Just like running exhausts our muscles, focused attention many days in a row can make decision-making hard and willpower beyond low. What you need is to give your brain a rest from effortful concentration and stress without becoming bored. There are many ways to approach this, such as engaging in hobbies. Yet, according to science, the best way to rest your brain is to spend time in nature.

Effortful concentration can exhaust our brains

When we spend time in nature, there is always something fascinating and beautiful for our attention to move toward, but nothing that demands our full focus. This state of meandering that can revive an exhausted brain is known as soft fascination. Recent research found that walking through a local park or spending some time observing a stream physically quiets the brain.

Soft fascination

Everything You Need to Start, Run and Grow Your Business in Africa

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

mindfulness

Mindfulness

entertainment

Entertainment

The Science of How to Use Nature to Reboot Your Exhausted Brain

Naming hopelessness is the first step to our well-being. "I am lost." Saying how you feel connects you with your narrative instead of the jumble of despair and judgments about feeling despair. Where do we find hope? In essence, it is within us and between us. When we share our hope with others, we give them hope, and they provide us with hope.

Acknowledge hopelessness

<ul><li>Honour your feelings of hopelessness without being consumed by them. Don't deny uncomfortable emotion, but welcome it like a guest, not a permanent resident in your mind.</li><li>Remember that compassion for ourselves isn't often our first instinct.</li><li>No judgment. Your feelings are expected and not a sign of failure or weakness.</li><li>Humble goals. No act of hope is too small.</li><li>Find little pivot activities, be it watering the plants, or listening to music.</li><li>Hope without proof. Hope is moving forward in life and oneself without the certificate guaranteeing "x will happen." </li></ul>

Ways to respond to lostness and hopelessness

Acknowledging hopelessness can unlock the hope within.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

Finding Hope in Hard Times

Journaling is the most simplistic form of writing. You can call it a method to convert your thoughts into writing.Actually, you will be writing down your thoughts, problems, goals, or plans in a paper/digital notebook.

What is Journaling?

6 Methods of Journaling:There are many methods of journaling depending upon their purpose. In this article, I am going to list 6 of those methods which I currently use, or have used previously.If you already got a notebook or a note-taking app that you use for your regular journaling, you can apply the following methods in that. You don’t need a separate notebook for this purpose.Following are the six journaling methods:

6 Methods of Journaling:

Every day, we read an article or watch a video from which we learn something. And we want to remember it so we can apply it in our life. But nine out of ten, we forget about it in just a few days.Writing down what you learned that day saves your learning in the long-term memory of your journal, and ultimately in your mind.I adopted this method a month ago, and since then, I have been continuously writing my learnings, two or three times per week.Simply, give a heading ‘What I learned Today’ and underneath that, write the thing you learned that day.

1. What-I-learned-Today Journal:

Morning Pages are three paragraphs of writing ideally done first thing in the morning.This means, start your day by writing three paragraphs of stream-of-consciousness writing, without worrying about any grammar rules.This method of journaling was given by Julia Cameron in his book The Artist’s Way.Now, every entry of my journal starts with Morning Pages. I write what’s on my mind that morning. Now, I don’t stare at a blank page anymore.Writing a full article is hard. But writing just three paraphs is not hard, especially when it isn’t about something specific.

2. Morning Pages

As the name suggests, a dream journal is used to record your dreams.Every time you wake up from a dream, write down what you saw. Be sure to write as early as possible because we tend to forget most of the details of our dream within a few hours from waking up.I know it feels weird writing your dreams, especially the creepy ones that you don’t want to remember. But I have observed that by writing down my dreams, I can see a pattern in my thinking. Because dreams are said to be the result of what’s going on in your subconscious mind.

3. Dream Journal

If you are worried about a certain thing, a mind dump journal is best for putting your chaotic mind in order.Not just for worries, you can also use this method for dumping your overwhelming thoughts and your craziest ideas.A mind dump journal helps you clear your mind by letting out your thoughts and ideas. It’s like decluttering your mind.Just get a pen and a paper, or open your note-taking app and start writing your ideas, thoughts, or any worries right now. Set a timer of 10 to 20 minutes and start writing.

