Cultivating Calm and Stillness: Letting Go of Anxiety As A Lifestyle.

After this research first emerged, remember that I made a beeline for my therapist’s office. I knew my life was out of balance, and I wanted more of what I was learning about in my study. I also wanted to figure out why I was having dizzy spells whenever I got really anxious and stressed out. I would actually get lightheaded, and the room would start to spin. A couple of times, I literally fell over. The dizziness was new; the anxiety was not. Before I started learning about Wholehearted living, I had always been able to manage the competing priorities, the family demands, and the unrelenting pressure of academic life. In many ways, anxiety was a constant in my life. But as I started developing an awareness about Wholehearted living, it’s as if my body said, “I’m going to help you embrace this new way of living by making it very difficult for you to ignore anxiety.” If I became too anxiety ridden, I’d literally have to sit down or risk falling. I remember telling Diana, my therapist, “I can’t function this way any longer. I really can’t.” She replied, “I know. I see that. What do you think you need?” I thought about it for a second and said, “I need a way to stay on my feet when I’m really anxious.” She just sat there nodding her head and waiting, like therapists do. Waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally, it dawned on me. “Oh. I get it. I can’t function this way. I can’t function in this much anxiety anymore. I don’t need to figure out a way to keep going with this level of anxiety— I need to figure out how to be less anxious.” That silence thing can be effective. It’s a pain in the ass, but nonetheless effective. I used my research to formulate a plan to lessen my anxiety. The men and women I interviewed weren’t anxiety- free or even anxiety- averse; they were anxiety- aware. They were committed to a way of living where anxiety was a reality but not a lifestyle. They did this by cultivating calm and stillness in their lives and making these practices the norm. Calm and stillness may sound like the same things, but I learned that they are different and that we need both. Calm I define calm as creating perspective and mindfulness while managing emotional reactivity. When I think about calm people, I think about people who can bring perspective to complicated situations and feel their feelings without reacting to heightened emotions like fear and anger. When I was pregnant with Ellen, someone gave me a small book called Baby Love: A Tradition of Calm Parenting by Maud Bryt. 1 Bryt’s mother, grandmother, and great- grandmother were midwives in Holland and the book draws on their wisdom. I can still see myself sitting in my brand- new glider with one hand resting on my very pregnant belly and the other hand holding that book. I remember thinking, This is my goal. I want to be a calm parent. Surprisingly, I am a pretty calm parent. Not because it comes naturally to me, but because I practice. A lot. I also have an incredible role model in my husband, Steve. By watching him, I’ve learned about the value of bringing perspective and quiet to difficult situations. I try to be slow to respond and quick to think Do we even have all the information we need to make a decision or form a response? I also stay very mindful about the effect that calm has on an anxious person or situation. A panicked response produces more panic and more fear. As psychologist and writer Harriet Lerner says, “Anxiety is extremely contagious, but so is calm.” 2 The question becomes, Do we want to infect people with more anxiety, or heal ourselves and the people around us with calm? If we choose to heal with calm, we have to commit to practicing calm. Small things matter. For example, before we respond we can count to ten or give ourselves permission to say, “I’m not sure. I need to think about this some more.” It’s also extremely effective to identify the emotions that are the most likely to spark your reactivity and then practice non- reactive responses. A couple of years ago there was this powerful public service announcement that showed a couple screaming at each other and slamming the door in each other’s faces. They were shouting things like, “I hate you!” and “Mind your own business!” and “I don’t want to talk to you.” As you watched it, you had no idea what or why they kept saying these things, slamming the door, and then starting over. After about twenty seconds of the slamming and yelling, the couple held hands and walked away from screen. One of them says to the other, “I think we’re ready.” The commercial then cut to the announcer, who said something like, “Talk to your kids about drugs. It’s not easy, but it could save their lives.” The commercial is a great example of practicing calm. Unless we had calm modeled by our parents and grew up practicing it, it’s unlikely that it will be our default response to anxious or emotionally volatile situations. For me, breathing is the best place to start. Just taking a breath before I respond slows me down and immediately starts spreading calm. Sometimes I actually think to