There is some complaining on social media about publications. Most of the complaining has an underlying assumption that we are powerless; we just have to subject ourselves to it. The way the news is presented, the way people are portrayed, the way groups are portrayed, is all put forth by people just like us working hard at their jobs. One recent example is a publication using a model who wasn’t your typical ideal of beauty, but showing authentically her own look. The magazine then published another version of the cover with a different uncommon model, (actually an older woman like myself) also authentically with her own look. People on social media were posting blistering comments about the publication for not using the first version solely. The poor publication had to offer an apology.

I have good news. You were born to this life with your own power. You are given an opportunity to use your life any way you choose. You can complain about whatever is out there in the world. You can get riled up about anything you want. But you don’t have to.

You have the power to do something. For example, you can start your own magazine and run it just how you like. You have the power to express yourself and your beliefs as you like, just like the magazine does. Attacking, blaming, ridiculing, condemning another expression doesn’t advance the culture. And your voice isn’t heard, if anything it expands the anger. Instead of attacking, why not go out into the world and show us your version. Create your expression. Actually, it is missed if you don’t.

Nothing in this world will be perfectly aligned to your particular wants and needs. This is no reason to be unhappy in your life. Look around and you will see a zillion reasons why the world is rife with opportunities for happiness, joy, love and kindness.

4^th and last in a series on thoughts from a 6-day silent retreat I attended in August-September

I hear it all too often, “I woke up at 1:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep.” “I only slept a couple of hours last night, I’m exhausted.” And many are wide awake on their devices, posting on social media in the dark hours of the night.

We all know sleep is important. So why is it so hard for some people to get a good night’s sleep? And what harm does it do if we don’t?

Studies show people are sleeping less as the decades pass by. Yet it is so terribly important on so many levels. Here are some of the benefits of consistent, sound sleep:

• Keeps your metabolism working, making it easier to keep weight off, making it the best diet ever according to Suhas. After just 5 days of reduced sleep you can experience significant insulin resistance, meaning the body is primed to gain weight.
• It is a powerful anti-inflammatory. A good night’s sleep over time means less metabolic disorders and heart disease. When people have a sleep deficit, they have larger inflammatory markers in their bodies.
• Keeps your immune system functioning properly, less colds and flu.
• Your stressors are released in sleep as your body repairs itself.
• Your brain clears itself of toxins that build up between the cells, flushing them away. The brain has no lymph system like the rest of the body and depends on sleep to carry this out.
• A longer lifespan.
• In Ayurveda, sleep is also spiritual experience, a split from the ego, and you exist in a purer state.
• Vitality and enthusiasm is the natural result of a good night’s sleep

So certainly, it is worth spending some time to create a lifestyle that includes restful sleep. It is an integral part of our circadian rhythm.  My last installment of this series was about the growing field of chronobiology and losing weight. When we sleep outside of our natural circadian rhythm—(nighttime), such as napping or sleeping in, we find we don’t get the quality sleep that produces the optimal functions our body and mind needs.

We are connected to our planet’s rhythms and a part of nature. The more we separate ourselves from this natural cycle, the more stress is placed on our systems and physiology as it attempts to regain balance. The body produces hormones and substances that tell it when to digest, when to get sleepy, when to feel energized, etc. Eating at the most opportune time means you will completely digest your meal before sleep so your body can perform the needed cleansing functions. Eating at the wrong times will cause weight gain and throw a hurdle into other functions that need to be primary.

Preparing for Sleep

In the evening everything is slowing down. Your digestion, body temperature, blood pressure, hormone levels and cortisol are on a 24-hour cycle, at least they are trying to be, yet your habits may be interfering. Some suggestions:

• Have your last meal by 6:00, 7:00 at the latest.
• If you drink alcohol, have it in late afternoon so it isn’t present in your system at bedtime to disrupt your sleep.
• Drink water, warm almond milk or herbal tea. If you’re hungry put some honey in your tea to squelch the hunger.
• Do quieter activities like reading, writing, bathing, gentle yoga, sharing family time, journaling, meditating, etc.
• Turn off the electronics by 8:30 or 9:00. Dim the lights in your bedroom and make sure there is no devices on in your room. If you must leave your cell phone on, put it in another room. Get a simple analog clock for the bedroom. Those lights, as well as the tv and computer, keep your brain stimulated and don’t allow the melatonin to build up to be released normally in the evening.

