The Impossible

I'm sitting at my desk staring at my diploma that arrived today. I had just got out of the shower when my husband walked in and showed me the package. He opened it and we both sat there just looking at it. He laughed as he said "Master of Science. All I can picture is you in a white lab coat working with chemicals". I remember when I thought I would never even complete my Associates degree, no less a Masters degree. When I finally completed my Associates degree, I thought to myself "I could get my Bachelors degree. I don't want to waste my GI Bill". Through pregnancy and the birth of my son I completed my Bachelors degree. I will never forget sitting in the hospital doing college algebra online, after having my son who was very sick. You want to talk stressful- that was stressful, and I'm good with numbers. I would have paid someone to complete that class for me, but I pushed through and completed it.

My associates and bachelors degrees were both in business and I really wanted a degree in my first true love, fitness. I decided to go for my Masters so I could have a degree in the field I was working in. Not to mention, I love to learn. There is a never ending flow of information available to us, especially in my line of work. In July I completed my Masters program and I am so proud of myself for achieving my education goals while owning a business, being a military wife, and having a child.

There were so many weekends I stayed home while others went out, in order to complete homework assignments. I spent countless hours studying and trying to balance life in the process. The saying "do now what others won't, to live a lifetime as others can't" rings very true to me. I'm thankful for the sacrifices I made and I'm so thankful for the people who supported me a long the way, specifically my husband.

I am now starting my Doctorate program. This is something I never in a million years thought I could do, but I'm doing it. If you would have told me I would have a Doctorate degree 5 years ago, I probably would have gave up before I even started because the thought was to overwhelming and too far out of reach.

You have to take the first step in your journey no matter what it is. Set goals you feel are attainable and move in that direction. The more you accomplish, the more empowered you will feel. I feel that there is absolutely nothing I can't do now. If I want it, I know that I can make it happen. The same is true for you. Embrace your gifts and invest in yourself!

To you health,

Jessica Summerall: This is the motto I choose to practice to make sure that I am doing everything I possibly can to ensure someone is successful, long term. My job is to educate, support, train, teach, and encourage the people who come into my life. Their job is to use those tools to achieve the success they desire, whether it be financial or physical. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Can The Way You Dress Affect Your Mental And Physical Health

Can the way you dress affect your health? Some experts say it can. Of course dressing inappropriately for the season can decrease your body's immune system, but that is not the only way your wardrobe could potentially affect your health. Nor is the physical aspect of health the only concern. You have the same make up as every other human being. Your body responds to the same stimuli. If you neglect certain parts of what makes you who you are, you open yourself up to many negative things. Whether you do it consciously or not, the way you dress tells a story about you. It lets people know how you feel mentally as well as physically. If you feel good about yourself from a physical stance, you will tend to wear clothing that showcases confidence and a look at me aura., thereby, helping to keep your immune system healthy. However, if you do not feel good about your physical state, no matter what you put on it will show a sense of using clothes to hide in plain sight of everyone; and that can suppress your immune system.

It goes even further than that. Studies have shown that wearing certain fashions have the ability to change your mood. Dark clothing tends to portray a sad picture. Constantly being around an environment like that can have a negative affect on your mental state and the mind plays a big part in your overall health. This is why hospital rooms are a certain color. Different hues are known to help the body to heal due to the positive state of mind they put you in. There are many bugs out there that wage war against your body to move in and cohabit with your normal system, but when your immune system is healthy, it wards of the attack; sometimes without you even knowing about it. However, if you do things that affect your mental health, it has been proven that you weaken your immune system by your own hands; making it easier for microbes to invade. A melancholy dress style will do more than cause people to perceive you in that manner. It also makes your body react accordingly, too.

Further still, as those you encounter think that you look under the weather and continually asks you if you are feeling bad because you look down, your body will eventually take on the role of being sick. And whether it is a microbial sickness or mentally induced one, they feel the same. Knowing this should encourage you to take more care in how you present yourself when it comes to picking out your wardrobe. You tend to become what you visualize yourself to be. If you constantly surround yourself with attire that depicts a sunny disposition, your attitude is more likely to correspond with that look. The saying birds of a feather flock together is totally true. You should consider your clothes as your feathers. Feathers are not who the bird is, but they grow from the bird and therefore are an important part of what the bird is. Likewise, your clothes are chosen by you and they give an impression of who you are.

