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Conscious Mindset, Holistic Health, Stress & Overwhelm

10 Top Tips To Survive The Holiday Season and Start the New Year Powered-Up

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December, the end of the year – a time of good will and the ‘Season of Stress’. At this time of the year, we are all buckling under the weight of stress – at work, at school, shopping for the Holidays, coping with crowds, financial worries. For almost everyone, stress levels in their everyday life are ramped up right now.

And then there are the parties! With so much going on it’s almost impossible to reach the New Year without crashing in a heap.

There is no point waiting until after the damage is done and the celebrations have finished to try to pick up the pieces. The key is to get on top of the extra stress right now.

Which brings us right back to one of the big stress triggers – you have no time right now to add anything extra into your busy life.

Simple Strategies to Regain Calm Control

While the stress hormones, adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol were essential to life in the wild, our bodies haven’t caught up, so our stress hormones and lifestyle are not in synch. Too much of the hormones designed to save our life in cave-man days surging through our body today can have dire consequences on our health. The constant level of stress we live with keeps these hormones permanently switched on, constantly increasing our cell’s stress levels.

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There are many quick and easy ways you can defuse stress in just two to five minutes. It’s simply a case of learning them and then remembering to use them.

Strategies to Reduce Stress Levels

These ten wellness hacks take less than five minutes and will get your stress levels down and have you on track to hit the New Year running. Try all of them out or just try one. But do yourself a favour this holiday season and practice a little self-care.

#1 Sweetly Scent-sual

Far more than just being pleasant aromas, the flower fragrance contains volatile plant compounds that can reduce stress as powerfully as certain drugs. Keeping fresh flowers or a plant close by in your workspace helps, but to get a powerful effect opt for aromatherapy essential oils. Carry the bottle or roller in your bag for quick application or sniff whenever you feel stress levels rising. Lavender is one of the best, with frankincense often the first choice to reduce stress. Rosemary is my favourite to also increase clarity and focus and peppermint is another good choice.

Simply take a long, deep breath from your bottle, or dab on your temples whenever you need it.

If you find your stress levels rising when you are out shopping duck into the closest florist and take some good deep calming breaths.

Flower Power can also be accessed through flower essences. Carry them with you and you simply drop a few drops on your tongue whenever your stress, anxiety or worry levels start to rise.

#2 Calm Racing Thoughts

Sometimes your thoughts can go a bit wild when you are under stress. Your mind is always busy as they run round and round your head, building up your anxiety and increasing your stress.

When you find this happening begin to focus on a single object, it can be any object, even just a pen. You need to really focus on it, concentrate so other thoughts don’t creep in.

Once you are focused start to breathe deeply and slowly, right down deep into your abdomen. If you are not sure about doing this, try it out a few times when you are calm to get the hang of the process. You can learn how to belly breathe on Mastering The Breath Of Life.

Keep the breathing going for three minutes while you maintain your focus. This is an excellent way to calm your mind and relax.

#3 Breathe…

You don’t necessarily need to focus and breathe when you feel stressed.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing alone soothes your nervous system and increases your alertness. Once you have mastered this technique it is easy to simply stop and do it. Even just breathing for two minutes can settle you down considerably.

Breathe down into your belly, through your nose, hold for a couple of seconds, then release slowly through your mouth.

#4 Tea Time

How often do we say “let’s have a nice cuppa tea” after some big drama is sorted out? Full of antioxidants, tea is the perfect way to calm down, especially if you stop rushing around and sit quietly to enjoy it.

Black, green and white tea, all have some calming effect. But if you want the big guns of relaxing teas you can’t go past some of the herbals.

Chamomile is the simplest and is usually available in most cafes so is a good one to fall back on. It is far more effective when it’s brewed up with lavender though and works well in many other blends.

Ashwagandha has been used in Ayervedic medicine for thousands of years to treat even severe stress. A great choice while you’re working as it calms your nervous system without sending you off to sleep. As a bonus it induces a sense of wellbeing and clears your mind.

