Mental Workout

In my former job, I was an HR trainer for new and rehires. I would create brainteasers each Wednesday for my class to see where they were in what they had been taught since it was mid week. I wanted to make sure they were reading over the material I'd given them earlier in the week since the job required detail etiquette in whom personnel spoke with conducting the health research data. These brainteasers were looked upon by higher ups at the job as instrumental ways to perfect personnel in ensuring they completely understood their job responsibilities in speaking respondents. They exercised the mind and became a "hit" at work so much, I was asked to create more of them to use on training Tuesday - which was what all personnel had to go through.

There are many ways in which to exercise our minds and give ourselves a mental workout. Puzzles, games, studying are just a few of the ways we can enrich ourselves through enhancing our knowledge. We can react to such benefits in what our findings - from paying close attention to elements surrounding us, to participating in stimulating conversations. Often I like speaking with people of whom I have no commonalities just to have an open mind in what they may do for a living or what they study or how they live. That is why as an IT major, I like taking elective courses outside that field to become acquainted with others who are in the health related field and discuss topics that are out of the normal range than what is discussed within my IT course.

Mental workouts broaden our range of thinking and help to stimulate our well being in a sense in which we can identify with ourselves and life itself and us and how we live in it. Whether it be through education or communication or both, various forms of mental workouts can give us a chance to experience many different things in many different ways and provides us with a means of understanding more that what we may have allowed ourselves to.

Loving Kindness, cont'd

I would recommend extending the action of being loving and kind to others because it does give you a feeling of self worth that you have made a difference in the lives of others. Feeling good in deed makes you feel good in life, which in turn, makes you feel good within your well being. And that is good for everyone.

Loving Kindness

It's always good to practice love and kindness. It soothes and satisfies knowing you are giving someone affection even in the smallest of ways. From a smile to volunteering someplace to greeting someone, loving kindness can be shown in a multitude of ways and can brighten someone's day when they may have been experiencing a bad day or having a hard time. It can make you feel more in touch with your own self, which can relax you even more because it provides a good feeling which can make for overall wellbeing and health.

The exercises practiced opened my mind up to understanding just how much loving kindness can benefit me as much as someone I direct these actions to. It can be subtle or obvious. But however it's demonstrated, it can be seen in the minor details that make a huge difference in my life as well as those on the receiving end. When you take the time to practice this affection in anyway, people feel the effects and so do you. It makes you feel good and provides you with a deeper understanding of yourself and others in how you see yourself, how others see you and oftentimes you get it paid forward where you become the recipient of someone else's act of loving kindness. But even if you never experience it back or not right away, you still take pleasure in feeling you have done something - anything - for someone that could have improved their day or even your life in some kind of way.

And that is a great feeling to have!

Relaxation Preferences

I like to unwind when we get home and watch recorded shows and movies. I also love the aromatherapy scents of bath oils and candles. While I don't get around to lighting candles, I can say that I love shopping for them because their scent permeates all over our house and puts me in a good mood. Since we have rejoined our gym, we will take advantage of the free 15 minutes of massage provided when you enroll, whether you are a brand new member or returning ones like we are. We are still struggling with hectic schedules, but I think we are going to have to sit down and decipher when we can attend the gym since our membership is active; don't want to waste our money not going!

Another thing I like to do at times to help relax is reading. Nothing like a good book; not an electronic one either (although nothing against iPads and Kindles). I just really love a good crime novel and/or mystery to really sink my teeth into which sometimes are so good I cannot put down.

Sleeping is another good one but I find myself set to getting up early on weekends just like weekdays. On Sundays we go to Church, so we are up pretty early then to for the first service. If I can "train" myself to sleep in - at least on Saturdays - I'll be in business! But I know that is hard to do for me since I am always tasking myself with things to take care of and most have to be done on Saturdays.

There are so many methods to relax that I am eager to try some that I have not already. In the meantime, landing down schedule times to exercise and using the methods I already use will have to suffice. Meditation is part of the yoga class offered at our gym so once we start back attending those sessions, we will have the benefit of yoga meditation included.

Best Wishes to Everyone this Week!

LaMesha

Wellness

My physical well being seems to be on the right track as far as how I feel. I have Type 2 Diabetes and was told my glucose levels were normal. Weight wise, I am trying to exercise more and eat better, but there are times I fall short. When you are diagnosed with something as serious as diabetes, falling short is something that can become consistent and later result in health issues, so lessening the falling short phase is something I have got to work harder on. My spiritual wellbeing is good faith wise but I realize I have some work to do in this area as well in that I would like to make more time to meditate by taking the yoga classes provided at our gym. I think practicing this method of being in touch with myself internally through that of the mind will enhance my physical wellbeing overall. My son and I did attend yoga each week but schedules started conflicting. Now we are trying to map out a solution to being able to get back into the swing of things when it comes to our regular routine, which showed lots of benefits when we were doing them regularly - including more physical activity and yoga attendance.

My goal is to become more active; to make time to fully focus on my wellbeing instead of just getting by; and to develop broader social circles, which I think the creation of blogs for this course, as well as the educational relationships we form with each other during class sessions are some ways of opening that door.

The activities come in the form of walking, more instead of taking our car, attending aerobics and yoga classes. Those things provide stimulation and once becoming more in practice, will prove results since results were present before we tapered off from doing them.

It is always good to open oneself up to relaxation but in order to do that one must be able to fully focus. Thinking about how I can improve my blog has brought a bit of stress present that has been difficult to maneuver so it is hard to say just how beneficial the exercise was but I will try again and provide better input.

Let's Enjoy Staying Healthy!

Relaxation

Relaxation is a huge part of wellbeing that makes the mind and body time out for a little bit so focus can be made to bring in positive energy. It is great to be able to tune out for any amount of time which can reduce stress and make a difference in how you feel inside and out.