So if you want to put forth a healthy persona, it would help to ensure your clothes match your insides or at least match how you want to feel. If your outfits cause people to return looks and stares of negativity, you are the one who bares the brunt of those looks and they do have an effect on you. The more you are bombarded with that, the more it wears away at your overall health. Another way to enhance your overall health with your dress is to step it up a notch and cause onlookers to give you the attention you want by wearing clothing and accessories that put you on a higher level than your peers. Rather than just wear something common in casual or dress, why not push the barriers a little and add some flair to what your have on. Instead of just wearing a shirt, add a light scarf or ascot tie tied around your neck. Rather than choosing the normal tucked in shirt with dress coat and slacks, wear something that has an extended cuff and let your shirt tail hang out under your jacket over a pair of designer jeans. It's sure to get some eyeballs on you accompanied with smiles of admiration. That can only boost your immune system.

Attention to color, style and fashion has the potential to boost your mental and physical health. Consider dressing to help improve your overall well being. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Why Is It Important to Be Physically and Mentally Healthy?

Why is it important to be physically and mentally healthy? Why should people bother with exercising, dieting and making sure that both their bodies and their minds are in their most ideal states? There are many benefits to being healthy, and there are many reasons why people choose to ignore them. However, some facts are just too true and too serious to ignore.

Why Should You Be Physically Healthy?

• Reduce risks of diseases. There's no way this could be denied. People who are healthy have better chances of fighting off cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and, as some researchers suggest, even cancers. Numerous studies have found the link between physical activity and lowered risks for diseases to be quite strong. This is probably the best benefit that good health can provide.

• Weight control. Being healthy means that you might have better control when it comes to how much you weigh. Healthy people are, most of the times, disciplined people who have learned to say no to heaping second servings and to say yes to exercises even if it takes them hours. All of these and more are why is it important to be physically and mentally healthy.

• Improves balance and widens range of activities. As you age, you may feel that you are being limited about the things that you can do. The things that you might have done for hours when you were young, you may not even bear to do for a minute. Daily activities might tire you right away. Exercises and many other physical activities can not only help strengthen your muscles and bones, but can also improve balance and prevent falls.

Why Should You Be Mentally Healthy?

• Reduces stress. Stress, in moderated amounts, can be beneficial to health. Stress can give you energy, and makes you productive and more alert. However, stress in excess can be severely damaging. It can increase the risks of certain cardiovascular diseases, and can get in the way of the body's natural rate of metabolism, thus leading to weight gain. Stress has also been linked to absenteeism and accidents in the workplace. If it can be effectively managed, your chance of getting promoted also increases.

• Improves mood and overall quality of life. Too much anger, confusion, fear, irritability and anxiety may be signs of mental unhealthiness. Happiness may be more easily attained if a person is mentally healthy. People who are mentally healthy will have healthier relationships, and have better physical health. They can also manage their problems better and can make better life choices.

Conclusion

Why is it important to be physically and mentally healthy? It is important because it can give you a longer and more fruitful life. If you get all these benefits from being physically active, how much more can it help if you are mentally active as well? Mental health and physical health are undeniably interlinked. Physical activities help manage stress and pressure better, while mental health improves the effectiveness of physical activities.

If you are looking for information on physically and mentally healthy, click on the link. Or visit lifestylesecretreview.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

The Dream Incubation Experiment

My purpose in researching, writing about and investigating dreams is to help you to become aware of and appreciate the power of your dreams, and to provide you with information on how to use those dreams in a variety of useful ways. I want to inspire you to move from perhaps being an unconscious dreamer to where you're using your dreams for intentional foresight that will lead to personal, psychological and spiritual growth and evolution.

The solution to perplexing and sometimes frustrating problems, as well as everyday solutions to mundane issues, can reliably be resolved in the dreaming mind. Historical records bear witness to humanity's attempts to seek (and receive) guidance, wisdom and solutions through their dreams.

The ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, Indigenous cultures, and many, many more have dedicated sacred sites, writings and resources to the study and incubation of healing, problem solving, creative and guidance dreams. Even in modern times, dreams have helped solve problems in science, politics, literature, religion and almost every other industry, segment or part of society, as well as with everyday concerns such as health, finance, relationships and so forth.

Inventions as varied as Elias Howe's sewing machine needle-where he dreamt the solution to the problem with the needle to be the placement of the hole at the pointed end-- and J. B. Parkinson's computer-controlled antiaircraft gun, were conceived in dreams. Scholar Herman Hilprecht reported that he dreamt that an Assyrian priest revealed the accurate translation of the stone of Nebuchadnezzar.

Problem Solving

The most common use of dream incubation is to request a solution to a current or continuing problem in your work or home life. These may be along the lines of whether to ask for a raise or make a career change; whether to have a baby or marry your current beau; If now is the right time to take the plunge and buy that little house, or move to another part of the country.

Several research studies have examined different aspects of problem solving and dreams. Wile, in 1934, addressed the incubation issue when he measured how long it took children to self-induce a dream on a desired topic. In 1974, Dement tested 500 undergraduate students by giving them three "brain-teaser" problems to solve while they slept. Morton Schatzman, in the 1980s repeated the Dement experiment, giving brain-teasers to huge numbers of people in England via the mass media.

Dr. Deirdre Barrett, of the Harvard Medical School, Behavioral Medicine Program, conducted a study of dream incubation for problem solving. However, unlike the researchers before her, she explored how subjects would do if they could solve problems of their own choice, rather than predetermined puzzles or problems.

One of the more interesting results of the Barrett study revealed that a solution was usually arrived at by the start of the dream. It didn't appear that the problem was being struggled with throughout the experience. However, in some instances, the solution was presented through subtle hints which built toward more obvious ones until the conscious mind finally "got the message."

Inventive and Scientific Solutions

Inventors, by nature are dreamers; sometimes in a very literal sense. Nikola Tesla, famous inventor of the high-voltage transformer (Tesla coil), for example, often perceived his inventions in dreams and in dream-like mental visions. Tesla reported that he "saw" his inventions as if they were real on the screen of his mind's eye. He claimed that the power of his imagery was such that he could do "experiments in his mind."

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz was the great chemist who revolutionized the study of chemistry with the discovery of the Benzene molecule. In a dream he was shown an image of a snake biting its own tail and realized that the molecule was a "closed chain."

In 1922, Niels Bohr received the Nobel Prize in physics due to a dream that enlightened him. He was trying to figure out what the structure of an atom was. One evening he fell asleep and in his dreams he saw the nucleus of the atom, with the electrons spinning around it, just like our solar system with the sun and planets. He knew immediately that this was the solution to his problem. Further testing and experiments proved it to be true.

Creative Solutions

Dreams can provide creative insights and solutions as well as practical and mundane ones.

Mary Shelley, who in the company of her famous husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and others had been reading aloud a collection of ghost stories, became part of a plan, suggested by Lord Byron, that they all write ghost stories of their own.

According to Mary Shelley's journal of April 1817, after listening to a long conversation between Byron and Shelley on the speculation that, "Perhaps a corpse would be reanimated," she retired to her bed well where, stimulated by the evening's conversation, was unable to sleep. When finally she did fall into blissful slumber her "imagination, unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie," she wrote, and thus Frankenstein was born.

Robert Louis Stevenson was influenced by his dreams. He wrote an essay in which he called his dream helpers "the Brownies. Whenever he was stuck for a character, plot or story he'd make a request of his "Brownies" and in the morning he'd have what he needed.

Edgar Allen Poe's personal favourite work was The Lady Ligeia. He was particularly captivated by her eyes, which had met his in a dream. Her eyes were "far larger than the ordinary eyes of our race. They were even fuller than the fullest of the gazelle eyes of the tribe of the valley of the Nourjahad."