Melatonin makes you feel sleepy. It communicates with your organs and systems that the rest and restoration period has begun.

• Give yourself a self-massage, or Abhyanga. Instructions for a wonderful massage with warm oils can be found here. It removes the surface tension and stress from the body and helps prepare you for better, deeper sleep among so many other benefits.
• Lights out by 10:00 or 10:30. Leave the curtains or blinds slightly open so you will wake naturally as the sun rises in the morning and streams into your bedroom.

What happens when you sleep? The first two hours of sleep the cells in your brain are discharging cellular debris. Sleep is necessary for this function. It is being researched as to the link between this essential activity and it’s lack contributing to the onset of Alzheimer’s.

The first ninety minutes of sleep you enter the first stage of rapid eye movement or REM. Each cycle lasts about ten minutes and you are most likely dreaming. You need at least three of these cycles. In between these is when your body repairs its cells and strengthens its immune system. If you awake in the middle of the night don’t put the lights on or look at your devices. Either lie still and repeat a calming phrase or mantra, or try some Yoga Nidra if you can. Here is more information on these.

When you wake up, open all the window coverings allowing that natural light to flow in signaling your brain that it is time for activity.

What you can do during the day to make your night restful.

 

• Talk some walks outside in the fresh air and sunshine. This will help your circadian rhythm reset properly. The absence of natural light during the day could be what hampers a good night’s sleep. Those who work in windowless offices all day have more disrupted sleep.
• Don’t sleep in, even on the weekends
• Try to awake naturally without an alarm. If you must get up very early at least use a gentle sound to stir you from sleep gradually.
• Exercise before breakfast. This sets your metabolism for the day. More about this was in the October newsletter.

Wishing you all a good night’s sleep!

 

 

Do this alone or with a group of trusted and supportive friends. Have three sheets,

1)     One for recapitulation of regrets & errors, self-sabotaging thinking etc,

2)     One for achievements, good self awareness, personal growth, aha’s, etc. for  2017

3)     One for your 2018 year-end intended self attributes, accomplishments and goals

First begin with recapitulation.

What is recapitulation? Playing your year from beginning to end in fast forward without any judgment. Simply walk through the big moments of your year like you were viewing it through a video camera. Don’t linger on any particular moment, and don’t begin evaluating it. Just keep moving through each moment. By performing this ritual right at the end of any year, you can gain a greater understanding of who you are and what you do. Recapitulation can help you process all the words, thoughts, and deeds you experienced over the course of the last year. It is a good nightly practice too. After practicing recapitulation, as you become a bit lighter, you will begin to become aware of those behaviors that are nourishing and those that no longer serve you. You will also become more aware of your ripple . . . all the faces, conversations, and interactions you have experienced throughout the day.

When we are doing the exercises be gentle with yourself.

Build a safe container here of self acceptance, with no judgment

Only share if it is comfortable

Write down positive and negative aspects of last year.

Share some of your regrets, accomplishments and goals.

What to do with them going forward?

For the negative ones, forgive and release them, within the body and without. As you do a body scan on each regret, sense where there might be tightness or an ache associated with that memory. See that lift out of the body as it is processed.  Then you can do some type of final act, such as burning that list when you get home, or have a ceremonial burial.

And celebrate accomplishments, making certificate, giving yourself a fine dinner, awarding yourself a gift, etc.

Goal setting, Intending

Create some accountability through partnership. It is important to state out loud and in front of a supportive person or persons. Do not share with anyone who you feel would have a  dampening effect on your passion, be in any way unsupportive, or critical. If this happens, realize that they have no power over you. Use your image of your archetype, mentor, or role model.

