Gray Skies Smiling at Me

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HAPPY MORNING! I absolutely LOVE gray sky mornings, especially those consisting of a misted atmosphere! To my surprise, guess what I was greeted with this morning as I opened the windows in my living room before stretching? Exactly – a gray mist outside! So beautiful! Okay, so I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m going with this, right? Let me tell you: HOPE! It’s all about the hope behind those clouds that the sun just might shine… but you can’t be certain so you must learn to take the day(s) moment by moment and see what possibilities lie ahead while smiling your way through the gloom.  Read more... (490 words, 2 images, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Create Your Happy Thoughts

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Dance! Sing! Draw! Take Pictures! Meditate! Do whatever it takes! Create it with everything you have, hold onto it & don’t lose it. Make minor adjustments when necessary as life changes but refuse to let it go! Consider it the air you breath – it IS that important!

HAPPY THOUGHTS, they are like the air you breath. They are one of your long-term survival mechanisms – TRUST ME!  This morning, today, I challenge you to create happy thoughts!  Read more... (499 words, 2 images, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

Challenge Yourself

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It’s another wonderful Monday to another wonderful week ahead! No, I did not wake up this morning waiting for Friday. I had no thought resembling hope that this week would fly by! I decided to begin a personal challenge this morning, & I have high hopes that you will go on this “challenging” journey with me, in your own way!  Read more... (614 words, 2 images, estimated 2:27 mins reading time)

Move to Lift Your Mood

Photo by mikebaird

Having a bad day? Feeling down or maybe just not in the best mood?  Maybe you’re just a little tired and feeling low, but can’t get a nap. There is something you can do that is better than that energy drink.  Move.  Seriously, get up and move, dance, walk, or run, but move.

Recent University studies have shown that movement can improve your mood. In fact several of these studies have shown improvement in the outlook of patients diagnosed with severe mental illness such as depression, bi polar disorder and schizophrenia.  At Indiana University, a study found that any physical activity throughout the day has a link to improvement in mood.  This study found that low to moderate activity was adequate to improve the mood of patients with serious mental illness.  Read more... (365 words, 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

The Power of a Nap

Photo by davemorris

To continue with my theme of proper sleep lately, I wrote this article on Power Naps and the benefits they can offer us.

The Power of a Nap

For most of my life, I’ve been burning the candles at both ends.  My “normal” sleep schedule has always been in bed at 2:30 am and awake at 7:30 am.  For me, this is normal.  This is what I’m used to, and this is not healthy.  So once this sleep schedule started to get to me, I started taking power naps.

How to Sleep at Night Part III

Photo by sfllaw

This post is a continuation of How to Improve Your Sleep.  It is the third in a 3 part series.  Here I will explore optimum sleep time, waking, and sleep debt.

How Long You Sleep is Important

I have spent my entire life going to bed when I feel like it and waking up when I need to be up.  I never gave much thought to how long I should sleep.  8 hours is the suggested average, and I strive for between 6-8 hours most of the time.  Getting a solid 8 hours isn’t actually wrong, but it isn’t necessarily optimal either.  You see, you body sleeps in 90 minute cycles.  This is the time it takes for your brain to cycle through the different brainwave patterns and return to it’s original early sleep state.  Read more... (853 words, 1 image, estimated 3:25 mins reading time)

How To Sleep at Night Part II

Photo by tambako

This post is a continuation of the How to Sleep at Night series.  It is Part II in a III part series.  Here I will offer more small changes that can be made to your life in order to improve your sleep each night.

Empty Your Mind

I don’t mean clear your mind like you would in meditation, but empty it of the clutter, “To Do’s” and problems that are nagging at you throughout the day.  The best thing to do is sit down about an hour before bed and write your “To Do” list and MIT’s for the next day.  For more on MIT’s  click here.

How to Sleep at Night Part I

Photo by andy_bernay-roman

It seems that in this day and age, our lives have become so busy and so full that even the simple act of getting a good nights sleep is foreign to many of us.  I have to admit, I sleep well at night, but not all the time.  In fact, much of the time, I am restless, can’t settle down, can’t relax, and sometimes wake up through the night for no apparent reason.  It turns out, I’m not alone.  Read more... (1849 words, 1 image, estimated 7:24 mins reading time)

Breathe!

Photo by brymo

Breathe.

Now, try it again…Breathe.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the business of daily life, working more than full time from home with three kids running around asking “why” about everything and focusing on business goals that I forget the most important goal of all, to feel good.

So I’d like to take a moment to remind all of my readers out there that there is one thing that most achievement gurus won’t suggest that you do, but you probably need to do it more often.  Stop and smell the roses.  Read more... (217 words, 1 image, estimated 52 secs reading time)