4. Mind Dump Journal

A bullet journal is very famous these days. It planning tool which combines your calendar with your to-do list and your long and short-term goals.<ol><li>A future log to write your future goals and plans</li><li>A monthly log to track your monthly goals</li><li>A daily log for keeping track of your daily tasks. It’s basically your to-do list.</li></ol>A bullet journal has many benefits. On one hand, it helps you visualize your daily and monthly goals. On the other hand, it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you complete your tasks.

5. Bullet Journal

Whenever you feel discontent with life, writing down the three things you are grateful for can help you realize “you are blessed with so many things that you take for granted”.\When writing a gratitude journal, don’t just list the names of things. Instead write down the reasons why you are grateful, for that specific thing.Like just writing ‘I am grateful for my laptop’ is not going to make you grateful for your laptop. It’s better to write ‘I am grateful for my laptop which has helped me write articles, which other people read and learn from them’.

6. Gratitude Journal

There are many methods of journaling depending upon their purpose. In this article, I am going to list 6 of those methods which I currently use, or have used previously.

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Reading & Writing

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Problem Solving

Not Sure What to Write in Your Journal? Start Here

The practice of meditation has been around for thousands of years, particularly as a part of spiritual or philosophical practice. It has gained widespread popularity, becoming more secular and mainstream and gaining traction in Western medicine and practice, picking up speed over the last several decades.

Meditation: Overview, Research, and Effectiveness

Meditation is the process of attuning one’s focus to a single object, sound, concept, or experience. It encapsulates several techniques, such as contemplation, concentration, and meditative movement, allowing people to achieve this deep connection.

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Health

meditation

Meditation

Meditation: Overview, Research, and Effectiveness - The Human Condition

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail - Benjamin Frankli﻿n

Charming self-portrait covers boyhood, work as a printer, political career, scientific experiments, much more. Its openness, honesty, and readable style have made the Autobiography one of the great classics of the genre.

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Learning & Education

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Books

Read about the fascinating life of Benjamin Franklin, prolific philosopher, inventor, and Founding Father of the United States, in this beautifully illustrated version of his autobiography.American icon Benjamin Franklin is known for many things: he published the famous Poor Richard's Almanack, helped found the world-famous University of Pennsylvania, and was the first Postmaster General of the United States. His iconography is everywhere. His likeness adorns, among other things, the United States' hundred-dollar bill. Franklin was a wildly intriguing personality, as his autobiography makes plain. From his hoarding of his pay as a teenager to buy books, to his disapproval of habits like drinking beer, from his work as a printer, to his experiments with electricity, this is the story of Franklin's life--told as only he could tell it--in the years before the American Revolution.Benjamin Franklin's writings represent a career of literary, scientific, and political efforts which extended nearly the entire eighteenth century and the birth of the United States. This heavily illustrated version of Franklin's autobiography includes his reflections on diverse questions such as philosophy and religion, social status, electricity, American national characteristics, war, and the status of women.A classic in the American canon, Franklin's autobiography is a must-read for any serious student of American history.

Benjamin Franklin was a writer, a philosopher, a scientist, a politician, a patriot, a Founding Father, an inventor, and publisher. He helped with the founding of the United States of America and changed the world with his discoveries about electricity. His writings such as Poor Richards' Almanac have provided wisdom for 17 years to the colonies.

Benjamin Franklin

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Hii!! In this stash I'm going to give you few ideas to earn respect from others. If you feel or thing that you don't have much respect at your workplace or school (or any other place), then I will suggest you to read the following ideas.

How to Earn RESPECT?

Try to talk calmly. Even when you are angry. This will force the other side to respond respectfully. This is same as you are talking with a 3-4 year boy. Please them with your world famous singer voice and wait for magic to happen.

Talk peacefully

The more you give respect to others,  the more will other respects you back. It can be difficult at once. But as soon it becomes a habit, you will be most respected among others. This is a basic law of nature. Feel it by thinking about it sitting alone.

Give respect = Receive respect

It is important to understand even the things which can't talk or shout on us, wants respect also. The laptop or mobile on which you are reading this, deserves a huge respect from you. Is charging device is not enough? No. It is like action-reaction interaction. If you respect your mobile, I bet it will never leave you in your worst times. How do I respect non-livings? It is simple. Just thank them after you use them. If you are shy, do it in your mind. The subconscious world will do the rest.

