Meditate Awake
By Erik
Meditate AwakeMar 07, 2021
Is Gut Health Blocking Your Happiness? With special guest, Breanna LeBlanc
I wasn't aware that most of a person's Serotonin (the happiness hormone) is produced in the gut. Wow.
We discussed what insights she's gained from overcoming many of the obstacles she went through and what daily actions are helpful to all those interested in a healthier gut, and happier life.
Here's where you can find her:
Instagram: @bre.fitmodel and @wholesome.wealth
Website: breannaleblanc.ca
3 Tips from Breanna for those who want to improve their gut health and mental wellbeing:
- Eat Wholefoods: Reduce the amount of preservatives, gmo, pesticides and antibiotics (found in meats), as they have negative impacts on your gut health. More leafy greens, frozen or in season fruit, complex carbs and clean meats (organic, grass fed, local, no antibiotic, etc) will better fuel your body's internal health.
- Know your Food Sensitivities: Food sensitivities can have a variety of harmful effects on your health by throwing off your body's internal balance (digestion, hormones, mood, etc). By knowing your food sensitivities, you can bring your body back to a state of equilibrium, which is a state of health, and will produce higher levels of mental wellbeing!
- Reduce Stress: Stress (mental, emotional, physical and environmental), slows all of your bodies functions, and can cause a variety of health and mental health concerns. By working on mental wellbeing, emotional balance, physical health and removing environmental toxicities, you can elevate your mood, and create a healthier self!
Perfectionism Can Block You
We sometimes hide behind perfectionism as a way to prevent failure. Our expectations are too high so we're never satisfied, but this is really a block to acceptance and self love. Doing something just for the experience of it can be enough to let go of perfectionism and be yourself.
What is Mindfulness and Self Love?
Here we dive into what self love really is and some easy PRACTICES to do to cultivate it for conscious, joyful living.
Create Self Love - Tip #4
What does the way you treat your body have to do with self love?
Create Self Love - Tip #3
In this tip for creating self love, it's as easy as writing it down.
Create Self Love - Tip #2
With this quick tip, create self love so you can then share love with others.
Create Self Love - Tip #1
Leading up to Valentine's Day, here's a quick tip to create love for yourself, so you can share it with others.
Healed vs. Unhealed: A message for you
Healed vs. Unhealed are two choices with two experiences... which one will you move toward?
What Happens When Meditation Fails?
In this "Week in Awakening" I discuss what happens when meditation fails and what you can do about it!
How to make 2021 Better Than 2020
If you're interested in making 2021 better than last year you'll want to listen to this podcast.
Are you aware of S.A.D.?
S.A.D. = Seasonal Affective Depression and combined with the effects of Covid it can sneak up on you. Be aware of the symptoms and what you can do to combat it.
Stress Tip for the Holidays (part 1)
The first of 3 tips to help you have a better time with friends and family during the holidays... and lockdown.
Rosa Parks Woke Up the World
This week we celebrate Rosa Parks for her contribution to help wake up the world.
Week in Awakening: Alfred Nobel
This week in November the Nobel Prizes were established. Hear the story how one persons obituary sparked the creation of the Nobel Prize.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: November 15-21
In this, "Week of Awakening", Elizabeth Cady Stanton is the focus. Hear how her life woke up our world.
Meditation Tip #3
Today's Meditation Tip
Meditation Tip #2
Today's Meditation Tip
Meditation Tip #1
This is today's Meditation Tip.
CLOSER CONNECTION through imperfection
FITNESS: Are You GROUNDED?
STRESS RELIEF: Are You Moving? Hear This!
DAILY ACTION Care for your mind and emotions during a house move. Even moving a few blocks away has an important impact on your stress levels; but moving to a new town, city, region or country is more likely to affect your mental health. Make a commitment to yourself to pause and breathe; and once you’re in your new home, put some comforting rituals in place to help you settle in.
Simple actions like finding a shop or cafe you like that you can go to every day or two, creating familiarity; unpacking your favorite coffee mug right away; and taking time to sit and be present in very corner of your new space; can help to ease the intensity of change.
SLEEP: Are You Affected by Natural Light?
DAILY ACTION Get outside! Ideally, we’d all spend a few hours every single day outside, allowing our bodies to fall into rhythm with our environment. If a few hours aren’t possible, do what you can. Get out for a short walk, or sit by an open window if you really need to be inside.
