Mind

How To Cultivate A Positive Mindset Without Negative Nelly Chiming In

September 23, 2020 by Joni Leave a Comment

We have all been there. Perched on the precipice of greatness and then….BOOM! …the chatter! The seemingly endless negative chatter telling you 101 reasons whatever you’re about to do will fail.

Pish~Posh!

It’s toxic. It’s counterproductive and even if we fully grasp this intellectually, the emotional Ego has other ideas and off it goes like a snowball headed for Hell!

No worries. There are tools you can use to play a strong defense and create the change and transformation you were destined to make.

It’s About The Reset

I talk a lot about RESET. I reset every season. Let’s get brutally honest. Life is messy sometimes and it doesn’t always go as planned. A great schedule that keeps you true to you can get waffled in no time, right? Hence, the purposeful reset by season for me. I invite you to honor yourself in this way as well.

It’s when I reconnect with Me. Focus some healing and loving energy on myself and take stock of what serves me and what doesn’t any longer whether that is people, places, or things.

If during a life reset you are more interested in improving your mental and emotional health, you might want to use affirmations. These are a wonderful addition to your mental health routine, as they can help you with your mindset, both in good times and in difficult times.

Understanding Why Affirmations Work

Affirmations are positive statements or phrases that help you experience happy, uplifting, optimistic, inspiring, motivational, and positive emotions. They can be used in so many different ways, but during a reset, they help you to stay in a place of inspiration when it comes to making positive changes in your life.

Affirmations are going to help put you into a positive mindset. In the beginning, it often feels silly and like it isn’t helping, but you are using positive reinforcement. The more you say these affirmations to yourself out loud, the more you start to believe them. Telling yourself more positive things than negative things can turn everything around in ways you might not have imagined.

Ways to Use Affirmations

Not sure how to use your affirmations? Here are a few ideas:

Write a new affirmation down in your journal every day – Since every day is different, you probably need a different type of motivation each day as well. You can write an affirmation every morning while writing in your journal, that you will remember and repeat to yourself whenever you need to.

Put them on your bathroom mirror to repeat regularly – If you tend to forget to use your affirmations, put them somewhere you pass by regularly. This might be your bathroom mirror or on your refrigerator. Every time you see them, read them to yourself or out loud. It is a great reminder to use them.

Read them out loud whenever you need a boost of confidence – Bring affirmations with you that you have noticed help you the most, and say them to yourself out loud when you need that boost.

Choosing the Right Affirmations for You

Before you can get started, you need to choose the right kinds of affirmations. Remember they should be short enough to write down or remember and repeat back to yourself, be simple, and be positive. Here are some examples:

I am worthy of love and affection.

I am courageous and confident.

I can do anything I put my mind to.

I am responsible with money.

I hold the power to my own happiness.

I’d love to hear what affirmations work for you. Don’t be shy and comment below!

Foods To Boost Your Mood

January 21, 2020 by Joni Leave a Comment

Food is Fuel

Food has the ability to improve your mood. If you have a fairly good diet, you can open up your pantry and come upon plenty of mood-boosting delicacies that are both healthy and delicious.

When you are dealing with any mood changes, whether it is more irritability, anger, or just mood swings, it is a good idea to take a look at your health and lifestyle first. While it might be related to a medical condition that your doctor can help treat, consider what your current lifestyle is like.

Are you drinking alcohol or caffeine more than normal? Do you get enough exercise? How is your stress level?

Another important aspect of your mood and mental health is with your diet. There are quite a few healthy and delicious foods that are not only food for your body, but can help boost your mood as well.

Here are the top 14 foods that are going to give you a nice mood boost.

1. Dark Leafy Greens
The first type of food that can be amazing for your mood is dark, leafy greens. Greens have a variety of nutrients. These include fiber, which balances your blood sugar, B vitamins for brain health, as well as iron.

Studies show that iron deficiency is closely linked to anxiety and disrupted neurotransmitters as well, which provides even more reason to eat these nutritious veggies.

Iron also helps to produce energy, which can lead to positive feelings. While it can be great for boosting your mood, you also want to be sure not to have too much iron. Talk to your doctor to discuss the right amount.

2. Salmon
Salmon acts as a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are exceptional for helping to boost your mood. Omega-3 fatty acids act as crucial elements in the development of your nervous system and brain. In geographical areas where the residents eat more fatty fish, they become less likely to get anxious or depressed, so it makes sense that it would be good for your mood!