Respect non-livings

People respect matures. A child wants attention not respect. A teenager wants attention from parents and respect from friends. An adult wants respect. So be mature. How to? It's simple again. Give yourself time. Sit alone for some time daily. Talk to yourself. Your inner-you knows more about you. Try it. Talk with your you.

Try to be Mature and Confident

Achieve something in your life. Apart from YouTube Subscribers. Something that forces youngers or may be elders to respect you. So that they mention you in their words. Start with small. People with Job and people without job, compare two you will find what i want to tell you.

Achievements

Just don't be rude in the whole process. I agree that path will be difficult, but don't lose your temper. Else you will ruin all your hard work. Pythagoras quoted "A fool is known by his speech and a wise man by silence"

Final Words

If you want to know about respect issues with boys, read "Love and respect issues with boys" on my profile.

Know More

I faced respect problems. And I solved them. Thus I want to share some lessons that life taught me.

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

Meditation is not just good for you, it's good for your relationships.<ul><li>Meditation appears to be a self-focused activity, but it actually boosts your ability to have good relationships.</li><li>Meditation makes you more emotionally intelligent and wise. It also decreases stress and improves a sense of connection.</li><li>Meditation improves well-being and happiness, which benefits your relationship.</li></ul>Relationships are key to life, we long for and need positive social connections, yet at the same time relationships can be sources of great pain, stress, and even bewilderment.

5 Unexpected Ways Meditation Improves Relationships

One of the biggest challenges in a relationship is emotions: jealousy, anxiety, anger, and more. Handling our own emotions is challenging enough, let alone those of our partner. Emotional intelligence is key. Step in meditation. Meditation improves emotional intelligence: self-awareness, emotion regulation, anxiety and depression, general well-being, even attention, memory, and creativity. Your ability to connect and empathize improves.Meditation is associated with greater overall wisdom. And who doesn't want a partner who is not just emotionally intelligent but also wise?

1. Meditation Makes You More Emotionally Intelligent

Over time, we get used to the things we have and the people we are with. You start to take them for granted. That's when people may start to focus on what's wrong with their partner or forget why they fell in love in the first place, they may even look elsewhere.However, grateful people are more satisfied in their relationships and feel closer to one another. When you are grateful, you stay focused and appreciative of your partner's good qualities instead of taking them for granted or harping on the little things.

2. Meditation Keeps You Grateful

Negative emotions like stress and anxiety can keep us focused on ourselves. It's hard to connect with another person when we are in a self-focused state. Neuroscientists have found that people who meditate regularly have more positive emotions overall, which in turn is linked to slower aging at the cellular level. Meditating, though it can seem like a solo activity, actually makes you a more upbeat partner. As I mentioned in my last post, partners who are more positively energizing have better relationships because their very presence is life-giving and supportive.

3. Meditation Boosts Happiness

Isn't it ironic that it's usually the people you love the most who have to bear the brunt of your stress: a short fuse, bad moods, passive aggression. Over time, this kind of pattern can lead to a negative atmosphere in the home and create distance between partners. If you can take responsibility for curbing your stress, you not only will curb your own stress but also help preserve your relationships with your loved ones.

4. Meditation Curbs Your Stress

It's easy for partners to drift apart, especially if they are busy balancing work and children, have hectic schedules, and have little time to spend together. A chasm can grow almost imperceptibly at first until it becomes painfully obvious. Here again, meditation can help. Connecting to yourself, it turns out, boosts your connection to others in significant ways.Meditation improves well-being but also strengthens your feelings of connection with others. It can help people feel more connected and empathic in minutes.

5. Meditation Helps You Connect

Self-care is far from selfish, especially when it comes to meditation. The time you take to settle your mind not only improves your well-being but that of everyone around you, strengthening your relationships.

Importance of Self-Care

“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”-Brené Brown “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”-Buddha

Self-Care Quotes

Meditation is not just good for you, it's good for your relationships.

