10,000 hours are required for proficiency in any field of deliberate practice. They "only" reached ~3000-4000 hours of practice over 7 years. If they did a 3 year retreat with 10 hours a day like many Tibetan monks do, they would blow through that plateau - that's for sure. The Tibetan monks that have been investigated all show a much heightened gamma-wave amplitude in the brain and overall unionization of brain waves. This is accompanied by immense pliability of both body and mind and waves of bliss at all times along with compassionate wisdom arising from absorption.

B. Alan Wallace, who was leading the practice of the study participants, recommends shamatha or calm-abiding meditation which is what some call concentration meditation. It is the ability to hold your mind one-pointed on an object of your choosing for extended periods of time until stillness permeates and your mind doesn't move or flick from thought to thought, emotion to emotion or object to object.

Shamatha is described like this by him in his wonderful book which I recommend to everyone called The Attention Revolution:

>Following the realization of the ninth stage of attentional balance, after months or years of continuous, full-time practice, you are primed to achieve shamatha. The nine preceding stages entail many incremental changes, but the actual accomplishment of shamatha involves a radical tran- sition in your body and mind. You will be like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. This shift is characterized by specific experiences that take place within a discrete, relatively brief period of time.

>According to accounts from the Indo-Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, the first sign of the achievement of shamatha is the experience of a sense of heaviness and numbness on the top of the head. This allegedly happens to anyone who experiences this transition, regardless of the specific method followed. It is said to feel as if a palm were being placed on the top of your shaved head. It’s not unpleasant or harmful, just unusual.

>
Something remarkable must be taking place in the cortical region of your brain at this point, but so far, no one has monitored the brain correlates of this shift using magnetic resonance imaging or an electroencephalograph. This physical sensation on the top of the head is symptomatic of a shift in your nervous system (or network of vital energies) that is correlated with gaining freedom from mental dysfunction (daushtulya), a general state of mental imbalance characterized by stiffness, rigidity, and unwieldiness. Consequently, you achieve a state of mental pliancy (prashrabdhi), in which your mind is fit and supple like never before.

>From a contemplative perspective, when the mind is dysfunctional, or prone to laxity and excitation, it is hard to generate enthusiasm for healing the afflictions of your mind or for devoting yourself to virtuous mental activity. Once you are free of such mental dysfunction, you can focus your mind without resistance on any meaningful object or task, and such a mind is now said to be fit, or serviceable. This is the key to achieving optimal mental performance.

>Following this sense of pressure on the top of your head, you experience the movement of vital energies moving in your body, and when they have coursed everywhere throughout your body, you feel as if you were filled with the power of this dynamic energy. You are now freed of physical dys- function, so your body feels buoyant and light like never before. Both your body and mind are now imbued with an exceptional degree of pliancy, which makes them remarkably fit for engaging in all kinds of mental training and other meaningful activities.

>When physical pliancy initially arises, the vital energies catalyze an extraordinary sense of physical bliss, which then triggers an equally excep- tional experience of mental bliss. This rush of physical and mental rapture is transient, which is a good thing, for it so captivates the attention that you can do little else except enjoy it. Gradually it subsides and you are freed from the turbulence caused by this intense joy. Your attention settles down in perfect stability and vividness. You have now achieved shamatha.

>Padmasambhava described this state as follows:

>"Flawless shamatha is like an oil-lamp that is unmoved by the air. Wherever the awareness is placed, it is unwaveringly present; awareness is vividly clear, without being sullied by laxity, lethargy, or dimness; wherever the awareness is directed, it is steady and sharply pointed; and unmoved by adventitious thoughts, it is straight. Thus, a flawless meditative state arises in your mindstream; and until this happens, it is important that you settle the mind in its natural state. Without genuine shamatha arising in your mindstream, even if awareness is pointed out, it becomes nothing more than an object of intellectual under- standing. So you are left simply giving lip-service to the view, and there is the danger that you may succumb to dogmatism.

>Thus, the root of all meditative states depends upon this, so do not be introduced to pristine awareness too soon, but practice until you have a fine experience of stability."

>The initial achievement of shamatha is described as preliminary or as access to the full realization of the first meditative stabilization (dhyana). The Buddha declared that with the achievement of the first meditative stabilization, one is for the first time temporarily freed from five types of obstructions (avarana), or hindrances (nivarana), that disrupt the balance of the mind.96 These are (1) sensual craving, (2) malice, (3) lethargy and drowsiness, (4) excitation and anxiety, and (5) uncertainty. Buddhaghosa commented that as soon as the counterpart sign arises, the hindrances are quite suppressed, the defilements subside, and the mind becomes concentrated in access concentration.

>When you first gain the mental and physical pliancy associated with the freedom from these hindrances, you experience a rush of bliss that appears to be a symptom of achieving an unprecedented level of mental health. The Buddha was presumably referring to this bliss as a sufficing condition, or immediate catalyst, for the achievement of samadhi. Here is one of his more detailed accounts of this experience:

>Separated from pleasures of sense, separated from unwholesome states of mind, one attains to and abides in the first stabilization, which is accompanied by coarse examination and precise inves- tigation, born of seclusion, and is joyful and blissful. And one drenches, fills, completely fills and pervades one’s body with joy and bliss, born of seclusion so that there is nowhere in one’s body that is not pervaded by it.

>With the realization of access to the first stabilization, five mental fac- tors associated with that level of samadhi arise, which directly counteract the five hindrances.

>~~~

>A significant difference between access to the first stabilization and the actual state of that stabilization is that in the former, you gain only a tenuous freedom from the five hindrances, whereas in the latter, your immunity to them is stronger. There is a similar difference in the stability of the five fac- tors of stabilization. There is a corresponding difference in the length of time you can remain immersed in such sublime states of focused attention.

>With access to the first stabilization, you can effortlessly remain in samadhi for at least four hours at a stretch, without the slightest perturbation from either subtle laxity or excitation. But once you have achieved the actual state of the first stabilization, samadhi can be sustained, according to Buddhaghosa, “for a whole night and a whole day, just as a healthy man, after rising from his seat, could stand a whole day.”

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I got hit with a pretty nasty respiratory bug which put me down for awhile.

Anyway, on to talking about a general plan for this project. I think that the best thing to do would be to start with a light touch, and see how well she takes to it.

With that in mind, I might recommend starting with 'Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar'. Plato and a Platypus is a cheap, and reasonably instructive (though superficial) introduction to a range of philosophical questions through jokes. It is a strange approach, but one I think works quite well as a something like a philosophical appetizer that introduces lots of interesting topics. It has a sequel focused on politics ("Aristotle and an Aardvark") which is also quite good. I will warn that not all of the jokes are appropriate for all audiences, so whether you like this book might depend on how liberal you feel like being regarding jokes featuring explicit language, adult themes, etc.

