Truth about how patients dying

 

Doctor Mike Hansen

385K subscribers

Published on 14 May 2020

12 Coronavirus Autopsy Cases Reveal TRUTH About How Coronavirus Patients Dying #coronavirus #covid19 #covid_19 This is the link to the main study in this video: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.73... Coronavirus | COVID-19 YouTube Video Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... The vitamin D that I take: https://amzn.to/36u3F0R In all 12 Coronavirus Autopsy cases, the cause of death was found within the lungs or the pulmonary vascular system. For the ones who did not die of large pulmonary emboli, they died of the extensive inflammation within the lungs, meaning pneumonia with ARDS. In these Coronavirus Autopsy cases, the lungs were wet and heavy, much like a sponge that is saturated with water. The surfaces of the lung often had a distinct patchy pattern, with pale areas alternating with slightly protruding and firm, deep reddish-blue Hypercapillarized areas. This is indicative of areas of intense inflammation, with endothelial dysfunction that can be seen at the microscopic level. When they look at slices of the lungs under the microscope, they found diffuse alveolar damage in 8 Coronavirus Autopsy cases. Specifically, they saw hyaline membrane formation, and tiny clots in the capillaries, and capillaries that were engorged with red blood cells, and other inflammatory findings. All these findings represent ARDS. They also found lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, infiltrated these areas of infiltration. This fits the picture of viral pathogenesis. They also looked at the pharynx of these COVID-19 patients, meaning in their throat. The lining of the throat, or mucosa, was hyperemic, meaning very red and irritated, and at the microscopic level, they saw lymphocytes invading there, which is consistent with a viral infection. In one Coronavirus case, a COVID-19 patient had lymphocytes invade his heart muscle, findings that are consistent with what we call viral myocarditis. More than half of the COVID-19 patients in this study had large blood clots. One-third of the COVID-19 patients had pulmonary embolism as the direct cause of death. All the others died of intense inflammation in their lungs related to pneumonia with ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Recently there’s been studies showing that about 1/3rd of COVID patients with severe COVID have blood clots. Another study of 191 COVID patients with coronavirus aka COVID-19, half of those who died had clots, compared with 7% of survivors. And levels of D-dimer that were greater than 1000 µg/L were associated with a fatal outcome. So it's pretty clear now that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is causing a lot of clots to form in moderate to severe COVID disease. How is this happening? It's likely a combination of reasons, that has to do with downregulation of the ACE2 receptor in the lung alveoli, with a subsequent shift towards having more angiotensin II in the lungs, and less angiotensin 1-7 and 1-9 in the lungs, and when this happens, this leads to more cytokine storm with more inflammation, more constriction of pulmonary arteries, and more clots that develop. That, in turn, leads to more endothelial dysfunction in the capillaries that surround the alveoli. Also, there is evidence that the virus attaches to the ACE2 receptors of those endothelial cells that line those capillaries, which further propagates inflammation and clotting. And in the cytokine storm that develops there, RANTES, a chemokine, binds to the CCR5 receptor of CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes, and that causes those lymphocytes to infiltrate those areas of inflammation, and in doing so, further contributes towards the inflammatory reaction. This is why we are seeing low levels of CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes in severe COVID. Endothelial damage can also lead to the development of antiphospholipid antibodies, and these antibodies are bad because they trigger the formation of blood clots. That’s why Coronavirus patients who have clots with the diagnosis of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome need to be on blood thinners. Also, 11 out of the 12 Coronavirus patients in this study had underlying heart disease and were obese. These are known risk factors not just for cardiovascular disease, but also known risk factors for endothelial dysfunction, and are known risk factors for COVID. So the big takeaways from the findings in this study are that most people who die of COVID, it's primarily a lung problem. Either related to inflammation with ARDS and/or blood clots. Antiphospholipid syndrome might be a commonality among patients with thrombosis in COVID-19 patients. Dr. Mike Hansen, MD Internal Medicine | Pulmonary Disease | Critical Care Medicine

Abundance Medittion Day 1

 Day 1- The 21-Day Abundance Meditation Challenge with Deepak Chopra

Day 1 — Attention

Welcome 

Day 1 of the 21-Day Chopra Meditation and Abundance Challenge!

Welcome to this challenge, I began this challenge  because I decided I was not going to participate in a lack scarcity paradigm anymore.

What is a lack scarcity paradigm? The illusory world we are nonstop subjected to that presents a world of tragedy and misery. It is an illusion, (but it is very persistent). Essentially it is the world that has been created via collective human consciousness at least over the last 2000 years (probably much longer). It is a world that we are transitioning out of.

Anyway, right after I made the declaration, (to *not* participate in 3D) I received an invitation to the participate in the  Chopra Abundance challenge.  This time it’s going to be so much better.

Take as much or as little as you like from this redesigned and far more extensive Chopra Abundance challenge that I’ve developed. For three weeks, you can focus on the concept of abundance as little or as much as you like. There are lots of options.  Choose what works for you!

 *Meditation 101 — Chopra Style* 

In this daily challenge, there are three focus areas: *exploring spiritual laws,* _Meditation_ (meditating to the selected Chopra abundance meditations), and *_doing a mind body spirit activity_* . 

 I have a transcript of the meditation as well, so you can closely review the content of it.

What exactly is meditating? It is a really important skill you need to master if you want to get out of 3D.

 Meditation does a lot of amazing things, and has tremendous mind/body/spirit benefits.

It opens the door to the Fourth Dimension. Now…a lot of people freak out about meditating. They don’t want to do it wrong…they want to get it right. They don’t understand the purpose of it. Be quiet and just sit there? What the hell for? (Not gonna lie, I’ve asked these questions.) What if they can’t stop thinking negative thoughts! (Not gonna lie, I’ve had these problems.) Oh no! Down the rabbit hole we go.

