In our previous post, the focus was on mirroring love back to others.  This blog article will deal with the discovery of “mirror neurons” in the brain a little less than 20 years ago and its effect on how we inter-relate to one another.  As neuroscientists gained access to more advanced brain imaging technology, the study of the human brain has come a long way since the “decade of the brain” in the 1990′s.  The discovery of the “mirror neuron system” by a research group of Italian neuroscientists opened the door to the “science of empathy”.  Empathy deals with the experiencing as one’s own the feelings of another person.  The key factor that was uncovered about the “mirror neuron system” was the element of intentionality or acting with intention.  Amazingly, this aspect proved true even between humans and the monkeys being studied during this breakthrough in brain research. (Read more…)

As I started viewing digital images for this blog, I first selected the category of “touch” and found twenty-four pages with photos almost exclusively dedicated to our emerging world of finger pad devices, imaginative screen options, and people of all ages interacting with them.  I laughed inwardly at myself for my initial mislabeling the topic of this post, as well as “dating” myself by juxtaposing high-tech with high-touch. As I scrolled through the digital “touch” offerings, I found only a limited number of actual people touching one another. When I shifted my category to “hugging”, I did find what I was looking for – human to human contact. What happens in our brains (and bodies), when we actually make a physical connection through a direct face-to-face or touch connection? (Read more…)

In contrast to the vast amount of information out there on diet and health for the human body, there is relatively limited information on the impact of diet on the brain. Here are some suggestions to help boost your brain power! Although this is a brief summary with the intention of improving one’s brain health, check out to see if these foods are a part of your regular dietary routine.  Of the studies done to date, four specific dietary links to brain health have been found: antioxidants, folic acid, essential fatty acids (EFAs) and phytoestrogen.  (Read more…)

I recently completed a continuing education course for skills-building in Positive Psychology coaching utilizing a workbook devised by Robert Biswas-Diener, Practicing Positive Psychology Coaching: Assessment, Activities and Strategies for Success. I was reminded once again of the key component that strengths play in both positive psychology and positive psychology coaching. Mr. Biswas-Diener holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and founded Meridian Life Coaching, LLC. He travels world-wide both teaching and coaching utilizing Positive Psychology’s foundation in research and strengths for flourishing in life. (Read more…)

Have you ever been the recipient of a smile that made your heart melt?  In my reflections from our trip to Peru, I have brought back a lasting memory of the smiles that I experienced there from the indigenous people.  I felt as if their smiles emanated directly from their souls.  There is something magnificent about a smile that resides in the heart, rises up through the eyes, and is sent forth like a laser beam.  How many times in a year does one receive such a gift?  How many times in a day, a month, a year does one project that level of smiling out toward others?  Having recently received so many unsolicited smiles while in Peru, I have left that country pondering what the effect of developing a smiling practice would have on both myself and others. (Read more…)

Good Nutrition: ‘Just the Basics’

The foods you eat provide the energy your body needs to function. Just like you need to put fuel in your car or recharge your cell phone battery, your body needs to be fed energy-providing foods every day. The main form of energy for your body is carbohydrates.

Your body has the easiest time digesting carbohydrates like sugar and starch. Carbohydrates are broken down into individual glucose, fructose or galactose units. Glucose is your body’s favorite form of energy. If you don’t get enough carbohydrates, your body can make glucose from protein or fat — and if you get too many carbohydrates, your body is very good at storing them as fat. (Read more…)

Good Nutrition Provides Raw Materials
Protein in the foods you eat is broken down into individual amino acids. Your body uses the amino acids to build and repair the various parts of your body. Your muscles contain lots of protein, and you need to replenish that protein through your diet. Your body also needs protein for components of your immune system, hormones, nervous system, and organs. (Read more…)

This word keeps popping into my mind – vitality.  I am intrigued by the level of energy that the word carries, so I decided to consult the dictionary to see what I would find.  Vitality is defined as “the capacity to live, to grow, or develop”.  The synonyms that I found for vitality are vigor or energy.  When I think of one’s vitality, I picture the life force pulsing through one’s body.  It is interesting how certain individuals are vibrantly alive and make a big splash; whereas, others kind of float through life trying not to make waves.   What kind of individual are you?  Are you satisfied with the kind of impact you are making in your own life or in the lives of others? (Read more…)

From the field of neuroscience, comes the belief that the human brain likes and does best when given direction.  The word for this direction, flow, and internal humming is “synchrony”.  Mindbody Visions is a website dedicated to helping others better achieve brain synchrony through developing concrete life plans addressed in the areas of mind, body, and spirit.  This interplay has gained popularity through the mission of holistic or integrative medicine which asserts that we, human beings, are not separate and distinct segments.  Rather, there is an overlap in which one aspect leads into the other. If any one area becomes the sole focus without attention to the other two, a gap surfaces within the total person.  It’s kind of like walking lop-sided….off balance. (Read more…)