Category: Health

Inspiration for the Holidays – Amazing Vision Blog Carnival Ed. 6

December 21, 2008 – 1:18 pm
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Welcome to the December 21, 2008 edition of Amazing Vision. This is the sixth edition and as usual the entries are inspiring and informative. I must note my particular thankfulness they are so inspirational at this time of year. As you know, the holidays have the highest stats of suicide and mental hospitalization over any other time of the year. Posts like these are gold to the world’s psyche. I have read them all but not commented on all. I wanted to get them out to you as soon as possible. I look forward to reading and commenting on these more in depth today and through the rest of the week. Thank you immensely to all who contributed this time.  This is truly an extraordinary set of submissions.

Chris Edgar presents What’s Really Holding You Back: “Morality or … posted at Purpose Power Coaching, saying, “When we feel anger, fear, or some other emotion we see as unpleasant, we tend to assume “morality” requires us to feel how we do. If someone else is the object of our irritation, anxiety, or something else, we tend to see them as immoral. In this article, I discuss how becoming aware of how we confuse our emotions with morality can help us transcend our fears and gain valuable self-understanding.”

Kathleen Gaga presents It’s my judgment, so it must be right! posted at Daily Awareness, saying, “One of the most fascinating lies we tell ourselves is if we believe something to be true, right or so, it must be. The fact is, much of what we try to convince ourselves and others as true is often a matter of judgment based on ego.
If something is happening that we simply don’t approve of, then obviously it is wrong. Or so the thinking for many people goes. Learn a simple technique for minimizing judgment.”

Jacob presents Why human space travel is important posted at Early Retirement Extreme.

Mike Salara presents One Change Per Day To A Better Life posted at Mike Salara.

Louis Burns presents Crafting Mental Movies For Others posted at NLP Marketing Blog, saying, “This article is about not only visualizing your own goals but the experience you want other people to have as well.”

Ahuva Goldstand presents A conversation with Arik Kilemnik, print-master – Jerusalem Metro Blog – Jerusalemite.net posted at Jerusalemite blog, saying, “Founder and director of the Jerusalem Print Workshop-Djanogly Graphic Arts Center, Arik Kilemnik was first introduced to the world of ink and paper as a student at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in the early 1950s. Kilemnik’s passion brought him to New York City in the heady 1960s, where he studied at the Pratt Institute’s Graphic Design Center and the Art Students League. Upon his return to Jerusalem, Kilemnik helped found the Jerusalem Print Workshop, which was officially established in 1974. Modeled after programs Kilemnik had seen in New York, the workshop was designed as place for artists to gather to work”

Cary Anderson presents An Oldie but a Goodie posted at Eating Healthy, saying, “One of the easiest and cheapest (hey who isn’t looking for cheap ways to stay in shape nowadays!) fitness methods is the good ol’ pushup.”

Joe Manausa presents What is a RSS Subscription? posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, “Have you ever noticed that anytime you read a blog, there is a Subscription Button that encourages you to subscribe to it? Well, I have been questioned about this often enough to recognize that most readers do not understand how RSS works and why bloggers should continue to explain it in order to expand their subscribers list.” (Not really an “Amazing Vision” entry, but such a cool idea! -Damien)

Storm presents What My Rabbits Have Taught Me About Buddhism posted at Ways To Simplify.

Carole Gold presents The Business of Hope posted at McKay Today, saying, “The secret to how to help others and yourself through challenging times.”

Ralph Jean-Paul presents Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, ““”Start sticking to those New Year’s Resolutions by learning what resolutions really are, why some resolutions don’t work, and how to follow through on them.”"

VY presents Sit Down Life posted at Sit Down Life, saying, “Stop Running in the mad rush. Relax speedster!”

Raymond presents Warren Buffett’s Single Most Important Piece Of Advice For Stock Market Investors posted at Money Blue Book.

Cary Anderson presents Improving Your Marriage Resume posted at Find Love, saying, “For many women, the quest to find a husband is just as important as their career. Whether you realize it or not, in the same way you have a career resume, you have a marriage one too!”

