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Archive for January, 2011

 

That was the explanation a recent visitor to the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness in West Palm Beach, Fla. gave when asked why she starved herself to the point of hospitalization. She was eleven years old.

Anorexia and its sister-disorder, bulimia, have historically been thought of as striking white, middle to upper class teenage girls. But a recent report from the American Academy of Pediatrics warns doctors that eating disorders are happening to younger girls — and boys — at an alarming rate.

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“People tend to have this idea of who gets eating disorders, but an eating disorder doesn’t discriminate between age, gender, race, or class,” says Johanna Kandel, founder and director of the alliance.

“Some research says that as much as ten percent of those with eating disorders are under the age of ten. What I’m finding at the alliance is that the number of parents seeking help for their 7-, 8-, 9-year-olds is escalating rapidly,” she says.

A 2009 analysis found that in the last decade, hospitalizations for eating disorders more than doubled among children under twelve and now account for four percent of all such hospitalizations.

“Pediatricians need to be aware of the early symptoms of eating disorders because they are the medical professional that a child is mostly likely to see in any given year,” says Dr. Jim Lock, director of the Eating Disorder Program at Packard Children’s Hospital. “They are the gatekeepers.”

It used to be that the onset of an eating disorder tended to be around mid-adolescence, around age fifteen or around the time of first menses at about age thirteen. So why are there a growing number of girls who are showing signs of bingeing and purging as young as eight?

Read in Full:  http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/eating-disorders-prevelant-kids-twelve/story?id=12238077



 


by Nancy Ancowitz

How can you make socializing—and its oft-dreaded stunt double, networking—fun for the holidays if you’re an introvert? Does networking have to be a paint-by-numbers, smarm-filled, elevator pitchy kind of activity? Or can you make a handful of genuine connections even during this tinselly time of year?

Americans spend an average of 15 hours attending holiday social gatherings according to a recent Consumer Reports poll. That could mean hitting the party circuit three hours a week from the five weeks from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. What’s an introvert to do? Socialize, of course—if you care about your career. And the corollary: pace yourself.

I say do it your way. Katharine Brooks, Ed.D., an introvert and author of You Majored in What?, agrees. “I navigate the holiday party season by creating my own smaller parties,” she says. “Because I’m the host, I keep busy with all the preparations and cooking, and I let my guests do the talking and mingling,” she adds. So how does Brooks interact with her guests? “They come and talk to me in the kitchen,” she says. “And since my kitchen overlooks the party area, I can still see what’s going on and listen in on conversations.”


Liz Lynch, author of Smart Networking, adds, “I started my business 10 years ago in late October, so holiday networking was vital for my prospecting strategy.” Lynch believes that networking with existing contacts is the fastest way to bring in new clients. Why? “Because the people who already know, like, and trust you are more ready to hire you or refer you to people they know,” she says.

 
How did Lynch get her business off the ground? “I accepted an invitation to a casual get-together some former colleagues organized at a local bar,” she says. “I’m a joiner, so I say ‘yes’ to most events. But I’m also an introvert, so I secretly hope that a natural disaster will force them to be canceled!” Lynch continues, “When no snowstorm manifested that evening, I found myself at the gathering actually enjoying catching up with folks I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. I focused more on rekindling the relationships and learning about what my acquaintances were doing now rather than trying to pitch my services.”

The upshot? “I can directly trace hundreds of thousands of dollars of consulting fees over the years from conversations I had at that event,” says Lynch. “The bottom line? You may be just one conversation away from your next big opportunity, so say, ‘yes’ to that invitation,” she advises.

In contrast, Brooks says, “It’s okay to turn down invitations.” She explains, “It’s so easy to fall into a people-pleasing trap and feel pressured to be more social. If you want to spend the time with one or two friends instead of parties, do that.” Agreed—as long as you’re maintaining a strong network through other means such as online social media, volunteer work, and serving on boards of directors.

Read in Full: 

 



 "Just Wanna Scream"


By Therese J. Borchard

When you feel like strangling the guy in front of you at Target, read these 7 Quick Ways to Calm Down, I laughed at the art that went with it because, well, I sort of looked like that the other day.

