inspiration

Three Steps for Facing Difficult Emotions

by Shauna Shapiro

All of us can feel the impact of these uncertain and challenging times on our hearts and in our nervous systems. While there are parts of the situation that we cannot control, that does not mean we are powerless. When we’re up against change, uncertainty and stress, resilience is the key to navigate life and emerge with more happiness and satisfaction. We can cultivate resilience through the practices of mindfulness and compassion. Here are three key steps to finding greater clarity, calm and well-being. Naming our emotions. The first step is to bring mindfulness to whatever we are feeling and simply name it. Research shows that acknowledging and naming our emotions allows the body to physiologically calm down. It is helpful to remember that our emotions are here for a reason, metaphorically serving as a smoke alarm to let us know about an impending fire. Ignoring or repressing our emotions can lead to bigger problems, but mindfulness teaches us a different way to manage difficult emotions—acknowledge them and name what we feel—“name it to tame it”. When we name an emotion, it puts the brakes on our reactivity, down-regulates the nervous system and allows us to see clearly.

Welcoming our emotions. The second step is to learn to welcome difficult emotions. Emotions have a limited time span, typically lasting for only 30 to 90 seconds. They arise, do their dance and pass away, like waves in the ocean. When we remember that this painful feeling will not last forever, it becomes more manageable. Through practice, we can learn to welcome all our emotions with an attitude of kindness and curiosity. This involves becoming interested in the emotion and the felt experience in the body. For example, we may feel sadness as a tightening in the throat or fear as a contraction in the belly. All emotions have their signature in the body.

Compassion for ourselves and others. The final step to managing difficult emotions is to cultivate compassion. Self-compassion involves treating ourselves as we would a dear friend that is suffering. The willingness to face the pain in ourselves and in life takes great courage. As we practice self-compassion, we learn not only to grow from our own struggles and sorrows, but to connect with the sufferings and sorrows of others. We realize that we are not alone in our fear and overwhelm, and become aware of the many others right now that are also afraid. As we recognize our common humanity, our isolation begins to lessen and we understand that we are all in this together.

Shauna Shapiro, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert in mindfulness and compassion whose most recent book is Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness & Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire the Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy. For more information, visit DrShaunaShapiro.com.

Liver Health & Milk Thistle

by Dr. William H. Stager

Our liver is the second largest organ in the body (skin is the largest) and certainly the most metabolically complex. Its many functions include formation and excretion of bile; carbohydrate regulation; cholesterol, lipids and lipoprotein formation and regulation; protein, enzyme and clotting factor formation and distribution; immune system filtering of infectious foreign bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and their toxins; and detoxification of drugs and most foreign substances. This hard-working and exquisitely complex organ orchestrates and performs all its myriad functions of homeostasis or internal balance throughout the day and night as one of the many important players in harmony with the larger symphony of our total being.

An organ so complex and busy, facing an infinite variety of challenges every day, can also be susceptible to injury, dysfunction and disease. Virtually anything that the liver processes, ranging from infectious agents and chemicals to toxins and alcohol, can all potentially damage it, given enough quantity, time, use and abuse. We have all heard of liver conditions such as fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatitis and various cancers. Did you know that liver diseases are the tenth leading cause of deaths in America? Did you know that there is a true epidemic in America now of hepatitis C, and that there are more cases of hepatitis C and more deaths from hepatitis C than from HIV/AIDS? So, how can we take good care of this very important part of us, and what can we do to treat it when necessary?

We can always start with the huge subject of diet and exercise because the quantity and quality of what we put into

our bodies is first and foremost. A healthy, fresh diet—free of chemicals, additives, preservatives and toxins—is basic and an enormous challenge in our world today. Knowing the risks and abstaining from harmful things that we eat, inhale or ingest in any form, such as alcohol, tobacco, and illegal substances, are a must. Identifying, understanding and positively changing the behavior patterns that lead to destructive health habits are vital. Proper exercise, breathing, strengthening and stretching are also part of a good health formula. The appropriate health professionals, books and literature and even legitimate websites on the internet can offer a wide variety of facts, opinions and solutions to the many aspects of diet and exercise available to us.

I wish to highlight one remedy in particular today, and that is milk thistle. Milk thistle (silybum marianum) contains silymarin, one of the most liver-protecting substances known. Silymarin acts as an antioxidant and free radical scavenger, increases certain liver enzymes used in metabolism, and stimulates hepatocyte or liver cell regeneration. It has been used since ancient Greek times for conditions ranging from snakebite (a toxin) to gallstones (bile). Ancient and more modern physicians used it for “melancholy”, or what we would today call depression, as the liver was associated with the emotions of anger and depression. More modern research has been conducted in our times throughout Europe, Asia and America with good results for conditions such as hepatitis A, B and C, cirrhosis and alcoholic liver diseases. Silymarin reduced levels of liver enzymes and bilirubin that were too high in these patients, increasing their liver functions and even survival time compared to untreated group.

If you have a liver condition, after consulting with the appropriate healthcare professional, silymarin in doses of approximately 200 to 400 milligrams per day seems to be safe with few side effects. Patients who are allergic to plants in the Asteraceae family, such as thistles, daisies and artichokes, may have to avoid it due to allergic cross-reactivity. There is also no data that milk thistle is safe in pregnancy and lactation, therefore, it should not be used by mothers who are pregnant or nursing. Several herbs that have shown hepatotoxic reactions in some people and should generally be avoided by those with liver disease include chaparral, comfrey, germander, ma huang, mistletoe, senna, skullcap and valerian.

William H. Stager, DO, MS, MPH, FAAFP, FAMA, FAAO, FACOFP AOBNMM Board Certified: Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine. AOBFP Board Certified: Family Medicine. Medical Acupuncture. Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, NSUCOM. Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, LECOM. Medical Director, Flagler Institute for Rehabilitation, Inc., 311 Golf Rd., Ste. 1100, West Palm Beach. To contact the author, call 561-832-1894. See ad page 5.

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