There are also high amounts of protein as well as vitamins B12 and D in omega-3 fatty foods like salmon. If you haven’t had much salmon before, try adding it into your diet slowly. And please do not buy farm raised salmon. Definitely not your healthy choice!

You can just have a little bit of salmon on your salad with lots of veggies (and leafy greens!), or make a small serving of blackened salmon with brown rice and steamed veggies. Super simple.

3. Turkey
Full of tryptophan, turkey produces a neurotransmitter called serotonin. When you have lower levels of tryptophan in your body, that can lead to less serotonin development as well as an increase in depression and anxiety. Turkey also has tyrosine, an amino acid that is related to neurotransmitters.

Turkey is a healthy, low-fat protein option, so it is great for most people’s diets. Whether you are on a general healthy diet, low-carb or low-fat diet, it is going to work great for you. Start adding turkey to your sandwiches, have roasted turkey for dinner, or use ground turkey in place of ground beef in different recipes.

Some other mood-boosting elements of turkey include vitamins B6 and B12, as well as zinc. Zinc deficiencies often lead to increased occurrences of depression and anxiety.

Other high tryptophan foods include nuts, seeds, tofu, cheese, red meat, chicken, turkey, fish, oats, beans, lentils, and eggs.

4. Chia Seeds
Chia seeds act as another rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as nutrients such as iron, calcium, fiber, and protein. These powerful seeds also contains magnesium, which increases feelings of well-being.

There are so many benefits to chia seeds, that they will not only help aid in boosting your mood along with these other nutritious foods, but they provide overall health and wellness for your body and mind.

The easiest way to incorporate more chai seeds into your diet is by adding them to your smoothie or protein shake. This chia seed pudding is an easy make-ahead treat.

5. Eggs
Eggs were previously thought to be a slightly unhealthy options because of the higher fat content, but many studies have shown that they don’t have the effect on your cholesterol than was once predicted. Of course, if your doctor advises against them, they might still be something to pass up.

However, if you like eggs, definitely add them to your diet to help boost your mood. They are high in vitamins B12 and D, as well as protein. Eggs have choline, which helps with your nervous system, mood, and makes neurotransmitters and selenium, an antioxidant. When you eat antioxidant-rich foods, it helps with your brain health and boosts your mood.

6. Lentils
Next up is lentil, which supply folate, a vitamin that helps your nervous system develop. Those who are deficient in folate experience higher rates of depression. They also contain fiber, which helps with blood sugar, protein, vitamin B6, and iron. Vitamin B6 makes neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin.

If you are not accustomed to eating lentils, just start small by adding some to salads or having soup with lentils in them.

7. Avocados
The good thing about avocados is that not only do they help boost your mood, but they are delicious! Many people love eating avocados but had no idea they could actually be good for you.

It is true that avocados are higher in fat, but it is the healthy type of fat. They contain fiber and vitamins B6, E and C. Another valuable vitamin you can get from avocados is B5, which helps your neurotransmitters develop.

8. Fermented Foods
In the past few years, research has shown a definite link between your brain and gut. Over 90 percent of serotonin gets produced in your digestive system. So, to get your moods back on track, you will need to prioritize your gut health.

These days, researchers have looked at the link between mood and gut bacteria. Some meta-analyses even say that probiotics can help with depression.

Whether your fermented food item of choice is sauerkraut, kombucha, or even dairy-free yogurt, all of these foods are excellent sources of probiotics.

9. Chocolate
There is a reason you tend to feel better and happier after eating chocolate, and it is not just from the sugar. Chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, is amazing for health and wellness. It contains compounds such as phenylethylamine (for endorphins) and anandamide, which researchers call the “bliss” chemical. Not only is chocolate a good source of antioxidants, but it can also improve cognition and mood.

For a healthier option, try to go for the darkest chocolate you are able to enjoy, looking for lower amounts of sugar in the chocolate.

10. Ghee
If you don’t like butter or can’t eat it due to a dairy allergy, you’re in luck! You can instead use ghee, which is made from butter, but doesn’t have the same effect on your body. It also happens to be another great food for improving your mood.

Also known as clarified butter, ghee has a lot of nutritious fats as well as vitamin D. It also helps to heal the digestive tract, which allows your gut bacteria to develop.

11. Sunflower Seeds
A great source of vitamins B6, E, and magnesium, sunflower seeds are a good mood booster for those with allergies to nuts. You can easily switch any type of nut called for in a recipe for sunflower seeds.

