God is SO Good!

This is long overdue and unlike any other post you'll find on fresh-you.com. Wellness of mind and body is enhanced by spirituality. I can't imagine life without my faith. Amazingly, there is research showing that it is beneficial to your health! As you'll see at the bottom of this post, I've actually written many related posts, including topics such as forgiveness, love, and gratitude. This is post is a bit scattered, but hopefully something here will inspire growth in your heart!

Please enjoy this Peace Prayer, also known as the Prayer of St Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. AMEN

There are many wonderful resources and angles connecting spirituality, wellness, and overall efforts to be a good person. These things make us healthier and help us cope with life and manage stress. Trying to include as much possible has delayed this post from publication. Instead, it's just a happy mishmash for you to enjoy!

Of course there is something from nutritionfacts.org!

Helping, Generosity, Sharing, and Giving Boost Wellness

How Generosity May Help You Be Happier and Live Longer (video)

Live happily for a long time with the Blue Zones!

“People who pay attention to their spiritual side have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, depression, stress, and suicide, and their immune systems seem to work better … To a certain extent, adherence to a religion allows them to relinquish the stresses of everyday life to a higher power,” says Dan Buettner, Blue Zones founder and National Geographic Fellow.

The Halo Effect of Sacred Spaces - Blue Zones (article)

Dean Ornish is a physician and researcher who could basically be called the father of how our lifestyle changes our DNA, often focused heavily on diet. His talk here has a different twist focusing on the importance of interconnectedness:

Dr. Dean Ornish on the importance of interconnectedness | CNN

Kindland is a program with a mission to encourage empathy, kindness, respect, and compassion. It began in Cleveland, Ohio, and has become a nationwide effort! Challenge yourself or your kids right now by joining today! There is a special program going on until August 22, 2025.

Summer of Kindness | valuesinaction

10 Ways to be a Good Citizen in Kindland and Spread Kindness

Kindness Activities to Check Off for the Summer of Kindness Challenge

This summer, I stopped at a community fair booth that said "Pray with us!" because I love to pray. They offered free books and the one that caught my eye said "Habits from America's Longest Living People"! One of the five Blue Zones is from the Unites States: the Seventh Day Adventists. Blue Zones have many people living past 100 years (centenarians).

Habits that Heal: Habits from America’s Longest Living People: unknown author: 9780996338004: Amazon.com: Books

Fresh-You Posts about Related Topics

Nature

12 Benefits of Being in Nature and the Outdoors

Blue Zones

Blue Zones and More! Live Long and Live Well!

Gratitude

Goodness of Gratitude: 7 Awesome Benefits!

Meditation

Simple Meditation Video from Deepak Chopra

Kindness

All You Need is Love

Forgiveness

Fantastic Feelings From Forgiveness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness Made Easy

Love, Resilience

Fresh-You Nutrition, Fitness, and Wellness: Healthy High Anyone?

Breathing

Close Your Mouth and Save Your Life!

Yoga

Yoga Benefits for All AND Cosmic Kids Yoga!

Being Present

Don't Zone Out - Harmful to your Happiness

Life Can Be a Ray of Sunshine Even in Darkness

Lent Ideas

Ideas for Lent

24 Ideas for Lent and Beyond

Prayer App

Hallow from Heaven

Top 10 Reasons to Konmari Your Home!

A New Organization Method!

Konmari Technique to Tidying and Simplifying is ROCKING my world! My sister-in-law introduced the book/technique to me, and since then, it's been love at first sight! I am totally addicted! Did I say that the other day about the hot sauce too?

It's called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Thank you, Marie Kondo, for your brilliance!

 Photo from Amy Christie who writes her blog:
This Heart of Mine
(she has a lovely post about the book/technique)

Top 10 Reasons to Konmari Your Home

#1 My feelings during and after each step are AMAZING; I feel completely wonderful, peaceful, light, energized, focused, productive, motivated, really! 

#2 I agree that the process is in fact, life-changing! It's a perfect name for her technique and her writing describes it all so beautifully. Perhaps, I will get into the process and hows in another post. As I am getting organized, I am finding new and exciting ideas and energy for my passion of nutrition and health! My mind seems clearer to do what it really wants to, what it might in an ideal world, free from too much busy-ness. (See also 10 Tips and Tricks to Simplify Your Life)

#3 My progress rubs off on others most important in my life, without me pushing. Though, I will say that I am actively teaching my children all about this technique.

#4 It's fun to get dressed in the morning, put away my laundry, pack for a trip, or decide what to wear for a special occasion. A new experience for me!

#5 I have a greater respect and care for our things. For example, I have a dress I like, but it didn't fit me just right. Each time I wore it, I would fleetingly wish it wasn't so low cut. After reading this book, I took action by asking my dear mother-in-law to sew it for me, and ta-da! Now, I wear it and feel perfectly comfortable :) Marie Kondo teaches us to repair items we love, rather than just discard, and purchase new. She gives an example of replacing a missing button on a coat you love. So it's not just about getting rid of everything.

