MARINA OPPENHEIMER BOOKS AND BLOG

Cuando la playa se encuentra solitaria y vacía, mis recuerdos se borran y se duermen mis penas. Cuando nadie pisa esa arena blanca y las aves se entregan a su silencioso vuelo, mi alma se adormece con el ruido del agua

I often wondered about the hidden meaning of that phrase. I had a marriage that, although it lasted thirty years, was the source of profound suffering for me. After the relationship ended in a quick divorce, my then-husband decided to remarry a younger woman who shared his religion. Meanwhile, I moved into an apartment in Miami Beach. In the years that followed, there were many nights when I pondered the truth behind Eckhart Tolle’s famous saying. From the outside, my ex-husband had created a new life for himself, while I was desperately trying to adjust to the solitude of my new home. Fortunately, my apartment offered a beautiful view of the ocean, which made my nights feel less lonely. One day, while walking along Miami Beach boardwalk, I ran into the man who had been my partner for so many years. At first I barely recognized him; his face had changed—he had aged. After a brief greeting and farewell, I headed home, my thoughts returning once again to Tolle’s famous proverb. Although ...

*************DEDICO ESTE LIBRO A MI AMADO NIETO, BEN MANUEL OPPENHEIMER **************** *********CUANDO ESCUCHO TU VOZ*********** Cuando en el silencio de mi casa solitaria escucho tu voz, amable y serena, torrentes de agua límpida se desmoronan de los techos de la ciudad dormida, y desaparecen las penas.

As per the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, depression is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44.3. Major Depression disorder affects more than 16.1 million American adults, or about 6.7% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. Although the precise genetic make-up of depression is unknown, there are many theories that try to explain the role of the brain in the etiology of this disorder. Most probably however depression is a multifactorial syndrome where not only genetics but also environmental factors play a role. This is where neuroplasticity plays an important role in the treatment of depression. If we are able to transform our negative thoughts into thoughts that are more resourceful, we will be able to rewire our brain connections; in other words, by changing our thoughts we can feel and behave differently. Those thoughts that fuel our despondency by focusing on what we have lost can be replaced by thoughts that generate ou...

Ayer mientras me deleitaba con las fotos de Instagram, un video me llamó la atención de inmediato: la foto mostraba una bellísima águila al tope de un cerro empujando suavemente a su aguilucho para que empezara a volar. Y cuando así lo hizo, su madre se lanzó detrás de él para felicitarlo con sus alas abiertas. Como nunca había visto nada parecido, la ternura de la imagen me emocionó profundamente. Pero al terminar de ver el video no pude menos que preguntarme si mis lágrimas se debían a la belleza del momento, o más bien al recuerdo de esa etapa compleja de mi vida cuando mi hijo también abrió las alas de su nueva vida. Como para muchos otros, ese fue uno de mis momentos más penosos. Al tener un hijo único, mi relación con él se había convertido poco a poco en el significado de mi vida. Me acordé entonces de una frase del psiquiatra Americano M. Scott Peck cuando dice que si supiéramos lo que significa tener hijos nadie los tendría, y me dije que, en momentos como ése, era muy probabl...

When I woke up this morning, as usual I turned on the iPad and set out to check the bad news of the day. However, YouTube quickly moved away from politics and took me to the video of a French psychologist whose topic was the elderly. His theory about a happy old age was well-known: the importance of having friends with whom to share a drink and chat. The presenter argued that it can even be said that our need to have friends has a genetic component. If we analyze the life of human beings in general, nothing sounds truer: from a very young age, one of our most important concerns is to have as many friends as possible. So much so that those of us who did not have them felt different throughout their young lives. Yet, that is the story of our youth; when we reach old age things change. Although in our young years we were strong enough to tolerate those friendships that were not sincere, as soon as we set foot in our last life stage, we are only able to endure sharing our time with p...