I needed a reminder of them, and I thought maybe you could use one too.

1. Walk Away

Know your triggers. If a conversation about global warming, consumerism, or the trash crisis in the U.S. is overwhelming you, simply excuse yourself. If you’re noise-sensitive and the scene at Toys-R-Us makes you want to throw whistling Elmo and his buddies across the store, tell your kids you need a time-out. (Bring along your husband or a friend so you can leave them safely, if need be.) My great-aunt Gigi knew her trigger points, and if a conversation or setting was getting close to them, she simply put one foot in front of another, and departed.

 

2. Close Your Eyes

Gently let the world disappear, and go within to regain your equilibrium. Ever since my mom came down with blepharospasm (a neurological tick of the eyelid), I’ve become aware of how important shutting our eyes is to the health of the nervous system. The only treatment available for this disorder is to have surgery that permanently keeps your eyelids open (you need to moisten them with drops, etc.). Such a condition would be living hell for my mom, because in closing her eyes she regains her balance and proper focus.

The only time I recommend not using this technique is on the road (if you’re driving).

3. Find Some Solitude

This can be challenging if you are at work, or at home with kids as creative and energetic as mine. But we all need some private time to let the nervous system regenerate.

I must have known this back in college, because I opted for a tiny single room (a nun’s closet, quite literally), rather than going in on a larger room with a closet big enough to store my sweaters. When three of my good friends begged me to go in with them on a killer quad, I told them, “Nope. Can’t do it. Need my alone time, or else none of you would want to be around me. Trust me.”

My senior year I went to the extent of pasting black construction paper on the window above my door so no one would know if I was there, in order to get the hours of solitude that I needed.

Be creative. Find your space. Any way you can. Even it involves black construction paper.

4. Go Outside

This is a true lifesaver for me. I need to be outside for at least an hour every day to get my sanity fix. Granted, I’m extremely lucky to be able to do so as a stay-at-home mom. But I think I would somehow work it into my schedule even if I had to commute into the city every day.

Even if I’m not walking or running or biking or swimming, being outside calms me in a way that hardly anything else can. With an hour of nature, I go from being a bossy, opinionated, angry, cynical, uptight person into a bossy, opinionated, cynical, relaxed person. And that makes the difference between having friends and a husband to have dinner with and a world that tells me to go eat a frozen dinner by myself because they don’t want to catch whatever grumpy bug I have.

5. Find Some Water

While watching Disney’s “Pocahontas” the other day with my daughter Katherine (yes, I do get some of my best insights from cartoons), I observed the sheer joy the main character shows upon paddling down the river, singing about how she is one with the water. It reminded me of how universal the mood effects of water are, and how healing.

On the rainy or snowy days that I can’t walk the double stroller over to our local creeks, I do something the global-warming guys say not to; take a long shower, imagining that I am in the middle of a beautiful Hawaiian rain forest.

“Water helps in many ways,” writes Elaine Aron. “When overaroused, keep drinking it–a big glass of it once an hour. Walk beside some water, look at it, listen to it. Get into some if you can, for a bath or a swim. Hot tubs and hot springs are popular for good reasons.”

Read in Full: 


 

 

Windsurf Publishing LLC offers a new book called What Can You Expect When You Fly? by Maureen Lagana for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. What Can You Expect When You Fly? was created to help reduce the stress of airline travel for children with autism who benefit from knowing what to expect in advance.

 

Greenwich, CT (PRWEB) November 26, 2010

 

Windsurf Publishing LLC now offers a book for children on the autism spectrum to help prepare them for airport and airplane travel. Many children with autism and other developmental disabilities have challenges in public settings such as airports. Airport travel can be quite difficult because many children with autism can get overwhelmed from the crowds of people, noises, demands of standing on long lines, and going through airport security. What Can You Expect When You Fly? by Maureen Lagana is written by someone who knows. The author is the mother of a child with autism who is also the narrator of this book. And yes, in real life he is on the autism spectrum. Pictures and text in this book are used to both visually and verbally prepare these children for airplane travel.

