Insights – Melannie Thomas

Archive for the ‘Health & Healing’ Category

We are a wired world.  The amount of time each day that we are connected is growing as fast as the technology that it feeds upon.

A growing body of research is pointing to the darker side of this phenomena.  Swedish studies show that folks, especially young people, who profusely use technology are at pronounced risk for depression, stress and sleep disorders.  Indications are that the light from our myriad devices reduces the production of the sleep hormone, serotonin.

Kansas State University Researcher YoungAh Park says that not setting good tech/communication boundaries between work and home life creates a serious stress load, and that media multitasking reduces efficiency.

Although still up for debate, Internet Addiction is now a serious candidate for being classified as a mental health disorder.  I am sure this extends to cell phone and texting also.

March 3-4, 2017 is National Day of Unplugging.  You can take the pledge to unplug at the National Day of Unplugging website.

This week I invite you to look at how much time each day you spend plugged in.  Schedule some planned breaks, create good boundaries, unplug and  focus on the moment…BE PRESENT.

As I was preparing for today’s post,  I found a quote I liked.  The author was listed as Unknown.  In hot pursuit of this creative wit, I found a wealth of material.  Below is a sampling, beginning with the quote that inspired my search.

“My life is all about math.  I am trying to add to my income, subtract from my weight, divide my time, and avoid multiplying.”  Unknown

“Our days are happier when we give people a piece of our heart rather than a piece of our mind.”   Unknown

“You cannot find knowledge by rearranging your ignorance.”  Unknown

“If you don’t take care of your body, where will you live?”  Unknown

“People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness.”  Unknown

“Knowledge is realizing that the street is one-way, wisdom is looking both directions anyway.”  Unknown

I invite you to carry these little pearls of wisdom into the week with you.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.  Don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

~Steve Jobs

The following quote led me to a glimpse into the life of an amazing man.  Before reading the quote, I had never heard of Orison Swett Marden.

His story fascinates and inspires me.  After a life of much hardship and challenge, he became among other things, a successful author.  His book, Pushing to the Front (Houghton-Miffen 1894), became an instant best seller.  He went on to publish over 50 books.  Among them,  Prosperity: How to Attract It; an essential and seminal work on the Law of Attraction.  He also founded Success magazine in 1897.

“Obstacles are like wild animals.  They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can.  If they see you are afraid of them…they are liable to spring on you, but if you look them squarely in the eye, they will slink out of sight.”

I love the image of looking squarely at the obstacles we face, both big and small and watching them “…slink out of sight.” Wishing you the power to face your obstacles.

It is the earliest Spring Equinox since 1896.  In Central and Pacific Daylight Time Zones it occurred Saturday, March 19th.

The Spring Equinox occurs… “midway between the sun’s lowest path across the sky in winter and the highest path across the sky in summer,”  Deborah Byrd, earthsky.org.   In other words, Equinoxes occur at the mid-point between the Solstices, and, Solstices occur at the mid-point between Equinoxes; dividing the year into four equal parts, four seasons.

In the Northern Hemisphere the Earth awakens.  In the Southern Hemisphere it is the Autumnal Equinox, a time of harvest and preparation for the coming of sleeping winter.

Four is the number of all things earthly.  In Tarot, four is the Earth Element.  Four represents the natural order;  four represents renewal.  The Spring Equinox is a time of awakening.

I invite you to take some precious moments this week to rejoice in renewal and the blossoming of Spring.

Human history is recorded through storytelling.  “Stories have been carved, scratched, painted, printed, or inked into wood, bamboo, ivory, bones, pottery, clay tablets, stone, palm-leaf books, skins, parchment, bark cloth, paper, silk, canvas and other textiles, recorded on film and stored electronically in digital form.”  (Wikipedia)

Fairy tales, mythology, folktales, legends, sagas and epics are traditional forms of storytelling.  Documentaries and interactive electronic games are examples of contemporary storytelling.

All cultures, nations, tribes and families have their stories; familial,  political, historical, psychological and spiritual.  Stories are kept alive through repetition.

The Spring Equinox is fast approaching initiating renewal and awakening.  I invite you this week to review your path; your personal story.

Music is powerful. It has the capacity to effect a wide range of human functions and emotions.

Music creates and manipulates mood; has therapeutic value; it can help relieve pain and anxiety (endorphin production);  it is used for social, religious and spiritual purposes, and for celebrations of all kinds in all cultures; music influences consumer behavior and jingles create product association.

Music enhances the quality of life… and it is available 24 hours a day.

“As you begin to realize that every different type of music, everybody’s individual music, has it’s own rhythm, life, language and heritage, you realize how life changes, and you learn how to be more open and adaptive to what is around us.”

~Yo-Yo Ma

“Music is a moral law.  It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”

~Plato

It is so very easy to take music for granted.  This week I invite you to look at the influence of music in your life.

I am a ‘hugger’.  Hugs are healthy.  Hugs do many positive things for our body, mind and spirit.

Most hugs last about three seconds.  A prolonged hug, a twenty second hug, boost levels of oxytocin (the love hormone) and serotonin (the mood stabilizing hormone), according to researchers at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Nick Ortner’s children’s book, The Big Book of Hugs: A Barkley the Bear Story, helps children and parents understand the power and benefits of hugging.

Humans long for touch; and for good reason.  Hugs reduce stress and feelings of isolation, loneliness and anger.  Prolonged hugs help us relax and they are healing and comforting; connecting us to each other at deeper levels.

I invite you this week to hug frequently.  Try out the twenty second hug. Enjoy the benefits of touching.

The recent spell of dry, warm weather has my plum tree in full bloom, my arthritis releasing it’s firm grip on my bones, and my rose bushes leafing profusely.

Rosaceae  is a large family of shrubs, trees, herbs and flowers (Rosa, true Roses).  Roses are universally accepted symbols of love, peace, friendship and success.  The Rose is the official National Floral Emblem of the United States, and, according to ‘Statistics Brain Institute’ 198,000.000 Roses are produced for Valentine’s Day. Whew!

The following Dale Carnegie quote is such a powerful reminder that in the hurried, often frenzied pace of our daily lives, we can stop for a moment, take a deep breath, and smell the Roses.

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living.  We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.”

I invite you to take time this week to ‘smell the Roses’.

“Laughter is the best medicine.”  Couldn’t find who said it, but I believe that laughter is a great tool for healing, and I love to laugh!

“Research has shown that humor and laughter can reduce stress, control pain, improve our immune system and promote healing.”  So says Sheryl M. Ness, R.N. in her ‘Living with cancer” blog, (www.mayoclinic.org/…./humor-and-cancer/BGP-20056414).

Laughter increases blood flow to the brain, and promotes production of dopamine, endorphins and the stress hormone cortisol.

If you seek more information on this subject, enter ‘healing benefits of laughter’ in your search bar, and prepare to be amazed at the abundance of information.

Of course, I couldn’t end today’s blog without a few quotes about laughter.

“We don’t laugh because we’re happy- we’re happy because we laugh.”

~William James

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”

~Victor Borge

“A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.”

~Shirley MacClain

“The earth laughs in flowers.”

~ e.e. Cummings

I invite you to sprinkle laughter liberally throughout this week, and all the weeks to come.