The goodness of Nature

Feeling stressed, anxious or depressed? Watch birds

written by Meena Azzollini https://www.wellbeing.com.au/mind-spirit/mind/feeling-stresses-anxious-depressed-watch-birds.html
 

Research shows that there is a disconnect between people and nature in urban settings, leading to anxiety, stress and mood disorders among people. Increased urbanised living and the resultant sedentary lifestyle have been contributing factors to mental health problems in countries around the world.
It makes sense then that a daily dose of nature is good for mental health, particularly for those who live in urban environments. However, which characteristics of nature provide these benefits?
Researchers from the University of Exeter, the British Trust for Ornithology and the University of Queensland proposed one possibility, which is that the greatest benefits would be provided by characteristics that are visible during the day and are most likely to be experienced by people.

Evidence suggests that the availability and quality of neighbourhood green spaces are associated with greater well-being.

The researchers analysed data from 263 people who participated in an urban lifestyle questionnaire online. The participants lived within the urban limits of “Cranfield triangle”, which is a region in southern England. The questionnaire was delivered in May 2014 when the weather was mild and participants were most likely to engage with nature.
The findings were significant and found that people who were able to see birds, shrubs and trees around their home – whether they lived in urban areas or more leafy suburban neighbourhoods – showed reduced symptoms of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and stress.
The study, which surveyed people with different ages, incomes and ethnicities, found that those who spent less time outdoors than usual the previous week were more likely to be depressed and anxious.
The study also found, after an extensive survey of the birds in the region, that people who saw birds in the afternoon reported lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress. The scientists found that the number of birds in the afternoon tends to be lower than those in the morning but afternoon birds are more likely to be seen on a daily basis in their neighbourhood.
Many common types of birds such as blackbirds, robins, blue tits and crows were seen during the study but there was no relationship between the type of bird and mental health. Rather, the number of birds that could be seen from the window, in the garden or in the neighbourhood is what made a difference to mental health in the surveyed participants.
There was a positive association between birds, shrubs and trees and better mental health even after other variables were controlled such as variation in household income, age and other socio-demographic factors.
This research shows that the presence of birds around the home and neighbourhood is an important factor in preventive mental health, which can make cities and urban places healthier and happier places to live.
Immersing yourself in nature is a very healing experience. Even though you may live in an urban environment, having trees and shrubs around you can calm your mind. And, now that research shows how impactful it can be for your mental health and wellbeing, indulging in a spot of bird watching is yet another way to connect with nature and reap its benefits.
Source: BioScience

"Discover the beauty in silence"

Read full article discover the beauty in silence (Wellbeing magazine)

Extract : "The health benefits of silence

Research, mostly done on the effects of meditation and silent prayer, is showing that silence is not only beneficial for your physical, mental and emotional health but critical.
Dr Herbert Benson, an authority on the mind’s ability to affect physical health, coined the term “relaxation response” to describe the physiological state your body is in when you are calm and relaxed but not sleeping. It’s the opposite of the fight-or-flight response that triggers the release of stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin and has been shown to have a direct beneficial effect on your health.
People who meditate or pray regularly have been shown to reap a number of significant health benefits, from lowered blood pressure to increased immunity and fertility. Neurological imaging studies from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire suggest that the “normal resting state of the brain is a silent current of thoughts, images and memories that is not induced by sensory input or intentional reasoning, but emerges spontaneously from within”.

It has been shown that we have about 80,000 thoughts a day — where in this onslaught do you have time for silence?

Dr Helen E Lees, a research fellow in the Faculty of Education and Theology at York St John University in England and author of Silence in Schools, writes that more and more schools are now incorporating quiet times into the daily schedules of students. This has had a great impact on students’ learning and behaviour with reports that “it calms, focuses and enlivens the pupils”. Silence used to have negative and coercive aspects in schools but is now used as a positive educational tool. Some schools even provide sanctuary rooms or buildings where children can go to be still and silent as a restorative tool.
When you connect with nature in silence you begin the process of healing and rebalancing all bodily systems, from the hormonal to the neurological and cardiovascular as well as the immune system. This in turn benefits you emotionally and mentally, giving an overall sense of wellbeing.

