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How to Truly Hear from the Heart People are all very different in how they view the world, how they communicate and how they process emotions. Some are introverted and take a long time to process things. Some are more extroverted and tend to think. Some are very private about emotions and use humour to process the world. There are a surprising numb...

8 Ways of Being an Effective Parent

In this blog I will outline eight ways of being an effective parent. I am aware that these do not exhaust the list of being an effective parent. Him and her can be used interchangeably in the following.  Pay attention and listen to your child and let him know that you, the parent, has heard him say what the issue is. For example, if the child ...

Stress - An Overview

"Stress can destroy much more than physical health. Too often, it eats away at our hope, belief and faith." Charles F. Glassman The smell of an orange relieves stress. Smelling an orange or eating one can reduce stress by over 70%. Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. When you sense danger—whether it's real or im...

Mindfulness is a Buddhist-based concept and practice which is increasingly being incorporated into Western psychological, as well as psychiatric practices.

The recent murder of Elana Fric-Shamji in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, to my mind, demonstrates that we still live in a culture that is sexist (inequality of gender), misogynist (a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women), and promotes violence, in all its forms, against women.

In a study of 333 mothers and fathers in Portugal, a team at the University of Coimbra analyzed the correlations between mindfulness, mindful parenting, parenting styles, and stress.

There are two ways of being in the world. One is called the "doing mode" and the other is called the "being mode". When we operate in the "being mode", we are usually happier than when in the doing mode, for obvious reasons. If you are in the being mode, there is less of a tendency for you to be excessively angry. Mindfulness, therefore, is an anger management strategy because it is a source of happiness.

"When you get to tell someone off, you might feel pretty good for a while, but somehow the sense of righteous indignation and hatred grows, and it hurts you. It’s as if you pick up hot coals with your bare hands and throw them at your enemy. If the coals happen to hit him, he will be hurt. But in the meantime, you are guaranteed to be burned."

Domestic violence has been in the news, and has been the subject of commentaries and editorials in the media, both nationally and internationally. It is a major social problem in all countries of the world, including Canada.

Many persons believe that in a conflictual situation, they can control others by using excessive anger and that this is a permanent solution to the conflict. This may apply in the short term if the other person becomes fearful as in the case of a child, and caves in to your demands but it is generally not true in the long term.

Many people feel powerless in managing their anger. However, by taking appropriate action, you could change this.

We are constantly talking to ourselves either verbally or in our minds.

Both research and experience show that when persons with anger problems change the way they talk to themselves, their anger level drops and they often regain control of themselves.