There’s an increasing amount of research which suggests that spending at least two hours each week engaging with nature improves our well-being. And because of the epidemic of Nature Deficit Disorder (yes, it’s a real thing), an increasing number of healthcare professionals are even prescribing time in nature. This research implies that it’s beneficial for everyone, but there’s good reason to believe that it can be particularly beneficial for people who are driven, Type A, and obsessive-compulsive, because they’re faced with certain mental and physical challenges that being in nature can help with. Spending time in nature can help to balance a personality that is weighted far too heavily on the side of control, planning, perfecting, achieving and fixing.
Anxiety dreams may seem simply like a nuisance at first glance. But slow down and pay attention and you might find they have something to tell you about how you are living and how you see your world. Issues of avoidance, authenticity, and being tested can all show up in anxiety dreams. Seen as a source of wisdom, these dreams can lead you in new directions should you choose to engage with them.
Living under the constant judgement of an overactive guilt complex stinks. It can keep us...
I recently joined author and psychotherapist Imi Lo for a stimulating interview about the Driven...
Rather than just write off compulsive behavior as neurotic, as contemporary culture encourages us to, we need to look beneath the surface to see what those urges are really calling for. Then we can understand the deeper intent and how these urges could contribute to our wholeness. Otherwise, if we just dismiss compulsive behavior as pathological, we miss the potential purpose and meaning underlying it.
People with obsessive-compulsive personality and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) are driven to be as productive...
While I find parts of the Tao Te Ching baffling, exasperating and mystifying, Lao Tzu’s encouragement to accept things as they are still conveys an attitude toward life that I find to be a good counterpoint to my driven nature. Since Taoist wisdom can be especially useful to people who are compulsive, perfectionist, and obsessive, I thought it might be helpful for me to share how this enduring and poetic book has helped me.
One way to free ourselves from unhealthy compulsive behavior is to understand our motivations, what drives and actually controls us. While we’re all unique, there are ancient and common patterns that underlie the roles we take on in life such as mother, father, warrior, healer, savior, priest, jester, caretaker and leader. These patterns are known as archetypes, and they’re illustrated in myths and symbols. These patterns exert a magnetic influence that can give us intuitive guidance and energy to help us do what we need to do. Or they can drag us into a perpetual rut of expectations and despair. Heroic energy can flow freely like water, or be frozen and rigid like ice.
People who are compulsive and perfectionistic struggle mightily with disorder and unresolved situations. These may...
[Available in audio format at Google Podcasts and Apple, and Spotify.] As I’ve gotten to...