myself, I’m dying to freak out here! Do I have enough information to freak out? Will freaking out help? The answer is always no. Stillness The concept of stillness is less complicated than the concept of calm but, for me at least, way more difficult to put into practice. I wish I could tell you how much I resisted even hearing people describe stillness as an integral part of their Wholehearted journey. From meditation and prayer to regular periods of quiet reflection and alone time, men and women spoke about the necessity of quieting their bodies and minds as a way to feel less anxious and overwhelmed. I’m sure my resistance to this idea comes from the fact that just thinking about meditating makes me anxious. When I try to meditate, I feel like a total poser. I spend the entire time thinking about how I need to stop thinking, Okay, I’m not thinking about anything. I’m not thinking about anything. Milk, diapers, laundry detergent … stop! Okay, not thinking. Not thinking. Oh, man. Is this over yet? I don’t want to admit it, but the truth is that stillness used to be very anxiety provoking for me. In my mind, being still was narrowly defined as sitting cross- legged on the floor and focusing on that elusive nothingness. As I collected and analyzed more stories, I realized that my initial thinking was wrong. Here’s the definition of stillness that emerged from the data: Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness; it’s about creating a clearing. It’s opening up an emotionally clutter- free space and allowing ourselves to feel and think and dream and question. Once we can let go of our assumptions about what stillness is supposed to look like and find a way to create a clearing that works for us, we stand a better chance of opening ourselves up and confronting the next barrier to stillness: fear. And it can be big, big fear. If we stop long enough to create a quiet emotional clearing, the truth of our lives will invariably catch up with us. We convince ourselves that if we stay busy enough and keep moving, reality won’t be able to keep up. So we stay in front of the truth about how tired and scared and confused and overwhelmed we sometimes feel. Of course, the irony is that the thing that’s wearing us down is trying to stay out in front of feeling worn down. This is the self- perpetuating quality of anxiety. It feeds on itself. I often say that when they start having Twelve Step meetings for busy- aholics, they’ll need to rent out football stadiums. In addition to fear, another barrier that gets in the way of both stillness and calm is how we’re raised to think about these practices. From very early in our lives, we get confusing messages about the value of calm and stillness. Parents and teachers scream, “Calm down!” and “Sit still!” rather than actually modeling the behaviors they want to see. So instead of becoming practices that we want to cultivate, calm gives way to perpetuating anxiety, and the idea of stillness makes us feel jumpy. In our increasingly complicated and anxious world, we need more time to do less and be less. When we first start cultivating calm and stillness in our lives, it can be difficult, especially when we realize how stress and anxiety define so much of our daily lives. But as our practices become stronger, anxiety loses its hold and we gain clarity about what we’re doing, where we’re going, and what holds true meaning for us. DIG Deep Get Deliberate: My anxiety detox included more calm and more stillness, but it also included more exercise and less caffeine. I know so many people who take something at night to help them sleep and drink caffeine all day to stay awake. Calm and stillness are potent medicine for general sleeplessness and a lack of energy. Increasing my daily intake of calm and stillness along with walking and swimming and cutting caffeine has done wonders for my life. Get Inspired: I remain inspired and transformed by something I learned from Harriet Lerner’s book The Dance of Connection. 3 Dr. Lerner explains that we all have patterned ways of managing anxiety. Some of us respond to anxiety by over functioning and others by under functioning. Overfunctioners tend to move quickly to advise, rescue, take over, micromanage, and get in other people’s business rather than look inward. Underfunctioners tend to get less competent under stress. They invite others to take over and often become the focus of family gossip, worry, or concern. They can get labeled as the “irresponsible one” or the “the problem child” or the “fragile one.” Dr. Lerner explains that seeing these behaviors as patterned responses to anxiety, rather than truths about who we are, can help us understand that we can change. Overfunctioners, like me, can become more willing to embrace our vulnerabilities in the face of anxiety, and underfunctioners can work to amplify their strengths and competencies. Get Going: Experiment with different forms of still and quiet. We all need to find something that works for us. To be honest, I’m never more open and emotionally clutter- free than when I’m walking alone outside. It’s not technically still, but it’s an emotional opening for me.