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

5 Unexpected Ways Meditation Improves Relationships, a Lot

Sometimes anxiety can seem like a daily struggle. The feelings that cause tension and stress can be overwhelming. However, by incorporating mindfulness exercises into your daily routine, you can take a proactive step towards finding some peace of mind. By using mindfulness exercises, you can eventually get to a point where you better regulate symptoms of anxiety. This way, you can prevent anxiety from getting out of control and having a grip on your life.

7 Mindfulness Exercises to Help You Cope with Anxiety

A part of mindfulness meditation is focusing on your breathing. Deep, steady breathing helps deliver more oxygen to your system and allows you to maintain focus. You can do this whenever you want to. Just breathe in deeply through the nose, hold for a moment, then exhale through the mouth.

Mindfulness Exercise #1:  Deep Breathing

In our daily lives, we are constantly being pulled in different stress-causing directions. Work and family are often two main culprits, but other sources could include financial issues or and illness. Just taking five to ten minutes a day to sit quietly can make a big difference. Find a quiet place in your home that offers privacy. Perhaps one that lets in natural light.

Mindfulness Exercise #2:  Sitting Quietly

Do you inhale your food instead of truly tasting it? You can slow down and truly experience your meal by using mindfulness meditation at mealtimes. For instance:<ul><li>Take one bite of food at a time.</li><li> Slowly chew your food.</li><li>Be aware of how it tastes.</li><li>Take note of the texture.</li><li>By being more aware of your food, you can truly appreciate your meal.</li></ul>

Mindfulness Exercise #3:  Conscious Eating

Many of us just get through our day, unaware of the little details that make up our lives. Even in the office, a place where many of us spend so much of our lives, we may not be fully aware of our Rexburg surroundings. When taking a break, instead of staring at your computer, take a moment to sit back and observe what’s around. Don’t just look, use your sense of hearing and touch as well. Maybe you have always looked at wall, but didn’t notice the strokes of a paintbrush or the imperfections.

Mindfulness Exercise #4:  Being Observant of Your Surroundings

Use mindfulness meditation techniques, such as stretching or yoga, to become more observant of your body. You may not be aware of how stressed and tense different muscles are. This could also be contributing to your anxiety.

Mindfulness Exercise #5:  Being Observant of Your Body

It’s amazing how to notice how easy it is to have so many conversations throughout any given day, but not really listen. Listening is an art in itself. Oftentimes we may be tempted to jump in while someone else is talking. We want to get across what we are thinking, yet are not listening to the other person.

Mindfulness Exercise #6:  Really Listen

Really! Smiling helps us to relax. Humor and laughter can be great antidotes for coping with the absurdity of life, and the stress that often comes with it. Also, when we smile, we tend to feel more open and accepting of other people and situations.

Mindfulness Exercise #7:  Smile More

When we have more awareness we can have a better understanding of what causes anxiety, and take proactive steps that reduces the symptoms of anxiety.

Bottom Line on Mindfulness

“Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.”-Jon Kabat-Zinn “When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.”-Jack Kornfield ‘Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.”-Jack Kornfield

Mindfulness Quotes

mentalhealth

Mental Health

7 Mindfulness Exercises to Help You Cope with Anxiety | Integrated Counseling and Wellness

<ul><li>In neurology, patients with amputated limbs commonly experience phantom sensations of their missing arm or leg.</li><li>Patients with brain damage following strokes may deny obvious impairments such as being unable to move their hands or might even deny that the hand is theirs.</li><li>People with body dysmorphic disorder become fixated on believing some part of their body is hideously ugly.</li><li>Patients with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia tend to overestimate the width of their bodies.</li></ul>

People experience their bodies different to what it is

In one study, participants' hands were covered with a board and then asked to use a long baton to indicate the perceived location of the knuckle and tip of each finger. Perceptual maps of hand size and shape were constructed based on their judgements and then compared with the actual hand structure. These maps were massively distorted, showing overestimation of hand width and underestimation of finger length.

Distorted representations of the body appear to be a basic feature of mental life

One study that compared anorexia or bulimia patients with groups of healthy control participants found that anorexia or bulimia patients overestimated their waist width by 42 percent. Similar results have been found for several regions of the body, but the waist, hips, shoulders and face were most commonly measured. Healthy participants overestimated their bodies too. For example, one study found healthy adults overestimated the width of their waists by nearly 24 percent, the chest by 23 percent, and the hips by 13 percent.