Just stop. Okay, don’t do that.

 *_Whatever you do for 10 minutes, is fine_ .*

Do not stress the meditation. It is a skill…and skills take time to learn. You are in great hands with Deepak Chopra guided you, one thing I know for sure, is that this man knows how to meditate has taught it to millions (maybe even billions).

 *Busting Up The 3D Paradigms!* 

In this world, (I call it the 3D grid or matrix) we have created, there is plenty of dark virus programming. It goes like this:

 _You can never have enough_ 

 _You can never get enough_ 

 _Be very afraid, always…and always be running from something, always be chasing something._ 

 _But no matter what, you’ll never be safe._ 

Whenever we buy into these programs (and there are thousands of ways to do this), we are participating in the 3D lack scarcity paradigm. I am so sick of 3D. Even though, for the most part, I have vibrated out of it, I still live in this world. I see 3D constantly.

It’s time to bust up of these paradigms! Now. 3D doesn’t disappear until enough of us get it, (100 monkeys, tipping point, critical mass and such). So that’s why I am doing the light work of introducing these concepts to you. I’m trying to tip the scales and get us the hell up out of here.

It’s time to stop. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t do this anymore.

I can’t play this game anymore. I do not consent. I surrender…

To the laws of an abundant universe!

Eckhart Tolle explains that in surrender, (stop paying attention to the 3D paradigm) you buy yourself a ticket to the fourth dimension.

 *Abundance Consciousness* 

What is the Fourth Dimension? It’s a space where abundance consciousness, is thriving! And how we get there (cause we all want to be there right- a place where we can have, do, and be whatever we like) is by paying attention to it.

The Fourth Dimension is here vibrating strongly on the earth grid, and so is the fifth! Or so says the more advanced light workers amongst us, but hey, I’m just an _ordinary_ *everyday* light worker. I’m not one of those super ascended master light workers like Jesus. I can’t walk on water. There are levels to this light work thing. I’ve not seen the Fifth Dimension yet.) But I have experienced the fourth. It’s a really peaceful place. So, rest your weary 3D heart and head (if you are still in 3D) and take a trip with me that will open the door to the fourth dimension. You open that door by learning how to meditate.

The one goal that is most important (but usually the hardest to achieve without a lot of mind training) is to try not to think of anything too unpleasant. Try not to think of anything that will take you out of the present moment. This is the opposite of mindfulness. Mindfulness is being mindful about life in the moment.

For the Chopra meditation, you are directed to close your eyes and lay down, so you have to focus primarily on that which you can *hear* (he provides a nice sound bath with ambient music, bells and nature sounds) and *touch* . Those two senses are enough for a very pleasant experience. You want this to be a pleasant experience. Be mindful of how pleasant the experience.

And so, after getting comfortable, breathing deeply and relaxing, make a promise to yourself that for 10 minutes you will percolate *the idea that abundance is all around you.* Your focus on that mantra *So Hum ( I am that)* for about 10 minutes. There is a lesson in this. This lesson is about *attention* . A lot of spiritual teachers focus on the idea of *attention* .

By focusing on abundance and repeating that mantra: *_I am that_* , basically you are saying to your mind, *_I am abundance_* . You absolutely want to pay attention to and to *_be abundance_* , you certainly do *not* want to _be lack_ .

The thought *_today, I behold the abundance around me_* is a command to yourself. It is a command that you pay attention to abundance, so that the abundance in your life will increase. When you do this, you are taking your consciousness off the 3d lack hamster wheel, out of the rat race that is the lack-scarcity paradigm. If you can’t leave this paradigm forever, you can at least leave it for 10 minutes. Okay, so let’s get to it!

Chopra Meditation Day 1

 *Meditation Transcript* 

 _The following is a transcript from the 21- Day Challenge Deepak Chopra Wellness Center Abundance Mediation Series. It is being used for educational purposes only._ 

Welcome to the Chopra Center 21 day Mediation Challenge: Creating Abundance

We are very happy you’ve decided to embark on this journey into stillness and silence to experience authentic abundance consciousness. Over the next three weeks we will focus on different aspects of abundance.

In our first week, preparing for abundance we’ll consider the promise of unlimited potential. During this time, we will learn what true abundance is: the infinite source from which it springs, how consciousness and the mind affect its flow and how we can more deeply understand that abundance is a divine right for all of us, bestowed upon each and everyone of us.

During our second week, we will examine how abundance relates to each of the seven spiritual laws of success beginning with the law of pure potentiality. What exactly is possible? And ending with the law of dharma how to increase abundance in our lives by serving humanity with our unique skills and talents.

In our third week, we will contemplate the practical aspects of abundance by living in abundance our natural state of being. During this time we’ll explore the concept of synchro-destiny, consciously manifesting our destinies by harnessing the power of intention and meaningful coincidences. We will also discuss the importance of living gratefully, in a manner that is carefree and with love and in unity to create an environment of the abundance around us.

So as we begin, let’s ask ourselves, what is true abundance? True abundance is the experience in which all of our needs are easily met, and our desires spontaneously fulfilled.

We know true abundance when we feel: joy, health, happiness, a sense of purpose and vitality in every moment of our existence. An overflowing fullness that infuses facet of our lives.

We never need to seek abundance. We just need to notice it, and open up to what’s already there. And allow the bounty of the universe to flow through us.

Each of us experiences abundance every day, in the unbounded joy of a child, the bright sunlight that fills the room as you open your eyes to a new morning, the many friends and family members who are always there for you. Nature too, reflects abundance, in all its glory.

