By guest blogger Duane Brown, Ph.D., author of Flying Without Fear.

Recent airline accidents may have made boarding an airplane more of a challenge for people who are afraid to fly and may have persuaded others that flying should be avoided altogether. The purpose of this note is to examine reports about these accidents and offer advice to fearful fliers.

excerpt from The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide

“The major stress I experienced after college involved this feeling of, ‘Oh my God, now I’m actually supposed to do something with my life! What the hell do I want to do?’” says Ricardo, a twenty-six-year old from Los Angeles. “I continue to feel scared because of an overwhelming need to come up with some sort of plan for affecting the world. I enjoy my job, make a fair amount of money, and have a lot of friends in the city, but there’s a constant pressure that I should be doing more, doing a better job of living up to the promise of my college education. I feel I should be leading mass social movements, changing the world, or at least using my mind to push forward truth, beauty, and happiness. There’s a sense that a nine-to-five job is a bit of a disappointment. To whom? My parents? College? Myself, I guess. I think the major stress after college for the highly educated is that we feel like we’re suddenly done with the dress rehearsal. Now we’re supposed to use everything we’ve learned and do ‘amazing’ things. It’s often hard to figure out even how to begin.”

Excerpt from Staying Focused in the Age of Distraction

 
We think you will agree that the challenge is not to stretch even further to take in more information, but, rather, to be mindful and discriminating about where our attention is focused. How can we minimize distractions and overlook things that don’t matter. We all know what it’s like to try to pay attention to something when we are distracted by something else. Suppose we are feeling emotional pain, and we don’t want to focus on the negative. We can direct ourselves away from unpleasant thoughts and feelings. We can do this by mindfully attending to our breathing and being in the present moment. The additional strategies below can also help.

Adapted from The Binge Eating & Compulsive Overeating Workbook: An Integrated Approach to Overcoming Disordered Eating

Stress is a natural part of life. Yet it seems that between the economic recession, multiple health crises, and other seemingly endless things, individuals are experiencing heightened anxiety. People often deal with stress by trying to find methods that will lessen their intense emotions. However, a number of eating patterns that people develop to cope during this time actually worsen the stress.

Here are some common eating patterns that you may fall into when under stress:

Excerpt from Daily Meditations for Calming Your Anxious Mind by Jeffrey Brantley, MD, and Wendy Millstine, NC

.... Cultivating patience involves being tolerant of life’s temporary, unsolved predicaments and uncertainties while you wait for a solution or opportunity to emerge. Patience requires trust. You nurture your ability to trust that the natural flow of life has moments that cannot be controlled or easily fixed. Life has an uncanny way of working itself out, with or without you.