MindBodySpir.it

YOU and changing depression type thinking into Positive and Inspirational Thinking.  The following is from Rick Hanson, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist.  He has found that is was much more important for our ancestors to avoid threats than to collect rewards.

Positive and Empowering Thinking

I believe the more that individual thought patterns trend negative and slip into rumination it lasts.  And continually turning over a situation in one’s mind and focusing on its negative aspects the easier it becomes to return automatically to these thought patterns.  I believe that it is not so great for our health.  I have researched that when ruminating can damage the neural structures that regulate emotions, memory, and feelings.  And even, when our stress and worry are completely hypothetical and not based on any real or current situation the amygdala and the thalamus.  I believe it is not able to differentiate this hypothetical stress from the kind that actually needs to be listened to.  I believe that one needs to meditate daily and maintain positive and inspirational thoughts.

Meditating and letting go and exercise and keep moving ahead with my projects have helped me in my daily walk.

In conclusion, everyone has to learn what is best for their brain to keep a positive and motivating mind.  Of course, you and I are never going to be happy, inspired, and positive 100% of the time.  But, it does take work and a daily program and protocol that we each have and use.

Positive and Empowering Thinking

YOU and the word CHOICE

YOU and thinking outside the box

In today’s world, it is easy to stay the same as you have always

been, Because, it is safe and you are comfortable but in reality if

you stay within the area where it is comfortable and safety then

YOU will never grow and develop into the person of:

What Does Life Expect from YOU?

That is the name of my podcast and I think about it every day

because I am learning every day to reach outside of my comfort

zone and where I feel safe.

If you do that reaching outside SELF and learn more then when it

is time for you to go over the bridge you will not have those

regrets.  My sister said: “I wish I had done with my life, I know I

could have” – two weeks before she died she said that to me.  My

heart broke, and that still, to this day is the saddest thing I have

ever heard.

Reach beyond SELF-learn something and read something that

you have never even understood before.

Search for something new to learn, take a physics class, study

how to paint a beautiful picture.  Sew something for your

grandchildren.  Learn about the side-effects of prescription drugs,

learn about the side-effects of vaccines.

It is easy and safe to stay within YOUR box.  I like being

productive and it is necessary for me because I can fall quickly

into patterns of reading a lot, sleeping too much, and to keep from

doing that I have to keep busy and productive.  If I sit down and

watch Netflix I am knitting because to me it is a waste of time,

unless I am exhausted, to just sit and watch anything that is

mindless.

YOU can make your bucket list anything it does not have to be

traveling or anything expensive.  A bucket list can include

volunteering, making crafty things for presents, going to fun things

with the grandchildren.

YOU and using YOUR critical thinking skills forever

I have some quotes for YOU from some people who are

researchers and authors:

Christopher Hitchens:

“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.”

Richard Dawkins

“Do not indoctrinate your children.  Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, a how to disagree with you.”

Harper Lee
“Now, 75 years after To Kill a Mockingbird, in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books.”

Richard W. Paul

“Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better.”

Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Freedom of speech is unnecessary if the people to whom it is granted to not think for themselves.”

The following is a list of some of the critical think skills YOU should keep up as you age:

Motivated to learn

Open minded

Understand why we feel the way we do

Draw conclusions on the basis of the best available evidence

I have not had TV for over 15 years now but I am going to list a few items that you can do on your own to keep your skills in the high-range with the TV:

Pick any news show and then use the following questions:

Is it a good idea or a bad idea?

Is this belief defensible or indefensible?

Is my position on this issue reasonable and rational or not?

Am I willing to deal with complexity or do I retreat into simple stereotypes to avoid it?

Do I think deeply or only on the surface of things?

Do I know how to questions my ideas a to test them?

I read a lot, write a lot, research a lot, and so I use my critical thinking skills on a daily basis but if I were retired I hope I would still but if you are retired figure out some way to use your critical thinking skills and have JOY in what you do:

Work crossword puzzles

Work a regular puzzle

Build a birdhouse for your grandchild

Knit a scarf for a friend

Volunteering is really good but it is best to put limits

Below is listed by Forbes about critical thinking:

So weave these into your daily life:

Critical thinking

Complex problem solving

Judgment and decision making

Active listening

Computers and electronics

Mathematics
Challenge YOU –  everyday Challenge YOU

Have a mission every day

JOY and Peace every day

You and how trauma affects YOUR Brain/Mind

You will have some trauma throughout your life.

It may help to know how it may affect your brain/mind so that you can maybe stay ahead of

the repercussions from that trauma.

There are different effects

PTSD

Depression

Those are just 2 ways trauma can affect us but it affects your amygdala, which is an almond

shaped mass located deep in your inner brain:

Increases your arousal and autonomic responses associated with fear

Activates the release of stress hormones

Engages your emotional response

Decides what memories are stored and where they should be placed around the cortex

Applies feeling, tone an emotional charge to memory when strong emotional content remains connected to

connected to a visceral experience

Next to the amygdala is the hippocampus that is responsible for the formation, organization, storage, and retrieval of memories.  Technically, it converts them from short-term to long-term, sending them into the appropriate parts of your outer brain for storage

and retrieval of memories.  Technically, it converts them from short-term to long-term, sending them into the appropriate parts of your outer brain for storage

term, sending them into the appropriate parts of your outer brain for storage

Trauma, however, hijacks this process; the hippocampus is prevented from transforming the memories from being properly integrated so that their effects dimish, n some cases when the hippocampus function is suppressed it has been shown to shrink.

memories from being properly integrated so that their effects dimish, n some cases when the hippocampus function is suppressed it has been shown to shrink.

hippocampus function is suppressed it has been shown to shrink.

