Six Ways to Practice Gratitude for the Sake of Your Mental Health

Mental health is a matter of creating a good relationship between the brain and the body.  When this relationship is out of whack, we think are losing it or simply unable to cope - it just gets to be too much!  Somewhere, somehow along the line the brain and the body started mixing up signals and mis-communicating and now the patterns of thinking and reacting are very unpleasant.  Time to fix that brain-body relationship!

There are a few ways that we can improve our mental health by simply retraining the brain and the nervous system.  I use 6 methods in my yoga classes to improve mental health.  However, just coming to class isn't enough to retrain the brain and nervous system.  So, the following 6 skills are for practicing at home.  Everyday, and even throughout the day, practice is what brings the brain and body together.  Practice each of these every day for the next week and beyond.

1) Cognitive Behavior Therapy:  The more you think a certain way or about certain topics, the better your brain gets at this way of thinking.  I like to think of it as super highways and rustic roads.  If you spend a great deal of time thinking in a certain way, it becomes an automatic super highway. We are really good at thinking about and noticing what is going wrong in our days, what is not going well in life in general, and how the people in our lives could and should behave differently.  These thought patterns, for most of us, are on the super highway.  What we want to change to is making gratitude a super highway thinking pattern.  Everyday, throughout the day, find things to be grateful for.  Write them down, you can.


2)  Power pose:  Research has shown that practicing a stance similar to the super-heroes' such as Superman or Wonder Woman increases confidence.  In order to find strength in gratitude, practice a Warrior 1 Pose with arms behind the back to feel powerful and open the heart to gratitude at the same time.


3)  Relaxation:  This is a double whammy against stress and anxiety, because we are working with both body awareness and mental awareness in an attempt to retrain the system as a whole.  Lie comfortably and still and take your awareness slowly through each area of the body, relaxing and at the same time, feeling grateful for that body area.  For example, relax your feet, then feel grateful for you feet.  Sound weird?  Maybe, but let's not take those feet for granted!  And, I bet you are more than capable of complaining about your feet when they hurt!  By the way, your mind will think of a million other things during this exercise - stick with it!

4)  Meditation:  Speaking of the mind thinking of a million other things...that is exactly what happens during meditation.  But, every time it wanders and you bring it back, it is like a bicep curl, strengthening your ability to control your mind.  For this meditation, create a mindset of gratitude.  Then, let the gratitude become a feeling that you allow to permeate your entire body - thinking and feeling gratitude all over.  Stay for 1 minute or 2 or 5 or 10 or 20.  Whatever you can stick with and make happen every day.

5)  Breathing:  The number 1, easiest method for getting the mind and the body to work together is the breath.  You can do it anytime, anywhere and no one needs to know.  In this case, however, lie down on something like the image shows - a pillow or rolled blanket or yoga bolster.  Legs can be bent or straight.  In this position, we have a full open space for the breath and we are encouraging even bigger space by stretching the breathing muscles.  Breathe full deep breaths in and out and at the same time, feel as if gratitude were gaining in power and radiating from the chest (the heart center) outward into the space around you and beyond.

6)  Chant or sing or laugh:  These 3 practices open the blood vessels with oxytocin.  Chant the word YAM which is pronounced Yang.  Place your hand on your heart and chant the word a few times in a low note, so you feel your chest vibrating under your hand.

Now, you have your practice for the week!  Take time to do something or everything on this list every day.  The more you practice, the more your brain and body will want more!

Contact me with questions or for more information and assistance at tammysytsma@circleofstoneswellness.com

Lead Yourself Toward a Great Life Just by the Focus of Your Thoughts - 5 Practices to Get You Started 

~Tammy Sytsma, Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Yoga Therapist





Practice makes perfect right?  When it comes to the brain, yes!  Of course, the brain is more complicated than that. But, one immensely powerful way to change the direction of your thoughts is through practice.  To some extent, the brain is like a computer - what you put in, you get back out.  And, the more you put it in, the better the brain gets at spitting it back out.  So much so, that some thoughts and behaviors occur unconsciously based on this input.

