Questions Answered

Q: What if I just can't meditate?
A: You always hear about the benefits of meditation, but many people find it difficult to meditate. So, if meditation doesn't work for you then there are about a million other stress relieving techniques you can try out!
Q: Is there something I can do every day that can manage stress?
A: With so many daily stressors to contend with, most of us are in need of stress relief on a daily basis. Is there one practice that can protect us from the effects of daily stress? There is not an end all cure for all stressors that we come in contact with. The important thing to find is what helps relieve your stress. Maybe it’s taking a walk everyday or eating healthy. Once you find the stress management tools that work for you use them every day.
Q: How much stress is too much?
A: We all like excitement in our lives. Sometimes fun things can also cause us stress, and managing stress becomes challenging. Many of us, especially overachievers and 'adrenaline junkies', take on as much as possible, only to feel stressed and overwhelmed. If you have been feeling enabled then take a step back and re-evaluate the important things in your life. De-junk your life of any bad energy so that you can truly live your life to the fullest.
Q: What are the main causes of stress?
A: Chances are, many things in your life cause stress, and that stress affects your health and happiness. Changing your way of thinking is one of the best coping mechanisms to combat the stresses in your life.
Q: How does positive thinking impact stress level?
Positive thinking changes everything. For example I gave an example in my blog of two people riding a roller coaster. They are on the same ride, but having completely different experiences. If you can figure out how to convert your distress to eustress, you will have found the key to much happiness in your life, regardless of the hardships that come your way.
Q: How important is sleep in keep a positive attitude and in reducing stress?
A: Attaining quality sleep is very important to your physical and emotional health, as well as your personal productivity, for many reasons. Just think about that night that you didn't get enough sleep and how grumpy you were the next day. Even little tasks seem overwhelming and your ability to be happy is significantly reduced. Get at least 6-8 hours of sleep.
Q: How can positive thinking help me in my relationships with other people?
A: There have been times in our lives that we have been around positive and negative people. We tend to stay away from the negative people because their thoughts and outlook on life is poisonous and ultimately draining. We gravitate and enjoy the company of positive people. If we emulate the attitudes and actions of the positive people we know our love for others will increase and our relationships will in turn be more fulfilling.
Q: How much can exercise affect my ability to think positively?
A: Endorphins are essential to making a person happy. Some big factors that endorphins help are stress and pain. It's almost as if endorphins act as a drug to hide a bad emotion. Coming from a famous movie, Legally Blonde, “Exercise gives you endorphins--endorphins make people happy and happy people just don't shoot their husbands... they just don't.”
Q: Is depression something that people can just get over if they put their minds to it?
A: Overall, the answer is no. Depression is very rarely a choice. Depending on the severity it is something that should be treated with therapy, good diet and exercise and in very severe cases medication. Through therapy one may be able to feel empowered to get out of bed and perform daily tasks. But, it is not very often that it can be turned off, but the power of positive thinking can aid and accelerate the recovery process.
Q: If I am a negative person by nature, can I change?
A: YES! It may not happen overnight, but it most definitely can happen. It takes a lot of little steps to change your outlook on life. In the beginning, if a situation arises that you get upset about, ask yourself "will getting angry change this situation at all?" In most cases the answer will be no. In those situations, choose to not get upset. It's important to understand that your ability to think positively is not contingent on the circumstances your placed in, this life is full of unexpected twists, turns and bumps in the road, it is your choice where or not you are going to enjoy the ride. Start today and I promise you'll live a happier and healthier life full of tomorrows'.

LOL ... it's good for your SOUL (and thus your health)

Who doesn't enjoy a good laugh? But, who would have imagined that it was good for your health. Next time you have a nice little laughing session, take a little self-inventory about how you feel. Do you feel happy and healthy? I really believe that laughing is good for your soul, it helps you to not take the hardships of life quite as hard. It is a coping mechanism that our omnipotent Creator has blessed us with. And what a great blessing it is!! But, don't take my word for it. Here are a few quotes by well-respected men who agree:

Humor at its best encourages a broad perspective on life…Recognizing life’s zaniness encourages flexibility and adaptability, rather than rigidity and brittleness.
–Dr. Harvey Mindess

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, who said the living prophets he had known all had a sense of humor, challenged us to “be persons of good works and good will, cultivating a sense of humor that allows for critics.”