MEDITATE: Try This Technique!
Place both hands on your ribcage, with your fingertips just touching in the center. Slow down the breath and notice the way the ribcage expands and relaxes with each inhale and exhale. As you breathe in, the fingertips move away from each other. As you breathe out, the fingertips drop closer together.
Then, move your hands around so that your arms are crossed — and if you’re hugging yourself. Your palms press into the sides of the ribs and your fingertips might reach around towards the back of the ribcage.
Feel the breath here. Expansion on the inhale; and the lift of the shoulders. Relaxation and softening on the exhale. Take five more deep breaths before you release.
MINDSET: Radiating Change Effect
DAILY ACTION Create a compelling belief to begin reshaping your mindset. Compose a belief that directly addresses a limitation that holds you back right now. If you struggle with low self-esteem, create a belief that speaks to your innate worthiness; a belief that you are valuable and capable. If you struggle with low mood, anxiety, or even depression, create a belief that you WILL feel joyful and fulfilled. It may not become your reality immediately, but by building and then repeating that belief to yourself, you will begin to move towards positive change.
FITNESS: #1 Body Image Secret
If you stopped worrying about your body, what could you do with all that extra thought power?
DAILY ACTION Think about how you see other people’s bodies. Is it simpler than the way you see your own? Imagine talking to yourself about your body worries as if you were talking to a friend about theirs. You’d tell them they’re perfect just the way they are, wouldn’t you?
CLOSER CONNECTION: Do You Have Propinquity?
DAILY ACTION If there are (preferably single) people in your life who you spend lots of time with, or who you think about a lot, don’t suppress feelings that may grow for them. Lots of us push away flickers or romantic intrigue about people we already know — we tell ourselves that it’s not possible, that it would compromise friendships, that it would be too strange. But lots of incredibly strong and loving relationships grow from less intense connections. Be open to the intrigue, and if it’s reciprocated, give yourself a chance to explore it.
DEEPER PURPOSE: How To Put Yourself Out There
How comfortable are you with being visible in your business? Do you show your face?
DAILY ACTION Do one thing to make yourself more visible. That might be…posting a video of you talking, sharing an opinion, on social media. Launching social media accounts if you don’t already have them. Making a podcast; sharing something personal about your life experience; or even just posting a headshot on your website if you haven’t yet done that. Put yourself out there.
STRESS RELIEF: Do You Know Autogenics?
Autogenic training is known to reduce the experience of anxiety and help you to feel calm in situations that you might usually find very stressful — such as social events or performances. It becomes more effective the more you practice it. So eventually a simple, single statement could be enough to induce a conditioned state of relaxation at any time.
SLEEP: The Safest Sleep Aid
DAILY ACTION: You guessed it — try meditating today. If you’re not sure where to start, wait for our practice-focused post at the end of this week. We’ll share a simple meditation technique that’s perfect for sleep.
MEDITATE: 3-min Morning Technique in Bed
Acknowledge that you’ve woken up: open your eyes, have a stretch, and mentally welcome the day. But instead of a) getting up right away, or b) rolling over and drifting back to sleep, set a timer on your watch or phone for 3 minutes and then close your eyes again.
For the duration of those 3 minutes, notice every sound and sensation that comes your way. You might notice sounds from outside of the window or from elsewhere in the house; the texture of sheets against your skin; or the temperature of the air around you compared with the warmth of your body in bed.
Keep noticing.
And then when the timer goes off, take a deep breath; open your eyes; and get out of bed. You will start the day having already meditated — and an underlying sense of calm and steadiness will stay with you all day.
MINDSET: Letting Go of This Changes Everything!
It’s important to loosen your grip on who you think you should be in order to welcome your true potential. Have you ever badly wanted something — like a job, or a partner, or an experience — that just didn't fit with who you think you are? Many of us don’t pursue our dreams because we worry they might project the wrong image, or force us to question our identity.
DAILY ACTION: Take a moment to acknowledge that who you are right now has grown from everything that has happened in your life, up to this point. But that doesn’t mean that you have to stay the same. If you allow difference experiences into your life, you could become something even better; even more beautiful. Accept change and become who you might be.
FITNESS: Primal Movement Technique
What kind of movement makes you feel free?
