Renee Rothberg's Blog, page 9

Dreaded fears, a poem

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Lurking in shadows
Lie worry and suspicion.
Double versions of
Dreaded fear.

Behind each ache.
Behind each pain.
Suspicion of illness,
Worry of death.

Dreaded fear and
Over-fretting focus.
Upstaging health,
Unsupporting well-being.

Focus on terrible
Is focus askew.
Waiting for disaster
Is waiting awry.

Constant worry
Is wasted effort.
Overshadowing suspicion
Is wasted time.

Lurking in shadows
Lie worry and suspicion.
Double versions of
Dreaded fear.

This poem is from the book Growth, which...

Fight or Flight Anxiety

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Anxiety comes from one main source: emotional emptiness. Anxiety fills in the empty spaces when the emotions are out of balance because of uncertainty about the future or because of hormonal and sleep irregularities. One cause is physiological and one is not.

In general, when the cause of anxiety is physiological (hormonal or sleep related), a response will be “flight”: flight from the problem, flight from a relationship, denial of the anxiety, or denial of responsibilities. Flight can be...

What’s up with “fight or flight”?

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Are “fight or flight” our main responses to fear and stress? That’s what everyone says, but is that so? I’ve asked Spirit, because I want to know. Here’s what Spirit informs me:

People have built-in mechanisms that evaluate danger. (We can call them signals and pulls.) These mechanisms help us evaluate situations and feel how to respond. Our responses depend on many things: age, health status, physical impediments, mental breadth, hunger or thirst, breath capacity, emotional attachments,...

Migraines have causes that are complex but worth understanding

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Migraines are signs that bodily communications have been ignored, and the body is yelling for attention! The attention needed for migraines differs from the attention needed for headaches, but both are cries for relief. Relief from the medicine cabinet is usually the relief the body doesn’t like, and this “solution” is best saved for last place.

The body can suffer in many ways; however, migraines differ from other types of physical pain because they take the sufferer into a special realm of...

A poem about our guardian angels

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Someone to Watch Over Me

Perhaps there are angels that
watch over me.
Perhaps there are twinkly-beings that
light my way.
Perhaps there are helpers that
guide my daily strivings and focus my efforts.

There are, there are, there are.

Someone to watch over me
when despair strikes
when sadness wearies
when the way is unclear
when joy is felt and calling to be shared
when excitement is felt and calling to be shown.

Someone to light my way
when the path is blurred
and the signs are missing.

...

Death at the door

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I’m at the age where my friends’ parents are dying. My own parents are long gone, as are most of my aunts and uncles, and a few older cousins. Conversations with neighbors often focus on retirement ideas, aging, and occasionally, on death.

Death is always at the door, but it has seemed to be a distant thing, or a fluke of a younger person dying. Tragedies have been all around, but not personally felt. Actually that’s not completely true. A dear colleague died many years ago, and so too, a...

The year 2020 begins with Food 20/20

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The Food 20/20 Plan

Now is the time to focus on eating properly to stay healthy, disease free, and youthful. Here is the way to eat to keep yourself balanced and full of vitality!

Eating well includes the foods we eat and the atmosphere we create when eating. Each of these aspects is important for our bodies’ well-being.

Let’s look at the Food 20/20 plan to understand it.

Moderation. Moderation comes above all parts of Food 20/20, because moderation is needed in consumption and in intention....

Why do people yell?

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Yelling is a design feature in humans. It is a way to attract attention and change focus. Yelling can prevent disasters when it is produced from a natural desire to protect. Yelling can weaken relationships when it is produced from a natural feeling of uncertainty.

When yelling takes place, the person yelling has elevated blood pressure and suppressed immune system, no matter the reason for the yelling. The yeller is in a position of vulnerability, because of the physiological changes. When...

Why do people …, a series

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Some of the things we do are individualistic and some are caused by our similar design. For example, people yell at one another because of a design feature!

When we create, we express individual personality, ideas, and experiences. When we interact, we pull on instinct, hormonal influences, and gut reactions. The interaction forces are grounded in the design features that make us similar to one another.

By understanding our design, we can know how to deal with others properly. The next few...

Sleep and its issues

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“Sleep is essential. Sleep is the second-most important need of the body, after water and before food. Sleep must be scheduled and must be regular. Each person’s need of continuous nighttime sleep fluctuates with age, occupation, and location. Each person should understand his or her sleep requirements and be mindful to fulfill them.”

– from “Behavior & Release” in Pond a Connected Existence

“During sleep, the body recharges, repairs, restores, and rethinks. Sleep can make or break us,...