Try adding sunflower seeds to your salads, or just having a handful of the seeds as a snack with a piece of fruit or cheese.

12. Almonds
Almonds act as an amazing source of protein, vitamin E, fiber, and magnesium. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant, which helps fight damage caused by free radicals. This food item also improves your cognition and memory.

Not only can they help improve your mood and your overall health, but they are really easy to add to your diet. There are so many ways to incorporate more almonds into your diet, from dipping apple slices in almond butter, to switching to almond flour in your baked goods when you want a healthier option.

13. Bell Peppers
Before finishing off this list, we can’t forget about bell peppers. All colors of bell peppers are great for you, low in fat, low in carbohydrates, and have lots of vitamins and minerals.

Bell peppers have the antioxidant vitamin C, which helps the functioning of your nervous system and the improvement of your cognition. Studies show that vitamin C reduces your stress and helps with mood.

14. Sardines
Last, but not least, are sardines. These are an acquired taste and not mandatory, but a good option if you enjoy the salty fish. Sardines come with a bunch of mood-boosting elements. In addition to high levels of vitamin B12, sardines have choline, vitamin D, protein, selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Simple Changes = Big Rewards!

Boosting your mood with food is one of the easiest ways to improve your well-being over time. You can see results even if you don’t overhaul your diet right away. Just making one or two changes to your diet to include more mood-friendly foods can be just the thing to change your life for the better.

Whether that change involves getting acquainted with kombucha or keeping a dark chocolate bar in your drawer “in case of emergency”, making tweaks to your diet now can pay dividends in the future.

Tips to Change to a Mindful Mindset

December 31, 2019 by Joni Leave a Comment

You have your mindfulness notes, your devotional book, and your guided meditations. You are ready to get started, but now you are wondering if this is even going to work for you or how to make it work. If this sounds like you, and your current place with mindfulness, you may need to start with your mindful mindset. Getting your mindset engaged is the first step, and here are some tips to get you there.

Remove Negative Words and Phrases

One of the first ways to get yourself in a mindful mindset is to remove negative words and phrases from your daily life. If you write down your goals, remove words like won’t or may. These are words that suggest failure and that can have an effect on your mindset. Work to remove negative thoughts in your daily conversation and in how you handle speaking to others. This doesn’t have to be a happy about everything mindset. This simply means you aren’t setting yourself up for depression, stress, and worry with your own words.

Failure Isn’t a Given

Unfortunately, many people feel like failure is a given. You will likely fail in some way on your path to your goal. The truth is, your whole intention is to not fail. You set out to reach your goal regardless of the obstacles in your life. This means that failure should not be something you automatically assume will be there. Make sure you are focused on your goals, the path you are going to use to get there, and that you are removing any thoughts that failure is imminent.

Happiness Everyday

Find happiness every day. This may sound very rose colored glasses happy talk, but the truth is there is something to the process. Everyone has horrible days, but the problem is when you have several in a row and you can’t find anything good about any of them. It sets you up for saying your life is horrible and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Instead make it a point to find one bright point a day. Just one bright point that could be anything from a good cup of coffee to being thankful for your soft blankets to end the day.

By incorporating these tips at the start of your mindfulness journey, you can refocus your mindset and get it on track. Overtime you may find the need to revisit these tips to reset your mindset when you get off track. Just keep in mind, mindfulness is ever growing and a journey instead of a last stop.

How to Teach Mindfulness to Your Kids or Grand Kids

December 24, 2019 by Joni Leave a Comment

Teaching mindfulness to yourself and learning to adapt it into your daily life may take a bit of time. You need to work with the different options available to you and find which one is best for you. Overtime you will find that mindfulness is working, but now you want to help your kids find the same peace that you have. The trick with this is to keep them engaged and keep them active in mindfulness. Here is how you do that while keeping your kids engaged and not forcing them to do things they don’t want to do.

Start With Positive Thoughts

One of the easiest ways to bring mindfulness to your kids is to start with a positive thought game or daily task. For example, at the end of the day consider having your children come up with one thing they are were thankful for in the day. You can take this a step further by having them write it down and put it into a thankfulness jar or gratitude jar. At the end of the year they can see how many things they were thankful for which can spur them to find more positive things.

Breathing Techniques

Consider adapting breathing and meditation as part of your daily routine. You can get up in the morning and do a morning walk with your kids while teaching them breathing techniques. You can do this in your home as part of your morning routine. While the kids wait for breakfast, they can work on their breathing. You can also incorporate this as something the kids should do after school. They can put their books down, and sit for a few moments just being quiet and breathing. It can help them sort out their day and remove negative thoughts they may be having.

