Summer is just about here, and with it, a plethora of updates!
First off, June is Men’s Health Month. As a reminder, health & wellness is something that is ongoing for everyone. Many aspects are like exercise or diet – you have to keep up the practice every day. It’s not something we can practice and be done with (Its not like you get fit from going to the gym a few times and then you never have to go again). We’ll discuss more about men’s health and mental health needs. We also look forward to World Yoga day on June 21st!
Later in the Summer, Jahmaal’s Transformational Mindfulness book will be released! If you haven’t had a chance, visit akash.jah.guide (which will soon be moving to its own page: akash.exchange) to learn more about the cryptocurrency token to support health, wellness, and commodities like food. These are two exciting projects we are excited about as they represent healthy progress in the paradigm shift.
What is it? It’s more than a planner. Yes, you can write down your monthly and weekly tasks, but there’s so much more. Get reminders to be your best self, to give back to others, to check in with yourself and take out some YOU time. All with 15 minutes a day or less of planning.
Practicing mindfulness has many benefits for all areas of life. It affects physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being. It’s an even more powerful tool when that intention and awareness is shared with others – in this case, our family. A Family that practices mindfulness together, stays together.
A mindful family is:
Aware of each other’s wants/needs
Emotionally available
More likely to take responsibility for how we are feeling
Less likely to project negative feelings onto others
Cultivate Curiosity
Mindfulness can be a new and odd subject to those who are unfamiliar. To avoid awkward interactions like in the comic, we want to introduce mindfulness in a way that instills curiosity. Questions that may get others to be curious about mindfulness are:
Are you present?
How do you feel right now? Do you want to change anything about that?
Have you set an intention (for the day/activity)?
What do you think of taking a few minutes to be mindful with ourselves and each other?
Starting a Practice
A family that practices mindfulness together, stays together.
Start Small – try a short mindfulness minutes activity and reflect on the experience as a group (perhaps before/after a meal). Most of our mindfulness activities include the following steps which can be used as a basis for your own activity!
Close your eyes. Take 3 deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Name an emotion – what word best describes how you feel right now? Take note of it and let it go for now.
Observe the senses (can be just 1 sense: i.e. Listen to the sounds around; or engage each of the senses if time allows: hearing, smell, taste, touch, sight).
Observe the breath – Let it happen naturally without thinking about it.
Set an intention. If nothing specific comes to mind, set an intention to be present and express gratitude throughout the day. The more you are specific about your intentions, the more likely you are to act on them without even thinking about it. We subconsciously achieve our goals or desired state of being.
Name an emotion – what word best describes how you feel right now? Take note of it. Open your eyes.
Discuss your experience with your family. Here are possible discussion questions to get you started.
How do you feel? Do you want to change that? Remember we can hold on to, or let go of any emotion. It’s a choice.
Especially with family, be accountable for your own emotions. Don’t use crutches or deflections such as “I feel like you…”, or “You made me feel…” Own your feelings.
What are you working on?
Do you need support?
Try this activity with your kids, parents, spouse, or close friends. It is a great way to connect and share perspectives.
Why is gut health important? There are many reasons – and the most obvious might be the least important. Most often when people think of gut health, they think of diets or weight loss, but a healthy gut means much, much more. Your gut is your second brain!
Let’s take a deeper look… The human body contains roughly 13-30 trillion cells. The actual number is unknown and changes with age and other factors, as well as who did the calculation. We are always discovering more about the body, but the important thing to remember is that these cells are communicating in various ways in order to coordinate the many functions of the body. A trillion is a big number – hard to fathom for most people. Imagine if you had a million dollars, a million times – that would be 1 trillion.
With tens of trillions of cells in the body (containing our
DNA, or made from it), it is truly miraculous how things stay organized in
there for us to survive and live as a coherent human being. But here is what’s
more amazing – we have more bacteria in our gut than the rest of our body
combined. It was once believed that we have over 10 times as many bacteria
(that gets into the 100 trillion range!) but that number is being revised as science
progresses and we continue to discover more about the body. All of these are
sending signals, communicating with the cells in our body, and interacting closely
with the nervous system as well. Regardless of the actual number count, we can
start to have an appreciation for why gut health is so important.
