By Dr. Joseph Mercola
     with Wayne Beamer

There were plenty of reasons to be concerned about the state of the world and our place in it long before 9/11. Since that fateful day almost three years ago, however, many have been waiting for the next shoe to drop.

And keep on waiting ...

In the meantime, the glut of non-stop news fills our minds about the pressing need to stay prepared for "what may come"--color-coded Terror Alerts, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Homeland Security and incomplete reconnaissance reports from our leaders on top of a war taking place thousands of miles away.

I believe the technology that helps us stay so well connected to the world--literally bringing the Iraqi war to our living rooms--can hinder our ability to cope with the many responsibilities in our daily lives.

How does one deal with all the uncertainty?

Some cope, according to a recent Wall Street Journal piece, in a "placebo" sort of way, setting aside a block of time to take a weekly yoga class or get a massage. The effect of doing that one nice thing makes you feel good for a little while, perhaps a day or two.

So what happens when stress, fear and worry reenters the picture? First, know that focusing on things you can't control often manifests them into reality. Secondly, to quote a wise sage, " If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got."

In this case, doing the same thing--worrying constantly about the uncontrollable--will eventually take you mentally and physically out of the picture for good. Pessimism and fear are extremely dangerous to your health. Granted, it is difficult to remain positive all the time. Nevertheless, it is one of the easiest and best things we can do to stay optimally healthy. The easy option many people choose--taking prescription drugs like Paxil or Prozac--serves merely as a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

But that choice shuffles the responsibility for the problem away from the source. You control the problem and the solution.

How?

As I see it, there are no short cuts. With food and nutrition, you also have to make a daily commitment to take responsibility for your own peace of mind and well-being. It's that easy and that difficult.

Here are some tips for keeping your focus where it should be:

1. Prayer and journaling.

For the past six years, I've written about the wonderful connections between health and spirituality. Journaling comes immediately to mind as a deeply therapeutic form of release that encompasses the healing benefits of prayer. I've found the high level of healing generated from journaling comes from the spontaneous writing of your dreams and fears, whether you do it on paper or a computer.

A reminder: Once you're done, delete the file or destroy the piece of paper after your exercise. Filing away your personal thoughts in a diary on your bookshelf or word processing file to look at another day isn't a good idea.

Because the act of journaling is therapeutic in nature, you might hold back for fear of unintentionally hurting a loved one, defeating the purpose of this valuable technique. So be sure to write freely and openly about your thoughts--remember you are going to throw the paper or file away, so there's no need to hold back.

And, for that matter, there's no good reason not to encourage patients to use prayer.

A growing number of studies have documented its worth. In fact, having an active, open dialogue with God at least twice a day is far more important than any supplement or technique you can take.

2. Limit your exposure to media outlets.

For me, I haven't owned a TV since the Bulls finished their last championship run. In fact, I have yet to see even a few second of war footage, and believe this is a healthy choice. Not only will you limit your exposure to upsetting war footage, you will also reduce your exposure to pervasive junk food ads that litter so many media outlets, from TV to the Internet.

3. Don't devalue the coping mechanisms you already have.

Recall the last day you avoided an accident on the road by switching lanes or made headway on a complex problem at work that had been slowing your business down for weeks.

You coped with today's problems and will handle many others like them in the same positive way tomorrow.

4. Pay attention to your children.

How do your kids handle all the images coming through your TV? Who's watching out for what they see but may not understand if you don't?

Recognize the coping mechanisms you already have to allow your kids to voice their fears about terrorism and war.

5. The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

EFT is the psychological acupressure technique I commonly use in my practice and most highly recommend to optimize your emotional health.

Emotional health is absolutely essential to your physical health and healing. No matter how devoted you are to the proper diet and lifestyle, you will not achieve your body's ideal healing and preventative powers if emotional barriers stand in your way.

EFT is very easy to learn, and will help you:

• Remove Negative Emotions
• Reduce Food Cravings
• Reduce or Eliminate Pain
• Implement Positive Goals

A form of psychological acupressure, EFT is based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for more than 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on the head and chest while you think about your specific problem (a traumatic event, an addiction, pain or etc.) and voice positive affirmations.

6. Restful listening.

Another exceptional tool to help you dramatically reduce stress and bolster your coping skills while maximizing your awareness and potential for growth are the Insight and Focus audio CDs programs, which I personally listen to and now recommend to my patients.

These CDs generate an unrivaled harmonically layered combination of frequencies and binaural beats to your brain, seamlessly inducing amazingly powerful states of focused concentration or deep relaxing meditation while stimulating various parts of your brain to work together layered beneath the soothing sounds of natural rain. This audio technology uses multiple harmonically layered frequencies to induce natural brainwave patterns, while other companies are offering recordings using only a single pair of binaural frequencies in order to induce the desired effect.

The frequencies found in these CDs are recorded in multiple separate layers and blended together to form the most powerful combinations possible. The harmonic layering of the binaural frequencies allows you to listen to much deeper carrier frequencies without having to spend as much time easing yourself into using them.

Terrorism alerts exist for good reasons, but there's no reason to live in fear and anxiety about them.

The consequences of doing just that can be deadly to your health. And, looking at the big picture, if you let these things affect your daily life in addition to your health, the terrorists have succeeded on some level.

Whether the fear and anxiety you feel is a public or very private issue, try the steps I've outlined above. The health of your heart and mind and the rest of your body are definitely worth it.

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