I also definitely recommend anything from the Oxford Very Short Introduction series, particularly (given your interests) the Very Short Introduction to Philosophy and Ethics. In my experience, the entire VSI series is excellent, and I've used some of them to teach philosophy at the community college level. They are extremely brief (they can fit into my pockets) and accessible, and also quite cheap (usually about 10 bucks a piece). They are written by leading experts on each given topic, and there is an enormous selection if you decide that you want to explore particular topics (Ancient Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Theology, etc). They will be a bit tougher than Plato and a Platypus in that they don't typically have much fluff, but should still be generally relatively accessible. The Ethics volume is pretty solid, built around a series of major questions that ethics needs to respond to. I will offer two warnings about the VSI series:
(1) VSI formatting is largely left up to the author, so the approach varies considerably from text to text. This allows authors to structure the material however they feel is best, which usually turns out great. Just be ready for some jumps in how they deal with things (e.g., the Ethics volume is divided into sections which each review some set of related questions and possible answers, while the Logic volume is problem centered and features new tools of formal logic to address various problems presented in each chapter)
(2) Authors of VSI are almost always working scholars with particular philosophical viewpoints - and this will come across in their texts. Expect some axes to be ground, and presuppositions assumed. That said, of the one's I've read (maybe 5 or so at this point), they still presented a rather fair overview of the field.

I think for books, you will be hard pressed to do better than Plato and a Platypus/Aristotle and an Aardvark to provoke the feeling that philosophy is worthwhile, and the Very Short Introduction series to provide an actual introduction into the field.

There are also some great philosophy podcasts. The best for a non-philosopher is likely "Philosophize This", which is a largely chronological review of a fair chunk of the most significant philosophers in history (even including some non-Western thinkers). Again, the material isn't explicitly aimed at younger folk, so there may be some touchy content, but it is generally an exceptional program. They have quite a backlog now (something like 90 episodes), so there is plenty of material there.

Also, I've found a couple of course plans for philosophy in middle school. The strongest looking one to me is this one from UNC. Definitely worth looking at as a way to structure your thoughts, but I would augment it with some of the resources covered above.

I think this would yield a pretty low cost way to test if this approach will work. Assuming you were to buy all four books I've mentioned, I think it would run a total of about $40 per person, which should make this a pretty light investment in terms of money. Likewise, the books are all relatively short, so you might make it through them in as little as a month (if you were really motivated).

I think the real trick will be in deciding where to go after the initial introduction has been made and more serious texts are being considered, but this will depend a lot on how this project develops. I think the best thing to do with that is to wait and see how things turn out, then plan the next leg of the introduction. I'll be around for the foreseeable future, and would be happy to help you figure that out when the time comes.

Let me know what you think, and keep me in the loop as the project unfolds. I am very interested in this project and would be happy to lend a hand when possible.

Yes!!! I totally get it and have struggled with that too. These are the books I'm currently cycling through:

Twenty-Four Hours a Day (not AA, but about alcoholism)

Daily Reflections (AA)

As Bill Sees It (AA)

Courage to Change (Al-Anon, useful for self-esteem issues and building a relationship with a higher power)

Courage to See (This isn't affiliated with any program, but has some great daily readings and is also useful for self-esteem stuff)

How to Love (Buddhist)

I absolutely love Thich Nhat Hanh and want to get the rest of his "Mindfulness Essentials" collection. They're all short books on mindfulness in different contexts (How to Love, How to Sit, How to Relax, How to Eat, How to Walk). I've also heard good things about The Energy of Prayer although I haven't gotten it yet so I'm not sure if it's set up well to be daily reader.

I've also used some Emmet Fox books in the past. Several of them have prayers/meditations in them that I've cycled through in various parts of my sobriety. Here's one I really liked:

"God is the only Presence and the only Power.  God is fully present here with me, now.  God is the only real Presence – all the rest is but shadow.  God is perfect Good, and God is the cause only of perfect Good.  God never sends sickness, trouble, accident, temptation, nor death itself; nor does He authorize these things.  We bring them upon ourselves by our own wrong thinking.  God, Good, can cause only good.  The same fountain cannot send forth both sweet and bitter water.

I am Divine Spirit.  I am the child of God.  In God I live and move and have my being; so I have not fear.  I am surrounded by the Peace of God and all is well.  I am not afraid of people; I am not afraid of things; I am not afraid of circumstances; I am not afraid of myself; for God is with me.  The Peace of God fills my soul, and I have no fear.  I dwell in the Presence of God, and no fear can touch me.  I am not afraid of the past; I am not afraid of the present; I am not afraid for the future; for God is with me.  The Eternal God is my dwelling place and underneath are the ever-lasting arms.  Nothing can ever touch me but the direct action of God Himself, and God is Love."

I hear this brought up a lot but it feels too 'new-agey' and capitalizing on the general lack of understanding proper meditation/mindfulness like most books like this one are. I may be absolutely wrong and perhaps some day I'll give it a go. However, I'd like to recommend three sources that have provided the best perspective to me and helped (still help) me weed out all the wrong conceptions and practices out of my mind:

• With Each & Every Breath (I'm currently reading this one.) - Right from the start this book is relentless in its goal to teach you meditation that is fruitful and right. It's also free. Here's a paragraph that sums what this book is about:
  
  >When you want to master a meditation technique, it’s good to know the premises underlying the technique. That way you have a clear idea of what you’re getting into. Knowing the premises also helps you understand how and why the technique is supposed to work. If you have doubts about the premises, you can try them on as working hypotheses, to see if they really do help in dealing with the problems of stress and suffering. Meditation doesn’t require that you swear allegiance to anything you can’t fully understand. But it does ask you to give its premises a serious try.
  
  
• I'd also recommend a set of talks that focus specifically and directly on what it means to meditate on the breath. I view it as complimentary to the book above but it also have complimentary audio to it.
  
• Finally, The Attention Revolution - This book's goal is to teach you to meditate but with the goal to achieve the ability of right concentration. However, this also leads to all the benefits of meditation. It's just that its perspective is on training the mind to better focus. Loving kindness is there and all kinds of other accompanying meditation techniques. So direct, so lucid, free of fluff and false promises, no romantisizing, no mysticism, lots of connections with the origins of the practice to guide a better understanding, lots of perspective for the novice, intermediate or the most devoted practitioner. There's so much information in it, it requires a few readings to get all of it. I've reread some chapters a few times and I still unpack it. Almost every sentence is full of useful information.
  
  As for 'mindfulness' and its modern face I'd strongly recommend this essay (Beyond McMindfulness) and also reading about "Right Mindfulness" (dhammatalks.org has a lot to say on this topic but I'm pretty sure there are other sources too). The concept has been changed so much from its original meaning so it has lost most of the solid philosphy behind it. Simply "pay attention to the present without judgement" leads to nowhere. Meditation and mindulness have a very specific goal in mind. Everyone's desire to meditate has one very specific goal in mind.
  
  On a side note, I'd really love to explore the difference you talked about between feelings and thoughts in more depth. If you can share what else you have read, I'd appreciate it.
  
  Cheers.

When is the best time to connect with your health? Now. It's too easy to put it off until tomorrow, and then repeat this habit day after day. When it comes to paying more attention to health, no one is going to make you do it, not even your doctor. It has to matter to you. The Art of Health, today. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014HX40FQ

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Dr. Patel draws on her own years of experience treating patients who have achieved significant improvements in their health and quality of life by following the simple, yet powerful guidelines covered in this book. The recommendations in this book are not extreme, costly, torturous, or promising of miracle results. Yet they can significantly help prevent illness, improve symptoms, and potentially even reduce dependence on pharmaceutical drugs or other treatments. Most importantly, they can improve overall quality and enjoyment of life.

Throughout the book you will learn:

-How to pay better attention to your body and its signals-Why understanding how chronic symptoms are interrelated is a key to healing-The importance of choosing long-term health instead of quick fixes-How both conventional and alternative medical systems don't have all the answers-The power of the mind in supporting real health-The role excess fear plays in health-How unrealistic expectations can be an obstacle toward better health-Why labels in health care can be limiting

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The Art of Health is for anyone who is sick of all the rules and fads in health care, and who wants to experience real and long-term change toward better health. Health is wealth, so make yourself richer today.