Lemon balm, passionflower, skullcap, valerian, lime blossom and oats are just some of the others that calm and relax.

There are so many wonderful herbs already combined in excellent relaxing blends that all you need to do is select the combination that you like the most. Try out a few different blends until you discover your favourite.

#5 Talk With A Friend

Whether you vent, speed-talk, shed a few tears, or simply sigh, talking to a good friend who is ready to just listen, can make a huge difference to your stress levels. Research has shown that as well as getting stuff off your chest talking to a friend actually reduces your stress hormones as well as your blood pressure.

#6 Smile

Frowning or grimacing, clenching your jaw, or wrinkling your forehead all suppress your immune system and trigger the release of more stress hormones. Simple smiling boosts your levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and endorphins. These are the ones the one that induce good moods and make you happy. As smiling increases your endorphins it also lowers your levels of cortisol.

The more you stimulate your brain to release these mood boosters by just smiling the more relaxed you feel. But here’s the amazing thing. You don’t have to feel happy. It’s the simple act of moving the muscles in your face that triggers the action. Putting on a happy face starts the process.

#7 Visualise – Free Your Imagination

Your mind is a powerful tool and the gateway to escaping your stress. Remember how good you feel when you think of your favourite vacation spot? Or perhaps when recalling time spent with close family or friends?

By closing your eyes and taking your thoughts inside your minds-eye to your favourite perfect, beautiful scene or happy experience you can return to those times when you felt secure, happy and relaxed.

Simply closing your eyes gives you the space to spend a few moments to ground yourself and reduce the stress hormones surging through your body.

#8 Yuuummm…

Now here’s one you will love. Small amounts of dark chocolate really do make you feel better and reduce your stress. Eating dark chocolate increases serotonin and endorphin levels in your brain. Remember, these are the mood enhancers. Plus, it lowers your levels of that difficult stress hormone, cortisol.

Just 40 grams of dark chocolate a day for a couple of weeks does the job. And the darker the chocolate, the better. It must be at least 70% cocoa derived. Sweet, milk chocolate doesn’t offer the health benefits and don’t even think of white chocolate. But be sure to practice moderation, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

#9 Meditate

Not only does meditating calm you in the moment, establishing a regular meditation practice changes the way your brain responds to stress.

Many people think meditation means sitting still for hours with a completely empty mind. But there are many forms of meditation, some still, some active and some taking just a few minutes.

Have you ever found yourself gazing at something, perhaps a magnificent scene, completely caught up in what you are looking at, your mind a blank? You are in a state of meditation. Anything that totally pulls your focus and allows you to switch off other distractions is meditation. Sometimes it can happen simply by watching something absorbing, at other times it helps to repeat a simple word or phrase in time with your breath. Words such as relax, I am calm, peace or serenity are all suitable choices. Find one that has the most meaning for you.

Concentrating on your breath is one way to focus and meditate. Zen masters may do this for hours on end but even doing it for just a few minutes has a powerful effect on your whole body, your brain, your nervous system, your emotions and your muscles. You can even meditate by concentrating on your breathing as you take slow measured steps in time with each breath.

#10 Meridian Magic

This is a different take on how to relax and calm yourself.

The Triple Warmer is an energy pathway running through your body which is related to stress. This twenty second exercise is an ancient healing practice that rebalances this energy pathway to reduce the stress effect. Realigning this meridian supports your immune system and improves your ability to manage stress and release tension, anxiety and fear. It’s so simple, quick and effective, you can do it anywhere, and it only takes seconds. This year, set yourself up to hit the New Year running.

We can’t totally eliminate stress from our life in these times because it surrounds us day and night. But adopting simple strategies to prevent the effects of that stress building up in your body before it reaches a level where you crash, just makes plain good sense. Perhaps even more importantly it gives you back control of your life.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.

Holistic Health, Nature's Rhythms, Self Care

A Winter’s Tale: Does Your Winter Mood Need A Lift?