Healing Solutions

Like Edgar Cayce, though perhaps not to the same degree, we can all request health related information, advice and even diagnoses. In 2004, I was suffering with terrible headaches daily. I had visited the doctor but, after a cursory examination, he informed me that there was "nothing wrong." Frustrated with his evaluation and flippant attitude, I decided to diagnose the problem myself... with the help of my dreaming mind. The dream I received that night told me that my diet and my anger with a situation in my life at that time were the cause. A change in eating habits and attitude alleviated the headaches.

The Power Of The Mind

Anyone who's experienced a creative breakthrough or insight through their dreams knows that the dreaming mind has a power we don't experience while awake. This power is unfettered by time, space, or self-imposed limitations. It reaches into the endless, boundless and eternal universe of unmanifest potential, where unlimited ideas, inspirations and imaginings lay in wait.

When you incubate or request, a resolution, solution or guidance dream, your sub/unconscious and superconscious mind work in unison to bring you the best solution for you at the present time. In some instances you may have been thinking about a particularly troubling problem for days, weeks or even months, but hadn't been able to resolve the issue. Then, out of the blue, you have a dream that makes everything crystal clear. At other times, you might not have consciously been focused on any particular problem, but you have a dream that provides you with a big "fix" for your life in general. It may be that the issue was smouldering in the back of your mind for quite a while and your dreaming mind finally brought it to the forefront for you to deal with.

Incubation Method

There are tons of resources on how to incubate or request a specific dream. What I'm sharing here is my own personal method. Feel free to adjust it to your liking.

The most important part of dream incubation is setting an intention. The more clearly your intention is articulated, thought or written, the more likely it is that you'll dream the answer to your question, problem or issue.

Clearly define the issue in your conscious mind first. What do you want your dreams to work on? Are you seeking the answer to a technical question or a career decision? Are you inquiring into a health or physical concern? Are you debating a relationship issue? By clearly understanding the problem or concern, you'll better understand the solution given.

If you usually keep a dream journal, write out your question or query on a new page. If you don't have a dream journal, any piece of paper will do. If you can draw an image, add a photograph, sketch the problem, add the additional information.

Once you settle into bed for the night, start thinking about the issue you want your dreams to work on. Repeat the question or statement you wrote out, over and over while you drift off to sleep.

That's all there is to it. You may not get an answer, solution or response the first time you try dream incubation. If this is the case, don't be disheartened. If you keep with it, you will get the answers you need. The most common reason new dreamworkers feel that their efforts yield no results is that they don't recognize that the dream or dreams they receive relate to the problem at hand (or each other). However, what I've found is that once I begin investigating the dream story, I'm surprised to discover how much they do in fact relate to my concerns and that they do indeed offer practical and sound solutions.

Like any new skill, dream incubation takes a little bit of practice and some patients. Once you begin using your dreams to explore and resolve issues, problems and concerns, you'll discover how invaluable the information they offer really is and you'll wonder why you didn't start requesting guidance sooner.

The Experiment

The point of this entire article is to provide the background and reason for an experiment I'm conducting, and to invite you to take part in the research. From October 31, 2012 to December 31, 2012 I'll be requesting information from my dreams on a variety of topics. I will also be attempting to incubate information for others as well.

Every day (or once I receive an answer/response to a dream query) I'll post the pre-dream request or question on the blog at: http://terrygillisdreamanalyst.ca/blog/. I'll then post the dream I receive. If you would like to participate, either by incubating your own questions/queries or by requesting that I incubate an issue for you, post your question or incubation and dream on the blog.

At the end of the eight weeks, I'll write up a report and article on the experiment and our results.

For more information or details on The Dream Incubation Experiment click here.

Terry Gillis is a dream investigator, researcher and author and would like to invite you to participate in her ongoing research and become a part of the growing dream community by posting your dreams on her blog. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Using Fitness Consultants Can Help Save Your Life

Being unhealthy will not allow you to reach your full potential naturally or spiritually. Did you know that a Fitness Consultant can guide you every step of the way to a new and improved you? Not knowing what types of foods to eat or the correct exercises to do could lead you to a road of unhappiness. A professional fitness consultant can provide you with every fitness and nutrition key that you need to guarantee your success in less time then you could have ever imagined. A single session with a Fitness Consultant can really enhance your knowledge about health and wellness. Health is something that you can't buy at a store you have to work at it but you will gain confidence and feel better than ever.