Joshua Seth presents Skydiving As A Metaphor For Life posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “As I think back over the years and wonder at how I got to live this life of non-stop travel and adventure I am reminded of two of my favorite phrases “The world is your oyster” and “Carpe diem” (seize the day). I truly believe you can be, have and do anything you want in life once you clearly identify what that is and give yourself permission to have it.”

Joy presents The Weirdest Story Ever about Trading and Finance posted at Fulfilled Dreams.

Felix presents End of Year Magic? posted at Fulfilled Dreams.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of amazing vision using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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By Damien Riley | Also posted in Inspiration, Psychology, Reviews, Self Improvement | Tagged Art Students, Chris Edgar, Damien, edition, fear, Health, humor, Inspiration, jacob, Joe Manausa, Joshua Seth, Joshua Seth Blog, Kathleen Gaga, Kilemnik, life, Love, mental-health, Mike Salara, morality, Per Day, Pop Culture, Psychology, Ralph Jean-, Raymond, relationships, Reviews, Self Improvement, something, success, vision, Warren Buffett, Workshop, world, year | Comments (0)

Seasonal Affective Disorder :: Sad Times?

December 14, 2008 – 4:25 pm
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depressed bed
Photo by Made Underground

Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as S.A.D, affects an estimated 6 out of 10 people.  It is basically a mental disorder brought on by cold and lack of sunlight.  It is seen most frequently in younger people however older people get it as well.  I find it interesting to note that during the holidays, many people are suffering through this.  It is thought to have been caused by a lack of sunlight.  People susceptible to the disorder are encouraged to spend time in light therapy and outdoors.

One example I know of is that of a young woman in her early twenties who went away to college and suddenlt became depressed.  She was born and raised in sunny Southern California and went to school in snowy Nebraska.  Her symptoms included: catatonia, uncontrollable crying, anger outbursts, and severe moods.  These things were most notable because she was never like that before her college experience.  SSRI’s and moving back to California cured her symptoms rapidly.  She is one of the lucky ones.  S.A.D. has been suspected cause of suicide in a growing number of cases.

S.A.D. may be sad, but it is no joke.  If you feel you might be getting depressed due to a lack of sunlight, try and get out more and pay attention to its affect on your psychology. “‘Tis the season to be jolly” may not be true for everyone.  I should also add that, even apart from S.A.D. diagnoses, the holiday months have the highest number of suicides than any other time throughout the year.  If you are just plain feeling sad during the holidays, make sure you talk to someone, a friend perhaps, at the very least.

Read the link below to learn more about S.A.D., get out in the sun as much as makes sense for your day, and most importantly: if your symptoms persist, see a psychiatrist.  When you’re doing all that to keep yourself out of the funny farm, you can deck the halls with no worries.

Do you know an example of S.A.D. or other winter depression?

Further reading on Seasonal Affective Disorder

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my feed via rss -or- email button. Thanks for visiting!

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Psychology | Tagged brain, dealing with sad, dealing with seasonal affective disorder, depressed in winter, depression in winter, fatigue, full-spectrum light, light exposure, light therapy, low energy, melatonin, mental-health, mood, need more sleep in winter, phototherapy, Psychology, sad, seasonal affective disorder, seasonal depression, Self Improvement, serotonin, sleep more in winter, sleeping more in winter, sunlight, tired in winter, treatment for sad, treatment for seasonal affective disorder, winter blahs, winter blues, winter depression, winter tiredness | Comments (0)

First Time Stress

December 13, 2008 – 9:24 pm
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Jungle Gym Kids

All Kids Know the Fear of the Jungle Gym the First Time

This is a picture of my two daughters at our local park. The older one faced her fear of this jungle gym years back while the smaller one is perceiving it for the first time. She measures her steps and cries out, “Daddy” when her foot can’t find the next step. She is scared now but after a few visits more to the park, this jungle gym won’t frighten her at all.

What’s Your Jungle Gym?

There’s a first time for everything and sometimes that first time can freak you out. If it’s the first time your boss calls you in for a one on one … the first time you get a call from a bill collector … the first time someone breaks up with you … the list goes on. In my life, things like this tend to be easier to get through when it’s the second or multiple time they’re happening. That’s what I tell myself in those “first time stress” moments. If something is happening to me and causing me worry, I need to step back and recall all the tough things I’ve been through.

