Want to be healthier?Learn To ENJOY more.

On August 7, 2009September 13, 2009 By Zeenat Merchant Syal-Counseling Psychologist|Spiritual CounselorIn Body-Physical Health, Mind-Mental Health15 Comments

A new study has confirmed what many people already knew: the more time spent doing different types of enjoyable activities, the better a person’s health tends to be.

leisureImages The study says taking time for leisure activities apart from the demands of work and other responsibilities helps people function better physically and mentally.

“People who are engaged in multiple enjoyable activities are better off physically and psychologically,” said study co-author Karen Matthews, Ph.D. She is a professor of psychiatry, epidemiology and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The study appears online in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine.

To reach the conclusion, 1,400 adults reported how often they participated in a variety of leisure activities, including spending time unwinding, visiting friends or family, going on vacation, going to clubs or religious activities or playing sports.

Adults with higher scores — indicating the most time spent in different leisure activities — had lower blood pressure, waist circumference, body mass index and cortisol measurements, all markers of good health.

“When one is under stress, the usual thing is to cut back on enjoyable activities because you’re feeling uncomfortable and you need more time to deal with the stress. But these data suggest that is the wrong thing to do and that continuing enjoyable activities you do can be helpful,” Matthews said.

People who spent more time doing diverse leisure activities also reported stronger and more diverse social networks, more feelings of satisfaction and engagement in their lives and lower levels of depression. Those who logged the most leisure time also slept better and exercised more consistently, the authors say.

Other studies have examined the link between specific activities, such as exercise, and improved physical and psychological health, but this is the first to show that the accumulation of multiple sources of enjoyable activity benefits health, Matthews said.

The study outcomes add to what we know about the connection between body and mind, said Kathy Richards, Ph.D., a registered nurse and professor of health promotion at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia.

“Although the amount of leisure time each person needs is highly individual, we all need to monitor our own bodies and stress levels and participate in leisure activities to have happy, healthy and productive lives,” Richards said.

Do you have leisure activities in your daily schedule? Have you already learned to be healthy?

Please share your experiences in the comments. Will give us all tips on how we can make our lives more enjoyable and healthy.

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Expectations or Contentment???

On August 4, 2009September 13, 2009 By Zeenat Merchant Syal-Counseling Psychologist|Spiritual CounselorIn Mind, Heart& Soul-Motivation&Inspiration, Mind-Mental Health22 Comments

current-expectations-holding-you-back ‘Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed’

~Alexander Pope

Every morning we wake up and open our front doors to pick up the newspaper and enjoy the fresh news with a nice cup of steaming tea/coffee. Well, that is usually the ritual in my house. Now we have been having this ritual for years and years and i am beginning to think it was passed down from our forefathers…:) When one fine sunday morning (when we await the paper the most..) It doesnt arrive! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……all hell breaks loose. Tempers are lost, phone calls to the paper delivery company are made, moods go sour and finally the first few hours of the glorious sunday are lost. Why?? Cause the newspaper wasn’t delivered…NO No NO..Because the news paper wasn’t where we expected it to be..in our hands with our morning coffee. Now, why the paper wasn’t delivered is secondary, the fact that all that time and effort was unnecessarily lost for something as small as a newspaper is something to think about……

Now the above newspaper incident was just an example of our little, unknown expectations, which when tampered with can have adverse effects on our psyche. Everyday all of us have these little expectations which we don’t even think about, like the car will start in the morning when i turn on the ignition, the elevator at the mall will work, the grocery store will have eggs, etc….

Our Expectations can be of two kinds KNOWN and UNKNOWN.

Now unknown seems to be quite clear, but the known, now they are a totally different ball game all together. Lets say you were expecting a raise, you were expecting your daughter/son to get A’s, you expected the project you worked on would get you accolades, you expected sending a gift to someone would get you closer to them…etc.

