5 Steps to a Healthy Mind

5 Key Steps to a Healthy Mind
BY RENAE MAC

Below are five key steps that have shown to help change your thoughts patterns, increase the health of your mind as well as create a more balanced and positive outlook on life.

1. Create the Intention

Changing negative habits and creating new positive habits is a fairly simple process but not an easy process and takes a commitment. It is important that you make the decision and be clear about your intention in order to create change.

Think it and write it down as well as say it out loud. In this way you are making a commitment to yourself to do what it takes to accomplish your goal and create a healthier mind state.

2. Be Conscious of Your Thoughts

As mentioned before thoughts are habitual and it can be quite difficult at first to consciously be aware of every thought that passes through your head. Before you change them for the better you must be aware of exactly what you are thinking.

Make it a priority to take notice of what thoughts pass through your head as you go about your day. Take note of what thoughts come up as you are dealing with different people and situations. Be careful not to judge your thoughts, for now simply be aware of them.

3. Make the Switch

Now that you are aware of your thinking patterns you can then begin to change them. We all have the capability to choose what we think and you have the power to change a negative thought into a positive.

When you notice a negative or non-affirming thought in your head consciously decide to change it. Do not worry if at first you do not believe your new positive thought as overtime that will change. By switching your negative thought to a positive each and every time you will eventually create new thought patterns and habits. You will also be creating a positive energy within yourself as opposed to a negative.

This method is simple yet not easy, but it works very well. It is a matter of sticking with it one hundred percent of the time. After a period of time your negative thought patterns will no longer have the power to affect or limit any aspect of your life including your emotions. Your new positive thought patterns will send out a different energy and create a more positive way of being which will in turn attract new positive energy within your life.

Over time with practice you will notice that when a negative thought pops up you will habitually switch it immediately to a positive. Then before you know it the negativity will be gone and it will be replaced with a positive and self-affirming way of being.

4. Positive Brain Frequencies

Once you have begun to practice the first three steps you can also begin to work directly with your brain frequencies. The brain is constantly emitting very specific frequency waves that influence how you feel and act. You can work with your brainwaves through meditation or by using an external stimulus such as brainwave audios.

By meditating or using brainwave audios such as binaural beats you are able to bypass the conscious mind and work directly with the subconscious mind. In this way you can make huge progress by tuning the brain to a specific frequency that helps with stress, anxiety and overall well being. If you combine these methods with affirmations you may notice your thought patterns and energy changing for the positive at a far quicker rate.

5. Take Time to Enjoy

Practicing positive thinking does not mean that you will never again have a negative thought. However it does mean that you will have the conscious awareness to change the negative to a positive and allow that positive energy to shape your life as opposed to being influenced by the negative.

Once you have made these changes and adopted this new healthier mind state it is up to you to get out there and enjoy life. Take little steps to do more of what you enjoy and be proud of the fact that you have given your mind the attention it needs in order to create the healthy life you deserve to enjoy.

Problem Eating and How to Tackle It

The kindness cure - a new way to tackle problem eating

by Paula Goodyer

Fat shaming misses the point – and the problem.

We all know by now (or at least we should) that fat shaming is more likely to make a weight problem worse, not better. Yet for some people who find it hard to control their eating, the voice of condemnation doesn't just come from the outside; it's also inside their head.

But a new approach that can help people silence their inner critic is giving some problem eaters more control over their eating. Called compassion-focused therapy or CFT, it teaches people to be kinder to themselves and is well-suited to problems with body image and eating, says Perth-based psychologist Melanie Greenfeld, many of whose clients are overeaters.

"Overeaters are very hard on themselves, especially binge eaters, so I try to help them develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves instead. It starts with getting them to listen to how they talk to themselves. They often say they're fat, lazy or hopeless because they've eaten too much or been unable to stick to a diet, yet that's not how they'd talk to other people. The second step is to practise changing the language from judgmental to comforting:  'OK, you ate a brownie – it's not the end of the world'," she says.

While sceptics might think this gives the green light to eating more, Greenfeld says it has the opposite effect.

"Studies have found that, with practice, it acts like a circuit breaker because it stops the feelings of shame and guilt that make someone feel so bad that they turn to food to make themselves feel better. It's a way of self-soothing that doesn't involve eating," she says.  

"It's not about encouraging people to keep overeating; it's taking a different approach. I work with people who are obese and they're often faced with health professionals who wave a finger at them and tell them to stop eating so much – but this doesn't tackle the problem. There's a reason why people overeat and it's often emotional. Self-compassion doesn't involve judgment; it's about trying to identify what we're feeling and why and asking ourselves how we can respond to our distress with kindness and understanding."