Keep Your Cool, a Second Time Will Prove Easier

The second time it won’t be so hard and I will wish I would have held it together better. First time stress can cause the simple adversities of life to seem horrendous.  Try to remember that all things pass eventually and you’ll probably not be so stressed the second time it comes up.

Another way to escape fear is to distract yourself with actions. In my weekly Podcast on inspiration and psychology I talk about why and how this can be done. I hope you’ll check it out!

How do you deal with fear in your life?

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Psychology | Tagged life, Psychology, Self Improvement, success | Comments (0)

Life is Short, Eat at the Buffet

December 10, 2008 – 11:20 pm
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My son and I were driving home the other day and we were both starving with the dream of a local buffet we love.  We called my wife and asked her if she was up for it.  As it turned out, she was busy and not hungry so she gave us the green light to go on our own.  Since my girls are almost 2 and 4, they are beautiful but often a big hassle to bring out.  Needless to say, Dad and son were stoked to get a reprieve.  We don’t get to do much alone just he and I.

Damien

I think it’s important for us humans to treat ourselves once in a while.

You and I recreate our minds and feed our mental energy when we eat, laugh, and love with those we care about. No need to be a “glutton” but good food and company with a good friend gives health to the soul!  :)

Brandon

Food

table

dessert

As I ate my chocolate cake and sipped my coffee. My son told me all about the book he was reading. It’s moments like that you can’t describe the value of as a dad.  I hope you have the means to go to a buffet soon with someone special.  Life is too short to miss out on this stuff.

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Inspiration, Psychology, Self Improvement | Tagged brain, Health, Inspiration, kids, life, mental-health, Psychology, relationships, Self Improvement | Comments (0)

Music as Antidote for Stress

December 9, 2008 – 9:53 pm
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CD
Image by Stallio

There are many things we can do to quell stress and make us feel great.  Listening to music is something I use and highly recommend.

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks…

If you’re like most people, you are having extra stress around the holidays. Bills, the kids acting crazy, challenges at work, drama at work. You may even be feeling stressed about getting “the perfect gift” for that special loved one. One thing I have learned about big stress patches like these is that you can never solve each part of them … you just have to find a way to mentally deal with them.

Take you for a ride in my car, car…

One way I am helped through times like these in through music in my car. I drive 30 minutes to work and occasionally we take family road trips that last for hours on the road. My wife and I both since we met have spent time downloading music and making custom CD’s. The one I have in my car now changes my stress into the feeling of sitting in a jacuzzi. Having a CD like this ready for those stressful times has been a very helpful device for me.

Recreation is re-creation of ourselves.

When we “de-stress” we become more like our true self. In my case, the person people usually see at work and even at home is not my relaxed self. That is the place where my best ideas coalesce into real thoughts … rela plans … real goals. We need to give ourselves that time of “meditation” to a CD in our car so we can redisover and recreate the real us.

Free and paid services exist to help us get the music we want and need.

I use Last.fm and the radio to discover songs. You can see what people are listening to as well as hear the latest on the charts. What’s better is you can sample the tunes to see if you like them. After that you can buy them on Amazon.com. There, they also offer a sample of each song. As you probably know, there are as many ways to get music online as there are to get Seiko watches. Amazon is my favorite for gathering tunes though. Why not use the widget below to start planning your “recreate CD.” Let me know the songs you put on it so I can get help making my next CD.  Below are some of my absolute favorites. Maybe they will mellow you the way they do it for me. If not, you can get your faves in a click.

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Self Improvement | Tagged custom cd, family road trips, meditation, music, Relax, stress, stressful times | Comments (0)

25 Ways to Find Inspiration, Relax, and Clear Your Mind

November 12, 2008 – 7:00 am
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The world is so full of boring people. It’s important for leaders, teachers, writers, performers, and artists to share an influence that is NOT boring with this starved-for-passion world.

This is a guest post from Chelle who writes about relationships on her blog itmightbelove.com.