This is a good thing in most cases.  Example, a toddler learning to get the spoon in his mouth.  There comes a time when this needs to be something effortless, involving very little conscious thought or eating with a spoon will be too complicated a task.  Let's grow up a little bit and consider learning to drive.  Even getting the key in the ignition needs to be a conscious process of thinking and remembering, not to mention which foot goes with which pedal and the myriad other little tasks and thought processes that keep us on the road.  We experience this in a small way when we drive a rental or another person's car.  Where's the switch for the turn signal?!

So, now that you know why focus matters, here's what to do, so the great life you want is part of this automatic thinking process:

1. Start your day in a positive direction- While still lying in bed think of all the things you are looking forward to in the day.  If that is hard, then think of one thing - goal is to raise that number gradually.

2. Play music or audio with a positive message- Getting breakfast ready with some music in the background that makes you happy or driving to the office with an audio book or podcast that contains positive information or encouraging messages will get your external environment to support this internal change.

3. Avoid the gossips and complainers- The only reason we gossip or talk about others or complain about situations is to boost our own sense of self.  Problem is, it is also causing you to focus on what is flawed in yourself or your work. You will get back to your desk and make sure to hide any mistakes and shortcomings that might fuel the gossips.  Stay away from this behavior and instead find positives about the people you work with and your work situation.

4. Look for proof of what is right, not just what is wrong- The brain is evolutionarily set up to pay attention more closely to what is wrong in the environment.  Our ancestors did not live as safely as we do - they had nature, insects, wild animals, and dangerous neighbors to contend with on a daily basis.  Daily survival meant paying attention!  We still have that brain, but no longer have that kind or quantity of dangers to attend to, so we tend toward seeing stressors much more easily.  Instead, look around and notice what is positive in your environment.  Look inside and notice what is positive internally.

5. Practice gratitude- At the end of the day, review your day and list what you are grateful for or whatever went well in the day.  Look for what you enjoyed - a smile, a laugh, a flower, the weather -the small and the large and everything in between.

A positive and encouraging focus will rewire your brain toward what you are trying to accomplish and build a foundation that is solidly motivating and helpful to who you want to become and what you want to create!

Stress Relief is Yours!

Stress gets a lot of air time, TV time, and print space these days.  Mostly we're discussing ways to relieve stress:  take some yoga classes, go for a walk, learn to meditate, take time for yourself...... YES, do all of those things!  But, that is not what this is about.  Today I am writing with the theory that most of our stress is self-made.  Yup, you are the cause of your own stress.  Doesn't mean stressful things aren't happening.  They are.  But, most of the stress I hear about in my office and in my classes is self-made.  Here's how:

1. We are too hard on ourselves.  The high expectations we have for ourselves are unreachable.  When I ask a client with something I consider to be too high an expectation I ask, "Do you expect that same behavior from your daughter?  Your friend?  Your partner?"  The answer is almost always "No, but...." and then I get a long circular, almost makes no sense story and rationale for the high expectation.  Then, the beating begins.  People with these too high expectations beat themselves up with so much judgment and criticism, it is impossible to imagine success ever being possible.

I also see a lot of perfectionism.  Perfectionists also create high expectations, but they go a bit further.  Mistakes are not allowed.  Stupidity (we all do it!) is not allowed.  Being human is not allowed.  So, when a mistake is made, something stupid is done, or their humanity shows through, perfectionists get so fraught with worry and rumination (think hamster wheel of the same thoughts "what if....., "I should have...." "what can I do to fix it?") that really getting things well done and solving problems with creativity and insight is all but impossible.  Anxiety over lack of perfection limits our brain capacity to open up to great solutions.  Ask yourself, "Did I do everything I could have to fix this?"  "Did I apologize, if needed?"  "Did I put something in place to make sure it doesn't happen again?"  Then. let it go...

The constant tape recordings of criticism and judgement that we allow to play and replay in our minds are just not necessary and totally NOT helping.  Not just perfectionists and those with high expectations have these recordings.  Many of us do and the recordings limit us severely from moving forward and creating successful personal and professional lives.  Turn those critical recordings off!  Just like that annoying song that played on the alarm clock radio and won't leave your head, replace it with something better.  The energy to make change in one's life comes from encouraging comments.  Not sugar-coated and syrupy, but real encouragement.  When the critic has a voice in your head, counter it with encouragement.

