Despite our best efforts, we all struggle to problem solve and empathize when we are becoming emotionally triggered and leaving our window of tolerance (WOT; see previous post for more on this).

Fight, flight or freeze are the three primary expressions of our survival response and each can be essential for our survival in situations where our survival is truly at stake. However, when survival responses get triggered by common interpersonal conflict, when there are no real survival based threats, these responses may create more problems than they solve.

You have probably heard about mindfulness. Mindfulness practices and teachings have become so popular in recent years that they are being integrated into many forms of therapy, educational curricula, business leadership training, and even finding their way into pop culture references. Generally speaking, the mindfulness practices that are creating all the buzz come out of Buddhist meditation traditions, however, there are practices of mindfulness in almost every religious and cultural tradition.