In mindfulness, you learn to see thoughts as just thoughts rather than as facts or situations you must react to. Thoughts commonly come and go in the mind, and if you treat all thoughts as true and assign them all the same level of importance, you’re more prone to feel down in the midst of negative or self-judgmental thoughts and highly elated in the midst of positive thoughts. This rollercoaster ride of emotions and energy often seems to trace the same path as bipolar disorder’s ups and downs.
By practicing mindfulness, you notice that both types of thoughts are just thoughts, and you don’t need to react to them or even give them your full attention. After all, thoughts arise merely out of your perception of reality or are borne out of your own thought process. You’re not required to give them the full status of being true. Mindfulness involves watching thoughts and stepping back from them – like watching clouds passing through the sky. This enables you to become a disinterested observer, and thoughts lose some of their control over your emotions.
Switching modes of mind
Mindfulness also emphasizes learning to switch modes of mind. Normally you operate in “doing mode,” which is all about setting goals and trying to achieve them. Many people get stuck in this mode and never realize they have the option of shifting to “being mode,” which is all about allowing and accepting things just as they are, rather than working hard to change them.
Being mode is particularly helpful in the realm of emotions. If you’re feeling sad and don’t accept it, you can end up fighting to change the experience. This can lead to a deeper feeling of sadness and trigger a negative thought cycle. By being with the experience and mindfully accepting the emotion, you allow the feeling to dissipate in its own time.
Mindfulness looks like a potentially effective way of managing bipolar disorder, especially the depressive pole, which may be the most difficult to treat with medication alone. Mindfulness exercises and meditations are useful for people with bipolar disorder (manic depression) because mindfulness:
Decreases the relapse rate for depression.
Reduces stress and anxiety, which contribute significantly to the onset of both mania and depression and may worsen the course of the illness.
Improves a person’s ability to manage thoughts and feelings and increases awareness of the way the person tends to internalize external stimuli.
Mindfulness exercises include guided body scan meditation, mindful walking, mindfulness of breath, and mindfulness of thoughts and feelings.
Imagine if you could see time laid out in front of you, or surrounding your body. And you could physically point to specific dates in space.
Important dates might stand out – birthdays, anniversaries. And you could scan a visible timeline – to check if you were available – whenever you made plans. No actual diary necessary.
According to Julia Simner, a psychologist from the University of Edinburgh, there is a reasonable chance you can. And that you may use the experience, unconsciously, every day. MORE FROM THE BBC
If you haven’t taken all (or any) of the data breaches seriously….. wtf
I first discovered my data / identity was stolen 2013 when I got a bill for a phone purchase. With a little research, I found out that someone bought a phone in a store in a state and in a city that I literally have never set foot in.
All 3 major (and the smaller 5) credit reporting companies have been hacked with loss of data. You don’t need to be online … ever … at all …. to have your info including your SS and banking info stolen.
Dark web monitoring services show that ALL of my personal info has been exposed since at least 2020 including my SS and phone number, address, waist size, ect….. OK, luckily not my waist size.
I use monitoring services and routinely visit official web sites to check if things have been altered. You should too.
From Bitdefender: Data leak at digital identity verification provider exposes 1 billion records
A publicly accessible database containing about 1 billion records from 26 countries was recently identified by Cybernews investigators.
The exposed instance appears to belong to IDMerit, an AI-powered digital identity verification provider serving fintech and financial services companies, according to researchers.
From INC: How to Know if You’re Affected by One of the Largest Data Breaches in U.S. History
The security breach at Conduent, which provides printing, payment, and document processing services for some of the country’s largest health insurance providers, keeps getting bigger……
Earlier this month (Feb 2026), the total number of victims was estimated at 15.4 million. This week that number was revised to more than 25 million—and it could go higher still.
Old Sturbridge Village is a living museum located in Sturbridge, Massachusetts which recreates life in rural New England during the 1790s through 1830s. It is the largest living museum in New England, covering more than 200 acres (80 hectares). The Village includes 59 antique buildings, three water-powered mills, and a working farm. Third-person costumed interpreters demonstrate and interpret 19th-century arts, crafts, and agricultural work. The museum is popular among tourists and for educational field trips. From Wikipedia.
They discovered that ginger cats are missing a section of their genetic code, which means the cells responsible for their skin, eye and fur tone produce lighter colours.
I was chatting with someone and I mentioned that I needed to do some work on my blogs. They commented that if I don’t get paid it isn’t work.
I never thought of it that way……
As a teenager I decided to take a vow of poverty….. as a way to attach my spiritual practice (work) to my work for money (job).
This decision came after a few short years of studying Christian, Confucius, and Hindu (Raja Yoga) philosophy. AND, as a hard working warehouse man.
My dad insisted that I get my SS # at the age of 10 so that I could start working. I worked in a small warehouse, pulling orders, loading trucks, and unloading tractor trailers. Later, I would occasionally make deliveries and help with store sets.
Starting in 1980 I decided to shake things up by working as a house painter and landscaper in the summers and for 3 different temp agencies in the winter. All the while taking one class a semester at local colleges (for 12 years), studying history, and human services. In 1981 I began apprenticing with a group specialist facilitating well adult (out patient) group expressive arts classes/workshops (for 15 years).
In 1987 after a month long training in expressive arts at Anna Halprin’s Tamalpa studio and at Sea Ranch I decided to start working at an antiques store repairing frames, matting, and archival framing all the while continuing my apprenticeship with weekend and week long workshops, and taking classes.
I worked at the antique store for a total of 18 years. Not a great paying job but it did have full benefits and I could take a few weeks off a year to co-facilitate workshops. In 1996 I decided to take a break from working with antiques and my apprenticeship and moved back to my parents home to help them prepare the farm for sale. I did work a bit charging a nominal fee for wellness coaching.
After the farm was sold and my parents had settled into their new digs I moved back to the city and the antique store where I continued to work until grad school. On occasion i offered movement based expressive arts workshops to folks and faith communities.
In 2007 I left my job at the antique store and started Graduate school, working at the front desk reception part time, attending school part time, and doing internships.
I graduated and the hospital that I had done my last internship at offered me a job and I accepted. Three years later I had a series of mini strokes, quickly recovered and about 2 months after that my entire department was laid off.
After about 10 months of doctor visits, surgery and post surgery cardiac rehabilitation, I went to work at another former internship site where I worked facilitating in and out patient groups.
So ….now I am basically retired, always looking to facilitate groups and/or offer assistance. I stopped telling people that I took a vow of poverty since most people don’t react well to that fact and after multiple surgeries I can only manage a few hours a week at best anyway.
So, work is only work if someone pays you?
No … yes. Helping others is its own reward, and it is work. Or practice as I sometimes call it
RichardbBrunner 