Therapists Explain 6 Ways Art Can Make You Happier

November 4, 2022 by Power of Positivity

Do you consider yourself artistic, or do coloring sessions with your children count as your only outlet? Art museums exist from coast to coast, yet only a tiny fraction of the population views these fantastic works. Art can be much more than just painting or doing sculptures, as creativity can be a way to lift your spirits and enhance your mood.

When you channel your creativity, you’re unlocking many therapeutic benefits. You likely listen to music. Have you heard a tune about someone losing their girlfriend or boyfriend or their dog running away? Music is another form of expression that helps people deal with their issues. Some of the greatest songs come from the depths of a broken heart and soul.

Finding an Outlet for Your Pain and Negativity

Consider Eric Clapton’s song Tears in Heaven. He lost his young child, Conner, when he fell out of the window on the 53rd floor of a high-rise building in NYC. The child was four years old, and Clapton was supposed to watch him when he took that fateful tumble. According to the Associated Press, this caused Clapton to spiral into a deep depression, and he wrote the song Tears in Heaven to help deal with the pain.

Art can be music, or it can be tons of other things, but the therapeutic benefits cannot be ignored. Now, every time you do something artistic, it doesn’t mean you’ll reap significant benefits, but when you use it as an outlet, it can be beneficial. The song from Clapton shows raw emotion you can feel even if you don’t know the story behind the music, and you can find similar ways to express yourself.

Ways Art Can Make You Happier

A study by Americans for the Arts found through a public poll that more than two-thirds of the population use art to uplift the spirit. It can stimulate the receptors in the brain that bring pleasure and reward. Here are some of the benefits of enhancing your creativity.

1. Art Kicks Stress Out of Your Life

To live is to experience stress, so you need coping skills to combat these feelings. Art has been known to generate the feel-good chemicals that help to kick stress out of your life. Have you ever heard the term “art-therapy?”

Facilities all over the globe use this form of therapy to help with things from mental illness to dementia. When you’re creating something from the innermost workings of your mind, there’s no right or wrong answer. You can make whatever you want without reservation.

Some folks paint works that are wild and uninterpreted, much like the paintings of the famous Kandinsky. Abstract art often depicts what’s deep inside the soul and is a way to release those feelings that haunt you.

2. Creativity Has a Physical Effect on the Body

You might think it sounds silly to say that paintings physically affect your body, but it’s true. Whether confusing or pleasurable, viewing true talent triggers a response and stimulates you. The power of creativity can be felt when you look at paintings like the Mona Lisa done by Leonardo da Vinci, and you can’t help but have tears in your eyes.

Some folks probably feel moved because of the significance of this piece, while others appreciate raw talent. A historical battle scene painting might transport you to another time and place. Yet, a religious image might make you feel closer to heaven as you see a picture of Jesus and the angels.

Creativity is powerful, as it helps you move from the physical realm and go to another reality. It might be the mental escape you need.

3. Art Speaks to Your Soul

Using your creative side can send you a powerful message. It’s therapeutic because it stimulates emotions and forces you to see reality. For instance, someone who paints a dark and disturbing picture might be forced to deal with the reality that they’re not in a good place.

What’s on the inside always comes to the outside; this is one way you can safely express yourself. Edvard Munch painted one of the most expressive paintings of all times with “The Scream.” Common words describing this piece include eerie, scary, and painful. Some believe that the Norwegian Expressionist was trying to show human anxiety, while many other opinions exist.

Another famous artist was Vincent Van Gogh. He was known to be a troubled soul who often fought mental illness. Yet, his paintings were some of the most brilliant works. His creativity knew no bounds, and while it took you a while to decipher the message in his pieces, they always had a powerful meaning.

4. Creativity Makes You More Mindful of the Things Around You

Have you ever stopped and examined the magnificence of a snowflake? Have you ever got close and personal with an owl and looked at its long eyelashes? Do you make time to notice things such as the rain dripping from the leaves of the trees?

So often, people go through life and let the littlest things pass them by, but these things are often the most precious. Using creativity, you can capture these moments by painting, taking a picture, or in many other ways. Now some things aren’t moving you at all, but other things will speak to you and make you more mindful of the magnificence of planet Earth.

5. A Creative Outlet Teaches You to Live in the Moment

Did you know there are incredible works around you, but many people never venture too far to explore them? Even something as quirky as the train station can allow you to see the creative sides of people waiting in boredom for the next ride. Think of all the time you’ve passed art by in your life, and you’ve never appreciated the talent of others.

Some might consider graffiti a mess, considering only the costs of thousands of dollars to remove someone’s clever work. However, what if we examined the talent and appreciated the effort instead of focusing on a clean-up? According to Eden Gallery, these once despised markings are now praised for the artistic talent of the creator.

While not every person receives this work positively, more folks accept these creative drawings. It’s an expression that we must channel properly. Would you be surprised that this isn’t a new type of inspiration? Graffiti goes back to the times of cavepeople when folks used to draw and carve on the stone walls.

Graffiti-Art is now becoming popular in some galleries to help move these works from the streets to the showroom. When the people who make these works can use their inner passion to put something on a canvas, they can make money and even exhibit their work. Isn’t that what they all wanted to be seen and heard?

Moving on from graffiti, which is often hard to miss, have you ever considered the architecture of the buildings around you? Art can open your heart and mind to see things through other people’s lenses. You may find that your view on things differs vastly from those who walk beside you.

