unexpected step of saying yes to the uncertainty, the doubt, the confusion, the pain, the heartbreak?

Falling in Love with Where You Are

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How many times a day do you criticize or judge yourself? Your relationship with yourself is the most important relationships that you will ever have with anyone. It’s essential to develop a healthy relationship of respect toward yourself, and it begins by cultivating mindfulness of thoughts. You can learn to not be affected by your thoughts and relate to them in a way that ends their control of you and your behavior.

Today we’re sharing an excerpt from the audiobook The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution: Proven Strategies to End Overeating, Satisfy Your Hunger, and Savor Your Life written by psychologist Dr. Lynn Rossy. This audiobook provides an innovative and proven-effective program to help you slow down, savor each bite, and actually eat less. Dr. Rossy developed Eat for Life, a mindful eating program that successfully helps people overcome eating issues, improve body image, and enhance weight loss. This unique approach shows you how to listen to your body’s intuition, uncover the psychological cause of your overeating, and be more mindful during mealtime.

In this episode, Dr. Rossy shares a short guided meditation to help you cultivate mindfulness of thoughts. This practice trains you  to notice thoughts without judgment or trying to change what arises. This simple practice will help you to not be affected by your thoughts, but to befriend them with kindness.

Learn more about The Mindfulnes Based Eating Solution in this conversation with Dr. Rossy.

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Practicing awareness of thoughts on a daily basis with a formal mindfulness exercise can cultivate thoughts that are more productive or positive and energizes you toward healthy actions. You are moving from the old model of listening and reacting to negative voices to the new model of watching thoughts pass through your mind and talking to yourself like you would to your best friend.

The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution

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We all have access to a deep well of inner wisdom. It is a source we can draw on for clarity when determining the best course of action in any area of life. But when we’re in the throes of stressful and challenging times, it can be difficult to access inner wisdom. The good news is that you can find your way back to your true nature, and resume living as your healthiest, most authentic self.

Today, we’re sharing an excerpt from the audiobook The Little Book of Big Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit, written by psychologist Amy Johnson, who teaches us that no matter what your bad habit is, you have the power to change it. Dr. Johnson draws on a powerful combination of neuroscience and spirituality to illustrate a profound truth: you are not your habits. Your mental patterns are the result of simple brain wiring that can be easily changed.

When we’re overwhelmed, we begin to start operating on surface levels, and lose touch with our inner wisdom. Being separated from your true nature can cause unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and cement bad habits. In this excerpt, Dr. Johnson discusses the spiritual component of breaking a habit—though the advice she shares applies to any area of life where we need to access inner wisdom—the deep knowing of our true self.

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Each time you feel deeply peaceful, your personal thinking is taking a relative break. Each time you’re in the throes of anxiety, urges or general uneasiness, your thinking has revved back up. This audiobook aims to point you back toward the wisdom that is already within you, so that you can use it as a guide.

The Little Book of Big Change

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We know we should probably meditate, but we may find ourselves distracted by dozens of different impulses the second we try to clear our minds. The benefits of practices like mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) are well known, but many people still struggle to keep up a consistent meditation practice. If you’re looking for a little less frustration on the path to being more present, today’s episode is a great place to start!

Today we’re sharing an excerpt from an audiobook full of techniques to help you manage stress: MBSR Every Day: Daily Practices from the Heart of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction by Dr. Elisha Goldstein and Dr. Bob Stahl. MBSR Every Day introduces you to mindfulness-based stress reduction, a clinically proven program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This audiobook offers dozens of daily practices to handle stress, gain insight, and live more fully in the present moment.

In today’s excerpt, Drs. Goldstein and Stahl address the problem that many people have with meditation: it’s harder than it seems! Identifying and understanding the obstacles to practicing meditation and mindfulness can reduce frustration and help transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth. Drs. Goldstein and Stahl identify five common obstacles that can derail your best efforts to meditate, as well as five complimentary antidotes to those obstacles. Armed with these tips, you can meditate and practice mindfulness-based stress reduction with a sense of self-compassion and a greater sense of ease.

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We all have a story of our lives—a narrative we tell ourselves about who we are. What is the story of your life? When you think about yourself, what comes to mind? Often the stories we tell limit our lives. But what would happen if you started telling yourself a new story? If you want to create easy and lasting change, you might want to tell a new story.

In today’s episode, we’re sharing an excerpt from Bob Litwin’s audiobook, Live the Best Story of Your Life: A World Champion’s Guide to Lasting Change. Bob Litwin, a Wall Street performance coach and world champion tennis player, offers 33 personalized coaching sessions that will help you reach new levels of success in every area of your life. His groundbreaking technique of changing your story is a fast, easy and effective way to create lasting change.

How many times have you heard people say that change is hard, or painful? In this excerpt, Bob addresses the common misconception that change is difficult. In fact, change is fun and surprisingly simple. Bob talks about how to tell a new story and realize your own unique and powerful potential. Lasting, positive change is only a story away.

Bob Litwin has spent over four decades using the New Story method to coach thousands of top athletes, coaches, Wall Street hedge funds, traders, and analysts to raise individual performance to extraordinary levels. A world tennis champion, Litwin is a #1 world ranked senior player, 18-time US National Champion, and an inductee into the Tennis Eastern Hall of Fame. He lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, Jo Ann. Learn more at www.boblitwin.com.

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What is your story? What is the Old Story you want to jettison and the New Story you want to live? Don’t know? This audiobook will help you findnd out. Let’s explore together.

Live the Best Story of Your Life

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What are you really hungry for? Is it food, happiness, or something else? Dr. Lynn Rossy is a clinical psychologist, expert in mindful eating, and author of the audiobook The Mindfulness Based Eating Solution. Dr. Rossy has discovered a few simple truths: diets don’t work, and mindfulness is the secret weapon that will help to revolutionize your relationship with food.

Today we’re sharing an exclusive interview with Dr. Rossy, founder of the groundbreaking program “Eat for Life.” She is the author of the acclaimed audiobook The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution: Proven Strategies to End Overeating, Satisfy Your Hunger, and Savor Your Life. Her audiobook offers meditations you can return to again and again as well as hard science on weight loss and food. This audiobook is a must-listen for those of us who want to savor our food—and our lives.

In this interview, Dr. Rossy offers her insights on mindfulness and specifically, mindful eating, which helps create healthy eating patterns. She talks about one of the most freeing and radical ideas in her audiobook: there are no forbidden foods. She offers some actionable tips that will help set you on the road to a healthy, nourishing relationship with food. If you’re ready to say goodbye to confusion, shame and despair, and open the door to peace, enjoyment and self-acceptance, then you’ll appreciate this lively and information-packed interview.

Lynn Rossy, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist at the University of Missouri’s wellness program for faculty and staff. She developed Eat for Life, a mindfulness-based intuitive eating program that successfully helps people overcome eating issues, improve body image, and enhance weight loss. She is on the board of directors of The Center for Mindful Eating.

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author of "Mindful Eating"

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