A Balanced Approach to Wellness!

Posts tagged ‘people’

The power of rabbit entertainment

collage

Entertainment is a normal part of living. People love to be entertained and to entertain. Entertainment can come from many sources.

Entertainment can be catered by the environment: beautiful displays of scenic glory; seasonal changes that bring captivating sights and physical pleasures; water in many forms—crashing waves, churning flows, frozen formations, and enchanting and mystifying rain; vegetation that pleases the eye and delights the palate; possibility of personal discovery; and more.

Entertainment can come from other inhabitants of the world: soaring birds, energetic monkeys, interesting giraffes, poised flamingos, butterflies in flight, entrancing fish, frolicking rabbits. Domesticated animals bring joy and wonder to those who care for them conscientiously.

Entertainment that is most entertaining is the entertainment provided by people. Musical performances, artistic works, dances, stories presented on paper and through performances, riddles and jokes, mime and magic, gatherings, cultural differences, religious expressions, celebrations. Less entertaining are jokes at the expense of others, ridicule, and forced participation in unpleasant endeavors (such as pornography, cruelty to animals, and dares).

In The Gift of Intuitive, Dedicated Comfort, connection with other people is explained, including the importance of entertainment:

“Entertainment is an interesting aspect of connection to other people. People find other people fascinating. The achievements of others are fascinating; the choices of others are fascinating; the habits and rituals are fascinating; the thoughts and ideas are fascinating. In addition, the bad or difficult or sorrowful events that befall people are also interesting. In general, people never tire of observing the antics of others, which is fine, because we are designed to find others entertaining.”

No matter one’s circumstances, entertainment can be found in many facets of life. One has just to be open to the wonders of life!

Category:

Connections

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The basic tests for maintaining health, Test #3

treble_staff

The post “Monitoring Health” (https://energy-guidance-complete.com/2014/08/24/monitoring-health/) brings awareness of the tests that should be performed in order to evaluate health.

Here is Test #3.

Test #3: Attention to self-needs

Ignoring one’s needs damages all the aspects of balanced health (physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual). This area does not mean self-centeredness. It means self-support.

When we fly, we are told to put on our oxygen mask before we put the mask on any dependent that is traveling with us. First we take care of ourselves so that we can help others. The same applies to our well-being. We must take care of ourselves so that we can help others.

Here are the questions for the basic test:

  1. Sleep: I schedule the appropriate amount of time for sleep each day. Yes/No
    (for people with young children, this can mean sleeping when they are napping)
  2. Relationships: I schedule time to be with people who are special to me. Yes/No
  3. Nutrition: I eat foods that satisfy my hunger for nutrition (eating to satisfy emotional issues is a No) Yes/No
  4. Movement: I schedule time for moving my body—exercise, dancing, walking, swimming, biking, team sport, etc. Yes/No

There are additional questions; however, these four are a good beginning. Consider your answers and then consider the meaning of each question.

Being sensitive to your needs is good for your health!

Hearts

 

Category:

Well-being

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The basic tests for maintaining health, Test #2

 

treble_staff

The post “Monitoring Health” (https://energy-guidance-complete.com/2014/08/24/monitoring-health/) brings awareness of the tests that should be performed in order to evaluate health.

Here is Test #2.

Test #2: Interactions with other people

“People were never meant to live alone. The idea that life is elevated by depending on no other person is incorrect. People are meant to depend on one another. They are designed to work in groups: to build together, to create communities, to help one another in times of difficulty, to find common purpose, and to help those entering and exiting life.” -from The Gift of Intuitive, Dedicated Comfort.

Connection to other people is the given. Avoidance of other people is the deviation.

For this test, use the following descriptive words to describe how you feel about the people presented in the list:

*kindness    *unkindness     *hurt     *admiration     *I don’t think about them

  1. spouse/current partner
  2. close friends, cousins, aunts and uncles
  3. children, grandchildren, step-relatives
  4. inhabitants in my city, inhabitants in my county/state
  5. people driving in cars or in other modes of transportation
  6. coworkers, shopkeepers, casual acquaintances, clients
  7. parents, siblings

There are other words to describe how you feel about these people; however, the words given are a measure of connection and caring.

Being connected to others is good for your health!

Post 69-People

Category:

People, Well-being

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Moving to the beat of the fight

 

incorrect

The news is full of stories about threats, bloodshed, and revenge. There are people who are unable to get along with other people, and they drag innocents into their madness. Wars, gang fights, tribal skirmishes, and individual anger explosions—all lead to upheaval and cruelty. Other causes of upheaval and cruelty are incorrect beliefs of superiority and deservedness.

