Surviving a Heart Attack: How My Life Changed

Aspirin Heart Attack

A heart attack was the kind of life changing experience that happened to other people, not to someone who exercised regularly, ate sensibly, took appropriate vitamins, and wasn't overweight. I was wrong. One very hot July morning I found myself in the emergency room, and my life-or at least my view of it-is forever altered.

At first, it seemed that my life had changed for the worse. While still in the hospital, I developed an unfriendly relationship with my body, which had clearly betrayed me. I no longer trusted it to behave in a reliable manner. I felt that I had to be watching it all the time.

The hostility and suspicion diminished a few weeks after the heart attack, but a new feeling of vulnerability replaced them. Maybe it wasn't my body's fault that it was fragile, but it was-and I couldn't do anything about it.

In my third stage of change, I decided that I no longer wanted to continue feeling helpless and diminished by this life experience. I hadn't been singled out for a heart attack. It occurred to many people and for many reasons. I decided that I needed to more fully understand the emotional underpinnings of this experience and decided to adopt the belief that you are as helpless as you choose to be. I chose to be empowered.

My fourth step was to read selfhelp books, especially those related to recovering from severe physical traumas such as heart attacks and strokes. I also sought out selfhelp forums relating to these subjects on the Internet. I found much to encourage me, including many first-person accounts by people who stated, in calm and reassuring language, that their heart attacks had ultimately changed their lives for the better.

And that proved to be the fifth (though probably not final) change in my own life. When you face the reality that you could have died and certainly will at some point, you can either cave in and be fearful or appreciate that you are alive and that life is an experience to be savored with gratitude and even joy.

Meditation and Self Help

Meditations

When the days are crazy and hectic, some people find that meditation is one of the best ways to get centered and calm down, and reduce the noise of the day. There are so many advantages that meditating brings for people. First, meditating reduces the amounts of cortisol in the body which is one of the hormones that is produced during stress. Second, it helps boost the immune system and functions of the brain, as well as helping to balance the left and right brain functions because it helps create fresh neural pathways. Third, it helps reduce a variety of emotional issues including depression, fear, and anxiety.
What exactly is meditation? There are a variety of forms of meditation that allows the individual to empty the mind, relax, and concentrate on one specific thing, such as relaxation, or healing, or assorted forms of self help. The most practiced methods of meditation include settling into a comfortable position, generally sitting, and concentrating on something specific, such as a candle flame. Most people find it very difficult at first because the mind is so cluttered with the activities of the day, making it hard to give attention to just one thing and block all other thoughts. Another helpful area is repeating a mantra, such as Om, that also helps focus the mind on a solitary thought. The goal is to achieve a silent mind and be able to control the thoughts. This generally takes a significant amount of practice before the silence is achieved and the thoughts focused.
Once the individual has learned to meditate, there are many areas that meditation is useful for, including building self confidence or self esteem, improving health, solving a problem that has been difficult to resolve, or improving brain function. One of the main beliefs of meditation revolves around the law of attraction; a metaphysical belief that whatever is truly desired can be attained because when one meditates on a specific desire, that meditation helps manifest that desire. The law of attraction requires positive thinking and one of the best aspects of meditating achieving a positive attitude.
There are also a variety of guided meditations that are geared for a multitude of reasons. These generally have soft music with a soft, calming voice guiding the individual through a variety of settings; such as walking along a quiet beach and hearing little more than the calming of the waves and the distant call of a solitary bird. Once the calm state of clarity of mind is reached, the guided meditation focuses the mind on suggestions such as enhancing self confidence, losing the anxiety or fears, or focusing the body on healing. When these guided meditations are practiced several times each week, they are very successful in altering a behavior, increasing self esteem, or helping increase the healing process.
Meditation is one of the oldest forms of calming the spirit, increasing creativity and problem solving, or simply relaxing the body in order to achieve rest and necessary healing.

For guided meditation products and information please visit: http://meditations4thesoul.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=B._J._Price

What Are the Symptoms of Anxiety?

Low Self Esteem Symptoms

It is estimated that one in six adults suffer from anxiety according to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA). Anxiety is one of the most common forms of mental illness in adults and children today. Generalized anxiety disorder is known to affect twice as many women as it does men.
Everyone experiences some form of anxiety. It is normal for everyday life and even helpful in a dangerous situation, however anxiety becomes a problem when it lasts for more than six months. Social anxiety is anxiety that is felt when confronted with things such as public speaking especially in front of strangers. Many such phobias can lead to high levels of anxiety.
Untreated anxiety can lead to depression and other physical responses such as chronic headaches.
With so many people experiencing anxiety attacks, it is important to recognize the symptoms. Some people may report their symptoms as heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, and tightness in their chest. People with an anxiety disorder may experience excessive worry, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, sleeplessness, fatigue, generalized weakness, irritability, and feeling keyed up.
People with anxiety may experience some of these symptoms or all of them. These symptoms can be seen in people with a generalized anxiety disorder or a social anxiety disorder. Most people with anxiety express excessive worry that they cannot control.
If symptoms continue without treatment problems with anxiety related depression could occur. More potentially serious complications can arise including insomnia, severe headaches, teeth grinding, and even substance abuse.
What can be done to treat anxiety?
There are two traditional treatment options available. One treatment option is medications prescribed by your physician. There are several types of medications that may be used to treat anxiety disorders such as benzodiazepines, which are sedatives. Examples include medications such as alprazolam (Xanax), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), clonazepan (Klonopin), to name a few. These types of medications are for short-term use in most cases, and can be habit forming.
Another medication that is being used frequently because it is not habit forming is busipirone (BusSpar). The problem with this medication is, that it may take several weeks to work.
The second traditional treatment option is psychotherapy or counselling. This type of treatment works by means of helping a person to identify unhealthy and negative beliefs. Once these beliefs are identified the therapist then works with the person on ways of mastering and controlling the persons thoughts.
There are ways that a person experiencing anxiety, anxiety disorder, or social anxiety disorder can decrease the symptoms and lead a better life. Taking care of self is the first task. Living a healthy life style with plenty of exercise, good diet, sleep, avoiding caffeine and nicotine are just a few of the things a person can do to lesson their symptoms.
Learning new coping methods, sticking to your treatment plan, and breaking the cycle by refocusing your mind away from worries are also method that can help. If you are using herbal remedies, talk with your pharmacist to be sure that they work with any other medications you may be taking. Remember, symptoms of anxiety can be treated. Do not let it go too far without help.