Vibrant fields of wildflowers, majestic mountain peaks, lush and fragrant forests, and the rich array of wildlife that thrives on our planet.

All these gifts that nature presents to use at every moment are true examples of abundance.

It is impossible to count the grains of sand in one inch of the shore, or the twinkling stars that fill our night sky. Even our own bodies composed of the same the entire universe, contain billions of cells. In nature, in the universe, even within us, there is no such thing as scarcity or lack.

Now that you possess this knowledge you can embrace the concept of unlimited abundance. Knowing the desires of your heart are always available, provided that you are open to receiving them, and sharing your gifts with the world. At some point today, take time to witness the examples of abundance all around you. You will see the myriad of riches the universe offers us and begin to experience true abundance consciousness.

Let us meditate together on the centering thought: Today, I behold the abundance that surrounds me.

Now we will begin the mediation to connect to the source from which all abundance flows.

At this point the spiritual lesson part of the mediation ends. Chopra begins providing excellent instructions on the proper way to meditate for about 10 minutes. Follow these instructions exactly to learning how to meditate for the purpose of connecting with your higher self.. (A very important 5D skill everyone should learn.)

Meditation for Today — So Hum

I am that.

The Chopra Center Meditation Instructions Below are Being Used for Educational Purposes Only.

Now let’s begin. please find a comfortable position, placing your hands lightly in your lap and closing your eyes.

In this moment go within, to that place of inner quiet where we experience our connection to the higher self

Let go of all thoughts and begin to observe the inflow and outflow of your breath.

With each inhalation and exhalation, allow yourself to become more relaxed, more comfortable more at peace.

Gently introduce the Sanskrit mantra for the law of detachment, repeating it mentally, and allowing it to flow with effortless ease.

So Hum

I am that.

Whenever you find yourself distracted by thoughts, sensation in your body, or noises in the environment, simply return your attention to repeat the mantra:

So Hum

I am that.

Please  continue with your meditation, and I’ll mind the time- and at the end you will hear me ring a soft bell to indicate that it is time to release the mantra.

Better Survival Knowledge

 A professor of pharmacy at University of Toronto sent this clearly worded update to his family:

 For this pandemic there’s a greater chance of survival for those getting infected 3 months later like June 2020 than those who got infected 3 months earlier say February 2020. The reason for this is that Doctors and scientists know more about Covid-19 now than 3 months ago and hence are able to treat patients better. I will list *5 important things* that we know now that we didn’t know in February 2020 for your understanding.

 1. COVID-19 was initially thought to cause deaths due to *pneumonia- a lung infection*- and so Ventilators were thought to be the best way to treat sick patients who couldn’t breathe. *Now we are realizing that the virus causes blood clots in the blood vessels of the lungs* and other parts of the body and this causes the reduced oxygenation.

Now we know that just providing oxygen by ventilators will not help but we have to prevent and dissolve the micro clots in the lungs. This is why we are using drugs like *Aspirin and Heparin ( blood thinners that prevents clotting)  as protocol in treatment regimens in June 2020. *

 2. Previously patients used to drop dead on the road or even before reaching a hospital due to reduced oxygen in their blood- OXYGEN SATURATION. This was because of *HAPPY HYPOXIA*- where even though the oxygen saturation was gradually reducing the COVID-19 patients did not have symptoms until it became critically less, like sometimes even 70%. **Normally we become breathless if oxygen saturation reduces below 90%. **

This breathlessness is not triggered in Covid patients and so we were getting the sick patients very late to the hospitals in February 2020. Now since knowing about happy hypoxia we are monitoring oxygen saturation of all covid patients *with a simple home use pulse oximeter and getting them to hospital if their oxygen saturation drops to 93% or less*. This gives more time for doctors to correct the oxygen deficiency in the blood and a better survival chance in June 2020.

