Hippo is taking an R&R

Hello...
I am taking a brief break-for R&R...I will begin writing on June 14 th.  
Keep physically active, Try out some new skill, Enjoy a little mental stimulation.

Appreciate life, Eat nutritionally, Drink enough water, and above all keep up with your socialization.

Plan your summer... Talk to you soon.

Eat moderately and healthy in order to think right..

We are constantly getting bombarded with all sorts of types of promotion that encourages illness. You are asked as you are being seated if you would like to have the larger order for only 49 cents more. Also when you are seated in a restaurant you are immediately asked if you want to go with the "Big"drink.and would you like an appetizer and do you want your bread first. Perhaps you would like a bigger drink because it's a better deal. There are bottomless french fries, and refills for free. Nutrition that is less than healthy is often set as a reward after a busy work day or by a parent  stating- 'If you keep your room tidy for  the week you will be able to go to eat fast food at the end of the week.
All that you are doing is paying extra to be 'obese' and have much 'less brain function'.

Never give up...

Never, ever give up . Many people give up just before they turn the corner and are unable to achieve.
their dreams. "Success seems to be a matter of hanging on after others have let go" by William Feather.

Letting go.....

Let go.......

Allow everything that is presently happening be and accept life the way it is & exactly the way
it isn't. Letting go doesn't mean that you are giving up."Avoid resisting your life."When you experience a negative emotion or you become unsettled you are resisting something in your life and thinking that something is not balanced in your life so you want to change it. Resisting won't work so you may as well  stop emitting negative energy.There are two paths that you can travel along- that is resist and be unhappy or you can decide to let go and accept life exactly the way it is-Then you will be absorbing positive energy and not resisting as you once did.. Remember, as Helen Keller quoted"When one door of happiness closes another door opens;  but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

Overcoming Negative Thoughts.....

  Thumbs down

The first step is to conquer your thoughts and realize their effects on you. These thoughts make you feel  anxious, sad, hopeless and leaves you feeling guilty, Instead of persisting on dwelling upon these thoughts perhaps you can learn from them and use them as trigger to take some positive action. Make note of your mood changing and what was going through your mind at the time. You could find that you think of these same thoughts often and you will become more cognizant to your changes in your mood. Write down when they occur with a date .( just like journalizing) Don't forget to talk about the emotional despondency and what your body experienced. What was your activity at the onset of your mood change that was a cue and what were your thoughts at the time you began recalling something unpleasant? This is sometimes where you feel that you are lacking coping skills for the time being. It is not always a piece of cake for you to journalize all that you felt and thought. These thoughts can gnaw at you if  this continues to happen and you may become a little more depressed. Your goal is to rid yourself of this habit of being consumed by negative thoughts and not being aware of their presence. You are in a vicious circle. You must do something positive now and if you need assistance perhaps ask your family physician for advice.

"It takes time & practice not to think  negatively and a little positivity  will lead to many positive thoughts
or the the other hand
a negative thought can also lead to more negativity'

Keep in mind only positive thoughts

First step in this process is to be very aware of what you are thinking at all times. Thoughts that are negative make you feel unsettled. An inner voice tells us you can't have something or do as you wished  or maybe suggests you are not good enough or you may fail at the task you were hoping to attempt. But it should be recognized as fear , whatever you wished to do was new and out of your comfort zone. Realize that inner voice is you and the only person stopping you from accomplishing  perhaps a new challenge  is you. So become aware and recognize the inner voice and take charge and recognize this situation before that voice takes command.

You can begin now and make a brand new ending..... but no one can make a brand new beginning

No pleasure is a bad thing in moderation

"Moderation is the key to sustainable enjoyment of many of life's pleasures." As Epicurus noted this over 2000 years ago. The good news is that some of the most pleasurable treats or activity or daily foods,when enjoyed in moderation are beneficial to your health. Also if you seek the highest possible quality of a food or activity, (physical or mental) and then focus on your enjoyment you will definitely have a winner.



Title -quote by Epicurus. .Greek Philosopher

Empowerment... Health and Healing

Continuing along with the topic of Spirituality:

Healing is really about "wholeness". Everyone is spiritual by nature. The spiritual dimension becomes more noticeable in the midst of a crisis or a terminal illness/condition and that  is when a  greater new understanding begins developing.
It goes along very gradually as one travels on their journey. They usually improve their coping and  more meaningful thoughts occur and which then reduces the level of stress and increases one's understanding.

One might ask what is the difference between religion and spirituality.
Spirituality is your core essence, fundamentals , "larger than your power" ......a connection that one has in common-somewhat unearthly..
Religion is a set of beliefs and practices and how we choose to execute them and express our spirituality..

Spirituality and how it connects with your Health and Healing

Spirituality is a belief in a power operating in the universe that is greater than yourself. It gives you a sense of connection with all living creatures. The feelings of awareness and meaning of life and development of your personal values and inner peace reveal to us that we are able to develop a spirituality outside religion.
Special acts of kindness, selflessness and altruism are proof that support the above statement. Now the spirituality does perform a role in your health and brain care. It is now being realized that spirituality concerns play a larger role in the healing process. Tomorrow I will write only about spirituality and health and healing.