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Enough is enough! Yesterday was a day of bitingly cold winds, hail showers and snowfalls on the nearby ranges. Eleven weeks in and I am over Winter. This is no longer Winter Wonderland Magic.

I was chatting to a man in the supermarket register queue last night as he added some gorgeous coral coloured roses to his pile of groceries. He said he just needed some warm colours around his house to remind him that winter would not go on forever, that spring is nearly here. I felt so inspired, I bought some too!

Winter is eleven weeks in now and it seems we are all feeling over it. The joy of curling up with a warm drink, cosy slippers and a heat pack in front of a movie or with an engrossing book is past. I want to go outside without rugging up, to plant my spring vegetables, to enjoy a salad again, to get to the end of the day without cold feet and to enjoy some sunny evenings.

Winter Relief Practices

Even though we’re at the tail end of winter this is the time that Winter Blues shows up for many people, as the accumulated stresses of winter start to affect them. These days winter blues are recognised as a disorder known as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which is caused by a lack or not sufficient sunlight.

To help get us over that last hump in the winter road and to keep us going until the warmer days of spring arrive, I’ve gathered some ideas to help lift our spirits as winter heads on out.

First up, a couple of warm drinks with a difference. I love herbal teas and I have a whole cupboard devoted to their storage, the tea cupboard. But, even with my wide choice, as well as the basic green tea back-up, I’m bored.

Here are a few new yummy hot drink ideas I have come across to spice things up when tea just doesn’t cut it any more

Hot chocolate!  Chocolate is a mild stimulant and if you choose your chocolate wisely you also get all the benefits of antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals. Here are two DELICIOUS chocolatey drinks to warm your insides and your mood.

Piping Hot Choc Winter Smoothie

The first is from Tara Bliss at Such Different Skies

hot choc smoothie

This Piping Hot Choc Winter Smoothie is thick, creamy, decadent and not-naughty.

Ingredients
  • 1 banana
  • 1 heaped Tablespoon raw cacao (don’t use drinking chocolate or cocoa…it’s absolutely worth GETTING some Raw Cacao INSTEAD)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon chia seeds
  • 2 medjool dates or some honey
  • 1 cup boiling water OR warm almond milk OR dandelion tea

Add peanut butter, oats, cinnamon, coconut or maca for extra yum.

 Blend, Pour, Guzzle Buzz.

Superfood Haute Chocolate

haute hotchocoalte

This super recipe is from Sarah Britton at My New Roots

Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder
  • 2 teaspoons maca powder
  • 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
  • Pinch sea salt
  • Pinch cinnamon powder
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • Pinch ginger powder
  • Small piece vanilla bean, scraped (optional)
  • 1½ cups milk of your choice or water

Boil water or warm milk on the stove and let cool slightly. If using raw nut milk do not heat above 42ْ C

Whisk in dry ingredients. Serve immediately with a cinnamon stick, if desired.

Not only is this hot choc yummy, but all the spices are wonderfully warming circulation stimulants to warm you through to the fingertips and toes.

Dandelion Chai

This Spiced Dandelion Root Tea is not only warming and delicious, it’s also great for your liver.

Ingredients
  • 1 teaspoon -1 dessertspooon organic roast dandelion root per cup.
  • 1 cinnamon stick (or a pinch of cinnamon powder)
  • Ginger root, chopped up with the skin left on

Add any of these spices to taste: star anise, bay leaf, black peppercorns, green cardamom seeds slightly crushed, cloves, dried orange peel, dried raspberry leaf, fennel seeds, peppercorns, vanilla bean, licorice root.

Place all ingredients and water in a pot, bring to boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Add some honey and your milk of choice if desired.

You can keep any leftover in the fridge and add water and reuse.

It tastes great black, but may be too strong for if you are not used to it.

Lemon and Ginger Tea

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Home Made Lemon and Ginger Tea is so easy to make and head and shoulders better than any from a tea bag.

