Try This to Sleep Better

Okay, you may not be ready for a nap right NOW but do feel like getting a little more sleep would be helpful?

Studies have shown that practising gratitude helps with the quality of your sleep by slowing down your pre-sleep cognitions, which just means it helps us to STOP worrying so much.

We all do it. We're REALLY GOOD THINKERS.

We think that more thinking will solve everything.
But, OVER-THINKING can turn into a hamster wheel that takes us nowhere, and it keeps us awake.

Using a guided relaxation meditation can help to build a really good pre-sleep routine and cut out the habit of thinking at bedtime.
One of my most popular audio relaxation tracks, called the Deep Deep Relaxation Meditation, can be found here in The Calm Shop.

In my PREVIOUS BLOG-Build Happiness Pathways in Your Brain, we focussed on gratitude to activate happiness and now HERE I'd like you to keep it up so you can potentially benefit from a better night's sleep.

• Daily "Thank-you's"

• Gratitude journaling or lists

• Showing gratitude

Make it a habit, and it gets easier and easier.

You're rewiring your brain ALL THE TIME,

SCIENCEY STUFF*

"Hypothalamic regulation, triggered by gratitude, helps us get deeper and healthier sleep naturally everyday. A brain filled with gratitude and kindness is more likely to sleep better and wake up feeling refreshed and energetic every morning (Zahn et al., 2009)."

so let's CHOOSE to rewire it in ways that help us to thrive.

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions.
The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” -Zig Ziglar

Until next week...keep thriving!
Take care.
Michele

*Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions

I'm Obsessed with Stress

"Stress is caused by being "here" but wanting to be "there" or being in the present but wanting to be in the future."

Eckhart Tolle

---

It's in the news, board rooms, schools, Instagram posts, AND on our faces...STRESS is the topic of the day. I analyze my own stress, want to help others manage their stress, read about it and study it. It's exhausting!

But is stress ever a good thing? Well, ya, it sure is, we'd be crazy to think otherwise. Try winning a race or meeting a deadline or giving a speech without the 'pumping up' benefits of stress hormones. 

Imagine a runner on the starting blocks of a big race. Now imagine if, in that instant, she sees the finish line, as something to get to, SEPARATE from herself, struggling toward the FUTURE. Got it? Okay now imagine that, instead, she runs the race and heads to the finish line while staying in the moment, WITH herself, happening NOW.

Go ahead and read that again, I had to. See the difference? It's subtle.  The second option is in the PRESENT MOMENT which means she's not worrying about the finish line existing in her future. Her goal is still clear but it's HOW she gets there that's changed.

How much of our day involves the split between the present and the future? We still have dreams and aspirations and goals, so how do we get to our finish line and set new ones without creating more stressful suffering? Eckhart Tolle says, in his book The Power of Now, that 'living with this inner split is insane'.

It's true that goals help us to move forward and take action and enjoy life BUT we need to observe our thoughts just to check in to see if we're living in the destructive, stressful state of "I'LL BE HAPPY WHEN xyz HAPPENS." Observing our thoughts when the stress is too much may reveal this split, and just by observing, we can release some stress.

This is what Eckhart Tolle must be talking about when he says, "Stress is caused by being "here" but wanting to be "there" or being in the present but wanting to be in the future."

In all honesty sometimes I don't even want to set goals, I seem to feel like they're so big and so final. What I like to do is aim for is having forward momentum and growth.  Maybe it's the same thing as a goal? I don't know.

So, let's go back to our runner for a moment. She has a lot to teach us. She's trained for the race, built up stress, and then 'BAM!', the starter pistol goes off, she explodes into a run and what's happening? 

She's spending her stress. Using it up!!!

Whaaat? 

Look out, this is big! The runner is releasing her stress but do we do the same? Are we addicted to stress without even knowing it or is our sense of 'normal' stress actually a little out of wack or too much? Let's practise releasing our stress. How? Here's a short list:

• notice our limiting or 'split' thoughts
• play hard, exercise
• laugh, sing, dance
• create
• rest
• find stillness with meditation (grab your simple and fast tip sheet here)
• offer gratitude

Try to be aware and check in to see if the stress of buzzing from one task to the next is over fueling your day and never giving you time to recharge or calm down. I know I've been there. I remember that I used to happily identify with the label 'Type A' personality, as I lived my life, but I was sick a-lot and seldom found stillness. Back then, I used to think that I would lose a part of myself in the stillness. Well, I didn't lose myself, and stillness, meditation, laughter and, enjoying life right HERE, brings me back every time. 