Depression and anxiety often go hand in hand. Good work on kicking your depression!! I'm so glad your attempts didn't work out the way you planned...you really do have a lot to live for.

>I broke up with a great girl 2 years ago because of a sudden peak in confidence and I have not been in love since.

Well of course you haven't...you were battling dragons and fighting for your life. You had more important considerations and romance was not what you needed. And you're still young...20 years old, on the threshold of the world, all that life and potential stretching out in front of you. Don't make an idol out of love...love for love's sake cannot hold a candle to being in love with the right person. You'll meet her.

>I miss my friends,

So call 'em up and ask them if they want to go out for a drink or some pizza or something. You can do it! Odds are good, if you guys were/are close, they'll be happy to see that you are in a better place and will want to spend time with you.

>I miss feeling loved,

Aww, but you probably are loved - family, or friends? Most people have someone who loves them...anxiety and depression can make you feel like nobody does though.

>I miss happiness and most of all I miss not feeling anxious.

Man, I feel you. I realized I had a serious problem with anxiety when it hit me that I haven't really felt like me in a very long time - the young me, the silly goofy one who was happy and bold and not always scared of things. And I missed it. Probably a lot of us here can relate...you're not alone!

> I'm sad that everyone around me gets through life just OK

Ah, but maybe they don't. Maybe they're just good at faking it. I am. People close to me are consistently surprised when I tell them I have anxiety because I've always been good at smiling through all kinds of feelings and keeping things to myself...I'm a pretty private person. It's entirely possible that not everyone around you is sailing through life - it seems like it from your point of view, but I just betcha there are people who are struggling and hurting and relying on all sorts of things to help them get through the day.

>If I woke up one day free of my worries and self-loathing I would live my life to the fullest. But I'm afraid that that day will never be.

Therapy and self-help books can do wonders, especially if you're already on meds. Medicine is awesome and necessary when your anxiety stems from a physical cause, but it's also really helpful to rewire your thinking and the way you react to the thoughts/emotions/physical sensations/scenarios that make your anxiety rear its ugly head. Anxiety is something that you will always feel on occasion; we need it for our own good. The problem is when it's triggered inappropriately...and so much of that can be helped by your thought patterns as well as your meds. Definitely find someone to talk to, if you haven't yet, and look into a workbook. This is the one I'm currently going through, and it's been really helpful so far. I feel like I understand myself and my problems so much better, and I'm only in chapter three or four!

Best of luck...it gets better, but as my doctor explained to me, it isn't easy or quick, and you have to fight. But it's worth it - YOU are worth it - and you can do it!

I am so sorry that you are feeling this way right now! Just know that these feelings will pass, and things will get better-- I felt much the same as you do right now when I was your age, and I promise you that you will get through this.

I commend you on your aspirations and hope that you get to pursue the things you love in school!

A wonderful practice that might be useful to you in this time of life is mindfulness-- the art of calming your mind, recognizing your thoughts, letting them be as they are, and growing into the person you want to be through reflection and deep thought. I highly recommend these books by Thich Nhat Hanh; he is a buddhist monk and advocate for peace that writes beautifully about what it means to be human and how we can compassionately engage with our own humanity and the humanity of those around us.

I think there's also a lot to be said for reading fiction and following your own interests. Go to your local library and take a leisurely stroll through the stacks. I often turn to books when I'm feeling lonely and unmoored. Fiction has a brilliant ability to help us feel less alone and to engage us in the stories of others. You can also meet lots of wonderful people when you become involved in the literary community around you. It's truly a wonderful thing.

Best of luck to you in this season of your life; please don't be too discouraged! This will pass, and things will be well again.

Hi there. I'd say that the symptoms you describe are a normal reaction to what should be an abnormal event; at the same time, it's no way to live. You shouldn't have to struggle with these thoughts and feelings every day.

It sounds like you are managing incredibly well, especially given how much your daily life is affected by what you've been through. Seriously, well done.

Personally, after I was hurt I poured even more energy into my work (it was my first 'real' job out of uni). I moved to a new neighbourhood, had terrible nightmares/flashbacks and constantly had the event on my mind, but at the same time I actually excelled in the work sphere. I was promoted several times and given raises etc... however, as you say, I was tired. Eventually, at about the three-year mark, I became so drained that I couldn't keep it up, and the situation began to reverse - my work suffered more and more and my personal life all but disintegrated. It was a profound exhaustion like I'd never known. By the time five years came, I was at the end of my rope. I had to take a full year off of work to focus on processing the trauma and rebuilding my life.

The reason I'm sharing this is to let you know that you're not alone, but also to warn you that if it is still affecting your day-to-day life this much, it's unlikely to go away on its own without some kind of intervention. Please do keep living your life and be very proud of everything you are accomplishing, but also be cautious of burnout. Even the strongest, most intelligent person has a limit to what they can endure.

Therapy can be really helpful if you have access to it, but as you mentioned it's not within everyone's budget. This is more of a long-term plan, but when you are looking for jobs, look closely at their benefits packages - many do include mental health funding/support services, at least where I am. In the meantime, it might be worth reaching out to your school and your local rape crisis centre to see what they might offer in terms of free counselling.

Outside of that, I'd recommend getting a few books to guide you through. Some that could be helpful are:

• Calming The Emotional Storm ...I think this one was written with bipolar people in mind, but I don't have that (I've been dx'd with ptsd, anxiety and depression) and I still found it very helpful
  
  
• The Rape Recovery Handbook ...haven't tried this one myself but have seen it oft-recommended
  
  
• The Body Keeps The Score ...a very well-known book/author dealing with trauma recovery
  
  
• The PTSD Workbook ...not saying you have ptsd, but this might still be helpful to guide yourself through trauma recovery
  
  
• The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook ...I've found this one helpful as well
  
  At least a couple of these are also available as audiobooks, if that interests you (I use Audible).
  
  Good luck with everything; it sounds like you are on a great path. You will get to a place when what happened to you feels more past than present... just be sure to address it and treat yourself with kindness and compassion along the way.
  
  It's totally normal and ok that this is tough for you, but it doesn't have to be this way forever. You're so much more than what happened to you. 💙

Okay so this isn't complete, and apparently my account is too young (or doesn't have enough karma?) to make a post to the subreddit :(

But here is the original post I constructed to submit:

Hello r/herbalism.

This book list was compiled by a good friend of mine who has been a practicing herbalist for a while now. I thought you might all enjoy this list; it's divided into different sections based on the particular area of study. My friend would also like me to inform you "If anyone should have difficulty locating these books, I've found a website, called bookfinder.com, to be most useful in acquiring these books for a fraction of the price from regular booksellers."

Beginner Herbalism, General

• Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use
  
  
• Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech
  
  
• Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine Making Guide
  
  
• Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health
  
  
• Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug Resistant Bacteria by Stephen Buhner
  
  
• The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green
  
  
• Earthwise Herbal Vol I. and Earthwise Herbal Vol. II by Matthew Wood.
  