Today, I was thinking about how our lives are so manipulated by the violence and intimidation around us. My thoughts reminded me of a song that ABBA released in 1981 on their album The Visitors named “The Soldiers”. Here is a part from the chorus:

Soldiers write the songs that soldiers sing
The songs that you and I won’t sing
Let’s not look the other way
Taking a chance
‘Cause if the bugler starts to play
We too must dance

And here is the song:

 

The message from Spiritual Presence: the drive to control is controllable. People are imbued with a desire to possess and to condescend – and – with a sense of justice. These innate, conflicting urges are influenced by family and society. The less control of the desires for more, the less moderation in life and in the world. People can overcome their desires for more by focusing on equality.

Category:

Connections

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Investing for a rainy day, the good and bad news

(taken from my article “Good News, Bad News: Investing for a Rainy Day” on HealingAnswers.com)

rain

This blog post is not about investing money. It is about investing in what’s around you—in friendships, in committed relationships, in neighborly relations, in family, and in the community. Investing in these important relationships is investing for a rainy day at its best!

Good News: Investing in family, friends and community builds a safety net

“Investing in friendships and giving and taking from friends is nourishing. Investing in relationships is natural and is needed to live a balanced life. Investing in family—children, children’s children, siblings, cousins, and so on builds a network of support that is reliable. Investing in communal activities builds a network of support that nourishes and strengthens the individual community members and the collective group.”… from “Oneself—Living”.

Investing time is necessary in order to build a safety net for when life becomes difficult or too hard to bear alone. Often, people put work obligations before obligations to family, friends, and community. This behavior has become acceptable in society, but it is short-sighted. The more a person gives to the relationships that truly matter, the more protection from the surprises that occur in life. Of course, a person must perform work obligations with an enthusiastic spirit and with focus, but work obligations should be one section of life, not all of life.

 Good News: Investing in family, friends and community supports good health

The more people invest in their relationships and community, the more balanced their health. Time spent with people who are meaningful creates memories that enrich beyond the moments in which they occurred. Positive memories are better, but even negative memories create experiences that build and nurture if the negative experiences are within the realm of realistic disagreeable treatment. In other words, interactions with family members, friends, and community acquaintances do not always have to be positive for the investment to be worthwhile. Learning to negotiate the varying needs of the various people is balancing.

Tip:

Choose a community betterment activity that excites you so you’ll want to participate. If you enjoy the arts, volunteer at a museum or in an enhancing-the-neighborhood project. If you prefer working on your own, volunteer with community building or cleaning projects. There are enough volunteer opportunities to suit all personalities.

 Bad News: Not investing is unwise

“Non-investment in relationships with others leads to loneliness, sadness, aloofness, insensitivity, and unsureness. Non-investment in friendship—foolish. Non-investment in marriage—incorrect behavior. Non-investment in intrafamilial connections—mistake. Non-investment in neighborly relations—short-sighted. Non-investment in societal obligations—selfish thinking.”… from “Oneself—Living”.

The less people invest in their relationships and community, the less balanced their health. Simple as that.

Conclusion

Investing for a rainy day means being prepared for whatever may come. Rain is not negative, but it can cause a change in plans. The same is true for changes in health, family structure (through births, deaths, divorce, etc.), and societal balance. Being prepared means planning ahead—making sure to invest in the connections that truly matter.

Category:

Focused living

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Stuttering

Stuttering

Social deficits cause uneven positions, jagged edges, and repetitive angles. They (social deficits) wallflower complete. Ellos displace.   (a stuttered paragraph)

Expectations or fear or pressure or hardness and other things as well can uneven jag uncomplete displace. Let’s repeat that sentence in a socially understandable way.

Many pressures such as unrealistic expectations, fear, hardness, or other oppressive treatment can cause off-balanced behavior in children that leaves them feeling unsure, unsteady, and undone so that they do not feel complete in their true selves. Each person is born with a temperament, likes, dislikes, and more, and sometimes the caregivers are unable to handle the child’s way of being. Even caregivers who truly care.

As a child navigates the life that is presented to him or her by caregivers and other people, patterns are acquired. Patterns of movement, of speech, of viewing, and of hold-approach develop that are specific to the child. Some patterns are idiosyncratic and some are socially reasonable. The socially reasonable behavior provides easier access to others. Idiosyncratic behavior confounds. The more a child behaves in socially confounding ways, the more the child self-torments and self-deplores because of the reactions of others to the idiosyncratic ways.

Stuttering is one example of idiosyncratic behavior.

Fixable?