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For Your Roommate the Unicorn

The Self Help Bookshop

The Book of Imaginary Beings
Your roommate the unicorn can be a tiresome conversationalist. His pretentious discourses on Schopenhauer are a real downer at the bar, but you know he's just trying to impress the ladies. Help him out with Borges' coffeehouse-appropriate mini-encyclopedia. He might even learn something about himself.
Self-interest: You've witnessed enough late nights with his bottle of scotch to know that the "lack of temperance" Borges quotes Leonardo da Vinci attributing to the unicorn is no joke. Maybe this will remind him to be a bit more cautious with the bottle.
$16. Joseph Fox Bookshop, 1724 Sansom St. foxbookshop.com
Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
Ever since your roommate the unicorn started crushing on that vegan barista at the coffee shop around the corner, he's been talking about wanting to improve his diet. This health kick hasn't made it much further than a token carton of rice milk in your fridge, but you can give him a tasty little push with a dozen cookies. Vegan, glutenfree and free of highly processed additives, your roommate the unicorn can gorge himself on these oats, and maybe bring one over to that barista.
Self-interest: With his diet of ice cream and Cheetos, your roommate the unicorn can wreak unspeakable havoc on your apartment's unrenovated plumbing system. Help him solve his digestive troubles and you'll really be helping yourself.
$13.75/dozen. Sweet Freedom Bakery 1424 South St. sweetfreedom.bakery.com
Ultra Paws Traction Dog Boots, XL
Expect things to get a little chilly when you agree to keep the thermostat at 6o to cut down on expenses. It's hard for unicorns to keep shearling slippers on their hooves, so buy him a pair of XL dog boots. Understated in black fleece, they'll keep his hooves warm and him happy. And if this winter sees anything like last years snow, he'll appreciate the added traction of these indooroutdoor boots when he has to head out to the bodega.
Self-interest: Four gold hooves make a hell of a racket on the wood floors of your walk-up (not to mention what they're probably doing to your security deposit); these will muffle the clomping.
$13.99 Doogie Style, 1700 E. Possyunk Ave. (various locations) doggiestyle2.com
Tickets to the Unicorn Tapestries
Maybe it's the species divide, but your roommate the unicorn doesn't get what's so scary about that Saw franchise everyone's always yammering on about. Give him a chance to experience the fun of a good scare with tickets to the Cloisters, part of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among other medieval masterpieces, there's some famous and terrifying (if you're a unicorn) sequential art- the seven Unicorn Tapestries narrate the hunt of a unicorn, ending with its gruesome death. Although 15th-century special effects may not compare with today's 3-D corpse showers, your roommate the unicorn will be properly chilled by man's inhumanity to, well, unicorns.
Self-interest: A trip to New York for your roommate the unicorn means you get the apartment to yourself for once.
$20. The Cloisters, 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tryon Park. New York City metmuseum.org

Using Hypnosis Audio Self Help CDs and Tapes

Self Help CDs

The hypnosis audio self help CDs, mp3s and tapes can be customized to your own condition. You basically fill out a form that outlines your problems and then you have them email you back an mp3 or CD that is directed at what you told them. It is a very effective way to address your issues in the privacy of your own home using headphones and lying in a relaxed position. Such customizable mp3s can be used to treat unusual conditions or whenever you need specific suggestions that can't be found on a routine hypnosis audio self help CD.
Say you have a problem with smoking and are interested in quitting smoking through hypnosis. You can purchase an audio self help CD or mp3 download and begin to listen to the tape. The tape will go through an induction sequence with you that will put you in a calm and relaxed hypnotic trance. You will then listen to some affirming statements about yourself and then learn suggestions like "I no longer need these cigarettes" or "I am repulsed by the smell of smoke" or "I am a nonsmoker from now on". Such statements get deeply into your psyche and affect a change in your behavior.
You can even use hypnosis audio self help CDs or mp3s to deal with a specific phobia. Some examples of phobias include fear of heights, fear of water or fear of specific animals. There are unusual phobias as well. If you by a hypnosis audio self help CD or mp3 that is generic, you might not get your specific phobias addressed. This is where a customized mp3 or CD is a bit more appropriate. You can hear suggestions that make sense to your condition. You will hear suggestions like "I no longer am afraid of..." or "I have no fears". These can work in just one session or can take several sessions before a change is affected.
Hypnosis audio self help programs can teach you how to hypnotize others for fun. You'd have to buy an entire program and be certified in order to do this for profit. When you buy these CDs, you will learn self hypnosis but you will also learn a lot about hypnotizing others. You will learn how to perform an adequate induction strategy and put a person into a hypnotic trance, in which they feel peaceful, calm and relaxed. They are then in a state where they can receive suggestions that change the way they think and feel once they come out of the trance.

Caterina Christakos is a published author and reviewer. Find out more about hypnosis and hypnosis training here: http://hypnosisorlando.net/

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