1. Question to ponder…
“Are you pointing out the window… or pointing in the mirror?”
I can’t give credit for this quote, as I cannot remember where I heard it earlier this week. But, as humans, we love to point fingers and blame other people and our circumstances for our shortcomings. It is easy to make excuses and blame everything around us, i.e. other people’s actions, the economy, the weather, where we live, our genes, etc., but the problem often lies within ourselves. This quote grabbed my attention and made me reflect on excuses I am making and pushed me to take a closer look in the mirror at myself.
2. The incredible human body…
Babies will mimic your facial expressions, children will imitate actions of their parents, and humans, in general, will copy behaviors of others. It’s how we learn. There are over 100 billion neurons in the brain, many of which fire when we want to perform some action. It turns out that some of these neurons fire simply by us watching another person perform an activity. They are called mirror neurons. Our brain interprets the action of others as if we are doing it ourselves, allowing us to better recreate that same action on our own. This also helps explain empathy and emotion toward others. We can literally feel another’s sadness and sorrow, which is why we may cry while watching an actor in a movie. Mirror neurons are another component of our complex structure, helping to explain what makes us human. I also share it because it’s another reason to surround ourselves with bigger thinkers and higher achievers… it gives your mirror neurons a better model to imitate. That might be all you ever want to know about mirror neurons, but if you find this at all interesting, you’ll dig this 7-minute Ted Talk by neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran. He explains mirror neurons much better than I just did and dives a little deeper.
3. Wellness Tip…
I’ve recommended in the past to get outside more. I believe it is CRITICAL to get back to nature to express optimal health and wellness. There is even a term to describe immersing yourself in nature… it’s forest bathing. Japanese medicine integrates it into its preventative health care and healing practices. While humans have been forest bathing since the beginning, this term was coined in Japan in the 1980’s. They use the word Shinrin-yoku, which means “taking in the forest atmosphere.” The Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a study that found that the average American spends 93% of his or her time indoors. NOT GOOD! Getting out in the woods, a nearby park, a field, or even your own garden allows you to engage ALL of your senses and take in the natural surroundings. And because we are electrically charged beings, and the earth gives off an electrical charge, we need to be in nature to literally recharge. (I’ll expand on that very interesting concept in a later blog.) Walk slowly into the woods… breathe deeply… smell the smells around you… see the sunlight coming through the trees… hear the sounds of the crickets and the birds… feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze on your skin… and just relax. I know this sounds a bit woo-woo to some of you, but please give it a try. Instead of your work and home environment stealing electrons from you, draining you, you can be picking up electrons from the outside world around you. There ARE health benefits to forest bathing.