Recently I noticed Damien asked a question in his post about what we want and what we need:

What is your “thing” you can do today to relax your body and awaken your creativity?

Having a similiarly hectic life to everyone else I try to at least once a day do something to help me relax and clear my head – otherwise I would probably be spinning in circles most of the time. Most of the things you can do to find inspiration and clear your mind don’t take a lot of effort or time to do.
Here are 25 Ways to Find Inspiration, Relax, and Clear Your Mind:

1. Music: No matter what my mood is or what I need to get done, music is a BIG source of inspiration. There’s music to fit any mood and sometimes just hearing certain songs can make you feel good. Playing guitar or piano (even if you’re not necessarily a rock star!) is another great creative outlet to find a little inspiration and/or clear your head.

2. Nature: The world is a beautiful place, and yet most of the time we’re too busy to enjoy it. Whether you decide to watch the sky or just go for a walk in the woods, it can instantly make you feel less stressed and help get that creativity going again.

3. People Watching: Sometimes its easy to be overwhelmed by the people we encounter daily through work or school or our families. But watching complete strangers can give you the opportunity to view life from someone else’s eyes. You can guess what they might be thinking or feeling or going through. You might find some ideas pretty easily by watching someone else for just a few minutes.

4. Take a Road Trip: A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to drive 2 hours in a car all by myself. No kids screaming – just me, my car, and the open road. It was amazing! It was the first time I had driven that long by myself – I forgot how much a road trip could instantly clear your mind and inspire you!

5. Photographs: Thanks to the power of the internet, there are millions of photos to take a look at and use for inspiration. If you like to take photographs, why not take a day sight seeing and snapping shots? Taking some time to go out and take pictures can be a great source for inspiration and relaxation.

6. Dreams: Dreams can be very powerful in giving you insight in your life. If you have problems remembering dreams, all you need to do is get into a habit of writing about what your dreams were – even if very hazy or foggy at first. You’ll start remembering very vivid details before long. Understanding your dreams is one step to understanding yourself better – and even if the dream is complete nonsense it may give you a few good ideas! A good night’s rest can do wonders as well!

7. Great Food: Inspiration can come from waking up your senses and taste is no exception. Maybe its comfort food or something exquisite. Sometimes ice cream makes everything all better too. If you tend to be overindulgent a lot, cutting back to healthier eating habits can also help improve your mood and help you concentrate.

8. Aromatherapy: Sure, a lot of people will roll their eyes at the thought of candles and incense and all of that. But smell is another important sense that when stimulated can help you instantly relax. Recently I used an old real estate trick to put a few teaspoons of vanilla on a pan in the oven to warm. The whole house radiated of a warm fuzzy baking cookies smell that put everyone instantly in a good mood. Lavender is also another smell that most people respond well too.

9. Touch: While we’re on the subject of the senses, touch is another that we often forget to nurture. Whether you hold someone’s hand, sign up for a day at a local spa for a massage, rub your dog’s belly, or just wear you most favorite worn out t-shirt– the things your body touches and come into contact with can have a big affect on your mood and your creativity.

10. Close Family/Friends: The people we are the closest to are typically the ones we take for granted the most. Take a time-out and really listen to them what they are thinking about or doing. You’ll be surprised at how inspiring it might be to see what they have to say or a different perspective on a situation you’re in.

11. Online Forums: If I’m ever stuck on a blog post idea or need somewhere to let off some steam, online forums are great for this! Complete strangers love to talk about their problems and listen to yours. One of the nicest communities I’ve met are the folks over at MyLot – but there are plenty of other great boards too. Sometimes listening to other people’s problems and trying to offer solutions can help you clear your head, give you a place to vent, and get new perspectives you hadn’t thought of before.

12. Magazines & Newspapers: With everything online anymore, we forget about the thrill of a magazine coming in the mail or opening up the Sunday paper and spreading it across the table or couch. I like magazines and newspapers because they are perfect for my short attention span and they are also full of recent events and opinions to help inspire you.

13. Brainstorm: Sometimes a good brainstorm can help you think of new ideas and thoughts. You can list pros and cons if you are trying to make a decision, or you can map it out with a list of ideas and cloud bubbles.