CFT also gets people to recognise that we're all part of a common humanity, sharing the same experiences of stress, failure and disappointment, "Greenfeld adds.  "Overeaters often feel very isolated, and normalising these experiences helps them realise they're not alone."  

In Australia, CFT is in its infancy. But in the US and in Britain – where it was first developed by Paul Gilbert, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Derby who works in mental health  within Britain's National Health Service – it's more widely used, Canberra-based psychologist Marie Bloomfield says.  

"It's a way of  helping people get control over negative emotions – when people learn to practise self-compassion, it helps activate the brain's soothing system and promotes a sense of calm. It can be used as a complementary therapy along with cognitive behaviour therapy and mindfulness or it can be the core therapy; it depends what the person needs. It gives people an extra skill for dealing with the kind of negative thoughts that go with depression, anxiety and eating problems. It's also helpful for other problems where people are typically hard on themselves like drug and alcohol abuse or compulsive obsessive disorder, says Bloomfield who runs regular workshop on compassion-based therapy in Sydney and Canberra.

"What do you normally do when a good friend is upset? Most us would listen, give support and show that we care because we know it can help them bear whatever it is that's troubling them. But when we're the ones struggling with disappointment or failure we tend to be self-critical and blame ourselves."

Still, many people find self-compassion difficult.   

"Some people feel that they're not 'worthy' enough and are better at being compassionate to others than they are to themselves, " Greenfeld says.

It's also easy to look at this approach and think that it smacks of self-indulgence but   a growing body of research has linked self-compassion to greater resilience, and less anxiety and depression.   

"People with self-compassion are more likely to bounce back; they have the ability to normalise failure and disappointment and be more realistic with own goals," Bloomfield says. "Studies have found that self-compassionate students who fail exams for instance are more likely to try again. It's the difference between treating yourself like the nasty maths teacher at school who said you were hopeless and a good life coach who offers support and encouragement."  

Lose Weight using 40 Fast and Easy Tips

How to Lose Weight: 40 Fast, Easy Tips

You know the drill when it comes to losing weight: take in fewer calories, burn more calories. But you also know that most diets and quick weight-loss plans don't work as promised. If you're trying to drop a few pounds fast, these expert tips will make it easy for you to lose the weight quickly.
from Stealth Health (Reader's Digest Association Books)

Write down what you eat for one week and you will lose weight. Studies found that people who keep food diaries wind up eating about 15 percent less food than those who don’t. Watch out for weekends: A University of North Carolina study found people tend to consume an extra 115 calories per weekend day, primarily from alcohol and fat. Then cut out or down calories from spreads, dressings, sauces, condiments, drinks, and snacks; they could make the difference between weight gain and loss.

Add 10 percent to the amount of daily calories you think you’re eating. If you think you’re consuming 1,700 calories a day and don’t understand why you’re not losing weight, add another 170 calories to your guesstimate. Chances are, the new number is more accurate. Adjust your eating habits accordingly.

Get an online weight loss buddy to lose more weight. A University of Vermont study found that online weight-loss buddies help you keep the weight off. The researchers followed volunteers for 18 months. Those assigned to an Internet-based weight maintenance program sustained their weight loss better than those who met face-to-face in a support group.

Get a mantra.
You’ve heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? If you keep focusing on things you can’t do, like resisting junk food or getting out the door for a daily walk, chances are you won’t do them. Instead (whether you believe it or not) repeat positive thoughts to yourself. “I can lose weight.” “I will get out for my walk today.” “I know I can resist the pastry cart after dinner.” Repeat these phrases and before too long, they will become true for you.

After breakfast, stick to water.
At breakfast, go ahead and drink orange juice. But throughout the rest of the day, focus on water instead of juice or soda. The average American consumes an extra 245 calories a day from soft drinks. That’s nearly 90,000 calories a year—or 25 pounds! And research shows that despite the calories, sugary drinks don’t trigger a sense of fullness the way that food does.

Eat three fewer bites of your meal,
one less treat a day, or one less glass of orange juice. Doing any of these can save you about 100 calories a day, and that alone is enough to prevent you from gaining the two pounds most people mindlessly pack on each year.

Watch one less hour of TV.
A study of 76 undergraduate students found the more they watched television, the more often they ate and the more they ate overall. Sacrifice one program (there’s probably one you don’t really want to watch anyway) and go for a walk instead.

Wash something thoroughly once a week.
Whether that’s a floor, a couple of windows, the shower stall, bathroom tile, or your car, a 150-pound person will burn about four calories for every minute spent cleaning. Scrub for 30 minutes and you could work off approximately 120 calories, the same number in a half-cup of vanilla frozen yogurt.

