By Chuck Arnone, 1 month and 3 days ago

The Fine Balance of Nutrition in Athletes!

Athletes need more antioxidants to protect against the byproducts of exercise and they need more natural Cox-2 inhibitors to protect against inflammation. The following recommendations - in the form of a balanced and varied diet - ensure an adequate supply of energy, nutrition, and protective elements, and therefore represent a healthy approach to eating. The carbohydrates can supply extra energy, which is especially important in the latter stages of exercise, while protein helps to protect against muscle loss. Increased oxygen utilization during exercise can increase the production of free radicals (unstable molecules that can cause tissue damage at the cellular level), but increased food intake and supplementation with antioxidants may enhance immune-system performance. One of the nutrients most commonly associated with preventing colds is vitamin C, which has a widespread reputation as an immune system booster. Some liquid supplements contain glucosamine and chondroitin for joint repair and recovery, (soy) protein to build and maintain muscles, and antioxidants to fight free radicals. Sodium and potassium provide electrolyte replacement for post-workout recovery. The basic fuels supplying muscles are: glucose transported from the liver in the bloodstream, glycogens stored locally in muscles and free fatty acids. After all these do come from our diet.

Even with all the protective equipment worn during practices and games, football players are quite vulnerable. Consistent intake of calories, allowing for adaptations due to weather conditions, provide consistent fueling of the body, prolonging endurance, and protecting the muscle tissue from being cannibalized. If you want to be strong in the latter stages of a race, you must have consumed sufficient calories in the earlier stages of the race. As a general rule, 20 to 30 percent of the calories in a young athlete’s diet should come from fat, 50 to 65 percent from carbohydrates and 15 to 20 percent from protein. Endurance training, such as long-distance running also requires more calories from both carbs and protein, while strength training increases the body’s need for protein.

Sports nutritionists recommend that about 55 to 65 percent of calories come from carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates such as starches should make up the majority of carbohydrate fuel. Weight bearing sports, those than involve running or jumping, are at greatest risk. Meeting calorie needs can be difficult for some athletes, especially in those sports where severe weight-loss practice and restricted intakes are common. When energy intake is limited, the body uses fat and lean tissues for energy, thus resulting in loss of strength and performance. When an athlete performs his/her sporting activity, lot of fluid loss takes place, which causes dehydration and dehydration can eventually cause heat stroke.

Some strategies, such as high-protein diets or protein supplements, can cause serious problems, like kidney damage. Skipping meals, eliminating certain food groups, or going on fasts (not eating at all or eating very little) can also be harmful to kids. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. Information about each product is available from the labels of the products or from the manufacturer’s advertising material.

When blood glucose levels start to fall, glycogen is changed to glucose, raising blood glucose levels. Well trained athletes who eat a high-carbohydrate diet can improve glycogen stores. Typically, high glycemic index carbohydrates are preferred for their ability to raise insulin levels, thus increasing rate of nutrient storage. Recently, high molecular weight carbohydrates have come to prominence for their low osmolality, and potential for quicker, and greater glycogen restoration.

Master athletes will find the articles on nutritional needs and joint inflammation invaluable. High school and college coaches will love the update article on the female triad. Reviews and commentaries should be written in a style that sport nutrition practitioners, coaches, and athletes can easily comprehend. What is the best sports nutrition for an athlete? There is no definitive answer to this.

In fact, most athletes habitually consume more than their protein requirements. Ensuring they have access to snacks containing protein (6-12 g of essential amino acids or 10-20 g of high-biological-value protein and carbohydrate (1 g per kilogram body mass) one hour before resistance training sessions may improve muscle tissue development. Creatine has been blamed for all sorts of effects, from muscle cramps to dehydration, to increased injuries in athletes. However, these effects have been looked at extensively by researchers without a single study reporting side effects among several groups taking creatine for various medical reasons over five years. To be beneficial for strength training be sure that an athlete is consuming the proper amount of protein and carbohydrates on a daily basis. Liquid vitamins are a very efficient way to bring your body up to it’s optimum performance.

Today, more than ever, we need to take high quality nutrition vitamins. Chuck Arnone tries to research some of the options and make them available to you.

By John Halderman, 2 months and 23 days ago

Are You Blinded By Your Life?