3. We did not have drugs to fight the corona virus in February 2020. We were only treating the complications caused by it... hypoxia. Hence most patients became severely infected.

```**Now we have 2 important medicines FAVIPIRAVIR & REMDESIVIR**```

 These are ANTIVIRALS that can kill the corona virus. By using these two medicines we can prevent patients from becoming severely infected and therefore cure them BEFORE THEY GO TO HYPOXIA. This knowledge we have in JUNE 2020... not in February 2020.

 4. Many Covid-19 patients die not just because of the virus but also due the patient’s own immune system responding In an exaggerated manner called *CYTOKINE STORM*. This stormy strong immune response not only kills the virus but also kills the patients. In February 2020 we didn’t know how to prevent it from happening. Now in June 2020, we know that *easily available medicines called Steroids,* that doctors around the world have been using for almost 80 years *can be used to prevent the cytokine storm in some patients*.

 5. Now we also know that people with hypoxia became better just by making them lie down on their belly- known as prone position. Apart from this a few days ago Israeli scientists have discovered that a chemical known as Alpha Defensin produced by the patients White blood cells can cause the micro clots in blood vessels of the lungs and this could possibly be prevented by a drug called Colchicine used over many decades in the treatment of Gout.

 So now we know for sure that patients have a better chance at surviving the COVID-19 infection in June 2020 than in February 2020, for sure.

Going forward there’s nothing to panic about Covid-19 if we remember that a person who gets infected later has a better chance at survival than one who got infected early.

Let’s continue to follow precautions, wear masks and practice social distancing  Please distribute this message, as we all need some positive news...

Secret To Attracting Great Relationships

 The Secret To Attracting Great Relationships

 

 

Our relationships with others impact our lives in many ways, including how we see ourselves and the choices we make. And while we can’t choose every person we interact with, the close relationships we decide to nurture should fill our lives with love, positivity, guidance, and a sense of mutual respect.

So when was the last time you took inventory on your close relationships? With your friends? Your family? Your colleagues or even a romantic partner? Do they inspire you and keep your energy high, or do you find yourself feeling drained or depleted when interacting with those closest to you?

If you think you could be entertaining a toxic relationship or are simply looking for ways to attract healthier, happier, and more honest relationships into your life, here are a few things you can do:

 

1. Love yourself first

Achieving loving, supportive relationships starts with you! No matter what type of relationship you are seeking to attract or build with someone else, loving yourself first is essential. When you love yourself first, you are setting the foundation for the healthy and happy relationships you want to manifest.

Also, when you fully love and accept yourself, you have the self-confidence to let go of people that don’t meet your standards, and you will attract individuals into your life who treat you with the respect you deserve.

2. Know yourself and your values

While self-love is crucial to attracting healthy relationships, it’s also just as important to stay connected to your values. It’s one thing to love others for who they are, but not to the point where you are sacrificing your values and morals. If you want to create quality relationships, you should first feel confident in who you are and what you stand for.

I want you to take a moment to think about your 5 closest relationships right now. Do these people support your core values or do you find yourself making excuses for certain people or situations? For example, do you ever feel uncomfortable with a friend’s behavior, but instead of speaking up, you choose to look the other way? Or have you ever wished your partner was on the same page as you with an important topic such as finances or children, but you don’t bring it up in fear of an argument?

You see, we often allow those closest to us to act or speak in ways that don’t line up with our values, because we want to maintain the relationship, but this can be unhealthy! If you’ve noticed any of these patterns, it may be time to get better clarity on your own values to understand if you are being honest with yourself about what you want.

Comedian Amy Poehler once said, “You attract the right things when you have a sense of who you are.” Being honest and firm with your values helps to position you with both the self-confidence and self-awareness to stay true to yourself and to be honest with others.

 

3. Understand that you are deserving of happiness

In plain terms, the Law of Attraction states that what we focus on, we attract. So positive or negative thoughts can welcome positive or negative experiences in a person’s life, especially with personal relationships. Dwelling on negativity or unhappiness will lower your mental vibration and make it much harder to  invite the healthy relationships you want into your life.

Instead, when you believe and reaffirm that you are truly deserving of happiness, the Universe sees this as a signal to send more happiness to show up in your life and your various relationships.

4. Communicate how you want to be treated

Healthy communication is key for others to clearly understand how you deserve to be treated. Instead of looking to fit in or behave in ways to appease others, it’s totally okay to teach others how to treat you, using words that are respectful yet firm.

When it comes to attracting new relationships, being explicitly or implicitly open about how you deserve to be treated can actually act as common ground and a way to bond. You may find that you have more in common with someone simply by being honest about what you want from the start.

5. Know your boundaries

Setting healthy boundaries is one of the most important aspects for attracting and maintaining healthy relationships. As I discussed earlier, it can be easy to let things slide with people we are close to, but this can lead to resentment and frustration in the long-run. In order to maintain healthy relationships, make sure you’re communicating honestly with those around you.

It’s a good idea to write out your boundaries beforehand and bring them up when both parties are calm, focused and have time for a conversation. Boundaries should be set for any relationship - between friends, partners, colleagues or family members - to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Practicing honest communication with those closest to you will help your relationships thrive, so give it a try!

Cure Knee Pain

 Cure Knee Pain with Irish Potatoes

1. Cut slices of raw potatoes.

2. Cover the area of knee pain with sliced raw potatoes. Use a bandage to hold these sliced raw potatoes in place for 1 hour.

3.  After 1 hour, remove sliced raw potatoes from the knee area. Wipe dry.

4. Repeat these steps , daily. After a few weeks, knee pain gone. 

Recommended method for any elderly folks who are suffering knee pain. 👌🏽

Irish potatoes are not Irish at all. The shrubby perennials with edible tubers, grown as cool-weather annuals in rows, raised beds, or containers, are native to the South American Andes. Though introduced to the world by early European explorers only in the past four hundred years,

Why Talking About Our Problems Helps So Much (and How to Do It)

There’s more to the age-old advice to just “talk it out” than there seems. Here’s some of the evidence that explains why it is so helpful.