Recognised health benefits

The proven health benefits of silence are that it:

• lowers blood pressure
• reduces anxiety
• increases immunity
• lowers cortisol and adrenalin
• reduces pain
• increases energy
• increases concentration and mental clarity
• increases ability to deal with emotional issues
• improves sleep
• improves fertility"

A Mindful Choice TRAILER

10News speaks to integrative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra

                                                        

Relevant video about the relashionship in between life style, wellbeing, health and longevity.

Aging, Awareness and Exercise

There are roughly 5 places in the world where people reach, in almost all cases, at least 100 years old and where very few (when it is not none) develop cardiovascular diseases. The model of the social system they live in is based on the same values, although they are from very different ethnicities, continents and cultures:
- live in family clan (the oldest members stay in the family and keep participating in social and family life),
- focus is placed on priorities and true needs,
- eat organic or local grown food,
- no stress or pressure about the future, they live in the present moment and are happy with what they have,
- exercise regularly, most of the time through the work they do (physical work like farming, gardening, building, hunting, fishing, walking to commute, etc.), and keep going at all ages, all life long.
- keep strong connection with the environment and the Nature around, live in harmony with them and in respect of ancestral rituals and cultures,
- use local and ancestral medications, see healers as well.
The Guanacaste in Costa-Rica and the Island Ikaria in Greece belong to these very special rare places in the world.

It seems that our modern civilizations have lost touch with something essential, something that could prevent us to grow old too quickly... We have made the choices of ignoring what we always knew and which is deeply anchored in; the fact that we all have an infinite power to change our life and to reach peace, good health, happiness and serenity... and this power has been put asleep because of new beliefs, needs, desires that the modern society have generated. By making the choice to be moulded by the dictates of the society we have lost touch with our true self. But more and more people around the world have understood the limits of these current social systems and feel the desire of being back to the roots and finding alignment in between what they truly need and want, and what they truly are. We are rediscovering both; body and spirit, and understand that the spirit has the power to heal the body and the body is a tool, a support for the spirit to experiment the matter. If we take care of our body (not in terms of cosmetic aspects, but in terms of healthy choices like for instance; eating well, exercising, resting, meditating) we are already on a spiritual path that can take us as far as we want if we decide so. So by having "a healthy spirit in a healthy body" our chances to experiment the matter at its best are much greater, so are our chances of raising awareness on what's possible to achieve to slow down the aging process.

Deepak Chopra explains in his excellent book "Ageless body Timeless mind" that we can control the way we grow old and exercising largely contributes to it. Here is an extract of this book which tells a lot :
"When you start to assert control over any bodily process, the effect is holistic. The mind-body system reacts to every single stimulus as a global event; i.e., to stimulate one cell is to stimulate all (....) As one Noble laureate put it, "if you tickle the field here, it laughs over there." The fact that awareness behaves like a field is now deemed crucial to understanding aging.

On a wider scale, Walter M.Boritz, a senior Standford physician who specializes in aging, has coined the term disuse syndrome to describe how negligence in paying attention to the body's basic needs, particularly the need for physical activity, can destroy health and lead to premature aging. It is a well-known principal in physiology that any part of the body that falls into disuse will begin to atrophy and wither away.

Boritz took the next step and discovered that this effect was body-wide, spreading beyond the cardiovascular system. When a person decides to give up physical activity, he essentially invites his entire physiology to atrophy. As a result a constellation of problems appears:
1 heart, arteries and other parts of the cardiovascular system become more vulnerable.
2 muscles and skeleton become more fragile
3 obesity becomes a high risk
4 depression sets in
5 signs of premature aging indicate that the body is biologically older than its calendar years
(....)

The physical deterioration on this list are not surprising, but it seems unusual that being inactive, in and of itself, would lead to depression, long considered a disorder of mood of personality. However, studies from the Russian space program have found that young cosmonauts subjected to the forced inactivity of space flight fall prey to depression; when put on a schedule of regular exercise, this depression is avoided. The brain mechanism that controls depression appears to lie with a class of neurochemicals called catecholamines. In depressed patents, whose levels of catecholamines are abnormally low, healthy levels can be restored by giving anti-depressant drugs, but the natural way to accomplice this is through regular exercise.