How We Judge Others is How We Judge Ourselves

You ever wonder where people get there thoughts, feelings and perceptions about you, from?? I know I do all the time. We as people are always quick to say How much we don't care about how others view us, but when you seriously think about it, What people think about us may not define us to us, but to everybody else it kind of all they have, until we have the time and opportunity to prove them thoughts right or wrong.

I once knew a guy who made a lot of money. He saw the world as a series of value propositions. Everything from what holiday vacation to take, to which beer to choose at a restaurant, to why certain people liked him or not.

If someone was rude to him it was because they were jealous or felt threatened by his power or success. If someone was kind to him it was because they admired his power and success, and in some cases, may be trying to manipulate him to get more access to it.

He measured himself through his financial success. And naturally he measured the world and the people around him through financial success.

I once knew a woman who was beautiful. She saw the the world in terms of attraction and attention. Everything from job interviews to getting discounts at restaurants to dealing with a nagging mother.

If someone was rude to her it was because they were intimidated by her beauty or their own lack of beauty. If someone was kind to her it was because they admired her beauty and wanted access to it.

She measured herself through her beauty and attractiveness. And naturally she measured the world and people in it by their beauty and attractiveness.

I once knew a guy who was a loser. He was socially awkward and nobody liked him. He saw the world as a popularity contest, a contest that he was perpetually losing. Everything from how much he earned at work, to the poor service he got at restaurants, to the people who didn’t laugh at his jokes.

If someone was rude to him it was because they realized how much cooler they were than him. If someone was kind to him it was because they saw how much of a loser he was and took pity on him. Or perhaps they were just bigger losers than he was.

He measured himself through his social status. And naturally he measured the world and the people in it through social status.

Months ago, I wrote an article about the ways that we choose to measure the value of our own lives. Some of us measure our life through money and accolades. Others measure it through beauty and popularity. Others measure it through family and relationships. Others measure it through service and good deeds.

Chances are you measure it through some combination of all of these things, but one in particular matters most to you. One stands out and determines your happiness more than others.

In that article, I wrote that it’s important to measure ourselves by our own internal metrics as much as possible. The more external our metrics for our own value and self-worth, the more we screw everything up for ourselves.

But there’s more.

The way you measure yourself is how you measure others, and how you assume others measure you.

If you measure your life by your family relationships, then you will measure others by the same standard – how close their family is to them. If they’re distant from their family or don’t call home enough, you’ll judge them as deadbeats, ungrateful or irresponsible, regardless of their lives or their history.

If you measure your life by how much fun and partying you can have, then you will measure others by the same standard – how much fun and partying they have. If they prefer to stay home and watch Star Trek: Next Generation reruns every weekend, you’ll judge them as inhibited, scared of the world, lame and soulless, regardless of their personality or needs.

If you measure your life by how much you’ve traveled and experienced, then you will measure other people by the same standard – how worldly they’ve become. If they prefer to stay home and enjoy the comforts of routine, then you will judge them as incurious, ignorant, unambitious, regardless of what their aspirations really are.

The yardstick we use for ourselves is the yardstick we use for the world.

If we believe that we’re hard workers and we earned everything we have, then we will believe that everyone else earned what they have. And if they have nothing, it’s because they earned nothing.

If we believe that we’re victimized by society and deserve justice, then we will believe that others are victims of society and deserve justice as well. If we believe our value comes from faith in a higher power, then we will view others by their faith (or lack of faith) in a higher power. If we measure ourselves by our intellect and use of reason, then we will judge others through the same lens.

