Are you prepared for Christmas?

Did you know that there are only 24 days until Christmas eve? We will talk about pre-Christmas stress
tomorrow evening...

Pause and refocus !

Multitasking is not what many of us think it is...It is when a person attempts to handle more than one task at a time. Many people believe that multitasking can cause one to waste time  and also numerous errors will be caused due to lack of  sufficient attention. The brain cannot truly focus on several tasks at once so the individual who is multitasking will make errors and also take more time while in this process. The brain is forced to pause  and refocus continually when confronted with a quantity of information. Though our brain is very complex it cannot multitask very well. The brain has a limited amount of space for retainment of information so when too much information at one time is accepted the brain does not handle it efficiently.

Unfortunately society supports constant multitasking ,such as listening to music while having a conversation or listening to music while exercising. It really can't be done because the brain is incapable of focusing on two things at the same moment so thus something or someone gets neglected. So perhaps focus on each task one at a time and chances are that you will finish all tasks in quicker and more thorough fashion than a person who is multitasking.

Seahorse's adventures..

We certainly were happy to have Seahorse back home after a fantastic trip to New Zealand and visited with friends for two weeks and then he had booked himself on a cargo ship going from Auckland N.Z. to Singapore. It took him 44 days and the ship visits almost every island along the way and a stay of a couple of days. Freight ships  will stop at certain points and if there is not enough freight for that port there will not be a stop. He is glad he remembered to get his vaccinations and a good health permit. Seahorse found it very relaxing as opposed to your regular cruise ships. He said it wasn't long before they all felt like part of the family. There was a stowaway found onboard(interesting). Everything was so real including the people he met along the way. There was time to tour about the port areas as he was there for a few days. Even the Captain dressed informally for dining. The food was delicious. The number of passengers on the trip was
15. So everyone had the opportunity to get to know each other well. His photos were wonderful and interesting to see. I am sure that there will be many more tales about the trip as time passes by....Thank Seahorse......

Leisure

Leisure is time spent away from duties, business, and some specific work.
Some people do work oriented tasks for pleasure as well as practical.

How much leisure time do you spend on leisurely activities daily?

I would love to hear from you...

A step out of the box..

Maybe this will be our "Unshelved" and new friend
in the future... 

Well Aurora and I met earlier this AM at the Second cup to plan our Christmas Party. We are going to go her house and actually help her trim her tree. That will be fun. Everyone that is able to prepare goodies will bring Christmas goodies with their recipe attached, for us to listen to carols and drink tea or cocoa while trimming the tree. Even the men were excited about our plans for Dec.13th and we asked "Seahorse" to be our Santa.  Then we met with rest of the group to hear about all their adventures of the last month. "Unshelved" had gone on his first vacation without his family coddling him along. He went to Toronto where he had never been and stayed at a recommended "bed and breakfast". This was actually owned by a senior lady whom I think "Unshelved" may travel to see her again very soon. Good for him ! He saw all the interesting museums and sites in Toronto and enjoyed himself immensely. He also mentioned that he checked out several of the libraries. Aurora had gone north to Churchill, Man, to hang out with some old friends. She many pictures. Too bad not the season to see polar bears.
"Alveus" went to Arizona and also had many photos to show us. Now "Seahorse" didn't do anything simple but we will talk about that trip tomorrow. He was gone for 6 weeks. So you can see that it's never too old to travel as long as you have made excellent plans ahead of time.

Coffee time tomorrow AM

Wishful thinking-not what we see in the mirror !

A lot of the gang have been away-last trip before the snow falls in great quantities. Most of the gang will be back home,so I will have lots to report after coffee time. I am excited to hear about everybody's trip and will see a few pictures for sure. Everyone will want speak first... talk to you tomorrow night..reports from Seahorse, Unshelved and Alveus. Of course Aurora will be back also....
Aurora and Hippo are meeting a little earlier for a quieter chat... to organize the next party.

Stress relievers..

Hippo would like to remind you to eat well and exercise. Please try and set realistic goals. Tend to your important tasks first, then try to accomplish your less essential jobs. Probably you might want to decrease your wish to be perfect. Be cheerful and try and give yourself some me "time". Maybe think before you speak if you are feeling negative. It's really how you handle stress. A quality life with happiness and health depends on how you manage your stress. that's all for this evening..I have a few unessential tasks to tend to......and I need my "me" time

Center of our survival...

Self Esteem is a realistic respect of themselves or a favourable impression of oneself.
Other terms that are synonyms or closely related meanings are as follows.
-Self regard
-Self worth
-Self respect
-Self integrity

Self esteem encompasses personal beliefs, emotions, negative or positive feelings about
ourselves and how we handle it. It is very important to have a good assessment about
yourself.