Your life is going on and on and on. This is a good thing of course and your brain is designed to keep it this way. Part of your brains function is to simplify as much as possible and to help you feel good which it is very good at. Now you may think that you are always feeling as good as you want this is because your brain sees keeping things the same as more comforting than change. So even what may not be good for you is perpetuated. Your brain is very good at keeping everything the same, in fact it helps to enhance whatever has already been experienced. The way the brain sees this is, you must want it – you chose it, even if not consciously.

The easiest course for your life is for more of the same and that is likely what you have been experiencing. This of course may be all good if you are totally satisfied with everything. But if you want anything about your life to be different, that's not what your brain is in charge of. When your day is completely full of what you already think, feel and do where does the new come in? When your unconscious and conscious though are consumed with what is now going on, which I assure you they are, all of your attention is there as well. Your day to day life is essentially a habit that continues to feed and support itself, keeping you locked in as it is.

What happens is that you can become blind to other things, that are different. How this affects your life is this – You can become so involved with your repeating thoughts which increase in importance by default that you are not even aware of what you are not doing, what you are missing, and what is deeply important to you. I ran across a video that illustrates this. Pay attention to the guy speaking and do what he instructs you to do. Perception

This attention blindness keeps us doing what we have done and away from what is different and unrelated. You've heard the saying, «you can't see the forest through the trees.» You may not see things that are right in front of you because your attention is already taken up with something. When focusing on the trees that are right in front of you, you are not able to see the scope of the entire forest and it's varied landscapes.

Many of the things that you have grown to think are important because of your continual involvement, may not be so important to you at a deeper level. As you focus your attention on something it's importance increases just from the increased presence of the involved thoughts and actions. With this higher level of importance your brain gives it more attention too making it even more prominent in your conscious and unconscious thought, thus many other things are completely shut out of your awareness.

It is important to know that you can really only focus on one thing at a time. When you are 'multi-tasking' you are actually jumping quickly back and forth from one thing to another. There is only so much of this that your brain is capable of doing. Plus, there is the time utilized factor. There are 24 hours in a day and when you have allowed the repetitive thoughts to inhabit those hours you are awake, there is no more time for other, new thoughts. You can easily use up your day pretty much thinking about the same things as you did yesterday and the day before. So where does new thinking fit it?

Essentially your life is easily consumed with what you have already experienced, have thought about a lot and have established feelings for. This is almost too simple. Allowing your daily life to continue on in the same way, as your brain helps you do, you are actually preventing yourself from seeing and experiencing anything new and different.

You do however have the ability and the right to make changes in your life anytime you want, you must choose to first and then follow through with persistence and determination to override what is already established in your mind. Your real power as a human lies with your ultimate command of your thought. Just because your brain functions the way it does does not prevent you from aver changing any of it. Where the problem lies is that most of us have a pattern of allowing our minds to perpetuate the same thoughts and experiences over and over rather than making frequent changes. Making frequent changes and adjustments to your thinking can become part of your normal operating system once do do it for a while. Your brain will support this just as it has supported anything else you have focused on.

To change any of your repeating life experience you will need to assert your command of your thought and make choices about what you do and don't want to be your life experience. Just be aware of how your brain works, it wants to keep you comfortable by keeping things as they are.

As you work on change you may experience some of the following:

  • Un-supportive 'Mind Chatter',
  • Negative thoughts,
  • Doubt and worry,
  • Challenging your ability and self-esteem,
  • Brain fog, clouding your thought,
  • Anxiety,
  • Distraction,
  • Short term gratification,
  • and more.

Don't let this stop you, you don't need to remain blinded by your existing life experience. Realizing what may occur up front you will be less likely to be influenced by it. Determination, persistence and the belief that you are fully capable will help you learn to make the wanted adjustments to your thought and what you focus on. It's your mind, use it to your benefit.

By John Halderman, 3 months and 12 days ago

Experiencing More Self-Discovery

Self-discovery happens as the result of conscious mental and physical action. Doing the same things over and over is not conscious mental action, it's passive unconscious automatic beahavior.
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We think we are thinking because our brains are working, that is not thinking. Real thinking is active curiosity, analysis, planning, dreaming and questioning. When you carry on only doing the same things each day in the same ways, you are essentially living one day many times. But when you are actively thinking, you are living a new day each day. And your personal growth and development is based on self-discovery. If you don't find out more about yourself, who you are and what you can do, there is nothing to grow into. Becoming aware of yourself right now is the first important step- you can't do anything about what you aren't aware of.

