Health

Dan Gilbert: Why are we happy? Why aren’t we happy?

Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Our “psychological immune system” lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned.

source: http://www.ted.com

How to Read “How To” and “Tips” Articles by Practically Simplifying Them

The internet is filled with articles (including this website) with “tips.”  “8 tips on…”  “10 tips on…”  It can be so easy to read through them in their entirety and either get overwhelmed or distracted because one tip leads to the next, then on to the next.  Without integration in life there can be no true growth.  The tragedy with all the information overload that is available nowadays is that we tend to miss the important stuff.  We can buy self-help book after self-help book, but unless there is a genuine application of the material on a daily or weekly basis we are wasting our time, money and worse-our energy.  The key with a tip is to make a commitment to do it no matter how you feel until it becomes a habit.  After all you are adopting this tip to feel better or to get out of a rut so chances are you are not feeling so great when you begin.  For example,  cardiovascular exercise, we all know the many benefits of it, yet  how many of us have bought cardio equipment for home use then let it become a coat rack over time?  Gyms count on people buying memberships and not using them for this reason.

Here is a great mantra to try when feeling overwhelmed, “make it smaller.”  With so many tips on a list, pick one!  You clicked on the article for a reason right?  Often by the time we get to the bottom of a wonderful list we are so over inundated with great ideas that they tend to cancel each other out.  They can seem like tasks instead of tips, so just pick one or two that really ring true for you and your current lifestyle.  Something you feel is do-able, even if it seems too easy or obvious.  For example, with my article “ten stretches to do while at the office“  Choose an area on your body that feels tense and focus on that stretch for a while until it becomes a habit.  If you really need to you can always go back and try some of the others later.

If you saturate your brain by the end of reading a list of tips so that you feel uninspired, you have simply wasted your time.  Try scanning the list and simplify.  See if the author’s advice really works over the long haul or if it is simply more information and not practical wisdom.

Try them all  if you have time at some point then choose a few that really resonate for you and make them part of a daily/weekly practice, that way they will integrate into your life and you won’t even have to think about it.  Making something a routine can be like having a touchstone that brings you back to your center.  This way a “tip” can be something you “own”‘ inside yourself that you can build upon and find strength in rather than jumping from epiphany to epiphany with no deep learning and understanding.

Remember small increments over time tend to yield the best results and simplifying is not as simple as it seems.

2009 New York Spa Review

Over the last ten years I have worked in a variety of settings including Medical and Day Spas, Yoga studios, Gyms and Chiropractors offices.  This wide and varied experience has given me a very sensitive and shrewd understanding of the spa experience.  I understand what goes on behind the scenes and can spot a shotty establishment pretty quick.  My background and New York State License in Massage Therapy also makes me an extra picky consumer.  Over the next few weeks and months I will be reviewing several New York Spas and sharing my experience for those of you who live in or are visiting the New York City area.

New York City is home to a wide variety of spas with different styles from high end to downtown chic.   The Day Spa phenomena has taken off over the last ten years.  They are seen on every corner now.  New York City is an amazing and stressful place to live and work in.  This creates a never ending need for patrons.  Surprisingly many spa directors and owners (of reputable spas) have not seen a decrease in business since the current economic downturn.  This was also a concern after 9-11 within the spa and alternative health fields but Massage Therapy and other well-being professions have actually seen an increase in business.  Stress is the determining factor and with thanks to organizations like the International Spa Summit and their efforts to promote Spas not as a pampering luxury but as an essential part of well-being.    Recession angst has increased stress level and therefore the need to decompress.  Broadway had a record year in revenue last year and this is largely because of people’s need to retreat into enjoyable pastimes.

These are the criteria I will be using to assess my reviews:

Cost: Depending on session length and other factors  including add-ons such as reflexology, body scrubs etc.

Ambiance: This may include the front desk, changing room, waiting room, and the treatment room.  Observations on lighting, interior design, temperature, music, outside noise levels, comfortable seating, and privacy will be considered.

Customer Service at the front desk: This will be about the management’s graciousness or any lack of it.

Hygiene: The general hygiene of each establishment with emphasis on the treatment room and changing rooms (including bathroom).

Quality of service : Here. the massage therapist’s rapport, communication level, and ability to assess and pay attention to specific issues (i.e. tense neck) will be considered.

Products:  The product used in the session including it’s price and quality.  This may include the scent and effectiveness on the skin (absorption level/lack of absorption).

Overall impression: This will include how I felt the next day and other factors specific to particular spas.

The Chakra System in Yoga

The practice of Yoga has gained an immense popularity over the last few decades.  There are classes in gyms everywhere in small rural areas to cosmopolitan centers.  Among the benefits of participating consistently  in a well instructed class are good alignment, improved breathing and more spiritual connection (alignment through the Chakra system).  This last part is often forgotten or completely overlooked because yoga is often represented as simply another form of exercise.  Yoga means path or way.  The practice of the Asanas (poses in yoga) are meant as a way to connect to one’s center,  to source energy and spirit. Yoga is an ancient spiritual practice that effects your body, mind and spirit by practicing balance, strength and focus as we connect to the chakra system.  The words Yoga and Chakra were taken over by a flighty new age perspective at one point -it is important to reclaim them as they are refreshingly structured and grounded.  They are concepts that have been around for thousands of years and for good reasons.

Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit.  Literally wheel of energy.  The seven main chakras correlate directly to nerve plexus exit points from the spine to the rest of your body.  An optimal structural and energetic alignment affects your whole body’s systems (nervous, endocrine, cardio-vascular etc).  A brief explanation of the chakra system is to imagine the seven chakras as (depicted in the photo above).  Now imagine earth energy winding its way upward to meet the heavenly energy which is in turn is winding its way downward to meet the earth.  This creates the spin action of the chakra wheels.  Earth and Heaven or the divine masculine and feminine merging in a constant dance.  To create a good alignment for these energies helps us to feel the great vitality and peace we are meant to experience.   Before I get too esoteric let me finish by simply stating that maybe this fantastic feeling is why yoga caught on so fast and furiously in the west!

I often find that it is the root chakra (first Chakra) in many people that needs awareness and nourishment.  The root chakra-our “survival” chakra includes our money, food, and shelter the basic necessities.  Without these, we do not have a strong foundation for the other aspects of our lives (the other chakras).   It is very important to realize that the root chakra begins at the feet.  To feel grounded (root chakra) draw energy up thru the center of your feet . Nourishing earth energy. (See posture article than come back to this).  Feel the whole foot on the ground.  Toes and all.

For further work and information, Anodea Judith’s many books and audio tapes on the subject of the chakra system are excellent.

So, next time you are in yoga class remember in each pose you are effecting one if not several or all the chakras.  Learning about each chakras purpose from the root to the crown will make the practice much deeper and exciting and even more enjoyable