6. Art Improves Your Mental Health

The famous artist Van Gogh used painting to clear his mind, and you can do the same thing today. You can engage in artistic expression, which can help boost your morale and make you happy. You can create anything you want with a pencil, crayon, or paintbrush in your hand.

Maybe you’re going through a rough patch where you have lots of depression and anxiety. Why not sit to the piano and write a song expressing your inner pain? Rather than ruminating on everything wrong in your life, you can express yourself through music or other art forms.

The University of Calgary did a study about how using an arts-rich life can help to improve mental health. They found the cognitive-reflective aspects allowed people to shift mental focus from the negative to the positive. Even studies prove how these creative sides can enhance your brain, so it’s even more reason to engage in creativity.

Final Thoughts on Finding Happiness Through Art

One theory is that some of the most creative people were mad. Consider the greats like Beethoven and Van Gogh, for instance. These were emotionally unstable men who fought hard against mental illness. Perhaps there is a link between creativity and madness, but much research proves that artistic expression is a great way to fight those inner demons.

The truth is that vitamin or mental supplements can’t do what unleashing your creative side can do for you. When you’re drawing, sculpting, painting, and playing music, you’re entering a state where you’re more self-aware. Many say they’re not artistic and have no talents, but you may surprise yourself if you try it.

You might not play the piano like Liberace, but you may have the talent to draw impressionist pieces that are gallery-worthy. The key is to use artistic expression to surround yourself with creativity. Before long, you will notice that your mind will be churning with all sorts of ideas, and you’re happier and feeling better than you have in years.

4 Ways Being Mindful Improves Your Relationships

November 4, 2022 by Lakeisha Ethans

Mindfulness is a hot topic in the world of mental wellness, and tons of research has shown that it is effective for personal happiness, mental health, and growth. But did you know that being mindful can help others, too?

Yes, it’s true! Science has found that being mindful benefits, not just you but those in your life! If that’s not a reason to begin practicing the skill of mindfulness, we don’t know what is! But how does it work? Here are four ways being mindful improves your relationships.

1. It Allows You To Appreciate Others

Feeling unappreciated is a very common reason for tension and dissatisfaction in relationships. Mindfulness teaches the positive emotion of gratitude by making you more aware of all the wonderful things in your life. This includes a greater appreciation and thankfulness for the people around you, fostering happier and healthier relationships.

Studies have found that regular expressions of gratitude have positive effects on romantic relationships, so it’s fair to conclude that they can be similarly effective on various relationships of various intimacy levels. Better yet, being the provider of gratitude increases your own happiness in relationships, too, so you’ll benefit from this mindful pattern.

But how does mindfulness tie into all of this on a deeper level? Well, mindfulness is famous for improving your awareness of your internal world. But it also simultaneously increases awareness of the external world, allowing you to become more grounded in the present. You’ll see new beauty and blessings that you couldn’t see before, including those bestowed upon you through your relationships.

But now that you’re aware of how good your relationships are, where do you go from there? Mindfulness may make you appreciative, but you must express that appreciation.

You can do so by:

Making sure to thank the people in your life for what they do for you
Giving compliments to people when you notice their strengths, improvements, or efforts
Writing thank you notes for significant or notable acts of kindness that others have performed toward you
Ensuring that you never take those in your life for granted

2. It Aids Emotional Management

Mindfulness allows you to become more aware of the landscape of your feelings and emotions and those of others. This awareness lends itself to improved management and positive moderation of these emotions and your natural responses to them. Contrary to what it sounds like, this doesn’t refer to the act of repressing or denying feelings. Instead, it means:

Becoming more understanding and insightful of these feelings.
It allows you to regulate your emotions due to your closer connection to them.
Improving your sensitivity and awareness of your feelings.
Gaining improved perspective on your emotions, allowing you to use rationality to soften them as needed.
Developing better responses to emotions.
Understanding the true roots of your feelings.

How does this benefit relationships?

Well, it’s only natural that being able to comprehend and regulate emotions can affect the people around you. Specifically, this aid comes from:

Improved ability to regulate negative emotions so you don’t lash out at others.
Better insight into the incitement of other people’s emotions and their roots, so you don’t take them personally.
Better ability to be empathetic towards other people’s feelings.
Improved ability to communicate and explain your own emotions.
Heightened control over high-intensity emotions.

Of course, it is easier said than done to apply mindfulness to your and other people’s relationships naturally.

· Face The Emotion Directly

It can be tempting to turn away from your feelings – and the feelings of others. Emotions can be overwhelming for you and other people, and they can be intimidating to look at directly. But in order to use mindfulness, you must bravely and directly face the emotion. If it is your own emotion, take a deep breath and acknowledge the feeling, then pay attention to your thoughts carefully. This will let you analyze each unique individual word in those thoughts. If it is someone else’s emotion, focus on your natural defensive instincts and gently lay those instincts down. Focus on exploring the emotions that person is dealing with by observing them and tracing their roots. Validate those emotions!

· Make Space From Emotions

Emotions come with powerful waves of overwhelming energy. This makes them so overwhelming and can even make you feel controlled by them. Mindfulness allows you to separate yourself from those emotions and observe them as a witness instead of someone directly involved. If someone else is dealing with emotions, separate yourself from those strong feelings and take none of it personally. Instead, be grounded, like a rock for that person to tether them, and you can mindfully ask them what it is they’re feeling and guide them through their emotions.

