Tag: Better Living

Boosting Mood With Food

If you’ve had a long day, or you’re too wiped to cook, do you ever reach for a fresh salad? Probably not. Like most people, you may head to the panty to grab a box of mac and cheese or perhaps the freezer for a tub of ice cream—no bowl. That stuff may help take…


Music Therapy, More Powerful Than You Might Expect

An elderly woman was admitted to a medical facility in southern California, but nobody knew what to do for her. She was clearly angry, but she couldn’t communicate, and was impossible to console. After three days, she still did not speak, and would throw punches at anyone who came too close. That’s when staff called…


Are You Yin or Yang?

Some of us have probably known this person. He’s the one whose charisma draws people to him like a magnet. His enthusiasm is infectious and his entrepreneurial spirit means that he’s always working on some new, exciting business venture. He seems to constantly be pushing boundaries, exploring new things, and living a life that appears…


Manage Emotions Through Savoring Life

Allyson Pimentel in a recent meditation podcast reminds us to savour life and the opportunities it presents to experience positive emotions such as joy, appreciation and love. Allyson describes “savoring” as a form of mindfulness with a specific focus and purpose—in savoring we pay attention to the things that we enjoy and relish, lingering on the positive…


How Your Sense of Free Will Affects Your Health

Do you feel that you have control over the events in your life? Or do you feel that you’re buffeted by forces beyond your control? If you believe that your choices, actions, and behaviors are the deciding factor in how your life unfolds, you’re said to have an “internal locus of control.” But if you…


Good Neighbors Found to Be Important for Good Mental Health

Researchers from Australia have discovered through a nationally-representative survey that living in community-minded neighbourhoods can have a major impact on a person’s mental health. A survey undertaken by Australian National University (ANU) which monitored over 3000 people during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, showed that the social relationships provided within good neighbourhoods protect residents against anxiety,…


Effortless Effort: Relaxing While Trying Hard

I’ve noticed that a lot of us will be pretty wiped out at the end of a long day of work or social activity, to the point where we need time to recuperate from exhaustion. There’s nothing wrong with that, but let’s talk about the possibility of doing hard things without exhausting ourselves. We might…


Back Yard Workout for Spring and Summer

Time to get up and start my day. But wait a minute, my whole body is sore. What have I done to myself? I feel as if I have spent hours at the gym. No, yesterday was a warm and pleasant day, so I worked in my garden, mostly clearing out weeds and dead leaves…


On Patience: 17 Original Aphorisms

The following is a short collection of my own aphorisms on the subject of patience. While I’m not nearly as witty and profound as the many fine writers who have taken up the genre before me, I find that I enjoy it very much. There is pleasure to be found in trying to craft a…


Menopause: Pharmaceutical and Natural Supports

Older adult women are often left to suffer from hot flashes, mood changes, sudden fluctuations in energy, weight gain, and drastic change to the body they’d previously known. “Welcome to menopause, and good luck!” seems to be the message for many of them. Please know, not only are you not alone, but there are ways…