Can You Make Happiness a Habit?

"Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions.’ ~Dalai Lama"

I’m not one who believes you can be happy all the time, but I have learned you can be happy much of the time.

And that’s not something that depends on how your day is going or how others treat you — it depends on what you do on a regular basis.

I remember being unhappy most days, at one point in my life. It wasn’t because I hated the people in my life — I had a lovely wife, great kids, other wonderful family members and friends. 

It was because I was unhappy with myself, and that caused growing debt problems, unhappiness with my job, health problems and more. I felt like I couldn’t change any of that.

Then one day I sat down and made a list.

I make a lot of lists — it’s one of my favourite habits — but this list seemed to have a magical power. It was a list of the things I was grateful for. 

Amazingly, there were a lot of stuff on the list, from things about my wife, kids, relatives, and friends, to things about my job, about nature around me, about my life.

This list was magical because I went from feeling a bit depressed about everything, and hopeless and helpless, too much happier. My mindset shifted from the things I didn’t like or didn’t have, to the things I was really happy I had. And I was in control.

Since then I’ve experimented with many habits and have found a couple things to be true:

#First, a handful of activities can actually make you happy.

#Second, if you incorporate them into your life on a regular basis (make them into habits), you’ll be happier regularly.

And those might seem to be small realisations, but actually, they’re huge.

The Habits That Make You Happy

So what habits make you happy? Try doing these on a daily basis, and see if you get the same results:

1. List 3 Good Things About Your Life Right Now

My wife Eva and I started a daily evening ritual, at about 7 pm each day, where we take a moment to tell each other three good things about our day.

We didn’t invent this, but it serves as at least one time in your day when you focus on what you’re grateful for. 

This can create a mental habit of gratitude that you can use other times in your day when you’re focused on the things you don’t like or have — when you feel this, think about something you do have, that you love. 

Find a way to be grateful, and you’re happier.

2. Help Someone Out

When we focus on ourselves, and the woeful state of our lives, we are self-centered. This shrinks the world to one little place with one little unhappy person. 

But what if we can expand that worldview, and expand our heart to include at least one other person? Maybe even a few others? Then we see that others are suffering too, even if that just means they’re stressed out. 

Then we can reach out, and do something to reduce their stress, put a smile on their face, make their lives easier. Help at least one person each day, and you’ll find your entire perspective shifted.

3. Meditate—Even Just for 2 Minutes

I’ve called this the Fundamental Habit because it affects everything else. Meditate for just 2 minutes a day, and you’ll create a habit that will allow you to notice your thoughts throughout the rest of the day, that will help you to be more present (unhappiness comes from not being present), that will help you notice the source of anxiety and distraction. 

That’s a lot that can be accomplished in 2 minutes! Sit every morning when you wake, and just notice your body, and then your breath. Notice when your mind wanders, and gently return to your breath. You become the watcher of your mind, and you’ll learn some useful things, I promise.

4. Exercise and Move

Everyone knows you should exercise, so I’m not going to belabour this point. But it really does make you happier, both in the moment of exercise (I’m exerting myself, I’m alive!) and throughout the rest of the day. Exercise lightly, if you’re not in the habit yet, and just for a few minutes a day to start out. Who doesn’t have a few minutes a day? If you don’t, you need to loosen up your schedule a bit.

There are a number of other habits that also help: mindful eating, drinking tea, doing yoga, socialising with others. But these incorporate meditation (they’re more active forms of meditation) and exercise and helping others and gratitude (if you’re doing it right). 

So I wanted to list the most basic habits, and then you can expand to other areas.

How do you form these habits? One at a time, starting as small as possible, with some social accountability.

Set these habits in motion. 

You’ll notice yourself becoming more present, more grateful, more other-focused. The shift that results is nothing short of a miracle.

                                                                                                                                                            source: HappyHabits

  What is a Healthy Lifestyle?

I and many others are promoting the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, but what does that actually mean?

A healthy lifestyle isn’t just diet and exercise. Today we go over the components of leading a healthy lifestyle and how it’s important to lead a balanced life.

In general, most would agree that a healthy person doesn’t smoke, is at a healthy weight, eats a balanced healthy diet, thinks positively, feels relaxed, exercises regularly, has good relationships, and benefits from a good life balance.