 

Maureen Lagana remembers when her son didn’t travel as well as he does now. There was a time when it was particularly challenging because her child would not be able to stand in the long lines at the airport without getting upset and having some anxiety. Yet, although her son travels much better now, she doesn’t think there is enough substantive support for families with children with autism at our airports nationwide. She feels that in her experience there was no one to go to for assistance if needed and that most airports do not have enough proactive protocols in place to help families with children with autism. As airplane security and travel is increasingly getting more invasive on people, this should be a concern of airport personnel and policy. Many children with autism get very upset when people touch them. For some, it could feel like someone is hurting them. And for many others standing still, even for a few seconds or minutes through an airline security machine, can be challenging. What kinds of accommodations are going to be made for these children? And what is most concerning to Windsurf Publishing LLC, who is supportive to families with autism, is whom can you go to if you need assistance?

 

What Can You Expect When You Fly? is a book that can help many children with autism that are not yet comfortable during airport and airplane travel. It is a what to expect book just for children with autism and other disabilities. You can rehearse what to expect with your son or daughter and help to prepare them for a future trip. While Windsurf Publishing LLC is pleased to make this title available, it’s timing is interesting. Airline companies are starting to get involved in mock flight preparation for children with autism that need it. While Windsurf Publishing LLC thinks this is great, Windsurf Publishing LLC also feels that there are still much needed interpersonal protocols for airport personnel and how they treat individuals with autism and their families.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Can-You-Expect-When/dp/1936509024/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363642518&sr=8-1

 

What Can You Expect When You Fly? by Maureen Lagana is available at Amazon online, Barnes and Noble online, and many others internationally.

 

Source: 

http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/1956794/autism_and_airline_travel_a_new_book_for_children_with/index.html



 Dora Raymaker courtesy image

Dora Raymaker, above, of Portland, Ore., offers an inside look at living with autism. She is a member of the Oregon Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorder, co-director of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (www.aaspire.org) and sits on the board of directors of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (autisticadvocacy.org).

Can you speak to the importance of relationships in your life?

My relationships are the reason why I’m alive. That is not hyperbole. I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve always had good people around me who care about me and who have been able to support me (and I them) and keep me safe and fed.

What about autism makes it difficult to maintain relationships?

The biggest difficulty I have is that it can be really hard for me to remember to, or figure out how to, contact people … . One way I deal with this is to make dates with people far in advance and get the dates solidly in my schedule. Every time I meet a new person, I learn a whole new language (and they need to learn at least a small amount of Dora-ese). This can be slow and a lot of work for both of us, but I also think it results in relationships that are richer and more honest and committed. It is hard to enter into a trivial or throw-away relationship with me.

There’s a perception that people with autism can’t internalize emotions and can’t empathize with others.

Just because someone may not express emotions in a way that is recognizable to others does not mean they are not feeling them. I often feel things too deeply or have too much empathy and have to run away, not because I am callous, but because I feel so strongly it causes my brain to shut down or freak out.

The notion that we don’t have feelings frees up people to commit atrocities against us without accountability. A person involved with my local school system once told me they heard a well-known educational speaker tell a room full of autism specialists not to worry about autistic students being bullied because the autistic students don’t have any feelings.

How do you help friends and family members empathize with you?

I love that it’s recognized that others have just as much of a responsibility to understand us as we have to understand them.

It took me a long time to realize I did need to explain my experience of the world to others in order to facilitate clear communication and understanding. Non-autistic people typically assume that I experience the world in some way similar to them, which leads to a lot of misunderstandings and at times dangerous situations, and I suppose I am no different.

Read in Full:  http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50340283-76/autism-experience-autistic-relationships.html.csp



 Canary Wharf Reflections

The Government announced a review of specialist disability employment programmes on 2 December 2010.

Ensuring equality for disabled people is a key priority for the Coalition Government. Since May 2010, the Government has set out an ambitious programme of employment support to ensure that people disadvantaged in the labour market will get the help they need to find and keep jobs. Our aim is that Government programmes should support more disabled people than ever before into employment.

On 25 October, DWP launched Work Choice – a new flagship programme to support disabled people with complex disability-related barriers to work. From summer 2011, the Work Programme will provide personalised employment support to a wide range of customers, including disabled people. Building on these foundations, the Department has announced an independent review of specialist disability employment programmes. Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of RADAR, the UK’s largest disability campaigning organisation, is leading this review.