“How wonderful it is to see those whose sense of humor includes the capacity to see themselves and their frailties laughingly—not in the chronic, self-deprecating, biting way. Those who can see themselves and their incongruities with smiles (not sarcasm) suggest to the rest of us that they have an inner security, and this encourages the rest of us to take heart in a world in which too many of us are much too serious about ourselves and in which too much of the laughter is nervous laughter.”

Of utmost importance, concluded President Hugh B. Brown, is the genuine nature of our humor:
“Life is really a battle between fear and faith, pessimism and optimism. Fear and pessimism paralyze men with skepticism and futility. One must have a sense of humor to be an optimist in times like theses…But your good humor must be real, not simulated. Let your smiles come from the heart and they will become contagious. You may see men on the street any day whose laugh is only a frozen grin with nothing in it but teeth. Men without humor tend to forget their source, lose sight of their goal, and with no lubrication in their mental crankshafts, they must drip out of the race.”

Dr. George Vaillant—Harvard Medical School
“Humor is one of the truly elegant defenses in the human repertoire. Few would deny that the capacity for humor, like hope, is one of mankind’s most potent antidotes for the woes of Pandora’s box…humor, smiles, and laughter are the very best stress-busters. In The Wellness Book, colleagues Margaret Baim, MS, RN, and comedian Loretta LaRoche, BA, all but recommend that everyone concerned for their health purchase not pills, self-help manuals, or exercise mats, but Groucho Marx glasses. Donning a big nose, bushy mustached, and spiderlike eyebrows, little seems wrong with the world. Or when you count your blessings, when you force yourself to recount joys rather than sorrows, fun rather than gloom, silliness rather than stodginess, your thoughts will settle into delight and your body will respond.

ARTICLES OF FAITH OF POSITIVITY

Paramahansa Yogananda, a great Indian sage, said that “with the dawn of spiritual ambition, we chose a chisel of wisdom to mold our life.” Spend time contemplating the Articles of Faith enshrined in the ten quotations here. As your chisel, use this powerful, four-sentence affirmation of American theologian, Robert H. Schuller:
I AM. I CAN. I WILL. I BELIEVE.

ARTICLE I:
The unexamined life is not worth living.
-Plato

ARTICLE II:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
- Aristotle

ARTICLE III:
Love is the beginning and end, the alpha and omega of existence.
- Ethics of Judaism

ARTICLE IV:
Behind every blade of grass is its very own angel that forever whispers: grow…grow.
- Ethics of Judaism

ARTICLE V:
The most beautiful thing a person can do is to forgive wrong.
- Ethics of Judaism

ARTICLE VI:
Seek and you shall find. Ask and it shall be given. Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
- Tenets of Christianity

ARTICLE VII:
Let not the sun go down on your wrath.
- Tenets of Christianity

ARTICLE VIII:
Animosity does not eradicate animosity. Only by loving-kindness is animosity dissolved.
- Buddhist Psalm

ARTICLE IX:
Wherever you look, there is the face of God.
- Koran

ARTICLE X:
Start the day with love.
Fill the day with love.
End the day with love.
- Sathya Sai Baba

What is Faith?

Webster defines faith as belief, trust, and confidence
If we consider faith, or belief, from a medical, nonreligious point of view, we see overwhelming evidence that our beliefs can affect our health.
Dr. Herbert Benson established the medical importance of our beliefs, stating in his book, Timeless Healing, “Our brains are wired for beliefs and expectancies. When activated, the body can respond as it would if the belief were a reality, producing deafness or thirst, health or illness.”
If we believe that a certain pill will make us better, chances are good that it will, regardless of its ingredients; this is the “placebo effect”, which formed the basis for much of medical practice until the twentieth century
Effectiveness of many medical treatments depended upon the patients’ expectations of positive benefits
Such belief is an important form of faith, but it does not address the larger questions such as the meaning and purpose of life
People grapple with these questions largely through spirituality and religion, which can also significantly affect physical and mental health.
I personally have faith in God and I know that this is good for my health. If I need help phsically, emotionally, or spriritually I turn to my father in heaven for help and guidance. The knowledge of my Savior and his redeeming sacrifice has gotten me through hard times, has healed my body and my soul. I know it is because of the power of the priesthood that this was possible. But, if science needs to deem it the "placebo effect" in order to explain it, then that is fine by me.