DAILY ACTION: Lie down on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Close your eyes and rest your hands on your chest. And then when you feel moved to do so…move. Slowly. Spend a few minutes here, allowing your hands and legs to move in space as if exploring your environment anew.
CLOSER CONNECTION: Effect of Anonymous Actions
DAILY ACTION Draw more kindness and gentleness into your connections by doing nice things for them without their knowledge. Little things count; just small deeds that they’ll never know you did, but that give YOU the feeling of having done something caring for them. This simple practice creates new neurological connections in your brain which can override the uncomfortable feelings — so that, in time, you feel more love, compassion, and ease within these relationships.
DEEPER PURPOSE: Flip A Thought
DAILY ACTION Flip a thought. Think of something you’re working on at the moment, or something you’d like to start working on. Allow any negative thoughts you have about that project come into your mind; there’s no point in banishing all negative thoughts, because they’re an important part of your brain’s workings. Welcome them; notice them. And then flip them. Replace each negative thought about the project with a positive one. For example, ‘I don’t have time to do that thing,’ might become, ‘What I want to do requires lots of focus, so I can move other things around to make room for it.’
STRESS RELIEF: A Mantra For Hard Times
DAILY ACTION If you’re experiencing difficult, intense emotions, see if you can let them be. Instead of trying to find a solution, just remind yourself that these emotions will pass. You will not feel like this later, or tomorrow, or next week/month/year. Allow the emotions in and accept that they will change because…there’s no way but change.
SLEEP: Is it Dangerous to Oversleep?
Scientists suggest that actually, sticking to a consistent sleep schedule is more important than the duration of your sleep. Sleeping for roughly the same number of hours each night will improve your cognitive performance during the day and support good health, too.
The study found that overall, 7-8 hours of sleep per night is optimum for brain function. People who slept less than 7 hours or more than 8 hours had an almost identical reduction in cognitive performance. So oversleeping — known as hypersomnia — is potentially just as problematic as undersleeping.
MEDITATE: How to Meditate to Music
Settle down in a seated position — either on the floor or on a chair — and use headphones to listen to the music. Close your eyes.
And for the duration of the track listen with focused, conscious awareness.
Each time your mind wanders, notice it. It’s normal and inevitable that your mind will wander. Allow it to happen and allow thoughts and emotions to come, and to pass. And then gently bring the awareness back to the song.
Keep concentrating until the track is over. There is no outcome that you need to achieve from this; nothing you need to do but listen; and exist in this moment, with this music.
MINDSET: How Your Past Can Help You
Is there someone you have only good memories of who you’d like to reconnect with?
DAILY ACTION Text or call them. (or email, Whatsapp…whatever works!)
FITNESS: Do You Have Embodied Empathy?
Empathy isn’t just in the mind. Studies show that dancers, who are extensively trained in physical movement and interaction, have heightened skills of embodied empathy. Neurophysiologists have found that touch is central to interactions between people, and that understanding the emotions of others through physical movement and touch allows for more positive and emotionally supportive relationships.
Dancers spend years moving in relation to other people. They develop the ability to intuitively adapt the way they touch to others based on the body language and touch-language they read. And they gain an enhanced understanding of physical boundaries; they have felt for themselves when a personal boundary has been crossed, and they can read the signs that other people transmit when their own boundaries have been compromised.
In a world in which our online lives are becoming as prevalent as our offline lives, let’s prioritize physical experiences.
DAILY ACTION:
Go to a dance class; an acroyoga class; a martial arts class. Enter spaces in which you can cultivate your own skills of embodied empathy.
CONNECTION: Brene Brown’s Advice
Speaking of which, have you seen Brené Brown’s new documentary on Netflix? We recommend it.
DAILY ACTION Choose courage today. Tell someone a secret you’ve been guarding closely. Choose your confidant carefully; make sure it’s someone who will listen without judging, and who isn’t in the habit of gossiping. And go for it. Lay yourself bare. How does it feel?
CAREER: Are You Making This Move?
We already mentioned that happiness releases dopamine in the body, which increases happy feelings and increases the learning function of your brain.
But what could this mean for your career?
Well; have you stayed in the same job for years even though it makes you miserable? Do you stay because you believe that working hard and enduring everything that’s bad about it will, eventually, lead to success and happiness?