· Put A Pause On Big Emotions

Regulating your own emotions with mindfulness means that you can hit pause on them and question their validity, appropriateness, and rationality. With mindfulness, you can tell your emotions to calm down and greet them with a more logical mind without the need for harmful repression. This affects the way you interact with the world around you. So when you feel those sweeping emotions, stop them in their tracks and ask them why they’re there to begin with!

3. It Helps You Correct Certain Behaviors

While good relationships of any nature involve accepting each other’s flaws, it’s no secret that certain flaws can be detrimental to relationships. A lot of the responses you may naturally have in a relationship – whether romantic, familial, platonic, or otherwise – are habitual, meaning you need to actually put effort into changing them.

But if you’ve ever tried to break a habit, you know how tough that can be. And it’s even more complicated when these routine reactions are conditioned and natural, occurring almost subconsciously. It can take more than just trying to shift them actually to create change. And that’s how mindfulness practice helps. Here’s how, in more detail:

· Mindfulness Makes You Aware

When you’re mindful, you can tune into your habitual behaviors and become much more aware of them. This allows you to recognize your natural reactions in relationships and trace them to their roots, so you see them for what they are.

· Mindfulness Changes Your Brain

Changing subconscious habits requires rewiring your brain, and mindfulness does that, according to research. Practicing mindfulness helps to shift the functional and structural conception of your neural circuits. This means you can unlearn automatic reactions and habitual behaviors by rewiring your pathways to different types of responses!

· Mindfulness Breeds Acceptance

As the people around you also work on their personal growth, being mindful will help you to accept the flaws in your relationships and be patient with the people working on changing them. Your acceptance will allow those in your life to feel supported by you, and they’ll support your efforts in growth in kind.

4. It Reduces Stress

A lot of the conflict that may arise in a relationship of any kind comes from high stress levels. You are less likely to manage disagreements and rough patches if you’re already in a state of depleted positive thinking, high-strung anxiety, or fight-or-flight stress. This is why mindfulness is so beneficial – it helps you manage stress long-term, preparing you in advance for relationship troubles.

Your interactions with other people are most likely to be effective and beneficial if your stress levels are well-managed and contained. Lower stress levels allow you to stay grounded to reality, connected to the people you’re interacting with, and rational in emotional situations.

When you are mindful, you can react in a more positive or appropriate way to a stressful situation. This is because you can remain aware of your emotions and reality all at once while maintaining empathy and understanding for the people around you. No wonder it helps relationships!

And even when you’re not in stressful environments, the natural reduction of psychological stress, thanks to mindfulness, is good for maintaining connectivity to your relationships on a regular basis. Even when you’re calm, the lower general stress works wonders!

Of course, natural mindful stress-reduction can take a while to learn. If you are engaged in conflict with someone in your life and can’t get mindful, request about five minutes to collect your thoughts before continuing. This benefits both parties’ stress levels, but more importantly, it allows you to perform a mindfulness exercise.

Follow these steps.

Get into a comfortable position. This may be a sitting or lying down position. It would help if you also tried to find a relatively quiet environment to perform this exercise in.
Ground yourself by taking deep, slow breaths. If you are in a heightened state of emotion, this may take a couple of minutes.
Once your mind and body are settled, put one hand onto your chest and the other onto your stomach. This position will allow you to feel your breaths.
Breathe in deeply and fill your stomach, not your chest. With your hands, take note of the air that fills your stomach and make sure that most of the “rise” in your body from the inhalation is in your belly, not your chest.
Keep breathing slowly, in and out, from your belly for about five minutes. When you feel calmer, you can get up and leave the room and return to the discussion.

If you want to really practice mindfulness regularly, you should make it a habit to spend five minutes every day performing the aforementioned breathing exercise. You can even do it multiple times a day or whenever you enter a state of stress. This will help your positive thinking and build a better response to stress, making your interactions with others more positive.

Final Thoughts On How Mindfulness Can Improve Relationships

Relationships require work from all parties involved to remain happy, healthy, and satisfactory. Mindfulness can help in that endeavor, giving you the chance to appreciate the people in your life, be understanding of flaws, correct negative habits, and help with stress and emotional management. Need help with mindfulness? Speak to a therapist or similar professional!

Psychologist Reveals the Power of Reaching Out to Others

November 4, 2022 by Kristen Lawrence

We often don’t realize the importance of reaching out to the people in our lives. Many people feel lonely and isolated in our busy world and long to connect with others in their free time. Unfortunately, connecting with people usually becomes secondary to other pressing matters, such as careers and family life. We need to normalize compassion, kindness, and connecting with others.

However, American Psychological Association (APA) researchers found that others appreciate us reaching out more than we’d think, especially if it’s unexpected.

“People are fundamentally social beings and enjoy connecting with others,” said lead author Peggy Liu, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh. “There is much research showing that maintaining social connections is good for our mental and physical health. However, despite the importance and enjoyment of social connection, our research suggests that people significantly underestimate how much others will appreciate being reached out to.”

The research appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

For the study, the team performed several experiments with over 5,900 volunteers. They wanted to investigate how accurate people were at predicting how much others valued them reaching out. The researchers also wanted to examine which situations or scenarios made people the most appreciative.

In one experiment, researchers asked half the participants to recall the last time they emailed, called, or texted a friend “just because” or “just to catch up.” They specifically wanted to know about people reaching out to others after an extended period of no contact.

They asked the remainder of the participants to remember a situation where someone contacted them after a prolonged period. Next, depending on the circumstances, they asked volunteers to rate how appreciative, grateful, or happy they felt to reconnect. Participants rated their experience on a 7-point scale (1=not at all, 7=to a great extent).