Did you know that most people who start exercise programs without professional help abandon the program within the first two weeks? Proper instruction is an essential key to succeed in reaching your health and fitness goals. Having no experience or previous knowledge will hinder your progress, causing you to waste a lot of unnecessary time and ultimately will get you very little results. Fitness Consultants are for everyone you do not need any previous experience and there are no age requirements. Having knowledgeable information about your health is something that you can pass on to friends and family that could be worth more than gold.

Did you know over fifty percent of today's worldwide medical problems are caused by bad eating habits and poor exercising efforts? According to medical doctors adult obesity is at an all-time high nationwide, and child obesity has tripled within the last thirty years. In an effort to enhance employee work performance most large companies are making it a top priority to invest in health and wellness programs. Think about it how an employee can be productive at work if they are eating unhealthy foods, and constantly absent from work because they are sick. Most people look at being healthy and physically fitness as a glass half full but that's merely the case it's a life style change not a ninety day quick fix.

In addition to health and wellness fitness is an art that has many challenges that must be balanced, and guided through instruction and discipline. Proper nutrition along with routine exercise is the only natural keys to a happy and more fulfilling life. Did you know that most people pursuing weight loss skip breakfast which is the most important meal of the day? The truth is your body needs proper nutrition and water to function properly. Did you know that the human body consists of sixty percent of water? Moreover an individual will be amazed at the amount of information that one can learn from a top class health professional.

Sometimes the smallest things can be of extreme value which can ultimately save your life. For example weight lifting exercises helps people achieve stronger bones! But a person that doesn't consult with fitness professionals would never know this life changing information. That's why fitness consultants are so important knowledge is power and it's a unique key that can unlock doors that you've never imagined. Not having the correct knowledge can limit your ability towards reaching your goals. Making a choice to live a healthier lifestyle is most often a tough decision that's why it's most important to talk with someone who has the experience and knowledge to meet your needs.

For more Information to go: fitnesskeys4u.com there you will receive a free book on self Improvement and also a free health chart. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

7 Activities to Help Reduce Your Stress

So many of us are on an epic journey to seek a variety of tools for quick stress reduction. Finding and sustaining some level of inner peace and harmony on a daily basis seems to be more challenging everyday. Many of these stressors we create; others are imposed upon us. We work too many hours, even on the weekend. We're constantly checking our emails, text messages, social media accounts and voice-mails. We stress out about our finances. We stress out about our work loads. We stress out about the future, forgetting to stay in the moment. Keep in mind, the media is not in the business of making you feel good. Likewise, friends, family, co-workers or business partners who feed on drama and the misfortune of others contribute additional stress and disharmony to your life; it can be very difficult to get away from it.

The good news is there things we can do to minimize the impact of daily stresses on our minds, bodies and spirits and when done continuously, really does work. This stuff is probably already things that you know about, however, if you don't employ them, what good are they going to do for you? Remember that wherever you go, there you are and so is your stress. It's very difficult to enjoy the moment of wherever you are if you're so highly agitated that you're unable to do so. You have to be able to get your head above water to take a breath. When you're bunched emotionally, making clear-headed decisions become challenging to impossible. What follows are 7 simple activities in which each are powerful in their own right.

1. Gentle Deep Breathing. When we are emotionally triggered in unpleasant ways, which is more often than not, we tend to hold our breath, effectively locking the breath and the emotion, up in our body. This causes toxicity and is the root cause of most dis-ease and illness. Your very life depends on your willingness to breathe with awareness and use all of your lung capacity. Conscious breathing refocuses your attention from the outer world to your inner world, reducing tension and stress. Several effective calming breathing techniques include alternate nostril breathing, left nostril breathing, the 4-7-8 count breath and deep breathing in the yogic corpse position. Do your due diligence and research before attempting.