  
• The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism: Basic Doctrine, Energetics, and Classification by Matthew Wood
  
  
  
• Rodale's 21st Century Herbal by Michael Balick
  
  
• The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine: The Ultimate Multidisciplinary Reference to the Amazing Realm of Healing Plants in a Quick-Study, One-Stop Guide by Brigitte Mars
  
  
  
• The Herbalist's Way: The Art and Practice of Healing with Plant Medicines by Nancy Phillips, Michael Phillips, and Rosemary Gladstar
  
  
  

  Advanced Herbalism
  

  
  

• Medical Herbalism: The Science Principles and Practices Of Herbal Medicine by David Hoffman
  
  
• Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by David Winston
  
  
• Edward E Shook's Elementary Treatise in Herbology and Advanced Treatise in Herbology - (In regards to the second, my friend has found a free PDF of the advanced treatise.)
  
  
• The School of Natural Healing: The Reference Volume on Natural Herbs for the Teacher, Student or Herbal Practitioner by John R. Christopher
  
  
• The Complete Herbal Tutor: A Structured Course to Achieve Professional Expertise by Anne McIntyre
  
  

  Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry (Part of the Advanced Herbalism List)
  

  
  
  

• The Constituents of Medicinal Plants: An Introduction to the Chemistry and Therapeutics of Herbal Medicine by A. Pengally
  
  
• Phytochemistry and Pharmacy for Practitioners of Botanical Medicine by Eric Yarnell
  
  
• Herbal Constituents: Foundations of Phytochemistry by Lisa Ganora
  
  
  

  Medicinal Mycology
  

  
  

• The Fungal Pharmacy: The Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens of North America by Robert Rogers
  
  
• Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets
  
  
  
  

First, can you drop a class? That's the primary source of your stress. Check and see if your school has a student health center or counselors. They are a great resource for teaching stress management skills like mindfulness, meditation, and cognitive therapy, and they are often free.

Different strategies work for different people and personalities. Since I don't know your exact situation and personality, I can tell you things that I do for myself.

Make time for yourself to unwind. Don't study all day, every day. It won't make your grades better, trust me. Study hard, but give yourself breaks and a set time to close the books and call it quits for the day. Then do something enjoyable. Take a walk, call/hang out with a friend, watch some Netflix, find a dog and pet it. Don't guilt yourself for not studying.

Make sleep a priority Seriously, don't stay up late studying or pulling all nighters. You don't study well or remember things when you are tired. And sleep is essential for giving your body time to recover from the day and it's stresses. I found my grades and mood improved when I got a full night's sleep, even when it meant giving up an extra hour or two of study.

Check what your body is doing when you feel stressed. Are you holding your breath? Clenching your muscles? Relax and take long, deep breathes and relax your jaw and fists. This helps signal your body that you are not in mortal, physical danger and it can stop the flight or fight response that triggers the release of cortisol.

Give yourself permission to not have perfect grades. I don't know if you are a type A perfectionist, but I sure am. I was convinced I had to had perfect grades or my future would be adversely affected. Truth is, most employers don't care what your GPA is, they don't even ask. They don't care that you were summa cum laude or whatever, it looks nice on a resume and stuff, but that's about it. They are more concerned with how well you would work with other people, that you have a degree in whatever field you are seeing work in, and are trainable. It's ok to have a B or C every once in a while. Don't lose sleep over it and don't beat yourself up over it.

These are just a few out of many things to help your stress. Stress management is a skill that can be learned and practiced, and in my opinion ought to be taught in every high school and college. These things helped me get through an accelerated nursing program with my sanity intact and good grades to boot.

I would also recommend the book "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" (I'm aware of irony of me adding more reading to your already rigorous course load, lol!)

Anyway I'm curious to see how this works for you! Give me an update sometime and let me know if you have any questions!

1

As you meditate more, you may come to realise that it's the identification of yourself with an emotion which causes a significant amount of suffering (not the emotion itself). For example, I suffered from quite bad anxiety when around large numbers of people (lectures, meetings, etc). Pre-mindfulness, I would become anxious which leads to a freight train of thoughts such as: "what if this gets worse?", "what if I have a full-blown panic attack in front of all these people?", "I can't cope with this". Notice how all these thoughts have an I in them; it's all self-referential and believing that this emotion is you. I found depression is similar but the thoughts are more like: "why do I feel like this?", "I'm more depressed than everyone else", "I'm not normal; I'm going to be like this forever".

The aim of mindfulness is to accept our emotions, but probably more importantly is to also change how we relate to our emotions and this is the aspect which takes time, patience and persistance. So please, please, please, keep on meditating!

> I almost don't want to accept my sad emotions

I understand this and is extremely difficult. To completely give in to your emotions is almost an art. Try it as a sort of "experiment" if sadness comes up in meditation; try to completely let the sadness in. See how it feels in your body, if it creates any tension, where it sits, if there's a change in breathing, if there's a change in temperature etc.

2

This probably will happen to a certain extent, but I would argue that this brings a freedom that the majority of the population is unaware from.

The next time you're on a train/bus or at a party, have a look at the people around you. A lot of people going to work are grasping for that next step up the career ladder or that pay rise, hoping it will be them happiness when they are at the top or can afford those new, more expensive shoes they've always wanted. People are driven by thought processes which ultimately won't make them happy. Again with people at a party; how many people look at ease? You have people desperately trying to fit in, which is fueled by feelings of anxiety and fear of failure. You have people desperately trying to be "cool", to fulfill this story/narrative that they are cool and popular. If not, their identity crumbles and they are miserable.

Mindfulness helps us step out of our own narrative and truly live. Instead of focusing on money, status, intellectualism, athleticism, etc, you can simply be here now. This will generally make you more compassionate as well.

I would argue that the less we identify with the self, the more freedom we have. I had a similar crisis of identity when I started meditating. I was a keen athlete and was always striving for better and faster. After meditating for a while though, I realised that this was primarily driven by anxiety and feel of failure. All of a sudden I had zero motivation to train and compete! What was the point? To me it didn't matter anymore. This was problematic as exercise really helped my mental health. The solution I found was to carry on training/exercising, but this time the aim was to simply enjoy the process. Be present in my training sessions. Explore how my body reacts during training and racing. Fully give in to the process of competing, while trying not to identify which the outcome/results too much (I'm still not great at this last bit, as I still place a lot of my self-worth in how I perform. I'm slowly getting better though).

What I'm trying to say is that you can carry on doing the hobbies/activities you enjoy, but approach them with a different outlook.

3

I've experiences space distortion (e.g. the floor underneath me falling away which was very weird and intense) but never hallucination so I can't really help you there. However, if you want to systematically and carefully explore meditation further step-by-step, then I cannot recommend enough The Mind Illuminated by Dr John Yates (which is completely free of religion and jargon which is refreshing). In my opinion, Eckharte Tolle's book is a waste of space and there are better books on being mindful:

• Wherever You Go, There You Are
  
• Mindfulness In Plain English
  
  
• Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World
  
  The first two books are more about the essence of mindfulness and the third is more of a step-by-step guide to mindfulness written by a brilliant researcher here in Oxford. Russ Harris' books on ACT are fantastic :)
  
  Edit: One last thing I wanted to say about the negative effects of mindfulness is that my motivation to work towards my PhD also took a hit when I started meditating. Again, a lot of my motivation for my PhD was anxiety and fear or failure, and once I identified with these emotions less and less, the less I worried about working hard. This again is slow progress but I'm trying to switch emphasis in my work from achieve, achieve, achieve, to enjoying and savouring the process. It's difficult though with periods of high-pressure and deadlines!
  