Ingredients
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • Juice of ½-1 lemon (about 60ml)
  • 2.5cm piece ginger root, grated
  • A couple of spoons (or more) of honey to taste

Add the ginger to the boiling water. Simmer in an open pan for about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and the honey to the ginger water. Strain into your cup.

Or you can add all the ingredients to the water and pour into a thermos and let the mix sit for 20 minutes before straining and drinking.

This is a great choice if you are still trying to throw off a winter cough. The lemon is high in vitamin C to boost your immune system. Ginger and honey also help the immune system.

Rooibos

Rooibos, sometimes called red tea, is a tea with so many health benefits. It comes from South Africa and has a fairly robust flavour. We recently tried one with added honey and it was very popular at work.

Colour Your Surroundings

Looking out the window at the pots of flowers on my deck, it struck me that the  colours of late winter are lavender, the colour of the rosemary in full flower, and golden yellow, think daffodils. Bringing a bunch of winter daffs in for your desk or kitchen bench brightens your mood immediately, reminding you the season is about to change. Yellow is the colour of spring and it is considered cheerful and optimistic.

Many studies show that the colours you surround yourself with have a great impact on your state of mind. In the Stadium at the University of Iowa, the visiting team’s locker rooms are painted all-pink and have been for thirty years, because pink is a tranquil colour that is known to calm and pacify. If the Home Team then painted their own locker rooms red, which stimulates a faster heart rate and breathing, they would no doubt benefit from an emotional energy boost.

Using colour is a great way to lift your mood and one very simple way to use colour is to swap a bright cheerful coloured silk scarf for your woolly, black winter scarf. If you live in Melbourne like me, of course you have a black scarf! Avoid blue because it lowers the pulse rate and body temperature.

Beat SAD With Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a wonderful mood lifter and if you are feeling a bit low taking a quality vitamin D supplement is a great move. In many parts of the world it is almost impossible to get sufficient sun exposure to meet your needs during the winter. Vitamin D is involved in so many body functions. But when your mood drops at this time of the year it becomes very obvious that you may have a deficiency of this important vitamin. It’s worth getting your blood levels tested with a simple blood test, as then you’ll be able to calculate how much vitamin D supplement you need to take.  Optimum levels are >75 nmol/L. If your levels are significantly lower than this as a large part of the populations are even here in ‘sunny Australia’, you’ll need to take quite a bit of supplement to bring the levels up again.

Feel Better with Vitamin B

Another vitamin that plays a crucial role in keeping up good spirits are the B group of vitamins. Vitamin B deficiency is linked to a range of emotional disorders as well as many other body functions. Opt for 50mg daily of a Vitamin B-complex rather than selecting individual B vitamins as these vitamins work much better synergistically when all the ‘B’s’ are present.

Other supplements that are critical in dealing with depression and mood disorders are selenium, magnesium and iron. A multi vitamin and multi mineral can address any deficiency you may have.

Social Support

Socialising is a great way to pick up your mood. Maybe this is the time to do something out of the ordinary with your friends. Hold a fondue party, or dust off the board games, particularly the ones you loved as a child, like Twister, Pictionary, Monopoly or Charades. Or combine a pot-luck night with a game night. Or maybe your friends would enjoy a ‘Funny-Home Video’ night or a karaoke night.

Get Out

Even though it is cold try and get outside for some exercise. It is tough to exercise in the winter, and arriving home in the evening just as the sun goes down and the cold closes in is not much incentive to head out to the gym or go out for a walk. But exercise goes a long way towards relieving the stress of the day. The endorphins released during exercise improve your mood and help you sleep, and the effects can last for a number of hours.

Step Up Your Diet

One problem of the colder weather for many people is that they crave starchy or sweet foods more than normal which increases their blood sugar levels, making them feel blue. Remember that the foods you eat have a strong influence on your mood. A poor diet causes imbalance in your body and makes you feel worse.

Add more fruits and vegetables, including raw food as much as possible. Use complex grains, organic meats when you can and eggs and ignore those cravings for white flour and sugars.