Being holistic, exercise sends chemical messages back and forth between the brain and various muscle groups, part of this flow of biochemical information stimulates the production of catecholamines. Thus, whenever a doctor writes a prescription for antidepressant, Boritz declares, he is handling out a proxy for the boby's own inner prescription, which is filled by exercise.

The news that exercise offsets aging has been well publicized, although it is preventive on depression may not be as well known. What is far more fascinating, however, it is that underlying logic -function precedes structure- can be extended to say that awareness proceeds function. In other words, the parts of the body that age (losing structure) are not just the ones that are not being used enough (losing function); the person has also withdrawn his awareness from them."

How meditation can improve our fitness

Meditating on a regular basis can truly transcend our workout and bring big benefit to our exercise regime .

First by learning through meditation how to be present in the moment we become aware of physical sensations like breathing or feeling our heart beating, feeling of heat or cold in the body, blood flowing, etc. By extrapolating this awareness to our workouts we can manage our effort better as our breathing and heart rate will give us the measure of where we are standing in our effort, so we can monitor the effort much better and push when we understand that the body is ready to push or recover when we understand the signals that the body sends us to slow down.

Second by focusing on the present moment while we exercise we forget about the rest of the day, only now counts. So your session will be much more efficient; your focus on the technique will maximize the immediate benefit and contribute to progress quicker on the middle to long term. You will also get a bigger sense of satisfaction as you'll be working in full consciousness integrating the sense of the effort and the power you are generating at that very moment and also the sense of being alive and the sense of pleasure.

You also can recover quicker thanks to deep breathings learnt through meditation (very useful when doing a High Intensity Interval training workout)

Third, it brings a spiritual dimension to the workout, you acknowledge the pleasure and you thank for it, you feel one with everything around, sending and receiving positive energy and feeling the love around :)

It also helps to recover quickly in between fitness sessions and to get more efficient energy to put into the next one!!!

Gregg Braden Unprecedented Interview.

Grey Barden is a wonderful orator. With simple words, much love and generosity he shares in this video how we can change our life and feel at peace and happy, how we can heal ourselves also how we can make the whole world a better living place.

deepak chopra - The Secret of Healing - Meditations For Transformation a...

 Beautiful meditation... 
"the body does not create the spirit, but the spirit creates the boby" Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra : Physical Healing, Emotional Wellbeing

Very interesting, but more than that, it is inspiring. For me it makes real sense and brings light and hopes into our life...!
To know more on that topic from Deepak Chopra (named by the Time Magazine as 'The poet-prophet of alternative medecine') do not hesitate to read his book : Ageless Body. Timeless Mind.
'Drawing on both modern science and ancient wisdom, here is a model of health and illness that can stand the test of scientific scrutiny because of one simple fact: it works' Larry Dossey author of Reinventing Medecine.

Body Image, Society, Fitness and Spirituality

Well, this a very ambitious and complex topic, not sure I'll be able to cover it completely, I mean it's going to be hard to be as exhaustive as I would like it to be. But I hope to be able to share some of my experience and point of views on it. I'll try to synthetize my reflection on the subject :) Quite challenging for me!! ;)

It seems that over the centuries the ideas of beauty have shifted around. From round curves and sensuality image in the nineteen and start of twenty centuries, we moved to slim in between the 2 world wars and then "the early 1960s has as a symbol, model Twiggy, who has two defining features: height 1.67 m and a weight of 48 kg. This is the first time that beauty is not defined as health but by sexuality and fame. Hence, cosmetic and plastic surgery, are a central woman “tools” in her way toward the ideal.
XXI century beauty is taken to extremes, where everything is allowed, and nothing is shameful. The hair may be left, trapped in a bun or even be missing, as a vital link to the concept of beauty is the attitude.
Throughout history, the concept of beauty has revealed society the way she thought and action. Always there was an interdependence between the way it was viewed, the beauty and cultural ideals of society.
Now, Hong Kong scientists say that the beauty depends on the volume-height index.
The ratio is calculated by dividing the volume of the body, to the square of height (distance from chin to heel) and assume that it indicates not only the attractiveness of women but also health and fertility.
Therefore, in future it is possible that cultural ideals about beauty, to be confined to canons based on limits, with the role of establishing the degree of sexual attraction and that of fertility"
Extract of the analyse : The concept of woman beauty over the centeries