At least for Anarchists or other left-libertarians it should also be important to actually read up on some basic or even fundamental ethical texts given most political views and arguments are fundamentally rooted in morality (unless you're a orthodox Marxist or Monarchist). I'm sadly not familiar enough with applied ethics to link collections of arguments for specific ethical problems, but it's very important to know what broad system you're using to evaluate what's right or wrong to not contradict yourself.

At least a few very old texts will also be available for free somewhere on the internet like The Anarchist Library.

Some good intro books:

• The Fundamentals of Ethics by Russ Shafer-Landau
  
• The Elements of Moral Philosophy by James and Stuart Rachels
  
• Ethics: A Very Short Introduction by Simon Blackburn
  
  Some foundational texts and contemporary authors of every main view within normative ethics:
  
  
• Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotles for Classic Virtue-Ethics. Martha Nussbaum would be a contemporary left-wing Virtue-Ethicist who has used Marx account of alienation to argue for Global Justice.
  
• Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel (or Emmanuel) Kant for Classic Deontology. Kantianism is a popular system to argue for anti-statism I believe even though Kant himself was a classical liberal. Christine Korsgaard would be an example of a contemporary Kantian.
  
• The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick for Classic Utilitarianism. People usually recommend Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill, but most contemporary Ethicists believe his arguments for Utilitarianism suck. 2 other important writers have been R. M. Hare and G. E. Moore with very unique deviations from classic Utilitarianism. A contemporary writer would be Peter Singer. Utilitarianism is sometimes seemingly leading people away from Socialism, but this isn't necessarily the case.
  
• Between Facts and Norms and other works by the contemporary Critical Theorist Jürgen Habermas may be particularly interesting to Neo-Marxists.
  
• A Theory of Justice by John Rawls. I know Rawls is a famous liberal, but his work can still be interpreted to support further left Ideologies. In his later works like Justice as Fairness: A Restatement you can see him tending closer to Democratic Socialism.
  
• Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche for... Nietzsche's very odd type of Egoism. His ethical work was especially influential to Anarchists such as Max Stirner, Emma Goldman or Murray Bookchin and also Accelerationists like Jean Baudrillard.
  
• In case you think moralism and ethics is just bourgeois propaganda maybe read something on subjectivism like Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong by J. L. Mackie
  
• Or if you want to hear a strong defense of objective morality read Moral Realism: A Defense by Russ Shafer-Landau orc

Congratulations! That's wonderful!

> adrenals, cortisol, blood sugar, and hormones connected to libido

These test results may be the key. The common element for all of them is probably chronic stress. The level of stress doesn't have to be all that high, but if it never goes away, your adrenal glands keep pushing out the adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, and they will increase your blood sugar levels and reduce your testosterone and oxytocin production, which reduces your libido, makes sex less fun, and makes it harder to connect emotionally with your husband when you're touching each other.

High chronic levels of cortisol also impair your immune system, cause long-term neurological damage, and are particularly bad for your long-term health, so this is worth tackling for more reasons than just restoring your libido. (Although that's reason enough! :)

Unless you have a glandular problem, like a hyperactive pituitary or something wrong with the adrenals themselves, the best results usually come from learning to manage your stress levels better. This includes things like making lifestyle changes to get more sleep and exercise and time outdoors, rearranging your normal routine to exclude predictably stressful encounters, and practicing effective stress management techniques like regular meditation, which has proven to be quite effective at lowering cortisol levels in the blood.

I went through a major libido crash and DB episode many years ago and my SO and I managed to get through it by working on stress and changing the way we had sex. In particular, I definitely recommend becoming a faithful meditator. It takes a little bit of discipline at first, but all it takes is 10-20 minutes and it very quickly becomes part of your daily routine.

Two articles that may help you figure out what is best for you:

• Stress and Arousal
  
  
• Escaping a Dead Bedroom
  
  And two books:
  
  
• Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers – The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping by Robert Sapolsky
  
  
• Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski
  
  I hope these help, and that you have many more great experiences like this one!

You can't so much will yourself to stop thinking about something, but you can work to change how you react to these thoughts. Tell yourself to stop thinking about a pink elephant. What are you thinking about now?

I would suggest two things: get organized and practice meditation. There are so many different tools available these days for organizing your life. KeePass is an excellent tool for managing all your accounts and passwords. It uses encryption that's currently impossible to crack, and all you have to do is remember the master password. Use a service like Google Calendar to record all events and have it send email or text reminders. Write in a journal as often as possible to clear your head and organize your thoughts, then review that journal often so you can see those thoughts in a different light.

Meditating is an amazing tool for centering yourself and calming an overactive brain. How to Meditate is one of the better books on the subject. The Relaxation Response is excellent as well. It's a discipline that you practice and become better over time. It's just like riding a bike. Don't expect yourself to get it on the first try.

Overall, it's not so much your thoughts as it is your reaction to them. Mindfulness meditation will help you observe the thoughts as they occur and rather than getting caught up in them and experiencing all the fear, doubt, and worry, you'll recognize their irrational nature and allow them to pass on their way.

So, I think most of the free online ones don't seem that great. But the NHS (UK) recommends these two programs: Fear Fighter is for people with phobias or panic attacks; Beating the Blues is for people with mild to moderate depression

and this book to patients which works pretty much how the paid for online courses work I believe, but much cheaper to start and get an idea.

I'm pretty sure if you do some googling you can also find most of the parts of the book as free pdfs online. All these online ones are based around CBT but really it needs that interaction and adaptation to you that only a professional can do, but the self help CBT stuff works well enough for quite a few people and for others it gives them the bump they need to progress to an actual therapist.

Hope it helps anyhow. I'm not a doctor (just as a disclaimer) but I am a researcher in the neuro field (though (again) this isn't my specialty). But if you have any other questions I might be able to help with let me know.

Yes, waiting can be hard. It took 4 months to get into a gender therapist in Boston. It is worth it though. In the meantime there are some books that may help them to better understand their feelings and options. There are two workbooks that I read that were okay:

• You and Your Gender Identity: A Guide to Discovery
  
• My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity
  
  A Guide to Gender - The Social Justice Advocate's Handbook and the author is great and this Ted Talk he did is awesome.
  
  Some others are:
  
  
• The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook: Skills for Navigating Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook)
  
• How to Understand Your Gender
  
  Perhaps these will help them and even yourself find your answers.

>
>
>Overall I'm interested to hear what the more medically minded people in this sub have to say because it was difficult for me to evaluate some of the claims this book makes.

Unfortunately I am not 100% medically minded but I felt the first half of the book did a good job of explaining the correlation between High ACE and then subsequent poor health.

>
>
>(Side note: This book's explanation of meditation and how it works was really interesting to me and I would like to read more about it. I've been hesitant to add meditation to my daily routine because I find it hard to motivate myself to do something that I'm not sure has scientific backing as I hate wasting time. If anyone knows of a book along those lines, about proven health benefits of meditation and how it works, I'd like to read it. I read "10% Happier" and it ended up just being a memoir.)

Have you ever looked into Jon Kabat-Zinn? He has a really good book that talks about the health benefits of meditation. https://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Revised-Illness-ebook/dp/B00C4BA3UK/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=jon+kabat+zinn&qid=1558459638&s=gateway&sr=8-2

His book resonated with me and has helped me through some tough times.

