Hydration: A Healthy Habit

Up to 60% of the human adult body is water – we all need to drink it.  Proper hydration is essential to life.

Two-thirds of your body is water, so you must stay hydrated to keep your body functioning properly. Getting enough fluids regulates your body’s temperature, provides nutrition for your cells, maintains your joints so they’re well lubricated, and helps your organs function at their best. Staying hydrated also benefits your sleep, your mood, and your ability to focus.

Indeed, next to oxygen, water is the single most important nutrient you will give your body. Water rejuvenates, and carries vital nutrients all around the body, helping deliver it where it’s needed. Water also helps to pick up the waste and debris cells throw off into the lymphatic system and eliminate it through your body.

Did you know our brain function greatly depends on being hydrated? To say the least…H20 is vital.

According to a 2019 article in Nutrients, a medical journal, water also keeps our muscles from tensing up. Many massage therapists that have clients with cramped muscles will often recommend drinking more water.

For these primary reasons, you need to work to stay hydrated every day. But how much water should you drink? And how can you incorporate more H2O into your day? Let’s explore!

Daily water recommendations:

Here are some guidelines on how to decide how much hydration you need each day.

• Women -11 cups of water a day
• Men-16 cups of water a day
• Toddlers-2 to 4 cups a day
• Children aged 4-8 years-5 cups of water a day
• Children aged 9-13 years, 7 to 8 cups of water a day

Foods That Can Promote Hydration:

Besides drinking water, fruit juices, teas, or flavored waters boost hydration. Plus, fruits and vegetables are great sources of water. Experts say that at least 1/5 of the fluids you consume every day comes from the foods you eat. Vegetables and fruits that contain high levels of water include the following:

• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Spinach
• Brussels Sprouts
• Mushrooms
• Broccoli
• Watermelon
• Blueberries
• Oranges
• Apples

While studies may vary based on age, activity levels, and environment, most people can maintain good hydration by drinking around 2-3 liters of fluids per day. Safe, pure water is best here, as many artificial or “natural” drinks are full of sugar and will not help maintain your body’s hydration levels as well as you think.

How do you know if you’re hydrated enough?

If you aren’t getting enough fluids, your body can become dehydrated. Studies suggest that dehydration decreases your body’s water content so there’s a fluid imbalance. You can become dehydrated if you lose as little at 3% body weight due to lack of water, according to a 2020 review. Dehydration increases your risk of disease, causes memory problems, poor cognitive function, and decreases your muscle endurance. Other symptoms of dehydration include

• Dark urine: According to the European Journal of Nutrition, dark urine is a sign you’re not drinking enough fluids. Drink more fluids if your urine is a dark yellow color with a strong odor.
• Muscle cramps: If you exercise outside in the heat and don’t drink enough you may get muscle cramps. This is common in children who’re outside a lot and forget to drink enough water.
• Headaches: Even mild dehydration can cause headaches, according to a 2019 study.
• Bad breath: The salvia in your mouth contains antibacterial characteristics. If you’re dehydrated, your mouth can’t produce enough salvia so bacteria grow in your mouth. The side effect of this growing bacteria is bad breath.
• Dry skin: If you’ve been out in the heat and your skin is extremely dry, it’s a sign that you are dehydrated. A good test is gently pulling your skin between your thumb and first finger. You are dehydrated if it “tents” and stays like that for a few minutes.
• Cravings for certain foods: Being dehydrated can cause you to crave sweets or salty foods because organs need water to create glucose into energy.

Fourteen Tips To Help You Stay Hydrated

Having trouble staying hydrated? Or do you not especially care to drink water? Here are some tips to help you meet your daily intake goals.

1 – Don’t wait until you’re thirsty

During the day, it’s easy to get preoccupied with kids, work, or school. You may forget to drink water until you feel thirsty. But waiting until you are thirsty before you drink water, means you’re already a bit dehydrated. When you feel thirsty, you’ve already lost 1% to 2% of your body’s water volume. Be sure to make drinking water part of your daily activities.

2 – Keep a water bottle with you all the time

Make it a daily habit to keep your water bottle nearby. If it’s close by, there’s a better chance you’ll remember to drink. Choose a water bottle that holds enough liquid for your day. It should be easy to hold on to for hikes or walking your dog. If you choose a plastic water bottle, avoid buying one with the number 7 in the recycling symbol. This bottle has BPA. Your best choice for a plastic water bottle is a number 2, 4, or 5.

