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Category: A Better Way

Why Not Try These? Some Are Safer, Some Are More Beneficial.

Published on Leave a comment on 4 Ways Our Relationships Change Who We Are – Good And Not So Good

Gwendolyn Seidman Ph.D. PsychologyToday.Com

For good or bad, our partners influence us, and how we see ourselves.

When we are involved in serious romantic relationships, we find ourselves turning from a “me” to an “us”.1 This isn’t just a matter of semantics: The very nature of the self evolves through the relationship. We start to see our own self-concept as overlapping with that of our partner.2 That means that as we become increasingly committed, we find our self-concept actually changing—the “us” becomes “me.”3 But how does our self-concept change, and are these changes good or bad for us and our relationships?

According to Mattingly, Lewandowski, and McIntyre, our relationships can change our self-concepts in two ways:4

  • First, the size of your self-concept can change. It can expand, to include new traits or to make existing traits more prominent. For example, a man may discover a passion for gourmet cuisine after dates involving the preparation of elaborate meals. Alternatively, the size of your self-concept could shrink because the relationship has caused certain aspects of the self to be lost. This can happen because the relationship has caused you to neglect certain parts of yourself.
…

Published on Leave a comment on Are Dirt And Germs As Bad As We Think? Learn About GOOD Germs – Say NO To Ignorance!

By Uzma Muneer, D.O.

I WAS BROUGHT UP IN A COUNTRY TOWNSHIP NOT FAR FROM THE BEACH AND PLAYED OUTSIDE A LOT. MANY KIDS ARE BROUGHT UP HAVING CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE SOIL BECAUSE THEIR FAMILY HAS A VEGGIE GARDEN OR THEY LIVE ON A FARM. HEALTH SCIENTISTS ARE SAYING THIS GIVES CHILDREN A GOOD HEALTHY START IN LIFE AND BENEFITS THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM. THEY’RE ALSO SAYING THAT KEEPING YOUR CHILDREN AND HOUSE SO CLEAN AND OVERUSE OF DISINFECTANTS IS NOT GOOD FOR THEIR HEALTH.

Are You Overly Careful How Your Kids Play?

Some Thoughtful Considerations.

Dr. Muneer specializes in Pediatrics, lets see what she has to say.

Picture this: A baby’s pacifier falls to the ground. A first-time mom sterilizes it thoroughly before giving it back. With her second baby, she quickly runs it under some water first. By her third child, the mom brushes it off and pops it right back into her baby’s mouth. Was her third child any worse for the wear?

We spend a lot of time and energy protecting our babies and kids from germs. But some germs could actually help protect them.

Our health is influenced by all the microorganisms inside our bodies and the surrounding environment.…

Published on Leave a comment on 10 Things Children Need That Money Can’t Buy – Some Inspiring Insights

By Joshua Becker

A MEANINGFUL AND INTERESTING SET OF PRINCIPLES THAT ARE KEPT IN PRACTICE AND ENCOURAGED BY A DAD WHO RUNS A WEBSITE CALLED BecomingMinimalist.Com THAT IS WORTH CONSIDERING. HE HAS SOME SPECIAL INSIGHTS I FEEL. IN A WORLD THAT IS SO FOCUSED ON MONEY AND MATERIAL POSESSIONS ETC MAYBE WE NEED TO REMEMBER OR BECOME AWARE OF THESE THINGS. BESIDES, SOME PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY DON'T HAVE MUCH TO OFFER THEIR KIDS, AND MAYBE THEY COULD FEEL A LITTLE RICH IF THEY'RE LIVING WITH SOME OF THESE PRINCIPLES IN THEIR HOME OR THAT THEY CAN BE. THERE ARE SOME GOOD OLD-FASHIONED THINGS HERE IN THIS POST THAT WERE PRACTICED BY GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT GRANDPARENTS OF YESTERYEAR THAT MAKES FOR HAPPY CHILDREN AND MAKES A HOUSE A HOME AND MOST OF US COULD BENEFIT FROM SOME OF THEM.