Humour is great stress reliever. More on stress relievers tomorrow night.

Perception is reality..

Ways to appear and give you confidence..


-Sit in front row
-Show gratitude to others
-Compliment others
-Maintain good posture
-Speak up
-Focus on contribution
-Be positive

-Be an action taker

It's the continuing saga of the greyhound wheels that don't go round !

Greyhound appears to be in a very depressed position at this time.Their bus depots are disgusting and in need of repair and a thorough cleaning. The washrooms are atrocious. The physically challenged washroom is sadly insufficiently equipped. I attempted to get my ticket portion officially confirmed as not going on the 12.01 AM to Med. Hat,and I was told by ticket person, that would not be possible and I would have to phone the National Customer Services Office -so I did-guess what?-offices were closed. So here I am @7.45 PM in the Calgary bus depot and my food voucher for $10 is reminding me that I am hungry-so off to cafeteria where it was a brain fitters' nightmare as far as nutrition.I was able to buy small white milk and a tiny box of spec k and ate it out of the  box. The choices were very limited.
It is 8.00 PM now so  I am getting weary-I have phoned my family in Medicine Hat and they don't want me traveling on the 12.01 AM, so they are driving 3 hours in order to fetch me and take me back to Medicine Hat (another 3 hours.) I decide to have a short nap while I am waiting for family to come. So I prepare my bed on a strip of 4 chairs  with my valuables (carry on bag) made up as my pillow on my winter jacket and proceed to lie down.. I have my suitcase in front of me and tied the scarf around my neck and tied it onto my suitcase. I at least dozed. My family arrived just after 10 PM and alerted me (it was easy for them to spot me in the depot as there were only about 20 people roaming around and then we went up to parking area where they had parked and we got stuck in a relic of an elevator. at least we were all together now and hoping to start the return trip- 3 hour trek to Medicine Hat. After 5 minutes of frustrating attempts. My son in law was able to get elevator door open and we drove for 3 hours to Med. Hat. Reaching there around 1.15AM
 Now I have sent in a complaint and a statement that if I do not hear from them promptly, I will go to the newspaper,Twitter and facebook and lawyer. I will keep you posted.

The Wheels on the Bus don't go round @"Greyhound"

I am going to relate to you an unbelievable event that happened yesterday. I am not a frequent bus traveller.

I had paid online for a round trip ticket to Medicine Hat from Edmonton, Alberta on Greyhound Bus lines on or about October 31st. So with online ticket in hand , I went to the bus station in Edmonton and up to the ticket counter and the cashier said that "Yiou are not  booked on the bus and didn't I know that the bus was full. She said she will try another way to enter it in a different fashion" She was successful and I was now booked on my ticket as an 8.00PM trip from Edm to Calgary. I said "That will be impossible as I would not be able to make my connection for bus in Calgary to Med. Hat @7.oo  PM ."The ticket agent said "chill Madam-I will get you there on time as you will go on the 2.00 PM bus as planned-only on paper ticket-a little deviation ."So I checked onto the bus and unevently went to Calgary. We arrive in Calgary @ 5.50 PM in good time to catch my connection to the Hat. As I disembarked from the bus , I asked the drive would my suitcase be put automatically on the &.00 PM Hat bus. He said "there is no 7.00 PM bus to Med. Hat. He said that trip time was cancelled on November 15th and took me to our driver- So I said "Why wasn't I notified?"- His answer was-"you should have been."So he called the head dispatcher over and explained the problem to him and the dispatcher said I could give you a food voucher and a gift certificate. I said -"what good are these items to me?"He said that the next time I travelled on Greyhound that I would get a discount- I said "Fat chance tha that I will ever travel greyhound" Then the cruncher came ?"Well I could try to get you on the 12.01 AM bus tonight that get to Med. Hat @3.30 AM" I stated that" I don't do midnight bus trips." and he raised his voice and said "everyone else travels midnight bus trips" I quickly explained " I am not everybody" So I told him to cancel the idea of  me going anywhere at Midnight. He asked "what will you do?"So the battle was on -I stated that I would sleep on the bench in the bus depot.Then he responded with "I will be back in little while after you use your food voucher." and that's another story tomorrow night. I will continue reporting the order of events of the  the long dreadful ordeal.
to be continued.........

Water Consumption

Do you know how critical it is for a person to drink 6-8 oz. glasses of water daily.
Weight and gender play a role in the amount of water required daily. Males require more water in a day than females .This will vary according to exercise level. Also experts say that adults need to drink about one half of their body weight each day.Example would be 150 pound person should consume about 75 oz. of water daily. Water will give you more energy and then allowing the body to cleanse and still maintain your weight. Complexion will also be clearer.