Are You Depressed?

Depression checklist
•I feel sad or irritable
•I have lost interest in activities I used to enjoy
•I’m eating much less than I usually do and have lost weight, or I’m eating much more than I usually do and have gained weight.
•I am sleeping much less or more than I usually do.
•I have no energy or feel tired much of the time.
•I feel anxious and can’t seem to sit still.
•I feel guilty or worthless.
•I have trouble concentrating or find it hard to make decisions.
•I have recurring thoughts about death or suicide, I have a suicide plan, or I have tried to commit suicide.

If you checked 5 or more boxes on the depression side, including at least 1 of the first 2 boxes, you may be suffering from an episode of major depression.

Understanding Depression

While sadness touches all of our lives at different times, the illness of depression can have enormous depth and staying power… this illness cannot be lifted at will or wished or joked away.

Being depressed has nothing to do with personal weakness. Scientists’ developing knowledge of brain chemistry and findings from brain imaging studies reveal that changes in nerve pathways and brain chemicals called neurotransmitters can affect your moods and thoughts. These neurological changes may bubble up as symptoms of depression – including derailed sleep, suppressed appetite, agitation, exhaustion or apathy. A combination of genetic variations may heighten vulnerability to this disease.

Nerve pathways, chemistry, and genetics aren’t the whole story though;
traumatic or stressful life events, such as the death of a loved one, and psychological traits, such as a pessimistic outlook or a tendency toward isolation can contribute.

Research and recent breakthroughs have made this serious illness easier to treat. A variety of drugs and therapies can also be combined to boost the likelihood of a full remission.

Brain pathways that handle pain signals use some of the same chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) that are involved in the regulation of mood.
When these pathways start to malfunction, pain is intensified, along with sadness, hopelessness and anxiety.

Pain sensitivity and emotional storminess of fibromyalgia result from faulty brain pathways.

Are You Eustressed Out?

Something that I have been incredibly intrigued with lately is stress. Stress is not always a bad thing. Hard to believe I know! Stress is simply the body's response to changes that create taxing demands In daily life, we often use the term "stress" to describe negative situations. I really loved the image I was taught in my Mind and Body Health class when explaining the different ways we each experience stress.
There are two types of stress. EUSTRESS or positive stress and DISTRESS, which is synonymous with the term we usually associate with stress, or negative stress.
Stress is something we all have to experience whether it is physically, spiritually, mentally, or emotionally. The key is how we cope that makes all the difference.
My favorite example that I've come across in explaining this concept is the example of passengers on a roller coaster. Sally, the passenger in the front of the car, with her hands up in the air screaming and in a state of euphoria, would be experiencing EUSTRESS, which has positive effects for her mind and body. Where as Paul, sitting right next her, who has his hands clenched around the bar in front of him, wondering how Sally possibly talked him into getting on the ride. His heart speeds up and he experiences utter fear. Paul is experiencing DISTRESS.
Now I will ask you to think of experiences in your life. Are you more apt to experience EUSTRESS or DISTRESS and how much of it is your choice? You can choose to be like Sally or Paul on the same roller coaster of life, having completely different experiences. I challenge you to try to work on changing your DISTRESS into EUSTRESS and using the power of positive thinking to increasing your personal quality of life. YOU CAN DO IT!

Put On A Happy Face and Welcome

Welcome to my blog... I am doing this blog on the power of positive thinking for a few reasons...
1. I think being happy is the best thing in the world
2. I think that having a positive attitude really does make all the difference in the world
3. And science agree with me
So hopefully through this blog we can learn about the principles and theories of positive thinking and the benefits it has on our overall health. I will most definitely be blogging about my experiences and I hope you add any input, experiences, and or opinions that you have and remember to smile :)