When your car breaks down, you either know how to fix it or how to find someone who can. Emotions, on the other hand, are a little harder to fix. There is no wrench you can grab or repair shop you can take your feelings to. But you do have one tool in your kit you can always use: talking about your feelings. Even just speaking about your feelings out loud to another person can help. So why do we avoid it or believe it doesn’t work?

There are a lot of reasons talking about our problems can be difficult. Some people (especially men) are socialized to internalize feelings, rather than give voice to them. Sometimes the very emotions you’re dealing with — like guilt over something you did, or shame about how you think you’re perceived — can feel so overwhelming that you can’t get up the motivation to talk it out.

Regardless of the reason you might keep it in, talking has powerful psychological benefits that might not be obvious. “Talking about it” is a broad phrase, though, so let’s clarify a bit. When we discuss talking about your problems, it can take a few forms.

Venting to a trusted friend. Sometimes you just need to let out how you’re feeling with no real plan for a solution. “I had the worst day at work!” can be the start of a conversation that helps you process the stress of a hard day.

Discussing a conflict with a partner. Fights happen in relationships. But keeping your feelings to yourself can cause issues between you and your partner to fester. While working toward constructive solutions to your relationship problems is always a good thing, just being able to be open about your feelings with your partner can make your communication healthier as well.

Talk therapy with a licensed therapist. There’s a reason people will pay money to talk through problems with a therapist. Whether you need to discuss a mental illness you’re struggling with, are in couples counseling to work on your relationship or just need someone to talk to who knows how to handle stress, a good therapist can help you hash out your emotions.

Being open about your struggles. Sometimes venting to no one in particular can help not just you, but others as well. For example, in 2015 Sammy Nickalls, a writer, started the social media hashtag #TalkingAboutIt to encourage people to be open about their struggles with mental illness. The act of sharing what daily life is like can help you and others with the same struggles realize that you’re not alone and that what feels overwhelming is actually normal.

What all of these forms have in common is that they are conversations specifically designed to examine and express the emotions you are having, rather than building to a specific solution. Figuring out things you can do to improve your situation is certainly good, but just verbalizing how you’re feeling can, itself, be part of the solution as well.

Why does talking about it help?

Getting a new job, breaking up with a bad partner or investing in your own self-improvement are all practical things you can do to solve problems in your life. But what good does just talking about it do? When you’re fighting the exhausting uphill battle against your own negative feelings, it can seem as if talking about it is the least productive thing you can do.

In reality, your brain and body get a lot out of talking.

When you are feeling very intense feelings — especially fear, aggression or anxiety — your amygdala is running the show. This is the part of the brain that, among other things, handles your fight or flight response. It is the job of the amygdala, and your limbic system as a whole, to figure out if something is a threat, devise a response to that threat if necessary, and store the information in your memory so you can recognize the threat later. When you get stressed or overwhelmed, this part of your brain can take control and even override more logical thought processes.

Research from U.C.L.A. suggests that putting your feelings into words — a process called “affect labeling” — can diminish the response of the amygdala when you encounter things that are upsetting. This is how, over time, you can become less stressed over something that bothers you. For example, if you got in a car accident, even being in a car immediately afterward could overwhelm you emotionally. But as you talk through your experience, put your feelings into words and process what happened, you can get back in the car without having the same emotional reaction.

Research from Southern Methodist University suggested that writing about traumatic experiences or undergoing talk therapy had a positive impact on a patient’s health and immune system. The study argues that holding back thoughts and emotions is stressful. You have the negative feelings either way, but you have to work to repress them. That can tax the brain and body, making you more susceptible to getting sick or just feeling awful.

None of that is to say that talking about your problems, or even talk therapy with a licensed therapist, will automatically fix everything and immediately make you happy and healthy. But, like eating better and exercising, it can contribute to overall improvement in your well-being. More important, it can help you understand how and why you feel the way you do, so you can handle your emotions more effectively in the future.

How can we do it better?

Crucially, not every form of talking about problems aloud can help. In fact, multiple studies examining college students, young women and working adults suggest that co-rumination — or consistently focusing on and talking about negative experiences in your life — can have the opposite effect, making you more stressed and drawing out how long a problem bothers you. To talk about your problems more constructively, there are a few key things you can do.

Choose the right people to talk to. If you’ve ever talked about how you’re feeling and it seems as if you got nothing out of it, you might be talking to the wrong person. Having a trusted friend who will support you (without enabling bad habits like co-rumination) can help. If you need specific advice on a problem, find someone who has faced similar problems and, ideally, has resolved them. And if you need a lot of talk time, try spreading your conversations out to multiple people. One person can get worn out, and having a broad social support system lets you distribute that load.

Choose the right time to talk. Just as important as choosing who to talk to is when you talk to them. Your friends may want to support you, but they have their own lives. Asking if they have the time and energy to talk before unpacking your emotional bags can help you both be better equipped for the conversation. This also means being courteous about their time. Sometimes crises happen and you might need to interrupt someone, but most supportive conversations can wait.

Find a therapist, even if you’re not mentally ill. Therapists often have a reputation for being necessary only if you have a mental illness. This isn’t the case. You can go to therapy if you are feeling overly stressed, if you are not sleeping well or if you just want someone to talk to. Think of it less like seeing a doctor and more like a personal trainer. Also, remember that just as with doctors, mechanics or anyone else you hire, there are good ones and bad ones (or bad ones for you), so if you don’t have success the first time, try someone else.

Give yourself an endpoint. Not all conversations about your problems need to lead to a plan of action for tangible change, but they do need to lead to something other than more complaining. Give yourself space to vent about your feelings and, while doing so, focus on how you are feeling throughout the process. If you are getting more worked up, take a break. If you find yourself talking about the same things over and over without gaining any new understanding or feeling any relief, try something else to process how you are feeling. You may not be able to fix the external problem that is bothering you, but the goal should at least be to improve your mood about it.

