29. Detoxificating the spirit for Zealouszestyliving

Hello Friends,
A very good day/night to you all. We have heard of detox drinks/foods which eliminate toxins from the body and we have meditation and other means to cleanse our mind of toxic thoughts . What if there was a quick fix which did both together? And that is what I have termed as "Detoxifying the Spirit " Though mind you, detoxing the body does cleanse our mind too and vice versa.

1. The topmost on the list for me is "Shinrin-Yoku" the Japanese practice which means forest bathing or taking in the forest atmosphere. For, instead of our alarm and other not so cool urban sounds won't it be wonderful to wake up to sounds from the nature ? Waking up in this manner will definitely contribute to physical and psychological good health. When we walk in the forest we take in phytoncides from the woody forest instead of the toxic smoke of carbon soot which clogs our lungs.  So off I am this coming weekend for a mini "Shinrin-Yoku" in a nearby mini forest , till I get a chance to go to a better one.
2. Another one based on the principle of Ayurveda is identify your dosha or elements of your body namely vata,  kapha and pitta roughly translated as  the airy element, watery element and the fiery element , (if you are clueless about what I am talking about click  on "dosha" ). Once you know your body type have foods conducive to maintaining a balance between these elements because according to Ayurveda, this is required for a healthy body  and of course while you are at it, throw in a couple of mind relaxing techniques suitable for your body type and voila you get  Detoxified !!, mind body and soul!
3. Always find time for activities you enjoy and for value added activities which make you a better human being in some way or the other. This may be in terms of health, wealth, skill set, qualification etc. The feel good factor will automatically prompt you to have a healthy lifestyle which keeps your body free of toxins.
4. Do some breathing exercises , these are called "Pranayam" . I have been practicing these for years and vouch for there benefits. Your cells get oxygenated and you are refreshed fully. Watch this video to get a brief overview. 
5. Take out time for a lavish bath , no need for exotic spas , here's what you should do:--   

•  Use scrubs to scrub your body it improves the circulation.
• Take out those natural expensive soaps which you have been saving for some special occasion. (Activated charcoal soap recommended by a dear one remains my all time favorite).
• Aroma oils should not be left behind , they were meant for this very day.
• Put on some lovely music.
• Please ensure that you have this bath at a time when you wont be disturbed.

     And you have your own "Detoxifying the Spirit"    Mechanism ready!


So friends , thank you for reading my blog, please do share your own methods of detox.  With a wish that your mind, body and soul , infact your whole spirit is detoxified for a Zestyzealousliving , I leave you for today with this lovely quote.

“Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.”― Jim Rohn

Love as always,

THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE

http://www.antrik.com/index.php?module=ebooks&func=ebookDetail&id=633

28. Hope for Zealouszestyliving.

Hello Friends,
A very good day/night to you all. "HOPE" is that feeling which spurs on to make you believe in yourself and in your ability to improve the existing circumstances and guides you towards success.

Hope for Zealouszestyliving:

Hope is a stepping stone to initiate you onto your desired path when obstacles are sighted in the horizon. But only hope, specially from others and with no contribution on your part will not give the necessary results. Also we have to accept the circumstances and be in the present moment otherwise by only hoping as in day dreaming and not taking any efforts we will not succeed. Reality has to be analyzed impartially but with hope ,when you least expect it, you do find a way. So hope is what enables us to see this opened door when all the other doors are closed.

Why hope?
1. I believe that even a person who says he has lost hope has some hope hidden in the deep folds of his mind. Even if the future does not appear to be bright , by hoping that things will improve you are attracting a lot of positive energy into your life.

2. Hope provides instant energy recharge. Here's how ; imagine that YOU HAVE TO climb to a mountain top and you are tired. If you hope of a better circumstance at the top say, a refreshment point or resting point you will be charged up to push yourself and reach the summit. So if you got to reach the top anyhow here you are with an extra dose of inspiration as compared to having to do so without any motivating factor. 
So tie this talisman of hope to your duties, work, chores and see how quickly things get done.

3. Though hope has to be a little bit realistic and not absolutely improbable even then there is always some other unexpected positive outcome.
4. With hope since we expect a better future , one starts to work hard to make it happen. so your efforts double up.


Can you think of more reasons to be hopeful? Please share it. With the hope that you liked this post, lets together hope that:


*We have good relations with everyone around us,
*Family and friends in fact all living creatures enjoy good health,
*The world will be a better place to live in,
* The future for this planet is better.

I sign off for today with this all time favorite quote of mine .


            " Life is a rope that swings us through hope  always believe that today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be much better than today  " -- Shermin Samuel
And one more :

Thank you for reading.