Light It Up

Natural light is one of the best ways to avoid the blues and to lift your spirits. You can now get full spectrum light globes and there are energy saving versions available. They provide the full range of natural light from infra-red to ultra-violet. The benefits are well established, and they reduce many health problems such as headaches, nausea and fatigue.

In your home open the curtains wide to let the sun stream in on any day that is a little warmer, particularly where you cannot install full spectrum light globes.

Freshen Indoors

After being closed up for months on end houses get stale. Freshen up your surroundings and your mood at the same time with essential oils. There are some oils that have anti-depressant properties including bergamot, lavender, geranium, jasmine and clary sage.  Others that are good mood lifters are sweet orange, neroli, and ylang ylang.

Using high quality essential oil in an aromatherapy diffuser releases them into the air in the form of water vapour, which is the best way for them to spread through your home. You can also add them to a bath (or a foot bath) or add a few drops to a carrier oil and use as a massage oil.

Here’s to the arrival of spring…

Copy of daffodils

 

Disclaimer.

All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue. 

Source articles

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=341

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Metaphysics, Sleep, Stress & Overwhelm

Get Down To Earth By Grounding Yourself

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This year I decided to ditch my footwear inside the house, ever since learning more about Barefoot Earthing or Grounding. This is a radical new health practice that is quickly gaining momentum as word about its benefits spreads. Its impact can be quite far-reaching and yet it is incredibly simple to do, costs nothing, is always available and feels great.

Have you ever noticed how good you feel when you take off your shoes to walk barefoot? Well it seems there is a scientific explanation, and research into the practice of Grounding has found that it can significantly improve all sorts of health problems. It can help your energy levels, reduce stress, improve your sleep, decrease muscular inflammation and stiffness as well as other chronic pain, reduce anxiety, improve circulation, prevent free-radical damage and associated premature ageing and even heal injuries faster. It brings you back into a state of equilibrium where your body is best able to heal itself. Those who use the practice on a regular basis report great results. I am certainly finding I have less aches and pains whenever I walk round without shoes than when I leave them on.

It all has to do with electrical fields.

These days we live completely immersed in electro-magnetic waves (EMFs) from a huge number of everyday items including mobile phones, computers, wireless technology, many electrical appliances, and even compact fluorescent lights. The air in our houses, our workplaces, our schools and in some outdoor places is full of electro-pollution, harmful positive ions produced by this multitude of electrical contraptions that surround us.

These positive ions contribute to ill health.

Electrical Stress

Electrical stress is now recognized as a significant contributor to many health problems and in fact a new chronic illness. The term ‘Diabetes Type 3’, has been coined to describe illness believed to be caused by electropollution. 

Surrounding yourself with sources of negative ions helps rebalance this disharmony, as does being in places where negative ions are in abundance such as waterfalls or the ocean.

The surface of the earth is electrically conductive and has a permanent supply of free electrons sitting just above the surface. The charge on the earth surface is negative and anything that is close to the surface will also carry that charge.

Your body also has an electrical field, sometimes referred to as the biofield or the aura. When your bare feet are in contact with the earth negative electrons can easily pass into you.

Grounding allows an electron exchange between you and the earth. This helps to prevent a build-up of harmful electrons in your body as well as promoting a discharge of the positive ions from your body into the earth. Simultaneously you receive a flood of free electrons from the earth.

When the ions within your body and within the Earth are different an ion exchange occurs. This neutralizes free radicals in your body which cause inflammation and are responsible for many health problems. The flood of electrons immediately ‘re-balances’ you, which is why you feel so good when you walk outside barefoot.

In case you got lost in that explanation, simply, standing on the earth rebalances the electromagnetic field of your body, helping to strengthen your immune system, and boosting both your health and your wellbeing.

For most of our existence humans have gone barefoot and often slept directly on the ground. Things now are very different. As well as being surrounded by electromagnetic pollution we are cut off from receiving the rebalancing benefits from the earth because the shoes that we now wear have rubber and synthetic soles that insulate and block transmission of the natural beneficial energy of the earth. It’s just like how rubber gloves can provide protection from electrical shock. Your shoes act in much the same way.