Lastly, the prefrontal cortex located in the front, the outer most layer of your brain contributes two important elements of recall:

two important elements of recall:

After trauma a few things can occur:

Your lower brain processes responsible for instinct and emotion override the

Inhibitory strength of the cortex so that the cortex cannot properly stop inappropriate

reactions or refocus your attention

Blood flow to the left prefrontal lobe can decrease, so you have less ability for language,

memory and other left lobe functions

Blood flow to your right prefrontal lobe can increase, so you experience more sorrow, sadness

and anger.

When a traumatic event triggers our internal alarm system, the body goes into fight, flight, or

freeze and here is what Dan Siegel, MD says that there are two key chemical reactions to

trauma and know how trauma affects the brain an enhance our interventions better, and I

would say individually it would help us to recover quicker from trauma.

If there is childhood trauma it can lead the brain to be wired for fear.

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk says that one can change the connections and activations in the brain.

But, I do believe that is easier said than actually done after any trauma, whether you are

young or old.

One of the things that can be done after trauma is neurofeedback, which can actually help

people rewire the wiring of their brain structures.  Yoga may not cure after traumas but yoga

makes a substantial difference in the right direction.

YOU and how the sun affects your mind

Sunlight has a profound impact on your mental health.  Out of 19

environmental factors, the only one correlating to higher levels of

distress was the amount of time between sunrise and sunset.

An estimated 20 percent of American are affected by seasonal

affective disorder(SAD) each winter.  What differentiates SAD from

regular depression is that full remission occurs in the spring and

summer months.

The complex stimulus of sunlight can affect your mood and

mental health through a number of mechanisms, including affecting

your Vitamin D, serotonin, endorphins, nitric oxide levels and

mitochondrial energy. According to a paper published in the

Journal Dermato-Endocrinology, a large number of molecules

found in the different layers of your skin absorb and interact with

ultraviolet rays producing a number of complex and synergistic

effects.

Sunlight also regulates your circadian rhythm, light therapy has

been shown to be effective against depression, both SAD and

non-seasonal major depression.

Vitamin plays an important role in mental health, so if fall and

winter months leave you feeling blue, you would be wise to add

vitamin D to your supplement protocol.

Regular exercising has been found to work better than

antidepressant drugs.  In fact, it is one of the most powerful

strategies available to prevent and treat depression and boost

your mood.  Exercise works by helping to normalize your insulin

levels while simultaneously boosting “feel good” hormones in your

brain.  Researchers have also discovered that exercise allows

your body to eliminate kynurenine, a harmful protein associated

with depression

Avoiding processed foods Foods have an immense impact on

your mood and ability to cope, and eating a diet of fresh, whole

foods will best support your mental health

Gut health also influences your mental health – take a good

probiotic and eat fresh and organic foods as much as possible.

Omega -3 fats. -cod-liver oil and also B12 will help

Your mental health is body health and spiritual health all interact

with each other and have to keep all balanced

Stay strong and be courageous and brave

Having any kind of garden can help you and your health

There are a lot of wonderful ways that any gardening can help in YOUR health

Listed below are just some of the wonderful reasons to do any kind of gardening but in my lifetime I have had acres of garden with a neighbor and we canned beans, made ketchup, froze peas, grew jalapenos in Iowa, grew beets, and my Dad tried to grow celery in my garden.  We planted lots of potatoes and even did corn.  But now I do container plants – have beautiful tubular begonias and some other flowers but because my condo does not get enough sun I cannot do vegetable or fruit.

Gardening can reduce risk for stroke

Burn calories

Reduce risk of heart disease

Decreases the likelihood of osteoporosis

Stress buster

Improves one’s health

Making meaning out of our life

Enables us to enter the “zone” also known as an altered state of

Consciousness

Means of survival If necessary

Digging in soil has actual health and mood boosting benefits

Improves relationships and compassion

Lower risk of dementia

Strengthens your immune system

Here are some more reasons to play in the dirt:

Get enough vitamin D

Play in the dirt

Getting grounded – EARTHING

Stress relief

Eat vegetables

Getting exercise

There are so many reasons to plant and care that there is NO REASON NOT TO HAVE SMALL OR LARGE GARDEN

Other reasons:

Sense of responsibility

Be nurturers

Keeps us connected to other living things

Helps us relax and let go

Working in nature release happy hormones

Reminds us to live in the present moment

Reminds us of the cycle of life, and to come to terms with that most universal of anxieties; death

Can allow us to vent anger and aggression

Allows us to feel in control

Gardening is easy

Gardening is good for children and gives all the benefits for

Children as it does for adults.

Love sitting on my deck and enjoying my flowers.

Earthling and gardening is so good for YOU – you do not need to spend hours doing either but spend some time for a lot of health benefits for SELFhood.

Some more good reasons to garden:

Self-esteem

Heart health

Hand strength and dexterity

Brain health and Alzheimer’s risk

Immune regulation

Depression and mental health

Gardening can strengthen YOUR immune system, dirt also

contains a natural antidepressant called Mycobacterium vaccae.

According to research, this particular antidepressant microbe

causes cytokine levels to increase, which in turns boosts the

production of serotonin.  The research as conducted by Bristol

University and University College London.

As we age, gardening helps to stimulate the brain.

Gardening helps in physical exercise, social interactions,

cognitive learning and reducing risks of dementia for people in

their 60s and 70s.