Wait until your stomach rumbles before you reach for food.
It’s stunning how often we eat out of boredom, nervousness, habit, or frustration—so often, in fact, that many of us have actually forgotten what physical hunger feels like. If you’re hankering for a specific food, it’s probably a craving, not hunger. If you’d eat anything you could get your hands on, chances are you’re truly hungry. Find ways other than eating to express love, tame stress, and relieve boredom.

Sniff a banana, an apple, or a peppermint when you feel hungry.
You might feel silly, but it works. When Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., neurological director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, tried this with 3,000 volunteers, he found that the more frequently people sniffed, the less hungry they were and the more weight they lost—an average of 30 pounds each. One theory is that sniffing the food tricks the brain into thinking you’re actually eating it.

Stare at the color blue.
There’s a good reason you won’t see many fast-food restaurants decorated in blue: it functions as an appetite suppressant. So serve up dinner on blue plates, dress in blue while you eat, and cover your table with a blue tablecloth. Conversely, avoid red, yellow, and orange in your dining areas. Studies find they encourage eating.

Eat in front of mirrors and you’ll lose weight.
One study found that eating in front of mirrors slashed the amount people ate by nearly one-third. Having to look yourself in the eye reflects back some of your own inner standards and goals, and reminds you of why you’re trying to lose weight in the first place.

Spend 10 minutes a day walking up and down stairs.
The Centers for Disease Control says that’s all it takes to help you shed as much as 10 pounds a year (assuming you don’t start eating more).

Walk five minutes for at least every two hours.
Stuck at a desk all day? A brisk five-minute walk every two hours will parlay into an extra 20-minute walk by the end of the day. And getting a break will make you less likely to reach for snacks out of antsiness.
how to lose weight fast walking.

You’ll lose weight and fat if you walk 45 minutes a day, not 30.
The reason we’re suggesting 45 minutes instead of the typical 30 is that a Duke University study found that while 30 minutes of daily walking is enough to prevent weight gain in most relatively sedentary people, exercise beyond 30 minutes results in weight and fat loss. Burning an additional 300 calories a day with three miles of brisk walking (45 minutes should do it) could help you lose 30 pounds in a year without even changing how much you’re eating.

Don’t buy any prepared food
that lists sugar, fructose, or corn syrup among the first four ingredients on the label. You should be able to find a lower-sugar version of the same type of food. If you can’t, grab a piece of fruit instead! Look for sugar-free varieties of foods such as ketchup, mayonnaise, and salad dressing. Also, avoid partially hydrogenated foods, and look for more than two grams of fiber per 100 calories in all grain products. Finally, a short ingredient list means fewer flavor enhancers and empty calories.

Put your fork or spoon down between every bite.
At the table, sip water frequently. Intersperse your eating with stories for your dining partner of the amusing things that happened during your day. Your brain lags your stomach by about 20 minutes when it comes to satiety (fullness) signals. If you eat slowly enough, your brain will catch up to tell you that you are no longer in need of food.

Throw out your “fat” clothes for good.
Once you’ve started losing weight, throw out or give away every piece of clothing that doesn’t fit. The idea of having to buy a whole new wardrobe if you gain the weight back will serve as a strong incentive to stay fit.

Close the kitchen for 12 hours.
After dinner, wash all the dishes, wipe down the counters, turn out the light, and, if necessary, tape closed the cabinets and refrigerator. Late-evening eating significantly increases the overall number of calories you eat, a University of Texas study found. Stopping late-night snacking can save 300 or more calories a day, or 31 pounds a year.

Walk before dinner and you’ll cut calories AND your appetite.
In a study of 10 obese women conducted at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, 20 minutes of walking reduced appetite and increased sensations of fullness as effectively as a light meal.

Make one social outing this week an active one.
Pass on the movies and screen the views of a local park instead. Not only will you sit less, but you’ll be saving calories because you won’t chow down on that bucket of popcorn. Other active ideas: a tennis match, a guided nature or city walk (check your local listings), a bike ride, or bowling.

Buy a pedometer, clip it to your belt, and aim for an extra 1,000 steps a day.
On average, sedentary people take only 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day. Adding 2,000 steps will help you maintain your current weight and stop gaining weight; adding more than that will help you lose weight.

Put less food out and you’ll take less in.
Conversely, the more food in front of you, the more you’ll eat—regardless of how hungry you are. So instead of using regular dinner plates that range these days from 10 to 14 inches (making them look empty if they’re not heaped with food), serve your main course on salad plates (about 7 to 9 inches wide). Instead of 16-ounce glasses and oversized coffee mugs, return to the old days of 8-ounce glasses and 6-ounce coffee cups.