To support this review the Government has published the following call for evidence. This provides an opportunity for people and organisations to submit written evidence to inform the review. We expect to publish the review by summer 2011.

This call for evidence will close on 28 February 2011.

Please send your responses or any queries about this document to:

Disability Employment Support Review Team
Disability and Work Division
Floor 2
Caxton House,
Tothill Street,
London, SW1H 9NA.

Email: employmentsupport.review@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Fax: 0207 449 5746

Please ensure your response reaches us by 28 February 2011

Source:  http://dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2010/disability-employment.shtml



    South Pasadena Middle School

South Pasadena Middle School

By Margaret Finnegan

I could tell you that my husband and I moved our children from South Pasadena public schools to private ones because of “fit,” and that would be true. Children are not interchangeable widgets, and to assume they will all thrive in the same environment is perhaps naive. But, mostly, we moved our children because it got to the point where I could not drive by the South Pasadena Middle School without crying.

Know this: There are good people at SPMS. Eric Aispuro gets to school an hour early every day to tutor students in math. Sella Simonian brings ancient history alive. The nurse, the administrative assistants, the counselors, the recently retired librarians: good people, every one.

But my kids are not widgets, and if you want to thrive at SPMS, it seems to me that not only do you have to be a widget, but you also have to be a high-achieving widget with no issues. To do well in your 38-student classes you’ve got to be smart, independent, energetic and self-motivated. If your parents can afford tutors or stay home and oversee your homework, that’s a plus.

You will need these advantages because SPMS demands a lot from children, which is appropriate. But I am not sure demanding a lot is the same thing as turning education into a rat race. Last year, my children spent the better part of all their weekends on homework, and that doesn’t even include the hours they spent on it most school nights–this despite the fact that evidence presented to the South Pasadena Unified School District’s own homework committee showed that more than about 90 minutes of homework a night is counter-productive in the middle-school years. 

I’m also not sure that demanding a lot from children is the same thing as providing quality instruction. Let me say it again: SPMS has some outstanding educators, but it’s got clunkers too. I’m just saying what everyone knows. I used to think this was OK. Who hasn’t survived a bad teacher, after all?  This is an actual statement I remember making to an SPMS mother: “In 7th grade, it doesn’t matter which teacher track your kids gets because there is a stinker in each one. So it’s fair.” But is that fair?  Is that even acceptable? 

Outside the classroom, your child will do well to be athletic, socially adept and familiar with the right pop culture references. Without them, go ahead and start them on anti-depressives. You won’t be the first. This is a competitive town–again, I’m just saying what everybody knows–and no place is more competitive than the SPMS quad, where people will even make fun of you if have seizures. I know. My daughter has seizures and she spent most of last year hearing people sing-song “seizure, seizure” behind her back–even at graduation. 

Early on, when I met with the school about this, I was told, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Finnegan, earlier it was the boy with autism. It’ll pass.”  It didn’t, and that’s pretty cold comfort anyway, especially if you’re the mother of the kid who is gay or has ADHD or has whatever difference someone decides to prey on.

When my kids were younger, I worked within the system. I volunteered in classrooms. I was a room parent. I organized science fairs. I served on School Site Council at Marengo and on the SPUSD homework committee. But I couldn’t help my daughter feel safe at her own promotion.

Read in Full:  http://southpasadena.patch.com/articles/paying-for-superman



 
THE FRUSTRATED parents of a Hucknall boy with an autism-type condition claim they are “in limbo” because they cannot find a suitable school for their son. 

 

Ten-year-old Caleb Ward, of Linby Road, suffers from Fragile X Syndrome, which is the most common genetic cause of autism. It means he gets anxious, struggles to interact socially and has difficulties in forming relationships with others.

 
He was previously a pupil at Hucknall’s award-winning Holy Cross Primary School on Leen Mills Lane. 

 

But since being suspended for five days on two occasions in June and July — amid claims he charged at teachers — he has been out of the educational system.

 
Caleb’s parents, Nichola (36) and Steve (39), say they were told their son could not return to Holy Cross. 