What the Study About Reaching Out to Others Revealed

People who remembered reaching out to someone significantly underestimated how much they appreciated the compassion. However, those who recalled receiving a message or phone call reported being very pleased or grateful.

In other experiments, participants delivered a short message, or a note and a small present, to a friend they hadn’t contacted in a while. Like the prior experiments, participants who initiated contact had to rate the experience on a 7-point scale.

Specifically, researchers asked how much they thought the recipient would appreciate or feel pleased by the connection. After receiving their surprise, recipients also had to rate their appreciation and gratitude for the notes or gifts.

Researchers found those who initiated contact significantly undervalued how much recipients would appreciate them reaching out in all experiments. They also discovered that a specific scenario impacted the extent to which someone appreciated the communication.

“We found that people receiving the communication placed greater focus than those initiating the communication on the surprise element, and this heightened focus on surprise was associated with higher appreciation,” said Liu. “We also found that people underestimated others’ appreciation to a greater extent when the communication was more surprising, as opposed to part of a regular communication pattern, or the social ties between the two participants were weak.”

Never Underestimate the Value of Kindness and Compassion

Unfortunately, many people have grown distant from others in their lives, especially during the pandemic. For instance, people who used to work in an office together and now work remotely may have lost contact. This scenario provides a perfect opportunity to reconnect, primarily if you haven’t spoken in a while.

Of course, you might hesitate to initiate contact with someone after not talking for some time. You may feel nervous about how the person will respond or if they will even acknowledge your message. However, the findings suggest that these worries are largely unfounded. People generally appreciate when others try to reconnect, especially when it’s a surprise.

“I sometimes pause before reaching out to people from my pre-pandemic social circle for a variety of reasons. When that happens, I think about these research findings and remind myself that other people may also want to reach out to me and hesitate for the same reasons,” Liu said. “I then tell myself that I would appreciate it so much if they reached out to me and that there is no reason to think they would not similarly appreciate my reaching out to them.”

If you haven’t heard from a friend for a while, don’t think twice about sending them a message. It’s been a rough few years for most of us, and it never hurts to check in with people. It may mean a lot more to them than you’d think.

Other Ways to Show Compassion to Others

Reaching out to others isn’t the only way to show compassion and care for your fellow humans. If you want to extend your love to people outside your social circle, here are a few random acts of kindness ideas:

Pay for someone’s food or drinks at a restaurant or drive-thru. The people behind you will likely pay it forward, creating a chain of kindness!
Donate to your local food bank or homeless shelter. Compassion can go a long way, and the organization will feel grateful for whatever you offer.
Leave an extra tip for your waiter or waitress. If you can, give $10-20 more than you normally would at your next meal. In these challenging times, your servers will feel even more appreciative!
Provide water or food for animals in your neighborhood. We can’t forget our animal friends when reaching out to others. During ongoing droughts and habitat loss, animals desperately need our help.
Give someone a free hug. You never know what people go through in their minds. So, open your heart and offer a big hug to the next person you see. They might need it more than you’d imagine.

Final Thoughts on the Power of Reaching Out and Showing Compassion and Kindness

We often don’t prioritize reaching out to the people around us, whether they’re friends, family, or colleagues. However, a study by the APA shows that an unexpected message can mean so much to others. They found that the element of surprise played a significant role in how appreciative people felt about the connection. So, don’t hesitate to shoot your old friend a message – after all, you never know what they might be going through.

4 Levels of Intuition, According to Science

November 3, 2022 by Lakeisha Ethans

The human brain constantly absorbs vast amounts of information. The ability to make sense of this internal wisdom without active, conscious attempts at reasoning and analysis is intuition. There are many differing opinions surrounding what makes someone intuitive.

Some people view this ability as a skill that can be honed and sharpened like any other practical ability. Others see it as a more spiritual experience or a gift they can use for metaphysical purposes.

With all these ideas floating around, what can you know about intuition? Science has something to say about how intuitive wisdom works. So here are the four levels of intuition, according to science.

1. Intuition Level 1: Gut Instinct

The first level of intuition is a reasonably simple concept and one you’re likely familiar with: gut instinct. This impulse is rooted in natural survival instincts and the desire for security and safety. Unfortunately, many individuals falsely equate all intuition with gut instinct, even though it is only the first level of this form of wisdom.

There’s something very primal and profound about gut instinct. Unfortunately, it’s a very binary experience – you get the urge to go or stop, say yes or no, or feel safe or unsafe, depending on your gut. While gut instinct should not be your sole decision-making tool, it can help answer questions about your best interests, current situation, and safety. When you have little time to think and rationally analyze a problem, a gut instinct can be your savior.

How Reliable Is Gut Instinct?

Is gut instinct genuinely reliable? Studies say that emotion-based learning is a viable way to avoid serious problems. This is because:

The human brain naturally and subconsciously notes patterns and information as input and concludes them. So even if you are not consciously aware of these things, your brain is alerting you to its knowledge with gut feelings.
When you are aware of a riskier situation, your body naturally exhibits the somatic markers of a stress response, such as accelerated heartbeats and sweating. These serve as valuable warnings and steer you away from wrong choices.
There are some things that the human brain picks up on automatically, even if you cannot actively take notice of these factors. Research shows this is especially notable when you must discern if someone is lying; you fail to notice deception by ignoring your gut and focusing on the facts.
Overthinking things can be your downfall! Spending too long analyzing something can cause you to make poorer decisions based on facts and careful thought, say studies. Your brain has often noted the most crucial information in a situation before you’ve had the chance to consider everything consciously!