Exercise: who are you to be at the end of 2018?

Describe in detail YOU at the end of 2018.

How are you different?

What are you doing?

How do others see you now?

What is your environment like?

Who are you surrounding by?

When you are done with this exercise, meditate to seal this intention

School shootings. I’ve written about this before. Everyone seeks to explain, discover a cause, so they know who or what to blame. But we created this. Are we mature enough yet to admit this?

Let’s look at the environment we have raised the Millennials and Centennials in, those born after 1995:

They’ve grown up with horrific violent scenes on TV, movies, and video games and adults tell them this is entertainment.

Their parents were told institutions can take care of their babies while moms can go to work for fulfillment, leaving early forming brains to those who don’t love them. The first 3 to 5 years of a baby’s life their whole world view is shaped as either a scary place or a safe place. When work is necessary it is best to place them with loving relatives.

They are more and more separated from the natural world and the essential learning, problem solving, and wonder that comes with interacting with it.

They are often fed food lacking in nourishment; food that is so far from its natural state it’s lost its life-giving properties.

They are often prescribed drugs with questionable benefits and disastrous side effects.

They learn its OK to live in virtual worlds of screen time; it is fine to reduce in person time with friends and communicate in short bits of messages, cutting out invaluable information from body language, voice fluctuations, facial expressions, and the sheer, palpable energy exuded by the other person. This is important information that teaches the child essential skills in interpersonal relationships.

And apparently, we ignore many warning signs of young people in deep distress, who need attention, treatment, and love.

We have a knee jerk response to look outside of ourselves for what the cause is, guns, laws, law enforcement, but we really need to look at our culture, too, of which we have all been a part. Hollywood has continually increased the graphic violence with a myriad of weaponry in the films marketed to children. The horrific, brutal games have desensitized our children. And these same groups are so quick to condemn gun laws when young people act out these violent acts.

 

We evolved over millions of years to grow up testing our physical bodies, exploring the natural world to discover the natural laws ourselves, and when we find danger to have that loving parent to run back to. We then learn how much we can do, how far we can push ourselves, which results in confidence,

 

When I was growing up I was sometimes gone from the house for hours, exploring the world, climbing trees, building forts with the neighborhood kids in the woods, making up elaborate games where each child had a position or a job, getting lost and figuring how to get home, falling off my bike, falling off a horse, clumping through vast stretches of deep mud, seeing how far I could push my body, collecting bottles to take to the store to buy a piece of candy, building huge snow animals in my backyard, and so much more.

 

I learned we are part of this world, and that the world is an exciting, enormous place full of contrasts and surprises and that I could handle myself in it.

 

When my children grew up in the 70s and 80s, they peddled down the road into unknown territories, went up to the store on their own those few blocks, camped, explored caves and underwater reefs, also having diverse experiences in the world.

 

I worry our children now are growing up, for the first time, in an unnatural environment, void of exploration, of sinking their feet in the dirt and playing in lakes and streams, getting out in the sunshine, getting caught in the rain, seeing and hearing the sounds of animals, watching the wonder of nature play out in front of their astonished eyes.

 

The experience of living and interacting in the natural world is an important component of what we call, wellbeing. I don’t know how we find wellbeing without it. Being in nature heals the soul. It certainly isn’t found in a screen. No wonder anxiety, depression, and suicide is rising to never before levels among the young today.

 

We can begin to help them by limiting screen time to an hour or less a day. Studies show this reduces depression and anxiety. And get them outside.

Another shooting and another round of whys, though they seem to be quieter now. We’re exhausted trying to figure it out. What can we do?

The ACLU sued the government in the 1970s to stop mentally ill and homeless from being institutionalized. The state-run mental hospitals, of which several had questionable practices, soon closed.

We have millions of all types of weapons out there. To the extreme, if we had a Gestapo force retrieve all the guns from all the homes in the country, would that solve this?