This is why people who areentrepreneurs tend to think that everyone else should be an entrepreneur as well. This is why people who are born-again Christians tend to believe that everyone should find salvation through Jesus Christ. This is why hardcore atheists try to logically argue about something that has nothing to do with logic. It’s why racists often claim that everyone else is racist too. They just don’t know it. It’s why sexist men justify their sexism by saying women are worse and sexist women justify their sexism by saying men are worse.

This isn’t to say that judging iswrong. There are plenty of values worth judgment. I judge people who are violent and malicious. But that is a reflection of who I am. I judge violence and malice within myself. Those are traits that I will not tolerate within myself, therefore I do not tolerate them in others.

But that is a choice I am making. That is a choice we are all making, whether we realize it or not. And we should make those choices consciously and not on auto-pilot.

It’s why people who think they’re ugly look for all of the ways people around them are ugly and why people who are lazy and slack off look for all of the ways others cut corners and slack off as well. It’s why corrupt officials choose to be corrupt: because they assume everyone else is as corrupt as they are. It’s why cheaters choose to cheat: because they assume everybody else is going to cheat if given the chance too.

It’s why those who can’t trust are the ones who can’t be trusted.

Many of us adopt our own internal yardsticks not through conscious choice but through the shaming we’re subjected to. I love the quote, “Everyone is either trying to prove or disprove who they were in high school,” because for many of us, our yardsticks are defined by how people viewed us growing up. We develop a fixation in one area of our lives because it’s the area which we felt people judged us the most. The high school cheerleader who is afraid to lose her looks as an adult. The poor kid obsessed with becoming rich. The loser who wants to throw the biggest parties. The slacker who wants to prove to everyone how smart he is.

A big part of our development is to recognize our own fixation, to recognize how we measure ourselves and consciously choose our metric for ourselves.

But another big part of development is to recognize that everyone has their own metric. And that metric is likely not going to be the same as ours. And that’s (usually) fine. Most metrics people choose are fine. Even if they’re not the same metrics you would choose for yourself.

You may view the world through family values, but most people do not. You may view the world through the metric of attractiveness, but most people do not. You may view the world through the metric of freedom and worldliness, but most people do not. You may view the world through the positivity and friendliness, but most people do not.

And that’s simply part of being human. Accepting that others measure themselves and the world differently than you do is one of the most important steps to consciouslychoosing the right relationships for yourself. It’s necessary for developing strong boundaries and deciding who you want to be a part of your life and who you do not. You may not accept a person’s ideas or behaviors.

But you must accept that you cannot change a person’s values for them. Just as we must choose our own measurement by ourselves and for ourselves. They must do it by themselves and for themselves.

What Do Our Tears Really Mean Or Say About Us As A Person? It DO NOT Signify Weakness!