Eat 90 percent of your meals at home.
You’re more likely to eat more—and eat more high-fat, high-calorie foods—when you eat out than when you eat at home. Restaurants today serve such large portions that many have switched to larger plates and tables to accommodate them.

Serve food on your plate instead of on platters.
If you eat your dinner restaurant style on your plate rather than family style, helping yourself from bowls and platters on the table, you’ll lose weight. Most of us tend to eat an average of 150 percent more calories in the evening than in the morning. You’ll avoid that now because when your plate is empty, you’re finished; there’s no reaching for seconds.

Don’t eat with a large group.
A study published in the Journal of Physiological Behavior found that we tend to eat more when we eat with other people, most likely because we spend more time at the table. But eating with your significant other or your family, and using table time for talking in between chewing, can help cut down on calories.

Order the smallest portion of everything.
If you’re out and ordering a sub, get the 6-inch sandwich. Buy a small popcorn, a small salad, a small hamburger. Again, studies find we tend to eat what’s in front of us, even though we’d feel just as full on less.

Eat water-rich foods and you’ll eat fewer calories overall.
A body of research out of Pennsylvania State University finds that eating water-rich foods such as zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers during meals reduces your overall calorie consumption. Other water-rich foods include soups and salads. You won’t get the same benefits by just drinking your water, though. Because the body processes hunger and thirst through different mechanisms, it simply doesn’t register a sense of fullness with water (or soda, tea, coffee, or juice).

Bulk up your meals with veggies.
You can eat twice as much pasta salad loaded with veggies like broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes for the same calories as a pasta salad sporting just mayonnaise. Same goes for stir-fries, omelets, and other veggie-friendly dishes. If you eat a 1:1 ratio of grains to veggies, the high-fiber veggies will help satisfy your hunger before you overeat the grains.

Avoid white foods. There is some scientific legitimacy to today’s lower-carb diets: Large amounts of simple carbohydrates from white flour and added sugar can wreak havoc on your blood sugar and lead to weight gain. While avoiding sugar, white rice, and white flour, however, you should eat plenty of whole-grain breads and brown rice. One Harvard study of 74,000 women found that those who ate more than two daily servings of whole grains were 49 percent less likely to be overweight than those who ate the white stuff.
white loaf of bread

Switch to ordinary coffee.
Fancy coffee drinks from trendy coffee joints often pack several hundred calories, thanks to whole milk, whipped cream, sugar, and sugary syrups. A cup of regular coffee with skim milk has just a small fraction of those calories. And when brewed with good beans, it tastes just as great. You can also try nonfat powdered milk in coffee. You’ll get the nutritional benefits of skim milk, which is high in calcium and low in calories. And, because the water has been removed, powdered milk doesn’t dilute the coffee the way skim milk does.

If you’re going to indulge, choose fat-releasing foods.
They should help keep you from feeling deprived and binging on higher-calorie foods. For instance: honey has just 64 fat releasing calories in one tablespoon. Eggs have just 70 calories in one hard-boiled egg, loaded with fat releasing protein. Part-skim ricotta cheese has just 39 calories in one ounce, packed with fat releasing calcium. Dark chocolate has about 168 calories in a one-ounce square, but it’s packed with fat releasers. And a University of Tennessee study found that people who cut 500 calories a day and ate yogurt three times a day for 12 weeks lost more weight and body fat than a group that only cut the calories. The researchers concluded that the calcium in low-fat dairy foods triggers a hormonal response that inhibits the body’s production of fat cells and boosts the breakdown of fat.

Enjoy high-calorie treats as the accent, not the centerpiece
Make a spoonful of ice cream the jewel and a bowl of fruit the crown. Cut down on the chips by pairing each bite with lots of chunky, filling fresh salsa, suggests Jeff Novick, director of nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Florida. Balance a little cheese with a lot of fruit or salad.

Eat cereal for breakfast five days a week.
Studies find that people who eat cereal for breakfast every day are significantly less likely to be obese and have diabetes than those who don’t. They also consume more fiber and calcium—and less fat—than those who eat other breakfast foods. Make oatmeal, or pour out a high-fiber, low-sugar cereal like Total or Grape Nuts.

Try hot sauce, salsa, and Cajun seasonings
They provide lots of flavor with no fat and few calories, plus they turn up your digestive fires, causing your body to temporarily burn more calories. Choose them over butter and creamy or sugary sauces.

Eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.
For the calories in one kid-size box of apple juice, you can enjoy an apple, orange, and a slice of watermelon. These whole foods will keep you satisfied much longer than that box of apple juice, so you’ll eat less overall.