#6 It is such a joy to give away lovely items that have already served their purpose in our home. How fun to give gifts! Note: please be careful to only give others things that you think they might really want. We don't want to add to other people's stuff.

#7 (similar to #5) I feel urges to decorate and repair my home, and make it just right for our family. This isn't something about which I've ever been much concerned. It's just a quiet, new feeling, related to appreciating and caring for my home. We all love our home very much right now; still, it's fun to imagine making it just right. I realize that I can make it an even more special place for my family. I am avoiding the word "perfect", but I suppose I am aiming for "perfect FOR US". 

#8 Long lost library books that have been found! We've certainly come across other treasures, but library books definitely come to mind :)

#9 (related to #8) The enjoyment of playing games and other activities with my kids. We're freshly aware of games and activities we had forgotten about. We have space to play, and we have fun activities stored front and center, and easily accessible.

#10 I love the gratitude mindset that Marie Kondo emphasizes. We always thank God for the fun and functionality we got out of the item we might be giving away. Marie Kondo explains how each item serves a purpose. Gifts served their purpose when a loved one gave them to us. Something we purchased that was expensive or a bargain doesn't mean we need to keep it forever. We can learn lessons from each item that we pass on, and she has many lovely examples. (Goodness of Gratitude: 7 Awesome Benefits of Gratitude)

#11 An extra! Another cool thing about this method is that Marie Kondo says you only have to go through this process once. My clothing, the first category, looks 99% the way it looked when I organized it 3 months ago! I describe it like a puzzle, and I just put things back right in their space. You know the saying "a place for everything", well each item I wear now has a specific place it belongs.

#12 Last one! In the book, she gives very exact steps. In particular, I appreciate her providing an exact order of what to tidy first. I love not having to decide what to do next, instead moving on to the next category that Marie suggests without having to make that decision.

 Thanks for this lovely photo, Amy Christie of This Heart of Mine blog!
(she has a lovely post about the book/technique)

Comments: Have you tried this? Other effective methods and tips you'd like to share?

Get Happy!

Here are some great tips to get you out of your funk before the holidays! Pick what sounds most practical for you :)

1. Eliminate caffeine -- if you are addicted, it can really have an effect on your mood.

2. Cut out packaged foods -- these cause inflammation, and new research indicates that inflammation and depression are closely linked.

3. Take fish oil, vitamin D, and a multivitamin. Omega-3 are building blocks for your brain, vitamin D deficiency causes depression and even psychosis, and a multivitamin is especially helpful in providing B-vitamins so key to neural health. (Update: of these, I would only recommend a USP-verified vitamin D supplement. Get your omega-3 from walnuts, flax, chia, and hemp. Get most of your B-vitamins from the Daily Dozen. With one exception: here are the details on B12.)

4. Turn off your cell phone and computer at 8pm each night. Our electronic world is decreasing our social interactions, those of actually touching and talking with people in person. Having strong relationships, with friends especially, is key to happiness.

5. EXERCISE IS AT LEAST AS EFFECTIVE AS ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS, without the side effects, well negative side effects anyway!

6. Gratitude (posting things that I am grateful for daily this month have been a great little part of my day!), forgiveness, and volunteering are also very effective in increasing the satisfaction in your life!
HERE is a link to 7 Benefits of Gratitude!

Dr Weil was a guest on the Dr Oz Show and explained a lot of this and he even has a new book, Spontaneous Happiness, which I've only just heard about, but seems like a wonderful resource!

How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky is another book that I did read which may be very similar, and since it is older, may be easier to check out from the library.

I also really enjoyed Stumbling on Happiness, in which Daniel Gilbert describes research about happiness, or rather life satisfaction.

I also really thought Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar was cool because it provided sort of a workbook format of steps for you to take toward a happier you! Tal's is a cool story -- he taught a class at Harvard (on which his book is based) for the first time with a handful of kids, and it pretty immediately became the most popular Harvard course of all time!

I find all of this pretty amazing. It's not that I have really battled depression through my life, rather I am luckily pretty satisfied with my life and it seems unfair that not everyone feels like I feel. These books make it clear that YOU can DO things to become HAPPIER!

I question whether a severely depressed person could take the time to get through a book and its steps, but it sure beats taking medications. It's fascinating that some of these techniques are in fact as, or more effective than drugs. I implore you to try just one thing and see what happens!

Be sure not to stop taking any medications without first speaking with your physician.

"Like" the fresh-you Facebook page here!

You might also enjoy another post which includes a video by Tal.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell me in a comment below: what do you do to get happier? Does it help? What works best for you?