5 Spiritual Benefits of Fasting

Fasting is a spiritual practice that is thousands of years old. When you refrain from eating or drinking anything as a worshipful act, the result can be a decisive moment for the soul.

The act of fasting is not limited to any religion or practice. People from all walks of life can appreciate the spiritual benefits of worshipping this way. This is a simple and life affirming act you can do this spring.

Your health must be a priority before starting a period of fasting. Consider supplementing your regular eating habits with products from Bioclinic Naturals, Terry Naturally, or Vital Nutrients to ensure your physical state supports your spiritual one.

List of the Spiritual Benefits of Fasting

1. Fasting Creates a New Desire

When you acknowledge your faith through fasting, it is a moment of acknowledgment that the spiritual nature is essential to life. The human soul longs for something nourishing beyond food and water. What you believe creates a closer connection to the world and others with a new desire to explore.

2. It Provides Satisfaction

Fasting is part of modern dieting because it works to detox the body. You feel renewed and full of energy! This outcome is particularly satisfying because it gives the mind more sensitivity to your spiritual voice. Even if this practice causes you to feel hungry, what you gain from the effort is an investment worth making.

3. Fasting Encourages Empathy

One of the Christian traditions of faith involves the fruits of the Spirit. These traits are part of an empathy-generated response to the people around you. When you take a moment to understand how others think and feel, it gives the soul more knowledge to change and adapt to make the world a better place for everyone.

4. It Opens the Door to Forgiveness

We are all called to forgiveness in every spiritual walk because social connections are healthy for the soul. That doesn’t mean you should forget what others may do or open the door to getting hurt again. The act of forgiving is an opportunity for you to move forward with the rest of your life. Fasting helps to provide insights that may get missed in the struggle to find something to eat or drink.

5. Fasting Can Add Power to Your Prayer or Action

When someone buys a house, they put some earnest money down to show a seller they are serious about the transaction. Fasting offers a similar outcome. Some spiritual breakthroughs can only happen when one is willing to take the first step forward.

Fasting is not right for everyone. If you have never approached spirituality in this way before, it helps to speak with a medical provider to discuss your health.

Life-Affirming Things You Can Accomplish This Spring

Having a daily focus on gratitude can bring many positive outcomes to your life. The people who look for the affirming circumstances surrounding them have increased levels of happiness, better emotional health, less stress, and more energy.

It is never too late to get into the life-affirming habits that can provide positive results. Here are some ways you can accomplish this outcome during the spring months.

Keep a Journal that Describes Your Life

Transitioning thoughts to written words can have a powerful impact on your life. It helps you to process emotions to make them tangible. Focus on gratitude with this effort, writing in a journal about three good things that happened to you each day. It only takes a week to decrease the symptoms of depression for up to six months. 

Tell Your Partner Why You Appreciate Them

No one is an island. We are all products of the people around us. If you tell your spouse, domestic partner, or significant other what you appreciate about them more often, then you create mutual spikes of happiness that can last for up to a month. Even a simple text about a memory you appreciated with a friend can have a positive effect.

Possessions Are Not the Root of Happiness

People pursue lots of possessions in our world today. You might find yourself in that situation right now. Having a bigger house, a luxury car, or a larger television isn’t going to provide long-term happiness. The people who experience the most joy are those that appreciate the simple pleasures that life brings while sharing them with others.

Practice Mindfulness Each Day

Mindfulness doesn’t need to be part of an active meditation routine. You can embrace this concept by completing one task at a time. Celebrate what happens in the present moment. Learning to exist within each second creates a greater awareness of self, leading to higher levels of gratefulness over the following weeks and months.

Be With Your Loved Ones

Gratitude is as contagious as COVID-19 when you allow it to start spreading. Hanging out with the people you love helps to make everyone aware of their blessings. Compassion is a close relative of this perspective, which means feeling good about life can lead to others feeling the same way.

Spring is often the season of change. By cleaning out all of the junk that lingers around your soul, you can chart a new course toward gratitude and gratefulness starting today!

Knowing the Positive Aspects of Aging Leads to Better Health

It can be scary to think about the aging process. Each day brings us one step closer to that eventual time when our presence on this planet is over.

The uncertainty of death can cause the aging process to feel like a negative experience. Who wants to contemplate the idea of an afterlife when there is so much living to do right now?

When positive attitudes about aging are present in a person’s life, then it may lead to better health outcomes over the years.

Exposure to Positive Words Can Create Better Outcomes

When older adults receive exposure to positive age-related words about health, then it leads to better outcomes for each individual.

