Description: If you feel frustrated, depressed, or anxious, you should definitely work on improving your psychological state. Develop the right habits and live a happy life!

Developing a Better Way of Thinking: Effective Guideline

You will be surprised but mindfulness can help build positive habits and fight stress and frustration.

An effective and valuable (though usually overlooked) way to cope with stress and anxiety is to develop positive habits of mind.

Brain and Habits

Generally speaking, the human mind tends to focus on negative things. The reason for such a tendency is that the human brain evolved with “negativity bias” (McGarvey). As such, it leads to the fact that negative thoughts, events, and memories have a proportionally greater impact on the human mind than the positive ones. When it comes to survival, it is quite understandable because keeping in mind the negative experiences, the person will be less likely to commit the same mistakes, thus, avoid life-threatening situations. 

However, this tendency also means that various stressors, even the minor ones, influence our thoughts and psychological state leaving no room for positive thoughts and emotions. The researchers the Greater Good Science Center noticed that human mindfulness has two essential elements, which are as follows:

• Maintaining the awareness of our immediate emotions, feelings, and thoughts;
• Accepting these thoughts without any objections.

For example, by approaching your work with mindfulness, you will most probably decrease the energy you spend on the worrying about your past and future experiences and increase your attention to the positive aspects of your life. Undoubtedly, frustration and stress may be too strong to struggle with. In such a case, one needs to practice thinking positively and focus attention on the positive moments. 

Fortunately, the human brain is very flexible and can be changed after thorough learning. McGarvey opines that people can learn how to accentuate positive experiences and thoughts. In psychology, the process of growing the neural connections based on learning is called “experience-dependent neuroplasticity.” In other words, repeating the same behaviors, feelings, experiences, and thoughts increases synaptic connectivity and creates new neurons. Therefore, constant practicing in thinking positively can help the brain get used to it. 

Why One Should Train the Brain?

What is the key to developing a positive habit? According to McGarvey, this key is mindfulness, which means treating every situation with undivided attention. Undoubtedly, stressful situations happen from time to time. Numerous academic assignments, an important event, missed appointment, spilled coffee, and many others. Your heart beats, your head pounds, your shoulders tense. You feel depressed and frustrated. Sound familiar? How can such a situation be handled? Build a positive thinking habit and you will see how your life will improve.

Five Tips to Build Positive Habits

A few times per day, try to take a break from what you`re doing. Put your phone away, step away from your laptop, close the book, and focus on something completely different. Try to feel this calmness for at least one-two minutes. 

Practice in seeing the beauty in ordinary things. We assure you that even if you believe that your life is dull and boring, there are many different happy moments. You just need to try to focus on them. This simple technique will enable you to turn your attention from worries and strengthen your ability to look into the surrounding world positively. 

One more technique of building a positive worldview implies searching and finding the positive aspects in the words and actions of other people. Noteworthy, this behavior is particularly important in communication with loved ones. As such, try not to focus on the things and actions that are unpleasant to you but try to appreciate good in your beloved person. You can be sure that the circle of positive communication between the couple will significantly improve the relationships. 

Also, doing physical exercises is a very good technique for relieving stress. Even if you feel overwhelmed and tired, try to use at least 10-15 minutes on doing the exercises and you will see how your mind will be nourished.

Finally, practicing calming meditations such as yoga and others will help you evoke a physically relaxed state and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.  We encourage you to develop at least one of these habits and you will find it easier to deal with stress. 

Keep in mind that building a habit may take some time and can be rather challenging to do. No wonder, thinking positively mean to act against the automatic patterns developed in the human brain. However, being persistent and realizing your goals, will help you reach success. Do not punish yourself for failures and be gentle to yourself. After all, thinking positively is a unique technique and not all people possess it. 

Stop asking yourself questions like: Why did I receive C for the test? Is my friend better than me? Why I am so stupid and cannot complete this assignment? What if I fail the interview?