 

The school’s head teacher, Pat Snowdon, and Notts County Council, have rubbished this, saying a place is available for Caleb. He has also been offered a spot at the Carlton Digby Special School in Mapperley.

 
However the couple say the arrangements are not suitable for Caleb, who has “gone backwards” since leaving Holy Cross. 

 

“He was doing really well,” said Nichola, who has three other children — Trinity (eight), Lucas (five) and Bay (two), who also has Fragile X.

 

“As far as we were concerned, he was experiencing breakthroughs. He was starting to play with other children and write words for the first time. But we were called into the school because Caleb had started to become more aggressive.

 

“He was suspended twice and then we had to pick him up every lunchtime.”

 

The Wards say Caleb would struggle to get on at Carlton Digby and they want him to go to Sutherland House School in Carlton for children with autism. 

“Caleb is still registered with Holy Cross School. He received two exclusions, but has not been permanently excluded.

 

“Caleb’s parents, however, have expressed a preference to move their son to a special school and have therefore not allowed him to return to school for the term that began in September.

 
Read in Full: 


 


Article Date: 01 Dec 2010 – 2:00 PST


For many of us, the festive season around Christmas brings out our worst over-indulgent habits: we eat, drink and spend more than we would normally do, and regret it come New Year when we step on those scales, or the credit card bill lands on the doormat.


While it may not be desirable, or even realistic to aim for an indulgence-free Christmas, if you find yourself wishing that you could avoid some of the excesses, then perhaps consider having yourself a Mindful Merry Christmas.

The idea behind Mindfulness, which comes from Buddhism and is growing as a psychotherapeutic approach for stress reduction, pain management and behavior change, is to fix one’s attention more on the “present moment”, to perceive things as they really are, stripped of the labels, habits, and subjective thinking that they normally trigger.

Many of our actions in daily life are “mindless” responses to triggers that we have become habituated to. That is not to say that all these actions are undesirable. Take for example brushing our teeth, we do it almost without thinking, and although once in a while we should do it “mindfully”, with our full attention, just to make sure the habitual brushing action is correct and finding all the right places, it is not causing us undue harm to do it mindlessly.

But there are also other actions that perhaps do cause us harm or we wish to do less of, because they have potential negative consequences for our health or our wallet.

This article suggest three “habits” that might benefit from a more mindful approach at Christmas time: Drinking, Eating and Shopping.

Mindful Drinking


For example you can be mindful when you drink. Take a sip and really taste the drink. Shut out the other senses for a few moments and concentrate on the flavor, the taste, the texture of the liquid as it passes your lips, dwells in your mouth, and sinks down your throat. When did you last do that?

When we drink mindfully, and bring awareness to the sensations that the drink brings us here and now, we drink more slowly and feel more satisfaction: so we drink less and enjoy it more.

But if we have a drink while our mind is on other things, like having a conversation, watching the TV, or thinking about tomorrow, we only have a fleeting awareness of the sensations brought by the drink, and we end up drinking more, in order to reach our desired level of satisfaction.

Mindfulness operates not just at the tactical level of the individual decision, but also strategically: by making us more aware of choices and decisions that we make in our everyday lives, which are often shaped by habitual thinking. This aspect of mindfulness is what Dr Jean L. Kristeller, a psychologist who specializes in applying mindfulness approaches to eating disorders, calls “wisdom functioning”.

For example, consider the habitual, socialized nature of drinking during the festive season. Most of the time it is not our mind making a rational decision based on thirst that controls our drinking habits, it is automatic responses to social and environmental triggers (“fancy another one?”, “how about a top up?”, “try this one, you’ll love it!”, “why not?”).

Applying the principles of Mindfulness to decision-making would cause you to pause and reconsider for a moment, the nature of the choices available to you here and now, and give you the opportunity to weigh them up, for instance, to ask yourself “do I really want this?” and to consider whether the consequences are worth it.

With respect to alcohol consumption, for instance, you may wish to consider this “top tip” for good mental wellbeing over Christmas, that Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation in the UK, gave recently:

“The celebratory spirit of Christmas and New Year often involves social drinking and although the consumption of alcohol might make you feel more relaxed, it is important to remember that alcohol is a depressant and drinking excessive amounts can cause low mood, irritability or potentially aggressive behaviour.”