3 – Eat more fresh veggies and fruits

Most of the time when you think of staying hydrated you think of drinking water or other fluids, but consuming lots of fresh vegetables and fruits is another simple way to boost your hydration. Processed foods are high in sodium and fats. Eating too many processed foods increases your risk of dehydration. Try adding fresh foods to your diet. They are not only healthier than processed foods, but they increase your fluid intake.

Here’s an example of a daily menu you could try to increase fluids

• Breakfast: A strawberry and watermelon smoothie. Strawberries comprise 92% water and watermelon contains 91% water.
• Lunch: A leafy green spinach salad drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil. An apple for dessert. Spinach is 93% water, citrus fruits are 86%. An apple is 85% water.
• Dinner: Salmon with lime juice, oven-baked zucchini, and sliced tomatoes. Zucchini is 90% water, tomatoes are 95% water.

So remember to load up on water-rich vegetables and fruits every day for a simple way to boost your fluids.

4 – Flavor your water

Some people dislike the taste of water. To be honest, water is pretty plain. But you can kick up your water’s flavor by adding a variety of veggies, fruits, or herbs. Add slices of lemons or limes for citrus-flavored water. Slices of cucumber, strawberries, and blueberries can also be added to your bottled water to boost your drinking water’s flavor. Herbs add freshness and flavor to your water. Try some mint leaves, ginger, cilantro, basil, or rosemary according to your taste. You can also add a small amount of orange juice or apple juice to your water. This adds flavor but not a lot of calories or sugar. Don’t forget coconut water, maple water, or almond water. These are some other nice waters to try if you’re not a big fan of plain water.

5 – Use a water tracker app

You may find that using a water tracker app on your phone or water helps you remember to drink water. These apps remind you throughout the day to keep drinking. Many of them can be customized for your needs.  Find an app that works for you and your schedule. Many people said they tried several before they found one that worked for them, so don’t give up if your first attempt at using a water tracker app doesn’t go well.

6 – Keep a pitcher of water on your desk

It’s a no-frills way to drinking more water, but placing a pitcher of water on your desk is a visible reminder to drink.

7 – Sip water throughout the day

You could guzzle as many glasses of water as possible in the morning, but that wouldn’t be very enjoyable. You’d probably get tired of drinking water after a day or two. It’s best to sip on water throughout your day. Because you are losing water all day through perspiration, urination, and breathing, it’s important to drink small amounts of water throughout your day to flush out toxins and hydrate all your organs.

 8 – Drink before and during meals

Drinking before and during meals is a simple way to hydrate. You can drink water, milk, or tea during your meals.  Did you know that sometimes when you feel thirsty you’re hungry? Add water to your meals to satisfy your thirst and hunger. Plus, you may find that drinking more water helps you eat less at meals.

9 – Don’t forget to try other fluids

If you’re not a fan of water, don’t worry. You can load up on other fluids to stay hydrated. Try drinking herbal teas, unsweetened orange juice, or flavored seltzer waters. Avoid sugary drinks that only make you thirstier and aren’t nutritious. Buy a juicer and try juicing fruits like watermelon, strawberries, berries, lemons, cantaloupe, and oranges. These natural juices are full of polyphenols and antioxidants that boost your health.

10 – Add spicy foods to your diet

So this sounds crazy at first, but eating spicy foods causes you to drink more water. Add a little chili powder and turmeric to your popcorn, or sprinkle a bit of cayenne pepper on rice cakes. The spicy flavor will make you smile and grab that glass of water every time.

 11 – Ask a friend to remind you

As a friend to hold you accountable to drink enough water every day. Decide how many glasses or bottles of water you want to drink and ask a friend to remind you. You may want to hold one another accountable so it’s not one-sided.

12 – Keep a cup by your bedside

Staying hydrated isn’t just something you need to do during the day. If you wake up at night, take a sip or two of water. Don’t drink too much since you’ll wake up and need to use the bathroom, but a few sips can help. This is important, especially in hot weather or if you’ve been outside all day exercising. You may be waking up due to thirst.

13 – Reward your efforts

Pat yourself on the back. You’ve achieved your water goals today. You have helped your body to be a little healthier today. Because adults like rewards as much as kids do, how about rewarding yourself with a little treat? It could be a special hat you spied on at the store or a book you’ve wanted to read forever. Whatever the reward, enjoy it because of all the effort it took to consume enough water today.

