Victoria Muñoz, MC, LPC

05/18/2020

"Uncertainty activates the autonomic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response, which prepares the body to fight a threat or flee from one. Once that threat is dealt with, the mind and body go back to their regularly scheduled programming.

But COVID-19 isn’t a temporary threat ― at least not right now. So the ongoing stress, anxiety and worry (“Am I washing my hands enough?” “Cleaning surfaces enough?” “Going out too much?”) have sent the fight-or-flight response into overdrive."

Here’s how the COVID-19 pandemic social distancing and lockdown affect you and what you can do about it.

03/23/2020

*Beautiful message from Bill Gates*

Subject:
*What is the Corona/ Covid-19 Virus Really Teaching us?*

I’m a strong believer that there is a spiritual purpose behind everything that happens, whether that is what we perceive as being good or being bad.

As I meditate upon this, I want to share with you what I feel the Corona/ Covid-19 virus is really doing to us:

1) It is reminding us that we are all equal, regardless of our culture, religion, occupation, financial situation or how famous we are. This disease treats us all equally, perhaps we should to. If you don’t believe me,
just ask Tom Hanks.

2) It is reminding us that we are all connected and something that affects one person has an effect on another. It is reminding us that the false borders that we have put up have little value as this virus does not need a passport. It is reminding us, by oppressing us for a short time, of those in this world whose whole life is spent in oppression.

3) It is reminding us of how precious our health is and how we have moved to neglect it through eating nutrient poor manufactured food and drinking water that is contaminated with chemicals upon chemicals. If we don’t look after our health, we will, of course, get sick.

4) It is reminding us of the shortness of life and of what is most important for us to do, which is to help each other, especially those who are old or sick. Our purpose is not to buy toilet roll.

5) It is reminding us of how materialistic our society has become and how, when in times of difficulty, we remember that it’s the essentials that we need (food, water, medicine)
as opposed to the luxuries that we sometimes unnecessarily give value to.

6) It is reminding us of how important our family and home life is and how much we have neglected this. It is forcing us back into our houses so we can rebuild them into our home and
to strengthen our family unit.

7) It is reminding us that our true work is not our job, that is what we do, not what we were created to do.
Our true work is to look after each other, to protect each other and to be of benefit to one another.

😎 It is reminding us to keep our egos in check. It is reminding us that no matter how great we think we are or how great others think we are,
a virus can bring our world to a standstill.

9) It is reminding us that the power of freewill is in our hands. We can choose to cooperate and help each other, to share, to give, to help and to support each other or we can choose to be selfish, to hoard, to look after
only our self. Indeed, it is difficulties that bring out our true colors.

10) It is reminding us that we can be patient, or we can panic. We can either understand that this type of situation has happened many times before in history and will pass, or we can panic and see it as the end of the world and, consequently, cause ourselves more harm than good.

11) It is reminding us that this can either be an end or a new beginning. This can be a time of reflection and understanding, where we learn from our mistakes, or it can be the start of a cycle which will continue until we finally learn the lesson we are meant to.

12) It is reminding us that this Earth is sick. It is reminding us that we need to look at the rate of deforestation just as urgently as we look at the speed at which toilet rolls are disappearing off of shelves. We are sick because our home is sick.

13) It is reminding us that after every difficulty, there is always ease. Life is cyclical, and this is just a phase in this great cycle. We do not need to panic; this too shall pass.

14) Whereas many see the Corona/ Covid-19 virus as a great disaster, I prefer to see it as a *great corrector*

It is sent to remind us of the important lessons that we seem to have forgotten and it is up to us if we will learn them or not.

03/22/2020

Taking Care of Your Mental Health in the Face of Uncertainty Dr. Doreen Marshall, AFSP Vice President of Programs Share629.7KTweetShare By Doreen Marshall, Ph.D. Human beings like certainty. We are hard-wired to want to know what is happening when and to notice things that feel threatening to us. Wh...

03/19/2020

Dear Ones:

The good people at the meditation app Insight Timer
reached out to me a few days ago, and asked if I would volunteer to offer a talk about fear, that they might be able to share with the world, for people who are feeling so anxious right now.

I was honored and humbled to be asked.

Yesterday I holed up in my laundry room all day (the quietest place in the house) to create this talk, and then to record into my phone. (This is what passes as a recording studio these days!)

The talk is now available on Insight Timer, where it will remain. If you click this link, it should take you there:

https://insig.ht/D9JHuDigY4

(You’ll need to download the app in order to listen...but I want to tell you that it’s a REALLY good app, with thousands of great guided meditations. I’ve been using it for years myself, to help with my own meditation practice.❤️ This is why it felt right for me to offer my talk here...because know it’s a good and earnest platform.)

So there it is, Angels — a talk which contains everything I’ve learned over the years about my old friend fear.

I hope, if you listen, that my words might help to bring you some peace in these challenging days.

Lots and lots of love to you all.

I’m holding your hearts in my heart. ❤️LG

03/12/2020

“Alcoholics Anonymous not only produced higher rates of abstinence and remission, but it also did so at a lower cost, the Cochrane review found.”

An updated review shows it performs better than some other common treatments and is less expensive.

02/12/2020

“You don’t have to be stuck,” says Harvard psychiatry professor Dr Kerry Ressler, “there is a good chance that you can move past this.”

When all is well, our brain is the greatest supercomputer on earth. A complex network of about 100 billion neurons, it’s not only great at…

12/02/2019

“Our cultural expectation is that holidays are the time when family comes together,” says Kristin Neff, PhD, author of The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. If someone you love has died, though, “it’s going to be harder because you have this expectation of what you want it to be. The discrepancy between how things are and how we want them to be is more salient in the holiday season.”

For people dealing with loss or sorrow, the holiday season can be a painful time. Here’s how to deal.

11/11/2019

“Now a new study scanned the brains of children 3 to 5 years old and found those who used screens more than the recommended one hour a day without parental involvement had lower levels of development in the brain's white matter -- an area key to the development of language, literacy and cognitive skills.”

A new study found the brains of 3- to 5-year-old children who overused screens were not as developed in areas needed for language, writing and cognitive skills.

11/01/2019

“Some researchers argue that the definition of trauma should be expanded to include the psychological and emotional response to not only physical threats, but threats to deeply held expectations of life. According to Allyson Bradow, a psychologist who wrote a paper on infertility, people affected by infertility must adjust to a major shift in life expectations while being exposed to constant reminders of their condition, through questions from family members, medical treatments or interactions with pregnant women.”

Even when it ends with a healthy baby, a long struggle to conceive may exact a brutal toll.