2.  We worry too much.  Thinking about something over and over does not solve it.  You know how you suddenly think of where you left your keys while in the shower?  This is what I am talking about.  Letting the mind move elsewhere allows different possibilities and connections and therefore, different solutions, ideas, and concepts.  Get away from that continual worry.  Let it go for a while.  Give it a break.  Do something enjoyable for an hour and see where the worry goes from there.  I bet it finds new territory toward a solution or loses significance to the point where you wonder why you worried so much.  Allow a little room for faith and trust.  You, god, nature, the universe, somebody will come through.....

3.  We deny our feelings.  Now, I am not talking about walking around blubbering and sad when sad, although if you want to express yourself this way, do it.  What I hear most is something like, "I shouldn't still feel this way."  Or, "People have it worse than me.  Why am I letting myself feel this miserable?"  Truth is, you do.  Denying it, saying you shouldn't feel it, doesn't change the feeling.  You have to change the feeling.  Stop spending time on what you shouldn't be feeling and accept the feeling. Let yourself feel it. Then, figure out what to do with it.  Maybe forgiveness?  Maybe expression?  Maybe lots of options will help.  See someone or talk to a friend and get an outside yourself suggestion or two.

4.  We think it is about us, waaaaay more often than it is.  People take a lot of things, things that have nothing to do with them, personally.  Most people outside of you are behaving not because of something you did or said, but because of something to do with themselves and their situation.  In addition, we want people to behave the way "they should" behave.  I spend a lot of time in my office listening to what my clients think others should be doing.  Since those others aren't there, it's obvious this isn't going anywhere.  Expecting others to do what they should (according to us) or spending time thinking about how another's behavior is caused by you in some way is just like beating your head up against a wall.  No good can come of it.  Let it go.  Yes, maybe they should.  Yes, maybe they did react to your behavior directly, but the reality is that most of the time, most of the people are running on what's inside of them and you, have no control over that.

5.  Speaking of control.....we need to stop.  There are things in life we can control, but there are many more we can not.  Let go of getting angry, upset, frustrated by what you can not control.  Example, you can not control rush hour traffic.  So, stop getting stressed out about it.  Find a workable solution.  There are lots of ways to accept what is and make it more enjoyable.  Let go of what you can not control.

6.  We spend way too much time on what sucks and not enough time on what's great.  Easy solution here is to be grateful.  Be grateful for every small aspect of your life that is OK, then build from there.  You don't make life better by focusing on what sucks.  You make it better by focusing and building on what is OK, great, fun, enjoyable, etc.  Build on the positive.  Or, you'll get better at the negative.

There is a whole lot of stress out there that doesn't need to exist at all.  You made it, you can unmake it!

Be SMART When Setting Goals

Springtime often brings goals for losing weight, eating healthier, getting in shape for summer sports and activities....etc.  But, we are not always very successful with our goals and we are rarely successful at maintaining them.  Why?  There is something missing from our understanding of how the brain works, I believe.  So, even though we can make some changes, we often go back to old ways.  This isn't about willpower, this is about being SMART.

SMART is a pretty well known acronym to help set a format for goal setting. S is for Specific. M is for Measurable. A is for Attainable. R is for Relevant. T is for Time.  Let's take each one individually and do this right!

Be SPECIFIC.  Usually, we have a pretty good handle on where we are - for example, I can run 1 mile, I am 40 pounds over weight, I have $330 in savings.  We also have a good handle on what we want - I want to run 26.2 miles, I want to weigh 135 pounds, I want to have $950 in savings for my trip.  What is lacking and really important are the steps in between.  This is the part that needs to be specific.  It is also the part that teaches us and our brains the process of being successful.  The step by step process toward the goal acclimates the brain toward change and eases the body and mind in the direction of change.

It is important to focus less on the ultimate goal and more on the next specific step in the process toward the goal.  Using the goal - maybe an image on your mirror as a motivator can help fire up the emotions, but long term changes come from the step by step process on the way to the goal.  Here's how:  set specific weekly actions that are completely do-able, but ease you in the right direction.  Say going up 1/2 mile each week, losing 1 lb. per week, putting aside $10 each week.  Get specific about where that $10 is coming form, about how to decrease calories consumed or increase calories used, etc.