There are, of course, some caveats to this. High emotional intelligence yields better gut instinct, according to research. When you can parse, process, and regulate your emotions, you can interpret them accurately and correctly determine the right course of action from your intuition.

2. Intuition Level 2: Heart-Based Intelligence

Heart-based intelligence is about compassion and courage and how that can be used for interpersonal relationships, communications, and deeper connections with others and your surroundings. Experts may refer to this as intuitive intelligence, the second level of genuine intuition.

For the most part, heart-based intelligence is a guiding form of intuition that helps you:

Communicate in unspoken ways,
Bond in ways that can’t be rationally described,
Say and do appropriate things in unique or sensitive moments,
Discover what you love,
Bring your best self into the world,
Release fear and be courageous in your decisions.

Many people consider “following your heart” an inherently irrational term. Though the concept is romanticized, it is also widely considered the less wise thing to do. This outcome is not necessarily the case. The heart is more than just a tender and mushy thing – it’s a crucial organ in the body connected to many different physical parts of you. Consider:

The heart has a nervous system independent of the rest, comprising about 40,000 neurons!
The heartbeat constantly communicates information to the rest of your body and thus gets it all in order following a synchronized rhythm.
Many common emotions associated with the heart, such as compassion and love, are known to calm stress and the sympathetic nervous system while improving restful parasympathetic nervous system activity.
Your heart mirrors your emotions. Thus, you allow the organ to contribute to level one intuition.

Of course, this does not mean you should follow your heart alone. On the contrary, the ultimate goal of heart-based intelligence is to form a powerful and profound connection with your brain. As a result, both organs work in harmony. Examples of this harmony include:

Forgiveness

The brain wants to remember the wrong done to you because this is crucial for survival. Knowing that someone is not safe or may wrong you again is vital to your brain’s protection of you. However, holding grudges is notoriously bad for wellbeing, and heart-based intelligence allows you to forgive people for your own sake. Coherence means you’ll always be wise in your interactions with this individual, but you won’t bog yourself down with resentment.

Appreciation

The brain naturally seeks negative things over positive ones as information collection and protection. You focus on abundance and survival over living in the moment. By using heart-based intelligence, you can balance this impulse and learn to appreciate the small things around you without losing wisdom and awareness.

Non-judgment

It’s normal for the human brain to judge snappily based on what it sees. This is crucial for gut instinct intuition! However, judgment does not always serve a purpose. Being overly judgmental will damage your relationships with others and make you cold, jaded, and unpleasant. Heart-based intelligence will make you kinder and more compassionate, releasing the hold of judgment on your perception and making you more open-minded.

3. Intuition Level 3: Visionary Power

Many falsely equate level three intuitive skills with extrasensory perception, psychic abilities, and the metaphysical. On the contrary, visionary power and certainty come from your physical reality. This powers your creativity and imagination, promoting new intuitive intelligence that encourages you to reach for new possibilities, innovative solutions, and approaches.

Visionary power encourages you to go against the grain intuitively, supplemented by wisdom and awareness. It is not as simple as blindly following pipe dreams. Instead, it is the act of:

Putting aside jadedness and pessimism and working toward goals with optimism,
Considering brand new solutions to old problems,
Questioning what you may have overlooked in your logical and fact-based thoughts and approaches,
Daring to ask new, bold questions and seek new, bold answers,
Going against the status quo and creating ground-breaking new concepts.

Have you ever noticed that some people are reluctant to challenge the way things are and show no interest in leading anything remotely close to an extraordinary life? Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, and it’s an excellent way to live. However, those individuals typically have shallow levels of visionary power, and their intuition does not reach this depth.

Luckily, like all things, you can learn level three intuition. Moreover, it’s a skill that you can sharpen by regularly exposing yourself to new concepts, challenging yourself to come up with unique ideas, and striving for creativity in hobbies and life.

4. Intuition Level 4: The Connection to Universal Wisdom

For the scientifically minded, level four intuition sounds like the stuff of fantasy. After all, the phrase “connection to universal wisdom” sounds like a strange, psychic version of the sci-fi concept of singularity. So how can it indeed exist?

Level four intuitive intelligence refers to unity consciousness or universal awareness, which means a profound ability to become conscious about your connection to all things. This means different things to different people.

Examples of Connecting to Universal Wisdom

Especially spiritual individuals may achieve this state during deep meditative practices, where they feel they are one with the universe,
Individuals who experience severe trauma or near-death encounters may suddenly realize how intrinsically linked they are to the world and how small but powerful they can be,
Confident individuals may understand universal awareness as the ability to captain their ship and create their change, forging their paths in life through their free will,
Altruistic individuals may see their innate ability to help others and send ripples of kindness and good vibes through the world through actions as simple as a smile and as notable as financial donations,
Mindful individuals may begin to recognize that all things in life have inherent value and may wish to appreciate that value more intentionally in their everyday life,
Any individual may be inspired to become someone’s mentor, guide, or teacher, as they see how the knowledge they have to offer can help someone and slowly make its way across a community,
Any individual may become more open-minded, realizing that differences are beautiful things to be celebrated while all human beings share innate similarities that all differences can become united under,
Any individual may become inspired to go out and seek more and more wisdom to add to their knowledge of the universe so that they may become one with it in their unique way.

