Stress Management Magic

If you’ve ever been there you know innately – it’s a Scary Place!

Do you think this isn’t stressful?  No – you KNOW it is.

Jealousy will eat you alive like a flesh eating virus.  It will begin in your mind moving swiftly through your body until you feel “different” all over your body.

That is your body reacting to your thoughts and following what you designate in your mind.  Any scenario that involves two humans that love, or have loved at one time.

You burn up from the inside out if you allow raging doubts of another woman / or man looking eye to eye with another; or even not looking openly-but secretly .  The look between two people in love or lust.

If you’ve ever been on the brutal side of a whip you know that heals.  But if you don’t allow brusied thoughts to turn you sour, you win.  Peace returns.  It doesn’t matter.  It is what is it anyway that is so burned into your memory.  No “take backs”. Shed the excess and begin again with purity in heart and in thought; no judgments.

Change happens every second to every human being on the planet.  A miniscule change pulls together and strengthens with the specific energy that is expelled from your mind and body.

We need to accelerate our minds to optimum thoughts.  Jealous thoughts are dead thought.  They go nowhere.  They don’t change what happened / or what you feel will happen.

Drop it.  Stop over-thinking it all. You don’t have control over ANYTHING except your response to life.  Overcome jealousy and learn to trust.  It’s either worthy or ultimately you will find out it’s not.  Don’t be jealous and drive someone away before you have reason!

Welcome to the tedious and distracting overload provided by technology.  Some refer to it as the “Attention Crisis”.

Technology has provided us with some awesome things – a plethora of websites to get information from, emails, blogs, YouTube videos, music, current news (past news too), the weather, and a never-ending line of opinions, photos, movies and games.  This is NOT a complete list.

You may be literally fatigued from it all.  You may find your nerves are shredded by all the stimuli, and the things you feel you must check out in a day’s time.

For all the wonderful things available you may find you are squandering your time and lower your productivity.  Keep in mind many of the above mentioned things should be done in your “free” time – excluding, of course, the family, school, your workload, aging parents, and the myriad of other demands in this twenty-first century living.

All Americans are vulnerable to finding themselves more stressed out than ever and really overwhelmed with it all.  You may be facing the limit of your human ability to cope with all the stimuli in your environment

With this entire happening, what may be worse is you find your coping mechanisms are becoming less effective, and your stress level increasing.  No matter how you multitask, your list just seems to grow.

By the end of each day you may emerge with eyestrain and having accomplished nothing much at all.   You have been distracted by all the “input”, and we haven’t even mentioned continuous advertisements on television, the radio, newspapers and magazines – along with non-stop “hearing distractions, no matter where you are!

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

First thing you can do right now is take a minute.  It won’t kill any project you have begun.  You need mindful oxygen. Stress makes you take shallow breaths…withholding your oxygen.  In turn, you are depleted of what you need to manage your life and make good decisions. Take a breath in slowly through the nose.  Now exhale through the mouth.  Do this several times.

Next you need to really pay attention to the “overall picture”.  It will help to prioritize.  Build a list (doesn’t have to be fancy), but make it honest.  What do you really need to do? .  Ask yourself whether you really are focusing on the right things

Study your habits.  Do not be an accepting and passive consumer of everything that is put in front of you. Tame your appetite.  LIMIT YOUR INPUT!  Open-ended cruising of all that is offered WILL cause you ultimately to lose track of your goals, and your time, which is your life!

If you sleep eight hours a night you still have three hundred and fifty thousand waking minutes of each you.  Now compute how many minutes a week you truly spend passively reading and hearing “stuff”?   You can waste so much time following fluff.  How much time do you spend healing you?  How many minutes with the family and loved ones?  How many minutes to breathe and relax?