Make the goals MEASURABLE.  There has to be a way for you to show your brain you are there.  A way to celebrate and pat yourself on the back with each small step you make toward your goal.  The brain is firmly set in wanting to stay as things were.  It needs you to show it with each step in the right direction that this is it!  This is going to be great!  We need to keep going and never look back!  With each measurable step, celebrate, make a big deal of your success, stimulate that reward center with something that lets the brain begin to connect to this goal.

Make your goal ATTAINABLE.  The small steps along the way are going to help.  Be real here.  It is silly to force yourself on a journey toward a goal that doesn't serve your life in a positive way.  Don't set yourself up for failure.  If setting aside $50 a week makes you feel like you have to give too much up, you will fight your own goal.  If you ask your body to exercise too much, you will get injured and feel miserable.  Set yourself up for success!

Make sure the goal is RELEVANT.  A good example of a non-relevant goal is going on a quick fix diet.  If the diet is not sustainable, why bother?  A sustainable diet is one you can stay on FOREVER and maintain the healthy weight.  A relevant fitness goal sets you up for an event, yes, but then also sets you up for a healthy fitness lifestyle after the event.  The event is no longer the motivation, feeling great physically is.  Relevancy also helps the brain make connections that make the whole process easier, no matter what your goal.  The brain gets better through practice.  It also gets better when it can take something new and make it fit in with something old.  Making connections creates a higher level of success.

Be TIME-specific.  It is great to set this up with weekly achievements which then lead to monthly achievements which then lead to longer term goals!  Where will you be at each time juncture?  Now, one problem with time specifics is what happens when your goal at a certain date and time does happen?  Maybe there was an emergency fix needed on the car and you had to dip into the savings?  Or, an injury prevents certain training goals?  Then, reset.  Don't give up!  Life is not a perfect linear march to success.  When it becomes necessary to say, uh oh this is not possible as planned, then reset your time goals and get back on track.

Sometimes it is helpful to get some objective assistance and motivation for goal-setting.  Find yourself some support, someone to help with your plan, someone to help you celebrate, cheer you on.  Make this fun.  If it is torture and drudgery, it is only a temporary quick fix.  Long term goals require a good plan, steady, progress, rewards and fun!

Making stress my friend?!

I saw a TEDtalk from Kelly McGonigal and it is really making me think.  Watch the video.  It is 14 minutes long.  What she is saying is that we can use stress to our best advantage health-wise, just by changing our beliefs about stress itself.  I have seen beliefs make huge changes in people mental health-wise, but can beliefs change us physically as well?

Let's look at one study published in the European Heart Journal.  Just over 7,000 people were followed for 18 years and asked about their perceptions on stress.  Then, researchers looked at the participants' risk of cardiac disease and death.  Those that believed that stress has affected their health "a lot or extremely" were more likely to die of a heart attack.  Risk of heart attack, in fact, doubled.  This was found independent of other biological risk factors. Researchers stated that "people's perceptions about the impact of stress on their health are likely to be correct."  In other words, if you believe stress is harmful, it will be!  Read more on this study here.

Another study, the one that Kelly McGonigal is referring to, was published in Health Psychology and tracked 30,000 participants for 8 years.  Researchers concluded that people who have high incidences of stress and believe that stress is harmful have higher risks of dying prematurely.  How much higher?  43%!

Participants were surveyed yearly on how much stress they experienced over the past year.  They were then asked how much they believe the stress effected their health.  Participants were asked whether they attempted to cope with the stress in some way.  They were asked about their physical health over the past year as well as their mental health.  Ultimately, the self-report of physical health was merely about perception.  The real data marker researchers used was simply public death records - mortality.

Participants who reported stress, also reported poor health and psychological distress.  However, participants who reported they made attempts to cope with stress, were less likely to report poor physical health.  Might be that if we perceive we can cope with stress, we have fewer health effects.

Now, let's look at mortality.  It is important to note that just looking at stress levels did not predict mortality.  Nor, did just looking at one's belief that stress is harmful.  It is the two together that predict that 43% higher rate of premature death.  If one has a lot of stress and believes that stress is harmful, then premature death is more likely.  Read the study here.