The entertainment industry has filled our airways, screens, and games with horrific, graphic violence while we just sit by.

The feelings of anxiety and powerlessness across the society produces outbursts of violence from those who are unstable, mentally ill and/or angry.

I’ve thought and written about this a few times since Sandy Hook, always coming to the conclusion that we have to look at ourselves. It is our society that is triggering these individuals.

I’ve come up with an acronym to give us a plan that we all can institute. REACH

 

Respond. Instead of waiting for our politicians, our police and law makers to do something, we need to have a response. We need to dig deep into the histories of these troubled individuals and their families to see what the source of the action was. We need to respond when individuals show signs of instability, high levels of anger, withdrawal or a sudden change in behavior.

 

Engage. Listen to these troubled souls. Get a feel for where they are coming from if you are working with someone or they are in your circle of acquaintances that is showing signs of distress. Engage with them, talk to them, offer kindness and friendship.

 

Action. Get involved in your local community’s plans for preventing such tragic occurrences. Study up on signs of mental health problems, arrange study groups with your friends and co-workers to problem solve for your community’s safety. If you are in the wellness profession go out and teach. Teach teenagers to meditate.

Lobby for sensible gun laws. Do something.

 

Communicate. Go to your city meetings, write letters, communicate ideas to your representatives locally and nationally. Get the entertainment industry to take this seriously, and create safer, more wholesome games and stories for our impressionable youth. Brain storm and come up with out of the box solutions that no one has thought of yet.

 

Help. Find out how to help our law enforcement, civil servants, teachers, health care providers, counselors, school boards, service clubs, etc. If you are a business owner, how can your business help?

 

If just 1% of us focuses on solving this, we would have an army of over 3 million helpers working to increase the wellbeing of our population.

3rd in a series on information from a 6-day retreat I attended in August-September

The field of chronobiology—the rhythms of the natural world and our bodies—is a growing area of research in modern medicine. Many findings so far are things we expected, like how important sleep is, why it matters that we move, get outside, and eat regularly; yet we are discovering how long-term disregard for our own circadian rhythms and those of our planet can cause low-grade inflammation, leading to heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, autoimmune disorders, IBS, and certain types of arthritis to name a few. And this new body of knowledge is affirming the intelligence of Ayurveda, the ancient system of wellbeing. Drs. Suhas Kshirsagar and Deepak Chopra believe there is enough evidence now to conclude that most people in the West are living with constant low-grade inflammation due to a combination of environment, diet, lifestyle and stress.

I have read two books by Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar. *Dr. Suhas (as we call him) is an Ayurvedic Physician whom I’ve had the benefit of hearing several times at events. He is incredibly insightful, knowledgeable, and has a great way of explaining complex topics. His newest book is entitled, Change your Schedule, Change Your Life. I strongly recommend it. He began a recent talk with this statement, “By changing this one thing you will find you lose weight, even if you don’t change another thing.”

Our bodies are intricate, multiple systems of which all are continuously attempting to reach homeostasis, that perfect balance in every way, such as body temperature, digestion, circulation of all nutrients and elements, processing information through the nervous system, detoxifying, adapting to emotions, patterns of activity, and so much more. It turns out these systems have a rhythm also. There are times of day and night that your body is more efficient at certain tasks and less efficient at others. When we stay up late, eat late, work or watch lit screens into the wee hours, we are sending mixed messages of what we want our bodies to do. We impair our circadian rhythm. There are no “night owls”, only those who have hampered this natural rhythm.

What does this have to do with weight loss? Our digestion has a schedule. As the sun rises high in midday, the digestive ability also rises. As the sun is low, or soft, around sunrise and sunset, the digestive ‘fire’ is low.  Eating our largest meal at night, when our digestion is slowing, conflicts with its natural inclination to be done digesting before bedtime, when the body normally switches to detoxing and repairing.

Eating a large breakfast soon after waking, while the body is still rousing itself for the activity of the day is also taxing.