Healthy Parental Blessings Money Cannot Buy - Consider These

“If you haven’t time to respond to a tug at your pants leg, your schedule is too crowded.” – Robert Brault

Whether you have money in your bank account or not, you have something they need:

  1. Love. More important than anything else, children need your love. 
…

Published on Leave a comment on California Communities Learn To Become Self-Sufficient With Mini Gardens

By Virgilio Marin

I LIKE THIS STORY, IT SPEAKS ABOUT MORE THINGS THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT. THE VISIONARY CONCEPTS HERE ARE REALLY INSPIRING.........YOU SHOULD READ ABOUT HOW THEY IMPLIMENTED THINGS. THEY DIDN'T JUST GIVE PEOPLE A BOX OF SMALL SEEDLINGS. AND YOU SHOULD READ ABOUT WHAT THEY DO WITH FRUIT TREES. YES, THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THIS CO-OP ARE GENEROUS KIND VISIONARIES. WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS KIND OF THING WIDESPREAD - MAYBE IN SOME COMMUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA. WELL DONE!

Cooperation Humboldt, a transition initiative in Humboldt County in California, is providing mini-gardens for free to help communities in the state’s North Coast become self-sufficient and achieve food independence.

The organization initially provided free lawn conversions but decided to shift its focus later on. Tamara McFarland, a leader within the cooperation, was concerned that the lawn conversion project failed to reach individuals who would benefit the most from growing their own food. Most of the people applying for lawn conversions were long-term renters and homeowners with a stable income and the privilege of starting a backyard garden.

When the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, the organization became even more motivated to move away from its lawn-conversion model, which required a number of volunteers working side-by-side for long stretches of time.…

Published on Leave a comment on Why I Don’t Want Our Children To Be (just) Happy – I Want Them To Be Strong Too

A Christian Mother In NSW Says How She Explored What God's Word Has To Say About Happiness And How This Influences Her Aims In Parenting. I Believe She Has Found The Balance For Everyone With Valuable Principles She Discovered, If We Share Her Faith Or Not. I Hope You Can Avail Yourself The Opportunity Of Reading Them – They’re Really Great.

I Think Some Of Us Will See Why We Don’t Cope With Life As Well As Others Too – Maybe We Can Aim For Balance So We’re Not So Frustrated With “Happiness Issues” So Many Have, And Enjoy Our Happy Moments In A Wholesome Way. I Really Do Believe Children Need Happy Times More Than Some Parents Seem To Give Them, While Others Make A “Happy Happy” Environment For Them Most The Time Which Does Not Equip Them For Life’s Disappointments. Lets See What Harriet Has To Say, Aye?

Harriet's Encouragements:

A visitor to Modern Western Countries would have good reason to believe that the goal we are striving for in life is happiness. Our guiding principle seems to be: ‘Do whatever makes you happy; follow your heart’. We are on a constant quest to find our ‘happily ever after’ with the perfect partner, the perfect body, the perfect work position, and the perfect house.…

Published on Leave a comment on Something We Can Do For A Healthy Gut And Overall Health – Guess What It Is?

I'VE PLACED AN ARTICLE IN MY BLOG ABOUT THE MICROBIOME WE HAVE IN OUR BODY THAT RELATES VERY CLOSELY TO GUT HEALTH RECENTLY, AND THIS IS SOMETHING ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT YOU WOULD NEVER GUESS. DID YOU KNOW THAT HAVING A HEALTHY GUT HELPS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND OVERALL HEALTH? YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE A MISSING PART TO THE HEALTH PUZZLE FOR MANY - EVEN SOME PEOPLE WHO GO TO GYMS AND TAKE SUPPLEMENTS - SOMETHING THAT IS VERY UNDERATED BY MOST PEOPLE AND EASILY MISSED. IT STRENGTHENS YOUR GUT AND IT'S GREAT FOR YOUR HEALTH...... IT'S ALSO FREE...... CAN YOU GUESS NOW?

The One Thing You Should Do For A Healthier Gut

By Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum – CleanPlates.Com

Stopping to admire a bed of flowers, strolling alongside a river, or sitting on a park bench — chances are, at least one of those scenarios, if not all of them, sounds peaceful and uplifting to you. But time spent in nature benefits more than just your spirits: It can lower stress levels, boost your immune system, improve your heart health, alleviate depression and anxiety, and lead to a healthier gut.…

Published on Leave a comment on Children’s Sleep And Insomnia – Some Ideas For You To Try

PEOPLE OFTEN HAVE INSOMNIA HEY? IT'S SOMETIMES NOT WHAT WE EXPECT A CHILD COULD HAVE. THERE ARE SOME PRACTICAL IDEAS IN 2 ARTICLES HERE THAT COULD BE A CONSIDERABLE HELP FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD - SOME GOOD OPTIONS TO MEDICAL. YOU DON'T WANT A YOUNG CHILD OR EVEN A TEENAGER ON OTC MEDS - THAT DOESN'T GIVE THEM A GOOD START IN LIFE. IT'S BEST TO TRY NATURAL OPTIONS WHERE POSSIBLE, TO PROVIDE A HEALTHY NIGHT'S SLEEP.

