Thought

Mindset

Every setback gives us an opportunity to improve how we deal with challenges.
Every misunderstanding helps us to strengthen our ability to work with others.
 Every delay gives us a chance to revisit our intentions and ensure our choices are aligned.
And through it all, we learn to focus on the present and grow where we are right now, regardless of where we are headed.
This is how we give our all—not by pressuring ourselves to make things happen tomorrow, but by doing our best with what’s happening today.

***The surprising consequence of this shift in mindset is that the better we respond to what’s in front of us, the more effective we are in creating what will be.

Surprise Consequence

“Control is never achieved when sought after directly.
It is the surprising consequence of letting go.”

James Arthur Ray

Stress Relief at the Gym

When you’re feeling nervous or stressed out, find relief at the gym.

There’s nothing like a good workout to burn off excess anxiety. A moderately paced sweat session can help bring down anxiety levels and keep them that way, even if faced with emotional events later in the day.
That lasting effect is key, because researchers found that while 30 minutes of quiet time also helped to calm people, the effects did not last as long.
When we get stressed out, it can feel like we don’t have time to exercise, but spending some quality time at the gym or outdoors is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. Think of how much better you feel and even perform when you’re relaxed and centered.
When your mind isn’t racing with thoughts of “what if,” it frees you up to focus on what’s in front of you.

Consciously

Understood

"Nothing in life is to be feared.
It is only to be understood."

Marie Curie

Loop

When you find yourself in one of those incessant loop thought patterns of judgment about someone else’s behaviors, ask the hard question: Do I myself exhibit this same behavior or attitude that I judge in this person?
Almost always, the answer is "yes".
You probably already know that the stuff that irritates us the most about others tends to be attributes we don’t necessarily realize we ourselves have.

 Or, what irritates us about others may be the very same trait or action that we have been working on letting go of.

Dr. W. Crew Lauterbach/Ph.D., LCSW-R

Anti-Aging Foods

Surround Yourself

Relationship Communication

One of the best ways to nourish a relationship is through communication.
 If you feel that a distance has grown between you and your partner, you may be able to bridge the gap by sharing how you feel. Do your best to avoid blame and regret.
Focus instead on the positive, which is the fact that you want to grow closer together. Sometimes, just acknowledging that there is distance between you has the effect of bringing the relationship into balance.
In other cases, more intense effort and attention may be required. You may want to set aside time to talk and come up with solutions together. Couples Therapy may also be extremely beneficial.
Remember to have compassion for each other. You’re in the same boat together and trying to maintain the right balance of space and togetherness to keep your relationship healthy and thriving.

Pattern Interrupt/Part 2

When you hear yourself criticizing someone to others, stop and take a moment to come up with one thing you like about that person. Then praise them, out loud, for that quality.

This is another version of a pattern interrupt, and is also a reminder that they too are human, and like us all, have both attractive and not-so-attractive qualities.

Formula

Level of Awareness

Pattern Interrupt

When you catch yourself having a defining thought about someone, step back and ask, “What do I really know about this person?”

Often, the answer is a version of “not very much.”
 This behavior acts as a pattern interrupt, and forces you to stop and consider where the judgment is coming from.

Happiest

“Judge nothing, you will be happy.
Forgive everything, you will be happier.
Love everything, you will be happiest.”

Sri Chinmoy

Crap

Taken

Steps

Do the difficult things while they are easy;
and do the great things while they are small.
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

 Lao Tzu

Root

Step back and self-reflect.

Whenever you start feeling down or depressed, 
become mindful to stop, reflect, and get to the root of these feelings.

Organic

Wise

Interpretation

How we interpret challenges, setbacks, and criticism is our choice. 

We can interpret them in a fixed mindset, as signs that our fixed talents or abilities are lacking.
 Or we can interpret them in a growth mindset, as signs that we need to ramp up our strategies and effort, stretch ourselves, and expand our abilities.
It’s up to us.

Human Connection

The key to closer human connection is giving more of one’s own self.

A material gift could never bring us closer together than a conversation.

6

Inside

Your Choices

Since you are the one who has to live with your choices,

be sure they are your own.

Free

“You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Responsive

Our minds and bodies are responsive to the care we give them.
 If we exercise both, they will both improve.
If we choose not to, they won’t.
It’s in our hands to choose.

Kidney Healing

Mastering Change

Better Conditions

Fear is the cheapest room in the house.

I would like to see you living
In better conditions.

 Hafiz

Lessons From Fears

Fear can be helpful.
 The activities and experiences that we fear are usually the ones that provide us with the best experiences.

Veggie Protein

Responsible

Kindness

There are no small acts of kindness.

Every compassionate act makes large the world.

 Mary Anne Radmacher

Human Experiences

While material goods might create momentary happiness,
our best moments as humans come from joyful experiences.

Ten Percent

When you’re overweight or obese, getting down to a healthy size can feel extremely daunting.
Instead of setting your sights on a major weight loss goal, focus on something more realistic, like losing 10 percent of your body weight.
New research suggests that dropping as little as 10 percent of your weight can reduce your risk of developing diabetes by 58 percent.
 Even better: The benefits remained for a decade, whether or not dieters gained back their weight.

To lose weight, the study’s participants tracked everything they ate, emptied their houses of unhealthy food, and worked exercise into their routines.

Roads

Anger

Sometimes when we feel anger, it is coming from a deep place that demands acknowledgment and expression.
At these times, it is important that we find healthy ways to honor our anger, remembering how dangerous it is to repress it.

However, anger can also become a habit, our go-to emotion whenever things go wrong. Often this is because, for whatever reason, we feel more comfortable expressing anger than we do other emotions, like sadness or fear. 
It can also be that getting angry gives us the impression that we’ve done something about our problem. It can provide us with an illusion of power.
In these cases, our habitual anger is inhibiting both our ability to express our other emotions and to take action in our lives.

Balance

Our bodies are automatically programmed to reject all kinds of extremes
 leading us to a path of moderation and balance.

Superfruits!

Flow

All That Is

“Eventually you will come to realize that love heals everything,

 and love is all there is.”

Gary Zukav

Speaking To Ourselves

When forming our emotions and actions,
 how we speak to ourselves within our own minds
is much stronger than what anyone else can say to us.

Exercise and Diabetes

Regular exercise can drastically reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Researchers found that men who did resistance training for 30 minutes five days a week lowered their risk of diabetes by 34 percent.
Adding aerobic exercise to their routines brought their risk down even further — by up to 59 percent.

 Even those who engaged in resistance training for less than an hour a week still lowered their risk of getting diabetes by a respectable 12 percent.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that some exercise is always better than none — and that even if you can’t find time to work out five days a week, it shouldn’t prevent you from doing what you can when you can.

Hatred

Priorities

Every single action we choose to take
is a representation of our priorities in life.

Rainy Day

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass;

It's about learning to Dance in the Rain.

 Vivian Greene

The News

A small new study found that negative news stories may increase sensitivity to stressful situations later in the day.

 Researchers found that negative news stories about murders or accidents made people more reactive to stressful situations that occurred later that day. Those who were asked to read neutral stories about movie or park openings did not show the same heightened reactions.
Some psychologists say that we’re drawn to negative news stories because we believe that they warn us about potential risks, allowing us to protect ourselves from danger. This may also explain why such news can stress us out; it may put us on high alert, so that we’re more likely to view a difficult situation as threatening.

Liberation