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Thanks to Mark Jaquith at Tempus Fugit.

My dog woke me around 4 a.m. She was smacking her lips and making a noise like she was trying to keep something down. I rolled out of bed and let her out. She stayed out for a long time but eventually came bounding up the step of the backyard deck and was ready for bed again.

I’ve always envied her ability to fall asleep within seconds and this morning was no different. I’d no more thrown her blanket on her and laid down in my bed when she went from deep breathing to snoring deeply. It took me a while to drift off and when I did it seemed like the dreams came pouring in right away.

Couple of interesting links in the news today.

Persistence found to be key to treating depressed teens

Study doubts effectiveness of antidepressant drugs

My own take on medication for depression is that I would prefer to not take it, but realistically I know there are times when it’s called for. If your black dog is keeping you from functioning by all means see your doctor and ask about medication. If you’re laying in bed all day and can’t focus on anything but the sadness you’re drowning in, then you need some help to get you up to a level where you are well enough to try other therapies.

“What causes stress?” my Tai Chi teacher asked in class recently. He looked at me and I answered “Thinking.” A true enough answer that he had said himself on many occasions.

Today he said, “Complexity.”

I should have known. He never says what you think he might, even if it’s the same question and answer that he’s said before. He will change it, twist it slightly and look at you like you weren’t paying attention.

Lazy Sunday video post - but it is an excellent illustration of what some black dogs bring with them.

The next time you try to explain to a friend or family member what an anxiety/panic attack feels like just show them this video. The anxiety would be seeing the grass move and thinking something bad is going to happen but not quite sure what it is. The panic is when the tiger jumps out at you. Of course with panic/anxiety there is no tiger, there is no threat at all. Our fight or flight thermostat has just gotten reset to a higher normal so our mind tells us to “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” when we just going about our everyday lives.

If you enjoyed the Jon Kabat-Zinn videos I think you’ll enjoy this video of one of his teachers, Zen Master Seung Sahn. I never had the pleasure of meeting him but I’ve studied with some of his students and from what they’ve said he was a wonderfully unique individual with a kind heart, just like all of us! Enjoy.

I came across these two wonderful videos of Jon Kabat-Zinn giving a talk on mindfulness to the folks at Google. He’s an eloquent speaker who explains the practice & benefits of mindfulness in ways we can all understand. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Stress Reduction and Healing

I found this little guy in a bucket I was using for bird seed. It and it’s family had made a huge mess in my garage - tearing a hole in a sack of seed, eating all of the sunflower seeds and then setting up house in some storage shelves and using the back side and underneath area of my beer fridge as a toilet. What a mess.

Because he was trapped in this bucket he was very agitated; jumping and running around even though he was stuck. I took him outside away from the house, let him go and then cleaned up. He ran away as fast as his little legs could could carry him.

I came across an interesting link to a free little program that reminds you to take a break from sitting in front of your computer. What’s it got to do with fighting the black dog? Well, nothing directly, but I like the idea of anything that reminds us to stop and take a break. You can use it to remind you to take a breathing space, exercise, meditate, take your Omega-3 and vitamins, or whatever.

Enjoy - http://www.dejal.com/

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive . . . ~ Joseph Campbell

Happy Valentine’s Day. Really. I don’t like the holiday all that much either but I do appreciate the sentiment. I just prefer to show my love throughout the year rather than have it forced on me during a holiday.