Insomnia In Children: Causes, Treatment, And Natural Remedies

By Sagari Gongala (BSc)

Insomnia complaints in children are usually associated with lack of restorative sleep (deep sleep and REM sleep). A child is said to have insomnia if they (1):

  • Have difficulty falling asleep at night
  • Have trouble staying asleep at night
  • Wakes up very early, at around three in the morning and have difficulty going back to sleep.

This can lead to a significant impairment in the child’s body functions during the day. Insomnia can be long-term, wherein the child has trouble sleeping for at least three weeks or more, or short-term, lasting for just a few days. MomJunction will tell you everything you need to know about insomnia, what causes it, and how to help your child deal with it.…

Published on Leave a comment on Anxious, Depressed, Distracted — What If The Cure Is Just Outside?

Author Florence Williams talks trees, cities, and creativity in her new book "The Nature Fix."

You Spend 5 Percent Of Your Day Outside. Try Making It More. At a time when more than half of all people live in cities, the influence of the natural world is at a low ebb, while our understanding of it keeps growing.

Try Spending Some Time Outdoors - It Lifts Your Mood Level

For two decades, Florence Williams could sit on her porch at night and watch the alpenglow on the Rocky Mountains. Then she moved from remote Colorado to Washington, DC, and started noticing the changes.

“I felt disoriented, overwhelmed, depressed,” she writes in her recent book, The Nature Fix. “My mind had trouble focusing. I couldn’t finish thoughts … and I wasn’t keen to get out of bed.”

Williams was suffering, she says, from nature withdrawal. She spent the next three years digging into the science of how nature works on our brain. In short, it makes us more relaxed, more creative, and more socially connected. She traveled to Japan and Finland, the deserts of Utah and the urban forests of Singapore, to study just how much we stand to gain by bring nature back into our lives.…

Published on Leave a comment on 5 Simple Ways To Spend More Time Outside As A Family – Have A Peep

That lifestyle is what drew us here. We wanted to provide a different type of upbringing for our three young girls: one that focused on adventurous time spent in nature. So for the past two years we’ve been committed to finding fun and imaginative ways to spend as much time as possible out in nature. Over time we’ve grown from a family that considered a trip to a local park an adventure, to one that hikes and camps, fishes and skis.

We’ve grown closer as a family as we’ve grown to embrace our new lifestyle. And our difficult daughter? Well, we still have our moments, but almost never outside.

At first we didn’t know exactly why we wanted to raise outdoor loving kids – it just instinctively seemed like a good idea. If we did have a specific motivation, it was the hope that by starting them early our girls would grow up physically strong and healthy, and with a lifelong love for outdoor activity. Over time we’ve come to learn that the emotional benefits of more time in nature probably outweigh the physical ones.

BENEFITS OF SPENDING MORE TIME IN NATURE AS A FAMILY

It builds confidence.…

Published on Leave a comment on Positive Psychology: Ways We Can Help Ourselves And Others

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY WAS INTRODUCED EARLY THIS CENTUARY (2000 and 2005) AND SOME OF IT'S PRINCIPLES CAN BE PRACTICED PERSONALLY - YOU WOULD NOT NEED A PSYCHOLOGIST. IN SOME RESPECTS, THIS KIND OF PRACTICE IS HEALTHIER THAN OTHERS, IF YOU DON'T OVER-DO IT (like most things). IT CERTAINLY HAS IT'S MERITS, YOU WILL SEE IN THIS POST. THESE DAYS, YOU CAN EVEN PRACTICE SOME BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A THERAPIST. SOME PSYCHOLOGISTS WRITE BOOKS AND VIDEOS SHOWING YOU HOW TO APPLY THE TECHNIQUES FOR YOURSELVES. THEY'RE GOOD FOR MAKING AND BREAKING HABITS. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IS INTERESTING TOO. FOR NOW, LET'S SEE WHAT POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY HAS TO OFFER, HEY?

WHAT IS POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Traditionally in psychology, the focus has been on identifying and treating mental health problems such as depression. This is critically important for those facing mental illness however, it provides an incomplete picture of mental health. Positive psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology that shifts the focus from what is clinically wrong, to the promotion of wellbeing and the creation of a satisfying life filled with meaning, pleasure, engagement, positive relationships and accomplishment.

Positive psychology is not about putting on a happy face all the time.…