14. Paint, Draw, Color: I am lucky that by being a mom I have a full arsenal of crayons, water colors, and markers at my disposal. Anytime the kids get restless or I feel like we need to calm down we sit down and paint or color. Instant relaxation!

15. Hydrotherapy: A hot bath or shower, a soak in a hot tub, maybe even a few laps around a pool can all do wonders in relaxing you and helping you think clearly. Haven’t you ever heard anyone say “I do my best thinking in the shower?”

16. Break the Monotony: Most days follow a routine of some sorts. Routines are usually good – you’re more organized and better prepared to handle the stress that’s bound to come your way. But every so once inawhile, take a break from your routine. Do something entirely spontaneous. You’ll find yourself rejuvenated again.

17. Exercise: It wasn’t until about 6 months ago I realized exercise wasn’t a chore but an instant pick me up. I usually workout to my list of 100 workout songs – afterwards I always feel much more relaxed.

18. Do Nothing: Sometimes when you’re so caught up in the hustle and bustle of everything, what you really need is some do nothing time. Think about how much time you spend doing absolutely nothing – there’s a good chance you’re not giving yourself a break if you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. Take an hour (or maybe even a whole day) and do absolutely nothing.

19. Clean House: Damien suggested this a few times and I completely agree. Clutter and disorganization can make you feel overwhelmed instantly. Whether you decide to organize the files on your computer or to clean out the garage or do dishes by hand in the sink doesn’t matter – sometimes just cleaning things out can help you clear your mind and give you a sense of order and control.

20. Write: Writing has always been an excellent way to relax and be inspired, unless you’re experiencing writers block of course! Sometimes keeping a daily or weekly journal can help you sort out thoughts and ideas and feel better – as well as take a look back at what you’ve done which can be inspiration. If writer block is a problem, I’m a big fan of “freewriting” – you set a timer for 5 minutes and just write non stop for that 5 minutes. Sure, you might find yourself writing a lot of nonsense – but you might also find a few great gems of ideas in there as well.

21. Add Some Greenery: You don’t have to have a green thumb to enjoy gardening. A few low maintenance house plants or doing some landscaping or even mowing the grass can all provide an outlet to escape the usual stress and help you clear your mind.

22. Meditate: Spending some time to quietly reflect and clear your head can work wonders as well. Learning how to meditate can really make a big difference on your ability to

23. Do a Puzzle: It doesn’t matter if you do a jigsaw puzzle or a crossword puzzle – puzzle solving is a great way to exercise your brain and help you get your mind off the more important things for a little while and help you relax.

24. Laugh: There’s been proof that laughter is perhaps the best medicine and even good for you – but it’s a good chance you’re not laughing enough. Next time everything goes wrong don’t start yelling – laugh. Make sure you find something funny at least once a day. I try to do this with my totally pointless blog about stupid stuff.

25. Get Your Frustrations Out: One of our biggest problems is we tend to bottle up emotions or feelings. It’s not intentionally usually, but the day to day aggravation can eventually make you feel like you might just snap. So go ahead and take some time at a batting cage or golf range, punch a pillow, or scream at the top of your lungs. You’ll feel better that you did!

Do you feel inspired yet? There’s a ton of things you can do that can instantly make you feel better and at peace with the world. Most aren’t hard to do – you just need to make sure you put things like these on your priority list right up there with “get dressed today” and “feed kids”. Giving yourself some space and time can help you move from feeling like you can’t get anything done to feeling like you can conquer all.

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Inspiration, Psychology | Tagged chelle, creativity, guestblogger Chelle, Health, Inspiration, it might be love, Relax | Comments (0)

What we Want and What We Need has Been Confused

November 10, 2008 – 2:59 pm
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That title is a quote from Michael Stipe of the band REM in the song, Finest Worksong. Got two days off (post weekend) and I was thrilled about it.  I figured, here’s an eternity of time to get everything I need to get done, done!  Well, after the first day it hasn’t quite worked out that way.

A reminder that life is longer than we think sometimes.