Proper diet

If you control your intake of carbohydrates, fats, and sugar and caffeine you will be able to maintain a healthy body and brain health. Brain cells need the right amount of protein and vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) in order to function and be able to make more brain cells. Every action that your body performs is a function of the brain. If insufficient amino acids and vitamins and minerals your brain will not be able to control your moods, designation or cerebral reasoning. Omission of vitamins and minerals can cause brain related signs such as depression and irritability and difficulty in ability to focus and or concentrate. When the cells aren't able to reproduce, it results in a deficiency  of pathways thus lack of cognitive processes.

Pathways...

Neurotransmitters

Good nutrition stands for healthy cells. Healthy cells will respond to the neurotransmitters and thus make pathways. The reason food is so important for the brain to function well is so that (an example) the more  proteins are produced the as a cell is brought to its threshold and the healthier it will become. The better the cells will work for brain health. The cells will not respond without protein and won't be able to be made to pass a message on or reach a threshold.
Next time that you decide to skip a meal -think again ! It will affect your abilities...

Feeding your Brain.....

I am always stressing how important it is to eat nutritiously but sometimes I don't explain the "Whys and hows to you". Every organ including the brain thrives on healthy cells to operate in an efficient manner.  Your body gets these elements when you eat and drink healthy foods and liquids. Without vitamins ,minerals and amino acids, your body wouldn't react befittingly. Excellent nutrition feeds the brain. Amino acids produce neurotransmitters, which should be your objective for a healthy brain. The amino acid comes from protein and protein is found in beans, tofu, whole grain breads and nuts, seeds, red meats and other foods. Without protein,  the cells will fail to respond and then learning disabilities will developThe vegetables,fruits and dairy usually contain vitamins and minerals. If you eat nutritiously, you will create neurotransmitters and very healthy brain cells.

The technique of reading people

Some of the group and myself have been on the bus a good part of the afternoon. We all realized that body language is a non verbal communication which does consist of body posture. gestures, expressions on the face, of course eye movements. We as people send and interpret many signals subconsciously. About 7 % of our communication is verbal. I found that surprising. We all saw some sad people and also happy folks .
There were a few who looked content and the odd one looking embarrassed. I noticed a guilty looking person. Several with satisfaction were noted especially when they looked at their watch and saw that the bus was on time. The odd soul was bored and that was observed with the person tilting their neck to one side and eyes straight ahead. A few passengers got on the bus and folded their arms across their chest after sitting down beside someone . I did observe a grumpy senior, which was unpleasant. Apparently this is a very powerful message to block off the other person.
A good fun day was had by all with a break for a coffee or tea and a real visit. So two missions were accomplished during our afternoon excursion and learning more about understanding body language and socialization.

Brain Construction Zone .... ongoing...

The more you challenge your brain, the more new super highways (nerve pathways) you form. This is called mental stimulation. Games that require you to strategize will provide super stimulation. Chess,bridge, and brain games are excellent tools. Beware of stress-try and avoid. Yoga, meditation, exercise and socialization will assist to relieve stress. Sufficient sleep is imperative for good brain health.
The rule of thumb-What's good for the heart is also good for the brain. Exercise is transpiring as a praise worthy way to enhance brain health. You want to be engaging many parts of your brain to perform small daily or weekly tasks. All of these efforts will help to decrease your cognitive decline.

The brain loves novelty ! It does not need to be difficult in order to involve your senses in every day activities. Give your brain a workout  every day of your life.

Tomorrow after noon , Hippo and her friends are going on the bus to observe the  body language of everyday folks just like us-remembering that we also have body language. We are interested in this study because it will help us to be more perceptive and perhaps kinder in our everyday life.

Reality of body language...

Today Seahorse, Unshelved and Aurora and myself have been busy doing a little research on body language in order to prepare for our adventure on the bus on the weekend. We all read body language every day. The mind unfolds the unfathomable puzzle of body language and uses it to form impressions. It really does affect perception. We have learned that once we begin to pay attention, the signals will be easy to spot. So I will talk to you after the bus ride.

Body Language and Perception...

"Hippo" and  "Seahorse" are going on a bus ride about town on the weekend to observe the body language of  people. We're hoping to have "Unshelved" join us for our adventure and maybe "Aurora". We were discussing as a group how one really forms an impression as to how body language is interpreted. Sometimes body language will give off  bad signals or other times you may get the the impression of openness and friendliness. We will report the results of our adventures Friday evening/Saturday. It will be a fun and lively adventure. Perhaps you will try to be more aware of body language of others in the next few days..

Neurobics?