I learned this lesson in my early 20's when I was the night shift foreman in a precision sheet metal shop in the Silicon Valley during the initial electronics boom of the 70's. The owner of the shop had hired a new brake operator who said that he had 20 years of experience doing the job. In this shop situation we did many small run jobs so there was always a lot of setting up the machines required all day long. The idea of someone with 20 years experience excited me because I was the main person doing all the set ups at the time, which kept me running from place to place to keep everyone productive.

When I was introduced to this new man, he looked at me, the 20-year-old, and gave me this look like, who are you to be my boss? I didn't let it bother me as I had been working with others much older than I for some time. I showed him the machines where he would be working and gave him a basic run down of the current task at hand, and left him alone figuring he knew what he was doing. After about 30 minutes I got a chance to go to see how he was doing, I figured he would be well on his way.

He had not done anything! And guess what, his demeanor had changed. Right then I found out that here was a guy that had been using this kind of machine for over 20 years and did not know how to make a simple set up for one. All he had done for all those years was to put the parts in, hit the pedal to make it operate, and pull the part out - someone else had made the set ups.

Now I am not saying this to brag rather to illustrate the difference in how we can spend our time. Here was a man that essentially lived the same year 20 times, never progressing with his knowledge, skills and activities. Then, I was a 20 year old who started this kind of work when I was 16 and at this time had been doing prototype work and now running my own shift making most of the set ups for everyone there. My previous 4 years were each different as I progressed through the learning and skill development process.

My point here is not to judge someone for wanting to remain doing the same things for years but rather to illustrate how we can look at our use of our time. Everyone has their own life path and certainly can choose as they will. But if you are not experiencing life as you have dreamed, you can do something about it. It comes down to choice, if you are enjoying your life as it is great. But if you have been thinking about wanting your life to be different and you can see that you have been doing the same things in the same ways for a long time, you can do something about it.

How this all fits into self-discovery is this, when your mind is actively working with questions, finding solutions, being creative, and trying new things you are setting yourself up to discover more. Just ask yourself this question, if what you are doing and how you are doing it is working and satisfying, why would you seek a different or better way? You wouldn't. You mind is designed to help automate as much as possible for you so doing simple tasks and operating your physical body do not require a lot of conscious thought all the time. Can you imagine the mental burden if you had to consciously think about all this basic stuff?

Your mind is consciously engaged as you choose to engage it. Your conscious mind does always have something going on, but if you do not actively engage it, this thought tends to be mainly repetitive, as you know. In order to engage your mind you are actually asking it questions or giving commands. Your brain will serve to solve these questions and fulfill the commands. And this is when you really discover many things. You discover more about yourself, more about how to do something, and more of what is possible for you. All this because you are engaging your brain with active thought.

Take a look at what you are doing? Enhance your self-awareness. Are you moving forward at the pace you are happy with? Do you feel stuck in a repetitive cycle? Do you like where you are, or not? Asking questions of yourself is a great way to stimulate self-discovery and get your life moving in the direction you want. And, to find out what you are truly happy with right now. Personal growth and development is a daily ongoing process, to keep it going, pay attention every day.

John Halderman

By John Halderman, 3 months and 14 days ago

Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway

Does Fear Stop YouHave you ever been overwhelmed with fear as you have faced doing something? We all have I think, each at our own level, with some becoming physically immobilized by it. If your fear feelings overpower you to the point of inaction you have given fear the upper hand. I stated it this way on purpose, your fear is not doing anything to you, rather you are allowing the fear to affect you as it does - it is all within your thought. And you have command over your thought and feelings as well.

When you get the fear feelings based on doubt, worry and uncertainty you choose to allow these thoughts to roil around in your head. You choose how you interpret them and how you react to them. A fearful thought does not come pre-packaged with a specific set of feelings and behavioral commands. Those too are of your choosing.

When you let yourself remain in the fear, you are choosing to have the fear guide your actions. It's a logical progression to react to the fear feelings based on how most of us have developed our perceptions around fear. But when you realize that you have created the whole cycle in your mind, you can begin to see that you have ultimate command over the whole cycle. You can change this existing cycle of perception, interpretation and reaction to one that is more supportive of the life you want.

Dr. Wayne Dyer is well known for saying in the Power Of Intention that - when you change the way you look at things, the way you look at things changes. He is referring to your perception, which may appear at first to be totally automatic but it's not. Well it is and it isn't! It is automatic as it functions now, but you have the ability to change it and have it automatically be different. Just because you now, as most do, react to worry, doubt and uncertainty with fear thoughts does not mean this is the only way or that it must be this way.

