#selfawareness

The Power of Self Talk

/ mxospina / Leave a comment

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Hi there my friends!

I bet this happens to many of you because unfortunately, we do it often: you are sitting in front of someone and while he/she is talking to you, you have a hundred thoughts running through your mind. Your body is there but your mind is somewhere else. In the meantime, the person in front of you is hoping you are listening, but clearly you are not. You are not present. We are bombarded by thoughts every minute of the day, some have to do with situations in the past and others with plans in the future, but rarely with the present. While we are recreating the different scenarios (of what could have been but didn’t or what could be but hasn’t happened yet), we waste a lot of time not realizing that what matters is what we are now. Our internal narrative becomes our world, we play the same scenario so many times in our mind that without knowing it, we act on it and make it our reality. This is the power of self talk. Not only can we shape our destiny with our thoughts, we can alter them if we pay attention to the quality of these thoughts.

But how do you become aware of the quality of your thoughts? Because they happen very quickly and we also act on them very quickly. I certainly don’t have all the answers but I can share with you these tips that have helped me and I trust that if you are persistent, you will also benefit from them. They are not magic tricks, in other words, you will not see results overnight, they are meant to create a mindset that builds you up so think of them as steps to include in your routine to a better you.

Start a gratitude practice

It is always easier to be negative. Whichever the situation is, because life is not perfect, focus on finding reasons to be grateful. Be grateful for being alive, for the experiences that you have lived so far, for your health, for feeling the sun or the cold wind in your face, for the food in front of you. Focus on the positives, not the negatives. This practice sets a wonderful tone to start your day. If you are religious, include it in your prayers, and if you aren’t, simply be grateful to the universe for being here. 

Set your intention for the day

Make clear what you want to achieve and write it down. Words are powerful and the more you see them and repeat them to yourself, you will subconsciously create the space for these actions to occur. You are manifesting the universe what you really want so focus your energy in making it happen. Like they say, fake it til you make it!

 

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Develop your tribe

Being healthy is contagious and being miserable is also contagious. Surround yourself with people who share the same values. Take part in meditation groups, attend events where you know you will find others who love what you do and actively participate. Your tribe will be your best resource when you need someone to build you up, when you are feeling down or lost and more importantly you can also give back , which is even more rewarding than receiving it.

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Get active

Physical exercise is clearly important for physical health, but even more for mental health. When you find yourself down, over thinking, put on your trainers and go walking, running, walk your dog, find an activity that you like. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins which are our natural painkillers, they help reduce stress and create a sensation of positive feeling.

Abdominal breathing

Who would have thought that abdominal breathing actually massages your digestive system? Apart from calming your mind and reducing stress, it also aids proper digestion and helps to strength the immune system. Take a few minutes when you first wake up or before you sleep to practice abdominal breathing. Lay on your back and place your hand on your belly and see how it expands and contracts, try it for a few minutes everyday and you will feel the difference.

Being aware of our thoughts can be hard, but the more we develop mindfulness, we will be able to protect ourselves from diseases. Remember that being healthy is not only the food we eat, it also includes our thoughts and our internal narrative. Be patient and consistent, I promise that you will see the positive effects on your overall health if you do it and more importantly, everyone around you will also benefit from it.

If you want to learn more about this topic,  there are different research studies on the web, but I can recommend Dr. Bernie Siegel who has done extensive research and written different books related to self healing and the effects of positive thinking to cure diseases.

 

Don’t forget to share and like if you learnt something new today! I would love to know your thoughts on this topic.
Bear hugs,

 

Get real this year

/ mxospina / 2 Comments

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Hi my dear friends!

Remember when you said “I’ll do it next year”, well, here it is. We have just started a new year of life, a new year of opportunities that have the potential to be the best one ever or on the contrary, be miserable and full of disappointments. If you could choose one of these paths, clearly, you will choose to have a year with the potential to make you happy and fulfilled. Right? Now, as this is kind of an obvious question, I want to ask you another one. What are you doing to help yourself be happier and fulfilled this year? Think about the answer.

Setting resolutions is normally the first step that we do in order to organize the priorities, of course it is a constructive exercise but in my opinion, this exercise works when it’s based on realistic expectations. For example, if your resolution is to lose weight and you start strong and committed for 2 weeks but you stopped because you had a business trip, clearly, you are not setting yourself for success.

One important aspect of making long-lasting changes is to have clarity of the goals you want to achieve and why. If losing weight is a priority, then make sure you organize your environment to make sure that everything around you supports your changes. So instead of buying potato chips and butter popcorn you can go for homemade popcorn and sweet potatoes chips for example. Remove processed foods (dips, milk chocolates, dressings, cakes) and experiment with healthier options like homemade guacamole, humus, almond butter, dark chocolate. Set a day to cook foods and freeze them, in this way you will save time and money during the week and more importantly, you will avoid buying junk food because you cant find anything interesting in your fridge.

Another point is that one needs to realize that we can not pretend to look like someone else, we are unique, we have different body shapes and sizes not to mention different metabolism. I think our society is obsessed with body image. If you know already that a healthy weight for your constitution is between 55-58 kg why do you insist in being 52 kg? Having this expectation is not realistic and will only lead you to frustration and anxiety, which increases emotional imbalances and its likely that you will end up eating wrong foods just to find some comfort.

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Photo by superskinnyme.com

So I guess what I am trying to say here is BE REAL. Of course it is important to set goals but more importantly is to practice self awareness when we set these goals. Why? Because many times we are sabotaging ourselves with our attitude (we don’t believe we can do it, or , on the other hand, we set the bar too high and it becomes an impossible task). At the end, we give up and get back to our old ways.

The only way I know to make changes work for you in the long-term, is to practice self awareness. And yes, this is hard to do because we live fast, we eat fast, we sleep less and we stress too much. We are constantly distracted. We take little time to be with ourselves.To observe without judgement our actions, our thoughts and how these affect our behavior.

So my dear friends, be clear about your goals, write down your plan of action, pace yourself and be patient above all. Work on one change at a time, if you aim to achieve too many at the same time, it is likely you will be overwhelmed and you will stop doing it.

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Photo by Monell.org

There are numerous human behavioral and neuroscience studies that show that food is very close to us because it has to do with our survival. Brain connections start developing when we are babies and food is associated with safety and comfort. When we are calm and collected, we make decisions about making changes, but when we are stressed and tired, all bets are off, so its likely to go back to old ways even knowing they are not good. If you are interested in learning about neuroscience and the relationship of food with brain function, I highly recommend reading Dr. Mario Alonso Puig – Gastroenterologist, Surgeon for 26 years, an expert in brain function and how mental processes affect our wellbeing and total health. Most of his work is in Spanish, (he is Spanish) but I am sharing here a TED talk he did in English about Reinventing Yourself, which is also the name of one of his books, I totally recommend it.  

In previous blogs I have mentioned how important it is to have a spiritual practice. In my case, meditation has been crucial to practice self-awareness. To find the space to observe without judgement, to find my center and to be patient with myself and others. I don’t feel enlightened by any means, ( I keep working at it) I only share my experience with you because it has made a positive difference and I would love for you to experience good health and fulfilment in a sustainable way.

Did you learn something new? Don’t forget to share with your loved ones.

Until next time!