So, are you getting some idea of where I’m going with this? The one thing that is easy to change is this: when you exercise!

What time of day you move is essential, signaling to your body it is time to rev up and prepare for the day.

Dr. Suhas mentions in his book a study that asked men to increase their daily intake of fat by 50% and calories by 30% for six weeks. One third of them were told not to do any special exercise, one third was asked to work out in the midmorning, after breakfast. The final group was asked to work out before eating anything in the morning.  At the end of the study the non-exercisers had an average weight gain of 6 pounds on the high fat diet. Those exercising in the midmorning gained an average of 3 pounds. Those who exercised early in the morning had no weight gain! And their glucose tolerance levels stayed strong despite the high fat diets.

Try this:

Wake up with the sun or before. Allow the natural light to fill your bedroom—open your shades! And move before breakfast, telling your body you are ready for the day. Exercise at least 20 minutes with moments of strenuous exercise that causes you to breath hard enough that it would be difficult to talk.  Run up and down the stairs, do rounds of yoga sun salutations, dance, just keep moving. I even incorporate making the bed into this morning ritual, continually moving.

The morning light registers to the brain in a part of the hypothalamus, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that it is time for activity (Watch the sunrise if you can). Your metabolism begins to increase among other things. In the evening this same tissue within the brain (the size of a grain of rice) signals production of the melatonin that makes you drowsy.

More suggestions:

Eat a modest breakfast, i.e. a small bowl of fruit, or soft-boiled egg, breakfast rice (warm with butter or ghee raisins and cinnamon) etc. You want to have a good appetite for lunch, when your digestion is at its most effective, so have your largest meal of the day then.  And when the sun is low and its dinner time, have a small dinner. Half a sandwich and bowl of soup is a good amount.

A friend of mine was trying to get rid of her weight gain, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to lose those extra pounds. She switched her exercise to before breakfast, changing nothing else, and lost 4 pounds the first week!

Just changing the movement in the morning is an excellent beginning. Let me know how it goes!!!!

We’ll tackle insomnia is the next installment.

 

* Dr. Suhas G. Kshirsagar, BAMS, MD (Ayu. India)

His book on Amazon, Change you Schedule, Change your Life: How to Harness the Power of Clock Genes to Lose Weight, Optimize Your Workout, and Finally Get a Good Night’s Sleep.

One of the most academically accomplished Ayurvedic Physicians in the US

Excellent Clinician who has treated more than 15000 clients successfully

Lead faculty at several Ayurvedic institutions, worldwide

Lead Formulator of Zrii & NutriiVeda

Ayurvedic Consultant, Faculty: Chopra Center for Well being

Research Consultant for numerous Ayurvedic Nutraceuticals

(2^nd in a series on thoughts from a 6-day silent retreat in August-September)

A recent retreat opened my eyes once again to how much we depend on the availability of our electronics. We have a tendency to use them to distract us from whatever is going on, or not going on, within us. What I mean by this, is that there are currents of emotions, reactions, even insights bubbling up from within us all the time, yet, if it is in the slightest uncomfortable, we often reach for a distraction.

Oh sure, it used to be the radio, the TV, chatter, gossip, reading, or somehow becoming absorbed in an activity as a distraction. But it was harder then to ignore those impulses driving us to pay attention to our emotional climate.

Now, you always have these great little devices to turn to immediately. It even seems like an addiction.

Watching us wean ourselves away from our social media, texting, TV, phone, etc. at our silent retreat was revealing—showing just how much they have stolen big spaces of time in our lives. The social media industry has carefully crafted their products to alert us constantly to act, to look, to get involved with our devices. Some of the participants could not bring themselves to separate from their phones.

So, what is going on?

Superficially it looks like another ‘soft’ addiction. Why do we have addictions? Because they take us away from something uncomfortable. What? We have so many things to distract us sometimes we don’t even realize we’re unhappy. As soon as any unwanted feeling comes up begging for our attention, we reach for a cell phone or tablet, or TV or food or drink, and it just gets submerged again.

