The One-Minute Gratitude Exercise

Do you want to be happier? Experience less stress? Abolish depression? Here's a one-minute practice that will change your life. On your way to work (school, grocery store) think of three things that you're grateful for. It can be anything--your child's laughter, clean socks, dinner with a friend or anything that makes you feel happy or content. Think about it.

When you arrive at work, jot down these three things on a sticky note. Say them aloud to a friend, relative, co-worker, or spouse. This is important. If you have no one to talk to, say them aloud in your car before you leave your car.

Put the sticky note in a place where you'll see it periodically throughout the day. When you leave, put the note on your dashboard so that you'll see it all the way home. At that point you can either save it or toss it.

The next day pick three more things that you're grateful for and repeat the exercise. Watch how your heart opens up and your negativity vanishes. Magic!

Journal Your Progress

You cannot manage what you don’t measure. So keeping track through a journal or diary is essential. You can keep this simple or you can get fancy. I keep track on my computer. But when I’m on the road, I carry a little notebook in my purse. It's especially important to journal your progress if you're in the process of recovering from an addiction. Your journal will help you to see where you're doing well and what you need to avoid to do even better.

Here are the things that I write down every day:

*the date and my morning weight

*the amount of water I drank during the day

*What I ate, the amount I ate, and the time I ate

*What kind of exercise I did–strength training, aerobic, or stretching and how long I did it

*How long I meditated

You can also measure other things like your mood, your level of energy, your mental clarity, your motivation, or your stress level. I find it easiest to use a simple one to ten scale with ten being the best and one being the worst. I also like to give myself a little smiley face if I did well that day. Positive reinforcement can be just that simple.

There are a number of free online journal sites. I like several formats at Bella Online.

At first I found it a bother to journal. Now it takes less than 5 minutes a day and it keeps me on track. I highly recommend it!

Meditation for Stress Reduction

What do you think of when meditation is mentioned?  Buddhist monks sitting in monasteries on mountaintops? That’s what I pictured. Did you know that more than 1,000 scientific articles have been published on the subject of meditation? Impressive research tells us that meditation induces a sense of well-being and emotional balance. It helps to reduce the body’s reaction to stress. And let’s face it. Stress is a killer.

Researchers at the Maharishi School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, found that meditation has an enormous impact on stress reduction. When they examined a group who had meditated for four months they saw that they produced less of the stress hormone cortisol. They were therefore better able to adapt to stress in their lives, no matter what their circumstances were.

So, just what is meditation? I would say that it is focused attention on reality. It's connecting with all that is and being in the present moment. It's deep relaxation however you want to do it--whether you're walking, running, cycling, sitting in a yoga class, lying on your bed or being mindful of the present moment as you do the dishes. I find breathwork the easiest process to enter this focused attention.

Psychological Benefits

• Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation
• Increased happiness
• Increased emotional stability
• Decreased anxiety
• Decreased depression
• Greater creativity
• Decreased irritability and moodiness
• Improved learning ability and memory
• Increased insight and wisdom

Physiological benefits

• Deep rest (as measured by decreased metabolic rate, and lower heart rate)
• Lowered levels of cortisol and lactate (two chemicals associated with stress)
• Improved blood pressure
• Drop in cholesterol levels
• Improved flow of air to the lungs
• Significant slowing of the aging process

Give meditation a try. You'll find that you will value yourself more and come back to it again and again.

Breathwork

B-R-E-A-T-H-E!

"If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly. From my own experience and from working with patients, I have come to believe that proper breathing is the master key to good health."

- Andrew Weil, M.D., author of Natural Health, Natural Medicine

Breathwork has a powerful effect on our health and emotional well-being. In study after study, researchers have found that correct breathing can help and even cure panic attacks, migraine headaches, chronic pain, high blood pressure, anxiety, coronary heart disease, hot flashes, and asthma! We can also use the breath as an entry point into meditation.

Breathing is the only major function in the body that is both involuntary and voluntary. Through conscious breathing we can access and influence the fight-flight sympathetic nervous system. We can reduce the body's reaction to stress, live longer, and be calm and relaxed. In fact, it's just impossible to be anxious, upset, or fearful if your breathing is slow, deep, and regular.

With every breath that you take, you are telling your body through your breath to either tense up with fear or relax into serenity.When you are immersed in fear and anxiety, you use a shallow or tense breath.

When you choose a deep relaxed breath, you are telling your body to open up, relax, be healthy, digest its food so that you can absorb nutrients, allow your heart to feel happy and move your brain into clarity of thought.