Anxious thoughts are not simply passing worries. Some of our fears and hesitations are deeply rooted in our minds. Indeed, anxiety is not just a simple psychological state but it is a serious problem that is faced by numerous young people across the United States. It is one of the top reasons why students seek counseling. Many anxious students cannot cope with the problems on their own; they cannot stand bullying, depression caused by complex academic tasks, or stress because of the application process. Some psychologists mistakenly suggest avoid the irritators and deprive the student of doing the activities that bother him or her. However, these solutions do not help overcome the root of the problem. The individual should realize that there will be many stresses in the future and the ability to cope with them is vitally important for successful development. Similar to any work in life or school, like math, reading, or writing, managing stress takes practice. A good example of how practice can improve your mental and intellectual skills in life, such as writing, is Place-4-Papers.com.

Lack of Resilience: What Is the Solution?

There are multiple factors contributing to the development of anxiety in students. Poverty, violence, injustice, inability to meet the parents` expectations, and many other reasons frighten young people with unstable psychological health. The good news is that the schools finally recognize anxiety as a serious problem and raise awareness of the importance of its solving. However, awareness does not reply to how these students can be treated. First and foremost, the counselors should teach the anxious student not to escape from triggers, but try to find out the essence of the problem. Second, both the student and the counselor should brainstorm and find out how to make a situation that causes anxiety manageable. Finally, the counselors should try to assist the students in finding the inner balance and harmony and treat such situations with positive.

Meditation is a private and personal act. As such, the way you choose to practice is as individual to you as your reasons for meditating.

Some people find inner peace by taking time out on their daily commute with a pair of noise-canceling headphones. Others prefer to recite a mantra prayer, often in combination with mala beads.

Mantras can make a powerful addition to your meditation routine and help many people to quieten their mind and achieve greater focus. Read on to find out more about mantras and how they can help you.

What is a Mantra?

A mantra is a word or phrase sung or chanted during meditation.

While repetition is an essential part of a mantra’s power, saying any words over and over is not a mantra. To be a mantra, the words must resonate with the practitioner in a way to provide physical, mental, and spiritual healing.

Likewise, saying an inspirational quote does not mean it is a mantra. It’s the energy created while chanting the phrase that makes it a mantra.

How Mantras Help Meditation

Mantras are an excellent way to center a wandering mind. As such, they can be especially helpful for meditation beginners.

The beat and flow of repetition through chanting makes it easier to focus. The mantra can help bring you back if unrelated thoughts start to pull you from your meditative state.

The Benefits of Mantras

Whether you know the meaning of the mantra or not, chanting it creates a vibration that provides neuro-linguistic effects and a sense of calm.

If you understand the meaning of the mantra, it becomes even more effective. This is because it also provides psycho-linguistic effects that can help with motivation and achieving goals.

Beyond these benefits, chanting also helps to regulate your heart rate, lower blood pressure, increase immune functions, ease fear, and quieten negative thoughts. As such, they are an effective and easy way to achieve greater physical and mental well being through meditation.

Starting a Mantra Practice

In order to harness the power of mantra practice, you need to select a mantra and stick to it for several months.

Repeating the mantra with focused attention is more important than the mantra itself. But, whether it’s the sound of the syllables or the meaning of the words, you should find a mantra that resonates with you in some way.

To cultivate a higher sense of presence and peace, combine your mantra with the use of mala prayer beads. As you repeat your mantra, moving a string of Buddhist mala beads through your fingers provides a steady beat for your mind and body.

Reciting mantras for mala beads and then wearing them throughout the day also reminds you to be present in the moment. And, there’s a different mala bead meaning for every color, so you should choose the color most relevant to you.

Using a Mantra Prayer During Meditation

Whether you’re new to meditation or you’ve yet to incorporate a mantra into your practice, reciting a mantra prayer is definitely something you should try.

As well as improving focus for beginners, mantras help to consolidate the peace and presence felt during meditation, providing a wider range of benefits than meditation alone.

For more spiritual inspiration and advice, be sure to check out our other blog posts!

Cats are one of the most loved pets, especially in American households. In fact, in the National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association (APPA) in 2017-2018, it was found that from among 85 million families who have pets, 47.1 million have cats. Such number ranks second to dogs, which are owned by 60.2 million American families.

On the practical side, it’s no wonder why cats are among the favorite pets – they are cute, playful, easy to maintain and keep the rodents away.

