Wellness & Life Style Re-training

            Dr. O'Riordan sees wellness as an important addition to one's, self-care and life-style. He has presented Wellness programs to hospitals, Hewlett-Packard and others organizations.

            Many cultural variables influence one's way of living. Some people live in a way that keeps stress in their life, and others live a calm and gentle life. Dr O'Riordan encourages his clients to be aware of their behaviors that may contribute to their stress. For example: How much do you chew your food? When you are chewing the food, do you have another pile on your fork to pop into your mouth? Do you forget to be attentive to chewing your food? Another example could be the way we walk. When you are walking, are you pressure walking or doing an angry walk? When one is walking slowly with grace, one can say: I am aware of my foot touching the ground. I am aware of the sounds I make when I am walking. I am aware of my heart, my lungs and my breathing.

            Dr. O'Riordan notes that stress may have more to do with the way we envision the issues of life than the way life is treating us. For example, some people may become very stressed when they are re-modeling their home others may be delighted to have a home that they can re-model.

            He teaches people to create a space and time between each task so we can learn ways to prevent over-scheduling ourselves. The Japanese have a space for removing one's shoes before entering their home called Genkan. They put on light slippers for the inside of their homes. This was also an ancient way by Celtic farmers when they returned from the fields or the bog: quietly remove ourselves from life's demands and teach ourselves to have a gentle conversation while doing nothing: we can learn from these ancient ways and move from the diamond lane to the quietness of the slow lane. Wellness in our life can include things like pure simplicity, learning to do with less, and to bring joy into our life in the simplest form.

            Contact Dr. O'Riordan by telephone at (650) 948-9989,
or by email at tubrid@stanford.edu

Resources

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