Regardless of where you stand on the concept of universal wisdom, its core remains the same. Simply put, level four intuition is the innate understanding of your power in your actions to create various consequences. In other words, your intuitive decisions shape your actions and produce the desired effects. These outcomes reflect in yourself and the wider world.

Final Thoughts on Understanding the Four Levels Of Intuition

Intuition is a powerful tool. Contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with so-called ESP or psychic abilities. Indeed, it’s far from a metaphysical concept. Instead, it is a deep-seated capability rooted in the human brain’s desire for survival and protection. Anyone can learn to develop stronger intuitive knowledge, so start today and master the four levels of intuition!

Study Reveals How People With Low BMI Have Faster Metabolism and Eat Less

November 3, 2022 by Power of Positivity

BMI is the body mass index used to gauge your weight according to your height. Low BMI is typically associated with lower weight and high activity levels. But recent research findings suggest that some individuals can maintain a low BMI even though they eat less and are less active. Why? Because they have a naturally fast metabolism and tend to eat less.

How did these findings counter earlier thinking about BMI?

This study observed 173 participants with normal BMI levels. Approximately 150 were considered “healthy but underweight,” with a BMI of 18.5. They screened them to see if they had any eating disorders, were ill, had HIV, or were on medication that caused them to lose weight.

For two weeks, scientists measured their food consumption and physical activities. When they compared the underweight group with the other group, scientists found that the healthy underweight people ate at least 12% less food and were also 23% less active. Usually, a high BMI is how doctors measure obesity.

Scientists expected these underweight people to be very active and consume a lot of food. But, as it turned out, these individuals ate less and did less, yet still had a high resting metabolic rate and elevated thyroid hormones.

What is BMI?

Body mass index is calculated by dividing your weight (in kilograms) by your height in meters squared. A normal BMI is 18.5 to 24.9. Conventional wisdom says the higher your BMI, the more at risk you are for heart disease, type two diabetes, breathing problems, high blood pressure, and some cancers. Over the years, BMI has been a good tool for measuring obesity and overweight. BMI does have limitations. BMI mistakenly assumes you have a higher body fat if you have a muscular build or are an athlete. For older people who have lost muscle, the BMI overestimates body fat. The best way to get an accurate BMI is to use a BMI calculator.

Is BMI a good measure of health?

Some researchers feel that using BMI to measure overall health is useless today. It was popular in the 1800s and utilized with little change since then. But many doctors think it’s an inaccurate measure of a person’s health. That’s because someone’s body mass index doesn’t consider the weight’s location on the body. For instance, a female may carry weight mainly in her chest or thighs, which doesn’t put her at risk for specific health problems like heart disease. Proponents of a new system for measuring overall health suggest using body shape along with your BMI and something else like blood work or blood pressure measurements to gauge fitness. So BMI may be suitable as a partial measure of health combined with other factors.

What is metabolism?

Your metabolism is the process in your body that breaks down and creates energy for you to live. Metabolism is how quickly your body expends energy and burns calories.

Every activity: Your metabolism creates energy to do your everyday life activities.
Exercise: Exercise burns more calories.
Bodily functions: At rest, your body still uses up energy to function. It’s called the basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your BMR is, in part, determined. by your genes.

Some people inherently have a faster metabolism. They can eat more than others yet not gain weight. Your metabolism depends on your age, gender, activity, and genetics. You can increase your metabolism for a short time with exercise, proteins, green teas, and spicy foods. Eating breakfast and not skipping your meals will also help improve your metabolism. Getting enough sleep and drinking water is also essential. Your eating habits also significantly contribute to your weight gain or loss.

Is it better to have a faster metabolism?

Not necessarily.

If you have a faster metabolism, it means your body burns more calories when you’re resting than someone with a lower metabolic rate. However, the quicker your metabolism, the more calories your body needs. A fast metabolism isn’t good or bad for your health. Maintaining healthy eating habits is crucial so you get enough calories to nourish and sustain your body. Good eating habits help increase your metabolism.

Does being underweight due to a fast metabolism have health risks?

According to other studies, being underweight has as many health risks as being overweight. Underweight individuals may struggle with poor eating habits, leading to not getting enough calories. As a result, you may lack vitamins and minerals. If your BMI is less than 18.5, you don’t weigh enough. Weighing too little may cause:

Osteoporosis: Sometimes called brittle bone disease, osteoporosis makes you prone to bone fractures, skin, teeth, and hair problems.
Getting sick a lot: You’ll lack sufficient calories if you make unwise food choices. Poor nutrition takes away your ability to fend off infection and illnesses. As a result, you’ll be more likely to catch a cold or virus.
Fatigue: Another symptom of being underweight is constant tiredness. If you don’t get enough calories makes it difficult to keep up your energy.
Anemia: If you’re underweight, you’re prone to anemia. This disease occurs if your body doesn’t produce enough red blood cells. Low red blood cells lead to headaches, fatigue, and dizziness. You may also have absent or irregular menstrual periods and even infertility.
Stunted growth: Lacking the necessary calories and nutrients leads to poor development and stunted growth.
Risk of mortality: Being underweight increases your risk of lack of healing if you have an accident or trauma compared to someone with a higher BMI.

If you’re lean, there’s a good chance you’re busy all the time during the day. You might fidget and always be in motion more than someone who is overweight. If you can’t seem to sit still, you may have learned this tendency or are just genetically wired to move a lot. Overweight people tend to be sedentary, making it more difficult to lose body fat.

What are alternatives to BMI?

Here are some other tried-and-true methods to measure your BMI. These tests are more popular now in light of this new information on metabolism.

Waist circumference measurement

This old-fashioned alternative to BMI is one of the best ways to measure your abdominal fat. Carrying extra weight around your stomach puts you at risk for heart disease and other medical problems such as

Type two diabetes
Liver problems
Dementia
Cancer

You measure your natural waist. Women with a waist measurement of around 35 inches and men with a mid-section over 40 inches have almost double the risk of experiencing cardiovascular disease, for instance.

Body adiposity index

The body adiposity index doesn’t use your weight. For this measurement, you multiply your hip circumference by your height. Many feel this is a better measurement of overall health than BMI. As a result, some health care professionals often rely on this factor.

Waist-to-hip ratio

This ratio is also an accurate way to calculate extra body fat, especially around your belly. First, measure your natural waist and the widest part of your hips using a tape measure. Then you divide your waist circumference by your hip circumference. Most people convert this to metric. So, if you have a 30-inch waist (76cm), and you divide it by your hips 38″ (97cm), then you have a waist-hip circumference of approximately 78cm. Here’s a chart to gauge your health.

Women hip to waist ratio:

Low waist 31.4 inches (80cm) or lower
Moderate 31.88-33.4 inches(81cm to 85cm)
High 33.8 inches (86cm or higher)

Men hip to waist ratio.

Low 37.4 inches (95 cm) or lower
Moderate 37.7 inches(96cm)
High 39. 7 inches (100cm)

Be careful not to short-circuit your metabolism

Just as there are ways to increase your metabolism, common mistakes slow it down.

Lack of sleep: Not getting enough sleep will cause metabolic issues. Your metabolism will slow down, so you’re burning fewer calories. It increases your cortisol which causes your body to store fat. As a result, you’ll eat more because your body lacks energy. The result is weight gain.
Too much caffeine: Although caffeine can boost your metabolism, too much of it makes your metabolism sluggish.
Eating habits: Not eating high-fiber foods like fruit can affect your metabolism.
Keep your house too warm: Keeping your house cooler kicks up your metabolism, so it has to work harder. Sleeping in a cool room at night can help you burn brown fat, the most challenging fat to lose.
You didn’t eat enough food: Conventional thinking is the less you eat, the better. But it can backfire on you by slowing down your metabolic rate. Healthy eating can help you have the energy you need plus burn calories.
You skipped the sun: Exposing your body to sunshine for thirty minutes gives you 10,000 IU of vitamin D. This weight loss vitamin alters the formation and storage of fat. In addition, it increases serotonin, so you feel good and lose weight.

Final thoughts on metabolism and the surprising BMI study

Body mass index has been used for many years to measure a person’s fat, bone, and muscle levels. Today many doctors feel it’s outdated, so they suggest different ways to gauge a person’s health. Metabolism is the body’s thermostat that regulates burning calories and giving your energy. Healthy eating habits maintain and increase your metabolism. Staying healthy is vital for the energy you need to do what you love with the people you love.

Science Explains What Happens to Your Body When You Read Every Day

November 3, 2022 by Lakeisha Ethans

If you reminisce, you will probably find that you used to read a lot. Most kids do, as books offer the opportunity to escape the real world. In addition, many kids’ books are fantasy, so they create new worlds to explore. This escape is one of a book’s most attractive qualities–it can transport you into better or different places.

But, as you grow up, reading about dragons and magic seems silly, and most adult books are non-fiction or seem boring. Moreover, literature has never received a fair portrayal in society. So, while impressive, the literature taught in school doesn’t always leave a good impression. That’s because it’s not fit for teenagers and because of how schools present it. That’s why many people read less and less.

They get a bad taste of what reading could be, and then they never find something that suits them. Many people don’t think there’s a point in reading, anyway. But that’s where they’re wrong. Jumping into a good tale isn’t just fun. It doesn’t just teach you new things. Not to mention that you can never get the complete picture of a topic by simply reading about it online. If you want to understand a scientist’s stance on a topic, you’re always better off reading their study.

But let’s say you don’t see a point in non-fiction. Maybe you don’t think you’ll learn anything valuable. That doesn’t take away from the value of the book. Because when you read, it affects your body. It doesn’t matter what you read. Whether it’s a novel, a historical account, or something motivational like The Power of Attitude books, the simple act of sitting down with a book and skimming over the words makes a difference. And the same benefits of reading are listed below.

Here are the six benefits of enjoying a good page-turner each day.

1 – Reading Strengthens The Brain

Reading changes the brain in the most literal sense. And it doesn’t even matter what you read. Sure, reading non-fiction will be more mentally challenging. But reading any old book will strengthen your brain. This strengthening occurs because reading will stimulate parts of your brain you rarely use in your daily life.

And it’s not about logic and sharpness. It’s more about how the words you consume bloom into emotions and feelings. Studies show that when people had a book to read, their brains became more engaged in certain scenes. When researchers looked at MRIs, they noticed that certain brain parts lit up as tension built in the story. This response signals that, throughout the reading period, brain connectivity increased.

Those stimulated areas worked faster and were more synchronized. Interestingly, the somatosensory cortex, which reacts to physical sensations, experienced the most change. That would mean reading a book stimulates the same area as a workout. If you incorporate this practice into your routine, these changes will last. Indeed, even skimming through a few pages daily can strengthen your brain and make you sharper.

2 – Books Enrich Your Vocabulary

One of the best things about reading is that it enriches your vocabulary without trying. Without reading, you could only do that through active learning. You would have to open a dictionary and make an effort to memorize words. And even then, there’s a high chance you would forget them. Or you would find it difficult to understand how to use them in context.

The best thing about reading is gradually incorporating new words into your vocabulary. This effect is beneficial if you start reading from a young age. That way, you can learn words that are on par with your level of understanding and needs. And it will never seem like a task.

You won’t have to learn actively. You’ll find that you know the words you need when you need them. A good vocabulary will help you have better opportunities. For example, you’ll be able to land better jobs. Overall, you’ll be able to communicate better.

3 – Reading Makes You More Empathetic

Books are unique in that they allow you to imagine things you would have never come in contact with otherwise. Whether fiction or non-fiction books, they transpose you into entirely new worlds. Plus, you always accompany someone on their journey when you read a book. You learn why they act the way they do and what core values they hold dear.

You understand why they took specific actions, regardless if you think those actions are good or not. Morally grey characters are potentially the ones people become most empathetic of. Say someone stole some food from a grocery store. In real life, you would only see them stealing and automatically think they’re doing something immoral.

But say a character from a book stole that food. In that storyline, you could learn that the family is poor and have three children to feed. The factory they worked at was torn down to make luxury apartments instead. They cannot get another job because no one deems them qualified enough. Some people could still consider that this is no reason to steal.

But most would see that their actions arose from need and fear. Reading about situations like these makes you more aware of other people’s struggles. As a result, you start to judge less and empathize more. This ability to relate to others is called the “theory of mind.” Research shows that people who read often, especially fiction readers, have a better-developed theory of mind.

4 – Books Reduce Stress

One perk of making time to read is that reading reduces stress. That’s because it allows you to escape and, at least temporarily, forget about all your daily struggles. Maybe you have associated reading with stress because most people haven’t read for fun since they were kids. But, when you give reading a real shot, you’ll see how much lighter you’ll feel.

When you read, especially fiction, your mind and imagination fully engage. The brain can focus on a single task without distractions or the need to hit a target. So, when you read, you don’t need to force yourself to read at least 100 pages per sitting.

If you have some time before sleep, sit down and read however much you like. Interestingly, reading is like meditation because it’s a repetitive task you must focus on. The words change, but the action is the same, page after page. Also, stimulating your imagination allows you to enter an altered state of consciousness.

Because of these reasons, reading allows you to be less stressed. In addition, studies show that even six minutes of reading can decrease heart rate and reduce muscle tension. So, your favorite book doesn’t only relax you mentally but also physically.

5 – Reading Slows Down Cognitive Decline

Cognitive decline is unavoidable. It’s something that happens naturally as people age. You can’t do anything to stop it from happening, but you can slow it down, almost to the point of preventing it altogether. Through this activity, you can avoid even things like Alzheimer’s disease. This outcome is because reading improves brain health.

Reading is a cognitive-based activity, much like solving problems and puzzles. The primary advantage is that reading doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Sure, some people enjoy solving math problems, but most don’t. But there’s a book for everyone. Reading stimulates the brain without feeling like a chore.

Think of it like this: the brain is just like a muscle. It needs stimulation. Otherwise, it gets out of shape. So by engaging in cognitive-based activities, you strengthen the brain. Plus, as discussed before, reading reduces stress. But it’s also associated with helping treat specific mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

Considering these things, it’s clear that a good book strengthens the brain. Studies have even supported this, showing a positive association between reading and a slower cognitive decline.

6 – Books Can Make You Happier

As you probably know, curling up with a good book is the perfect recipe for happiness if you are a reader. And it’s not just short-term happiness. It’s an overall shift in mood that is noticeable in your day-to-day life. Initially, you notice the change while you are reading. Studies show that your brain goes into a trance-like state when you read.

In this state, you don’t worry about the trouble of day-to-day life. Instead, you allow yourself to use your imagination and dream. Most people have the craziest, most amazing ideas while reading. Some even go as far as to imagine what will happen to the characters after the end of the book. This wonder feels liberating and triggers your brain to produce happy hormones, like dopamine.

But this change in mood isn’t temporary. As mentioned before, reading is therapeutic. It even helps alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Of course, this is primarily because of its ability to reduce stress. But one of the other advantages of reading is that it promotes better sleep.

Especially if you read before you sleep, you’ll find that your sleep will be more sound. Usually, people fall asleep playing their day in their heads repeatedly. Their sleep is restless because the mind never truly stops stressing. But, when you read before bedtime, your night ends calmly.

That way, you don’t overthink and don’t stress all through the night. You can finally have a decent, deep sleep. You’ll even wake up refreshed. All these changes improve your mood, which in turn makes you happier.

Final Thoughts on What Happens to Your Body When You Read Every Day

Maybe you’ve heard before that you should read more. The more you learn, you can have a happier and longer life. But that doesn’t mean you believe you should. After all, many people have a skewed perspective on books. But there’s a book out there for everyone.

Fiction is not just for kids; non-fiction is not always boring. If you give it a chance, you’ll find diving into a story is not only fun. It also improves your physical and mental health. This activity has can strengthen the brain and prevent cognitive decline. It also helps decrease stress and improve sleep.

Reading also helps to alleviate symptoms of mental health issues. You become more empathetic when you escape into a story, even for a few minutes daily. But the best part is that it makes you happier.

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