You want to take down your stress level?  Tame your wild stallion and pick and choose the most wonderful ways to spend your minutes and hours. Laugh with someone, pray with someone, walk alone to the top of a hill and sing.  Hug like it feels inside; shake hands with a hearty and warm grasp. Fly a kite.  Splash around in the small puppy pool with the puppy.  Go outside and get on a bike and ride it.  There isn’t an age limit!

Or if you are actually not supposed to be taking time to read this, then bravo.  You took a minute or two to change your life.

Now take in a deep breath and think:  I feel better. Turn your hands up and exhale through the mouth and SEE your negativity, and any unresolved issues, fly from your head to your arms and out the fingertips.

May you think in order to be happier, you need more than you have right now – more money, more love, more freedom, more friends, etc. etc. etc.  Simply by thinking in these terms, you may be downsizing your sense of well being, and your own happiness!

Admittedly, evidence shows that genetics contribute to about fifty percent of your happiness set point.  However, that is a far cry from one hundred percent.

If you want less stress and you want to be happier, you must do two things.  You must make a commitment and an effort (as with any meaningful goal in life).  Maybe you won’t go to to a “ten” in happiness, but you surely will become happier!

Many people think stress takes happiness away.  It does.  So what do you do?  You change your attitude and expect happiness to be headed your direction – no matter what

Happiness is not a lover (though that does add to happiness).

It is not marriage, money, or a new destination.   These things contribute to your happiness, but not nearly as much as you might think

Lasting happiness has more to do with simply racking up pleasure experiences or material things…it has more to do with how you behave and think – and these things ultimatelycontrol more than many of life’s circumstances.

Here’s an idea:  help someone else by volunteering or being kind, or generous with your actions.  There is a report of feelings called a “helper’s high” and many people who follow this path even find an alleviation of aches and pains.

Diversion from your own stress and pain can truly add to your happiness.  If you can do something to help someone else, your happiness will accelerate.

In finding that “joy of giving”, you will find your stress diminishing.  Part of the problem with stress is that is you pay attention to it; let you get overwhelmed with it, it will get worse!

Do something that is meaningful to you.  If you do, the activity can promote a sense of gratitude, connectedness, forgiveness or optimism.  If what you do means something to you it will be most successful.

If you want to be happy schedule time to do something outside of your own “self-needs”.  Assess your strengths and develop practices that are best used for these endeavors.

Something as simple as a call to express love, or saying thank you with a robust feeling behind it, will begin the new journey.

Always you must use your oxygen.  If these posts repeat this over and over again, it is because it is the number one stress management technique to use.

Take a breath.  Think about this.  Do something this weekend.

You never know unless you try.  CREATE a happy and beautiful weekend!

This world tosses stress around like raindrops pelting down on a stormy day.  Major stresses will affect your life at some point. They may have already done so. There may be one, there may be many, but to know how to manage stress, and put techniques into practice, might save your mind, your life or the life of another.

There is no guarantee how long life will be for each human. Keep in mind, it is fragile and life needs to be cherished. Within a nanosecond your life can change for all the remaining days you have left to live on this planet.  This is important to keep in mind, because it happens. It is factual.

Be prepared for what you don’t expect.  Perhaps, with practice of stress management techniques, you will find a windfall of strength and endurance, previously unknown, in surviving any tragedy.  You can’t prepare for everything, but you can teach your mind how to calm down and learn to differentiate between necessary, urgent, and critical challenges that may arise.

The potential to handle “life” and its challenges is bundled up within you.  It all depends on the quality of life you desire, your willingness to make the first move, and your willingness to practice, practice, and practice!

Techniques to learn stress management are not difficult!  They are rewarding, to say the least, throughout your life.  Your profession, raising a family, staying on a diet, completing a school project – all these things can be more complex that learning the techniques that will help every moment and every sequence of events in your life.

So what’s the problem?  Don’t wait until a major stress evolves and you find YOU with stress that is out of control.  Start today.

DEDICATE as little as a couple of minutes every waking hour  (that’s only twenty four minutes in twelve hours) or fifteen minutes in the evening, to practice breathing.