However, the benefits of having a cat do not end with just these(you can find additional content at Miauland, a site dedicated to answering your questions about cats).

Psychological and Spiritual Benefits of Having a Cat

Here are more benefits for cat owners, particularly on the mental and spiritual aspects.

1. Cats] purr is medically therapeutic.

Typically, the sound frequency of cat purrs range from 20-140 Hertz. Based on scientific studies, such sound frequency causes lowering of stress level, decrease in the symptoms of dyspnoea, lower blood pressure, bone, muscle, tendon, and ligament healing, 40% less risk of a heart attack.

Thus, cat owners are found to live longer than those without pets.

2. Cats help you cope.

Should you lose a loved one, a cat can serve as a company and social support as you go through your difficult times. You may freely talk to your pet and express your grievances, heartaches, and the like without the fear of feeling judged. After which, you will be able to move on more quickly.

3. Cats are a great companion.

Not only are they great during the hard times, but cats are also great pets to have for your ordinary days. They are affectionate and playful without making you feel guilty when you leave them. Most probably, they will sleep until you come back home again. Moreover, once you arrive, you will immediately feel their fur upon your legs.

Based on some studies, cats showed that they remember the kindness you explain to them, and they tend to return the affection later on.

4. Owning a cat makes you more attractive.

If you want to have a human companion or a significant other, it doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of your cat. A British research discovered that 82% of women tend to be more attracted to men who like animals.

More so, 90% of single women perceive men who own a cat as nicer ones compared to others who don’t.

5. Cats may help you sleep better.

In a 2016 survey conducted to 1,000 British pet owners, it was found that 54% of women prefer to sleep with their pet(s) than with their partners. They further shared that with a cat, they sleep better as compared to when they were sleeping with a human.

This was supported by a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine in Arizona. Survey participants share that sleeping with their pet make them feel cozy; another commented that a touch from her cat in the middle of the night is soothing and comforting.

On the other hand, only 20% believes that pets cause disturbance as they sleep.

6. Having a cat means being less prone to allergies.

If you’re having a child soon or planning to have a child, it was found by the National Institutes of Health that babies who are exposed to a cat are less prone to allergies as they grow up. They stated that “high pet exposure early in life appears to protect against not only cat allergy but also other types of common allergies, such as an allergy to dust mites, ragweed, and grass.”

7. Having a cat is better for the environment.

In this case, it’s “better” compared to having a dog in terms of carbon footprint. Since dogs need more food throughout their lives, they leave eco-footprints similar to that of a land cruiser. Cats, on the other hand, eat less; and as such, their eco-footprint may be compared to that of a tiny hatchback.

Given all these, we hope that you will look at your cat with new lens. Although they’re not asking for much attention, it will only do you well if you care for them more.

Being healthy as you age is one of the most important things that you need to consider. If you really want to enjoy senior living to the fullest, you have to look for the best ways to eliminate stress and stay fit. Your physical, emotional and mental health matters. You should not only focus on one aspect because holistic health is very important. Ageing can make a lot of changes to your body. But you can do something to make yourself stronger, happier and healthier. To help you achieve a better life in your senior years, here are some of the important things that you should keep in mind:

 Eat Healthy

The food you eat determines who you become. This is very true especially now that you are not getting any younger. The body is rapidly deteriorating. This is one of the reasons why you need to make sure that you are eating the right food that will supplement the lost energy. Choose to eat natural and organic food. There are a lot of temptations around you and you may think that you have already earned the right to choose the food that you will eat. However, you have to take note that you owe it to yourself to eat the right food.

 Get Information on Medication Management

If you are taking prescribed medicines for maintenance, you have to know medication management. Visiting your doctor often and asking the proper questions whenever you need to is very important. This way, you will not suffer from different consequences that may arise if you have taken more than what is required or lesser. This is one thing that you should seriously avoid especially if you are living alone. Medication management is something that you have to perfectly master.

 Get Some Sleep

I know that there are different times when sleep seems to be very hard to get. But you have to make sure that you are getting enough sleep. This way, you will not be experiencing some conditions that may be triggered by the lack of it. There are different benefits that you will be able to enjoy if you had enough sleep. Aside from higher energy level, you will also feel stronger.