Throughout the stages of life, there is possibility of stopping idiosyncratic behavior. The age is not important, but the desire is. There are many proposed therapies for the phenomenon of stuttering. The therapies that include relaxation, breathing guidance, self-acceptance, and singing are the therapies that are most successful.

Category:

Healing

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The picture of perfection?

Post 125 picture almost perfect

“Picture crookedness is life in reality. Crooked smiles, crooked teeth, crooked noses, on and on. No need for photoshopping. Real life—in its imperfecttion and individuality. Life lived in truth, not in denial. Life lived in gulps, not in narrow sips. Life experienced widely, largely, encompassingly!”… from Pond a Connected Existence.

There is no such thing as perfection (by humans), and aiming for perfection is time wasted and effort expended for naught. Perfection is the realm of spirit so people cannot reach it.

Understanding that perfection is unattainable is the first step towards true living. No one has to be perfect at anything. Doing one’s best—yes! Practicing and practicing so that one’s performance is very good –yes! Learning and studying and learning more so that one’s work is done well—yes! Applying oneself wholeheartedly—yes! Settling for mediocre—yes or no depending on the importance of the task. Settling for pretty good—yes or no depending on the importance of the results.

“Picture perfection elicits reactions that are not balanced. Picture perfection generates envy and self-doubt. Output perfection, input covetousness and pining. These inputs can lessen our opinions of ourselves. We think the other has more or is more or does more. We think that we have less or that we fall short. This negative sense of self is mistaken behavior. And it is continuously engineered.” … from Pond a Connected Existence.

Yes, engineered. People are manipulated into buying things because of manipulation of pictures. People are controlled by advertisements that promise perfect results. Ignoring these constant messages is not easy, but is doable when we understand the extent of manipulation and intended control.

The more we understand how much we are manipulated, the more we can be real—a bit crooked, but truly as intended.

Category:

Perfection--not!

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Music! It’s our natural entertainment!

Post 124-music

Making music is basic. Basic need. Basic urge. Basic aptitude. Basic activity. Basic therapy.  Making music heals, entertains, balances, and comforts. The ability to create music is in all people because all people require music to live in this world. Music is basic.

Playing an instrument, singing a song, clapping hands, snapping fingers, clicking, whistling, humming, tapping the feet, bringing sound out of varied items—no matter the tools used, what is created is music. Performing for others is not required when creating music. The most important audience is the music creator.

Children naturally sing and bring music into their world. They listen carefully to sounds, and notice the sounds that are emitted when they clang things together. Noise is not what they are making; they are making music! And they are learning and understanding when they create all the various sounds that children tend to make. As children are socialized, they are often chastised for the various cacophonous sounds they create, and they learn to limit their music creation. The loss of the ability to create natural music is a contributor to ants-in-the-pants behavior because the natural pull is to hear own-made sounds.

Recorded music is less nourishing than own-made music, even if the recorded music is by a virtuoso. Sitting in an audience when music is being made is more nourishing than listening to a recording alone. Sitting in an audience when a singer is lip-syncing to recorded music is more nourishing than sitting at home listening to the recording because “music” is created with the clapping, singing along, and so on. Listening to a recording and singing along is not as nourishing as singing without the recording, but it is nourishing. Listening without singing along but dancing, clapping, snapping, or doing other movements that relate to the music is nourishing.

As people age, they often leave off making music. Too busy. Too many “more important” things to do. Not so. People should make time to sing, play an instrument, hear live music performances, take part in live music performances (including religious services), and explore sounds.

(I want to dedicate this post to my good friend Lisa who has just taken up the bass guitar! Looking forward to tapping along—and dancing—to her bass rhythms.)

Category:

Music

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Screen! My beloved screen!

 Post 122-screen love affair

If people looked at a garden as much as they look at their computer screen, they would be more alive. If people looked at the faces of other people as much as they look at the faces on their screen, they would be more enriched. If people looked at their living environment as much as they look at their screens, they would be more active.

The time spent with the smartphone screen, computer screen, TV screen, tablet screen is time spent. Sometimes wisely, sometimes not. Time that cannot be returned, that cannot be spent on more sustaining activities.

How to break free of the screen love affair!

For adults

  • Don’t turn on any screens in the morning, unless you need them for work, in which case, only turn on a screen right before you are going to use it (for work).
  • Turn off all screens two hours (or more) before bedtime.
  • In the middle of the day, do the same as above. Turn off screens unless you are using them for work. On your smartphone, close all unnecessary apps, especially the distracting ones. Set a time in the day for Facebook-type activities and don’t stay on longer than that set amount. Set a time in the day for handling social emails. Abandon computer and app games—they are time obliteraters. Set a time in the day for looking at online information that is important to you (like this blog 🙂 ) and stick to the schedule. Examine the online information you look at that is not sustaining and work towards reducing the time you spend viewing the non-sustaining information. If you use any type of reminder system, use it to remind yourself about these screen changes.