“By not exceeding the recommended number of safe units, you will be better able to sustain good mental and physical wellbeing,” he added.

Mindful Eating


Being mindful when you eat is about devoting your senses to the experience of eating. Beginners are often introduced to mindfulness techniques with the “raisin exercise”.

The raisin exercise

    1.  Make sure you have about 20 minutes on your own when you won’t be disturbed, and have a small bowl of raisins with you.


  • *Pick up a raisin: put it in the palm of your hand, press it, look at it, examine it from all angles, see how it reflects the light, then squash it a bit between your fingers, explore its textures, colors, and smell.


  • *Then put it in your mouth, gently roll it around and let the taste buds on your tongue slowly sense the raisin, without biting it.

 

  • *Then, bite into it, and again, roll it around in your mouth, explore its taste and texture with your tongue.

 

  • *Now chew it, slowly, and again, be aware with all your senses of the stage by stage transformation of shrivelled, dried up grape to the chewed morsel releasing its sweetness and flavor in your mouth.

 

  • *Then, and only then, allow yourself to swallow it.

  • *Imagine what is happening to the raisin as it travels down your gullet into your stomach, and then into your gut.

 


Designed primarily as an introduction to mindfulness-based ways of reducing stress, the “raisin exercise” also demonstrates how rarely we focus on “the present moment” when we eat. Like drinking, we eat “mindlessly”.

Dr Brian Wansink, an expert in food psychology at Cornell University, where he directs the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, describes in his book “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think”, how removed our appetites are from our eating habits.

He says we make about 200 food-related decisions every day, mostly triggered by a plethora of subtle cues in our environment that encourage us to keep eating, even when we are no longer hungry. These triggers include smells, the variety and color of foods on offer, the number of people we eat with, labels and packaging, and even the ambient lighting.

Wansink conducted a series of experiments, using labs disguised as restaurants, with concealed cameras and two-way mirrors, to show that in judging how much we eat, we tend to trust our eyes more than our stomach. In one rather amusing “bottomless soup bowl” experiment, soup bowls were imperceptibly and repeatedly refilled with small quantities of soup, with the result that the diners actually consumed much larger quantities than they thought.

Wansink’s solution is to be mindful of what he calls the “mindless margin”, where we mindlessly every day consume a few extra 100 or 200 calories here and there, without really thinking about it. And he points out that is how weight gain happens: gradually, year by year, we put on the extra pound or two.

So his advice, is, make yourself aware of your own mindless margin, and do something to shave off that daily extra 100 or 200 calories.

By being aware of your “mindless margin”, you can shed 30 pounds in a year, says Wansink.

He advocates portion control, and making yourself more mindful of the difference between no longer feeling hungry and feeling full. If eating at home, use smaller plates, or at the restaurant, don’t have three courses, have just two, and when you buy those bulk packs of snacks to save cost, split them into reasonable portions when you get home (read the label to check the calorie content).

Another way is to identify three “mindless habits” where you can reduce your consumption by 100 calories a day each, and practise eliminating them from your daily life. It takes about a month of concentrated effort to make the change stick, says Wansink, who suggests you keep track of your daily progress on a visible chart during that time so you can see what is actually happening rather than relying on memory.

Mindful Shopping


Shopping is another activity that we put as much thought into as we do to digesting our food, says Dr April Lane Benson, author of the book “To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop” . For many of us, shopping has become impulsive, recreational, spur-of-the-moment, and this is most evident at Christmas, when stores and malls are filled with people ready to fall victim to the habit of “mindless shopping”.

As any marketing expert will tell you, persuading people to buy consumer goods is about pressing emotional buttons: “will that look good on me?”, “my life would be so different if I just had this …”.

Yet in the current economic climate, perhaps now is a good time to be more mindful about what we buy, what we can afford to spend, and what is really controlling our urge to purchase and how that compares with what really matters to us.

The pressures to overshop are everywhere, says Benson, a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of compulsive buying disorder. And the opportunities to do so are greater than ever: you don’t even have to leave your home, as well as catalogue shopping we now have Internet shopping.

