Judy Widener

We're Human Beings, Not Beads

I recently heard a famous self-help guru insist that balance is impossible, so we must give up the idea that we can have it. With all due respect to my esteemed colleague, I couldn't disagree more. He defines balance as a state where nothing is happening. He's referring to the motionlessness that happens after you pour an equal weight of beads into the bowls on both sides of a scale. While this is one form of balance... (posted by Judy 1 day 17 hours ago.)

Do You Fall Into The Trap of Irrational Thinking?

I recently ran across a word I haven't heard for a while: irrational. Like so many terms coined by psychiatry, it's been misunderstood and misapplied. I used to think that someone who behaved irrationally was crazy. Not so. A thought is irrational when it's illogical or unreasonable AND triggers emotional stress. This definition clicked for me. (posted by Judy 19 days 16 hours ago.)

A Shocking New Revelation About Your Genes

Three hundred years ago, Isaac Newton proposed a radical new theory: the human body is a biological machine that responds solely to physical stimuli. Thus, the health of your physical machine is improved with nutrition, exercise and drugs. Accordingly, the mechanistic Central Dogma of molecular biology (circa 1958) states that your DNA was preset before your birth, so your health has been almost entirely... (posted by Judy 24 days 13 hours ago.)

The Neurology of Worry

Did you know that chronic stress causes physical changes in the size and activity of many of your brain structures? When they're swimming in the stress neurochemical cortisol, the prefrontal cortex (the CEO of the brain), and the hippocampus (houses long term memory) actually shrink in size. Other parts, like the amygdala, swell when they're over-stimulated. The result is an overactive stress... (posted by Judy 40 days 11 hours ago.)

Your Success “Blind Spot”

Success is a quality, not a quantity. The quality you call success is a feeling. Totally separate from the stuff you accumulate. You could have 10 cars and a great title, but if the feeling of success is missing, you're not successful. You feel successful when you attain anything you deem meaningful. So because you define what success is to you, then you can feel successful any time you want to, for any reason you choose. ... (posted by Judy 65 days 10 hours ago.)

Your Brain Is Nuts!

As my never-ending quest continues for more understanding of how the human brain works, I'm sharing my discoveries with you. This week, the topic is two brain structures that are, well, a little nutty. • The amygdala is actually a pair (amygdalae) of tiny, almond-shaped structures perched on the top of your brainstem, near the base of your brain. But because the two parts act together, they're... (posted by Judy 85 days 17 hours ago.)