Maybe I should start by trying to look at a few definitions for the word – lifestyle. A definition in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says: ‘A way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group’.

Definition Of A Healthy Lifestyle

The World Health Organisation in 1946 defined health as ‘A complete state of mental, physical and social well-being not merely the absence of disease’.

Wikipedia defines a lifestyle as the way a person lives. This includes patterns of social relations, consumption, entertainment, and dress. A lifestyle typically also reflects an individual’s attitudes, values or worldview. A healthy lifestyle is generally characterised as a “balanced life” in which one makes “wise choices”.

A final definition of lifestyle is The aggregation of decisions by individuals which affect their health, and over which they more or less have control.

What is the definition of Healthy Living?

The World Health Organization (WHO), defines Health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not simply just the absence of disease.

The actual definition of Healthy Living is the steps, actions and strategies one puts in place to achieve optimum health.

Healthy Living is about taking responsibility for your decisions and making smart health choices for today and for the future. So healthy living would consist of:

Physical (For The Body)

• Good Nutrition, Eating Right
• Getting Physically Fit, Beneficial Exercise
• Adequate Rest
• Proper Stress Management

You Also Need to Give and Receive

• Forgiveness
• Love and Compassion
• You Need to Laugh and Experience Happiness
• You Need Joyful Relationships With Yourself and Others

Emotional Wellness (For The Mind)

• Self-Supportive Attitudes
• Positive Thoughts and Viewpoints
• Positive Self-Image

Spiritual Wellness

• Inner Calmness
• Openness to Your Creativity
• Trust in Your Inner Knowing

And all aspects of one’s self must work in harmony to achieve wellness, so you need to create a balanced life.

Why is it Important?

A healthy lifestyle is a valuable resource for reducing the incidence and impact of health problems, for recovery, for coping with life stressors, and for improving the quality of life. There is a growing body of scientific evidence that shows our lifestyles play a huge part in how healthy we are. From what we eat and drink, to how much exercise we take, and whether we smoke or take drugs, all will affect our health, not only in terms of life expectancy but how long we can expect to live without experiencing chronic disease.

Conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, joint disease, and mental illness are responsible for a vast number of deaths and disabilities. Currently, we rely almost exclusively on the provision of clinical care by highly trained health professionals as our major strategy to deal with these conditions. Many health problems can be prevented or at least their occurrence postponed by having a healthy lifestyle.

Why don’t you have a healthy lifestyle?

It’s a busy life for most of us. And keeping ourselves healthy is all too rarely near the top of our list of ‘things to do’. Convenience often wins – we are all so busy that convenience is at a premium.

Good Health Is “Simple – But It’s Not Easy”

It is so important to make ‘keeping healthy’ a part of our day-to-day living habits. Your health depends on what you do throughout the day, every day. A healthy lifestyle is absolutely vital. Here is a real simple solution – slowly improve your lifestyle in a step-by-step way. If you take one new health step every two months, for example, in two to three years you will be among the healthiest ten percent of people in the Western world. And boy will you see and feel the benefits.

Improvements do not have to be large steps; take one small step for your health today, keep that one going, and add another one every two months. Have a plan – maybe introduce 6 improvements over the course of a year.

Can You Adopt A Healthy Lifestyle?

Whatever your age, fitness level or body shape, it's never too soon or too late to start thinking about living healthily. You can take a step towards healthy living by making one change now to your daily life. That won’t be so hard, will it?

Are You Living A Healthy Lifestyle?

Do you wake up with enthusiasm for the day ahead? Do you have the high energy you need to do what you want? Do you laugh easily and often, especially at yourself? Do you confidently find solutions for the challenges in your life? Do you feel valued and appreciated? Do you appreciate others and let them know it? Do you have a circle of warm, caring friends? Do the choices you make every day get you what you want?

The Components Of A Healthy Lifestyle

Eating Healthily

The right nutrition is necessary to live a healthy lifestyle. Your body requires a well-balanced diet every day in order to maintain the adequate amounts of vitamins, nutrients and minerals needed to maintain a healthy body.

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art – La Rochefoucauld (French Writer)

An Active Lifestyle

You will need to include fitness as part of your life. Physical fitness keeps your weight in check, helps you sleep better at night, prevents heart attacks and strokes and other health problems, and generally prolongs your life. Basically, there are so many benefits of exercising that you really can’t live a full life without it.