The fact is that today, women think they can't BE socially, or even sexually credible if they do not fit in the dictates of what magazines and fashion generate. This idea of being physically perfect poisons women's existence. But not only women's, probably men's as well and this in 2 different ways : first, like women, men have a pressure of being cosmetically perfect, but also they will be identified by the society to the woman they chose to be with, so they will go more for someone who looks cosmetically good (according to the fashion dictates) rather than for someone maybe with a less conventional beauty (always according to the fashion dictates), but with whom he could be happier (and by the way he probably would not even notice this second one, being too focussed on "cosmetic perfection"...) Not the healthiest way to make a decision... I talk here, as an example, about women and men in bisexual relationships, but, of course, this is probably the same issues in homosexual relationships...

Through my years of working as a Personal Trainer, I have witnessed so many depressions, unhappiness, phobias, addictions, compulsive eating habits, and most of the time these conditions are  triggered by a deep lack of self-estimate, non-acceptance of one's own image, one's physical differences, bad treatments, tough chilhood etc. And as we guess this can have some serious impacts on our psychological field. Of course we all want to make the right changes to feel good, valued and accepted, but, some of us are so driven to make it that they became obsessed and addicted to exercise, diets and other extremes, so end experimenting a very austere lifestyle which eventually showed its limits as ruled by too much deprivations and rigidities. A lifestyle which at the end reversed onto unhealthy habits again. Others tried without believing or without being ready to make the right moves (not extreme moves), so do not succeed, and then there are some who are opened to take the problem from a different angle; forgetting for a while the dictates of the society and listening to their heart, learning to follow their intuition and to believe they are or can become again (as we are all at birth) a Beautiful person.

The first moves are the tougher... Forget how many kg you have to lose, forget the way you look, forget who you want to be, just sink inside you and start to learn about yourself... Make a list of what you value about yourself, what you know you can achieve on a daily basis, what you do not want any more in your life (anything which pollutes you). Then get outside and breathe, breathe, breathe believing that what you are breathing it is life, pure life and pure energy which is going to accompany you in this journey. Understand that your body needs to be strong and healthy to support the healing of your mental condition and for your true self to feel great and aligned with your real needs and vocations. For that combine physical exercise with relaxing and meditative moments. There are plenty of fantastic sources on Youtube to initiate and guide you in your journey, for instance Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Greg Barden and many others who are very accessible in term of comprehension, very clear, with often an interesting scientific approach which gives even more credibility to their theories.

Make the changes you need to make, to be at peace with yourself. But having cosmetic surgeries will not be enough to make you feel aligned and happy if it is not combined with much deeper transmutations like : learning to be gentle, respectful and tolerant with yourself, eating well (organic or non spray produce cooked the right way, with moderation and pleasure) and exercising to maintain your body in good working order because this body is our spirit's house here on hearth, looking at yourself with pride for what you can achieve, opening your mind to more subtle believes like:
- the food I eat empowers me, I eat with respect and gratitude, in full consciousness and with moderation, and through this action I do my best for the environment.
- I feel good because I want it to be and believe in it,
- I love myself so I'm able to love the others and I'm loved because I love,
- I respect myself so I'm able to respect the others and I'm respected because I respect,
- I do not judge myself so I'm able not to judge the others and I'm not judged because I do not judge,
- I accept the way I'm so I'm able to accept the way the others -and situations- are and I'am accepted the way I am because I accept Life the way She comes to me,
 - I have the power to change my life, and the limits are infinite.

I believe the majority of the humanity is absolutely beautiful because it is authentic and true. Some people radiate so much care and love for the others, some do so much to improve the world!! They are a permanent inspiration, the beauty of their soul shines on us bringing protection and comfort...

We reveal our true beauty once we let the light get in and radiate through us, once we have understood that life is eternal, that we are One, and are experimenting this material life thanks to our body, a body that we have to take care of in the best way possible without never thinking it is limited (progress, healing, changes are always possible even in the smallest proportions).