When we go through times that leave a painful feeling, it resides within us until we give it it’s due. It is similar to digestion. It is as if we ate a bit of tainted food and it leaves a lingering discomfort in our stomach, only in this case it was a painful emotion, and we pushed it down. When things happen around us to trigger that same feeling, it reminds us it is still there. It wants a transformation into something else: i.e. knowledge, wisdom, growth, release, back to wellbeing and joy. In other words, it will be digested.

This is spiritual warrior work. When I was young I used to fantasize how nice it would be to live in a monastery, away from the world and its problems. But now, with my short adventures into silent retreats, living in prayer and meditation, I know it is only for the courageous souls. To have no distraction enables things to come up that you’ve been ignoring, or pushing back down and you’ll have no means to avoid them.

On this last retreat I asked in an offhand prayer for a resolution to my feelings that were coming up about a family member who isn’t even around any longer, but I knew I was still holding resentment; there was unfinished business. The very next day, sitting in meditation, a huge surge of love enveloped me, beginning deep in my gut and moving up swiftly into my head until the joy pushed tears down my cheeks. Within the love was forgiveness, bliss, and a joy that totally overwhelmed me. I felt as if I was a tiny spec in the universe at the same time I was as huge as the whole world. And now that resentment is completely gone. It went through the fire of transformation.

So, when you begin to reach for your phone, or the TV remote, notice if you felt something coming up. Stop and ask yourself*:

• What do I really want?
• Why am I distracting myself?
• What was coming up?
• And sit quietly.

If a feeling comes up and you can’t identify where it is coming from:

• Label the emotion
• Notice where you feel it in your body
• Ask yourself how old you feel when you feel this emotion
• Realize you drew a conclusion about whatever triggered this emotion, possibly from your childhood, and you crystalized it into a belief.
• Inquire within, what does this mean? You don’t need an answer right away, it will come to you in time.
• And let go. Release it through a ritual.

When we constantly distract ourselves, we are missing an opportunity to resolve long held grievances, traumas, resentments, fears and guilt. Allowing these to come into our awareness not only helps us heal emotionally, but our physical body will thank us too. It is holding this memory until we are ready to face it.

And when you do, Spiritual Warrior, you will be rewarded

*If you have serious emotional issues or if you are under the care of a mental health counselor, please seek professional guidance before trying these exercises.

 

If you look for the instances of prejudice you will find them

If you look for instances of hatred they won’t be far away

If you look for reasons to be offended they will line up

 

If you look for instances of kindness you will find them

If you look for instances of love they won’t be far away

If you look for reasons to be grateful they will line up

The 7 steps we can take to calm it down

In 2003 I wrote a column for the local paper about the growing lack of civility in politics and news media. Here we are 15 years later and culturally we are angrier, ruder, more quarrelsome, more anxious and stressed, and have a new outlet for nasty discourse: social media.

Technology has played a role in this. We can’t get a break from news, rumors, crises, and notifications of tweets, ‘likes’, emails, texts, private messages, and Facebook telling us our fans haven’t heard from us in a while!! Vivek Wadhwa, distinguished fellow at Harvard and Carnegie Mellon, just released a book, Your Happiness Was Hacked: Why Tech is Winning the Battle to Control Your Brain—and How to Fight Back. In an interview he said the tech industry knows full well how they got us hooked on answering those texts, worrying about likes, and responding to those little red bubbles on our phones. It throws us off balance, reducing our chances of having a sense of wellbeing and increasing the chance of irritation or feeling overwhelmed.

With the state of the world and politics in this modern life many of us are getting angrier and angrier. Let’s look at this. Anger is a natural human emotion. It is neither right nor wrong. On a scale of emotions from negative to positive its near the bottom, but above apathy, hatred, fear and unworthiness. Certainly, fear plays a significant role in anger. Inherent in anger is a fearful feeling of powerlessness or a lack of control. If we had control, we would change what was making us angry!