  Tears are your body’s release valve for stress, sadness, grief, anxiety, and pain. You also have tears of joy such as when a child is born or tears of relief, as when a difficulty has passed. I am grateful when I can cry. I wish I could do it more. It feels cleansing to purge pent- up emotions so they don’t lodge in my body as stress symptoms such as fatigue or pain. To stay healthy and release stress, I encourage my patients to cry. For both men and women, tears are a sign of courage, strength, and authenticity. Research has shown that tears have many health benefits. Like the ocean, tears are salt water. They lubricate your eyes, remove irritants, and reduce stress hormones and they contain antibodies that fight infection. Our bodies produce three kinds of tears: reflex, continuous, and emotional. Each kind has different healing functions. For instance, reflex tears remove noxious particles from your eyes when they’re irritated. The second kind, continuous tears, keep your eyes and nose lubricated. The third kind, emotional tears, stimulate the production of endorphins, our body’s natural painkillers which help us recover from trauma. Crying also helps the body excrete stress hormones. Interestingly, humans are the only creatures known to shed emotional tears though elephants and gorillas may do so too. Crying makes us feel better, even when a problem persists. Along with physical detoxification, emotional tears heal a broken heart. You don’t want to hold tears back. Patients sometimes say, “Please excuse me for crying. I was trying not to because it makes me feel weak.” I know where that sentiment comes from: parents who were uneasy around tears, a society that tells us we’re weak for crying, and in particular that “real men don’t cry.” Also, we may feel that it’s too painful to cry, that floodgates of anguish might open that can’t be closed. I reject these notions. The new enlightened paradigm of what constitutes a powerful man or woman is someone who has the strength and self- awareness to cry— and if necessary the willingness to seek support to deal with overwhelming feelings. These are the people who impress me, not those who put up some macho front of faux bravado. Try to let go of clichéd conceptions about crying. Crying is necessary to work through grief. When waves of tears come over us after we experience a loss, they are helping us process the loss so that we can keep living with open hearts. Otherwise, we are leaving ourselves open to depression, bitterness, or physical symptoms (emotional pain can morph into disease in our bodies) if we suppress these potent feelings. The point isn’t to get consumed by emotional pain but to resolve it . When a friend apologized for curling up in the fetal position on my floor and weeping over a failing romance, I told her, “Your tears blessed my floor. There is nothing to apologize for.” Thank God our bodies can cry. I hope you too can surrender to your tears. Let them purify suffering and negativity. 

Everybody Is Not Like You And That's Ok. Understanding That Makes Life Much More Clear

The yardstick we use for ourselves is the yardstick we use for the world

Many of us adopt our own internal yardsticks not through conscious choice but through the shaming we’re subjected to. I love the quote, “Everyone is either trying to prove or disprove who they were in high school,” because for many of us, our yardsticks are defined by how people viewed us growing up. We develop a fixation in one area of our lives because it’s the area which we felt people judged us the most. The high school cheerleader who is afraid to lose her looks as an adult. The poor kid obsessed with becoming rich. The loser who wants to throw the biggest parties. The slacker who wants to prove to everyone how smart he is.

A big part of our development is to recognize our own fixation, to recognize how we measure ourselves and consciously choose our metric for ourselves.

But another big part of development is to recognize that everyone has their own metric. And that metric is likely not going to be the same as ours. And that’s (usually) fine. Most metrics people choose are fine. Even if they’re not the same metrics you would choose for yourself. 

You may view the world through family values, but most people do not. You may view the world through the metric of attractiveness, but most people do not. You may view the world through the metric of freedom and worldliness, but most people do not. You may view the world through the positivity and friendliness, but most people do not. 

And that’s simply part of being human. Accepting that others measure themselves and the world differently than you do is one of the most important steps to consciously choosing the right relationships for yourself. It’s necessary for developing strong boundaries and deciding who you want to be a part of your life and who you do not. You may not accept a person’s ideas or behaviors. 

But you must accept that you cannot change a person’s values for them. Just as we must choose our own measurement by ourselves and for ourselves. They must do it by themselves and for themselves..

Many of us adopt our own internal yardsticks not through conscious choice but through the shaming we’re subjected to. I love the quote, “Everyone is either trying to prove or disprove who they were in high school,” because for many of us, our yardsticks are defined by how people viewed us growing up. We develop a fixation in one area of our lives because it’s the area which we felt people judged us the most. The high school cheerleader who is afraid to lose her looks as an adult. The poor kid obsessed with becoming rich. The loser who wants to throw the biggest parties. The slacker who wants to prove to everyone how smart he is.

A big part of our development is to recognize our own fixation, to recognize how we measure ourselves and consciously choose our metric for ourselves.

But another big part of development is to recognize that everyone has their own metric. And that metric is likely not going to be the same as ours. And that’s (usually) fine. Most metrics people choose are fine. Even if they’re not the same metrics you would choose for yourself. 