How to Ground Yourself

Take your shoes off and stand or walk barefoot on grass, beach, bare earth, even concrete when it is laid directly on the earth, although not if it’s painted or sealed, whenever you can.

To gain the full health benefit you need to walk around on the earth for about thirty minutes.

Other ways to ground yourself and reap the benefits are to swim in lakes, rivers, or the sea; wear shoes with leather soles; purchase and use an indoor grounding mat or an earthing bed sheet.

The reason I am able to benefit from earthing when walking barefoot indoors is because my floor is made of unglazed slate sitting on a concrete slab which is set directly onto a rock shelf on the side of a hill. There are no substances between my feet and the Earth that block the passage of negative ions. You would not get earthing benefit in a home raised above the ground, or with glazed tiles covering the floor, or a layer between the concrete and tile, or with other floor coverings.

If you would like to read up on Earthing get a copy of the book EARTHING – The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?  by Clint Ober, Dr Stephen T Sinatra and Martin Zucker.

Remember though, Grounding is not a substitute for medical treatment and if you have a medical condition you need to consult your healthcare provider.

Taking your shoes off and walking barefoot in the sea helps to rebalance your energetic field.

Disclaimer.

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying any of the treatment suggested on this site. 

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2024. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Source articles:

http://www.barefoothealing.com.au/

https://www.naturalnews.com/028967_electropollution_diabetes.html

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/11/04/why-does-walking-barefoot-on-the-earth-make-you-feel-better.aspx

Conscious Mindset, Nature's Rhythms

No Resolutions for a New Outlook

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“What exactly is a New Years Resolution?”

“It’s a “To-Do” list for the first week of January”

I woke today, the first day of 2013 to a beautiful warm, sunny summer morning. As I watched from my deck the summer butterflies darted about the parched garden seeking the few open flowers, the surrounding trees were filled with the songs of the lorikeets and magpies, and I began to crystalize my thoughts about the directions I wished to follow in the coming year.

You may call these resolutions, but I have always shied away from using this term. I am not making any resolutions. I hate New Year resolutions. They somehow seem so pointless. I hear people around me making the same resolutions year in and year out – stop smoking, lose weight, exercise more, get a new job, etc. etc. and at the end of the year most of their resolutions have fallen by the wayside and they have made no changes in their life.

The most common top ten resolutions made over the last 10 years have stayed the same every year. Do you recognise yourself in this collection?

New Year Resolutions seem to lock everything into a very narrow field, setting you up firmly and squarely at the end of the success/fail axis. There’s no wriggle room that allows you to change a little.

I prefer to adopt the more accepting belief that whatever we experience or wherever we find ourselves is the right place to be because it’s the place in that moment where we will find the opportunity to learn and understand more about ourselves. So, by setting up resolutions we are setting up inflexible parameters that don’t allow for the shifts of life that provide an opportunity for growth.

Also, this rigid approach causes stress and all the concomitant health problems that stress invariably leads to, which we all prefer to avoid.

What I have noticed is that when people are living in a way that embraces opportunities for personal growth other things in their life fall into place more easily. Exercising or weight loss comes more easily because they want to be out doing whatever activity draws them, difficult decisions are made, new opportunities arise, and life begins to flow more fluidly and easily.

So my thoughts about my directions for 2013 are a little looser than things like “lose weight”, although that would be nice! I decided to take a look at the Virtues Project to form my list of the virtues I would like to see acknowledged and strengthened through this year, both on a personal and a wider community or global level.

13 Virtues to Embrace in The New Year

Here is my list in no particular order of THIRTEEN VIRTUES TO EMBRACE FOR 2013. I’ve selected these from the condensed list of 52 Virtues from The 52 Virtues Project. The full list of Virtues is extensive, and this condensed list provided a little more focus.

1. Assertiveness

Being assertive means being positive and confident. You are aware that you are a worthy person with your own special gifts. You think for yourself and express your own ideas. You know what you stand for and what you won’t stand for. You expect respect.