Talk about the good as well as the bad. Expressing how you’re feeling is healthy. Expressing yourself only when you feel bad isn’t. Whether you are talking to friends, partners or on social media, be sure to share your good experiences and feelings when they come up. Talking about these experiences can reinforce them in your brain and make it easier to break out of negative thought patterns later. Plus, it helps build your relationships with the people you are close enough to talk to.

Of course, this process can still be messy. Some days, talking about your problems may just be complaining about something that happened at work, but others it may involve crying into someone’s shoulder for an hour. It can feel embarrassing or uncomfortable the first few times, but the more you open up, the easier it will get to share how you feel.

Last semester, a student in the masculinity course I teach showed a video clip she had found online of a toddler getting what appeared to be his first vaccinations. Off camera, we hear his father’s voice. “I’ll hold your hand, O.K.?” Then, as his son becomes increasingly agitated: “Don’t cry!… Aw, big boy! High five, high five! Say you’re a man: ‘I’m a man!’ ” The video ends with the whimpering toddler screwing up his face in anger and pounding his chest. “I’m a man!” he barks through tears and gritted teeth.

The home video was right on point, illustrating the takeaway for the course: how boys are taught, sometimes with the best of intentions, to mutate their emotional suffering into anger. More immediately, it captured, in profound concision, the earliest stirrings of a male identity at war with itself.

This is no small thing. As students discover in this course, an Honors College seminar called “Real Men Smile: The Changing Face of Masculinity,” what boys seem to need is the very thing they fear. Yet when they are immunized against this deeper emotional honesty, the results have far-reaching, often devastating consequences.

Despite the emergence of the metrosexual and an increase in stay-at-home dads, tough-guy stereotypes die hard. As men continue to fall behind women in college, while outpacing them four to one in the suicide rate, some colleges are waking up to the fact that men may need to be taught to think beyond their own stereotypes.

In many ways, the young men who take my seminar — typically, 20 percent of the class — mirror national trends. Based on their grades and writing assignments, it’s clear that they spend less time on homework than female students do; and while every bit as intelligent, they earn lower grades with studied indifference. When I asked one of my male students why he didn’t openly fret about grades the way so many women do, he said: “Nothing’s worse for a guy than looking like a Try Hard.”

In a report based on the 2013 book “The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools,” the sociologists Thomas A. DiPrete and Claudia Buchmann observe: “Boys’ underperformance in school has more to do with society’s norms about masculinity than with anatomy, hormones or brain structure. In fact, boys involved in extracurricular cultural activities such as music, art, drama and foreign languages report higher levels of school engagement and get better grades than other boys. But these cultural activities are often denigrated as un-masculine by preadolescent and adolescent boys.”

Throughout elementary school and beyond, they write, girls consistently show “higher social and behavioral skills,” which translate into “higher rates of cognitive learning” and “higher levels of academic investment.”

It should come as no surprise that college enrollment rates for women have outstripped men’s. In 1994, according to a Pew Research Center analysis, 63 percent of females and 61 percent of males enrolled in college right after high school; by 2012, the percentage of young women had increased to 71, but the percentage of men remained unchanged.

By the time many young men do reach college, a deep-seated gender stereotype has taken root that feeds into the stories they have heard about themselves as learners. Better to earn your Man Card than to succeed like a girl, all in the name of constantly having to prove an identity to yourself and others.

The course “Real Men Smile,” which examines how the perceptions of masculinity have and haven’t changed since the 18th century, grew out of a provocative lecture by Michael Kimmel, the seminal researcher and author in the growing field of masculine studies.

Dr. Kimmel came to my campus, Towson University, in 2011 to discuss the “Bro Code” of collegiate male etiquette. In his talk, he deconstructed the survival kit of many middle-class, white male students: online pornography, binge drinking, a brotherhood in which respect is proportional to the disrespect heaped onto young women during hookups, and finally, the most ubiquitous affirmation of their tenuous power, video games.

As Dr. Kimmel masterfully deflected an outpouring of protests, the atmosphere grew palpably tense. A young man wearing fraternity letters stood up. “What you don’t get right is that girls are into hooking up as much as we are; they come on to us, too,” he said. Dr. Kimmel shook his head, which left the student clearly rattled.

His voice quavering, the young man stammered something unexpected from a frat brother, about how women can be as insensitive and hurtful as guys. He sounded like a victim himself. But afterward, when I asked him if he had reached out to any of his guy friends for advice or solace, he stared at me, incredulous, his irises two small blue islands amid a sea of sclera. “Nah, I’ve got this,” he said.

I wanted the course to explore this hallmark of the masculine psyche — the shame over feeling any sadness, despair or strong emotion other than anger, let alone expressing it and the resulting alienation. Many young men, just like this student, compose artful, convincing masks, but deep down they aren’t who they pretend to be.

Research shows what early childhood teachers have always known: that from infancy through age 4 or 5, boys are more emotive than girls. One study out of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital in 1999 found that 6-month-old boys were more likely to show “facial expressions of anger, to fuss, to gesture to be picked up” and “tended to cry more than girls.”

“Boys were also more socially oriented than girls,” the report said — more likely to look at their mother and “display facial expressions of joy.”

This plays out in the work of Niobe Way, a professor of applied psychology at New York University. After 20-plus years of research, Dr. Way concludes that many boys, especially early and middle adolescents, develop deep, meaningful friendships, easily rivaling girls in their emotional honesty and intimacy.

But we socialize this vulnerability out of them. Once they reach ages 15 or 16, “they begin to sound like gender stereotypes,” she writes in “Deep Secrets: Boys’ Friendships and the Crisis of Connection.” “They start using phrases such as ‘no homo’ … and they tell us they don’t have time for their male friends, even though their desire for these relationships remains.”

As women surpass men on campus, the threat felt by thin-skinned males often reveals itself in the relationships where they feel most exposed. “Boys are not only more invested in ongoing romantic relationships but also have less confidence navigating them than do girls,” writes the sociologist Robin W. Simon in The Journal of Health and Social Behavior. That’s problematic, because “romantic partners are their primary sources of intimacy,” whereas young women confide in friends and family.