Not getting what you Knowingly Expected gives rise to more intense reactions from your end. There could be anger, crying, stress, tension, anxiety. The worst part about known expectations is, the expecting per say can be even more stressing. At least in the unknown you were reacting after, but here your reactions are before and after.

Wow..ever wondered how expectations can engulf your life? Think about it now….

Not only do expectations have a life of their own..but they have an after life as well. Why oh why then do we have so many of them?

If you have noticed, there are people who are always smiling. In all the worst possible situations you might see someone always carrying a smile. Who are these people? Do they not have feelings?? How can they smile when something is so horribly wrong? I would like to think they are smiling at themselves rather than at the situation…That they have a certain acceptance of things in and around them that make them feel CONTENT.

Ask yourself if you’re truly content with yourself. Contentment leads to no-expectations. No expectations leads to a certain calm within our self. The fact that we expect not only leads to mental anguish but to physical pain as well. Stress and tension which in turn lead to blood pressure, heart ailments…the list of problems can be endless…but the solution is just one..

No-Expectations=Contentment=No-Expectations=Contentment

What is Contentment? Inner Tranquility. It is the freedom from anxiety, want or need. Contentment is the goal behind all goals because once achieved there is nothing to seek until it is lost.

When one can live in the moment with expectations in harmony with experiences one has achieved the greatest mental contentment possible.

The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.

~ Lin Yu-t’ang

Are you stuck in the web of expectations or have you been able to come out of it and find contentment?

Please share in the comments.

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Wants vs. Needs

On July 27, 2009November 4, 2009 By Zeenat Merchant Syal-Counseling Psychologist|Spiritual CounselorIn Mind, Heart& Soul-Motivation&Inspiration, Mind-Mental Health11 Comments

Just Last Night, my little daughter kept pulling me to the fridge to ask me for Ice cream. Now there is nothing wrong with ice cream is there??But at 11p.m. (well past bedtime) on a heavily rainy and cold day it’s potentially disastrous. Now we grown ups know that don’t we? But for a child its still the best thing in the world and not getting what she wanted makes her cranky and irritable. I try hard to distract her attention from it but all in vain. I actually had to drag her to bed…and even then she kept at it…she couldn’t stop crying and saying ice cream ice-cream…finally after much ado she did fall asleep. What she needed was to go to sleep, but what she wanted was ice cream!

Wants and needs are a funny thing, All our lives we are battling in our heads between these too facts. How often have we gone to a store and looked at something and thought “ohh I want that, its gorgeous!”? And, How often have we gone to a store and thought “Ohh I need that!”? Sometimes it’s a wonder, we have actually grown up..cause our thinking patterns are still mostly childish when it comes to the fine things we want. If you must’ve noticed your thinking pattern, you will realize that your mind first always tricks you into thinking about your Wants and then your Needs. Whereas, your needs are more important than your wants.

You need water, but you want coke instead.

You need food, but you want fries instead.

You need air, but you want air conditioning instead.

There is nothing wrong with wants, cause to some extent they are the driving force for which we might be working so hard. But here I am talking about unnecessary, unhealthy, and self indulgent wants.

The internal conflict between our needs and wants is a never ending process. So, how do we think above it? Is there a way? Ofcourse there is. There is always a way if we choose to find it. Below are three steps I have found work like a charm. These steps have been tried on a group of individuals, and all came out with flying colors. But of course, practice is the key.

Small steps towards self improvement with huge benefits.

3 Steps to overcoming your unnecessary wants:

1. Consciously know what it is that you truly need.

2. Think twice (maybe more) before you act on your wants.

3. After making your choice in your mind-Think again by weighing your pros and cons

MOST IMPORTANTLY-

Always remember-

Your Needs Acted Upon Will NOT Give You A Guilty Conscience! But your wants on the other hand…might just creep up on you…

Attaining selflessness and rising above trivial wants is never easy, but its the need to do so that makes it so attainable.We need to be able to look within ourselves and put ON the light of the heart for the right path.