A recent study grouped seniors into two groups. One received negative age-related words, such as “senile,” “decrepit,” and “incompetent.” The other got exposed to positive concepts, such as “enlightened,” “wise,” and “accomplished.”

The effects over eight weeks were profound. The people who saw words subliminally on a screen too fast to comprehend consciously saw robust growth in positivity. This outcome led to health improvements, positive self-perceptions, and improvements to physical function.

How Positivity Impacts Aging

Positive thinking can change the aspects of gaining because it reduces stress levels. When lower levels of cortisol are in your body, then the immune system receives more strength and fewer risk factors for heart disease develop.

The power of positive thinking can result in up to a 15% increase in average lifespan. Individuals who live to the age of 85 or older have this trait in common, even when differences in income, gender, age, and health status are considered.

People who have positive outlooks about aging when they are young have the best chance of living longer. As you adjust your opinion on the idea of getting older and facing death, then the positive experiences built by the interaction can have a strong impact on life expectancy.

How does one start thinking about positive things when death feels like a negative event? The mindset of expectation is what matters. Accepting the idea that a circle of life exists means that an embrace of death starts at the moment life begins. We are on this journey together toward the great unknown. Instead of fighting against this fact, accept it.

Then work toward a common good. Making this life better for the people you encounter leads to positive outcomes at home.

5 Positive Thinking Podcast Choices for a Better Day

Positive thinking podcast structures create a unique listening experience. Instead of focusing on real-events or negative outcomes that cause stress, the goal of these broadcasts is to create pathways that lead to new solutions.

If you are looking for new ways to change a day around, then consider listening to one of these top podcasts at your convenience.

1. The Lively Show

Jess Lively focuses on creating positive consciousness through intuition and intention. It takes an entrepreneurial tone at times, although the principals offered are worth review for anyone. The information can help you to identify places of improvement, create meaningful change, and then push forward with new energy.

2. Life Is a Marathon 

Host Bruce van Horn has had more than his fair share of adversity in life. He went through financial ruin, buried his daughter, and still has the capability of looking at the positive side of life. His wisdom developed from being in the trenches of grief and despair provide lessons that we can all use to be better people.

3. The Positive Psychology Podcast

The reality of positivity and happiness is that it is a choice that all of us can make. Even during the darkest moments of life, you can choose to pursue happier thoughts. This positive thinking podcast takes a practical approach to this process, teaching listeners how to cope with what happens by accepting life each day. Then you can work on the skills needed to make the best out of any situation.

4. Morning Mindfulness

Dr. Jin likes to tell fables and stories with his positive thinking podcast, turning the event into a lesson that can give you more energy throughout the day. It’s the perfect solution for those who don’t have much time in their day, with each broadcast only two minutes in length.

5. Inspirational Living

This podcast goes into the topics of positive consciousness transformation, transcendentalism, and New Age philosophies. The podcasters dedicate their work to the masters like Thoreau and Emerson to take you through the possibilities that each day can provide. Who and what you are comes to you based on the decisions you make throughout each day. Listening to this broadcast can help you to find that voice of morality and joy.

Listening to a positive thinking podcast can help you to find a unique perspective about happiness. Download an episode from your preferred selection today to start the journey.

Best Quotes About Overthinking

1. “Thinking too much leads to paralysis by analysis. It’s important to think things through, but many use thinking as a means of avoiding action.” – Robert Herjavek.

2. “Rule number one is don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is that it’s all small stuff.” – Robert Eliot.

3. “My mother said the cure for thinking too much about yourself was helping somebody who was worse off than you.” – Sylvia Plath.

4. “Don’t brood. Get on with living and loving. You don’t have forever!” – Leo Buscaglia.

5. “You don’t need to see the entire staircase. Just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

6. “Don’t get too deep. It leads to overthinking. Overthinking leads to problems that didn’t even exist in the first place.” – Jayson Engay.

7. “We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. The load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today and then add the burden of the ‘morrow before we are required to bear it.” – John Newton.

8. “Nothing can harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded.” – Buddha.

9. “People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.” – George Bernard Shaw.

10. “To think too much is a disease.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

11. “Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, ‘What else could this mean?’” – Shannon L. Adler.

How to Prepare Your Mind for Action

These quotes about overthinking pair nicely with poetry of happiness. If you are feeling low and want a little pick-me-up, check them out and see if it help provide a new outlook on life!

Your brain must work from a healthy foundation. It requires essential nutrients to give you the help you need to make beneficial choices.

Products from brands like BrainMD, Klaire Labs, and NeuroScience can help you to get the supplements needed when your regular diet needs a little help. By filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle, you can move forward on your journey toward success once again.