Drop your milk type and you cut calories by about 20 percent.
If you drink regular, go to 2%. If you already drink 2%, go down another notch to 1% or skim milk. Each step downward cuts the calories by about 20 percent. Once you train your taste buds to enjoy skim milk, you’ll have cut the calories in the whole milk by about half and trimmed the fat by more than 95 percent.

Snack on a small handful of nuts.
Studies have found that overweight people who ate a moderate-fat diet containing almonds lost more weight than a control group that didn’t eat nuts. Snacking once or twice a day helps stave off hunger and keeps your metabolism stoked. You can also pack up baby carrots or your own trail mix with nuts, raisins, seeds, and dried fruit.

Get most of your calories before noon.
Studies find that the more you eat in the morning, the less you’ll eat in the evening. And you have more opportunities to burn off those early-day calories than you do to burn off dinner calories.

Brush your teeth after every meal, especially dinner.
That clean, minty freshness will serve as a cue to your body and brain that mealtime is over.

Lose Weight the Right Way

8 Things You Should Never Eat if You're Trying to Lose Weight
"Low-fat" foods are actually your enemy.

By Elizabeth Narins

Lots of experts say it's stupid to forbid yourself from eating certain foods – that denying yourself something you really want to eat can ultimately lead to binge eating and eventual weight gain. So dessert isn't on this list — it's OK to indulge sometimes! But some foods really do deserve the axe — especially if you are trying to lose weight. In which case, avoid these foods (when you can!) to fend off cravings and hunger, and support your efforts to slim down.

1. Any Snack That Only Contains Carbs
When you eat crackers, dry cereal, bread, or rice cakes alone, your body converts the carbs to simple sugars, and sends it directly into your blood stream. In response to the sugar rush, your body produces extra insulin, which helps your body absorb the sugar ASAP. The problem: You end up with low blood sugar and the same hunger pangs that led you to carb it up in the first place. You then may be inclined to reach for sugary foods with no nutritional value to satisfy your need for instant energy, says Dr. Charlie Seltzer, M.D., a weight-loss specialist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It's not that carbs are off-limits entirely. That'd be crazy — and it's no way to live! The point is that snacks containing a combination of carbs, healthy fats, and protein take longer to digest, and will, therefore, tide you over for longer. Another thing: When you treat snacks as balanced mini meals, they contribute to a balanced diet (instead of just holding you over between full balanced meals). Try a slice of bread with nut butter, or whole grain crackers with low-fat cheese, suggests Rachel Harvest, a registered dietitian affiliated with Tournesol Wellness in New York.

2. Frozen Meals
To make fresh ingredients last extra long in your freezer, food manufacturers often load frozen meals with sodium, a natural preservative, Harvest says. Sodium makes you retain water, which bloats you up – so you won't look and feel your best regardless of how much weight you want to lose.
Also: When food manufacturers try to squeeze a meal's worth of calories into a teeny tiny box, every bite ends up containing lots of calories by design, Harvest adds. While large portions trick your brain into thinking your body is full, the measly portions found in freezer meals are inherently unsatisfying, even though they contain plenty of calories. So skip them if you can, and supersize your portions of lower-calorie foods.

3. High-Fiber Snack Bars
Yes, everyone needs fiber — it keeps your digestive system churning and keeps you feeling full, even when you're cutting back on calories. What you don't need: Nearly one day's worth of fiber (about 25 grams) in one snack bar, with a diet that's otherwise devoid of it, Harvest says. "Fiber intake has to be consistent throughout the day to stave off hunger, improve digestive health, and not cause stomach upset." So ditch the bars, and try to include some kind of naturally fiber-rich produce — any fruit or veggie will do— in every snack and meal.

4. "Low-Fat" Foods
Research suggests that people tend to eat upwards of 30 percent more when they know they're eating a food that's low fat. The problem (besides overeating, which can thwart your weight loss goals fast) is that when food makers remove fat from food, they inevitably remove some of the flavor. To compensate, they often add sugar, which makes the product even worse for you.

5. Juice
It takes several oranges to make one 6-ounce glass of OJ, but when you drink juice, you consume all the calories from those oranges without the natural fruit fibers that fill you up. It's why "even 100 percent juice is just empty calories and another blood sugar spike," Harvest says.
Another thing: Fructose, the natural fruit sugar that makes fruit and fruit juice taste sweet, tricks your body into gaining weight by blunting your body's ability to recognize when it's full, says Melissa Rifkin, a registered dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in New York and a Rise nutrition coach. This makes you eat more, and increases your risk of developing insulin resistance and diabetes.

6. Artificially Sweetened Drinks
Goodbye, diet soda, and every other sweet-tasting drink that mysteriously contains zero calories! "There are some people whose brains are wired in a way that artificial sweeteners induce or enhance cravings," says Dr. Seltzer. "If drinking a Diet Snapple leads you to the Ben & Jerry's, then you'd certainly be better off with water or water with lemon." Or sparkling water: It's calorie-free, but carbonated, which makes your stomach feel full so you end up eating less overall.