Different Types of Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises become essential as you get older because age does reduce the level of oxygen in your lungs. When you only take shallow breaths, as you do in normal breathing, you will eventually notice stiffness in your rib cage as the muscles surrounding the diaphragm start to lose their elasticity. This causes stale air to build up in your lungs that is composed mostly of carbon dioxide.

Rapid shallow breathing also leads to heart disease after a number of years or excessive feelings of tiredness. Breathing exercises to cleanse the stale air in your lungs should be practiced on a daily basis. You do not need to set aside a long period of time for this – five to ten minutes is sufficient. You can do the exercises when you wake in the morning or just before you go to sleep at night.

In fact, if you engage in these exercises when you go to bed, they will help your muscles relax making it a lot easier for you to fall asleep and get a good night’s rest. You should lie flat on your back to do breathing exercises. Make yourself as comfortable as possible. If you need to, place some small pillows under your neck and knees so that you spine is straight. As you breathe naturally, take notice of the rise and fall of your chest and abdomen.

Lay your hands on your stomach, just below your rib cage where your diaphragm is located. The lungs do extend down to this point. Take in a deep breath until you feel your lungs reaching down to this point. A helpful tip to let you know when the lungs extend to this point is to place your hands so that the tips of your middle fingers are slightly touching each other.

As you take a deep breath and your lungs expand, your fingers will start to move apart. In true breathing exercises let the muscles of your stomach relax and feel it filling with air. Once you feel as if your belly is full, let the air expand your chest and lungs. As you let the breath out slowly, you will feel your stomach start to pull inwards forcing out the last bit of air.

You can also do humming breathing exercises in which you make a humming sound as you exhale slowly. By concentrating on your breathing and humming each time you exhale, you will experience a feeling of relaxation in all parts of your body. Chinese breathing exercises involve taking short breaths. To do this exercise you take three short breaths in through your nose without exhaling between them.

For the first inhalation, lift your arms out from your sides so that they stand out in front of you at shoulder height. On the third inhalation, open your arms out to your sides, still keeping them at the same height. When you take in the third inhalation, lift your arms up over your head. Then as you exhale, you bring your arms back to the starting position by your sides.

You should not take more than twelve breaths in this exercise because it can cause you to feel lightheaded. One caution about this form of breathing exercise is that you should only engage in this exercise when you are in a sitting position. It could cause you to hyperventilate if you are standing or lying down.

The poet Rumi wrote: "There is one way of breathing which is shameful and constricted. Then there' s another way: a breath of love that takes you all the way to Infinity."

Exercise

Our bodies don't work well if we don't move. There's plenty of research on the benefits of exercise--particularly to lift one's mood. Although all types of exercise can help, the type of exercise that is recommended to treat mood disorders is vigorous aerobic exercise. And it only takes about 20 minutes before serotonin and dopamine, the "feel-good" hormones, kick in and help you feel happy and calm. Since you'll also look better if you exercise, your confidence and self-esteem will improve. Whoo hoo!

Examples of aerobic exercise include dancing, brisk walking, cross-country skiing, jogging, and cycling. There are many machines that simulate the movements of running, walking, rowing, skiing, and stair climbing. Before you spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars, go to a gym for a while and see what you enjoy. And there's nothing quite like walking outside.

Many of my clients use the same excuse that I have used: I don't want to walk outside in bad weather. To quote my friend Kristen, "There's no such thing as bad weather. There's only bad clothing." Point taken.

You'll still get the benefit of a serotonin release if you do something less vigorous like strolling, stretching, yoga, Tai Chi, ballroom dancing and gentle weight lifting. Do something that you enjoy!

The medical benefits of exercise are numerous. You'll lower your cholesterol, prevent certain cancers as well as chronic diseases such as osteoporosis,  high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. You'll be able to handle the stress in your life more easily. It puts the spark back in your sex life. Your heart and lungs will become more efficient, and you'll have more energy and endurance. You'll probably sleep more soundly and wake up more refreshed. Convinced? Wait, there's more...

If you've ever struggled with depression or anxiety, you'll find that exercise works better than any antidepressant. Naturally, you should always consult with your doctor. However, many of my clients have been able to gradually reduce their antidepressant usage by following a vigorous, regular exercise routine as well as eating healthy foods. They find that exercising a minimum of an hour a day helps their mood.

Not only does exercise add years to your life, new evidence tells us that it can reverse the aging of the brain. Professor Art Kramer of the University of Illinois, a top cognitive neuroscientist, argues that a large body of evidence shows the benefit of aerobic exercise and physical activity on the aging brain. Any exercise which leaves you breathless can increase both the volume of brain tissue and the brain's ability to perform executive functions, such as task coordination, planning, goal maintenance, memory, and the ability to switch tasks.

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