Final Thoughts on the Connection Between Proper Hydration and Staying Well

It’s easy to get distracted by work, kids, school, and the long list of other things you need to do each day, but don’t forget to take care of yourself. One simple thing you can do for yourself is to stay hydrated. Drinking water is essential for good health, so find easy ways to get fluids into your daily schedule. Whether it’s a water tracker app on your phone, a nearby water bottle, or asking a friend to hold you accountable to drink water-there are lots of creative ways to increase your fluids. Start small, don’t try all these tips at once. Add one or two at first, then move on to a couple more until you reach your daily water drinking goals every day.

When your thirst mechanism has been turned off for long, we often mistake thirst for hunger. We are not hungry, we are thirsty, and our body is asking for water.  Next time you feel hungry, drink a full glass of water and see if that subsides within a few minutes. Your thirst mechanism will return to its natural state as you drink more water. Not only will you begin to feel thirsty when you need water, but your appetite will decrease.

Restorative yoga is a beautiful style of yoga that’s both powerful and gentle. As mentioned in previous articles, restorative yoga is a term for poses done with the full support of bolsters, straps, blankets, or blocks—allowing the practitioner to comfortably sink into a pose that’s held for between 5 and 10 minutes so they can be completely relaxed, absorbed, and present.

An excellent low-impact exercise, restorative yoga provides the benefits of movement without the strain. A consistent practice not only helps to energize the physical body, but it also promotes a balanced mood and sharp mind. Another advantage of the gentle twisting poses and stretches in restorative yoga is that it slows the loss of bone density—vital for preventing osteoporosis.

There’s a yogic saying, “The body is as young as the spine is flexible.” The gentle stretching of restorative yoga goes a long way toward increased flexibility and a greater range of motion. Supported Seated Forward Bend helps keep the spine pliable and promotes healthy circulation in the spinal cord. It’s a pose you simply melt into.

 

Here’s how to do this restorative yoga pose:

 

• Place a chair on the floor at one end of your yoga mat—a sturdy chair that won’t slide when you lean into it for support.
• Sit cross-legged on the mat facing the front of the chair. You may want to sit on a folded blanket or bolster for added comfort.
• Place a yoga bolster lengthwise between you and the chair, with one end in the circular space between you and your crossed ankles, and the other end leaning against the chair.
• Bend forward, allowing the full weight of your torso and head to lean—melt—into the bolster for support.

“I melt into supported seated forward bend and mentally affirm, “My life is a place of balance and harmony.”

• Rest your forehead on the bolster or turn your head gently to the side—whichever position is most comfortable for you.
• Rest your hands on the exposed end of the bolster.
• As your body fully relaxes, observe your breath: inhale through your nostrils with the mental thought “calm;” exhale through your mouth with the mental thought, “chaos.”
• For comfort, switch the cross of your legs at the halfway point.
• To enhance the stretch, simply reach your hands to each side of the chair back and gently pull and hold to lengthen the side body and spine.

Once you’ve held this deeply relaxing position for between 5 and 10 minutes:

• Gently scoot back to the middle of your mat, taking the bolster with you.
• With legs fully outstretched, place the bolster sideways beneath your knees.
• Adjust your seat so that your sit-bones are comfortable—again, you may want a folded blanket underneath you.
• Slowly bend forward until you’re looking at the bolster between your knees.
• Gently grasp your feet in your hands.
• Close your eyes and observe your breath as before—inhale “calm,” exhale “chaos”—as you let your body fully relax into this pose.

This gentle variation offers an even deeper stretch to the back, spine, side body, and intercostal muscles in-between the ribs.

 

One of my favorite restorative asanas, I love how I feel when I melt into supported seated forward bend and mentally affirm, “My life is a place of balance and harmony.”

 

“The road to health is paved with good intestines!” ~ Sherry A. Rogers

Intestinal and digestive health is something that many people take for granted. The majority of our immune system is based on the gut. So, it is especially important to make sure that your digestive system functions properly.  Stress, poor diet, certain drugs, and aging can all affect the intestines and lead to discomforts and many illnesses. Gut flora is very important to overall health and well-being. By making sure to have a balance of good bacteria will help maintain good digestion.

Reoccurring cycles of antibiotics, birth control pills or other long-term meditations can damage the gut. Toxic substances in food, drink and other environmental influences also damage it’s composition. Good digestive health not only contributes to healthy skin, proper kidney function but can act as a preventative for degenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis as well. Luckily, there are many different things that can be done to improve digestive health.