This is not a causal relationship, so far.  This type of study can not ascertain cause.  But, it does indicate a very close relationship.  Because the relationship is within your control, why not make some changes?  Researchers theorize that what has been studied in psychology for years is likely present here as well.  People who expect negative things to happen to them, see negative things happening all the time.  It is hard to see the positive in life for these people.  They are likely to see their health as poor, their stress as too high, and their ability to cope as useless.   It's that old self-fulfilling prophecy thing.

In addition, there is resiliency or the ability to cope and overcome.  Might be that seeing stress as something one can overcome makes it less, well, stressful.  A biggie in the mental health field and in education is locus of control.  If I see events not as things that continually happen to me, coming at me from the outside world with me having no ability to control, I am much more able to cope and much more likely to see life optimistically.  However, having an external locus of control, causes people to see life pessimistically.  Negative events just keep happening and I am the victim.  Pretty stressful way to see life right?

Let's look at the stress response briefly.  The system is flooded with stress hormones.  We think all of these hormones are bad for us.  Truth is, it is more complicated than that.  Any feeling we have, is actually a complicated cocktail of hormones.  So, those "good" hormones can be present in bad feelings and "bad" hormones can be present in good feelings.  Example, oxytocin.  Oxytocin is considered a "good" hormone.  It makes us feel loving.  It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  However, it is released when stress is present.  You can learn more about that by watching Kelly's TEDtalk.  Others present will be adrenaline, cortisol, epinephrine, etc.  Ok, back to the stress response.  Once the stressful event is over, all of this goes away and a different dose of hormones is present.

Here's where I see and I interpret the information and research differently from Kelly McGonigal.  She says we only need to change our beliefs about stress.  Make stress your friend.  I say there is a two-pronged strategy to take. Change your beliefs and get better at coping.

Let's look at the person who is optimistic, who feels s/he can cope, who is resilient and knows the stressful event will end.  This person's stress response will end appropriately once coping mechanisms are in place and positive belief systems take over.  The person who is pessimistic, has poor coping skills, and feels a victim to stressful life events will not be able to turn off the stress response.  A constant exposure to the stress hormone cocktail is deleterious to physical health.  Eventually, this will cause health issues - poor heart health, weak immune response, digestive problems and more.  Not only that, why bother with healthy choices?  Why eat well?  Why exercise?  We're all gonna die anyway, right?  So, what we each need is to be able to cope better and we need to believe we can overcome stress successfully.

We need an arsenal of coping mechanisms for stress.  I am not going to address these here, because I covered what you can do to take control of the stress response in my August blog.  Read it and make yourself a "tool belt" of coping skills.

We also need to address our belief systems - believing stress is harmful, seems to make it more harmful.  If you don't yet believe what I've shared here, educate yourself on this research.  Educate yourself on how the brain works.  Start creating optimism.  If you complain, stop complaining.  Place a bracelet/rubber band on your wrist for every complaint.  Eventually, train yourself to get to a day that is complaint free.  Create affirmations:  "I believe, I can cope."  "My body is strong and healthy and can handle this stress."  "I can get through this.  I am strong."  You get the idea, right? When you think negative thoughts, change them to positive thoughts. Try gratitude.  This is a great way to become more optimistic, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to have some faith.  Focus on what is positive and present each day - from the tiniest things, to the big things, to things normally taken for granted, to the obvious.  There are gratitude programs available online.  There are books on gratitude.  Plenty of resources out there.  This isn't about losing touch with reality.  Reality is positive as well as negative.  We only have so much attention - how about more of the attention going in a positive direction and less going in the negative direction, for the sake of good health?

If having large amounts of stress and believing stress is harmful have such a strong unhealthy relationship, it is time to take your mental and physical health under your control.  Stress will happen.  It will likely happen today and probably tomorrow.  Saying big deal, I can handle it and then doing so reduces negative health effects.  Learn to deal and learn to believe!

Multi-Vitamin Reports and Studies are Multi-Limited

I don't know who I should be frustrated with - the authors of these recent multi-vitamin studies or the media reporting.  Maybe both.  I am not saying we should or we shouldn't take vitamins.  I just would like the information to be clear, fair, and balanced.  In this case, with both studies, the reports are none of the above.  Not only that, but the study printed in the Annals of Internal Medicine is titled: "Enough is Enough:  Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements."  Wow!  That is a pretty extreme title.  The research they gathered must be strong!  Not so.

