Carl A. Hammerschlag, M.D., is an explorer of the universe as well as a Yale-trained psychiatrist, author, and lecturer. He often uses the wisdom of other cultures, predominantly Native American, to help patients become aware of how life experiences affect their health. His favored advice for handling negative stress is to reframe your thoughts. “The greatest act of evolution is to come to every day with joy”, he says. Recently, his own striving for daily joy was challenged with a cancer scare, but he says any cataclysmic event compels you to regroup.
“You need more than a deep breath when something like this forces you to assess where you are in the world”, says Hammerschlag. “The task is to get one step beyond yourself.” When you find yourself facing such a problem, try the following thoughts to change your perspective:
Separate yourself from ordinary reality.
Seek out the awesome; that’s the mechanism to free yourself from preoccupation with your ego.
Make a connection to all that’s around you; the cosmic community, that is, where you are in the world.
Feel smaller, not bigger: You are not alone in the universe.
Hammerschlag accomplished this with a long drive into the woods of Arizona, somewhere he could be alone and apart. He laid down and looked at the night sky. “I realized with awe how small I am in the scheme of things. It put me in touch with all my connections, and allowed me to reconnect with a sense of perspective.”
By Judith Lazarus
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