For children

  • If your child is under the age of 13 (12 and under, toddlers are not being discussed), you—the parent—have the authority to limit their screen time. Be authoritative and set limits that are realistic. A child who is under the age of 13 should not be viewing a screen for more than two hours in a day. Don’t use screens as a way to keep your child quiet. If you need your child to be quiet, be more creative in your solutions. Also, follow the guidelines above and be a good example.
  • If your child is 13 or older, you do have the authority to limit screen time, but the weight of your words is less. The best you can do is follow the guidelines above and be a good example and provide interesting alternatives to screen time: family hikes, family puzzle building, family bike rides, etc.

People don’t realize the extent to which screens are devouring their lives. If you can make the changes suggested above, you will enable more balance in your life. Best wishes for successful declawing of your screens!

Category:

Addiction to screens

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Addicted to screens? The first step is to acknowledge it.

Post 121 Addiction to screens

(Rather than use the term LCD addiction, I’ll use a term that is becoming known—screen addiction.)

I do EGC work with a woman who suffers from screen addiction, but she is too embarrassed to admit it. She goes to sleep after she has checked her email, Facebook, website, and app score. When she awakens, she checks them all again. She eats breakfast with one hand handling her food and the other hand handling her smartphone. Before leaving the house for work, she spends an hour on her computer. During her breaks, she’s on her smartphone—not talking, but playing her favorite game. After work and running a few errands, she’s home watching TV, a movie on her computer, or playing her favorite computer game. And so her days go. She does get together with friends occasionally and does participate in an exercise class once a week, but even then, her mind often darts to the phone in her purse.

She thinks issues such as lack of challenge at work and lack of focus are her main issues, but they are not. Her main issue is lack of connection: too little connection with other people face to face, too little connection with nature and nature’s creatures, too little connection with her own capabilities and talents, and too little connection with seeking sustenance through intertwined endeavors (intertwined endeavors means participating in activities that elevate oneself spiritually and self-ly—a topic for another post).

Her addiction to screens is preventing her from connecting, and she doesn’t realize that the answer to her issues and to balance in her life start with turning away from the screens. Less time  companioning with technology.

If you realize that you spend too much time looking at and interacting with a screen (other than for work purposes), acknowledge this fact. That’s the first step. The second step is different for each person, but regardless, movement away from screen addiction is possible. Focusing on connections is the best way to overcome addictive behaviors.

“Connection is the key to good health:  connection to other people, connection to one’s environment, connection to environmental conditions, connection to other creatures, connection to oneself, and connection to spiritual presence. These connections bring all aspects of elevated, balanced, and purposeful living into a person’s reality. These connections are key for all people; no one is exempt.”

…from The Gift of Intuitive, Dedicated Comfort

Category:

Addiction to screens

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Kids and LCD addiction

 

Post 120-lcd addiction

In my EGC sessions with children (ages 10-13), I am seeing children addicted to their *LCD. I also see adults who spend way too much time on their computers and/or smartphones, but they are not being affected the same way as the children are.

I want to start with the boys, because they are the most worrisome to me.  Children are supposed to have eyes that sparkle, and as they age the sparkle usually diminishes. I am seeing boys with hollow eyes that do not sparkle. The reason—because if they are not in the middle of a computer/app game, they are thinking about being in the middle of the computer/app game. Their minds are not present and their vision has gone elsewhere. Of course they can’t focus on schoolwork or teachers’ lessons; the game/app has taken over their attention. The only things that break this LCD focus are physical activity, making music (not just listening to it) and art, but most boys aren’t getting enough of these things.

As for girls, some girls get the hollow eyes affliction, but most have a different affliction—the eyes and neck affliction. Their eyes are constantly darting to check their communication programs and their necks are held incorrectly as they type and check messages. Strains the eyes and stresses the neck muscles. Boys can also have the eye and neck affliction.

Boys and girls should be socializing more in person and less through LCD screens. They should be moving and creating and moving more and experiencing life through all their senses.

Parents need to be aware that keeping their young children quiet through play on computers and smartphones can lead to problems when the children are a bit older. The children get LCD addicted, and it is hard to break the addiction.

* LCD is the abbreviation for liquid-crystal display. It is a flat panel display used on computer monitors, televisions, laptop and tablet screens, smartphones and mobile phones. (LCDs are also used on watches, clocks, instrument panels, and many other devices, but this post is not about these uses.)

Category:

Addiction to screens, Children

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