Regards,

          
THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE
http://www.antrik.com/index.php?module=ebooks&func=ebookDetail&id=633

Quote courtesy: Goodreads.com

27. Nurturing Hobbies for Zealouszestyliving

Hello friends, 

A very good day/night to you all. Hobbies are activities which you love to do, these are mostly done in our spare time. Few people are lucky to pursue a hobby and to successfully convert it into a profession.

I love to read, write, cook, do some art and craft work, paint, day dream (yes I do), exercise, swim, go for group dance classes with my buddies, spend time with family and friends and write poems to name a few things. What are your hobbies?

How hobbies lead to Zealouszestyliving:

• Hobbies are a way to vent out our creative urges which I believe each and every person have in some degree or other. Haven't you experienced a sense of creative satisfaction after devoting time for your hobby.

• They also take our mind away from brooding over unavoidable sad events and unhappy thoughts.  A painting is my best bet to beat such a state.
• When  you love something, you like to talk about it, read about it and learn about it. This creates an avenue for socializing and building long lasting friendships (I am still in touch with my childhood friends who shared common hobbies!)
• There is an increase in knowledge which develops confidence and helps to contribute positively towards our personality.
• Nurturing any good hobby is a sure shot way to beat boredom and a good companion as you grow older.

There are many sites listing hobbies,here are two such sites:-  .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies and http://www.notsoboringlife.com/list-of-hobbies/, you can find countless on the internet, there are also some weird list of hobbies and funny ones too, but some other time and for now I sign off leaving you with this quote.

  “Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.”― Dale Carnegie*


Thanks for reading,
Regards,

http://www.antrik.com/index.php?module=ebooks&func=ebookDetail&id=633

THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE








*Quote on hobby courtesy "thinkexist.com"

26. Seeking Joy in Everything Big or Small

Hello friends, 

A very good day/night to you all. It's difficult to believe but true that there are very few people in this world who have super duper things happening in their lives always. Highly successful and famous people too have ordinary things happening in their lives most of the times except for a few eureka moments.  And even the few people I mentioned do not have exciting or extraordinary things happening around them 24/7.

 So, let us not wait for mammoth accolades or victories to be happy and joyful and seek them in each and everything around us. This way we will always have ample chances to make our life zealous and zesty.

The other day when I spoke to my 3 year old niece she was telling me with great joy about how her dad was getting a balloon for her on his way back home from work. (A balloon? surely a kid of this generation would be more happy with expensive toys, chocolates or electronic gadgets one may think). Her eyes were rolling with happiness and joy and her demeanor was exuding infectious excitement which cannot be expressed by me in words. Can you believe it I started feeling a sense of immense joy myself. To cultivate the habit of enjoying and relishing small things in life its good to take inspiration from kids I guess.

In this way a lot of inspiration can be obtained from daily happenings which we consider insignificant and which eventually will help us to spur onto significant happenings in our life.  So lets capture the joy in small mundane things which is an inexhaustible source as compared to prominent events.

Thank you for reading. Drop in a hello if you liked even a wee bit of what you read. I leave you with this quote, do write to me about the small things which provide you a sense of joy.

"Life is a gift, never forget to  enjoy and bask in every moment you are in."----anonymous.


Regards,

THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE

25. Rest for Zealouszestyliving

Hello friends, 

A very good day/night to you all. Just as our car, house and other gadgets/machines require oiling and maintenance and cannot be overworked beyond a certain point, our body which is mortal requires rest and rejuvenation to carry out its various functions. 

   One simple way of re charging the battery of this exquisite natural machine is resting. 

Resting can be in the form of sleep, sitting, lying down or just being still. Then there are power naps adored by students and busy professionals who have to multitask. These are 20 min naps which refresh you when you are really busy but mind you they are no substitutes for the regular night time sleep. Let us now concentrate on physical rest which also contributes to mental rest, to know more about resting a chaotic mind you may click HERE or HERE or HERE.

The Necessity of Rest for Zealouszestyliving:

1.  Timely rest is akin to servicing our vehicle which ensures that it runs smoothly.
2. We achieve rejuvenation  by  resting our body timely.
3. Alertness level is optimum when the body is well rested.
4. It ensures safety e.g.while driving etc. Even when we move about our jobs/chores in a rested frame of mind we are more balanced in terms of gait etc.
5. Athletes and people engaged in intense physical fitness regimes can prevent muscle tear and fractures which occur due to over working a tired body.
6. A better mood and in general a happier state of mind is ensured by rest.
7. Proper sleep pattern is said to promote a healthy body weight. So this again proves the importance of sleep and rest . (Years ago I thought that less amount of sleep will cause more calories to burn but apparently this is not so).

So if you are not well rested and are tired what are you waiting for? Just leap into bed ha! ha! at least that's what I will be doing! For "A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctors book." goes an Irish Proverb.

Thank you for reading this blog , how particular are you about rest? Are you in despair over lack of rest? don't worry to make you full of hope until the next post I leave you with this quote . 