YOU ARE AN OXYGEN MACHINE AND WITHOUT IT YOU DIE IN A FEW MINUTES.  WHY NOT REFINE AND USE YOUR OXYGEN AS IT’S MEANT TO BE USED: TO HEAL, RELAX AND REGENERATE.

If you practice faithfully for a week or so, each day, you will begin to notice the breathing becomes more natural to you.

You will be able to draw upon this type of breathing when a stress is triggered by something, and you will be able to empower your response and calm your bodily functions.

Begin today to change your life forever. The easiest and most effective way to begin is right this moment.  No matter where you are reading this, take a moment, sit up a bit straighter to allow good oxygen.

Let your shoulders relax downward and with a little effort, pull them back slightly.

You have opened up the lung area and now are prepared to receive fresh oxygen.

Take a deep inhalation through the nose.  Allow your lower abdominal area to fill up like a balloon.  Hold it for a moment.  Now exhale through the mouth and allow the “balloon” to empty from the bottom upward.

Read and do the above paragraph again.

Read it several times and slowly “use” your oxygen.  You can’t go any place in your car without gas!  (Stress causes shallow breathing) Don’t deplete YOU.  Do this breathing for two minutes.  Can you afford not to?

Your inhalation will relax and regenerate you.  Your

exhalation is actually a housekeeping technique – sending out the carbon dioxide and making room for oxygen.  You can also visualize sending any negative incidents or feelings right out with the exhalation.  Purge your body and make room for new life and new thoughts.

When you have mastered just this simple technique then move to add another such as walking, yoga, a  stress management program, or other training.  Be comfortable with your own breathing and it will empower you.

WELL, DON’T.  You don’t really know what’s next.  You need not fear or dread what’s to come.  Take charge of your response to life, whatever happens.

Pain / Stress / Forgiveness = closely related feelings.  Both physical and mental pain are intrinsic, contained wholly within the human intellect and spiritual nature.  You all have more within you, powers yet untapped or realized.

Humans gifts often go to the grave with people not using their gifts or even recognizing them simply because the world has told them they aren’t up to the job.  You are up to it! You have to FIND, and DRAW, from that power within; the untapped reservoir of all the characteristics and strength you dreamed you would have.   Perhaps someone told you that you would fail or that you had no hope to accomplish anything in this lifetime. They were wrong and you know it innately.

Dealing with words wrongly spoken is a huge stress to handle.  So if it’s happened to you, just draw in a slow breath, wait a few seconds, and exhale fully through the mouth.

(In case you don’t know how to breathe for YOUR benefit, here it is – short and sweet – and life enhancing any time you choose to use it!)

“ Deep Breathing is the simplest and most important form of stress reduction. Most people breathe only from their upper diaphragm. This is not the way we were intended to breathe. We are particularly prone to breathe incorrectly when stressed, by taking quick and shallow breaths. The exaggerated form of this is hyperventilating, which some people do when experiencing an anxiety or panic attack. The proper way to breathe is to inhale deeply from the abdomen. You should be able to feel your lungs fill up with air as you inhale. If you do not breathe from the solar plexus, you are not getting enough oxygen. You may think that it looks better to hold your stomach in but you are losing out on vital oxygenation of the body. Deep breathing is a very quick way to release tension, particularly noticeable in the neck, shoulders and head (headache).

Stand any place and inhale deeply so that you feel the air expand in the lower part of your abdomen and your stomach extend out. Hold the breath as long as it is comfortable and then exhale slowly…”

Rachael Collins

02 April 2009

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Pain is a unique experience.  Pain can put a halt to any activity your may want to do.  It can stop you from every dream in your life.  If you can’t play, walk, move, sleep soundly, or think and concentrate, you are being robbed of your life.  It’s time to change things around!