2. Ground. Grounding is as essential as breathing. This activity keeps you energetically rooted to the earth, which is important when you feel overwhelmed and for many of us, this is an everyday occurrence. Grounding can help you feel "solid", strong and resolved. When you forget to ground, you may feel as you're being tossed around like some tiny rowboat at sea during a typhoon. Get bruised enough and you'll start to remember to anchor yourself. There are a number of ways to ground, but here's a quick one for you to do: (Do not do this while driving) Get somewhere quiet and close your eyes. Breathe deeply several times in through your nose and out through your mouth. Imagine a huge column of white light coming in through the top of your head and down through your body, out the bottom of your feet and into the earth. Do this for several breaths. Next, imagine a great tree: your legs are the trunk and they go deep into the earth. Do this for several more breaths. Continue the imagery and breathing until you feel calmer and more relaxed.

3. Shake or dance. You can either do this in public or in private just as long as you move. Energy is active, kinetic and requires movement. When we are feeling heavy and stagnant it is because our bodies are telling us it has too many energy blocks and it needs to move. Move freely and unrestricted, allowing your body to express full-range of motion. Make sure you breathe while you're doing this. Have fun! This activity disperses stagnant energy, wakes up the body and dissolves tension.

4. Listen to soothing music, chimes, singing bowls or running water. Some people relax through sound and vibration. When our fight or flight centers get activated through stress, which unfortunately for most of us is chronic, we have a hard time coming down and getting rid of the excess energy. These sounds can help to reduce the agitation of the sympathetic nervous system, which when activated by stress, releases adrenaline and lactic acid into the body; this is no bueno, especially when done over a long period of time. Listen to one or more of these sounds and breathe deeply at the same time. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Just listening to these sounds can have a profound effect on your emotions and your central nervous system. My favorite relaxing sound: listening to the sound of a rain storm.

5. Scream. Sounds simple enough right? Screaming can be a powerful eliminator of tension. However, DO NOT DO THESE WHILE DRIVING. You might actually pass out from the temporary increase in your blood pressure, especially if it's already high from stress. Screaming out your frustrations gives you an opportunity to again, kinetically move that stuck energy and give your voice when you can't say what you want. Another technique that works very well is called "HA" breathing. If screaming doesn't appeal to you, forcefully breathe out while saying "HA!" Breathe in through your nose and HA through your mouth.

6. Cry. This is one of the most underused forms of releasing stress. Crying is mistakenly seen as a form of weakness. Crying has a very powerful effect on the body as it releases extra stress hormones from the body and helps the body dump toxins associated with holding on to anger and frustration. When you have one of those days when it all just becomes too much, instead of engaging in a numbing activity that involves eating junk, drinking alcohol or taking some kind of drug, which just shoves it down further until it comes back in the form of an illness or disease, just find a quiet place where you can be alone and just have a good cry. You'll feel a whole lot better when you're done.

7. Herbal teas. There are several herbal teas out there that are well-known for having a sedative effect on the CNS and lowering stress, which can affect the quality of our sleep, a key component for reducing stress: getting enough sleep. Chamomile and Lavender tea, which can both be steeped directly from the flowers and seeds, are excellent at soothing the nervous system. Ginseng tea is another great herb which clears away that bunched feeling that comes from mental exhaustion and insomnia. You can also try Valerian, which is another great tea for helping you get to sleep and we all know that a lack of proper sleep just adds to our stress levels.

These are just a few suggestions that can be applied just about anywhere and at anytime. Most of them are free; herbal tea does not cost very much, little goes a long way and it can be carried with you anywhere where you can get hot water.

Long-term chronic stress has, unfortunately, become a way of life for most of us and we have an obligation to ourselves to find ways to reduce or even eliminate it. People have made radical changes to their lives in order to regain control of a life that has gone rogue because of stress.

When used regularly, these grounding and centering activities will have positive, far-reaching effects on your body, mind and spirit.

Charyn is co-owner of Gurl Know, a resource site for the Community of Women who want to live and love better in their lives. gurlknow.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.