First off, the studies are focused on multi-vitamins.  A multi-vitamin is a very different kind of vitamin and/or mineral than taking specific vitamins, minerals, and supplements on their own.  For example, it is not necessary for anyone to take iron, a mineral, unless specifically diagnosed as deficient.  So, a multi-vitamin might provide what is NOT needed and could actually be more harm than good.  Same is true with beta-carotenes found in some multi-vitamins.  That is a waste of money.

Typically, those of us diagnosed as deficient in any area - calcium, Vitamin D, iron, etc. are prescribed or told to take that supplement alone with a certain measurement of IUs  (International Units) or grams (g. or milli- mg, etc.).  Try to find that measure in a multi-vitamin and you could be short-changed.  Best to buy what you need in it's pure form, void of other vitamins and minerals. In addition, as the studies do indicate, we can metabolize only certain amounts of substances in a particular amount of time.  The rest, well, it gets literally flushed.  So, buying smaller amounts of exactly what you need and taking twice a day will allow the body to get what it needs and stop you from flushing away your money.

You can do the math on this.  Many authors write about how many mgs or IUs the body can handle and how much to take at any one time.  Creating a blanket statement of waste is just short-changing the public's ability to handle good information.  It is true, however, that the general amounts allocated in a multi-vitamin are going to create waste.  Some vitamins and minerals are water soluble - they come out in the urine, if not absorbed and used.  Others are fat soluble and can become toxic in the wrong dosage.  Multi-vitamins make this tricky, because everything is lumped together in one pill.  So, it might be that taking things separately, as needed, in amounts that work for your size and lifestyle, is the best bet for the money.

The reason I would not take a multi once I reached adulthood (I did love those Flintstones vitamins as a kid), is that I knew some did not get along well and others get along really well.  For example, take iron with vitamin C helps make them available to the system.  Don't take Vitamin C with zinc, etc.  What's right and what's wrong?  What goes together and what doesn't?  I just decided to do my research, look at what might be deficient in my diet or during particular times of the year, what I'd like to increase and take those individual vitamins and minerals with some intentionality.  It is clearly more complicated than just wadding all the vitamins and minerals up into one and taking that horse pill each and every morning.

How can these researchers say with clarity that all supplementation is a waste of money when the studies were based on one vitamin brand and only a multi-vitamin?  Some argue that the brand was a low-potency brand and the results wouldn't be strong with such a poor quality multi-vitamin.  In addition, there are multiple studies that show specific vitamins are beneficial.  The vitamins B-12 and B-6 are shown to be beneficial, but in this multi-vitamin there wasn't the same beneficial amount as in previous studies.  Other studies show vitamin E is beneficial - in its gamma tocopheral format.  Well, a multi-vitamin can't hold gamma tocopheral well, so the vitamin usually contains alpha tocopheral which is not beneficial to cardiovascular health.  This is complicated!  Making a big statement like that title - Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements, is just plain irresponsible.

The second problem I have with the studies is they are reporting and studying disease prevention rather than healthy lifestyle.  Most people taking vitamins and minerals hope there is some preventative benefit in the long term, but in the short term they are doing something healthy for themselves. Making life -body and mind - better.  Do vitamin and mineral supplements make life on an everyday basis better?  Do we have more energy?  Do we feel happier?  I don't want to live a life where all I do is prevent disease.  I want to live a life that is active and happy, a life in which everyday is enjoyable.  It's not all about disease - it might be that vitamins and minerals make life better!  Where's that study?  Did researchers include that in their I am wasting money assumption?

My biggest peeve about the reports is that no one is saying that the first study was done only on men.  It was!  I thought we were past this ridiculousness in the medical field when we discovered that women have very different kinds of heart disease, stroke and age-related decline than men do, so we'd better start doing studies on both sexes in order to have good information.  I don't know if this is good information for me, because I am a woman and the study was done only with men.  Not to mention the men were older - they were taking Centrum Silver.  May or may not be applicable to for sure 53% of the population, not to mention all those under 50, male or female.