Being always positive, optimistic, letting go of fears and anxiety related to social ladder, society uncertainty and insecurity, believing in our heart that everything is always possible and that we are valuable and loved, will help to make the changes we need for feeling great, beautiful, happy and peaceful in this very demanding world, and this no matter what are the latest dictates of the society and fashion.

The power and the choice of not being affected by others' high expectations is ours, we make the choice to be bothered or not and to belong to this big "circus"or not... We can all live a very simple, honest, peaceful and extremely pleasant life just by responding to true priorities and fulfilling simple needs.

Peace of mind for all of us :)

Organic Food, Environment, Fitness and Life Style

My involvement in a better future focusses also on eating organic or spray free food and preserving our environment. And my challenge is to convince the most people possible that eating the good stuff (mainly organic or spray free and cooked the right way) does not cost much more to our budget and for sure does cost much less to the environment than eating processed food packaged individually and none organic food. Also, very importantly, it improves our physical and mental health and the quality of the world around us.

More than two years ago, a bit as a family challenge but also because of some health issues I was going through, we decided to eat, where possible, only organic or spray free food and also to avoid eating almost all types of processed  food. Said like that it seems quite challenging in today's reality... But actually it sounds much more impressive than it really is! Yes, you need to put more of your time in the cooking process, need also maybe a bit more organisation, you have to re-think the way you do your grocery shopping as you'll spend less time in the supermarket and more in small local retailers, but the result after just 2 weeks of doing it and having started to adapt to this new way is SO rewarding!

First, you'll realise that cooking more is very pleasant and makes people around you happy. Also you'll start to feel free from the imperialism of big labels as you are in control of what you eat (no more preservatives, additives, nasty chemicals, artificial colorings, pesticides, abusive use of sugar, wrong cooking oils etc. etc.) then you'll realize that actually you can save money, yes you can...!!! I've noticed that lots of fruits and veggies that I buy at my organic shop are less expensive than non organic ones sold in supermarkets... so if you plan carefully by shopping some of your food at the supermarket, other at your local organic butcher and organic grocer, if you buy the right produces at the right time, season and place then you can really save money (indeed it's going to take a bit more of your time, but the experience of shopping will be much more enjoyable as you get a true connection with the local retailers). You can also save money because you bake more, you barely buy any more biscuits, crackers and others, which often accounts for a lot of our budget and filled up our bins with their packaging. So what a good surprise too, when you will be noticing that the amount of rubbish you produce has decreased radically! You can also adjust your budget allocated to meat by buying organic quality in smaller quantity than the quantity you use to buy your usual non organic bits. Decreasing the amount of meat consumption is excellent for health and the environment and when combined with organic quality it without no doubt, adds huge benefits!

The thought and sensation of doing the right things for our health and for the environment are an absolute reward! And on top of that when you combine the right amount of exercise you can be sure that you put all the best chances on your side of having a healthy and environmentally responsible lifestyle.

Buying fresh local produces promotes and supports the local economy, allows some traceability of the products, probably also, pushes others farmers to go for organic productions because the demand in organic food increases more and more. This increasing demand is the result of a better awareness of health issues triggered by pesticides, herbicides and other nasty chemicals, but also because we are now much more educated on environmental questions and issues than we used to be in the past.

You definetely can shop quality (fresh organic or non sprayed) products without spending more or much more, and not all foods need to be organic, but there are some which never should be eaten if non organic or non spray free. I wish you to find the way to reach this amazing feeling that doing the right things for our health and for the environment generates.

These are just small individually done things, but if we all do some and put them together, they will for sure contribute to a better living and a cleaner world. It is our responsibility to the future generations. Also being conscious of what we eat and eating what's good for us brings spirituality in our life, but also an amazing energy to enjoy life much more and to exercise with true pleasure because we are empowered by quality nutriments brought by real food.