2. Confidence

Confidence is having faith in someone. Self-confidence is trusting that you have what it takes to handle whatever happens. You feel sure of yourself and enjoy trying new things, without letting doubts or fears hold you back. When you have confidence in others, you rely on them

3. Creativity

Creativity is the power of imagination. It is discovering your own special talents. Dare to see things in new ways and find different ways to solve problems. With your creativity, you can bring something new into the world

4. Integrity

Integrity is living by your highest values. It is being honest and sincere. Integrity helps you to listen to your conscience, to do the right thing, and to tell the truth. You act with integrity when your words and actions match. Integrity gives you self-respect and a peaceful heart.

5. Joyfulness

Joyfulness is an inner sense of peace and happiness. You appreciate the gifts each day brings. Without joyfulness, when the fun stops, our happiness stops. Joy can carry us through the hard times even when we are feeling very sad. Joy gives us wings.

6. Moderation

Moderation is creating a healthy balance in your life between work and play, rest and exercise. You don’t overdo or get swept away by the things you like. You use your self-discipline to take charge of your life and your time.

7. Thankfulness

Thankfulness is being grateful for what we have. It is an attitude of gratitude for learning, loving and being. Appreciate the little things that happen around you and within you every day. Think positively. Thankfulness brings contentment

8. Compassion

Compassion is understanding and caring when someone is hurt or troubled, even if you don’t know them. It is wanting to help, even if all you can do is listen and say kind words. You forgive mistakes. You are a friend when someone needs a friend.

9. Generosity

Generosity is giving and sharing. You share freely, not with the idea of receiving something in return. You find ways to give others happiness, and give just for the joy of giving. Generosity is one of the best ways to show love and friendship.

10. Tolerance

Being tolerant is accepting differences. You don’t expect others to think, look, speak or act just like you. You are free of prejudice, knowing that all people have feelings, needs, hopes and dreams. Tolerance is also accepting things you wish were different with patience and flexibility.

11.Understanding

Understanding is using your mind to think clearly, paying careful attention to see the meaning of things. An understanding mind gives you insights and wonderful ideas. An understanding heart gives you empathy and compassion for others. Understanding is the power to think and learn and also to care

12. Unity

Unity helps us work and live together peacefully. We feel connected with each other and all living things. We value the specialness of each person as a gift, not as a reason to fight or be scared. With unity we accomplish more together than any of one of us could alone.

13. Love

Love is a special feeling that fills your heart. You show love in a smile, a kind word, a thoughtful act or a hug. Love is treating people and things with care and kindness because they mean so much to you. Love is contagious. It keeps spreading.

Of course there are many more virtues to ambrace, and selecting only thirteen was very difficult.

The Virtues Project is a grassroots initiative started in Canada aimed at inspiring the practice of virtues in everyday life. It is widely used in schools but is equally effective in the home or your personal life. It “empowers individuals to live more authentic meaningful lives, families to raise children of compassion and integrity, educators to create safe, caring, and high performing learning communities, and leaders to encourage excellence and ethics in the work-place.” If you would like to start off 2013 doing a daily Virtues Card pick for yourself then go here and click on ‘Do A Virtues Pick’.

“I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I didn’t become a better person”

3 Resolutions

But, if someone were to twist my arm and force me to make three New Year resolutions, then this is how I would go:

1. make no poorly considered resolutions that would fall by the wayside during January

2. adopt a new Virtue to embrace and practice each week, thirteen of which would take me through to the end of March

3. refuse to take any of those doomsday prophesies literally.

Make 2013 a year of change that you can recognise when 2014 rocks along.

I hope it brings you the opportunity to experience the new, to find joy in the simple things of life and to grow to know and understand yourself and the world around you more fully. I trust that by opening yourself to the world around you experience much abundance in all parts of your life.

Allow your virtues to unfurl

Disclaimer.

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying any of the treatment suggested on this site.