>
>
>I have an ACE score of 3 and am well aware of my trauma's impact on my mental health but I had never considered how it may impact my physical health. I think that was a valuable thing to learn and I'll probably try journaling about it soon. There have definitely been times in my life where I was marinating in stress, and that can't be good on the body.
>
>Really curious to know what others think!

I can relate to your comments, and I feel like for the past 4 years since I had my son I have been marinating my body in stress and it has definitely caught up to me.

The snatch, in particular the viking warrior protocol, really hits your nervous system hard. The explosive, complex movement requires a strong burst of nerve activity to activate all those muscles.

This ties into mood via polyvagal theory. In particular, vagal tone. Yoga helps people relax by using breathing patterns and movements to improve vagal tone and thus emotional regulation ability. Snatch is kind of the opposite. Possibly some yoga-ish cool downs could help, certainly after a lot of snatches it is important to do something to help calm down. I've found Trauma Release Exercises to be helpful for that.

Hey there, this is a really good question. There is a fine distinction between habitual complaining (unconscious) vs feeling your feelings (conscious processing). Habitual complaining goes on and on because it's unconscious. Consciously feeling your feelings allows them to be acknowledged and move through you. Here are a few ideas:

1. Trauma Release Exercises - even if you don't think you've experienced what society might deem "trauma" most people have. This process allows it to move through you without having to go back and relive the details. Here's the link to the website: https://traumaprevention.com/ and the book: https://www.amazon.com/Revolutionary-Trauma-Release-Process-Transcend/dp/1897238401
   
2. Have one or two friends or a therapist who is aware of your situation who can be your ally. And who you can talk to.
   
   
3. Byron Katie's "The Work" - this is another great way to really process through your thoughts and feelings and allow them to release. Here is a link to her work: https://thework.com/
   
   
4. The 90 second rule - this is based in biology and explained best by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist, and author of My Stroke of Insight. Here is Dr. Bolte's introduction to the 90-second rule:
   When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90 second chemical process that happens in the body; after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop.
   Something happens in the external world and chemicals are flushed through your body which puts it on full alert. For those chemicals to totally flush out of the body it takes less than 90 seconds.
   This means that for 90 seconds you can watch the process happening, you can feel it happening, and then you can watch it go away.
   After that, if you continue to feel fear, anger, and so on, you need to look at the thoughts that you’re thinking that are re-stimulating the circuitry that is resulting in you having this physiological response over and over again.
   
   
   Consider that you don't have to behave in a certain way to deserve love and friendship. You are worthy as you are, right now today. We are all imperfect and struggle internally. I hope that's helpful. - Shannon

Suicide ideation is a daily thing for me, you're not alone.

I've also had issues trusting health professionals and I know how much anxiety-inducing it is to look for one, but there's somebody out there who could help you in the environment that you're comfortable in. I've also found mindfulness meditation helpful and research has shown that it is therapeutic for relieving psychological conditions. I recommend reading this book if you are interested.

I've personally been reading a few and the ones I'd recommend are

• "Depression: The way out of your prison" by Dorothy Rowe and
  
  
• "Sunbathing in the Rain: A Cheerful Book About Depression" by Gwyneth Lewis
  
  I've heard good things about a few others here and there but I've not read them myself. /r/GetMotivated will have some in their sidebar I think. Might also be worth checking out /r/depression and see what they might suggest.
  
  Hope things get better for you. If you want a chat, feel free to PM.

1. parks and rec
   
   
2. arrested development
   
   
3. breaking bad
   
   
4. the x-files
   
   
5. Orange is the new black
   
   
6. shameless
   
   
7. dexter
   
   
8. black mirror
   
   
9. it's always sunny
   
   
10. american horror story
    
    I just listed shows I love haha
    
    my favorite all-time show is probably Six Feet Under or breaking bad...my favorite anything depends on the day/hour/minute
    
    I love this handy keychain for around 10
    
    and this book for managing anxiety
    
    and this zippo lighter because I could put stickers on it :)
    
    thank you for the contest :D I love tv shows a bit too much haha

Mostly commenting here in case someone else comes along with a more proper answer...

I'm assuming you're asking for literature, as in the studies he's citing as he goes along, etc. I don't have that, but you can probably get a lot of them from looking at the "textbooks" for the class. In the first lecture, he mentions these 2 books as essentially the "textbooks" for the course:

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky

Chaos: Making a New Science, James Gleick

​

Later on, he also brings up Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science

And since that lecture series was done, in 2017, Sapolsky published a book, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, which has TONS of overlap with the lecture series. He doesn't go into the same exact stuff, especially in the later chapters versus the later lectures, but he follows the exact same pattern of explaining the biology of human behaviors. He even tells a lot of the same stories and personal insights.

It wouldn't surprise me if the vast majority of the literature he cites in the lectures are all referenced across those books, too, so it would be a totally valuable avenue to dig in on. I haven't personally read through the first two all the way yet (I'm about halfway through Zebras right now). Behave is worth reading in addition to the lectures, despite the huge overlap, imho, and probably lists most of the same studies he cites in its Notes section.

Some form of dysautonomia perhaps?

As far as the anxiety, since you can't tolerate meds, try meditation or relaxation exercises. A great book on the subject is Full Catastrophe Living. You might find a program for it at your local hospital. It's not a quick fix, it will take weeks of practice, but it's very helpful.

/r/meditation is another place to look. On YouTube if you search for "yoga nidra" you will find lots of relaxation videos. The other advantage of meditation is that if you have trouble sleeping at night it can help you get the rest you need.

You might be able to tolerate some nootropics for your anxiety:

• Take 300-600mg Ashwagandha root extract standardized to ~5% withanolides and 200mg L-theanine in the morning

• Take more L-theanine as needed for extra relaxation and focus

• Take 200-400mg of magnesium citrate before bed

I don't think it really goes away. The best way to deal with it is to just let the thoughts pass as soon as you notice them.
I have the same thing, just hyper aware of everything. I've just been teaching myself to let go, and try to focus on whatever it is I'm doing at that time (for example if I'm having a conversation I'll try my best to be involved with it, and listen intently)

Dunno if this helps. But I get what you're going through, and you can make stuff easier for sure! I've come a long way in the past couple of years!!

It's all practice over time man, there's no magic instant fix. Just so long as you have the goal in mind and you consistently work towards it then you should get to where you want.

This book helped me thoroughly!!!!! I'd highly recommend it

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wherever-You-There-Are-Mindfulness/dp/0749925485

• Focused and Fearless. A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity by Shaila Catherine. Beginning to Intermediate.
  
• Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond. A Meditator's Handbook. by Ajahn Brahm. All Levels.
  
• The Attention Revolution. Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind by B. Alan Wallace. All Levels.
  
• The Open-Focus Brain. Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body. by Les Fehmi. Beginner.
  
• Emptiness Dancing. by Adyashanti. Intermediate.
  
• The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment by Adyashanti. Intermediate/Advanced.

You can do each muscle group at the same time.

The way I learned it was to tense each area for around 5 seconds and then let go for 10, concentrating on how different it feels between tensed and relaxed.

Lay on your bed. Start from the bottom and work your way up as follows:

Feet - curve your toes up and tense your feet, hold, relax & repeat

Legs - Straighten legs, point toes towards face, hold, relax & repeat

Abdomen - tense stomach muscles as if preparing to be punched, hold, relax & repeat

Back - arch back, hold, relax & repeat

Shoulders/neck - shrug your shoulders, bringing them up and in, press your head back, hold, relax & repeat

Arms - Stretch out your arms and hands, hold, relax & repeat

Face - tense forehead and jaw by lowering your eyebrows and biting, hold, relax & repeat

Whole body - tense entire body (feet, legs, abdomen, back, shoulders, neck, arms and face), hold, relax, repeat.