I’ve done a lot today but a few things I did were really important and restorative.  Let me take you through them in hopes you find parallels for your next short time off:

Got up about 6am with the crying baby and the edgy 3 year old.  Took care of their needs.  Bottle, changed diapers, feed the older one, put their channel on.  The girls really wore me out this morning.  In searching for my “center” I found myself very distracted with their needs.  Not complaining mind you, just explaining that we can’t always get that time we have “off.”  I thought, maybe it is better to spend time with my girls that it is to space out in front of the computer all day.  So that wasn’t all bad.  Meanwhile, my 10 year old was sleeping in (LUCKY DOG!)

The rest of the day consisted in cleaning and preparing: preparing for lunch, dinner and cleaning the kitchen and TV room.  There is so much joy in a clean room.  All this stuff was like therapy for me.  Later on we went out by the pool and I pulled all the strange things out of the skimmer.  I came inside, had some pizza and watched a few shows on Rome.  Typical time at home eh?  I am sure it all was therapeutic, but my head still felt thick.  I knew my therapy needed one more step: relaxation.  I’d cleaned, prepared, read stories, made bottles, and much more but I hadn’t yet been able to JUST RELAX.  Do you ever have trouble just relaxing?  Well if that’s the case, remember to relax before it’s too late.  How did I relax?  I took a hot shower.  It revived my spirits.  When I got dried off I asked my wife to go out for dinner tonight … just us!  We spent all Sunday and Monday in the day with our kids and I figured we both deserved a break.

Point? My relaxing shower was great, but only after I had done the cleaning and preparation of the day.  I think one of the single most powerful tools of inspiration is cleaning.  Having said that, it should always be tempered with relaxation.  So what is your “thing” you can do today to relax your body and awaken your creativity?  Make sure you do that thing in concert with the other stuf “you know you gotta do.”  When you have that breakthrough, let us know!

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Inspiration, Psychology | Tagged creativity, Inspiration, morning, preparation, relaxation | Comments (0)

[Guest Blog] Relaxation Meditation: Part 1 of 2

November 10, 2008 – 6:00 am
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When I ran across Dorian’s Blog “Buddha of Hollywood,” I was instantly curious.  Since I live so close to Hollywood and know a few “oddballs” that have come out of that town, I figured I had a tiger by the tail with this blogger.  Since then we have exchanged emails a few times and I have learned of his interest in meditation.  While I meditate and practice TM as well as the Relaxation Response in my life, I found out his knowledge was in some different aspects.  I was pleased when he agreed to 2 part guestblog on meditation.  I hope you enjoy his writing as much as I do.

When my friend Damien asked me to guestblog on self improvement, the first thing I did was to go to my book shelf and pull out my old psychology books. I ended up with a pile that would take me a year to research and I thought to myself “Well, this is not going to work.”  I’m not going to be able to train somebody to do psychoanalysis and therapy by writing blog posts.

Considering that 90% of the daily psychological bruises we are facing are small incidents, stuff not worthy taking it to a therapist.  (You wouldn’t go to a surgeon to put a band aid on your finger cut, would you?) Then only about 10% of our problems are of that magnitude that requires professional help.

Instead of getting too deep into the academic aspect of psychology, I thought that I could come up with something more practical.

The following posts are going to give you a series of tools to deal with the small stressors of the daily life. They will teach you how to be more relaxed, give you more energy, prop up your self confidence and optimism, and make you fell better and more enthusiastic about your life. Watch for the posts in this series, I hope they will benefit you.

Part I – The Concept of Relaxation Meditation

I wish I could come up with another word for meditation since what we are going to learn and practice has a lot more to offer than the classical meditation techniques.
Let’s say that we are going to learn how to use our mind, brain if you want to call it so, at a higher level and capacity. We are currently using only about 10% of our mental capacity. That means that using just 20% would double your brain output. Can you imagine what it would be like to function at 100% mental ability?
The problem we are facing as human beings is not that we are not equipped to deal with our daily problems or that modern life has become unmanageable and our brains can not keep up with it. Our problem is that we are running our brain with both the acceleration and the brake pedals to the floor at the same time. The gains in performance and improvements that I’m taking about achieving are not some miracle supernatural voodoo trick but they can be made.