So how did your perceptions, interpretations and reactions get the way they are? And why does it seem that this is just the way they should be? Because you were taught these things by those you were around as you grew up. You took on the perceptions, interpretations and reactions of those who provided the greatest impression on you as you grew up. Your mind allows this, unless you consciously step in to stop it, because it seems normal in the environment you were in when young and highly impressionable. When most or all of the people you are around do it 'this way' there is no red flag raised in your thinking to question it, so you don't. Their way becomes your way.

This is how your behavior and that of groups, families and societies is formed and why it appears to be 'normal'. And the fact that many people behave in a certain way does not make it the best way, many times it is just the easiest way. It is easier to conform than to take a unique path. You don't have to remain stuck in the mode of allowing fear thoughts to control your actions. You have command of your thinking so you can change the whole cycle or mental chain of events that occurs with fear. Initially the thoughts of doubt, and some uncertainty are normal when you are facing something new, different or challenging but you don't need to let the heightened feelings well up and create this big fear thing that you then cater to.

You can change the way you look at doubt, worry and uncertainty. They are just certain thoughts questioning what you are about to do. «Am I prepared?» «What if ____?» «Maybe I won't remember?» «How will they react?» «How do i look?» These are mostly logical concerns about what you are about to do and if you can answer them logically, without emotion, you can clear them up and soothe your mind. Some you can specifically answer and check off the list and others you will determine you can't do anything about, so you do not concern yourself with it any more. Choose to leave out the doom and gloom thoughts, the «i can't» thoughts that are not part of the original concerns - they are your reaction to those thoughts.

Just because you are concerned with how you look, dies not mean you should stop from doing it. Just because you are wondering if you are prepared or not does not mean to turn and run. Just because you have not done this before does not mean you can't. Your interpretation and reaction to the logical progression of thought leading up to your planned action is what causes you to freeze up. But even when you allow the feeling of fear to well up over these thoughts, still does not mean you must behave in a certain way. You can proceed with the fear, don't interpret the fear feelings as a stop sign. Just acknowledge those feelings and move on. Accept them, realize how they come about and let them be. Fear thoughts and feelings in themselves can't do anything, only when you choose to react in specific ways do they. Choose not to react to them.

In acting they teach actors and actresses to channel their fear. It's not that that many don't have it, but it's how they have learned to handle it. Many who perform live or speak in from of large groups are nervous every time before they do. But rather than letting this stop them they are able to channel the energy in the fear towards what they are doing. This actually transfers that heightened energy you notice with fear thoughts into their performance or presentation. Have you ever noticed that some performers seem to have a different 'personality' off stage than they do when they are performing? Many are quiet and reserved when talked to away from a performance, but when on stage they come alive with energy and boldness. I wonder where that comes from -re-directed fear perhaps.

Everyone has the ability to do this, to transfer that energy attached to fear thoughts onto something else, like what it is you want to do but feel afraid to. It's really a matter of perspective, yes, how you look at something and how you interpret it determines what you will do with it. Have you noticed how that when you have chosen to do something you feared you did it with a higher energy level than you normally operate with? This is that energy re-directed to something of your choice, which better supports what you want.

In fact sometimes your energy is so high, in a calm way that you are 'in the zone' able to do what you are doing without much conscious thought. This is how powerful it can be to channel your fear associated energy onto the task at hand particularly if you are prepared to do it. As you may have found, even being prepared for something still does not prevent you from feeling fearful about actually doing it, but preparation does make it flow better once you get yourself to go.

Don't allow your fears to slow or prevent your progression in life, choose to change the way you look at them so your personal dreams can be expressed fully. When you feel the fear and do it anyway, you choose to let it be and proceed as planned, and channel the fear energy into your planned actions to enhance your performance. As you do this, like with anything, over time it will get easier and easier. You will be actually re-training your unconscious thought patterns to automatically behave differently, to do it the way you want it done. Dropping the emotional reaction to logical thoughts can allow you to address them and move on. Once you have checked your hair, it's good -stop dwelling about it.

Remember that you have command of your thinking not the other way around. It may seem that your thoughts and feelings run the show, but this is just because of the default programming that had been allowed to become established as you were developing. At the time you did not know any better or different so as to guide this development differently. But now you can change your perceptions of everything in your life, you can alter how you interpret everything that you see, and you can adjust your reactions to these as well which in turn changes your behavior. Choose what best supports; the life you want, what you want to do and how you want to feel.