Some people may feel tense after going through this exercise, in which case you can either repeat the entire thing or just the muscles that are tense (it should be repeated until you feel completely relaxed). Once the exercise is over, you should spend a few minutes relaxing your mind.

Finally, try to practise this routine twice a day until you start to feel relaxed first time.

I learned it from this book: Overcoming Anxiety: A Books on Prescription Title (Overcoming Books) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1849018782/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Sh8tyb3QMZ7W5 which was recommended to me by my GP.

First of all - the courage and resilience your daughter had to face in the fear of rejection and discrimination to be open and comfortable who she really is. *Touches my heart*

I have worked with both transmasculine/feminine youth (under 21) for years and found this book to be very helpful for both the youth and the parents in psychoeducation and opening a dialogue with questions that may arise: https://www.amazon.com/Queer-Transgender-Resilience-Workbook-Orientation/dp/1626259461/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lgbtq+trans+resilience&qid=1571163905&s=books&sr=1-1

Love wins. And the world needs more moms like you...

In 2015 I look forward to finishing my PhD thesis!

Thanks for making me write it down too. It's like positive reinforcement saying this to myself! I will do it. I will!

I will start calmly too! :

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1937994775/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_2_15?colid=107SKC6BEWX7I&coliid=I16OUOA62C603L

What you are experiencing sounds really awful and yet it's entirely normal. The basic principle of the brain is "what fires together wires together". When you had that very intense experience combining orgasms and suicidal thoughts because of medication, it simply made a literal connection in your brain. You can break it, and any good therapist can help you (doesn't have to be a sex therapist).

This can be treated like an OCD symptom where you are having intrusive thoughts triggered by a stimulus. There are great books on how to do this and I highly recommend them:

https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Unwanted-Intrusive-Thoughts-Frightening/dp/1626254346

https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Workbook-OCD-Overcoming-Compulsions/dp/1608828786

Mind you, I'm not saying you have OCD, or any disorder. But your brain is "locked" in linking these two parts of your life in a very unpleasant way. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you and this could happen to anyone who was set off with nasty side effects of medication.

You may also approach this like an experience of Post Traumatic Stress, which can also show up with intrusive thoughts. Good resources for that exist too:

https://www.amazon.com/PTSD-Workbook-Effective-Techniques-Overcoming/dp/1626253706

https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748

You didn't do anything wrong and you can definitely get past this. The harder you try to fix a mental association the more you can strengthen it, so you need some techniques. Tools for OCD and PTSD are designed just for you in that regard.

I'd buy all 4 books and then find any good therapist to work through them with.

Good luck. I know with the right tools and practice you can separate these two aspects of your experience and get back to enjoying sex, which you deserve.

Look up The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process & Shake it Off Naturally by David Berceli. He gives you the background and a bunch of exercises to do that exact thing. There is a lot of information about the questions you are asking as well.

As for the exercises, I've only tried a bit of it and experienced a couple minutes of what you described and never went back even though it was a positive experience. Your post has inspired me because that sounds amazing!!!

There are multiple things that I do that help with my anxiety, one thing I do that you probably do too is going to my doc often. That helps! :P

Here is my favorite kitten video! :p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNi8bK1TTX8

If you're into self-help workbooks, there's quite a few on Amazon. This one here might be okay :
https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Anxiety-Workbook-Strategies-Obsessions-Self-Help/dp/1593859937/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480810395&sr=8-2&keywords=anti-anxiety+book

I went on a "shopping spree" and spent like $40 at two thrift stores to get some new summer clothes. I buy mostly used clothing, so it tends to wear out a bit faster. When I'm done with a piece, depending on the shape it's in, I'll either re-donate it, throw it away, or re-purpose it into something else.

I also bought a paint-by-sticker book ($10) because I've been wanting one for a while and I love stickers.

Oh and I bought the entire series of The Cosby Show on DVD ($30) which I've also been wanting for a while. Slowly working on accumulating DVDs of all my favorite shows that I like to watch over and over. I want to then rip them onto my computer for more convenient access.

Most of my extra money is spent on food. I really need to cut down.

You must work on controlling your cravings and reducing negative thought patterns. To do this you must improve your control over your mind and its racing thoughts. The secret is meditation. This has brought me much relief and great happiness. Fellow redditors recommended this to me a while a go and it has changed everything for me. Please please give it a shot: https://www.amazon.com/dp/039917141X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_aEXDxb42GETNS

Loss is very hard, but It will get better man. Don't go down the rabbit hole.

Yeah, you need to try to increase the effort to keep the chatter away; you have to play it by ear though, because too much effort at focusing on the breath can increase the thoughts. Basically, really try hard to keep thoughts away, but if you notice that they're increasing, back off of the effort.

EDIT: I don't know how people feel about recommending books, but I found this book to be really helpful navigating the subtle application of energy during shamatha.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

I think S. Blackburn's Think is an excellent introduction to some of the major areas in philosophy. You might also what to look at some of the philosophical books in the "Very Short Introduction" series, for example the Philosophy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Philosophy of Science and Free Will ones, which as you can guess are good places to start.

A book I quite enjoyed as an introduction to the great philosophers was The Philosophy Book, which not only gave clear descriptions of each of the philosophers' views, but also often gave a clear flowchart summary of their arguments.

I've just finished a five week meditation course and it did for me for what I couldn't have done alone: Make me sit and focus (intentionally) for minutes (even more than an hour) in a room full of people who were trying the same thing that I was.

I've also been reading a great book called The Attention Revolution (A bad title for technically-angled book)

For the first time in my life, I can actually harness my own mind and bring my focus to a point.

The idea that meditation solves the ADHD problem is really a no-brainer: By using the practice of focusing one's attention upon an object of desire, you can collect your projected, scanning, sweeping attention and put it to good use.

Any of you who are attention deficient should really consider the meditation route. It's been one of the biggest, most beneficial changes in my life.

I'm off the sit and do nothing. Cheers, Reddit.

https://www.amazon.com/Adaptogens-Strength-Stamina-Stress-Relief/dp/1594771588

This book can help. It has a lot of great info.

I struggled with this for a while (and still do) and saw a therapist for a short time who specializes in chronic pain (closest I could find to chronic illness). She definitely gave me some good tools to help keep things in perspective.

She recommended this book if you want to check it out. I honestly never finished it... https://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Revised-Illness-ebook/dp/B00C4BA3UK

I recommend reading "Full Catastrophe Living". Chapter two is a great description of the different components of the mindset you need in order to cultivate mindfulness. It's not just meditation, it's about cultivating non-judgment, and acceptance, it's about being patient and bringing an active awareness to as many moments as you can.

The book should help you with your frustration.

link drawing

thanks for the neat contest!

I've moved on to the adult sticker book...mesmerizing. Paint by Sticker: Create 12 Masterpieces One Sticker at a Time! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0761187235/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_nhMLxbJHRZDBM

Cute!

Was curious where it was from, looks to be a book called Paint by sticker, https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Sticker-Create-Masterpieces-Time/dp/0761187235/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518416422&sr=8-1&keywords=paint+by+sticker

I have taken courses in "practical meditation"; no altered states or enlightened experiences.