Hippo says that "Neurobics" is a great way to exercise your brain using your 5 physical senses. and your emotional sense in  unanticipated ways. They will encourage you to change your daily routines. Even the slightest change in "daily routine" patterns will create brain stimulation.
It can be done anywhere that you choose and anytime. They can be done in offbeat, unzipped and weird ways. These exercises will activate underused neural pathways and connections, assisting you with accomplish creating a fit, flexible and moldable mind.
A few suggestions:

• Drive to work a different route
• Unlock your door with your eyes closed
• Use opposite hand to surf the TV
• Brush your teeth with the opposite hand
• Smell the flowers and listen to some of your favourite music
• Try getting dressed with your eyes closed
• If you walk or jog regularly-take a different route
• Try folding clothes with one hand

Fun and socialization

Hippo attended the ballet last night with friends and enjoyed "Wonderland" and evening out.  We laughed and talked-all very positive and relaxing.
Fun is the enjoyment of pleasure and a primary grouping of like-just like socialization is so key to brain fitness. You may experience fun at many human activities, such as during work, play or social functions and recreation. It is usually a spontaneous or a high sprirted event.
I hope that you have had fun this weekend.

Have you eaten healthily today?

Diets high in saturated fat increase the risk of dementia. It can impair your concentration and also affect your memory. So beware of foods that are made of animal products. Ice cream, whole milk red meat and butter, cheese and sour cream should be consumed in smaller amounts if necessary for your diet and fancy.
Omega 3's very important for brain health. Fish is a great source of omega 3's but I do know some folk who are not fond of fish- I suggest looking into fish oil supplements. Some of the nuts (walnuts) and some seeds also provide non-fish omega 3's. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables as they are packed with antioxidants, especially colourful fruits and vegetables. If your diet permits eat green leafy vegetables.
Drink grape juice and also cranberry juice and fresh grapes and berries and peanuts...Be careful of carbohydrates such as sugar and white bread. Carbs can fuel your brain for a short boost and a rapid crash.
For energy that lasts, choose whole wheat bread,oatmeal and high fiber cereal, brown rice and  lentil/beans.
Good luck-I know that you will feel brain boosted if you follow some of these hints.

An Idle brain-a decline in cognitive abilities-not a healthy situation

Make sure that you stimulate your brain. Problem solving is very important for the brain plus frequent  memory workouts. It is so necessary to keep that memory intact. Mental stimulation keeps your mind sharp and rather agile. The more that one thinks, the better the brain will function, regardless of age. If we do not keep our mentally charged our brains will degenerate and then we will experience cognitive decline. It has been proven that active folks 50 yrs. and over, reduce their risk of dementia by as much as 70-80% compared to those who do not stimulate their brains and remain inactive. Social interaction and physical activity provide an enormous boost to brain functions.

Beginning tomorrow, Hippo will expand upon good nutrition. It is imperative for the human being to maintain an excellent diet of brain boosting foods in order to maintain
a healthy  lifestyle with plenty of strong cognitive abilities.

Hippo shares her tips for enhancing your ability to learn and remember

Try and relate your information to some things that you are already familiar with so you can connect the data to some other previous knowledge. New material can build on old information from your past.
Focus on understanding the basic ideas of a story or concept and then explain it in your own words to someone else. This works so well with complex ideas.
Always review what you learned on the same day you learned it and several times there after. Do not cram, as you will then not be able to retain information.
Attempt to relate data to textures, colours, smells and tastes-this will make it a physical method of remembering information. This is called sense involvement.
Reciting material out loud will also be effective.
Above all -choose a quiet place to work so that you will not be easily distracted. Focusing intensely for approximately 8 seconds should process a piece of information in a conducive setting.

Use it or lose it....

 Hippo says"Use it or lose it"  
"Improve your memory"

Do something out of your comfort zone in order to make it a good brain exercise. It needs to be an unfamiliar activity.
Some activities will require your mental effort and then it will expand your knowledge.
Examples: learn a new language, or instrument, or sport, or try a more difficult level of crossword or sudoku puzzle. The more interested and engaged that you in your new activity, will most likely allow you to continue doing it and also the benefits you will experience will be greater. Pay attention to what you are learning or it won't get encoded into the brain. Pick a quiet area so you can focus and you will then be able to attain worthwhile benefits.
So Hippo summarizes what you require to do to improve your memory. Give your  brain a strenuous workout.

• Learn something new.
• Must be a challenge
• It should be fun  

        

Is your memory slipping?

Hippo would like to remind you, to get plenty of sleep and physical exercise. Exercise will increase the oxygen to your brain. This will in turn increase your ability to enhance your processing and recall. You also need a good nutritious diet and many healthy habits. When you are sleep deprived you don't function well. Your creative and problem solving abilities and thinking are jeopardized to a great degree. Sleep is necessary for melding of the memory .
Socialization is very important and we are not meant to thrive in isolation.
Relationships stimulate the brain. Meaningful ... and strong support systems are crucial for our maintenance of emotional health and of course our brain health.