Weekly Roundup
I am writing this intro after finishing my stream of consciousness below. In case you want to skip around I touch on three topics: research as to why exercise boosts happiness, benefits of sweating, and meditating and the art of recovering from people pleasing. Written with love and hoping it resonates with someone as we transition into winter months.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity“ as stated in the constitution of the World Health Organization.
So lets dive in.
Why is it that when people see a grocery cart full of vegetables or someone ordering a salad at dinner considered a ‘diet‘? Is it because the standard American diet (the acronym is literally SAD) is filled with an array of fried foods, large portions, sugar, and just lots and lots of processed stuff? I don’t have the answer — all I have to offer is my experience and what I’ve learned and experienced by growing up in the US and traveling to different parts of the world.
This article from the NIH on naturally increasing serotonin (see study here) was the first thing that caught my eye this weekend.
Sweating by working out or in a sauna literally sends me to another planet (see benefits here).
One of the things I’ve seen a lot of people in the wellness space discuss is finding your ‘why‘. As a young adult I can’t say I know for sure what my purpose or mission here on earth is yet but it is something I am constantly working on and thinking about. Not in a stressful way but rather a thought provoking one. It’s a question that allows me to stay open to anything that is thrown my way because who know where it may lead.
One of my favorite meditation Manoj Dias talks about purpose and using meditation to live a better life here and what he had to say really touched my heart and resonated with me. I’ve listened to him speak on podcasts and at one point he shared a quote and it goes “we are not meditating to get good at meditating, we are meditating to get good at life [insert citation].” I feel like there is a lot of stigma around meditating and that it may only be for a certain type of person. I started meditating consistently my senior year in college. It was the time in my life where I really felt a shift and I started choosing myself and saying no to things that did not serve me. Granted, I’m still not perfect but I’ve come a long way because I was the epitome of a people pleaser. My mum called me a doormat in high school. I would do anything and sacrifice my own happiness in order to please someone even if it meant compromising my goals, desires, personality, and even integrity. At the time it felt so easy. It seemed simple. I would live a happy life so long as everyone else around me was happy. Well let me assure you years later that caught up with me. Because no matter how many times I tried to stay on everyoen’s ‘good‘ side and keep the peace no ones life is perfect. And when something fell apart I felt guilt, and anxiety, and honestly I just didn’t know how to cope with the difficult and uncomfortable emotions. I would do anything to reconcile and again just keep the peace. But that didn’t really get me anywhere because I wasn’t really living a life of my own. I was living life for other people. For their validation and for their own happiness. And the tool that helped me realize that I can have full autonomy over my own life? Meditating. Point blank. Am I perfect? lol no. Do I meditate everyday? I try. Does it always happen? Not at all. I try and meditate first thing in the morning because I find it sets me up for the day and primes me for the day. This can look like just sitting and observing my breath or following a guided meditation on my favorite app Open. If I didn’t make time to sit in the morning sometimes I will put on a guided mediation as I walk outside before I start engaging with a ton of other people. But my point being — meditating is for everyone and can be done anywhere. The way I like to think about it is a chance to observe your thoughts. Not necessarily work through anything. But just sit with the present moment. I find this almost impossible when I am feeling self conscious or stressed or down or unmotivated and slowly but surely I am changing my programming by reaching for my phone to put on a meditating instead of scrolling instagram. Another thing I have learned about myself is I tend to reach for instagram when I want to numb whatever uncomfortable feeling I am experiencing. And that is the beauty of meditating is that in those moments when I am met with resistance or discomfort instead of pushing it down or ignoring and letting it build up, simply sitting with it makes it a smaller problem. Because feelings are just different reactions we have to the present moment. So if we can change the circumstances of our present moment and turn it into something more beneficial we aren’t ignoring those uncomfortable feelings but letting them be and by doing so, they subside. Maybe not completely go away but it gives our brain less ammunition to make it into a big deal. Life isn’t perfect and it sure isn’t easy. But mediating has allowed me to become better at dealing with my uncomfortable emotions and thoughts. And again, Im not perfect and perfect isn’t the goal. Living a fabulous life filled with deep emotion and intention is the goal.