Pain that you “think you can’t make go away” can, overcome you, and can change the way you feel about yourself and others.  It can destroy relationships and lives.  The secret to managing your pain is first to unleash all the anger you have for so many things. You have suffered enough.  You have been mad at others and circumstances long enough! Don’t dwell on the past ONE MORE MOMENT!

As you inhale think:  I am empowered

As you exhale think:  I forgive others and myself

As you inhale think:  I am wonderful and can make things better

As you exhale think:  No more negativity.  No more useless anger

As long as you are alive you have the capacity to change.  “Why should I change?”, you may ask.  If you are able to manage your stress, happy, love your life and yourself, no need to change.  Otherwise, think about it.

A person’s description of pain — where it is, when it starts, what helps to relieve it — are key to understanding pain. Only the person with pain knows exactly what it is like, whether mental or physical.

That is exactly why ONLY YOU can figure out where you go from here.  Let go of the need to control and stress will drift from you like the wave retreating into the fold of the ocean.

Make sure you get a good night’s sleep.  Set the stage and when you first are laying down, breath again, with thoughts than enhance you, and enfold you into a sweet slumber. When you are well-rested, you have more energy to get well, to enjoy life, and to do the things that are important to you

Get started now.  Breathe.  Let go of anger and sorrow.  Forgive others errors.  Forgive yourself.  These are major steps towards learning to manage your stress and live a more wonderful and peaceful life.

Seek other help for stress if need be, once you get started with these simple exercises of intellect.  Try yoga.  Walk with a friend.  Sign up for classes or other online help.  CREATE YOUR LIFE!

Well………so to speak!

Our technology-based culture has made many things easier and faster, but it’s taken a toll on the human body.  You may spend you day hunched over a computer, sitting in traffic behind a steering wheel, or crammed into “space” that seems to get smaller and smaller  (such as city streets, the market, theatres, etc).

As a direct result of this cramping of the human body people are loosing the ability to use their bodily core – the combination of shoulders, hip and torso – in a powerful and efficient manner.  Though we are sitting on our gluteus maximus for longer hours, we are not using the muscles as nature intended-propelling the hips forward regularly.

That’s because we sit on the glutes and that causes the muscles opposite to them (hip flexors) to become short and stiff.

All this sitting, rolling of the shoulders forward, and relaxing of the abdominal muscles are playing havoc with our flexibility, our strength and endurance, and YES, our stress level!

You live in your body and when it’s not being used correctly, even your intellect suffers.  So let’s do a tiny bit, right now, to activate your body and begin to feel better (and definitely less stressed out!)

First take a deep breath in through the nose quite slowly.  Hold a second or two.  Exhale through the mouth, from the bottom of the abdominal area and out.  Do this several times.

Take a moment and squeeze your left butt cheek.  Let it relax. Now squeeze your right cheek.  Let it relax.   Congrats!  That is how to activate your glutes.  You can do this throughout the day.  It’s a secret way to work those muscles

If you learn to activate and fire your glutes, constantly, you will be on your way to mobility, and body stability.

Take a few more breaths and consciously hold your abs in, straighten and drop your shoulders.  Now roll the shoulders in circles going towards your back (ten times).  Reverse.

Stand up and clasp your hands and stretch to the sky.  “Shake” hands as you bring them down.  Stretch any way it feels good, and walk around somewhere for a minute or two-down the hall and back?  Whatever you can squeeze in at the moment.

You will help your body to function optimally, and begin to manage your stress by activating your circulation and helping your body to relax.  You are in charge of you!

Create a wonderful day!

The Problem with Stress Management Training………..

You know you need it, but there is always a reason (or justification) to enable you to “wait till things settle down” to begin to learn how to manage your stress.

So many people, who desperately NEED help, are simply in denial.

“I don’t have time.”  “I can’t afford classes.”  “I just can’t!”

Don’t be one of those folks who begin to seek help and then just put it off until another day.  Don’t wind up having a heart attack.  It happens more often than you think, with stress that is not managed, a huge factor in causing the problem.

