According to the September 201o issue of Men’s Health magazine.

An Attitude of Gratitude

The next time your girlfriend springs for dinner, take note of your reactions. Partners who feel grateful for each other’s kind actions have stronger bonds than those who don’t, according to a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Gratitude may help remind you of your partner’s positive qualities and inspire feelings of connection and bonding,” says study author Sara Algoe, PH.D.

This bit of information is from the September 2010 issue of First magazine.

Floss for 30 seconds Daily. - That’s all it takes to add six-and-a-half years to your life, say UCLA researchers. Flossing helps prevent periodontal infections, which can spread through the bloodstream and trigger chronic tissue-damaging inflammation.

Here’s another quote from my LA trip. I’ve been wanting to make jewelry but I’ve put it off. Today I picked up this card and it inspired me to start. I made two bracelets today and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake.”

- Marie Beyon Ray

I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last blog post. I hope all of you have been having a fantastic summer. I wanted to share a quote from a paper given to me on my last trip to LA.

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours. It is an amazing journey and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”

- Bob Moawad

This is from Yahoo.

Exercise immediately improves your ability to learn.

Fact.

It sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. In a study at the University of Muenster in Germany, participants who ran sprints learned new words 20 percent faster than those who did nothing. Other research has tied physical activity to improve attention and memory as well.

“Exercise is the best thing we can do to ready our brain to learn,” says John J. Ratey, M.D., author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. “We know that the cells become more malleable and ready to make connections. And the learner is more focused, calm, and motivated—[she's] ready to learn.”

Physical activity has one other major perk too: It increases production of the stem cells that develop new brain cells.

Ratey has found that both aerobic activities and strength training have benefits to the brain, but that more complicated forms of exercise—like tennis and soccer—provide the biggest boost. “You’re taxing more parts of the brain in those activities, which helps it grow,” he explains.

To see the entire article, go to http://health.yahoo.net/rodale/WH/fitness-fact-or-fiction.

This is from the article “Boost Your Energy” from the June 2010 issue of Health magazine. I want to put this out there because it’s a great example of two coaching tips that I’ve discussed before. The first is the idea of gratitude. As corny as it sounds, thinking about what you’re grateful for (writing your grateful thoughts down is even better) will always lift your mood. The other idea, (which is one of my favorites), is the concept of reframing. You take whatever situation and look at it in a different way. Think of reframing as a way of being your own personal spin doctor. See the example below from the article.

To Turn Your Emotions into Energy: Spin Your Situation.

If a few hours at work has depleted your good mood, you might find yourself feeling inexplicably exhausted. A bad mood can sap your energy because it keeps your mind busy ruminating, says Kimberly Kingsley, author of The Energy Cure: How to Recharge Your Life 30 Seconds at a Time. Substituting thoughts about what you have in your life, as opposed what’s missing, can help reverse the negative spiral. With the first sign of stress or energy drain, Kingsley suggests, ask yourself, “What was I just thinking that’s causing me to be in such a funk?” Once you zero in on the problem, replace it with something that’s positive and gratitude-centered for instance, “I’m grateful that I just had that argument with Sarah. It was a good reminder that I don’t allow people to walk all over me.” This type of reframe will stop you from wasting a lot of energy, Kingsley says.

I love Coconut. I use it as a makeup remover and to moisturize my legs. Here is a list of 10 ways to use to Coconut oil for The July 5 issue of First Magazine.

1. Moisturizer - Massage into hands, legs, feet and decollete - the oil’s moisture-locking lipids will give skin a soft glow.

2. Nail Strengthener - Work into nails to create a hydrating seal that will help prevent brittleness and hangnails.

3. Lip Balm - Dot onto lips to keep them supple (and tasty!).

4. Facial Scrub - To restore radiance, add a packet of sugar (I personally like brown, organic sugar) to a dollop of the oil and massage into your face, then rinse.

5. Anti-Frizz Serum - Apply a dab to hair to seal the cuticle and repel island frizzies.

6. Deodorant - Thanks to it’s bacteria-killing lauric acid, smearing on a glob of the oil will nix foot and body odor.

7. Acne treatment - When dabbed on breakouts, the oil’s lauric acid will gently heal acne without dehydrating skin.

8. Anti-itch cream - Swipe a film over bug bites or rahses, letting the oil’s anti-inflammatory agents soothe the itch.

9. Lubricant - Sure, the oil is perfect for squeaky suitcase wheels, but a smidge also relieves “down-there” dryness.

10. Stomach soother - Dissolve a spoonful in hot tea and sip. The oil’s antimicrobial acids will help ward off indigestion-causing bacteria and parasites.

Today I went to my second grief support group meeting. My father passed away in January. This isn’t the first time I’ve been through this. My mother passed away in 2004. It’s hard to know what to say to a grieving person and, believe me, a lot of people said things to me that were pretty upsetting (even though they were trying to be helpful). Today, they gave us a handout about how to help a grieving person. Here’s what it says about What to Say and What not to say. :

What to Say

“I’m sorry” is often the simplest and best.

What Not to Say

Cliches and platitudes, such as:

“It was God’s will.”

“I know just how you feel.”

“You’ll get over it in time.”

“She’s better off this way.”

“Life is for the living.”

I bought a t-shirt the other day that has a tagline that seems to be helping me immensely. I’ve become through a very stressful time and I’m completely overwhelmed by everything that I have to do. The following tagline is something I’ve been repeating to myself each time I begin to get worried about all of the things I have to do.

Keep Calm, Carry On.

“If anything I’ve said seems useful to you, I’m glad. If not, don’t worry. Just forget about it. ” - Dalai Lama