A Halloween joke / North Star Kids
I taught my pet wolf how to meditate.
Now he's aware wolf.
Ouch. Please let this be a reminder to remain compassionate especially to those who need your empathy. If you have any trouble being compassionate to me for sharing that joke, I recommend practicing lovingkindness (or metta) meditation. In his book Unwinding Anxiety, psychiatrist Judson Brewer spends an entire chapter on lovingkindness meditation, and gives the following explanation:
There are three parts to the lovingkindness practice:
- The use of some loving kindness phrases to help you stay centered.
- Seeing the image of the being to whom you are sending loving kindness.
- Recognizing a feeling of kindness that arises in your body as you do the practice.
He continues by suggesting that we repeat a selection of phrases as we consider, in turn, four figures: 1) someone we have warm feelings about; 2) someone we are generally neutral about; 3) someone we have painful feelings about; and the hardest one: 4) ourselves.
You can uses any phrases you prefer. In my practice, the phrases I use are:
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you care for yourself with kindness.
Lovingkindness meditation is a wonderful practice that can improve our compassion both to others and to ourselves. We could all use a little more compassion.
Back to the wolf, now an aware wolf. I wonder how he's Lycan it.
Spotlight on North Star Kids:
Over the past year, under the leadership of Dr. Rebecca Cho, we have grown North Star Kids into a thriving child/adolescent psychiatric practice. Dr. Cho provides excellent and thorough psychiatric evaluations for all ages, and works to collaborate closely with all of our referring providers. For referrals to Dr. Cho, please call (847-892-7300) or e-mail us at intakes@northstarbh.com.
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Best wishes,
Brandon Gimbel, M.D.
Cari Betts, PMHNP-BC
Laura Carlson, M.D.
Rebecca Cho, M.D.
Lauren Howard, LCPC, CADC
Brandon Gimbel, M.D.
Owner, North Star Behavioral Health and North Star Kids
We'd like to introduce our two new psychiatrists: Adult psychiatrist Dr. Chadwick Yip Child & Adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Dongho (Damian) Gwak Both Drs. Yip and Gwak have immediate Northbrook, Chicago, and virtual availability to treat new patients - adults for Dr. Yip and children and adolescents for Dr. Gwak. For more information about our new colleagues, please visit our website: https://www.northstarbh.com/team Our team of clinicians can provide comprehensive care from childhood through...
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