We grew up in cultures where it was discouraged to show anger, as if anger is not allowed. Of course, if it is denied—doesn’t get relieved—it’s harbored within, expressing itself in destructive ways and eventually affecting our health. On top of that, many of us weren’t taught how to cope with strong emotions. Undigested anger comes out in so many ways.

A few:

Sarcasm

Character assassination

Self-destructive behavior

Extreme judgmental behavior

Trolling (make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.)

Revenge

Violence

Physical symptoms: constricted muscles, poor digestion, inflammation, tendency for skin rashes, or heart disease to name a few.

While we’re angry, solutions are blocked, visions of higher possibilities vanish.

In its best function, anger is useful to move us through a bad situation.  It can give us the energy we need to make a needed change in our lives, to right wrongs, to stop others from doing something harmful, and to transition ourselves from lethargy to taking an active role in our lives, moving us to a higher state of being. Anger does make us feel more powerful temporarily. When it becomes destructive is when we don’t have an outlet, don’t take any action, and have not learned methods of moving through the anger to a better feeling place.

We could be on the edge of a spilling over of anger that we haven’t seen since the 1960s, when people took to the streets to protest, even riot with the extreme anger over everything going on at that time.

What do we do when our irritation, anger, or frustration rises up? Understanding what is going on in your brain first can prepare you. Our higher brain functions are used logically and calmly, but when we get afraid, threatened, or angered, our reptilian brain—the primitive part that is designed for survival—gets engaged, high-jacking these higher functions. The fight or flight response takes over, instincts that prepare us to run or fight.

What can we do? I hear people talk about feeling so helpless as they learn about the atrocities going on in the world. The injustices, the suffering, the political vitriol, the violence, killing, the frightened, the wars and battles going on day in and day out. When we lived in small farming communities we weren’t exposed to daily and hourly news of horrific things.

The best way to deal with all this? I have a few ideas to help you reframe the suffering going on living on planet earth and help yourself cope to regain some balance.

• As always, first take care of yourself. If you are going to be of any help to anyone, you must build strength within.
  1. Get a good night’s sleep. Turn off the TV by 9:00. Read uplifting literature, articles, scripture or spiritual texts.
  2. Spend some quiet time every day in prayer, meditation, or walking in nature.
  3. Treat yourself to a massage regularly or/and give yourself a massage with scented oils before you shower.
  4. Eat light, lots of natural vegetables, legumes, fruit, seeds, nuts, & limit your animal protein.
  5. When your mind is stuck on judgements or the negatives around you, grab a pen and paper or get on your device and write all your thoughts down. Its a download of all the garbage you need to get out of your head. This is especially helpful before you go to sleep.
  6. When you are feeling down, angry, or sad, these feelings are held within your body. If you just try to think happy thoughts and repress them, they will continue to rise up until you deal with them. They want acknowledgment! They are valid and your truth. Sit with them and allow them their existence. Sense where you feel them within. Your heart, chest, stomach, neck? Embrace them with your attention. It may take several times, but you will notice the tightness, the constriction, the pressure or pain begin to ease and disperse once you’ve given them permission to be.
  7. One of the reasons we feel helpless is because we feel like there isn’t anything we can do. Do some small thing every day to make someone’s mood better, or write your politicians, give to a charity, volunteer, make a phone call to someone who is lonely, visit someone who is in the hospital, teach a child, teach a class, or write your ideas and solutions are just a few anyone can do!
• As you bring yourself into alignment with your higher self, as your consciousness is raised, you will notice you are developing a deeper understanding of others actions. You will start to see everyone is doing the best they can from where they are at the moment. This will help toward lessening your automatic response to the news with anger or fear. You will understand the causes.
• You will see this world is wonderful and beautiful even with the suffering that is always going on. The world has always been this way. As we grow and evolve we can impact the world by just being who we are. And as we evolve, the more impact we will have on the whole, each and every one of us.