The tendency to overestimate body width

Distortions of how people perceive their bodies are an exaggeration of a bias that seems to be a widespread, if not universal, feature. What factors might lead to these distortions becoming exaggerated is not well understood. Cultural factors could be involved such as the depiction of idealised bodies in mass media and lower ratings of social self-esteem. Body distortions, then, might be both a basic feature of mental life and can become a risk factor for mental health issues at an increased level.

Exaggeration of a bias

Body image distortions can be severe in anorexia nervosa and bulimia, but they’re also a normal feature of mental life

Body image distortions are a normal feature of mental life | Psyche Ideas

Think about the feeling of paranoia one has who's just driven a brand new, flawless car off the lot or has just started to use the latest, pristine iPhone straight from the box. When they inevitably get their first scratch, initial disappointment can soon give way to a broader feeling of relief and contentment.What's going on here? Why is that imperfection so good? There isn't a great word in the English language to describe this phenomenon. Instead, our best entry point for understanding the psychology of imperfection is visiting the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi.

There’s A Particular Value That Comes With Imperfection

Wabi-sabi is a philosophy and aesthetic that centers around an appreciation of imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. It’s a complex concept, deeply embedded within Japanese culture, and does not admit to an easy, concrete definition. As Taro Gold described in his book, Living wabi-sabi, it's an inherently elusive term. He writes, “Ask people on a Tokyo street to describe wabi-sabi, they will likely give you a polite shrug and explain that wabi-sabi is simply unexplainable.”If we had to try and force a definition for wabi-sabi, it would be something like “the beauty of imperfection.

The Concept Of Wabi-sabi

The most classic example of wabi-sabi is kintsugi, the centuries-old Japanese art of repairing tea bowls. Typically, gluing the pieces of broken pottery back together again means using an invisible adhesive and then painting over the cracks to make them look new again. Kintsugi takes the opposite approach. Instead of trying to hide the imperfection, it highlights it. The craft uses a gold lacquer adhesive to adhere the broken pieces together.

Kintsugi

The technique of Kintsugi accentuates the so-called defects, making them the pottery’s most stunning and visually salient aspect. The approach celebrates each artifact by emphasizing and appreciating its imperfection.

Flaunting Flaws

One of the critical characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic is an appreciation of nature and, more generally, for the natural beauty that exists outside of deliberate, human creation. Humans naturally impose their standards of value and perfection on the world and, in doing so, meddle with a natural organization of beauty best left alone.Wabi-sabi creations often result from a flow of naturally occurring elements, as opposed to manipulating the raw materials to the artist's will. Thus, the artist is seen as a conduit, not an independent creator.

The Connection Between Wabi-Sabi and Nature

In any discipline, “perfect” is the ultimate achievement. From getting the perfect score on a test to planning the perfect evening for a significant other, rising to the level of complete optimization is highly motivating.Clearly, though, it comes with challenges. That these ideals are rarely achieved is not the issue. The true difficulty comes when it is achieved. Its attainment comes with the immediate pressure to maintain it. Anything that rises to this lofty, unblemished position, almost by definition, has nowhere to go but down.

The Challenging Psychology of Perfection

The concept of wabi-sabi provides an alternative perspective that comes some way in helping grapple with this. It recognizes that everything is in constant flux. Any attainment of static perfection is artificial, and its pursuit will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction. Instead, an acceptance, and even a celebration, of imperfection can liberate us from this self-imposed strain.

Celebration And Liberation

“Sometimes strings break. And when a string breaks at the beginning of the performance, I think I’m in heaven.After the string breaks, everybody gasps. You go backstage and put on the new string.And because something untoward has happened, for the rest of the evening, you can do no wrong.”

“Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect.” There’s a certain levity that comes from things going slightly wrong. Or, put another way, there’s a particular value that comes with imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness: 侘寂

How an ancient Japanese concept can help set us free.

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Motivation & Inspiration

Wabi-Sabi And The Psychology Of Imperfection

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