Heart disease kills more people in the USA than any other stress related disease or medical issue.  Cancer is next in the line of our biggest killers.  Many scientists and medical practitioners are now admitting that there is high probability that stress has been the initiator of many of these fatalities.

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“Coronary heart disease is also much more common in individuals subjected to chronic stress and recent research has focused on how to identify and prevent this growing problem, particularly with respect to job stress. In many instances, we create our own stress that contributes to coronary disease by smoking and other faulty lifestyles or because of dangerous traits like excess anger, hostility, aggressiveness, time urgency, inappropriate competitiveness and preoccupation with work.”

The American Institute of Stress

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It is time for you to begin to manage your stress. This day is yours – CREATE a beautiful one for yourself and those around you.

Quick Tips

THINK before you speak. Take a breath and it will spark your intellect, RELAX and regenerate you, simultaneously.

Remember words are sharper than any knife and they pierce the heart.  Once you speak them you cannot erase them in the mind of the person to whom you were speaking.  Do not allow yourself to respond negatively for it will simply increase the stress already present.

Take THIS opportunity to tell someone you love or appreciate him or her.  The feeling YOU get when you pass love or a positive thought to someone will help dissipate your negative thoughts.  You will also find a positive response to you can elevate your peace.

Make these moments of value and the worth of your actions will ultimately come back to benefit you! It always works… The things you think, and the way you breathe!

The things that you think within, words you speak, and the quality of your oxygen will ultimately become your life and health. YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF WHERE YOU GO FROM HERE.

Breathe and think positively. Teach your brain to create those “cell impressions” from which you can empower yourself simply through your thoughts. Ultimately, if you are consistent, your body physiology will be changed for the good.

Put aside any doubt and release any tendency to “make things work out” or to force an outcome. Open your thoughts and your life to the source of all intelligence and let go of worry.

Worry changes nothing for the better. The only thing worry does is increase in increments and cause more worry, more problems, and more stress.  Worry affects us physically in a negative manner and it changes nothing!

Spend time on thoughts that are positive and quality and you will draw those things positive to you. Be mindful of your oxygen intake, and as you exhale send all those negative thoughts into oblivion.

If you think I may be repeating some things simply phrased a bit differently – I am!  Repetition is the key to learning.  Once you have created these new brain cell impressions your “new way of thinking and speaking” will become second nature.

What is the past is the past. The future is but a “hope for the best”.  The moments you have are now. Make them of value to you and those in the circle of your life.  You are in charge.

If you want – really want – to change your life, take that yoga class you’ve thought of joining.  Join a group to help one another. Buy stress management tapes and CD’s.  Go to a therapist!  Get more help on line.  Be the master of your future and get help now!

Now take a deep and mindful breath and visualize wonderful oxygen regenerating you and relaxing you.  When you exhale visualize all the negativity and unresolved worries fly from your fingertips into oblivion.

When your life is spilling out of control on the highway to stress hell, keep these important “management words” in mind, and refer to them as a secret empowerment to aid you.

Truth does not waiver:  When you speak you are prophesizing what happens next!

Words come to life.  If you are negative there is a ninety-nine percent chance that you will get negativity back and have a less than perfect settlement of the “challenge” you face.

I am angry

I don’t know how I will get through this

I can’t forget the past

I won’t ever get out of this mess

These are self-fulfilling prophecies.  As sure as these words come out of your mouth, they have been engaged in the cycle of coming to life – in your life!

“The relation that exists between the mind and body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death….

Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, and love, promote health and prolong life. A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul.”

Ellen G. White

1827-1915

These words were written many, many years ago, but they are the absolute truth, and truth NEVER waivers.

If you practice these three simple techniques, you will find your life will actually improve in many ways.  Stress management is up to you though – no matter how you “say” you want to change, YOU are the only one that can instigate change….and you are the only one who can practice, therein creating new brain cell impressions and new feelings about a stressful scenario.