Here are 3 small changes that can create a positive impact on Digestive Health:

1.  Nutrition

Many people have an understanding of how diet and nutrition affect the digestive system, but still, continue to eat poor quality foods. Excessive sugar, refined carbs, fried foods, and excessive alcohol consumption can all cause problems. Food compounds such as gluten, lectin, lactose, and fructose can cause allergy symptoms in many people.

Also, they trigger respiratory problems, immune system T-cell response, digestive problems or even addictive symptoms.  Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. And, eliminate overcooked and processed foods help to improve gut health immensely.

2.  Exercise

Exercise is an important part of proper digestive health, and yet little people realize the strong connection.  In addition, we need exercise for the body to digest properly, it balances blood sugar and hormone production, improves liver function and boosts the immune system. 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise is essential to overall health and wellness.

3.  Probiotics

Probiotics are live organisms that increase the number of beneficial bacteria in the digestive system and help to maintain a healthy balance in the intestines.

“Incorporating these recommendations into your life will begin to heal your body for the better.”

Therefore, these supplements should be consumed daily as part of a healthy eating plan. The bacteria helps to support health by supporting immune function, enhancing the absorption of nutrients, and protecting against leaky gut syndrome.

A leaky gut allows pathogens to penetrate the gut wall, which causes havoc on the body. Probiotics can be found either in supplement form or in real fermented foods, which can be made very easily and cost-effectively. Kombucha, Kefir, Sauerkraut, and yogurt are all examples of delicious probiotic foods and drinks that can be costly at health food stores, but easily made at home for pennies.

Kombucha is a common favorite but its high cost might make consuming a bottle a day seem expensive, so making your own is highly encouraged.

Promote digestive health: Make your own Kombucha!

• Purchase a culture, either online or at a health food store.  If you know someone who brews their own they are usually more than willing to give you a piece of their culture.
• Boil a gallon of water and add 7-9 teabags of your choice.
• Dissolve a cup of sugar, remove the teabags and let it cool completely.
• Pour the cooled water into a gallon container (glass or ceramic crock) and add the culture.
• Make sure the tea is completely cooled before adding the culture because heat will kill the culture.
• Cover the container with a paper towel or tea towel secured with a rubber band. Then, let it sit in a cool dry place for 7-28 days depending on your taste.  (You can start tasting after a week and when it suits your taste you can bottle the tonic for the second ferment.)
• Let the bottled drinks sit for another 24-48 hours to get the carbonation.
• Once ready, chill in the fridge and enjoy! The bottles will continue to ferment when left out so once the second ferment is done you can put it in the fridge to stop the fermentation process. If the drink is fermented too long and becomes too vinegary tasting it can always be used as a vinegar substitute for cooking and salad dressings with a probiotic kick!

Incorporating these recommendations into your life will begin to heal your body for the better. Eliminating processed foods and including more fresh fruits and vegetables will reduce the number of toxins that are entering the system, while exercise will work to remove the toxins, stimulate the lymphatic system and cleanse the blood.

Strive to consume probiotic-rich food and drinks daily.

Citations:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/06/27/probiotics-gut-health-impact.aspx

http://inhealth.cnn.com/digestive-health-center/4-exercises-to-boost-digestive-health/

Is it time for you to reset your mind? Sometimes, you just need a fresh start.

“You cannot expect to live a positive life if you hang with negative people.”  ~ Joel Osteen

How do positive people react when they are faced with negative energy? What tactics can be used to delete the negative thoughts and clean the slate when someone has been releasing their constant fears, worries, and ever-painful words on those who do not deserve it?

At times, people are inclined to bare and even be the subject of another person’s painful words and hurting soul. It can be said that positive people attract positive situations however, sometimes positive people attract bucket fillers who want to absorb their energy while leaving a trail of negativity. This can become very harmful to our precious thoughts as well as our positive mental clarity. Listening to negative words spoken around and to us can cloud our judgments and may even force our thoughts in that same direction. Being around negative people is inevitable however what we choose to accept and what we choose to DELETE is our choice.

“Staying positive can be a challenge – however, it is the most important principle in life when we are trying to create a harmonious and whole existence.”