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness – Edward Stanley (Earl of Derby)

Stress Management

Emotional stress plays an important role in many illnesses, both directly and indirectly. People are also more likely to smoke, overeat, drink too much, work too hard, argue with others and so on when they are feeling stressed. Thus, stress management is an important part of your new lifestyle, and meditation and relaxation techniques are truly a key part of living a healthy lifestyle.

Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body – Marcus Tullius Cicero (Roman Philosopher)

Make Friends With Yourself

Loving yourself is a key to a healthy, happy lifestyle. Self-esteem is all about how much people value themselves; the pride they feel in themselves, and how worthwhile they feel. Self-esteem is important because feeling good about yourself can affect how you act.

The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around… Throughout history, “tender loving care” has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing – Larry Dossey (Physician)

Powering Up Your Mind And Body

Programme your mind for total success. Develop a vision, a compelling future that excites and inspires you, and focus on it daily. Don’t let anything knock you of course, or make you question its possibility. I promise you, by taking control of your thoughts, you will improve your life in a big way.

In minds crammed with thoughts, organs clogged with toxins, and bodies stiffened with neglect, there is just no space for anything else – Alison Rose Levy (Journalist)

Life Balance

If you want to achieve a healthy lifestyle you must take steps to ensure you maintain a certain level of balance… spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, mentally and financially. You need to balance work and family, and all the other areas of your life without spreading yourself too thin and having a guilt trip when you do one thing, but think you should be doing another. All of the key areas of our lives overlap and interlink, affecting each other. Unless we create for ourselves satisfaction in each and every part of our life, we can never truly be fulfilled, or live a contented, happy and healthy life.

No success in public life can compensate for failure in the home – Benjamin Disraeli (British Prime Minister)

Being Healthy is so important. Just change one thing in your life today. Have a healthy life beginning now. Living a healthy lifestyle will bring you happiness, health and the life of your dreams. You can fit into your favourite pair of jeans again. You can enjoy all the benefits that perfect health offers you. You can feel your best at all times of the day.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                            source: LG365HealthyLifeStyle

THE BEST 12 EXERCISES TO LOSE ARM FAT AT HOME (VIDEO)

No one loves flabby arms for they are quite unsightly. Flabby arms normally appear right after one turns thirty. Actually, they’re nothing more than excess fat that builds up in the arm area and is an inevitable part of the ageing process.

As your age advances, your metabolic rate starts to lose its power, thereby diminishing the body’s ability to burn adequate calories.

This results in fatty deposits all over the body, including the arms. Other factors such as unhealthy eating and insufficient physical exercise can contribute to your saggy look.

Here, we present you some effective exercises to get rid of the flabby arms, which even the laziest flabby-arm individuals will enjoy doing:

Tips on how to melt arm fat

There are several things you can do to prevent further accumulation of fat before things get out of hand.

1.Healthy diet regimen

Poor dietary habits contribute to flabby arms. Therefore, you’re advised to adopt some healthy dietary schedule and consume more fresh vegetables and fruits.

Your food should have plenty of fibre to provide a normal metabolic function and your body will burn the calories you consume effortlessly.

When you burn calories, the fat also burns. Also, include more lean proteins and slow-burning carbohydrates in your diet.

Eat several small meals throughout the day

You should try eating 3-5 smaller meals during the day. Besides not starving, you’ll also not consume excess calories.

Always eat your breakfast

Being the most important meal of the day, your breakfast should be richer than your dinner. Actually, skipping your breakfast translates to a huge lunch, and you don’t want that.

Drink plenty of water

Drink lots of water as it enhances the metabolism. It’s advisable to take a glass of water before meals as it will stop you from eating too much.

Green tea is great for you 

Having a cup of green tea in the morning stimulates the fat burning process. With green tea, you’ll have more energy and your body will burn calories more efficiently.

Likewise, drink green tea throughout the day to support your metabolism and promote fat burning.

Cardio workout is excellent 

Do cardio exercises every day and the fat will stop building where it shouldn’t be. Rope climbing, swimming, and rowing are some of the most effective exercises to get rid of flabby arms.

Stairs are much better than any elevator

You should always take the stairs instead of being using the elevator.

Implementing these healthy tips is a good start in the battle against stubborn arm fat. Just combine the exercises, include something new, and you’ll sure gain some success!