7. Cereal Sold in a Value-Size Box
The same goes for super-sized snack packages. People consume up to 22 percent more when they eat from larger packages, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab. When people know there is more food available, they subconsciously let themselves eat more of it. The same goes for food you buy on sale: you're more likely to consume more when food costs less, according to another study. That's not to say you should spend more on food to eat less overall — it's unsustainable (and silly). If you're going to spring for a value pack of any packaged food, measure out your serving instead of eating out of the bag so you don't fall pray to your own mind's games.

8. Booze
It's almost impossible to find a weight loss expert who recommends alcohol for weight loss. (Believe me, I tried.) While some cocktails have fewer calories than others, alcohol just doesn't support weight loss. It contains empty calories that don't fill you up or provide any nutrients; softens your resolve so you're more likely to overeat; and impairs your judgement, regardless of your weight loss goals. (It's why you drunk eat pizza, not salad.) But it gets worse: "When alcohol is present in your body, it's considered a toxin that your body wants to get rid of, and becomes you liver's top priority," says Dr. Caroline Cederquist, MD, creator of bistroMD. When your liver is in hardcore detox mode, it can't burn fat as efficiently. Because that's a major buzz kill, skip the buzz altogether if you're serious about losing weight. Or at least cut back on the booze, big time.

Gratitude to Enhance Well-Being

A Year-Round Gratitude Practice Through Mindfulness by Stephanie Cordel

Mindfulness First has been implementing a school-wide mindfulness program at David Crockett Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona since August of this year. Our goal is to make it the first entirely mindful school in Arizona. Our instructors regularly visit each classroom and practice mindfulness with the students as well as teach them various concepts that relate to it.

Mindfulness is the practice of actively paying attention to what is happening in the present moment without attaching judgment. A structured way of cultivating this awareness is by taking time each day to sit and focus on your breathing. This seemingly simple act of bringing attention to your breathing helps you to recognize all of the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that serve as distractions from the present experience. It is during this time that we learn how to practice bringing attention back to our original focus by developing better awareness and concentration. We practice this routine with students of all ages to aid in their own cultivation of mindfulness.

Gratitude is one of the important concepts that we incorporate into our curriculum and teach to all of our students as well.You may be wondering how gratitude fits into a mindfulness curriculum. Well, because Mindfulness First seeks to provide mindfulness as a social and emotional learning tool, we pair mindfulness with other concepts that are shown to support positive social and emotional development among children of all ages. In fact, there are numerous scientifically-proven physical, psychological, and emotional benefits to consciously practicing gratitude on a regular basis.

Several studies have researched the impact of gratitude across different domains. One study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that men and women who wrote letters of gratitude consistently over the course of 3 weeks showed an increase in happiness and life satisfaction along with a decrease in depressive symptoms. Another study in the Journal of Counseling Psychology highlighted that gratitude helps to strengthen and maintain relationships. In the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researchers report that practicing gratitude positively impacts a person's well-being and people who practice gratitude are even more likely to exercise regularly.

Another reason we link mindfulness with gratitude is that regularly practicing gratitude is not easy. It's not conventionally emphasized and we often forget to consider the aspects of our lives that give us joy, fulfillment, and meaning. This is especially true when we experience tough times. It can be difficult to consciously practice gratitude when we deal with challenging situations. However, it is during those difficult moments that gratitude can help us the most. That's where mindfulness comes in.
When we are experiencing a difficult moment we can easily lose ourselves and our perspective with the intense emotions and consuming thoughts associated with a painful or challenging experience. This entanglement can give a sense of overwhelm and inability to act. If we can take a moment and focus on our breathing when we are caught up with our thoughts and feelings, we can create a pause during this automatic whirlwind. During this pause, if we gently bring awareness to our internal experience of thoughts and feelings, we can become an observer of what is happening instead of a passive participant. This is done by simply recognizing what is actually happening in the moment instead of ruminating, speculating, or judging.
Once we have created enough of a separation to not become consumed by our internal experience, we can then make a choice to shift our thinking by bringing awareness to a different aspect of life such as the things we are grateful for. This active choice of practicing gratitude is how mindfulness can assist in changing the direction of our thoughts and feelings. It is important to keep in mind that this ability to pause during an overwhelming moment takes time to develop. It requires a consistent mindfulness practice to cultivate a habit of purposeful awareness.