Not everyone may support our decisions, as their life story will be different than ours. Staying positive can be a challenge – however, it is the most important principle in life when we are trying to create a harmonious and whole existence. To delete and reset is a very healthy way of dealing with people who may not support your calling and path.

By deleting negative words from our minds and especially the negative words that others may speak to us and resetting our thoughts, we are more likely to make positive choices, remove burdens and strife, and thrust ourselves into the destiny that is waiting for each and every one of us. When we delete negative words and negative self-talk, we are able to honor the positive energy that will lead us to the healthy, happy, and whole existence that is waiting for us.

To delete the negative words or thoughts and positively reset your mind, you need to exercise daily positive habits.

Here are some effective ones to begin:

3 Exercises to Delete and Reset Your Mind

1) Keep a journal.

Keep a journal to write out all of the negative thoughts or words that are spoken to or by you. At the end of the day go through the list and cross off as many as you can by replacing the words or thoughts with a positive truth or dream. By keeping a journal and tracking our thoughts we are able to recognize how and why we are thinking or receiving negative information.

2) DELETE what is not positive.

Although we may not always agree with other people, we can allow others to express themselves without agreeing with them. Transparency is the best form of honesty in any relationship. However, if the friend, colleague, or family member does not agree with us and begins to condemn our thinking we have the choice not to accept. We do not need to verbalize this act. Yet, in our mind, we can begin to immediately dismiss the words we are hearing and replace them with our own positive self aligning thoughts.

*(Editor’s note:  As negative words are sent toward you, reaffirm mentally with positive affirmations to bolster your own self-beliefs.)

3) EMPATHIZE but do not INTERNALIZE

By empathizing with others, we are able to hear their troubles. Internalizing their beliefs, however, is not a recipe for positive mental clarity. Empathizing with others allows them to share their worries, is a natural instinct, and shows kindness through their troublesome journey. The problem becomes evident when the receptor of information begins to internalize those fears and worries as their own. To effectively listen without internalizing, offering positive words of love, trust, and kindness as advice will allow the speaker to keep their troubles as their own. Thus, it will give you the mental clarity that is needed to stay in your positive mindset.

How do you maintain a high level of emotional well-being? Share with us in the conversation below!

If you already know the power of positive affirmations, you’ll truly appreciate this story.  If you have yet to learn about positive affirmations and why they’re vital to include in your life, this is a must-read!

“Affirmations are statements going beyond the reality of the present into the creation of the future through the words you use in the now.” – Louise L. Hay

Yesterday morning, I was inspired to decorate my house with positive affirmations. I wrote off abut 10 simple notes of truth that give me confidence and remind me to stay positive and create a powerful life. They are posted in random places that I visit almost every day: my refrigerator, the front door, the bathroom cabinet, my world map and vision board to name a few spots.

It may seem silly to write down positive affirmations like I choose to see the light I am in this world, or I believe I can change the world with the work that I do. But hey if you can’t write them down, let alone say them out loud, how can you believe them to be true?

Our beliefs are just learned patterns that we have developed over the years. Our upbringing and family life, school time with teachers & peers, work-life & co-workers, and constant inner dialogue have all played a role in shaping our beliefs.  Some of these may be supporting and nurturing; others may be roadblocks in our paths to achievement and happiness.

Positive affirmations are a way to change those destructive invalid expressions into encouraging and supportive truths. Continually repeating affirmations with conviction will slowly start to chip away any “truths” that don’t serve you. You’re reprogramming your mind, giving it a nice cleanse (almost like a “brainwash” but cleanse sounds so much nicer doesn’t it?)

“Positive affirmations are a way to change those destructive invalid expressions into encouraging and supportive truths.”

The nice thing about affirmations is you can bring them to any aspect of your life. Career, relationships, self-worth, love, abundance, you name it and you can create an affirmation to manifest positive change in that area. Prone to anxiety and fear? Try “I let go of my fears & worries that drain my energy.” Needing some self-love? “I am healed, whole, healthy.”

I had the chance to put positive affirmations to the test shortly after writing a few as I engaged on my run around Diamond Head. Then, I got to the uphill portion, turned up the volume on my iTunes,  and started going for it. It’s a steady climb and it doesn’t take long before my heart rate kicks up. And then my mantra came to me.

Out of nowhere, I found myself repeating, “I love the uphill push.” Shortness of breath- love it. Legs burning- love it. Heart pumping- love it. The more I repeated it, the more evidence I found to believe it was true. Running uphill pushes my body mentally and physically. It gives me a challenge. Also, it switches up my mundane routine of running around Palolo or Kapiolani Park. It throws me full force into my breath. The views will be beautiful. Think of how amazing you’ll feel once you are at the top.