1.  The number one management technique is using your oxygen in a crisis situation.  Take a few breaths to get the oxygen you need.  It will also give you a few moments to think about your coming response.

2.  Drop the negative words and EVEN IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IT works such miracle changes, incorporate positive words.  If you are thinking “impossible” – don’t!  Think instead, “I can do this.”  Words CAN empower you.

3.  Speak slowly and calmly.  Never let anyone or any challenge turn you into a nasty, mouthy, and dull witted person!  Don’t let anything change your life like that without your permission!

4.  Never forget (particularly with women) – WORDS can pierce a person’s heart with the same intensity and pain that a sharp sword would deliver.  Most physical pain is healed with time, but ill spoken and cruel words can pierce a person’s heart over and over again, and sometimes, stay with a person for his or her life.

(If you are faced with challenge after challenge in the stress arena, it may be time to seek outside help such as counseling, classes,  various forms of yoga, meditation classes, CD relaxation tapes, or perhaps a church group.  You have one mind and you don’t want to loose it to stress!)

Are you worried about your heart? Do you think you might be having a heart attack, or headed that direction?  If you are fifty or older if is possible, but don’t be mislead, heart attacks can happen much younger!

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in Americans.  Are you stressed out at work?  Worried about finances?

Family problems?  Not sleeping good?  All the stress adds up to trouble if not managed!

STRESS that is out of control and constant,  can set you  up for a fatal heart attack! This is not a rumor.  This is factual.

Hundreds of websites are dedicated to helping you recognize signs that an attack is a probability, likely to happen sometime in your future.   One sign might be heavy breathing.  Often this symptom is NOT recognized as a pre-warning symptom; for many people there are no recognizable signs until the attack.

Simply put, you need to learn everything you can about what slows the progress of cardiovascular disease. And then do everything that’s known to modern medicine to reduce your heart attack risk factors.

Your heart health can’t wait – it depends on what you do today, and from this moment forward.

A simple prevention tip is to take a low-dose aspirin every day.

Remember aspirin can cause gastrointestinal bleeding, so take aspirin with caution.  Though this is recommended for men, it can also prevent heart attacks in women – and possibly a stroke.  It is a good idea to consult with a physician before starting aspirin therapy.  (A single baby aspirin is often the aspirin of choice).

Another way to help prevent a heart attack is to keep your blood pressure under control.  Unmanaged stress can elevate your blood pressure and accelerate your heart rate to unhealthy numbers.

When you feel flushed, excited, or recognize that stress level reaching unacceptable levels, take a breath.  Slowly.  When your blood pressure is rising, if you THINK and be mindful of your oxygen intake, you can slow your heart rate and keep your blood pressure from skyrocketing.

This technique is so easy many people don’t really the value of simply “controlling” your breathing.

YOU ARE AN OXYGEN MACHINE AND WITHOUT ENOUGH OXYGEN YOUR HEART WILL DIE!

Stress causes humans to only take in shallow breaths, which in turn, doesn’t allow the brain to get enough oxygen to think rationally instead of flying off the handle.

Lower your cholesterol.  There are several ways to do this.  Exercise (which will help you drop weight, and in turn drop pounds), improve your nutrition, and for your entire body and brain health and functioning – quit smoking.

If any of these things make you think, “I can’t do it” – and you begin to stress out – use your oxygen.  When you are thinking optimally, decide what you want in this one life you have to live.

There are hundreds of websites to help you, programs like weight watchers, stress management classes (which will help you manage EVERYTHING), articles to read, yoga classes, adult community classes, even senior centers for those who qualify.

But nothing will be accomplished if you don’t make a decision and stick to it.  If you think your family genes have doomed you to obesity, heart problems, cancer, diabetes, and so forth,

THINK AGAIN!