Want to know more? then check out the following link: 15 reasons to eat organic food

Here are 2 lists which could help in choosing your produces if your food budget is tight.
20 Foods we should buy organic:                                       
1. Bananas
2. Kiwi
3. Mangoes
4. Papaya
5. Pineapple
6. Asparagus
7. Avocado
8. Broccoli
9. Cauliflower
10. Corn
11. Onions
12. Peas
13. Watermelon
14. Mushrooms
15. Grapefruit
16. sweet potatoes

16 Foods we don't need to buy organic :
1. Bananas
2. Kiwi
3. Mangoes
4. Papaya
5. Pineapple
6. Asparagus
7. Avocado
8. Broccoli
9. Cauliflower
10. Corn
11. Onions
12. Peas
13. Watermelon
14. Mushrooms
15. Grapefruit
16. sweet potatoes                       

Gilles Lartigot : Le pouvoir de l'alimentation (The power of food)

I wish this interview of Gilles Lartigot who wrote the best seller book Eat, would be translated in English for you to be able to enjoy it.

It has, from my point of view, everything we need to understand why what we eat and the way we eat have a direct influence on our physical and mental health and how it affects (or not) the environment.

It explains how important it is to eat in full consciousness and with repsect towards the food.

Here again love is a key. Eating our food with love, respect and in a healthy way changes the whole experience of eating. It brings more pleasure, more curiosity about food so much more diversity in our plates, more effective energy and bring spirituality to the moment. And above all this makes us feel healthier, stronger so we can be even powerful in our workouts. All good!
NB : I'll try to post an English summery of the interview in the next few days. 

Outdoors and exercise, why is it such a great combination?

Studies over the last 10 years have shown the benefits of outdoors exercising. Here are some very obvious conclusions of one of these studies that the Glasgow University in Scotland did: Glasgow University Studies

Being outside is not only good for boosting the mood, but it creates a connection (or re-connection) with what we belong to : Nature. By being aware of it, we can get an amazing amount of positive energy and a feel of total unicity.
While working out we activate all the "instinctive or primary" functions of our bodies, even often the focus on the body is so strong that we do not think about anything else at that very moment; only the body expresses and we can feel every bit working (we are aware of our breathing, the sweat and the heat it generates, aware of our heart beating, blood flow ect.), making us feel so alive. That is true in all circonstances of exercising (indoors or outdoors, alone or in team ect.).

When this happens and it's combined with an outdoor workout, the perception of aliveness increases in massive proportions. From my personal experience, feeling simultaneously what's going on inside of my body and what is around me, brings pure pleasure, satisfaction, joy and true sense of accomplishment. By being outside, we can feel the wind cooling us down, or just passing on us, feel the irregularity of the terrain underneath our feet, feel the shade of the trees, breathe their smells, hear the birds, see the colors of the world, feel the sun, the rain, the humidity, the heat... and combined with our internal feelings it generates a burst of raw sensations that make us realize how alive we are and how beautiful the experience and life around and inside us are. We feel one with everything and we are right here in the moment, in the present to make the most of it and get the best of it. We forget then all negativity or issues we are going through, we give our self a break free of worries which would help for example in a process of healing some mental illnesses.

Go out there, walk, run, bike, have rests, look around, touch the ground, the grass, the trees, the flowers and feel with your body and with your senses, do not intellectualize what you see or what you feel, just feel without putting words on it, just let it go through your body and with it. Feel the joy, the serenity, the peace, the perfection and smile at it :)

You'll be surprised after a few times doing it that this experience has positive impacts on all aspects of your life; you, for instance, will feel more relaxed, more gentle with yourself, accepting better who you are and how you look, less obsessed with little insignificant things, more in the action of the present moment and less preoccupied with the future, you'll feel proud of yourself... but not only; your level of fitness is going to increase very quickly because you take pleasure in being there and working out, pleasure that you will want to feel a bit longer every time you exercise again (thing that plays a big part in improving your performance thus your fitness level). You'll also start to eat differently, more healthy, and it will be a natural move for you because loving Nature means more respect for Her and more understanding of the idea that what is good for Her is good for you. Your whole lifestyle will benefit from it and you'll feel much happier, healthier, self-confident and in peace.

Exercising outside gives more chances to succeed in our fitness goals, but also to make the right changes to the way of a balanced, healthy and enjoyable lifestyle.

With my best wishes

Gregg Braden- Feeling Is The Prayer

Really inspiring. This way of thinkng can really change our life and how we feel about ourself and the "outside" world.