A recent study at the University of Georgia Department of Kinesiology suggests that breakfast paired with 200 milligrams of caffeine (the average amount in a mug of coffee) improves the mood.

“I believe that the way you feel about your life eventually ends up on your face.”   Julia Roberts on well-being.

The happiest people on earth?  Among them are folks from Copenhagen, Denmark.  Look at the amazing way they live.  After watching this, Copenhagen is definitely on my bucket list.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg-vkW8Wk2A

   Quote:  “Great style is a natural byproduct of a healthy sense of self.”  ….Dan Ho, Dan Ho Show on FitTV. 

Want happiness?  Try music.  Music activates parts of the brain that can trigger happiness, releasing endorphins similar to the ways that sex and food do.  Music can also relax the body, sometimes into sleep, as it stimulates the brain’s release of melatonin.

A study of older adults who listened to their choice of music during outpatient eye surgery showed that they had significantly lower heart rates and blood pressure, and their hearts did not work as hard as those who underwent surgery without music. A second study of patients undergoing colonoscopy showed that listening to their selection of music reduced their anxiety levels and lessened the dosage required for sedation.

Case in point, listen to this song and try not to start immediately salsa dancing.  It’s absolutely impossible to listen to this song and not start instantly dancing.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO0R_QTnKzA

   There’s no doubt that lots of us are worried about our financial futures.  No one is here to bail you out.  It can feel all too overwhelming and daunting at times.  But did you ever stop to think of the benefits of this forced recession?  I think we can see tremendous benefit beyond our recession pain.  Here’s why:

*  We are more cognizant of our spending and saving.  Cognizance brings bigger thinking to the table, forces you to set goals and to take ownership of your actions. 

*  We are eating at home more.  Because we are eating at home more, we are eating healthier.  For great healthy, fast recipes, see Sam The Cooking Guy.

*  Gym memberships are on the decline according to studies, but this doesn’t mean that you have to stop exercising.  People are finally discovering their sidewalks outside their own door and are exercising outside…where it’s free. 

*  We are watching less TV:  According to reports from cable companies, they are losing customers in droves.  It forces you to do something free…like go to the library, reacquaint yourself with that sidewalk out in front of your house, reorganize your closets, or just take some zen time. 

*  The recession is helping us to focus on what’s important in life, helping us to reevaluate our goals, like…relationships, family, God, happiness, being kind and helping one another. 

Perhaps those are the good things we can take away from the recession.  After all, just because you’ve been doing something the same way for a long time doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right way.  Step back, look at things from 1000 feet, and re-think your life and all the people and things in it.  Start to focus in, keep your chin up, and remain happy.   That’s what will get you through. 

A 1990s study of 141 senior class photographs from the 1960 yearbook of Mills College examined the nature of smiles in the photos: genuine smiles, the so-called Duchenne smile, versus a forced photo-smile. Researchers found that genuine smilers were more likely to be married, to stay married, and to experience more personal well being.

That makes me think of these pictures.  I asked Dylan what he was doing to his cheeks when he was smiling, and he said he was trying to smile big, like I do.  He achieved his goal in the bottom picture. 

Here are five great selections to give to yourself, or a friend this holiday season.  Everyone loves a great read, and more so, everyone starts to think about ways to improve their life this time of year (think New Year’s resolutions!)  Here are a few of my favorites.   Extra points if you can turn someone on to the love of reading.  One of these great books will get a non-book-reader headed in the right direction. 

   Quiet Mind by David Kundtz.   More than a meditation book, Quiet Mind is a series of reflections that can illuminate every aspect of life. It offers readers guidance on using the moments between activities, which the author calls “stillpoints”.  As opportunities to focus on becoming more fully awake to who they are. “These times are the ‘spaces in between’ the events of your life,” writes Kundtz, “spaces often lost, or worse, filled with anxiety. And these spaces in between are just waiting to bring you the calmness and clarity that an over-demanding schedule steals from you.” A welcome respite for anyone whose gear shift is perpetually in overdrive, Quiet Mind is an invitation to rest, find peace, awaken, and remember. It offers deceptively simple wisdom to help readers sharpen their senses and make room for life.

    Instant Karma by Barbara Ann Kipfer.  Help others. Help yourself. Be a better person, and make the world a better place. Using the wisdom of the East to instruct and inspire, INSTANT KARMA is a universe of things a reader can do, right now, to accumulate good karma. And, like pennies going into a piggy bank, each is a seemingly little thing-but feed the bank day after day and feel it grow richer and happier.  Created by Barbara Ann Kipfer, the author whose books-including 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, 8,789 Words of Wisdom, and The Wish List-have 1.2 million copies in print, INSTANT KARMA is a compulsive, densely packed, chunky little book of 10,000 or so suggestions, wishes, thoughts, and the occasional heartening quotation.

   It’s Up to You by Karen Casey.  It’s Up to You invites readers to do three simple things: meditate, pay attention, and make choices to change their lives–for a few minutes each morning and evening, one principle a week for twelve weeks. As we reflect on Casey’s insight into the insidious ways we create misery or drama, try to impose will, and suffer needlessly, and as we follow her gentle prompts to make different choices, we begin to see that we can change just about anything in our lives by taking these small steps. Nothing could be simpler, and nothing could be more effective. Or as Karen Casey puts it, “Progress is guaranteed. Perfection isn’t expected.”

   Easy Green Living by Renee Loux.  We are what we eat, but we also are what we use to clean our homes, pamper our skin, and decorate our rooms, according to Renée Loux, accomplished raw food chef, award-winning author, and host of Fine Living TV’s Easy Being Green. In her new book, Easy Green Living, she applies her whole-foods philosophy to home, garden, and beauty routines.  Renée Loux demonstrates that being green at home is easy, affordable, and better in every sense of the word. She discusses the daily choices we face that can keep the home, personal care, and beauty routines free of toxins. She exposes the dirt on cleaning products and common hazardous ingredients and reveals her recommendations for greener options, including her “Green Thumb Guides” for choosing non-toxic, eco-smart, and human-friendly products. Peppered with compelling and inspiring facts, Easy Green Living is full of “5 Step” lists, products and recipes for green cleaning, helpful charts, safer choices for every room, and inspirational advice so we can save the planet–one cleaning spritz at a time.

  The Girls’ Guide To Building A Million-Dollar Business by Susan Wilson Solovic.  Featuring interviews with daring, powerhouse women like Gayle Martz, President & CEO, Sherpa’s Pet Trading Company, and Taryn Rose of Taryn Rose International, Solovic offers frank advice and hard-won lessons including:
-Taking emotions out of the workplace.
-Make business decisions based on what is best for the company, not on your personal feelings.
-Thinking big and bold.
-Believe that you can be successful and be willing to announce your intentions to the world.
-Managing for growth.
-Hire the right people and discover the best ways to keep them.
-Never being afraid to take a chance.
-Boost profits by taking financial risks.

Inspiring and unflinching, The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business shows women that not only do they have the power to earn more money and control their financial destinies – they deserve to.

Okay, so there’s no such thing as “In Love” Day, but it sure is a sweet concept.  Go kiss on someone today.  Or, better yet, go fall in love today.   Nothing is better than being in love!

xoxo