Some cultural critics link such mounting emotional vulnerability to the erosion of male privilege and all that it entails. This perceived threat of diminishing power is exposing ugly, at times menacing fault lines in the male psyche. Experts point to sexual assaults on campus and even mass murders like those at a community college in Oregon and a movie theater in Colorado. These gunmen were believed to share two hypermasculine traits: feelings of profound isolation and a compulsion for viral notoriety.

With so much research showing that young men suffer beneath the gravity of conventional masculinity, men’s studies is gaining validation as a field of its own, not just a subset of women’s studies. Hobart and William Smith Colleges has offered a minor in men’s studies since the late ’90s. The Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities was established in 2013 at Stony Brook University, part of the State University of New York, and plans to offer its first master’s degree program in 2018. Last year, the center hosted the International Conference on Men and Masculinities, where topics included fatherhood, male friendships and balancing work and family life.

So why don’t campuses have more resource centers for men?

Some universities offer counseling services for men of color and gay men, and some sponsor clubs through which male members explore the crisis of sexual violence against women. Only a precious few — the University of Massachusetts and Simon Fraser University among them — offer ways for all men to explore their shared struggles. And these don’t exist without pushback. Talk of empowering men emotionally yields eye rolling at best, furious protest at worst — as when the Simon Fraser center was proposed, in 2012, and men and women alike challenged the need for a “safe space” for members of the dominant culture.

But wouldn’t encouraging men to embrace the full range of their humanity benefit women? Why do we continue to limit the emotional lives of males when it serves no one? This question is the rhetorical blueprint I pose to students before they begin what I call the “Real Man” experiment.

In this assignment, students engage strangers to explore, firsthand, the socialized norms of masculinity and to determine whether these norms encourage a healthy, sustainable identity.

The findings result in some compelling presentations. One student interviewed her male and female friends about their hookups and acted out an amalgam of their experiences through the eyes of a male and a female character; another explored the pall of silence and anxiety that hangs over campus men’s rooms; two students gleaned children’s gender perceptions in a toy store. One of the most revealing projects was a PowerPoint by a student who had videotaped himself and then a female friend pretending to cry in the crowded foyer of the university library, gauging the starkly different reactions of passers-by.

“Why do you think a few young women stopped to see if your female friend was O.K.,” I asked him, “but no one did the same thing for you?”

He crossed his arms, his laser pointer pushing against his bicep like a syringe, and paused. Even at this point in the semester, the students, some of whom had studied gender issues before, seemed blind to their own ingrained assumptions. So his response raised many eyebrows. “It’s like we’re scared,” he said, “that the natural order of things will completely collapse.”

AnneMarie Rossi: Why Aren’t We Teaching You Mindfulness

Harvard conducted a research study and they tracked more than 1,000 people from birth until age 32, looking for what made someone successful. What common characteristic or trait was seen in a successful individual? It wasn’t their race, what language they spoke, what neighborhood they grow up in, or how much money their parents had.

It wasn’t how well they did on standardized tests, or even their IQ. It was self-control. Those who were successful, who had good careers, financial stability, loving relationships, and physical health, were the ones who could focus, pay attention, and regulate their emotions. They were the ones to practice mindfulness. It doesn’t matter if I give you all the shiniest new iPads, and Stephen Hawkings is teaching you Math, if you can’t focus and pay attention, how well will you do?

Mindfulness is the foundation for all other learning, for all success you will have throughout your entire life. So I ask you, why, if we know that this is the single most important predictor of success for human beings, why aren’t we teaching it to you? Mindfulness exercises are designed to train your brain to have focus, attention, and emotional regulation. There’s mindful listening, eating, breathing, movement; it’s a way of engaging in the present moment, without attachment and without judgment.

Mindfulness is grounded in more than 30 years of scientific study, most major universities in the world, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Oxford and Cambridge, just to name a few, teach and/or research this practice. In fact, Oxford has a Master’s Degree in mindfulness. This isn’t religion, this isn’t hippie nonsense, this isn’t some idea I came up with in my backyard.

This is science. There exist literally thousands of studies that show us that mindfulness practice decreases depression, anxiety, and stress; increases overall feelings of well-being, happiness, focus, attention, and academic achievement.

So, I ask you again: why if we know this, why aren’t we teaching mindfulness to you? We are inundated with distractions; our phones, our tablets, all the sights and sounds that surround us. The never ending dialogue our brain is having with itself. The ability to focus on one thing at a time for an extended period is a skill and it requires practice.

You all know what I’m talking about. You’re sitting in your class, and you’re pretty sure you heard the teacher say the words ‘important’ and ‘quiz’. But then that girl you met over the weekend texted and while you have to respond, you want to sound cool and interested, but not too interested, I mean you’re not desperate. And then a breeze blows through the window and whoa, what is that smell? Has that girl always been in this class? She’s got pretty hair Man, I like a girl that smells good! Wait, do I smell good? Did I put on deodorant today? Am I sweating? Sweating is weird.

It’s like your body’s crying smelly tears. And then the bell rings and you have missed all of class and you definitely have absolutely no idea what’s important and what’s on the quiz. The ability to turn your attention to the class, to focus on something that frankly might not be that interesting – like algebra – it’s a skill, and it requires practice.

Mindfulness is how we get there. I find it funny when people tell me that they don’t need to practice mindfulness, “Oh, I got this!” Really that is so strange because I’m pretty sure Kobe Bryant already knows how to play basketball, but he’s still practicing.

He also practices mindfulness. Mindfulness isn’t just about the ability to focus and pay attention, it’s also able to feel emotions like pain, anger, frustration, anxiety, and fear and not react to them. Mindfulness gives us space between our emotions and our responses, so that we can actually think first. Sometimes we forget that our emotions are ever-changing, that joy and pain come and go like ocean waves. Mindfulness allows us to surf, rather than drown.

And sometimes we forget that we’re not the only ones feeling pain. Look around the room, look at the person next to you, in front of you, behind you. They have all experienced pain. Every one of you have all experienced pain. Pain is inevitable.

Suffering? Well, that’s a choice. We may not be able to choose all the uncontrolled circumstances that life presents with us any more than we can choose the weather, right? But we can choose not to be victims to our circumstances, because we can choose our reactions. Pain and anger, well, they’re just not good excuses because they’re a part of every human experience. If we respond to anger with anger, we only make the situation worse. The harsh truth is that it doesn’t matter how righteous and justifiable your emotions may be, it is irrelevant, because you’ll be judged based on your reactions and not your reasons.