One of the first questions that is always asked in these classes is "Do I have to change my religion to meditate" and the answer is always "No, you don't even need a religion".

Check out The Relaxation Response for a secular approach to meditation. Any library would have this.

As much as I'd love to nominate my kids, I think I'd rather choose this from off of the wishlist of /u/wovenweb as suffering from anxiety issues really sucks.

Edit: share the love

I love my inner child! I have a couple coloring books on my artsy wish list. I'm on mobile so I can't link, but I'll do it when I get to a computer!

edit: here it is! http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937994775/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3KT34ALLJN84Z&coliid=I2XXGW7JAHX14N

For the anxiety you can get books on cognitive behavioural therapy. That shit works. It's not like talk therapy, it's more training yourself to pay more attention to the good things and not dwell on the bad things. You can do that yourself.

I don't have the answers to your situation but try fixing the things you can control and it might help you cope with the things you can't control. Anxiety is one thing you can make progress on just by reading a book and putting the things you learn there into practice.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1849018782/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1415283237&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX110_SY165

hey, i've been there. this book and perhaps a cognitive behavioural therapist is a great combo:

https://www.amazon.ca/Anti-Anxiety-Workbook-Strategies-Overcome-Obsessions/dp/1593859937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521741448&sr=8-1&keywords=the+anti+anxiety+workbook

If they press further, it's also ok to say "I don't want to discuss this with you anymore. Let's talk about something else. "

It helps to practice boundary setting phrases and scenarios as I'm learning from this book I'm reading:

https://www.amazon.com/Queer-Transgender-Resilience-Workbook-Orientation/dp/1626259461/ref=asc_df_1626259461/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312154648235&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11765078087879172305&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028310&hvtargid=aud-801381245258:pla-448396653582&psc=1

Read The Relaxation Response. It was written back in the 1970s long before mindfulness became trendy. Its all you need to know.

Removed for violating rule #9: you submitted https://www.amazon.com/Art-Health-Simple-Powerful-Creating-ebook/dp/B014HX40FQ/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511564697&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+health. Please clean up the URL and resubmit only as https://www.amazon.com/Art-Health-Simple-Powerful-Creating-ebook/dp/B014HX40FQ/. Thank you!

My personal favorite book on meditation is Dean Sluyter's Natural Meditation.

As an exercise to train the mind, it is useful and scientifically backed.
http://www.amazon.com/Relaxation-Response-M-D-Herbert-Benson/dp/0380815958/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280405037&sr=8-1

This seems perfect. I did a WL search and it's the only thing that came up. <3

Feel free to chat me up as I also suffer from anxiety. <3

If you are interested in actually doing meditation practice as opposed to just studying it try this:
http://www.amazon.com/Attention-Revolution-Unlocking-Power-Focused/dp/0861712765/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268538778&sr=8-1

Schizandra chinensis (5-taste-berry) is clinically effective for overcoming addiction - yes, this is referenced via one of my favorite books:

http://www.amazon.com/Adaptogens-Strength-Stamina-Stress-Relief/dp/1594771588

This is also one of my favorites as an adaptogen for women and older folks with immune issues. Coming off of a nervous stimulant like nicotine can lead to depressed immune function -- which is unfortunate, because you're gonna need immunity for the purging about to take place -- and any former smoker will tell ya that the stress is what makes cigarettes irresistable.

I've also heard the 5THP is a wonderful adjunct therapy for angry and deprived nervous receptors.

try listening to the book Retrain your anxious brain

I was having some serious relationship issues that were followed by a complete emotional breakdown when i found this book. I have managed to make progress back due to it. Id say its worth the listen because it helped me stop and slow down. I realized that I can only control myself and it has helped tremendously

That's ok. Another book that's helped me in this area is The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1897238401/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Q2o5BbHVM9P8T

The book tells you how to release the tension from your muscles and fascia using some basic exercises that uses shaking. Weird I know, but if you read the book it makes sense.

Let me know if I can help with any more information.

Pdf that might just be viruses: https://www.e-bookdownload.net/search/the-queer-and-transgender-resilience-workbook

Same Book for money: https://www.amazon.com/Queer-Transgender-Resilience-Workbook-Orientation/dp/1626259461

Second book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gender-Quest-Workbook-Exploring-Identity/dp/1626252971

I bought a book on amazon. Paperback is $14, kindle version $10.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1897238401/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1395733660&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40

Why Zebras don't get Ulcers

https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0037NX018/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

relaxation response

The first few chapters of this book helped me.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Attention-Revolution-Unlocking-Focused/dp/0861712765

A couple links for getting The Attention Revolution:

• Amazon
  
  
• A "preview" PDF with the Introduction and Stage 1 (but not Interlude 1)

Men with compulsive patterns have one thing in common: abandonment trauma from a very early age. This requires constant medication through a hijacked reward circuit see: www.yourbrainonporn.com. Because of early conditioning an addict believes himself to be a flawed human being; the worst worst. Toxic shame as an identity becomes dehumanising and increasingly unmanageable.

Recovery involves making contact with this primal pain. It's ugly work. There are many tools available:

https://7chan.org/lit/src/Robert_Glover_-_No_More_Mr_Nice_Guy.pdf

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Shame-Binds-Recovery-Classics/dp/0757303234/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398108453&sr=8-1&keywords=healing+the+shame+that+binds+you

http://www.amazon.com/The-Revolutionary-Trauma-Release-Process/dp/1897238401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398108520&sr=8-1&keywords=david+berceli

Good places to start. Nofap is a great platform but the flavour is often day-counting, minimisation, rationalisation and denial.

Unconditional self-acceptance is the big win.

I'm honestly not sure, you might be a better judge than I am.

On reflection, I'd rather err on your side; so many self-help books are so trite and shit and harmful that I'd often rather damn the whole lot of them than try to salvage the good.

One possible reason is that there are different types of fat and people often fail to distinguish them and even some scientists sometimes fail to note the difference as a confounding variable.

From Robert M. Sapolsky's book about the biological stress response "Why Zebras don't get ulcers."

> Time for one of the great dichotomies revered by fat cell aficionados: fat cells located in your abdominal area, around your belly, are known as "visceral" fat. Fill up those fat cells with fat, without depositing much fat elsewhere in your body, and you take on an "apple" shape.

> In contrast, fat cells around your rear end form "gluteal" fat. Fill those up preferentially with fat and you take on a "pear" shape, being round-bottomed.

> The formal way to quantify these different types of fat deposition is to measure the circumference of your waist (which tells you about the amount of abdominal fat) and the circumference of your hips (a measure of gluteal fat).

[...]

> This stimulation of visceral fat deposition by glucocorticoids is not good news. This is because if you have to pack on some fat, you definitely want to become a pear, not an apple. As we saw in the chapter on metabolism, lots of fat is a predictor of Syndrome X. But it turns out that a large WHR [waist-to-hip-ratio] is an even better predictor of trouble than being overweight is.

Another subtlety is that the often used Body Mass Index only accounts for weight, not fat specifically (much less which type of fat as explained before). So aside from the extremes, it does not really tell you much about the figure type (athletic, chubby, skinny-fat, etc.).

As a consequence some people get hung up on the flaws of the BMI and throw out the metaphorical baby with the bathwater.

Then there is the philosophical argument that people have the right to decide themselves how they want to look.