You can start or continue meditation practise with my printable cheat sheet HERE.

"Another step on your path." from Michele

Heart Ideogram

"It’s all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self love deficit.” Eartha Kitt

When was the last time you drew a heart shape? An ideogram is a symbol that represents an idea, and the heart, as a universal symbol, is one that connects us all. Remember drawing them when you were young, and then when you were older, adding your initials + the initials of that special someone you had a CRUSH on?

Valentine's Day started in stores weeks ago and the commercial aspect of it can be a BIT MUCH.  Yes, the retail world is usually 'all over' a GOOD THEME but maybe that's not a bad thing. It doesn't hurt to be reminded about love every now and then does it? 

Back in the 'good ol' days' in elementary school I remember the STRESS of Valentine's Day in school. Hoping my classmates would put a Valentine's card in the 'Kleenex' mailbox I had decorated with hearts and glitter. I remember having to let go of the disappointment of NOT getting one from someone I admired, my crush, and then the excitement of counting the ones I had received.

Later, when we outgrew the Valentine's cards, I remember my dad buying those heart shaped boxes of chocolates for myself and my sisters. Then High School hit and the stress was RAMPED up again with secret deliveries of CANDY GRAMS and Hershey's Kisses. It was fun to send them and you'd kinda-sorta wanted to receive one. Yup, you could tell who the popular kids were!

It's FUNNY to look back on those times, from where I am now, with a calmer understanding, but, Valentine's Day can still be stressful for some people.  I wonder how we can find a way to make this occasion work for everyone, especially when their just not feeling IT?

I think it starts by ACTIVATING the quality of love. How? By remembering and thinking a happy, loving thought.
I love (favorite food)!
I love (type of music)!
I love (sport or activity)!
I love (spending time with)!.....speak from the heart

When you get on a roll you can then look at yourself and find things that you LOVE about YOU. Practise with the small things. "I love the way I...." The more you fill up with SELF-LOVE, the more you'll be able to see, feel, and experience love.

I think that a heart that's been opened or activated by love is a heart that can also receive and share love. It can tune in, draw in, and attract more of the same.

All those HEARTS in the displays and advertising this month can be our little reminder to think a LOVING THOUGHT, every time we see one.

Get back on that horse...

How's everyone doing with the "I'm going to get healthy in 2018" resolution?

[crickets]

Don't worry if you've wandered off track, or completely fallen off. You can just get back on that horse. No, it doesn't have to be the SAME horse but just 'get back at it' and 'give it another try'. We all know that any kind of EXERCISE and movement is better than total inaction, but goal setting can be super stressful. I've found that it's best to keep RE-CALIBRATE and try again, over and over, to gain the MOMENTUM we need to move forward in life.

Still with me?

Okay, so now consider this question: How's your INNER-CISING going?

Got any limiting mental stories about yourself that might need the boot? Just like your muscles, your invisible inner self needs balance, calm and harmony so it can 'get in shape' too.

Try this QUICK-START INNERcise.

Workout # 1: (1 rep, 3-5 minutes, 1-3 x/day)

1. Sit or stand very still while breathing calmly.
2. Take notice of a belief about yourself that you want to change.(eg. I'm really disorganized.)
3. Ask if it's REALLY true? (eg. Yes, most of the time, maybe.)
4. Send it some love so you can let it go--How?--Be kind and don't judge yourself. (eg.  I remember birthdays.)
5. Think of the possibility of more positive aspect of yourself. (eg. I don't have to be disorganized. I can practise planning. I can write lists or update my calendar and follow it.)
6. See it as being true. (eg. I'm actually pretty organized.)
7. Now relax. Breath. Relax some more. Keep breathing.
8. Feel your heart soften and send YOURSELF some love. Let your busy mind float your thoughts past you. Breath. Smile to yourself.

For a DEEPER WORKOUT, Repeat steps 6-8 or stay with step 8.
POST WORKOUT-take the action related to step 5.

Meditation Innercise helps to release stress by moving your energy from chaos to calm, and in the calm you can open up to yourself.