Coping skills in hard times....

Hi...
I hope you had a great weekend.We did....We had our pot luck party on Saturday night and it was great fun.

The variety of donated nutritious dishes was very inviting and  had a good balance of the food groups.  We did have many giggles. We were talking about the early days in our youth and describing the dwellings that we lived in as kids . Many of us in our group had outdoor plumbing -no hot water heater, shared the same bath water as our brothers and sisters once a week, the old wood stove and curtains  to form rooms or areas for an individual etc. Some of us had no electricity until we became a teen ager. My, we have progressed very quickly in the world today and have a great many facilities available to us.  There were many people with hardships but  above all we had a very fun time. There was more of a sense of community. This is where components such as "socialization"  and "spirituality" as both of these are necessary for survival ... they step into play and will assist you during hard times. More on skills tomorrow evening...

Surprising facts on nutrition of foods.

Hippo's weekly trivia.
Did you know that Vegetables and fruit are able to contribute to your daily fluid intake. Water is very important to drink daily,however you also are drinking water with every bite of produce that you consume.  Apricots, cantaloupe, oranges, pineapple, peaches, watermelon, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, celery,lettuce , cucumber and eggplant consist of approximately 85% water

  
Mental health tips:

#4. Laugh a lot- often
#5. Listen with intent
#6. Keep an open mind

Saturday night Potluck Dinner @ Hippo's

We have decided to have a "wellness and brainfit potluck" on Saturday evening. Each one of us will bring  a healthy dish. It should prove to be very interesting as each of us picked a category from the 15 types of categories that "Seahorse" studied about during the past 3 months of his brain fitness course. Aurora and a couple of the older girls are bringing desserts.(can't wait to see what they are made from) Unshelved is working at the library that day 12 noon to 5.00 PM but will bring his contribution from the market. I hope that "Alveus" got a tasty category as she makes fantastic caesar salad with a yogurt substitution in dressing  We are even having appetizers. Because May is Mental Health month, we will perhaps play "charades" after dinner and use topics for acting out from a list of Mental Health Tips that I am presently sharing and using in every day life. We should take heed of a few of these tonight and practice if you have the opportunity.
  #1. Relax                          
  #2. Smile
  #3. Walk every day

Our Hopes, Emotions and Identity and everything we believe in comes from our Brain

GREEN is where it's at....Temporal lobe and  PINK is the area of occipital lobe

You need to maintain a healthy life style in order to store up some reserves in preparation for any age that your brain might require it. I also had to make some life style changes to enable me to maintain my mental health fitness.The occipital lobe is located in the back portion of the brain and interprets visual stimuli and information. It gets the stimuli from the retina's and receives & interprets information from the eye. The other lobe is called the temporal lobe. This lobe is located on the bottom  side of the brain. Part of this lobe is very well known by myself as my nick name came from  this area known as the as  Hippocampus. I have the nick name of "Hippo"This has  functions that are connected with long time memory.The rest of the Temporal lobe has duties such as emotional responses, auditory perception, short term memory into long term memory for transfer's sake and sensory input. Language and speech production are also other functions that are performed.

Next Stop... Parietal lobe

We will get to our destination soon -so just hold on and absorb some new information or refresh yourself with fresh information. The parietal lobe contains the sensory cortex and is associated with movement,orientation,recognition, and perception of stimuli. There are some regions of the brain that undertake different language and learning tasks. They are connected to another to other regions as they do not work in isolation as others. They are connected by a series of neurons that permit this information to be relayed between regions. Read more about your brain health.

Tour of the frontal lobe

The frontal lobe is right behind your forehead and helps to control many complex skills. These are  concept, formation and organization, mental flexibility, behaviour execution, problem solving skills,
planning,judgement, ethical behaviour, inhibition, abstract reasoning, affect & attention , personality,
and rather expressive language. There are a lot of responsibilities for one lobe to handle , don't you think? As time goes on, you will begin to realize how complex the brain really is....

Hippocampus is a very important part of the Brain

The Hippocampus is located in the temporal lobes of the brain. They are horseshoe shaped organs located in each of the left and right hemispheres. It sends memories out the rest of the cerebral hemisphere for long term storage or when it needs to be revisited. It has the ability to generate new brain cells. Involved in consolidating emotions and navigation and spatial orientation. It will also connects senses such as smells and sounds to memories. These all require exposure to Physical activity, Mental stimulation, Nutrition Socialization and Spirituality and that is your responsibility.

The brain is the greatest single system in our universe..

Review of information does not hurt you as information too can change. The brain weighs 2-4 pounds, consists of 60 % fat and uses 25 % of your blood every time your heart beats. It is divided into 2 hemispheres -a left one and a right one. The left hemisphere is responsible for language details, and analyzing situations. The right side deals with recognizing faces, spatial orientation and sounds.
The brain is responsible for thought, emotion, and behaviour. The human brain and the animal brain are the same type of brain as they both are able to generate new brain cells. More tomorrow on sections of the brain.