                                                                                                                                                                source: LooseArmFat 

       STOP DOING THIS! THE 7      DANGEROUS ACTS AFTER MEAL

You shouldn’t eat fruits right after your meal

If you eat fruits right after your meal the fruits will not be able to reach your intestines due to the food you’ve already eaten.

If they stay in your stomach, then they will begin to spoil and cause the food you’ve just eaten to be spoilt as well.

That’s why it is best to wait for an hour before you eat any fruits, or eat them before your meal.

But the most suitable way would be to eat fruits on an empty stomach in the morning so your body can properly digest them and use the energy they provide throughout your day.

You shouldn’t loosen your belt after your meal

There’s a lot of dogma regarding this rule. Most people think that loosening your belt will cause your bowels to twist and turn, but, the real reason why you shouldn’t do this is entirely different. The reason is that if you are loosening your belt than you have probably eaten a lot of food, which is inherently wrong for you. If you loosen your belt, you will feel free to continue indulging in your meal, which is definitely not a good thing. That’s why you should never loosen your belt so it can remind you of how much food is enough for you.

You shouldn’t smoke right after your meal

Smoking right after you have eaten is a definite no-no! Studies show that when you smoke after you eat it has the same effect as smoking 10 cigarettes, which is never a good thing.

You shouldn’t drink tea after your meal 

Tea leaves are full of acids that can make the proteins you consume to be hardened and tough to digest. That’s why it is better to drink tea at least an hour before you eat.

You shouldn’t go for a walk after your meal

Going for a walk right after you have eaten will cause an acid reflux in your stomach, and only make your digestion more difficult.  That’s why if you are planning on taking a walk after your meal, you should at least wait for 30 minutes before you do so. Furthermore, if your reason for taking a walk is to burn some calories, you should know that the most efficient way to do it is to walk after you have done some physical exercise.

You shouldn’t take a nap after your meal 

Taking a nap after you have eaten will only cause difficulties to your digestion, which might cause other gastric problems and intestine infections.

You shouldn’t take a bath after your meal 

After you take a bath the blood circulation in your hands, feet and upper torso will increase, while the flow in your stomach area decreases, resulting in weaker digestion. That’s why baths are best taken 1-2 hours after meals, or before them.

source: 7badFoodHabits

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What’s the Difference Between Butter and Ghee?

One might be easier to digest.

OM ghee: Butter eaters aren't necessarily more prone to heart disease, says a new study. But what's up with ghee, the clarified (purified) version you keep seeing at the store? NYC nutritionist Isabel Smith, R.D., clears things up.

BUTTER is an oil-in-water emulsion, so it contains both fat and water, with the milk proteins acting as emulsifiers.

GHEE is also known as clarified butter. It is obtained when a large portion of milk solids (casein, lactose, etc.) and water from the butter are removed and only the milk fats remain. So Ghee has a considerably less content of milk solids and water.

Typically, Ghee has a higher smoke point than regular butter probably because of less quantity of free fatty acids (moot, refer comments for discussion), so it is preferred for high-temperature cooking.

GHEE is also slightly golden.

While butter is usually paler.

In short, Ghee is made from butter, by removing the solids and water with the help of a process that involves heating and churning or another centrifugal operation.

DIGESTION

BUTTER: Contains casein (milk protein) and lactose (milk sugar), making it tougher to break down if you're sensitive to dairy
GHEE: Heat removes most of the casein and lactose so it could be easier to stomach. It also offers butyrate, a fatty acid that may aid digestion. 

NUTRITION

BUTTER: Have vitamins A and D and packs 102 calories per tablespoon
GHEE: Offers A and E at 112 calls per tablespoon. It also contains conjugated linoleic acid, which may protect against colorectal and breast cancers.

COOKING

BUTTER: That classic taste can't be beaten in cookies or melted atop toast or veggies.
GHEE: Has a slightly nuttier flavor and is better for frying or sauteing, since its smoke point is higher (450°F versus 350°F). Translation: less chance of charred food.

Source:ButterOrGhee

Benefits Of Fresh Ginger Carrot Juice You Should Know

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Top 10 Healthiest Foods to Help you be in Control of Your Health!

Check this out! 4.128 627 views it speaks by itself! Start #eating #healthy is the best thing to make your #body say WOW!

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