By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Listen to this podcast episode A lot of people can’t help wondering, ‘What if I get the coronavirus and am bedbound?’ ‘Who will do what is needed?’ ‘What if the economy doesn’t recover?’ ‘Will I have a livelihood?’ No sure answers are possible. No-one knows how long the pandemic will last and how … Continue reading Coronavirus anxiety – How to reduce it?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. British people have been expressing unease about the state of their country. One possible reason may be that nothing much else is happening in politics because of anxiety over Brexit. The prospect of economic recession is reducing confidence among many about their future prospects. At the time of writing, the governing party is … Continue reading Anxiety over Brexit – Deeper issues?
My wife and I have a pet cat. We have got to know him quite well – his eating, relaxing, communication, play, and so on. Animals live on an entirely natural level and I realise it would be a mistake to attribute human emotions to them. But is there anything we can learn from our … Continue reading Pet cats – What can we learn from them?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Constant worry and anxiety, which occurs for no apparent reason, interferes with day-to-day life. Sufferers are desperate to experience peace of mind and free themselves from the power of their condition. Meditation can greatly help. By concentrating on one thing and neglecting all the unruly thoughts that come into the mind, many … Continue reading Praying – Can it reduce anxiety?
Nigella Lawson is well known as a television cook who takes a relaxed and casual approach to cooking for her own pleasure. However, it seems like most of us she is not immune from anxiety. “At some stages of your life you will deal with things and at others you are overwhelmed with misery and … Continue reading Anxiety – Can spiritual learning help reduce it?
According to established research, one in four of us experience some form of mild mental health difficulty each year. Even if you do not suffer – what the medics call – identifiable psychiatric morbidity – nevertheless you still may feel bad; fed up, irritable, worried or distressed. In which case, if you are to be … Continue reading Heal distress — Can spiritual practices help?
Will it turn out alright? This question repeats itself in my mind on many occasions and levels. Will my children be alright? Will the next event I facilitate go OK? What might go wrong! I could go on at length on this track and do habitually get stuck in this grove of projecting my fears … Continue reading Will it turn out all right?
We can’t all escape to a cave to gaze at our navels all week in silent contemplation. That’s the trouble – we can’t get away from life itself with its daily frustrations and setbacks. It’s what takes away our peace of mind. The fact that we have a burning desire for certain things means that we are likely to feel tense or angry if anything turns up to prevent us having them. Sometimes the meaning of life is hard to fathom and the mystery of peace of mind is no exception. There is a fascinating Taoist story that gives us a clue ….
by Max Brooks Published by Duckworth 2009 ISBN 978 0 7156 5318 2
Are you alive and kicking? Not so sure? Perhaps you feel your own level of vitality, vim, and vigour are at a low ebb. If so The Zombie Survival Guide may be for you. It is a self-help book with a difference. It purports to protect the reader from entities called zombies. These fantasy creatures have became popular in modern horror fiction since the success of the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. They are portrayed as lifeless, sterile and apathetic, supposedly roaming around with a shambling awkward limp, and experiencing little or no physical sensation or emotion. The popular myth is that they are either re-animated human corpses or human beings controlled by someone else by magic. In either case they are said to be devoid of life of their own, and so assumed to be wanting to suck the life-blood from those who get into their clutches. If they get hold of you the book suggests this would be a living death and it aims to give practical advice about how to avoid this peril.
Yes, it all sounds rather macabre but I do wonder if this is a potent symbol for our times.