 Maintain a Positive Attitude

All the memory care facilities are encouraging older people to maintain positive attitude. At this point in life, you already feel like there are a lot of things that you have achieved. But there are some moments when there are some regrets and other negative feelings. The fluctuation of your emotions may steal away the joy and your positive outlook in life. But you should not let any memory or any small event affect your day. Maintain a positive attitude and always be kind especially to the people who are regularly checking on you.

 Remember Mental Health

There are different reasons why you may sometimes feel stressed. There are some things that may cause or trigger a certain feeling that may lead to depression or high level of stress. The best way for you to avoid such an occurrence is to always remember that mental health is a vital part of your overall health and it should not be taken for granted. Rest if you need and go get some fresh air as often as you want. Don’t forget to keep your brain sharp. One out of three elder peoples gets dementia or Alzheimer’s disease at some point in their lives. It is important to keep your mind healthy so you can avoid requiring the help of memory care facilities or at-home dementia care.

 Make Friends

As you get older, you also become more sentimental. There are a lot of things that may remind you of your good old days. But you should not let any of those memories intervene and give you a hard time surviving your day. Go out and make some friends. Consider activities and social gatherings where you would meet a lot of people. You can consider assisted and senior living, this is recommended especially if you think you are having a hard time living alone.

 Stay Physically Active

It may look impossible at times because you are no longer as strong and as energetic as your younger version but you can still be physically active if you want to. Exercise and consider other physical activities like yoga. Keep moving and you will notice how advantageous exercises and physical activities to your health.

 Drink Plenty of Water

Finally, keep yourself hydrated. If you want to be healthy and if you want to avoid headaches, drink plenty of water. This is one of the very important things that you should not forget to do regularly. You should regularly monitor how much water you have already consumed.

Ageing can be a graceful process of retirement living if you are going to follow the different tips provided above. Enjoy a healthy retirement by taking care of your body and mind so you can live your golden years not just without having to work, but also without having to worry about health issues.

Some people are more creatively talented than others, and we tend to put them on a pedestal. But the truth is that each and every one of us is creative. Human nature is determined by creativity more than anything else. We find meaning in being creative, whether that creativity is in our work, hobbies, or the way we relate to others.

Many of us are creatively blocked, however, and may not even be aware of our creativity. This is often because creativity was undermined or under-valued by parents, teachers, or bullies. Maybe you had a drawing criticized by a well-meaning adult, or maybe a sibling found your diary and laughed at what you had written.

The good news is that you can unblock your creativity, and a psychic can help. Just make sure you get a well-reviewed and respected psychic from bestpsychics.com. There are too many scammers out there to be nonchalant about it.

Here is how a psychic can help you unblock your creativity.

Identify your creative “monsters”

At various points in your life, certain “monsters” blocked your creativity. They were probably not at all malicious, and maybe had your best intentions at heart. Many parents, for example, worry that if they encourage creativity, their children won’t find well-paying careers.

However, to your inner creative child, these events are remembered as monstrous. The individuals who caused the blockage are terrifying to that child, which is probably why you find those instances so hard to remember or think about.

A psychic can help you identify those monsters. They can help you go back in time, into your psyche, and reframe the triggering incidents. Instead of seeing them as terrifying moments from your history, you can start to see them for what they are – irrelevant to who you have become.

Live alternate lives

Every single person could have taken a range of directions in their lives. A good psychic will help you see all the potential lives you could have lived. They will help you identify which of these lives you would have liked to live and which of these lives you are particularly averse to. Then they can help you live the lives you want to.

This obviously does not mean they are going to completely change the course of your life as it is now. That is not usually a desirable outcome. However, what they will do is bring aspects of those alternate lives into the life you are living.

For example, maybe in an alternate life you would have been a musician. Just because you did not pursue that dream does not make it impossible to become a musician. You are unlikely to work as a musician or become a popstar, but you can learn to play an instrument or write songs and incorporate that aspect of yourself into a fulfilling creative life.

Everyone I have ever encountered has a number of unlived lives. They may not yet know about the imaginary lives they have internalized, but a psychic can help uncover that information, bringing you closer to reaching your full creative potential.