John Halderman

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By John Halderman, 3 months and 27 days ago

Are You Done In Life?

Are you a done with yourself or are you continuing to discover more about yourself, seek personal growth and development?

You see it all around how science keeps going, discovering more and more about the world and universe we exist in. As technology improves, which is change, science is able to understand more about our universe plus obtain more ways to describe it all. For example, this picture of anasa cassiopeia supernova remnant was not possible just a few years ago even though the object was there.

This is how life is, ever expanding in its awareness of itself. Plus, the increasing awareness of humans to what is already there. Much of the change seems to not exist or that the change is very slow, but it is there. Everything in the universe grows and changes we are certainly not excluded. We have the ability to continue to change and grow throughout our entire life, including our final change here, death.

But at the same time there are so many people who are ‘checking out’ so early. Getting tired, feeling aches and pain, feeling beat down - telling themselves they are wearing out -that it’s too late. I’m not trying to tell you that pains should be ignored, but how you look at them can have a huge affect on the power they play in your life.

The biggest factor to your growth is your thinking. What you think about your life and your growth determines what you see, feel and do. If you see possibilities - you will see them, and if you see the ‘end’ in your mind, you will see it in your life. If you think you are too tired, sick or whatever - you are.

Time to check yourself:

· How are you the same today as you were 10 years ago?
· How are you different?
· What are you doing that you thought were not possible for you a few
years ago?
· Do you look at things in the same way you did several years ago?
· Do you see possibilities for your life or feel hopeless?
· Do you feel that your life continues to move on or do you feel stuck?
· Are you open to new ideas and concepts or do you want to keep things
the way they are?
· Do you feel your problems hold you back, sap your energy and nix your
motivation?
· Are your dreams alive or have you given up on what you want in your
life?

Can you change any of this? Well yes you can - much of it. Many times we let one thing affect all of our life. We allow our attitude and outlook to be clouded when one thing has happened when we don’t need to. Certainly there are situations where something may temporarily set you back but it does not need to be for all time. Only you can determine if you are temporarily off or if it has been too long. You will need to ask yourself honest straight questions about it. The easy answer is of course, “I will just suffer a little longer” but maybe not the best!

The truth is that a broken foot does not come with a bad attitude, that’s our choice. A marital separation does not come with resentment that carries through all of your life, that’s our choice. Because something did not work out for us does not mean nothing ever will, that’s our choice to think so. The thing to be careful for is that when something that appears negative happens don’t allow it to affect all of your life any more than is necessary.

Ask yourself some key questions that help enhance your self awareness so you discover how you think and feel about everything. There is always more out there for you if you allow it and if you are open to recognize it. When you are clouded by negative reactions it may not seem so, but you can always change and grow. Your outlook on life is a choice - yours. You are never done, unless you choose.

John Halderman - More on daily life actions to support a better life,
http://www.effectivepersonaldevelopmentblog.com

By John Halderman, 3 months and 28 days ago

Your Brain Stores Memories and Recalls With The Same Neurons

A recent study has proven that your brain uses the same neurons when you recall a memory as it did when you initially had the experience. This has been thought to be the case for some time but the study now shows scientific proof. This is good news for your personal growth and development.

For the brain, remembering is a lot like doing. This is powerful! When you realize this is how the brain works, you can use this knowledge to your advantage. It has been believed that your brain does not know thebrain neuron image difference between an actual occurrence, a memory or specific thought about a possibility.

In this new study conducted by a team of American and Israeli researchers, they were able to pinpoint the location of mini-storms of brain activity that occurred with the initial action as well as the later recall of it. They were able to show that both occurred in the same brain cells concentrated around the hippocampus region of the
brain.

It has been found in other research that the brain does not really know the difference between an imagined action, a real one or the memory of either. Similar to how you can affect your body and mind from input to one or the other. It has been commonly known that you can train your body to do specific motions through your thoughts, and it has been shown that you can affect your thought by specific physical movement of you body. In other words, an athlete can train their mind to control the body by physically doing an activity in exactly the way you want and the brain will learn how this is done.

All of this continues to build support for how you can direct your thoughts and actions through visualization and affirmation. There is now more proof that the memory of and the actual occurrence of something are no different in your mind. This leads to your being able to pre-program your mind to ‘know’ specific things without them actually happening yet. Your brain will allow you to do something, which it knows, easier than an unknown.