You may view the world through family values, but most people do not. You may view the world through the metric of attractiveness, but most people do not. You may view the world through the metric of freedom and worldliness, but most people do not. You may view the world through the positivity and friendliness, but most people do not.  

And that’s simply part of being human. Accepting that others measure themselves and the world differently than you do is one of the most important steps to consciously choosing the right relationships for yourself. It’s necessary for developing strong boundaries and deciding who you want to be a part of your life and who you do not. You may not accept a person’s ideas or behaviors. 

But you must accept that you cannot change a person’s values for them. Just as we must choose our own measurement by ourselves and for ourselves. They must do it by themselves and for themselves.

Bengals@Ravens Preview

As the Cincinnati Bengals target a fourth straight playoff appearance, the first challenge is to end their struggles in Baltimore.

The reigning AFC North champions look to avoid a fifth consecutive road defeat to a Ravens team minus its star running back for the first of two straight games Sunday.

Cincinnati is riding its most successful stretch in team history, but each postseason has been a short-lived experience. Its 27-10 loss to San Diego marked the third straight exit in the wild-card round.

"We have to win one in the playoffs," owner Mike Brown said. "It sticks in our craw. First, we have to get the opportunity again.

"That is a long, hard road. We have a tough schedule, we respect our opponents, we take nothing for granted. But in our hearts -- in my heart, too -- I think we stack up OK and we are anxious to prove we are going to be a successful team again."

The Bengals will be tested immediately in Baltimore, where they last won 17-14 in 2009. Last season, Andy Dalton threw a desperation 51-yard pass that was tipped and then caught by A.J. Green in the end zone to force overtime. However, Cincinnati lost 20-17.

"It's a great opportunity for us to have another growing step," left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. "We've talked about it over the years. We've had this little step here or that little step there where this team's continued to improve. But we haven't won in Baltimore."

Dalton's passing yards and touchdown totals have increased in each of his three seasons. His 33 TDs in 2013 trailed only Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, and his 4,293 yards ranked seventh.

However, he's completed 52.6 percent of his passes with three TDs, seven interceptions and been sacked 11 times while going 0-3 at Baltimore. His 52.2 passer rating in last year's loss was the second-lowest of his career.

"It's big," said Dalton, who threw a career-high 20 interceptions in 2013. "The way the schedule is, they start us off right off the bat with a division opponent. So it does set the tone. It really shows the expectations of what we have here."

Despite their struggles in Baltimore, the Bengals have reason to be confident.

Green set career bests with 98 catches and 1,426 yards while recording 11 TDs for the second consecutive season. His 260 receptions are the most in NFL history for any player in his first three seasons.

After amassing 1,209 total yards and scoring eight touchdowns as a rookie, Giovani Bernard is the featured back, and bruising rookie Jeremy Hill is also expected to have an impact.

Defensively, Vontaze Burfict earned a three-year contract extension worth a maximum of $20.05 million after recording a league-high 171 tackles for a defense that ranked seventh overall, allowing 282.8 yards per game, and second in passing at 159.2 yards per contest.

Baltimore won the North in 2011 and 2012 and reached the playoffs in five straight seasons prior to finishing 8-8 and missing the postseason a year after winning the Super Bowl.

"You look at last season -- it's over, it's said, it's done with, it didn't go the way we wanted," defensive end Chris Canty said. "We didn't end up in the postseason. Ultimately, we want to give ourselves an opportunity to compete for championships around here.

"We put that behind us, we try to focus on what we can do to improve, so we can be where we want to be at the end of this regular season."

Baltimore starts the season without Ray Rice, who earned a surprisingly short NFL-imposed, two-game suspension for a domestic violence incident involving his then-fiancee. Though commissioner Roger Goodell recently admitted he was too lenient on Rice, the three-time Pro Bowl running back has been remorseful.

"No football games and no money was going to determine what I have to live with the rest of my life," he said at a July 31 news conference. "So whether it was two games, four games, six games, eight games, I was going to own my actions and be a man about it and take whatever was given to me."