At Mindfulness First we recognize the numerous benefits that have been scientifically studied along with the important link between mindfulness and choosing to practice gratitude. Thus we teach gratitude as a tool for students to utilize and a way to personally benefit from when experiencing, particularly when experiencing difficult moments.

During this holiday season don't limit your recognition of the positive things in your life to just this time of the year. Remember that any moment of any day throughout the year provides an opportunity to practice gratitude, which can benefit you all 365 days.

Factors Influencing Happiness

Why Happy Is the New Skinny (And That's a Good Thing!) by Amanda Yuill 

Reality Bites
As it turns out, happiness has more in common with a slender frame than just the people trying to make a quick buck off the hopes and dreams of the masses. The "how" of physical fitness and happiness mimic each other in several ways...

It's In Your Genes
How many times have you heard someone bemoan their genetics when talking about their weight (perhaps you've even used this excuse yourself)? Much like our physical attributes, a large portion of our happiness is inherited -- around 50 percent, according to research by Sonja Lyubomirsky. But before you throw the idea of becoming happier into the same basket as the idea of fitting into your favorite jeans from 10 years ago, pause to consider that there is another 50 percent as yet unaccounted for!

You Are What You Eat
When it comes to our physical health, this mantra is almost universally understood and accepted. Why then is it so hard to accept that our mental state is largely a byproduct of the ideas we consume and allow to reside in our minds? This concept is far from widely understood, and much less accepted -- after all, our happiness is so heavily influenced by things outside of our control -- our job, our boss, our partner and our children. Even the weather can play an important part! But according to Sonja Lyubomirsky's research, only 10 percent of our happiness is influenced by those external circumstances, compared to 40 percent that is directly attributable to the activities that we intentionally take part in.

Three primary factors influencing happiness, from research by Sonja Lyubomirsky et. al.

This is a great time to pause and consider:

What activities are you doing on a daily basis to make yourself happier?

There is no prescribed list of these activities, because they are different for everyone. For some people a mindfulness or meditation practice does the trick, while others prefer a more adrenaline-charged pursuit. It may be in the realm of ideas or action, alone or in community with others. In short, it doesn't matter what everyone else does to make them happy -- what matters is that what you are doing makes you happy, and that you do it every day.

Do You Even Lift, Bro?
Look around your network and have a guess as to who you know that is actively cultivating happiness. How can you tell? It's not the toned abs or enormous biceps that we look for in people who attend to their mental and emotional wellbeing. Instead, it's a presence. A sense of engagement in the tasks they carry out. An interest in the world around them, and the community they live in. They may not be the cheeriest people you've met -- I know many people who are deeply happy but don't show it in the outgoing and bubbly way we have decided is the way happiness "should" look.

And what about you? Are you taking responsibility for that 40 percent of your happiness that is in your direct control? If not, don't dwell on it -- just start doing something that makes you happy. Not something that distracts you or numbs you against your unhappiness, but something that genuinely interests you and energizes you. Right now.

If you're still reading, I'm assuming that you're one of the people who are actively cultivating happiness. Fantastic! In that case, I'd love to leave you with a couple of great resources to help you keep doing it. Envision Kindness is a wonderful nonprofit dedicated to sharing acts of kindness across the globe -- you can even share your own stories and experiences with their global community. And if you're looking to supercharge your personal happiness practice, the outstanding (and free!) Science of Happiness course by UC Berkeley and edX is starting on Sept. 8, running for eight weeks. It's a great primer on the subject and is sure to teach you something new to include in your daily practice.

Whatever your current level of happiness, the key thing to take away is that, just like your physical fitness, it is completely within your control to improve. And so I guess that happy being the new skinny may not be such a bad thing after all.

Keep Your Mind Engaged and Healthy

An engaged mind is a healthy mind

By Manali Chavan | 

Weekly chess society meetings are a relaxed environment. Classical music plays from a Pandora station while a number of chess games are ongoing. Members focus on the game before them, occasionally breaking their concentration to share a laugh with their opponent.

Engaging in activities that exercise the mind is beneficial to a student’s overall health and often, overlooked in today’s day-in-age. A typical college student spends most of his or her day attending classes, studying for exams and going to work, with their few hours of spare time they engage in sports, clubs and spend time with friends.

With an ample amount of activities to fill the day with, students can easily become overworked and stressed. Erin Trujillo, associate director and clinical director for ASU Counseling Services says in an email that the body needs a certain amount of stress to perform at its best, but that the amount of stress a body can take does reach a limit.

“Our bodies tell us when we move past our optimal level and into a place where we are impacted,” Trujillo says. “We’ll lose sleep, our eating patterns change and we’ll become either more or less emotional than our norm.”