When you create a powerful vivid imagined scenario in your mind, backed by appropriate emotions, you can program your mind much like it has actually occurred. Your mind likes to do what it is familiar with, so if brain energy image you create this familiarity with clear emotionally backed thought your brain acts as though it has happened. It is easier to do again what you are familiar with. There is a natural hesitation to what your brain does not know, so make it known and familiar through your imagination.

Familiarizing your brain with what you want through emotion backed visualization and affirmations acts to program it for desirable situations making them easier to do again and again. Also your unconscious mind and inner self attempt to support and assist the thoughts you hold. Just like the more you physically practice a sports technique the more your mind helps you fulfill the desire, your mind will attempt to help fulfill thoughts of any clear desires.

Learning how your brain works helps you to understand how you can use it to your advantage. After all, it will be doing these things anyway, why not direct them to your wants and needs? Use tools such as affirmations, visualization, treasure maps, writing your story, act as though, or anything that can help familiarize your mind with what you want. Remember, use thoughts of what you DO want, not what you don’t want or like. Your mind will act to support whatever you think about with emotion and clarity - good or bad!

John Halderman, for more daily growth and self discovery tools and methods - http://www.effectivepersonaldevelopmentblog.com

By John Halderman, 3 months and 28 days ago

Life Distractions

What keeps us from doing all that we want? Many say that personal growth and development and self awareness are our number one priorities in life, yet most spend very little time and attention towards this end. Some people do not realize how important it is to continually grow, in fact they may not even realize they can. Many people know that they can continue to grow, develop and become more self aware, but they don’t do much about it.

And then there are those few that seem to be able to actively keep moving forward on their life path. Why? They allow their thinking to focus on their enlightenment, on how they think and act on a regular basis, not just once in a while. They are able to let their mind calm down and get quiet, allowing the chatter to fade away. They are willing to allow their fears, doubts and worries to be present in their thought, knowing that these thoughts can’t actually harm them - knowing that avoidance just postpones not
eliminate.

There are different reasons why we all don’t actively participate in our own personal enlightenment, but one of the main reasons is due to distraction. The human mind can actually do only one thing at a time, those of you that think otherwise are just good at rapidly switching from one focus to another. So what we choose to think about determines much of our life experience. In relation to distraction, when we think about is something that helps us feel comfortable or think we should be doing because of our life responsibilities we are not focusing on growth and self realization.

Now I’m not here to tell you what is and is not important in your physical life, but I know that you need to apply some of your time and attention to your inner growth which includes how you think and act. So what keeps you from doing this you may not even be aware of. Since it is normal for humans to seek happiness, which we equate to comfort, we tend to avoid uncomfortable thinking and feelings. And we do this in many ways, some are our daily activities. We may not be aware of how our daily activities can be getting the way of our growth and self-realization

Things you may do to avoid discomfort:

Listening to music
Listening to talk radio
Watching TV
Playing video games
Reading
Games
Hobbies
Cleaning
Tinkering
Socializing
Hold on! You say, “these are normal things.”

Yes they are, but they can all be used as a distraction. And only you can know what role they play in your life. Like anything, moderation is usually the best.

There are two situations you may be avoiding.

1)If you tend to go to any activity when you feel uncomfortable, you are probably escaping. Sure you will feel better doing something you are familiar with, but this behavior can just postpone what you are avoiding or even make it worse. What I’m referring to here relates to more discomfort than simple relaxation and enjoyment.

2)One of the biggest things you may be doing without knowing it is avoiding real thinking. This is when you are uncomfortable with allowing your mind to run through the incessant mind chatter, which shakes your worries and doubts in your face, to the point where your mind is clear.

Life requires balance, and what I have found is that for most, any self-growth is pushed into a small corner receiving only spare time attention - sometimes. Are you running in circles doing the same things each day and not seeing any change? Are you frustrated with your life? There could be an initial feeling of discomfort when you choose to allow yourself to think freely and not choose a distraction, but this will pass. Using methods of relaxation and meditation will help.

If you want more for yourself take a look at what you do and why you do it. Take a look at what you do everyday towards your own personal growth and development, to what you are doing towards self-realization. Only you can know if you are using activities to avoid something that is actually more important. Choose to set aside time to just relax and think - this is how you can get in touch with your inner self on a more regular basis.

The choice of how you spend your time is yours and the result is your life experience.

John Halderman,
Tips and tools for daily personal growth, increased happiness and
self-discovery. http://www.effectivepersonaldevelopmentblog.com