Mindfulness allows us to be reflective and not reactive. It’s not about running from our emotions or not feeling our emotions, it’s allowing us to not be overwhelmed by our emotions. It’s not about controlling our thoughts and emotions, but rather not having our thoughts and emotions control us. I have two teenagers; I teach teenagers and I was once, 900 years ago, a teenager myself.

The struggle to deal with your emotions is real and overwhelming. The part of the teenage brain that regulates emotions, that hasn’t fully yet developed. But the part that feels emotions, that’s the size of a full grown adult. So something small can really easily turn into something big. You’re walking in the hallway and you see your friend, they look right at you, and you’re like, “Hey, what’s up?”, and they ignore you like a Casper.

So you walk into your next class, and you spend the entire time trying to figure out why this person hates you now. You’ve texted all of your other friends, and nobody’s responded, you’ve replayed the last three conversations you had with them in your head, and you still have no idea what went wrong. So you decided that, well, you hate them too, now, I mean, who are they to ignore you, right? Or you decided that, well, gosh, they ignored you and nobody’s responded to any of your text messages, and man, this must mean that actually nobody likes you and really, you don’t have any friends, and no one’s ever going to love you, and you’re definitely going to die alone with a hundred cats. Obviously Right? Clearly.

Look this right here, this is called taking a left turn down crazy lane. And we are all guilty of it. Mindfulness allows us to stop at the intersection of reality and crazy lane; choose which path we want to go down. With all of the no needs and benefits of mindfulness practice, I ask you again, why are we not teaching it to you? Well, part of that is because for a long time, mindfulness practice has been a privilege offered in well funded schools or through expensive individual instruction CEOs, celebrities, world famous athletes, they flock to the trainings, paying as much as 10,000 dollars to learn the secrets of success.

It’s important that we have mindful leaders, but we are missing great thinkers, innovators, and doers, those who can’t afford to pay for the skills required to succeed. Do we really think all the best and brightest happen to be born with money? And what about those born in poverty, I mean poverty is traumatic. We’re born into generational poverty, whose parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, and brothers, all live in poverty. They’re surrounded by the trauma of poverty and stress to contagious disease. It doesn’t just affect the adults, it affects everyone living in the home.

We know that poverty is traumatic, we know that trauma changes the brain and so without practices like mindfulness, gifted children are left behind. I believe that mindfulness practice should be offered in every school, in every county, in every district, in every state. It should not be about whether or not — Thank you — It shouldn’t be about whether or not your parents can afford the instruction or they can afford to move you to the right ZIP code in the right school district. I believe that mindfulness practice can reverse generational poverty, and we can move kids up and out.

I had a fourth grade student who grew up in generational poverty, his parents were in and out of prison, drug use, he was considered a trouble maker, academically behind, he even had to repeat a grade. He would get so frustrated, he would throw his desk across the room, run out of the classroom building, out of the school, and all the way down the street multiple times a week.

Now, two years later, he practices mindfulness every day. He has no more classroom or behavioral issues, and he’s in the gifted and talented programme. He would tell you that it wasn’t until someone taught him how to deal with his emotions, that someone taught him mindfulness practice, that he was able to change his whole life.

We know one of the number one predictors for a student dropping out of high school is behavioral issues. We know that if you drop out, you’re four times more likely to live in poverty. So we create these very specific rules and consequences, but do we really think little Timmy doesn’t know he shouldn’t poke little Tommy in the eye? Or does he not know how to stop himself? Has he never learned how to manage his emotions? And for some, those emotions can become so overwhelming they can feel permanent.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death in children ages 10-24, 4,800 succeed in taking their own lives every year and 157,000 are treated for self inflicted injuries, just in the US. In a study looking at 320 schools, students ages 13-17, they found that nearly half, 495% met the criteria for suffering from at least one mental health issue: anxiety, depression, ADHD, eating disorders. We know that schools are the number one provider for support for students, we know you’re struggling, we know that mindfulness works, so I ask you again, why aren’t we teaching it to you?

It’s with this in mind that I conducted a research study with the University of Colorado in Denver on the impacts of mindfulness instruction on fourth grade students in a low income school here in Denver. We looked at the teachers’ perception of the students’ ability to regulate their emotions, engage in pro-social behavior, and academic achievement. Those students who went through mindfulness practice scored 250% higher on emotional regulation, 600% higher on pro-social behavior, and 550% higher on academic achievement than those who did not go through the class.

We then asked the students, well, what do you think of mindfulness class? 100% anonymously self reported that they enjoyed the class, they benefited from the practice, they will continue to do it, and they believe all other children should learn it. They saw the greatest improvements in their ability to calm down, focus, and avoid fights, as well as feeling happier at school and at home. The teacher rated the class a 10 out of 10 and said that she believed mindfulness instruction actually led to an increase in teaching time between 11 and 20 minutes.

Mindfulness practices are exercises designed to help you become a more mindful human being, one who can focus and pay attention and miss a distraction, one who can feel intense emotions, and rather than react, reflect and respond. Mindful listening? Man, that’s going to be important to every relationship you ever have, for your entire life.

Mindful eating? That’s going to determine your physical and mental health, and mindful breathing allows you to find calm and focus, peace in a chaos. These practices ultimately lead to compassion, generosity, kindness, altruism. We need the world to be more mindful, we need you to be more mindful.

First, you have to decide that you want to be the change that you want to see in the world and then go about being it. Throughout this talk, I’ve asked you why you aren’t being taught mindfulness.

I will end with asking you to take personal responsibility for your life. If you believe, as I do, as many, many, many others do, that the path to your success, the path to a better world, lies in the practice of mindfulness, then ask your teachers and administrators to bring in experts to give you the skills that you need to have to succeed. You need to take ownership over your future. Change will happen; by choice, not by chance. We will change the world, one mind at a time.

And it starts with yours. Thank you.