Finally, the studies were only  about cognitive decline (the first one reported which was the all-male study) and heart disease (the second, with unknown percentages of males to females and age levels on this one).  What if mult-vitamins are good for cancer prevention?  Awwwww shucks, we threw them all out, because you told us to!  Classic throw the baby out with the bath water!

Here's the best true statement that can be made, in my opinion: If you are taking your multi-vitamin only to prevent cognitive decline and you are male and around 50 or older, then ok, throw it out.  If you are taking your multi-vitamin to prevent heart disease alone, then you might be on the right track in chucking your multi as well, it might not be doing much good.  However, there was NO evidence that it was doing harm.  In fact there was insignificant evidence that small improvements were present.  For everybody else, the evidence is just not there....yet.  Educate yourself, make decisions based on you as an individual, your health history, your family's health history, and your current lifestyle (which includes what you eat and drink).  This is up to you.  Research is biased and the media just up for a good hype on a very extreme title to a very poorly executed study and research article.

I, personally, change my supplementation periodically.  I take B-12 regularly, because I am vegetarian and nearly vegan.  I take Omega-3 supplements sometimes, but not regularly.  In the winter, I take some zinc, vitamin D and magnesium for the immune system and the lack of sun exposure.  I look at my lifestyle, my needs, my current health, my age, all of it.  Sometimes, a lot of the time, I take no supplements. I don't need them or I can't afford them.  All of this is important, so please educate yourself and take yourself into account, then do what's best for you.

Harvest Time

It's the harvest moon, so named for it's temporal location on the calendar - when the harvest in many areas is most plentiful.  Brings the Neil Young song, Harvest Moon, to mind.....  I digress.  Yes, there are plenty of local harvested delights available now.  Maybe some from your own garden?  We all understand the process, in spring or late winter, we plant a seed or a root or a seedling. We then tend it all spring and summer with watering, weeding, and fertilizing.  There will, after an appropriate time for this plant, be fruit - perhaps the true fruit of the tomato, maybe the root of a carrot, the seed pods of the string bean, or the leaves of the kale plant.  What we sow, we reap, as the old saying goes.

But this progression also plays out throughout life.  When I began my days in the mental health profession, I worked exclusively with women.  Women who were addicted to substances, diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder or other anxiety/depressive disorders, and mandated to be in treatment for these conditions.  Not a great scenario for success.  After my 3rd year or so, I found myself disheartened as I saw women returning who had previously completed or quit treatment.  It was a cycle with very few actually getting themselves out.  I still can count on my 2 hands the number of women who went through that program in 8 years and did so successfully.  The rest are still struggling and some are gone from this earth.

Geez, I began to think, how do I continue to have any motivation or hope for what I am trying to help these women do?  At that same time, I saw something and I read something, can't tell you what either was, because I don't remember, but I know they both sent the message - plant the seeds, water, fertilize, do what you can to tend, but that is the extent of my responsibility.  All I can do for others is tend to what is positive and healthy in their gardens and stop tending to the negative.  The true work of the garden within is then theirs to do.

For one's self the analogy plays out well and is now backed up by science.  Neuro-science is now proving that what you tend in the garden of your mind gets stronger and grows.  This means that what you spend time on is what your brain becomes best at doing.  Spend time complaining?  The brain gets good at complaining.  Spend time practicing the piano?  The brain gets better and better.  Spend time looking around at the greatness and wonder of life?  The brain sees more and more of that.  What we sow, what we tend, we reap.

Start paying attention to what you are planting in your life.  If you want happiness, stop looking for all that sucks in the world, stop complaining, stop playing the victim and start looking for happiness, start feeling grateful for small things, start being a survivor.  If you want peace, cultivate peace through meditation or prayer.  Decide what it is you want to harvest, plant it, and tend it.  Catch yourself tending the weeds and the poisonous plants and stop.  This might take some time.  It's a habit the brain has grown used to.  We might unconsciously find ourselves out there in the weed patch and need to pull back.  Every time you switch from behaviors and thoughts you don't want to those you do want, you are tending your new garden and in time, it will grow stronger and you will reap your intended harvest.

Happy harvest!