Genes account for one one-third of what happens to your body!  The other two-thirds depends on the lifestyle you choose for yourself!  HONESTLY….so take a breath and start this very moment to avert a heart attack and so many other illnesses’ that are self-induced.

YOU CAN DO IT!

Are you feeling stressed out?  You can’t imagine it, but stress show on your face!  You don’t want to look like this at work, do you?

Think outside the box! This phrase often refers to novel, creative and smart thinking.

“According to consultants of the 1970s and 1980s tried to make their prospective clients feel inferior by presenting them with the puzzle. The challenge is to connect the dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines that pass through each of the nine dots, and never lifting the pencil from the paper. The puzzle is easily solved but only if you draw the lines outside the confines of the square area defined by the nine dots themselves. Thus, the phrase “thinking outside the box” was born. ”

You’ve gone far enough to look up “stress management” and read this post thus far, now think outside the box and begin to change your life!

Granted for some individuals out of control stress management requires medical help, perhaps anti-depressants, counseling, yoga classes, or general therapy; stress management help from a source that can be your motivator and guide you.  That is fine.  Help is out there!

YOU, however, may be one of the self-motivated individuals who are able to make life changes with just a bit of knowledge and a burning desire to have less stress in your life.  There are plenty of you out there – just too many of you, know you need it, but when it comes down to practice, says:  “I just don’t have time.”

If you IGNORE your stress now it will accelerate with fervor, and sooner or later plow you down like an innocent bystander.  Take action now and save mental and physical woes that will come without you doing anything about managing your stress.

Here are a few simple thoughts to mull over to help get you started.

When you adopt a positive outlook you create a shift in your outlook.  Instead of seeing a set of problems before you, see opportunities and challenges.  Instead of feeling hopeless about any stressful scenario, feel hopeful.  By focusing on the things that do work well, you are inviting more of the same.

Your brain is adaptable.  “Scientists use the term ‘plasticity’ to describe the brain’s ability to adapt.  It’s a simple idea with big implications.  If some brain cells are lost through normal aging, others can often pick up the slack.  Existing connections may be fine-tuned.  The remaining cells also may grow new dendrites-branches that receive messages from other cells.

“The upshot:  Specific areas of your brain may actually grow as a result of particular experiences.  Certain areas may function more efficiently, too.”       (excerpt from Healthy Living)

What this means to you is that you can use almost any stressful experience to grow new brain cells and refine your brain.  The trick is to adapt that positive train of thought and made the problems challenges instead of dreaded problems.

This power is all kick started from within you and if you are tired of the way things are, pull it together and CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Five Easy ways to get started

1.  Practice mindful breathing.  Not familiar?  Simply put: breathe in through the nose, and exhale through the mouth.

Every time you feel stressors getting the best of you – slow down and breathe.  (For more details on this refer to previous posts – with detailed information)

2.  If you think ANY negative words or feelings, replace them with two positive thoughts.

Example:

I can’t  =  I will,  Ican

I’m miserable = I’m happy, I’m  grateful

no = yes, will do

I’m fearful = I’m brave, I’m empowered

things will never change = this too shall pass, change is a guarantee

Teach your changing brain to respond to life experiences with smart thoughts that blossom into changes for the better.

3.  Don’t take everything so seriously.  The “party” was going before you arrived, and will be here after you leave.  Allow you to have some fun. Prioritize what is REALLY most important.

4. Smile more often.  It doesn’t matter if others do or not.  Smiling actually makes you feel better.  Just do it.  If you smile at someone and they scowl or ignore you then just remember they must be more unhappy than you.  Send them a blessing.You will feel better than if you allowed them to take your happiness away.

5.  Know that no matter how you want to control things – most things are simply out of our control.  The only thing you really have control over is your response to life!  Things usually work out, and sometimes better than you expected initially.

CREATE  a wonderful day and you will change your life and the lives of those in your world.  Pray (and / or meditation) never hurts!