When Rice returns, he'll try to bounce back from a 2013 season in which he dealt with a hip injury and rushed for 660 yards and four TDs -- his lowest totals since recording 454 and no touchdowns as a rookie in 2008.

Backup Bernard Pierce was not much better, gaining 436 yards and scoring twice, but will start Sunday.

Baltimore's 3.1 yards per carry last season were the lowest in the NFL, and its 1,328 rushing yards were the worst in team history.

Former Houston coach Gary Kubiak hopes to improve those numbers in his first season as offensive coordinator, and receiver Steve Smith arrives after 13 seasons catching 836 passes for 12,197 yards and 67 TDs with. Carolina.

Smith provides another target for Joe Flacco, who completed 59.0 percent of his passes while throwing 19 touchdowns and a career-high 22 interceptions -- 10 more than in any of his previous five seasons.

Baltimore selected Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley with the 17th overall pick to reinforce a unit that allowed 134 fourth-quarter points -- eight more than it yielded in the first and third combined***** 

GAME PREDICTION**** SPREAD: RAVENS -1

As you can see, the Ravens are favorite by 1, shouldn't surprise Cincinnati fans, usually picked to lose to everybody except Cleveland. If you read, listen and look around majority have Cincinnati losing this football game. The most common reason I hear and reason why has nothing to do with the play on the field though, and that blows my mind. Everybody wants to point to the struggles the Bengals have had playing in Baltimore. I'm not one to get lost in that home field stuff, do it make a differences? Yes, I believe it do but I don't believe it can win or lose you a football game. 

When you pick games, you make picks to get them right, not to be going out on a Limb or just talking.

At the end of the day, the Cincinnati Bengals are a better football team then the Baltimore Ravens, they just are and because of that, regardless where they play, I think Cincinnati will win the football game 21-10

The Reds 'basically gives' The Brewers Broxton.

The Cincinnati Reds have traded right-handed reliever Jonathan Broxton to the first-placeMilwaukee Brewers for two players to be named later, the Brewers announced Sunday.

Broxton, 30, has 21 holds and seven saves against six blown saves with a 1.86 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings this season. The two-time All-Star is signed through 2015 with a club option for 2016 (which becomes a mutual option now that he's been traded). He's set to make $9 million next season.

It's likely that Broxton's role will be to setup forFrancisco Rodriguez initially, though it's feasible to see Broxton taking over at closer at some point. K-Rod has allowed runs in three of his last four outings and sports a 4.86 ERA in his last 18 outings. Of course, Broxton's ERA in August is 5.23.

There's no immediate word on the Reds' return. Given the salary, though, it's likely this is mostly a salary dump and the players to be named won't be highly-touted prospects.

Sunday is Aug. 31, which is the final day that teams can acquire players and still have said players be eligible for the postseason roster.

Burfict Sign 4yr Extension.

Vontaze Burfict is about to make the move to a higher tax bracket. After only pulling in $390,000 in his rookie year, Burfict will make $7.6 million in 2014 thanks to a four-year extension he agreed to with the Bengals on Wednesday. 

According to ESPN.com, the extension will pay Burfict $20 million over the next four seasons, including the aforementioned $7.6 million in 2014. 

Burfict originally signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona State in 2012. The linebacker signed a three-year, $1.441 million rookie deal after character concerns kept him from getting drafted. 

The 23-year-old has been a bargain for the Bengals, starting in 30 of the team's 32 games over the past two seasons while making a base salary of less than $500,000 in each season. 

Besides the money in his new deal, Burfict has at least two other big paychecks coming his way. Thanks to the NFL's performance based pay bonus, Burfict will get a $299,465 check for his 14 starts in 2012 and $315,847 for his 16 starts in 2013. Burfict will receive those checkson April 1, 2015 and April 1, 2016.  

The performance-based pay program works to compensate players whose level of playing time was much higher than what their salary would have paid.