Before I knew it, I was there. I reached the top and the hill behind me looked minor.

As I kept running, I recognized what a strong parallel running uphill is to facing a tough situation in life. From the bottom, the situation may look huge. You may not want to deal with it, so you may stay at the bottom. You might even start, but believe it’s too hard and turn around and walk down. OR, you can stay steady and keep moving up. You have options. Positive affirmations, (“I love the uphill push”) are just a tool to help you keep at it. To be brave and confident in your decisions. They are to remind you and give the belief that the view is so much better from the top.

4 tips for writing out your own positive affirmations:

1. WRITE IDEAS:

Take some time to write down the areas in your life you would like to improve and ideas of how you want your life to be. Look at each of them and write down a few positive statements for each category.

2.USE PRESENT TENSE:

Remember they must be positive and in the present tense. You are bringing what you want into your life now at this present moment.

3. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU DO WANT:

Focus on what you do want, not what you don’t want. Once you’ve written them out, practice saying them with belief and passion every day.

4.WATCH FOR CHANGE:

Begin to notice how these positive affirmations manifest your needs and bring change into your life.

Do you practice positive affirmations?

Share some of your favorite, most powerful, positive affirmations below.

The world is vibration—nothing in nature is at absolute rest. Everything is in a state of movement and in all movement rhythm is found. As rhythms of life pervade the universe, so it does the human body. The grace of universal rhythms is expressed in the phases of the moon, the ebb, and flow of the ties, the earth’s rotation, and the changing of the seasons. The human body has observable rhythms like the natural movement for the heart to open and close rhythmically thousands of times throughout the day. Other rhythms are expressed in the pulsing of blood as it flows through our veins and the very act of breathing.

“Everything has rhythm. Everything dances.” ~ Maya Angelou

Our internal body clock governs our daily or “circadian” rhythm.

It’s the master timekeeper of when things should happen. Years ago it was thought that there was one timekeeper—the brain—which controlled the body’s many functions. We now know that the brain is the conductor of a large time-keeping orchestra of peripheral clocks that are widespread throughout the body. One of which is located in each ovary, governing the cycle of women throughout the ages; the same women who once were—and for some, still are—drummers. In her book, “When Women Were Drummers”, Layne Redmond talks about the healing effects from the energetic vibration of drums.

Used across a multitude of cultures for thousands of years, drums have been part of the healing process as well as used ceremonially for occasions such as births, deaths, and marriages. This expression of instinctual rhythm is, in part, what has made drumming circles popular across the globe. The simultaneous but varying tones cause the mind to focus on the rhythmic beats. This quiets the mind and eases it into a somewhat dreamlike, meditative state.

Affirmation in the Rhythms of Life

Our body temple is like a drum; each one having a unique sound and being home to sacred rhythms—singing, dancing, changing, and making love—all life-affirming.

The most life-affirming rhythm that we take part in is breathing. In Latin, the word for breath and spirit is the same, “spirare.” About 16 times per minute we invite Spirit in and say “yes” to continuing our life here on earth and take another breath. Our breath is quite literally our life force. Mindful breathing fosters a relaxed and focused state of mind. Its rhythm calms the emotions and slows the heart rate, allowing the body to make peace with the tension harbored within.

“Just as a pebble thrown into a pond creates ripples that travel outward, so does our personal rhythm.”

In Tonglen Buddhist meditation, we practice breathing in the suffering of all beings around us. On the exhale we release and send the joy we have. Rhythm is a carrier of intention and information. Audible rhythms such as speech are expressions of vibration. Vibration is what triggers and gives momentum to earthquakes, tidal waves, and avalanches. Through the sound of our voice, we have the power to manifest things—to speak them into being. For instance, the word “Om” is the single most important mantra in Yoga. It represents primordial vibration—the heartbeat of the earth. When spoken it means unleashed, unlimited potential and possibility.

Just as a pebble thrown into a pond creates ripples that travel outward, so does our personal rhythm. The vibration of everything we do and think affects the people in our lives. Their reaction, in turn, affects others. Our personal rhythm is powerful. With it, we have the capacity to change the world in a variety of ways for better or worse.

What is the ripple effect of your personal rhythm?