In Balance

08/02/2026

Clinical psychologist on Aberdeen’s longest sunless period — and how to cope ☁️

With Aberdeen breaking records for days without sunshine, Inverurie psychologist Emma Hepburn explains why we all feel so exhausted.

Read more here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0ryqkR0

06/02/2026

04/02/2026

03/02/2026

The power of life and death is in the tongue for sure. Not just the words you speak out but the words your inner voice tells you. 

YOUR WORDS ARE MAKING YOU SICK (LITERALLY) TW THE SCIENCE OF THE "NOCEBO EFFECT" THAT SUPPRESSES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

Are you the type to constantly repeat "I feel bad," "I'm exhausted," or "I'm old"? There's a "neurobiological programming" that science is validating in 2026. Your cells don't have ears, but they have chemical receptors that pick up every signal sent by your brain. When you speak out of scarcity or disease, you're not just describing a reality; you're sending a direct order to your system to execute it. Your body is the most loyal soldier: it simply obeys your voice.

The phenomenon is known as the Nocebo Effect. Just as positive thinking can heal, constant negative affirmations release an immediate cascade of Cortisol and Adrenaline. These stress hormones, at sustained levels, inhibit the production of lymphocytes and T cells, leaving your immune shield "deactivated" and vulnerable in minutes. Negative language is, in practice, a self-administered poison that withers your vitality from within.

THE MISTAKE OF THE MAJORITY: Using language as a simple outlet mechanism without understanding its physiological impact. By normalizing phrases of defeat or weakness, you train your nervous system to operate in a state of constant survival. Ignoring that your internal and external dialogue is the software that runs on your biological hardware is why so many treatments fail: you're trying to heal the body while language keeps bombarding the mind with signs of deterioration.

TECHNICAL SOLUTION: Neuroplasticity

demonstrates that we can 'rewire' our biological response by changing the narrative. By replacing limiting labels with process and possibility affirmations, we reduce tonsil activation and allow the parasympathetic nervous system to initiate cellular repair functions. Research from Harvard University has confirmed that using constructive language not only improves mood, but optimizes heart rate variability and strengthens inflammatory response, demonstrating that words are biological engineering tools.
PROTOCOL TO REPROGRAM YOUR BIOLOGY:

Identify the Poison: Become aware of your "sickness crutches" (e.g. "I'm sleepy," "this is going to kill me"); whenever you say them, you're reinforcing a stress neural pathway.

Conscious Substitution: Change "I'm sick" to

"my body is working on healing"; the first is a static identity, the second is an active biological process.

The Wake-Up Window: Your first words of the

day program your morning chemistry; avoid complaining as soon as you open your eyes so you don't shoot an unnecessary cortisol spike.

Listen to your Environment: Surround yourself

with narratives that add vitality; the nocebo effect is also contagious and the words of others can affect your own internal chemistry.

Source 📚: Harvard Medical School / Journal of Psychosomatic Research (2025). "The neurobiology of the nocebo effect: How verbal suggestions and negative narratives impact immune function and endocrine response".

03/02/2026

Depression is real. It is biological. It is not weakness and it is not something you can talk yourself out of. Your brain is responding to overload and imbalance across entire systems.

Depression is not caused by a simple chemical imbalance and the new science is reshaping everything we thought we knew.
For decades people were told depression comes from low serotonin. It sounded clear and comforting but it was never the full story. New brain imaging research shows that depression is far more complex. It involves disrupted brain circuits, altered communication between regions, and changes in how the brain processes stress and emotion. It is not just one chemical. It is a network level shift.
Modern scans reveal that areas like the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus behave differently during depressive episodes. Some regions become overactive. Others go quiet. The pathways that help you regulate fear, motivation, and decision making start misfiring. This is why depression can feel like losing control over your own thoughts. Your brain’s wiring is struggling to keep balance.
This does not mean serotonin plays no role. It means it is only one piece of a much bigger biological puzzle. Treatments work because they help the brain reconnect circuits, not because they simply raise one chemical.
The takeaway is powerful. Depression is real. It is biological. It is not weakness and it is not something you can talk yourself out of. Your brain is responding to overload and imbalance across entire systems.
Understanding this brings hope. It means new therapies can be designed to repair circuits, retrain patterns, and give people more precise and effective paths to recovery.

29/01/2026

15/01/2026

So many people believe a “good” relationship is one where conflict doesn’t happen. But secure love is built when both partners trust that even when things get hard, repair is possible. That missteps can be named. That hurt can be acknowledged. That connection doesn’t disappear just because tension shows up.

11/01/2026

Courses by Esther Perel

10/01/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1HXkGTGRKH/?mibextid=wwXIfr

08/01/2026

Complaining is one of those habits that feels harmless, almost justified. A way to bond. A way to vent. A way to survive bad meetings and worse emails. The No Complaining Rule starts with a deceptively simple idea and then quietly dismantles all of that: complaining doesn’t relieve negativity, it feeds it.

Jon Gordon doesn’t write this book wagging a finger. He tells a story. A workplace paralyzed by cynicism. Employees who care, but feel stuck. Leaders who mean well but tolerate a culture of constant griping because “that’s just how things are.” And then one rule enters the room and changes everything: no complaining unless you come with a solution.

Lessons from The No Complaining Rule:

1. Complaints are contagious and so are solutions.
Negativity spreads faster than motivation. One complaint invites another, and soon a culture forms around what’s wrong instead of what’s possible. Introducing solutions interrupts the cycle and shifts energy toward progress.

2. There’s a difference between identifying problems and feeding them.
Gordon makes a crucial distinction: pointing out an issue is necessary; dwelling on it without action is destructive. Growth happens when problems are named clearly and followed immediately by ownership.

3. Energy determines outcomes more than talent.
A workplace full of capable people can still fail if the emotional climate is toxic. Positive energy doesn’t mean fake smiles, it means constructive focus, accountability, and forward momentum.

4. Leaders set the tone by what they tolerate.
Complaining persists when it’s silently rewarded with attention. Leaders who allow it shape a culture of helplessness. Leaders who redirect it toward solutions create resilience.

5. The most important complaints are the ones you say to yourself.
Perhaps the hardest rule to apply is internally. Chronic self-complaint, about circumstances, people, or limitations, keeps us locked in frustration. Replacing it with solution-focused thinking changes behavior and results.

The No Complaining Rule is not about silencing people. It’s about elevating conversations. Once you adopt it, you start to hear the difference everywhere and you begin to understand that progress doesn’t come from venting louder, but from choosing better questions, better language, and better responses when things go wrong.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/3Z0HRWF

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