If so, Anchor’s research could be the key to a new door that you’ve been waiting for. When you’re struggling through each day you are not experience those floods of dopamine which would allow you to come up with new ideas and think in innovative ways. Create success by experiencing happiness — even if that means making a bold move.
DE-STRESS: Why Being Silly Helps!
But did you know that one of the most-published press photographs of Einstein (and some argue, the most famous press photo of any important public figure in the 20th century) shows him wide-eyed and sticking his tongue out. The shot was snapped by photographer Arthur Sasse after Einstein’s 72nd birthday party. And people love it — we all love it — because it’s an image of a serious, respected person not taking life too seriously.
SLEEP: Do You Have Somniphobia?
The same is true for some adults; and this phobia is also found among people who have sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, which cause them to wake up from sleep feeling very distressed.
But some people have somniphobia with no obvious cause at all. If you feel scared of going to sleep, you’re not alone. Learn more about this phobia and seek help if you need to. Researchers have found that somniphobia can be overcome with support — so you can sleep peacefully again.
MEDITATE: Mudra Practice
DAILY ACTION With both palms facing up, place your right hand on top of the left. Rest the backs of the hands on your legs, wherever they comfortably fall, and allow the tips of the thumbs to touch one another. Focus your awareness on the hands for a few breaths and feel the flow of calm energy that passes through them.
MIND: Do You Have Low Effort Syndrome?
So people living from a fixed mindset experience low effort syndrome. They mask their low effort as a desire to have a relaxed, easy life — they say they just don’t want to have to work hard. They want to coast. But what lies beneath that is a fear of failure.
In contrast, people with a growth mindset know that failing does not make them a failure, or a loser. They work, and put in effort, with an understanding that no matter the outcome of their efforts, they will learn and grow.
BODY: Is This Exercise Right For You?
Working out doesn’t have to look the same for everyone. While hitting it at the gym works for some, it doesn’t suit others. But studies on the physical benefits of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu remind us that there are always other ways to get fit. Jiu-Jitsu involves intermittent high, moderate and low intensity activity which requires serious conditioning.
This grappling combat sport has been proven to build muscle strength and flexibility, lower blood pressure, improve sleep and help to manage moods and emotions. It can be particularly beneficial for men who feel an intense need to express the aggressive aspects of their physicality — and who might struggle with a variety of mental health issues without an opportunity to do so.
CONNECTION: 36 Questions for Intimacy
Aron and colleagues argue that by creating a sense of vulnerability for both people, these questions can stimulate feelings of love. The growing intensity of the questions reflects the way that intimate relationships develop — but by asking these questions in sequence, the experience of intimacy is speeded up.
These questions may or may not help you and your potential partner — or current partner — fall deeply in love. But they make for a fun evening together either way!
CAREER: What’s Your Belief About Money?
As we grow up, we absorb impressions from everyone around us. And many of us integrate an understanding of money that holds us back in later life. For example, you might subconsciously learn that money is bad, or that it’s greedy to want money, or that people like you don’t earn much money.
The way the adults around you talked about money when you were a kid probably still influences how you think about money today. Subtle things like secrecy between parents regarding their spending; justification of purchases; and negative phrases about money all get into our minds and stick with us.
You can change the way you feel about money to welcome it into your life more easily. Start with this question: how much do you truly want to earn?
DE-STRESS: How To Let Go
We hope you’re feeling ready; calm; maybe even excited. But if your feelings are low or you’re anticipating challenges or anxiety today, take a moment right now to let that go.
Take a deep breath in and breathe in that feeling. Breathe it deep into your body. And then hold the breath for a few seconds; holding that feeling inside.
Then exhale and let that feeling go. Breathe it out. Expel all of the air from your body — and as the air leaves, so does the feeling.
You can do today. You’ve got this - and we’re rooting for you.
SLEEP: Common Myth BUSTED!
Ever heard someone say that they need less sleep than they used to because they’re over 50, or over 60? It’s not true. The study found no difference whatsoever in the effect that sleep disruption, too much sleep, or lack of sleep, had on cognitive performance across ages. Sleeping too little or sleeping too much affects the way your brain works no matter how old you are.
A regular sleep routine isn’t only important for teenagers and people in their early 20s. It’s ALWAYS important.