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The Songkran Festival is a traditional Thai New Year's celebration that takes place annually from April 13th to 15th. It is known for its water-throwing festivities, where people pour water on each other as a symbol of purification and the washing away of sins and bad luck.

The name Songkran comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti, which means "astrological passage," and marks the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season in Thailand.

During the festival, people also visit temples, offer food to Buddhist monks, and participate in cultural activities such as parades and traditional dances. The holiday is an important time for families to come together and pay respect to their elders, as well as for friends to reunite and celebrate the start of a new year.

In recent years, the water-throwing aspect of Songkran has become more of a party atmosphere, with many young people taking to the streets to splash water on each other and engage in friendly water fights. Despite this shift in tone, the festival remains an important cultural tradition in Thailand, and is recognized as a public holiday across the country.

In addition to the water-throwing festivities, Songkran also involves other traditional customs and practices. One of the most important is the pouring of scented water on Buddha images, which symbolizes the washing away of bad luck and the accumulation of merit. This practice is known as "Rod Nam Dum Hua" and is considered a way to pay respect to one's ancestors and elders.

Another important aspect of Songkran is the creation of sand pagodas. Thai people often visit the beach during the holiday to build intricate sand structures that are believed to bring good luck and blessings. These pagodas are adorned with flowers, incense, and candles, and are seen as a way to honor Buddha and the teachings of Buddhism.

Songkran is also a time for delicious food and traditional sweets, such as "kanom tom," a sweet dessert made of sticky rice and coconut milk, and "khanom krok," a small cake made from rice flour and coconut milk. Additionally, many Thai people wear traditional clothing during the festival, such as "chut thai," which consists of a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and a wrap-around skirt for women.

Overall, the Songkran Festival is a time for joy, happiness, and togetherness. It is an opportunity for Thai people to reconnect with their cultural roots, pay respect to their elders, and celebrate the start of a new year with family and friends.

Effective Steps for Managing Anxiety

Have you ever been in a situation that brought on sweats, rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath? You probably weren’t having a heart attack but an anxiety attack. If you suffer from anxiety disorders, learning to manage it is the first step to overcoming it.

Anxiety is characterized by extreme reactions to fearful situations. When someone follows you into a dark alley, those anxious feelings of a racing heartbeat and sweaty palms gives way to heightened senses and a rush of adrenalin that can save your life. This is the fight or flight syndrome.

In the case of frequent anxiety, the fearful feelings are dread of a particular situation and not the situation itself. Getting caught in traffic can cause an anxiety attack over what might happen when you get to work late. Starting a new job can bring on anxiety attacks. You don’t know anyone and fear of that unknown can send you into a panic.

Everyone experiences panic or anxiety in small ways. Like the fight or flight example, it can save your life. In new situations, we get panicky but when the outcome we fear fails to materialize, the anxiety stops. For someone with chronic anxiety, this is not the case.

Every situation that brings anxiety is not life-threatening. More than likely it is an extremely stressful situation that has brought on the anxiety as a way of dealing with it. The unchecked anxiety of this type can lead to depression.

If you suffer from anxiety attacks on occasion or a more frequent anxiety disorder, there are steps you can take to keep your anxiety under control.

1. See a professional. This is always a good first step. Self-diagnosis of any type of physical or mental condition is unwise and can be dangerous. A professional psychologist can help you understand your anxiety and prescribe medication or other effective techniques.

2. Get a good night’s sleep. During the sleep cycle, your body repairs itself. You feel more rested after several hours of restorative sleep, reaching the REM stage. Most people need eight hours a night which varies within an hour or two each way.

3. Exercise on a consistent basis. Exercise helps you to use oxygen more efficiently. It helps to get more oxygen to the brain. It also increases focus which may help you see solutions to problems rather than simply worrying about them.

4. Meditate. Meditation is more than chanting mantras. Yoga is an exercise that involves quieting the mind and controlling your breathing. Simple mediation such as taking 5 minutes to clear your mind every day can work wonders in the fight against anxiety.

5. Manage the worry. When you feel your pulse start to quicken, count backward from ten. As you count, focus on the situation. What has actually happened? Resist the urge to read anything more into the situation.

6. Don’t use alcohol. You might think that the glass of wine is relaxing your tension but alcohol is a depressant. In anxious situations, you could rely too heavily on it and gain another problem in the process.

7. Find some relaxing activities. Stress can rob you of your energy. On a regular basis, do something you like such as gardening, painting, reading or listening to music.

Anxiety can come into your life at any time. It’s normal. When the anxiety becomes frequent you could be at risk for more serious conditions. If you feel your anxiety is starting to take over your life or increasingly causing you problems, seek professional help immediately. There is no need to suffer this terrible condition in silence.

The Integrative Buddhist Psychology to reduce the Violence Problem in Family in Suratthani Province

Authors

Abstract

This objectives of this research were: 1) to study and analyze the problems of family violence in Suratthani Province 2) to study and analyze the using Buddhist principles and Rogers’s counseling psychological discipline for integration to reduce the problem of family violence in Suratthani province. This research was conducted in the areas of Suratthani province using qualitative research methodology. The data were collected from 24 informants who were heads of family, never used violence in family using the In-depth-interview and from 9 participants using focus group discussion. Both data were analyzed and synthesized according to research’s objectives.

The results of this research found that

  1. the problems of family violence in Suratthani Province found that they were in 13 Districts, the kinds of family violence consisted of 1) body (hurt, died) 71.1 % 2) gender (rape, immoral conduct, gangbang) 13.1 % 3) mind (detain, look down, revile) 10.2 % ��� 4) other (neglect, abandon) 5.6 %, the causes of the problem of family violence in Suratthani province consisting of 1) infidelity 2) jealousness 3) drinking alcohol 4) Drug example amphetamine 5) economic problem and being out of work 6) body and mental health problem 7) borrowing money 8) restive habit 9) gamester. The violence in family that happened in Suratthani province affected to close person and society directly and indirectly, that is, 1) economic effect 2) social effect and 3) public health effect. To prevent and to solve the violence problem family in Surat thani province in past were done by itself family and by government sector that had responsibility about that problem directly.
  2. to use the Buddhist principles and Rogers’s counseling psychological discipline for integration to reduce problem of violence family in Suratthani found that the Buddhist principles for solving violence family in Suratthani province consisting of the Tree Admonitions or Exhortations of the Buddha or Buddha-ovada, the Noble Eightfold Path, four Brahmavihàra, four Gharavasa-dhamma, four Sangahavatthu and the Four Noble truths, but principles of counseling psychology according to Karl Roger’s concept for solving a violence in family in Surat thani Province consisted of three important basic concepts, that is, 1) to understand of human nature 2) to develop for balance of self and 3) true love of person who was a leader of family which generate from good relation between them. In using of Buddhist principles and Roger’s principle of counseling psychology, the person who was family leader had to persist in and follow in 2 principles, especially the use of logic and not to use of emotion, to be good modeling for family’s member and to give a time in doing various activities together with family and to counsel always when family’s member got various problems.