Mother and Daughter Goals to Inspire Strength and Confidence

Mother and daughter goals work to form the foundation of this unique relationship. Each person gives the other strength and confidence to inspire positive changes in the world.

These relationships are diverse, complex, and continuously evolving. Some duos see themselves as best friends. Others rarely speak to one another, yet they have nothing but respect and admiration for the other.

If you want to set mother and daughter goals to work on improving this familial relationship, then here are some insights for you to consider today.

1. Be the One Who Makes the First Move

Don’t wait for the other family member to make the first move when setting mother and daughter goals. Almost everyone gets stuck in a place where nothing happens when playing that game. Think about how you feel, what you can do to make changes, and then start doing those things.

2. Be Willing to Change Yourself

Mothers and daughters often expect the other person to change as a way to make the relationship better. The only person you can control is the one who looks at you in the mirror, which means that’s the best place to get started.

3. Make Sure Your Goals are Realistic

Mother and daughter goals can have lofty expectations that aren’t always achievable. You need to sit together to figure out what each person wants out of this relationship. You are co-equal in the implementation of these efforts. If you find that resistance is creeping up inside, then think about why that emotion exists. There may be underlying issues that need to get resolved before you can proceed with goal-setting activities.

4. Learn How to Forgive Early and Often

Forgiveness isn’t something that someone automatically deserves. It is an individual act that differs from reconciliation. This action is about your well-being and having an option to move forward. It doesn’t pardon, minimize, or condone what happened to you.

5. Balance Your Closeness in the Pursuit

Pursuing mother and daughter goals can cause the younger person in the relationship to feel like they’re in the shadow of the parent. Some think they must cut themselves off from their moms to discover who they are. Others fuse themselves to the point where no decisions happen without some input from the other. You must balance the closeness of your relationship with the individuality needed to pursue what is important to all of you. 

Mother and daughter goals don’t have to be between biological family members. If you think of someone in this role, then you can deepen your relationship with these ideas. 

What Does Achievement Mean to You – Is This a Good Question?

What does achievement mean to you?

Our achievements are the building blocks that allow us to create a sense of self. We use these accomplishments to look at ourselves as successful in this world.

The achievements that matter the most work together to form substance and meaning for each person to create tangible evidence that we all have a little expertise to share in some manner.

We can find the answer to this question by examining the following truths in our lives.

What Does the World Owe You?

If you want success, then you must work for it. The world owes you nothing. If you’re going to reap achievements, then you must sow the seeds that grow that result. Preparing to work with a positive mindset and a plan with meaningful steps that lead to the desired outcome can form the foundation of achievement.

How Much Risk Will You Take?

Fortune favors the bold when examining the achievements that the world offers. The people who are willing to take the most risk are the ones who experience the most rewards. Although being brave can result in short-term losses at times, your life encompasses years of effort instead of a few days. When you can be persistent with the forward steps you take toward goals, then your journey will be better.

Who Defines Success for You?

Most people define success by evaluating what other people think about them. The reality of achievement is that each of us must determine what we want from our unique perspectives. It is what you see in the mirror that counts – not what a stranger says or thinks. If you allow other people to control the path that you want to walk, then the unpredictability of that experience can lead to unwanted outcomes.

How Long Are You Willing to Wait?

If you are willing to wait for an achievement to come your way, then someone else is going to intercept what you want. The people who experience successful outcomes take what they want by outworking and out-planning everyone else. They focus on what can get accomplished today. Then they make tomorrow a better day than yesterday was for them.

What does achievement mean to you? Your definition must include a desire to take responsibility for your life. You are the one in control of everything around you. When you realize this truth, then you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to achieve. 

How to Become a Better People Person

Knowing how to become a better people person can unlock doors for networking and career opportunities. The skill of establishing relationships creates more social connections that can lead to a better life.

These tips can help you to become comfortable with the process of becoming a better people person, even if you tend to have an introverted personality.

Best Ways to Become a People Person

1. Begin The Process by Focusing on You

The issue that most individuals face when wanting to know how to become a better people person involves empathy. It is not unusual to confuse it with sympathy. When you empathize with another person’s perspective, then you attempt to see things from their point of view without judgment.

2. Avoid Automatic Responses.

If someone asks, “How are you doing today?” The response that you give is probably, “Fine, and you?” Our automatic responses are societal programs that we use as defensive mechanisms. Becoming a better people person means that these interactions must become personal.

3. Ask More Questions Instead of Giving Orders

The best way to get a conversation going is to have someone start talking about themselves. You’re not going to get that result by telling everyone your life story! A fast way to be seen as a better people person is to ask questions about something you find interesting about the other individual. Then you need to actively listen to the response to establish a relationship at that moment.