Healthy Options for Anger

One thing you can do to help teach your kids mindfulness is turn their anger into health. If they are angry over school, a fight with a friend, or something else consider having them take a walk or go meditate. Though this may seem like something they don’t’ want to do, and they probably don’t, eventually it will turn from what they view as a punishment into a coping mechanism that can help with reduce anger and stress later.

By incorporating these techniques into your daily life with your kids, you can keep them engaged in mindfulness. Before long, you will find that your kids are practicing it without your guidance and input. You will also find that it becomes part of their daily lives just like brushing their teeth and combing their hair.

Reduce Your Stress With Mindfulness

December 19, 2019 by Joni Leave a Comment

Stress is something that everyone has and comes up in everyone’s daily life. Some days are, of course, worse than others. In most cases, we can handle our daily stress but when the stress keeps piling on it can be difficult to manage. Mindfulness is one way you can manage your stress, recognize the triggers, and work through that stress to remove it from your life and move on with your day. If you aren’t sure how mindfulness will reduce your stress, or even help with it at all, here are a few things to consider.

Work Through What Matters

Stress can come from a variety of areas in your life and unfortunately some of those stresses don’t matter. That is to say that they may matter in the moment, but they are not priorities. One way to reduce your stress with mindfulness is to focus on the items that are important and need your focus versus the things that do not. An example of this would be having your mind cluttered with what someone said about you or gossip that is affecting your day. These are things that can and need to be reduced from your life because they are causing unnecessary stress. Once these are removed you can focus on the things that do matter like the appointments you have later in the week.

Take Time to Breathe

This may sound like a very basic concept, but taking time to breathe can help you reduce the stress in your life. The trick to this is to actually learn breathing techniques that can help you reduce your heart rate and keep your body and emotions in check. Once you learn a few breathing techniques, you can apply them at the appropriate times and help refocus yourself, reduce the stress, and deal with any fallout from that stress effectively.

Changing Your Reaction

Often stress is caused from our immediate reaction to the stress or the thing causing the stress. We take in the immediate reaction and let it explode in our minds. This causes a massive amount of panic over something that likely doesn’t need that sort of reaction. An example of this would be reacting to a new item on your to-do list that is unexpected. You may panic wondering how you will complete the task with the other tasks you have. Instead, you can use mindfulness to refocus and realize that the task can be worked in with another task or handled quickly and moved to your completed list.

Though mindfulness does take some time, it can help you with the stress in your life and reducing that stress into manageable categories or amounts. As you get into mindfulness you will start to find new ways it can help you and new methods to use.

How to Use Mindfulness for Weight Loss

December 12, 2019 by Joni Leave a Comment

Starting a weight loss journey can be difficult in and of itself. You are facing the reality of your current weight, where you want to be, how much you want to drop, and how long that journey will take. This can be overwhelming and sometimes can derail you before you even begin. If this sounds like where you are right now, consider using mindfulness practices to help. If you aren’t sure where to get started, here are some how to tips to help.

Accept Your Journey

The first way to use mindfulness for weight loss is to accept your journey. This may sound either far too easy or like something you could not do in your life for your situation. This is actually an easily attained step, that take some time to work on and develop. The idea is that you should sit down and begin listing the things you like or are happy with about yourself. Determine what your end goal is related to the things you do and do not want to change. Realize what your real weight loss goals and journey are and accept that this is where you are but this is not where you will stay.

Find Your Triggers

Mindfulness, journaling, and meditation can help you find your triggers. You may wonder why this important. Your triggers that send you into anxiety, stress, or depression can also trigger you into unhealthy eating habits that move you into a situation of gaining weight. Once you start to find your triggers, and stress triggers, you can begin moving those toxins from your life and working toward a more positive outlook and healthier choices that help with your weight loss.

Mind Map Your Goals

Instead of just jumping into a weight loss journey, consider using mind mapping to sort everything out. This will help you sort out the related thoughts that come up with your weight loss journey, what your obstacles are, and how you want to go about handling them. Once you begin this mapping you can find a better starting point for your goals and see milestones along the way of your long term journey. This can help you remain focused and see when you have hit achievements that you normally would have overlooked.

Mindfulness can bring several benefits to your weight loss journey, including staying positive and believing in yourself. You will also find that you are more focused and centered on the task at hand, which will in turn help you reach your goals.