You are not going to gain anything that you already don’t have, just the knowledge and ability of mastering your own mind.

We will start understanding the “Relaxation Meditation” in this post by examining the concept.

RM is relaxing your mind in a controlled, voluntary fashion. Sounds simple enough, but there are a lot of people in the field who don’t distinguish between physical and psychical relaxation, this is an important point to make.  RM means relaxing the mind as well as the body.

Have you ever worked on a project so difficult and so demanding that sitting in front of your computer screen or a piece of paper your brain just spaces out and you find yourself staring at the screen with your mind completely empty?  As I close this post, consider the benefits to RM:

Benefits. Even if you practice only this simple form of meditation the benefits you will incur are tremendous. From dealing with the daily stress to improve brain function to improved immune system, this meditation is essential in your mental and physical well being. The simple benefits like improved sleeping and improved energy will be apparent very soon after you start your practice. The more profound changes will take a longer practice time but your rewards will be worth the time and effort.  In my next guestpost here at Postcards from the Funny Farm I will dive right in and show the practice of RM.  So watch for it here next week!

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Psychology, Self Improvement | Tagged blogger, brain, energy, knowledge, meditation, optimism, Psychology, relaxation, Relaxation Response, rest, therapy | Comments (0)

[Podcast] Quote Talk with Damien

November 8, 2008 – 10:06 pm
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (17.7MB)

In this, my second podcast, I got a great tip from my friend Jessica S. (I have to distinguish with an S. because my sister in law is also named Jessica and is also a blogger who reads Postcards) to go back through my thousands of archived posts and talk about one of those ideas.  Thanks Jessica!  As I took her advice tonight I ran across my quote page and thought it would be a great opportunity as I’m learning how to “talk to you guys” ;) to share some of these personal impressions I get from the crazy quotes I have collected.

It’s a bit longer than the last one, but I think I needed to make it longer this time.  I am actually somewhat happy with my voice.  Last time I sounded like I was out of breath thereby giving away my nerves.  There are a few pops on the microphone etc. that I apologize for.  But, I think I’m getting an idea how this should go and I hope you’ll tune in next week.  I promise to have a new concept.  It might have something to do with the amazing inventions of Rome, but nothing is set in stone yet ;)

Thanks for listening to this podcast.  Oh and one last thing, I wanted to say thank you to Nick for his encouraging comment about my podcast last week.  With wobbly legs, I am kind of learning how to do this as I go along so the positive vibes are appreciated!  We’ll see where it goes.

By Damien Riley | Tagged Damien Riley, Inspiration, mental-health, motivation, Podcast, Psychology, quotations, Quotes | Comments (0)

Stop! Be Well

September 30, 2008 – 9:22 am
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I’m a person who enjoys having a lot of projects ongoing all the time.  Still, I recognize that stillness and reflection are crucial for the projects to succeed.  At work this is most true.  We have several tests we are giving the kids right now and the pressure is on to see them succeed.  Whether it is subject/predicate standards or just plain spelling, we as teachers are thinking about what we can do to get them to score the highest.  In the process, I think many classes get burned out and do less than they would have given more PE or just restful time in class to prepare.

At home this is prevalent.  My kids are reaching up for me (ages 1,3, and 10) metaphorically or literally and I can feel the pull on my attention.  I am thinking about my blogs and the things I need to do as a normal grownup in the world at home but they aren’t concerned about any of that.  Kids don’t think outside the box, they live outside the box.  Do I push them off or do I spend time with each of them.  Again, the forced stillness is so crucial to happy and healthy parenting.  I try to spend time with each of them even if I am not 100% successful.  Of course, the time with my wife is also crucial.  Am I making enough time to be romantic?  This is a priority for me, even though my wife might not agree with that statement!

What is it you are rushing to do?  Make sure you take the time for stillness.  You will find it boosts your productivity and gives you a paradigm shift.  You’ll never know until you try!

By Damien Riley | Also posted in Psychology, Self Improvement | Tagged being still, kids, mental-health, Productivity | Comments (0)

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