In order to make crucial decisions about what to do with our time, energy, creativity, material resources and our lives, we need to answer some very basic questions. Otherwise we are simply programmed robots, living and reacting (rather than acting) according to our familial and social programming.

As Socrates said, “A life without enquiry is not worth living.”  A true scientist or searcher of the truth seeks continuously to uncover ever deeper answers in an endless attempt to explain the phenomena of this dimension of time, space, matter and energy. A seeker of what’s true seeks to free himself from illusions of the surface events and discover, not only the cause, but even more importantly, the purpose behind them. We are all scientists and seekers of truth. Some of us have simply fallen asleep at the job.

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The human brain has about 86 billion neurons. It is a figure that was estimated in scientific research of 2009 in which the scientists used a new methodology. All electrochemical messages cause thousands of neurons to activate at the same time and transmit the message to neighboring neurons. This connection is called a synapse. Each neuron communicates in this way with hundreds of neurons receiving up to 500 times per second.
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All of us have struggled with busyness, and some of us have realized that being busy and being successful are not the same.  We seem to living in a society that suffers from our unhealthy obsession with creating busyness in our lives and it’s becoming and epidemic!

A new study from the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School suggests the secret to living longer may lie in the level and type of our brain activity.

Let’s face it, we lead very busy lives and learning to do less or nothing at all is easier said than done. In today’s world, we are habitually programmed to function in a multitasking environment to accomplish more.  Added to that is our consumption of a large array of electronic devices, and without planned downtime or breaks we are overstimulating the brain.

The study was conclusive that an overworked brain may hasten the aging-related decline in memory and thinking skills. By contrast, the study linked long life to our ability to cultivate a quieter brain.

Time for a Media Diet!

Excessive brain activity is common in the digital era. People of all ages are rushing from one task to another, constantly looking for stimulation, maybe it’s a TV show or the notifications on their smartphones.

The study found that there is a distinction between normal excessive brain activity especially more so as we age and that is linked to shorter life spans. The good news is that decline associated with your brain being overactive is also preventable.

Take a moment to realize how much of the negativity in the media is affecting your life.  Think about it, even if the issues are important to you, is it worth your energy and sanity to place yourself in a negativity bubble?

The Essence of Doing Nothing

Living Lightly means spending as much of your time as you possibly can feeling healthy, meaningful, and happy. The rest is just noise. Every choice you make adds or subtracts hours from this true life of yours. While we cannot control every outcome, there’s always something you can control. Find ways to convert noise into time well spent.

With our heavy schedules and workloads, meetings, appointments, and other tasks it’s challenging to do nothing.  But we can learn to appreciate and even create more moments of stillness in our life.

Take time to go out in nature, get plenty of sunshine, read a book, draw or journal, and even better sit quietly and watch your thoughts while doing some deep breathing.

Try committing to doing one thing in your daily routine that helps you relax and as you do so become present in your body and not your mind. Safeguard your mental stillness by taking action steps will enhance your chance of living a long and healthy life.

The Unhealthy Obsession with Staying Busy

Begin by designing a new reality for you and one that will serve you well and help you to age gracefully. Make choices that maximizes your share of happy hours on this planet and take action knowing there are things that you can control.

Using your brain for things like learning a new language or to play a new musical instrument or doing anything new for that matter is a positive thing for your memory. You really want the neurons to remain active while you are doing something, not just randomly firing off in so many directions.

By slowing down your overworked brain, and becoming conscious of your moments of hyperactivity you can shift your habitual patterns in ways that are calming.

  • Set a time when we shut down your smartphones.
  • Power down our laptops and step back from all forms of technology at least one day over the weekend.
  • Try not to binge watch your favorite TV show till the wee hours in the morning.
  • Go on a media diet and disconnect; create a plan to prioritize more time for yourself.

Keep Calm and Live Longer Healthier Lives

In the Harvard study, the researchers found that limiting neural activity is a good thing in healthy aging. It may sound counter intuitive to slow down mental stimulation, but it’s the best way to keep a healthy brain.

So, the message is, strive for balance:  Keep it active, but take time to relax and quiet your mind more often.

…. love and light, Christina

More Content on Living a Healthy Lie

In writing this article I’m speaking to what happens to the chemistry in our body from the stress and anxiety we all have from time to time. All of this stems from FEAR and is influenced by many genes. There is no such thing as a simple “fear” gene that is inherited from one generation to the next. The genes controlling our neurotransmitters and their receptors are all present in several different forms in the general population.

Some combinations of these different forms you receive from your parents and will predispose you to respond with greater or lesser degrees of fear to events in your environment. But the degree to which your lives are affected by inherited genes will depend to a very large extent on your individual history of events that set off such reactions in the first place.

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The powerful feelings shared by two people who are deeply attracted to one another is the stuff romantic poems and songs are made of.

As science evolves, it often belatedly proves what we already know – what is logical and a fact that no one would doubt. Well it is doing it again. Its is realizing through medical studies that love is good for our health and well-being.

Perhaps only a few of us need proof of such, but our left brain just might get a boost from knowing that it is official – feeling love and feeling loved creates beneficial chemical and hormonal states that lead to healing and good health. And scientists have discovered that love as we humans know it is spurred on by chemicals in our bodies.

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“Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”   …. Mark Twain

Mediocrity, pronounced “me-dee-AH-crih-tee,” has Latin parts that together literally mean “halfway up the mountain.”  When climbing the mountain — or ladder — of living a successful life, mediocrity is in the middle, we are neither leading the pack nor sprawling on ground, giving up.

To avoid mediocrity, you must be willing to think outside the box and even take on a mindset that there is no box!  Of course, when we do set big goals, they way to achieve them is by taking small actions towards them every day. Most mediocre people are scared to think big and take action. They do what society or their surroundings expect them to and rarely ever pursue things on their own.  They also pay too much attention to their inner critic!

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Life coaching includes a great deal of active listening, it’s not solving anyone’s problems or eradicating anyone’s pain. As life coaches we can only guide you to see things from a different perspective. We cannot fix you … it is you that has to do the work and we provide you with the tools to do so. So, working with a life coach feels more like working with a knowledgeable, experienced and amazing friend who is able to hold a loving space while guiding you through your life experiences.

You can be this great friend to yourself!  Practice active listening to your own critical voice and monitoring your thoughts and feelings without judgment. Become your own witness to the process and remain curious.

Active listening is about holding a loving space and allowing ourselves and others to express. When we or the other has finished with the stomp and rant, we can move on and make a conscious choice to let go and come back to our center.  It helps to meditated on this question….

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