Benson says the way to make shopping succeed for you is to plan your shopping trips. In chapter 4 of her book she describes a very useful method for mindful shopping called the “Daily Weigh-In”. This is where you itemize your shopping expenses and assign each item a “Necessity score”. This helps keep track of shopping expenditure in a way that prioritizes rather than just records the amounts spent. It’s a reality check of your spending habits.

You can also do the necessity scoring before you shop. Before each shopping trip, make a list of the things you intend to buy, and then review the list and give each item a necessity score. If the item seems “completely unnecessary”, then give it a zero. If it’s “somewhat” necessary, give it a third, if it’s “very necessary”, two-thirds, and if it’s “essential”, give it a 1. Now look at the list again, with the scores, and reconsider carefully the low-scoring items.

Benson suggests you also decide beforehand where you are going to shop, how long for, who you will shop with, whom you will be shopping for, and last but not least, what your affordable budget should be.

As well as this strategic method, Benson has some tactical mindfulness tips for when you are in the shop and have actually picked up an item. Before you place it in the basket, she suggests you ask yourself six questions to bring your attention into mindful awareness of the act you are about to commit:

  1. 1. Why am I here?
  2. 2. How do I feel (good, bad, uncertain, guilty, sad, frustrated, etc)?
  3. 3. Do I need this (how much would it score on the necessity index)?
  4. 4. What if I wait?
  5. 5. How will I pay for it?
  6. 6. Where will I put it?

Everyday Mindfulness


You can also apply mindfulness to other aspects of everyday life. Even if you just stop now and again and give yourself a few minutes of stillness: sit down in a chair, quietly close your eyes, with your hands resting in your lap, and open your senses. What do you hear, smell, feel? Observe also the incessant internal chatter of the mind. Notice the individual thoughts, without judging whether they are good or bad, whether you should be having them or not. Just observe.



 

Article Date: 01 Dec 2010 – 0:00 PST

Women who publicly confront instances of sexism in the workplace tend to feel more capable and competent in their jobs and about themselves in general, a new study shows.

The research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln examined how both men and women perceive, react to and relate to everyday episodes of workplace prejudice, and found that women who challenge sexist behavior experience psychological benefits such as self-esteem, empowerment and competence.

“Most everyday instances of prejudice are somewhat subtle, but things like sexist jokes can undermine workplace performance and perceptions of competence and control for women,” said Sarah Gervais, assistant professor of psychology at UNL and the study’s lead author. “Importantly, directly challenging such instances of sexism can serve as an antidote for negative psychological effects – turning a negative event into an instance that makes women feel better about themselves and their work, and even to feel empowered.”

For the study, researchers set up a simulated online interaction. After participants were presented with a sexist comment that was openly directed at a woman in the group, they were given the chance to respond publicly to the statement and discuss its appropriateness.

The analysis showed that workers of both sexes most likely to confront the comment were the ones who were more “communal oriented” – that is, they saw their workplace as a community, and were naturally more willing to help others, with no expectation of getting anything in return.

Unlike women who confronted the sexist remark, calling out the employee’s sexist behavior had little relationship to men’s general feelings of competence, self-esteem or empowerment at work. That suggests, Gervais said, that confronting workplace prejudice may be particularly important for those who are the traditional victims of the behavior – in this case, women.

Gervais said the study’s findings also could help employers look at confrontation of workplace prejudice in a different light, promoting a work culture that would foster greater understanding between employees.

The study is the first to examine employees’ communal orientation as a factor in confronting workplace prejudice, and suggests that companies may want to think about ways to reward workers for helping others, Gervais said.

Also according to the study:

  • Participants who identified as “exchange oriented” — more self-interested and likely to think about what personal gains might be made in helping others — were far less likely to confront the sexist comment.
  • It is possible that “communal oriented” people are perhaps not equally concerned with the needs of all others. Instead of allowing the offender in the simulation to save face, it seems communal oriented participants were more concerned about the needs of women in the group and the importance of acting in a socially responsible way.

“Challenging prejudice can be good for the workplace and can help overcome some of the negative effects victims of prejudice might experience,” Gervais said. “The next time you hear a prejudiced statement, it could be an opportunity to make a difference for yourself and others.”

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