4. Take The Time to Embrace Quietness

Most people avoid conversations because they see that the other person is trying to formulate a response. How can you be listening to someone if you’re already thinking about a retort? When you can take the time to embrace quietness, then a moment of mindfulness can lead to more opportunities to meet new people and maintain those relationships.

5. Understand What Your Tone of Voice Conveys

The way that you express yourself to others is arguably more important than the words you say. Even your body language conveys a message that you might not intend to offer. Knowing how to become a better people person means being in control of these communication tools so that your message has consistency.

When you focus on the needs of someone else over yourself, then you become a better people person. Along these lines you will also experience some degree of self-realization and discover things about yourself you never realized. Implement these ideas today to see if they can help you!

4 Tips For How to Have a Good Dream

You go to bed at night, feeling exhausted from the stressful day you endured. As your head hits the pillow, you can already feel your body falling asleep.

Then you sit up in a cold sweat in what seems like seconds later because of a nightmare.

If you want to know how to have a good dream each night, then you must get yourself into the correct mindset for that outcome. When you go to bed feeling angry or stressed, then you’re already at a disadvantage.

Easiest Ways to Have a Good Dream Each Night

The best way to know how to have a good dream is to increase your melatonin levels. Try to eat foods that encourage its production, including cherries, sunflower seeds, and almonds.

You can incorporate the products from brands like New Chapter, Plant Therapy, and Metagenics to give these efforts a boost by promoting relaxation.

Then implement these additional ideas to encourage better dreaming.

1. Keep a Dream Journal

Having a diary next to your bed allows you to keep track of your dreams when you wake up. If you remember what you were experiencing, then write or draw the events that you can recall. When you start to see patterns to your dreaming, then the experiences typically improve.

2. Sleep Longer Each Night

Your mind generates more REM sleep each night when you dedicate more time to rest. When you keep the bedroom dark and cool, then it encourages your body’s melatonin levels to rise. If you struggle to fall asleep at night, then try to get more exercise each day or replace your mattress.

3. Avoid Stimulants Whenever You Can

Having caffeine after lunch can prevent you from having a good dream at night. If the morning light creeps through your window, then you can wake up early. Even the presence of electronics in the bedroom can have a stimulating effect on the body that impacts this experience.

4. Switch Your Body Position

People who sleep on their stomach tend to have better dreams than those who rest on their side or back. If you aren’t comfortable being on your belly, then resting on the right side tends to produce fewer nightmares than facing toward the left.

It also helps to get into a bedtime routine about one hour before you intend to fall asleep. Avoid electronics whenever possible, find time to relax, and meditate in a dark, quiet space to center your thinking. When you follow these tips, then better dreams could be coming your way!

When You Feel Low, Read This Poetry of Happiness

Poetry of happiness has the power to lift your spirits after a stressful day. It is a chance to connect with the poet because the written words seem to be a direct reflection of your experiences. Sharing that moment, even if you’re alone, can be an excellent reminder that there is good in the world. 

Happiness poems don’t need to be filled with bubbly goodness or unrealistic expectations. Many poets focus on quiet contentment and celebrations of life. It can be a lot of fun to play with the language, and you might even want to compose your own verse one day.

If you are feeling low right now, then read this poetry of happiness. It will change your life.

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size.

But when I start to tell them, they think I’m telling lies.” 

Finish this poetry of happiness here.

Strawberries by Edwin Morgan

“There were never strawberries like the ones we had that sultry afternoon,

Sitting on the step of the open French window facing each other,

Your knees held in mine, the blue plates in our laps, the strawberries glistening.”

Finish this poetry of happiness here.

Ah, Ah by Joy Harjo

“Ah, ah cries the crow, arching toward the heavy sky over the marina.

Lands on the crown of the palm tree.

Ah, ah slaps the urgent cove of ocean swimming through the slips.

We carry canoes to the edge of the salt.”

Finish this poetry of happiness here.

Happiness Reconsidered by Judith Viorst

“Happiness is a clean bill of health from the doctor,

And the kids shouldn’t move back home for more than a year,

And not being audited, overdrawn, in Wilkes-Barre, in a lawsuit or in traction.”

Finish this poetry of happiness here.

Sometimes by Sheenagh Pugh

“Sometimes things don’t go after all, from bad to worse.

Some years, muscadel faces down frost, green thrives, the crops don’t fail.

Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.”

Finish this poetry of happiness here.

How Happy is the Little Stone by Emily Dickinson

“How happy is the little stone that rambles in the road alone,

And doesn’t care about careers and exigencies never fears –

Whose coat of elemental brown a passing universe put on.” 
Finish this poetry of happiness here.