Along with busy days many students find themselves engaging in more than one activity at a time. It has become rare for students to simply focus on one task at hand. However, Trujillo says there are certain activities, such as chess that provoke critical thinking and strengthen intellectual activity.

“When we are fully engaged in an intellectual activity, we are fully present in the moment,” Trujillo says.

Max Fechtmeyer, president of the Chess Society of Arizona State, has been playing chess for most of his life. Although he enjoys playing the game against his fellow club members, he praises the skills it has given him.

“It’s more of an endurance test and takes a lot of concentration,” Fechtmeyer says. “It’s such a good mental sharpening block that it should be focused on more.”

Brady Madden, director of Well Devil Coalition says in an email interview he stresses the importance of engaging in activities that promote a healthy lifestyle.

“A healthy lifestyle can promote greater concentration and focus, better memory and other mental benefits,” Madden says.

Madden shares that participating in activities such as playing chess or listening to TED Talks can sharpen the mind with new information and teach students how to strategize.

When Ben Jones started playing chess regularly he found himself appreciating other art forms such as classical music and NPR radio segments more.

“Chess really makes you slow down and take a couple steps back and think about what you’re doing,” says Jones, vice president of the Chess Society of Arizona State.

For students who are looking to sharpen their mind and increase their focus, the difference can come from simple activities such as playing a game of chess once a week or listening to NPR while driving in the car. Trujillo reminds us that these tiny activities can have a major effect on our overall health.

“All of these opportunities sharpen our minds through inspiration,” Trujillo says. “It keeps us balanced and intrigued.” 

Changing the Way You Work Can Change Your Life

How Changing the Way You Work Can Change Your Life 

By Troy Stoneking 

If you are like most people you spend a large amount of time engaged in your work. But do you enjoy what you do? According to the 2014 Job Satisfaction Surveyconducted by the non-profit research firm the Conference Board, less than 50% of American workers are satisfied at their jobs. But why are people dissatisfied?

Are workplaces so horrible? Is it possible that there are just so many bad bosses out there that people are pushed into misery? Must work be a drudgery that we suffer through for 40 years (or more) then reach the paradise of retirement? I don't think so.

If being an entrepreneur isn't the right fit for you, is satisfaction possible in a job? Although you may need to change your job to be more fulfilled, I believe that for many of us we can have a better job without going anywhere. Let me show you how changing the way you work can change your life.

Live the Vision

Some time ago I worked in a public school district. I managed the school's computer network. My days were filled with complex technical issues and problems that were far removed from the students. But when I stepped back I could see the vision of the organization. We, as a connected group of faculty and staff, were training the next generation to make the world a better place. My part may not have been in front of a classroom directly engaging young minds, but their education was materially affected by what I did every day.

If you want more satisfaction in your work then discover the vision of your organization or team and live it! See your part in the big picture and work knowing that what you do is part of a greater whole. Everyone wants to have significance. So be significant by making your workplace better through your contribution.

Strive for Excellence

Sometimes I have been guilty of doing sub-par work. You know what I mean. Putting in just enough effort to get the job done in a satisfactory way. Not really trying, simply killing time. Do you know how I feel after I finish a task in that manner? Lousy. Drained, tired and a little depressed.

Other times I push myself. I put my whole heart into a task and go all in! I work harder and expend a LOT more energy. Do you know what I feel like after that? Excited! Ready to do more and full of life!! When I strive for excellence I come away fully engaged and completely satisfied. Striving for excellence can make the most mundane of tasks something you can be proud of having completed.

Help Your Colleagues

In every job and entrepreneurial venture I have had there has been a common theme. In some way I was involved in helping others. I'm not telling you this just to say I'm special. I'm telling you this because of a simple truth.

Helping others is like helping yourself. - Henry Flagler

When I take the time to help a coworker, whether or not that directly affects me, I'm making a positive deposit toward their success. When you lift someone up you are also lifted up by the power of generosity. Giving of yourself will make you happier and more satisfied in any situation.

Encourage Positive Change

Here is a guiding principle in every area of life, including your work. Do what you can to make things better. I love to look at a job, department, or organization and think, "How can this be improved?" It's not just an exercise in positive thinking. Often ideas have come during these times that resulted in increased income for the company.

Ask yourself questions such as:

• Where can we reach other markets?
• What are opportunities for new revenue streams?
• How can I help remove waste and improve efficiency?
• What can I do to improve the bottom line?

When you take personal responsibility for making your company more successful your engagement will increase greatly, along with your job satisfaction.

Conclusion

You may not have the most glamorous job in the world, but if you have a job then consider it a blessing. Many may be envious of you. Do what you can to become an engaged part of the vision, put forth your best effort, help others and make your organization a better place. Follow these strategies and you may just find your job is actually a very satisfying endeavor.