Living Positively and Healthy

“When you’re a kid, you lay in the grass and watch the clouds going over, and you literally don’t have a thought in your mind.  It’s purely meditation, and we lose that.” ~ Dick Van Dyke Meditation is a practice of training your mind.   Just as you can train your body through physical exercises, you can train your mind with meditation.   What you are trying to do is “empty” your mind.   You may think, “Oh, sitting and thinking about nothing?   That’s easy.”   It’s not as easy as you think.   First, sit or lay down in a relaxed position.   Use your breathing exercises to relax your body and calm your mind.   Focus on your breath.   Notice how your belly rises and falls with each breath.   As thoughts creep into your mind, don’t get frustrated, but rather acknowledge the thought, and then let it slip away.   When you begin, you will notice that it is quite difficult to “not think”.   Try doing this for just a fe...

You don’t have to be a serious hiker or cross-country athlete to get the benefit of the outdoors.   Many benefits can be found of just being exposed in nature.   Forest bathing may sound odd or unheard of to most, but is a great way of reducing stress.   Much like sun-bathing, you are exposing yourself to the woods (bathing suit optional).   Forest bathing is the Japanese practice called Shinrin-Yoku.   Unlike exercise, you are not trying to burn calories doing this.   Instead, forest bathing helps you reduce your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol levels, and reduce your heart rate all by just taking a stroll in the woods.   For instance, in a three-hour session, you may only walk about a half of a mile or less.   Forest bathing allows you to achieve mindfulness in nature.   Some call this Nature Therapy.    Whenever our attention is focused on our senses, we are being mindful.   We are feeling the grass under our fe...

Gratitude Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has.   It is more than just saying “thank you”, because its meaning goes deeper.   When one practices gratitude, they reflect on what they are thankful for.   Some may refer to this as “counting your blessings”.   It is acknowledging that life is good.   True gratitude is a selfless act that is done unconditionally, but it can be contagious.   It can also be quite cathartic.   The benefits of expressing gratitude are numerous.   People practicing gratitude may experience positive emotions, sleep better, and have less depression and anxiety.   Their immune systems may become stronger, and they may express more kindness and compassion.   Take a moment each day to notice new things that you are grateful for.   Start a gratitude journal.   It may change the way that you perceive situations.   When you are relaxed and feeling good, you are happie...

“Be miserable.  Or motivate yourself.  Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice”. ~ Wayne Dyer Happiness has a direct correlation to motivation which leads to productivity.   The Harvard Business Review conducted a study that found that people are more productive when they are positive.   Thus, one can assume that having a positive outlook and being happy makes people more motivated.   When one loses motivation, it is typically due to one of three reasons:   1) a lack of confidence, 2) a lack of focus, or 3) a lack of direction.   When one has a lack of confidence, they do not believe that they can succeed, so they don’t even try.   When there is a lack of focus, one does not know what they want to do.   It is difficult for them to realize what they really want to do.   Lastly, if there is a lack of direction, they don’t know how to do it.   If one doesn’t know what to do, they will not be motivated to do it. ...

The next morning, as they prepped me for surgery, I had to rely on my humor to stay sane and not breakdown crying.   I had a song stuck in my head that oddly gave me strength and serenity:   Blue Oyster Cult’s 1976 hit “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”   “Seasons don’t fear the reaper, nor do the wind, the sun or the rain, we can be like they are.”   There was no sense in fearing what was about to happen.   It was out of my control.   The song gave me a sense of solace.   I found it ironically comical to be singing that song to myself.   It was a matter of laugh or cry, or in this case, laugh or die. As they wheeled me into the holding area, I tried cracking jokes with the orderly.   They gave me a lovely blanket made of what looked like bubble-wrap and readied me for anesthesia.   The orderly rolled me toward the surgery room, and I was still joking about the situation.   I asked him if he ever had patients joke as they were being c...

“Life is hard.   After all, it kills you.” ~ Katharine Hepburn Death at a Funeral Some people think about death once in a blue moon, a fleeting thought that floats in and out of the recesses of their minds.   Some never think about it…really think about it.   I think about death in some form every single day of my life.   I think about when I’m going to die, how I’m going to die, will I be naked when I die?   I then I think, of course, I’ll be naked when I die.   I probably have an unusually thorough concept of my own mortality.   I’ve been to so many funerals in my life, I’ve become somewhat of a funeral expert.   I’ve been to so many funerals that most of my wardrobe is black, just to be prepared.   I’ve been to so many funerals that they refer to me as pallbearer number three.   I can’t hear “the Old Rugged Cross” without tearing up, on cue.   I’ve developed an anxiety disorder in reaction to death.   I went ...