Feel with your gut AND your brain
You may have heard the saying “Trust your gut feeling”
before, and for good reason. Your gut processes signals without the biased
inputs from the pre-frontal cortex (the thinking part of the brain) or the lower/mid
brain – sometimes referred to as the reptilian brain which is in charge of our
survival instincts and fight/flight responses.
Communication between the gut and nervous system is a two way street – anxiety and stress can cause indigestion as much as indigestion can give us feelings of anxiety and stress. Eventually it becomes hard to distinguish between what is cause and what is effect. That’s why it’s so important to be aware and consciously interrupt these self-propelling cycles that don’t serve us and keep the patterns that are healthy.
This means that gut health is a part of mental health.
Keeping a healthy gut means more than just having a healthy diet. It means to eat
under the right conditions so your body can absorb nutrients and create balance
for the nervous system. It means that we are aware of our food choices and making
choices beyond the initial impulses (this is where we get to use the brain’s
intelligence over what the gut craves.) For example, if you eat while angry,
your body will not activate the proper relaxation responses, enzymes, and
everything that goes with properly digesting foods.
And lastly, your gut actually produces many of the brain’s
neurotransmitters. It is responsible for many of the signals that our brain is
capable of transmitting in the first place. So you can begin to see why it is
regarded as the second brain. Many cases of anxiety, depression, and other challenges
for mental health can be corrected when the gut environment is in balance either
by diet or by avoiding things that can destroy our gut biome like antibiotics
which kill both good and bad bacteria in the gut. The issues are not in the
brain, but in the gut. If you ever experience anything like brain fog or stronger
feelings like anxiety or depression, try taking a look at how you are eating.
In life we have many decisions to make. Everything we do is the result of a choice – conscious or subconscious. One of the most important choices we can make doesn’t have to do with our actions, but has to do with our attitude – our state of being. Regardless of what our actions are, we also choose an attitude – a mental state to go with it. The difference between a positive attitude and a negative attitude is the difference between success and failure, motivation and depression. Choosing a positive outlook is a simple decision (so is a negative outlook) that can happen for some people without thinking about it. For others, it might take practice. It is completely normal to have mixed feelings, confusion, self-doubt, anxiety, and, fear. This is the natural disposition of human physiology and the fight/flight responses of the nervous system.
Once we understand that, we can accept it. We can understand the source of our feelings and from there choose a positive outlook. For most people, things can always be better, and they can also be worse. It is important to realize that we are not subject to our emotions or impulses. A good place to start being positive is practicing gratitude. Try naming 3 things that you are grateful for. Another great practice is to list 3 things that you like about yourself.
Here’s mine for today: I am grateful for: life, my health, and the ability to share my knowledge. I am wise. I am strong. I am capable.
Last week we held mindfulness and sound healing for each class taking the Florida Standard Assessment (FSA) tests at Allamanda Elementary school. It was so well received by students and teachers/faculty that they want to have regular sessions for classes. More schools need mindfulness (as well as energy, sound, and vibration) as a regular part of their curriculum! Also, they liked it at our local news station, WPTV – seen on NBC and Fox.
A calm mind lets us access information clearly. We all know that it’s difficult to think straight when we are nervous or stressed; we will find that we simply don’t make the best decisions. This is why, more importantly than study drills or cramming, it’s important to relax. It also changes the outlook and the experience to make learning, and even testing more enjoyable.
We already know that everything is energy in different patterns that create our perceived reality. Everything from spoken language, solid objects, wi-fi signals, visible light and heat. Our thoughts are also patterns of energy that have an influence on our body and mind.
Be aware of your thoughts because every thought is like a repetition in an exercise for the brain. Know what patterns you are making stronger, and when a mental exercise (i.e. a thought is no longer healthy).
The state of being conscious or aware. To practice mindfulness is to be aware of everything from our 5 senses – What we hear, feel, smell, taste, and see – to what we are feeling inside like our thoughts and emotions. The goal is to be present and experience what is happening in our external and internal worlds, without getting too involved or attached. This allows us to tune out distractions and direct our minds to what is actually important while helping the body return to its natural relaxed state.