"The best bridge between despair and Hope is a good night's sleep."---E. Joseph Cossman. 

Regards,



http://www.antrik.com/index.php?module=ebooks&func=ebookDetail&id=633

THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE

24. Harmless Vices, the minute thorns in Zealouszestyliving

Hello friends, 

A very good day/night to you all. The previous two posts were about harmful vices (part 1 and part 2). Here I will mention some bad habits to which we are addicted but these are not all that harmful. All of us have some such habit or the other. 

E.g.
Nail biting, excessive shopping, eating junk food, being glued to the tv, emotional eating, excessive socializing etc. Or some kind of repetitive behavior which we indulge in and which may lie on the border of being termed as Obsessive Compulsive Behavior (OBS) you may read more about OBS HERE.    

7 Possible Outcomes of Harmless Vices: 

• Certain habits like excessive shopping can lead to a dent in finances in the long term. (Have you watched the romantic comedy  -Confessions of a shopaholic?)
• Emotional eating can lead to being overweight and result in a lack of self confidence. 
• They may hone the escapist mentality as whenever we have to do some important work we may resort to this so called harmless vice.
• Bad habits can be time wasters. e.g. Stress of studies may increase our habit of nail biting or procrastination and lead to wasting time.
• They reduce our ability.
• They prevent us from using our full potential.
• They weaken our capacity.

You don't live life to the fullest due to these bad habits, in other words your life will be more zealous and zesty if you try to eliminate the harmless vices. I agree it is difficult as there does not appear to be a dire need to do so. But I am sure you agree that they can be minute thorns in our life. 

Thank you for reading,  I leave you with this quote till my next post with the hope that you and me are able to control our harmless vices efficiently.

“Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices"---Benjamin Franklin.

Regards,


THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE

  

http://www.antrik.com/index.php?module=ebooks&func=ebookDetail&id=633

23. Shedding Vices for Zealouszestyliving Part 2

Hello Friends,
A very good day/night to you all. In the previous post on this topic I mentioned the reasons and the futility of embracing vices. Here let us go over the possible ways to overcome vices. Difficult but we have to try because if we fail to try, we try to fail. 

9 Tips for Overcoming (Shedding) Vices.

• Accept that you have a vice or addiction and resolve to get rid of it (the easiest step).
• Jot down all the possible negative outcomes like health deterioration, embarrassment, financial loss, loss of loved ones, loss of mental peace,  etc, which you will have to accept if you continue on the same track.
• Now just do the opposite, list the gains which will be a part of your life without this addiction. Visualize with a positive mind and enlist the benefits. Even if you think it impossible at this stage no harm in listing it.
• Now commit that you will get rid of it and find an excuse for it. We easily find excuses to do wrong things!  for once, we can find at least one excuse to do a good thing.
• Give yourself a time frame and take the help of family and friends. If you have declared that you will be quitting your vice before and not stuck to it chances are that they may ridicule you. In this case you have to work a bit harder, if you are angry and hurt about the lack of support or ''I don't care'' attitude of friends convert and direct those feelings towards eliminating the vice. Believe me sometimes this works more than encouragement and kind words as we are on our own.
• For some people deadline method does not help, in which case do it step by step. If it is drinking or smoking decide that you will have a fixed quantity daily , then reduce the quantity. You may also decide that you will not have drinks or smoke say in the mornings. Stick to it and you will see the difference. This is easier as we know we can have it in the evening. After this move on to reducing what you have in the evening to half and so on till you achieve the desired result. 
• Get professional help if you feel so. Support groups, institutions are present everywhere. Confide in your family members and convince them that you really want to give up your bad habit so that they will also be by your side when you seek professional help.
• Before giving up note when and why you go towards your addictions, is it when you are stressed about work or finance or you just lose control when you sight it e.g. alcohol . Address your problems chances are the vices will remain at bay. Keep away from the situations and things which trigger off your addiction as far as possible.
• Audio visual impact is long lasting and can be made to work on you without your knowledge. If a friend is lecturing you about leaving the vices however boring it may sound give a patient hearing, watch things which are conducive to your leaving the vice like this anti smoking video. 

                                                                 Watch this anti smoking video 

There was one more film which I used to see years ago and am trying to find it to share. Even  if you do not have any vices no harm in sharing public service broadcast messages isn't it? Someone or the other is sure to benefit from seeing it.

So do you have any serious addictions? I hope not ! Having read the above tips try to help any friend or acquaintance who is going through a difficult phase.  Thank you for reading this blog do drop a hello. Bye for now until the next post I leave you with this quote. 

"Vices are their own punishment."---Aesop 

Regards,

http://www.antrik.com/index.php?module=ebooks&func=ebookDetail&id=633

THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE