14 Guideposts to Navigate 2023’s Uncommon Crossing

Take a moment to acknowledge, review and release the surreal months of 2022. It has not been easy, but the person you are now is better prepared for what lies ahead. 

There is a certain trepidation we feel entering 2023. We know things will continue to change as we traverse the coming days. Unexpected happenings will erupt into reality, scorching familiar comforts and beliefs. Accept this turmoil, however disruptive. Powerful new bedrock, ideas, and alliances will be forged from these fires. The quest for what is real and true is accelerating.

I want to think that the worst is behind us. But it is not. There is no going back to what was “normal.” That box we constantly try to think outside of…has broken apart. 2023 is the year you decide whether to jump into the front seat of your life, hands purposefully on the wheel, or escape to the back seat, resigned to where you are being led. Take small actions that steer you in the direction you want to go. Allow your heart to guide you.

Many of us will experience a profound event in our lives, a quantum shift towards a new way of being. There might be waves of disappointment and chaos, then opportunity and wonder. New friendships will appear. Familiar structures will dissolve. What we believe to be true might prove to be false. Something we assumed would last a lifetime does not. Trust will become both a question and an ally.

For those who choose to step up and be the designated driver in their lives this year, I offer these guideposts to navigate 2023’s uncommon crossing.

1.  Question Everything

Don’t believe anything you’ve been told, read, or heard about from anyone. This year we will begin to discover the power of a question and our innate ability to feel into our own answers. We cannot know what we don’t have the right questions for. Learn to ask questions, lots of them. Examine every side before accepting someone else’s words.

2.  Be Present to What Is

As illusions dissolve and current institutions and belief systems crumble, steady yourself by being present in what is, regardless of what was or could be. We must learn to adapt to each jolt and respond fresh from that moment without clinging to the verdicts of the past. Understand that you will not be sure of anything, so practice being in what is yet unknown.

3.  Know Thyself

The most important thing you will ever do is be who you truly are. Grant yourself time alone. Turn off technologies and seek stillness. Commune with the earth, touch trees and walk barefoot. It will remind you of your connections here and initiate you into an expanded state of consciousness. Trust people who care about you enough to expose your blind spots, those unrecognized hindrances you cannot resolve until witnessed by another.

4.  Stand Up

When someone is giving you crumbs, don’t let them convince you they are giving you the whole cake. Choose the world you wish to inhabit and stand fully in it. Reserve judgment of others but do not cower in the shadows. Allow yourself to be heard. This is the year to speak your boldest truth out loud. Women, step up! The planet needs your voices more than ever.

5.  Suffering Is a Teacher

We will receive as much pain as it takes for us to change. Most of it will be unfair. But it will transform forever whomever it touches. Suffering is asking us to wake up, end stale routines, remember our humanity and pay attention to what is wrong. Suffering precedes every great breakthrough. Ask for help, and hold a caring and supportive space for others traveling through difficult circumstances. You are not failing. You are emerging.

6.  Cultivate the Adult Within

Be the person who can handle anything. 2023 will require the adult in us to intercede and take responsibility for our emotions, actions, and goals. Find your courage to say I was wrong. The world needs adults now more than ever. Stop complaining, blaming, and shaming. Lead, care and share instead.

7.  Have Fun

There will be radiant sparks of happiness available all year. Respite from the storms. Seek people and experiences that bring you joy and make you laugh. Take risks. Your best life exists on the other side of those gambles. Fun fuels courage. Let’s help each other enjoy as many moments as possible as we build toward the planet we dream of living on together.

8.  An Explosion of Sharing

Share compassion, vulnerability, support, money, and things. It is the glue of a new community being born. Share not as a conventional Return on Investment but as a Return on the Future with people you believe in and trust. Holding too tight to what you have will only bring fear and separation.

Sharing will open hearts and doors to what is possible in the unfolding world. Those who give freely with no expectations understand the joy of that experience. Share yourself and what you have with others and see what might grow where you weren’t looking.

9.  Love What You Don’t Understand

Everyone will struggle with something this year. We may not always respond to our stresses in the best way. Be compassionate, though know your boundaries. Another’s journey may appear different from yours, but in the end, the destination is the same. We will all need a little latitude as we evolve. Understand a stranger’s perspective and the cultural conditionings that created them as you forgive yourself. Practice patience.

10. Explore Death to Discover Life

Many more people will be dying this year in uncomfortable numbers. It’s time to create a new relationship with the unspoken taboo of death. When we transform our relationship with death, we transform our relationship with life. From death doulas to death with dignity, we are reassessing this final passage and what is beyond the membrane of life.

Eat healthily, move your body, and quiet your mind to stay alive as long as possible. Try new healthcare and mental support systems that might not yet conform to mainstream acceptance, like herbs, energy medicines, and sound therapies. Caring for the extraordinary physical vehicle that transports your spirit through life is the most important thing you will do for yourself in 2023.

11. Pray

Yes, pray. Reclaim the divine presence within you. Prayer is powerful, soothing, and meaningful. Prayer helps you remember who you are beyond our culture and technology and creates a spiritual cord that connects us, the planet, and our galactic roots. Prayer transforms what you cannot bear into freedom, especially when these prayers are shared in groups of like-hearted people. Prayer brings you into your inner wisdom.

12. Strange Brew

This is the year many will awaken and discover their Inner Resonance Signature, your unique cellular song, that one frequency that belongs to you alone. Once discovered, you will experience true magic in the life you are creating. The power of resonance, the Mandela effect, intuition, extraterrestrial life, and mystical moments. These are among the unseen spiritual concepts not yet understood by mass consciousness but will become a considered curiosity by many more in 2023. We may experience events that shatter our beliefs about reality.

13. Be Kind

That’s it. Just be kind every time. We all need more kindness and acknowledgment of each other. It’s the sweet butter on our bread of life.

14. Learn Where to Place Your Trust

Do not trust institutions, corporations, the media, or governments. Trust each other. Build community through shared vulnerability. Help your neighbors. Open to the possibility of our human connection. Take responsibility for your thoughts and actions. Apologize. You are the only one you need to change. Love more. Fear less. Walk faithfully into what you do not know. Invite someone to walk with you with no judgment or expectations. Communities of meaningful intention are the future.

This year, we are emerging from a birth canal. It will be messy and uncomfortable. Where we finally arrive dwells within our individual choices more than we have been willing to accept. Act towards the world you envision for yourself. Everything better we can become involves moving beyond our traumas, prejudices, and absolutes.

The good news is that we will begin to understand this as we continue our migration together toward somewhere we have never been before. Go where you feel called, even if no one you know follows. Others will be there, waiting just for you. Begin to recognize and fully embrace your fellow travelers. Let go! This is happening!

Trust the currents of 2023! I hope to meet you amidst these wild days of revelation and revolution. Try as best you can to allow your heart to lead and stay open to everything unexpected that appears. I am grateful and excited for your presence on the planet at this time in history. Everyone matters. These are not easy days upon us, but oh, the possibilities within each one!

“Sometimes only by looking back on something can we see its grandeur, what it gave us. Moments become monuments that create new beginnings.” From Trusting the Currents by Lynnda Pollio

Love, Lynnda

About Lynnda Pollio

Lynnda Pollio is a Consciousness Doula and author of the award-winning, best-selling visionary novel, Trusting the Currents. Lynnda has always been deeply committed to elevating human consciousness. As a Consciousness Doula, she helps people and businesses understand consciousness and connect to energetic frequencies that expand self-awareness for personal and global transformation. Lynnda recently moved from New York City to Sedona, Arizona. Find out more about Lynnda here.

It seems odd that we need to learn how to relax. Shouldn’t it be a natural state when we are not in an active mode – like our ancestors’ primal fight or flight? 

Environment And Our Ability To Relax

When did anxiety and nervousness replace relaxation in my life? First, I would say that I am not an anxious person. Worried, yes, but not anxious. I looked up the definition of anxiety, and according to Webster’s Dictionary, it means:

Anxiety

  a: apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill 

  b: mentally distressing concern or interest

  c: a strong desire sometimes mixed with doubt, fear, or uneasiness

Okay, I concede that worry is a synonym for anxiety. So maybe I am a bit anxious. It starts when we are young and grows unless we have someone teach us how to relax.  

The environment we are in plays a part. It’s difficult to turn off the outside influences that fuel anxiety, like the news, traffic, pressure to pay bills, school, peer pressure, and worldwide pandemics. But that doesn’t mean we cannot find the time and place to relax.  We feel a sense of duty to achieve, meet deadlines, look good at all costs, and appear confident, but that doesn’t mean we cannot feel at peace while doing these things.

Energy And Our Ability To Relax

We expend a great deal of energy on anxiety, stress, and uneasiness about things in the past or future that harm our health and state of mind. If we are going to exert the energy, why not spend it on ways to be healthier.

“The body both feels and is in better balance when the relaxation response is evoked because heart rate, metabolism, oxygen consumption, and respiration slow down. Blood pressure and muscle tension are lowered, and brain activity is characterized by alpha waves, which are slower in frequency than what is usual in a waking state.”  – Herbert Benson – Author of The Relaxation Response

Let’s follow Herbert Benson’s advice and expend our energy on relaxing, which will net positive results to our health. Dr. Bernie Siegel, the author of Peace, Love, and Healing, reminds us that relaxation techniques are taught in the healthcare field to help cope with serious illness. He says that “relaxation heals from within.”

Dr. Siegel suggests that we need to “put our bodies in action to relax.” What a concept! Here I thought that relaxation involved just the body. I was picturing a hammock, pool, or beach chair by the ocean.  

Ways To Relax

Here are six ways. See if any resonate with you! 

1. Breathe

Deep breathing is healthy for your body. It’s also good for calming your thoughts. Combine deep breathing with counting to 10, and you can prevent spiking your blood pressure and saying something you may regret later.

There are several methods of deep breathing based on yogic traditions that will quickly reduce your heart rate and settle your nerves. Emergency service workers, coaches, teachers, mom’s and dad’s all come to mind with the sage advice of “just breathe.”

I grew up with asthma, and breathing was difficult at times. When I couldn’t breathe right, it caused a panic response which then caused me to breathe even more shallowly. My dad, a lifelong swimmer, helped me in those moments by mirroring the long, slow breathing that ultimately brought me out of those panicky moments.  

2. Do

What absorbs your attention? For me, it is nature – gardening, taking pictures, and tree gazing. I have a friend who relaxes by drawing. Another who relaxes by running. Another who relaxes by volunteering with animals.

Whatever your hobby – baking, sewing, fixing up a car, reading, sports – even if you are exhausted afterward, you are relaxing! It is an activity that takes you out of your lane and puts you in an anti-anxiety zone for a little while.

If you can’t think of anything that does this for you, find something you always wanted to learn and start now! In this digital world – you can discover new activities almost anytime. 

3. Laugh

What’s more fun and relaxing than true, deep laughter? Some of the best moments are when we get uncontrollable giggles or enjoy deep belly laughs.

How long has it been since you experienced the physical sensations of laughing out loud? If it has been a while, think back on what made you laugh as a kid. Check out Laughter Yoga. Or if you prefer to laugh at home, find those things (TV shows, movies, books, jokes, people) and re-live or make new memories.

Norman Cousin‘s is an excellent resource for the benefits of laughter as a medicine. He wrote the book Anatomy of An Illness about how he came back from a severe degenerative disease due partly to attitude and laughter.  

 “Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors.”  – Norman Cousins

4. Listen

Listening to funny stuff can make you laugh. Listening to music is also an excellent way to relax. Whatever your favorite music is, ambient, reggae, folk, classical or hard rock, just being absorbed in music can provide relaxation. Go under headphones, sing-along, or even better – get up and move your body to the music.  

5. Meditate

When I was 17, I was struggling with a tragedy in my family. My dad came to the rescue with two things; progressive muscle relaxation and meditation. Both were effective in helping me to relax my mind and solve tensions in my body.

The progressive relaxation was pretty much common sense, and once taught, I could repeat it as needed. The meditation was more of a challenge for me. We went to Transcendental Meditation classes together. It took some time to learn to silence my mind or not let my mind pull me into all kinds of tangents while trying to meditate.

At first, meditation was stressful because I was trying hard not to think – focus on my breathing and mantra. But with practice, like most things, it got easier. Meditation and progressive relaxation became my go-to tools for peace.  

6. Sleep

Do you relax when you sleep? Are you tossing and turning? Do you wake up frequently? Is it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep or wake up? Are you tired in the afternoons?

Sleep studies show that many of us do not get a restful night’s sleep. This time is our body’s chance to let all the organs rest. The more we can facilitate a peaceful sleep, the more relaxed we can be during waking hours. Sleep is a magic elixir for a healthy life. Think about your current sleep habits and how you may adjust them.  

• Cool temperatures promote sleep.
• Low or no light helps promote sleep (eliminate blue light)
• Don’t eat too close to going to sleep
• Avoid TV, especially the news before bedtime
• Leave your digital devices outside the bedroom or off
• Stretch and do some gratitude affirmations before going to bed
• Breath deeply and visualize a great nights sleep
• Slowly get out of bed in the morning and stretch 

Cultivate a Mindset To Relax

I learned that relaxing is not just chilling out on the couch with a good book (although there is nothing wrong with that). Why do we need to learn to relax?  Because relaxing is a state of mind that involves the body, mind, and soul. It is a heart-centered activity that raises your state of mind and lowers your stress level.

I hope that you have many ways to relax in your day-to-day activities! We would love to hear from you.

—We have come out of one of the strangest winters of our lives – having weathered the ups and downs of quarantine and COVID. Our lives are different. The stress of this time we are in plays havoc on mind, body, and soul. Amid the stress of loss (jobs, health, security, a loved one), the stress of uncertainty, and the stress of the tension we hear daily on the news, it’s essential to take a moment now and breathe!

In searching for pockets of peace and normalcy, I’ve discovered that the remedy is often right in front of us, under our feet, just outside our window, or up in the sky. The constant in all the havoc of this past year has been Nature. Contemplating how Nature can soothe our souls, I’ve realized a few things I’d like to share with you.

        “The beautiful spring came, and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” —Harriet Ann Jacobs

Blue and Green – A Pallet of Peace and Balance To Nurture Your Soul

What’s your favorite color?  Mine is blue. Blue represents the sky and water to me (even though that is an illusion caused by the atmosphere). I love blue because it makes me think of the soothing effects of the ocean. Water represents many things, like the subconscious, tranquility, peace, flow, power, expansiveness, and life. 

Green is in my top three colors too. I gravitate to deep forest green. My first home as an adult was a tiny apartment in Massachusetts. I missed the trees around the home where I grew up, so we painted the living room a deep, rich green, and the furniture was brown. It was my forest. Looking back, I realize the colors were way too dark for a small room, but it was a way to bring the trees inside.

Green represents nurturing and balance. It’s new green shoots coming up in your garden. It’s the tendril of vinca or the two-tone leaf of clover. It’s a color that is refreshing, reviving, and rejuvenating! Green is often associated with healing and new life. You can see why by just looking outside in the Spring. Have you ever thought about how many shades of green are in Mother Nature’s pallet? Count the many variations of green on your next walk and get lost in the wonder of it. 

Blue and green are in the middle of the spectrum of light from the sun. They also follow each other in the upper realms of energy centers or chakras—Blue for Throat and Green for Heart. If light is energy, then the frequencies breaking into different colors on the light spectrum represent different energy levels. Our bodies resonate with different colors just as they do with sound frequencies.  

Recently we’ve learned that blue light (as in our digital displays, alarm clocks, coffee makers, etc.) is not the best to be around too much – especially just before or while sleeping. I believe it is because it is a stimulating frequency and not helpful for rest. So leave your digital devices out of the bedroom if possible. However, when we are wide awake and getting our Vitamin D in the sunshine, our eyes are drawn to the blue sky. Consider how you feel after a few days of rain when you wake up to a clear blue sky! I feel like I can breathe more fully and want to soak in the huge expanse of blue. 

A Powerful Partnership – Blue and Green of Nature

I recently attended a webinar for stress relief in the time of Covid. I could not get out of my mind the idea that what we surround ourselves with – even by color alone – can influence us both consciously and subconsciously. I’d heard of color therapy before and remember the days of choosing clothing colors for establishing an aura. Like wearing black for power, rose or pink for femininity, red to appear dynamic, etc. But I had not thought about how important color was in our natural environment.  

When I think of Nature, blue and green are the first colors to come to mind. Some studies show that spending time in Nature is a good way to reduce stress and inflammation and enhance overall well-being. Whether it is the actual colors, the frequencies, or the whole sensory experience, I’m in. Gone are the days of being worried about bugs, pollen, poison ivy, etc. My thinking has changed as I’ve gotten older, and the benefits of Nature trump all the other things that used to keep me from being outside. Or maybe it’s that Covid has taught me to appreciate the simple things of life and what Nature offers.

I’ve already spent weeks watching trees as they come alive with buds and leaves. Each day they change! I’ve walked the path in my neighborhood with intention – noting every new blossom and soaking in the combination of greens and blues.

Here are three easy activities that have made a difference for me. Let us know how they work for you or if you have tips you use to welcome Spring and reduce stress.

1. Tree-gazing

Do this outside or from your porch or a window. Choose a tree and do this exercise for five days. Close your eyes and practice deep breathing or the Box Breath for 1 minute. Then open your eyes and spend 5 minutes observing the tree – from the roots to the top! If you can do this while Spring is doing its thing, you will be astonished by the overnight changes.

2. Watch the morning come in

This sensory experience can start your day off well. Around sunrise, choose a place inside or outside on a clear morning to sit in open-eyed meditation. Observe the changes around you as the sun rises. What are the sounds, how does the temperature change, how long before dawn turns to daylight, how many hues of blue do you see? (You can do the same exercise for sunset.)

3. Nurture a plant

You don’t have to have a garden to take care of a plant. I don’t mean to water it. I mean, connect with it. If you have a yard or balcony, start something from seed. If you don’t know how to start – check google. Better yet, go to a garden center and ask for instructions. If you have no outside space, get a houseplant and nurture it. Observe the colors of your plant(s).  There is peace lily green, aloe green, cactus green, and so many more.

Spring offers new life, hope, and change. We are so fortunate to have the eyes to observe it all as it unfolds. I hope you can carve out some time to get in some of Nature’s blue/green medicine to nurture your soul. 

It may be true that we come into and leave this life alone, however, while we are here, we seek a sense of belonging.

According to the Oxford dictionary, belonging is “an affinity for a place or situation.” We tend to be most comfortable and ourselves when we feel like we belong. But what is it to belong? Is it just being at ease with others? Is it identifying emotionally with a group or a place? I believe belonging depends on multiple factors and experiences.

“A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, be loved, and to belong.” ~ Brené Brown

Where Do We Belong?

First, we are a part of our family – both nuclear and extended. This unit, in whatever form it takes, gives us an anchor. I identify heavily with my family and their foreign roots. This feeling of belonging to my ancestors has created in me a passion for genealogy. I plan to visit the village my family is from in Ireland. In my mind, I already feel like I will belong in the places where my relatives walked.

We can also look to family order for a sense of belonging and similar experiences. I recently surveyed some of my friends about their birth order. It was fun, and I found that I tend to gravitate to friends who, like me, are the oldest. If you are curious about birth order, check out The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman.

As we move into adulthood and start our own family, we create a place of belonging for our children. That place is home! Making all members of a family feel safe and loved is vital. For me, visiting a grandparent’s or parent’s home as an adult evokes emotions of belonging. Where do you feel the strongest sense of “home”?  

Home can be more significant than a house. My quirky example of connection happens when I meet someone from New York City. I was born there, and even though I left when I was young, I feel a bond every time. It doesn’t make sense, but it is a visceral, uplifting experience. Maybe it’s in the water! We want to belong, and we look for affinity.

“Home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging, and we are all searching for home.” ~ Erwin McManus

 Who Do We Belong To?

We are members of the human race first. Then we may be defined in terms of ethnicity, heritage, religion, language, interests, etc. We are in a time of great divisiveness. In good times and hard times, it’s important to remember that we are all one in our humanness.

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ~ Mother Teresa

Belonging to spiritual practice, religion, or a group of like-minded individuals can offer great comfort, solace, and fellowship. Whatever our beliefs are, we seek validation both internally and externally. Community is “common unity,” and it involves ever-expanding waves of connection. Groups that practice yoga, meditation, prayer, and healthy living are ones that attract me. That’s why I enjoy Hearts Rise Up as a community. It offers information and feedback in these areas.  

When Do We Belong?

We belong when we find a connection. We start to belong when we are born. We continue as we go to school, join a club, a sports team, or enlist in the military. We belong when we marry, become parents, and when we lose a loved one.

We belong when we bond in emotional experiences. I worked at a hospice in-patient center, where I witnessed and experienced many examples of belonging. Part of my job was to train new volunteers. It was amazing to see a group united over what drew them to volunteer and what experiences they had in common. Even more heartfelt was the bond between strangers who would meet in the in-patient center’s library or kitchen while visiting their loved ones. They experienced a shared feeling of impending loss, and it brought them together in a supportive way. It wasn’t about making each other feel better; it was about knowing they were not alone on the path of grief and loss.

“Humanity is our uniting religion, and breath is our uniting prayer.” ~ Yogiraj Siddhanath

In the Hearts Rise Up Community we offer a place of belonging. Whatever it was that brought you to our site, we welcome you and invite you to share what makes your heart rise up and gives you the sense of belonging to something bigger that will bring us all health, happiness, peace, and support.  

“I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable even hopeful.” – Bob Hope

Occupy Sanity Tool (OST): Laughter

In a year, seemingly filled with many reasons to cry, I have been using the OST: Laughter daily. It might seem crass or cruel to even think of laughing with all the shock, pain, trauma, suffering, angst, and grief, to name a few feelings we’ve experienced. Yet, I learned in my 20s that I needed something to counterbalance my seriousness and my growing tendency to be depressed.

While there were some “good reasons” for my going to the depths of despair, I knew that my health depended on me finding a way to lighten up or at least not stay at one end of the continuum for too long. I developed a Laughter Practice (without even knowing it) by regularly finding ways to lighten up and even LOL.

Benefits of a Laughter Practice

“To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it.” – Charlie Chaplin

What makes each of us laugh is subjective. One thing is evident, though, the same biological benefits apply to everyone. When I began creating my Laughter Practice, there wasn’t as much research on the health benefits. I had, however, an innate understanding that I felt better during and after laughing.

Take a moment to remember the last time you had a good belly laugh—the kind when your sides ached, and you had tears in your eyes.

In a short instant, you were able to experience many health benefits without much effort. According to the HelpGuide article “Laughter is the Best Medicine,” you boosted your immune system and released the feel-good hormones known as endorphins, which “… promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.” You probably relaxed your whole body as research has shown: “A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.”

There is also the added benefit of enhancing relationships when we laugh together, which supports “…physical and emotional health.”

The authors go on to say that:

“There’s a good reason why TV sitcoms use laugh tracks: laughter is contagious. You’re many times more likely to laugh around other people than when you’re alone. And the more laughter you bring into your own life, the happier you and those around you will feel.”

Finding Your Funny Bone

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” – Charles Dickens

One of the best ways to create a habit is through repetition. You can begin to develop your Laughter Practice by using a few of the other OSTs in your Toolbox. Start by choosing one of the OSTs: Mindfulness, STOP or Pause to center and ground. From there, pull out the OST: Surrender because for the OST: Laughter, you might need to give up some control!

1. Smile. Science tells us that smiling and frowning takes nearly the same amount of muscles to produce; however, frowning appears to be harder to do. So try doing what’s easiest, and as Nat King Cole wrote in the song “Smile,” “Light up your face with gladness.” Besides, a smile is contagious. As Ann Serrie writes in her article The Power Behind Your Smile :

“What matters to me is that the act of a genuine smile releases endorphins, making us feel better. So even if your mask covers your smile, the smile is still doing its magic and making you feel better. Your light will shine brighter through your eyes and energy field.“

2. Be around people who are fun and playful. One way I do this is to be with others who might have a quirky sense of humor or find ways to see life from a light-hearted or humorous perspective. For example, this year, a friend and I had weekly video chats. We discussed the impact of world events and found ourselves starting to feel our angst increase. While we weren’t discounting anyone’s pain & suffering, we felt the need to end on a more upbeat note.

One day she suggested a song from the 1969 TV show Hee Haw which we both remembered made us laugh.  Since then, we sing “Gloom, Despair, and Agony On Me” to remind us that there is another perspective and not to take ourselves so seriously…ALL the time. No matter what comes next in our day, we leave the conversation lighter. Now it’s your turn to find what makes you LOL.

3. Appreciate who you are, what you have and do. Here’s where you use the OST: Gratitude 2.0. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to create your daily Gratitude Practice. Write notes and post them on your mirror, write in a journal or notebook, or choose a Gratitude Accountability partner to contact regularly. Focusing on your life’s delights and blessings generate more positive feelings, bringing you closer to humor & laughter.

4. Move toward laughter and humor. Here you can use the OST: Imagine to return to your innate childlike innocence and imagine ways to increase your humor/laughter quotient. As HelpGuide suggests:

“More often, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”

5. Pretend. If you’re still having trouble finding something that tickles your funny bone, science and experience show us that simulated laughter can achieve the same results. There are several options like Laughter Yoga and Meditation, and even Laugh Therapy. Here are some links to videos that will get you laughing and shifting into a higher vibration. I challenge you to NOT laugh after watching them!

Liberating Your Laughter  by Celeste Greene of Laughter Yoga Atlanta at TEDxCPW

Phillip & Holly Try Out Laughter Yoga This Morning

TEDMED Live Talk by Dr. Madan Kataria

I encourage you to use this OST right away. Go ahead. LOL! Let yourself feel lighter.

If you’re still unsure here is some additional information about the many benefits of laughter.

Stress relief from laughter? It’s no joke by the Mayo Clinic Staff

7 HEALTH BENEFITS OF LAUGHTER by E.C. LaMeaux

Photo by Mark Daynes on Unsplash

“The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.” ~ Douglas Wood

Occupy Sanity Tool (OST): Gratitude 2.0

I first introduced the OST: Gratitude with a 3 step exercise in my blog post “5 Minutes of Gratitude Attitude Raises Your Vibration .” As I mentioned in that article, I continue to find: “…that a daily Gratitude Practice has improved my ability to move from a negative state into a positive one quickly.” In 2020, there have been times when I needed to “turbo-charge” my practice; thus I’ve created the OST: Gratitude 2.0.

Miracle Cure?

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melody Beattie

Beattie’s premise seems to indicate that applying gratitude is a miracle cure for whatever ails us. As I begin to reflect on this year, I see how this has been true for me. I feel happier just reading her quote, which seems to be one of the results of practicing gratitude. A quick search reveals a large body of scientific research to support the positive effect a Gratitude Practice has on our well being.

“It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” ~ Germany Kent

Counting our blessings and feeling grateful is more comfortable when everything is going our way. Think of a time when you felt loved, accomplished, healthy, happy, etc. Fill in the blank with your own words. I imagine somewhere in that memory is a moment when you were feeling grateful. Or perhaps you avoided a dangerous situation, like when you swerved to miss another motorist coming into your lane. After a few expletives, I suspect you were saying “Whew! That was a close one.” and “Thank you ” to yourself and the Divine.

Creating Hope In Difficult Times

Being grateful or thankful in difficult times does not come as easy. With feelings of loss, shock, and despair that come with life events, many of which we’re experiencing this year, it’s hard to find gratitude. Yet research shows that by choosing to find just one positive aspect in your life, “…you can find hope amidst despair.”

A 2003 study conducted to evaluate emotions after 9/11 revealed that people filled with feelings like gratitude and love had a higher level of resiliency. As Z. Colette Edwards, MD summarizes in her article “20 Ways To Be Grateful And Kind During Difficult Times“:

“They were also more likely to experience self-growth and less likely to suffer from depression. This happens because gratitude blocks, or at least balances out, negative emotions like anger, resentment, depression, disappointment, and regret.”

Considered one of the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, Robert A. Emmons has found that practicing gratitude brings your focus back to the present moment where you can celebrate who you are and what you have. The invitation is to be with how life is instead of what you want it to be.

He discovered there is a difference “…between feeling grateful and being grateful.” As he writes in his essay “How Gratitude Can Help You In Hard Times“:

“We cannot easily will ourselves to feel grateful, less depressed, or happy. But being grateful is a choice, a prevailing attitude that endures and is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. When disaster strikes, gratitude provides a perspective from which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances.”

Gratitude Changes Brain Chemistry

According to several studies, regularly practicing gratitude changes brain chemistry. In their article “How Gratitude Changes You And Your Brain,” Joshua Brown Ph.D., and Joel Wong Ph.D. say that: 

1. Gratitude unshackles us from toxic emotions.
2. Gratitude helps even if you don’t share it.
3. Gratitude’s benefits take time.
4. Gratitude has lasting effects on the brain.

 In her article “The Neuroscience of Gratitude and How it Affects Anxiety & Grief,” Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury, BA, cites several research studies that confirm the neurochemical changes in the brain as a result of creating a gratitude attitude. One study 

“… revealed that the reason why some of us are naturally more grateful than others, is the neurochemical differences at the Central Nervous System. People who express and feel gratitude have a higher volume of grey matter in the right inferior temporal gyrus (Zahn et al, 2014).”

It seems that the feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin are released when we practice gratitude daily. When we feel happier, we are more likely to engage in physical activity, which releases more endorphins. Studies also reveal that with more physical activity, we sleep better. When we feel better physically, our self-esteem improves, which can enhance our professional and personal relationships. As Chowdhury says:

“By consciously practicing gratitude every day, we can help these neural pathways to strengthen themselves and ultimately create a permanent grateful and positive nature within ourselves.”

Turbo-Charged Gratitude

Even without all the science to back me up, I continue to stand by my own experience that my gratitude practice has changed my brain chemistry. How do I know this? I FEEL better. I can sense the shift when I allow my emotions to be part of my experience instead of pushing them aside. Then I check in with my Gratitude Attitude and see what else is available.

My turbo-charge for the OST: Gratitude 2.0 includes:

~ Waking up every day and pumping up my Gratitude Attitude first thing by saying or writing, “I am happy and grateful for ____________.

~ Reducing the amount of time I spend in negativity. Some days I set a timer for 5 minutes and allow myself time to be negative. Then I follow up with the statement, “Despite all that, here are some positive aspects I’m experiencing.”

~ Listening to Gratitude Meditations.

~ Thanking at least one person every day for something. It doesn’t have to be someone I know. It’s a great exercise to train yourself to look for the best in people.

Now it’s your turn. Try Gratitude 2.0 and let us know what happens for you.

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash