Healthy Happy Loving Life: Life as Art

Tags

at choice, choices, energy, Feng Shui, life as art

© 2022 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

We have sometimes heard the expression, “Life imitates art.”  But what if Life itself is the art of the individual?  A dictionary definition offers this:

“[Art is] the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”

An artist friend, Lily Leung, is a very creative woman I met through the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Lily bakes, gardens, skis, writes, sketches, and paints.  Today, she shared this quote from Helena Bonham Carter:

“I think everything in life is art.  What you do.  How you dress.  The way you love someone, and how you talk.  Your smile and your personality.  What you believe in, and all your dreams.  The way you drink your tea.  How you decorate your home.  Or party.  Your grocery list.  The food you make.  How your writing looks.  And the way you feel.  Life is art.”

Somehow, this Carter quote reminded me of the experiences I have had with light moving through my living space of 18 years.  Each hour the light is different, as my home is oriented West-to-East.  There is a huge park, Pierce Park, on the east side of my home, with my Feng Shui Garden between the house and the Park.  The sun rises in the morning and moves across the living room, changing the shadows, colors, and energy as it goes.  At nightfall, the back side of sunset filters in from the Park, painting its own colors across the living room.  I could not help but paint the great beauty of the moving light:  Pierce Park Evening, in acrylics on wood.  I hope you enjoy it.  Notice the light moving from right to left, from the Park through the house, as the sunset backlighting fades.

Since we are always at choice, does it make sense to you that we are actually creating our lives as we go? And isn’t that art?  I hope you engage more and more, as creator,  with the art of your life– and enjoy it thoroughly.  And that will be you, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

In my daily series this month, I hope to strongly convince you that positive living is the way to be, and that it results in greater health and happiness and joy.  Plus, it’s more fun!  And that would be me and you, shaping our lives anew, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Kebba Buckley Button is a stress/energy management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order:  kebba@kebba.com .  Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Some Mistakes Can Be Corrected

Tags

apologizing, choices, energy, Feng Shui, Guilt, mistakes, stress, Stress Management

© 2022 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

-Image by megapixl

From the time we were very young, we have understood the power of “OOPS!”  Sometimes tiny children, who otherwise only know the word “NO”, have caught onto the idea of “OOPS!”, the thing that is a mistake.  Sometimes the glass of juice is knocked over.  Sometimes the cat goes in the garbage can.  Sometimes candy gets melded with a small toy, and the toy can’t operate right now, with all that sticky goodness all over it.  We parent types spin around fast when we hear a tiny voice saying “OOPS!” or even “UH_OH!”  Those are our clues to come running and fix the mistake.

However, for adults, we may sometimes make mistakes we don’t even realize are mistakes.  I will share two of mine now.  Fortunately, I realized they were mistakes!

I was visiting my mother in Denver, while she had some serious surgery.  I was treating her with energy healing, ahead of and after the surgery, to shorten the recovery time–which worked!  I was staying in her house, for a week, while she was in the hospital 3 minutes away.  MISTAKE #1:  I realized Mom had a magazine photo cutout, taped to her bedroom wall, slightly rumpled, of polar bears relaxing together.  I thought it would look so much nicer in a frame.  So out of love and good intentions, I purchased a frame and put the relaxing polar bears in it (as below- original photographer unknown).  I then found what I thought was a great spot, and I placed the framed photo there.  I was so pleased!

But when Mom came home, and I proudly showed her my gift of love, she said, “but before, they were right where I could see them every morning when I woke up.  They lifted my day.”  OOPS!  Fortunately, I was able to not only apologize and explain myself, but to correct this mistake.  And after Mom passed, the Estate gave me the polar bears. Now they are in my bedroom, and I see them, with love, when I wake up each morning.

During that same week of Mom’s surgery, I made MISTAKE #2, which revolved around furniture.  Sometimes, you cannot repair a mistake, but you can apologize.  Mom’s house was very clean and neat.  I knew it was going on the market soon.  So, being familiar with Feng Shui, I began absent-mindedly adjusting the positions of the living room chairs.  They had been placed to roughly form a social square, but at strange angles.  I started correcting them to face in the 8 Feng Shui Directions, and I got into a snarl.  I got to a point where two lamps could no longer be plugged in, so there was no local lighting in that area.  OH maybe that’s why the arrangement had been done the way it had?  And there were a couple of other problems I created with my well-meaning, helpful efforts.  I tried to put the furniture back and simply could not restore the strange angles.  OOPS!  I did the best I could, but I felt terribly guilty.  I was due back at the hospital, and I confessed all to Mom, saying I was out of line and I was SO SORRY.  I was astonished that she waved her hand casually and said, “oh, that’s fine—don’t worry about it.”  She really was unconcerned.  Whew!

By the way, I did a clearly Good Thing that week.  I found the correct color paint in the basement and repainted a wall that somehow was only half painted.  Score 1 for helpfulness!

So when you make a mistake, do you admit it and try to fix it?  And apologize?  If you don’t do these things, you’ll feel guilty.  And guilt depresses the parasympathetic nervous system for hours after one guilty thought!  So handle it as well as you can, for both good relationships and good health.  And that will be you, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

In my daily series this month, I hope to strongly convince you that positive living is the way to be, and that it results in greater health and happiness and joy.  Plus, it’s more fun!  And that would be me and you, shaping our lives anew, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Kebba Buckley Button is a stress/energy management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order:  kebba@kebba.com .  Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Beat Stress With Laughs

Tags

Beat stress, choices, energy, Feeling energized, joy, Laughing, laughing at stress, laughs, stress, Stress Management

© 2022 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Photographer unknown

One of the funniest and most endearing videos rippling around the Internet currently is a tiny movie about the tiniest black pig (“Kingsford the Piglet Goes for a Swim”).  The piglet is smaller than a woman’s foot, jet black, eager, and passionate to be included with his humans.  Watch this video once, and you’ll feel so charmed, you’ll have to watch it again.  The piglet’s antics make you laugh.  Another video is YouTube’s “Dancing Bulldog”, in which a small bulldog is evidently boogeying to some fun music.  Of all the videos I have seen in recent months, I laughed the hardest at “Silent Monks Hallelujah Chorus”, in which cards are held up to encourage the audience to sing along.  Impish variations surprise and make you laugh.  What videos or movies have made you laugh?

-Image by megapixl

Laughter feels good!  It makes you relax, from your muscles to your skin to your attitude. Laughing very hard can cause you to clutch your spasming abdomen, gasp for breath, drool a bit, and wipe your teary eyes.  A good, hearty laugh can make you feel refreshed, even totally rested.  And there are medical benefits: higher DHEA, improved immune function (fewer allergies and illnesses with regular laughter) and better blood vessel function leading to better blood pressure than when you are stressed.  However, researchers say the medical benefits are hard to measure.  Rather, it is easier to observe the social benefits of laughter: it is both symptomatic of happy relationships and contagious, creating more social connection and happiness (Robert Provine, Laughter:  A Scientific Investigation, Penguin Books, 2001).  Women laugh about a quarter more than men.  Those who say they laugh a lot also tend to be in good health.  Laughter therapy is used for cancer patients, who find it helps their quality of life.  Laughter can increase the release of endorphins, the anti-stress brain chemicals that can lessen pain and stiffness.

Laughter is a part of our makeup.  Babies start laughing when they are as young as 10 weeks.  And adults are immediately drawn in, trying to see what they can do to get the baby to laugh again.  Watch a normally calm parent of a 3-month-old, making faces and tickling the baby, producing any noise or gesture that will make the little one laugh.  The urge to get a laugh is right up there with the urge to laugh.

Yet there can be a poignant edge to humor—a place where discomfort can be portrayed in a way that makes us laugh and discharge that discomfort.  A popular expression is, “You have to laugh to keep from crying!” Folk wisdom advises us to shrug off or laugh off our troubles.  Comedienne Ellen Degeneres made her early career describing uncomfortable events from everyday life, in a comical way, with a mournful look.  She delivered her vignettes in ways that made people laugh, and laugh, and laugh.  In recent years, she has had a top-rated television show, Ellen, many endorsements and guest host opportunities, and an estimated income of $45 million per year.  People can relate to her humor.  She makes them laugh, and this has built her success.  People need to laugh at their troubles.

Not long ago, Dr. Phil McGraw ran a show about comedians who transformed terrible personal pain into comedy.  The episode of Dr. Phil highlighted two comedians, Darrell Hammond and Chris Titus.  Each overcame horrific backgrounds to become well-known and successful in comedy.  Darrell Hammond is now the author of a book, God, If You’re Not Up There, I’m F***ed.  His humor has helped many to laugh at their troubles and take a lighter view.   Chris Titus knows humor can literally be lifesaving:  a fan who was about to kill himself accidentally sat on his TV controller, and the TV popped on to a Chris Titus performance.  The fan began to laugh and changed his mind about killing himself.

What makes you laugh until you cry?  Do that more! And that will be you, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Kebba Buckley Button is a stress/energy management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order:  kebba@kebba.com .  Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

 

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Inspiration from Fun Olympics

Tags

choices, Effective living, Feeling energized, Healthy Happy Loving Life, inspiration, Kebba Buckley Button, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM

Photo by Alex Smith on Unsplash

Photo by Alex Smith on Unsplash

Every day, I look for good news that I can both enjoy and share; good news is good for us!  It shifts our brain and body chemistry.  It helps us feel better and stronger, and our body-mind-spirit systems work better.  I search for reports of progress by research scientists, forward steps by nonprofits, the latest child inventors and prodigies, the youngest new member of Mensa, animals saving humans, fish returning to the Hudson River… You get the idea.

So today, I’m sharing a perfect story:  a couple in Britain, Stuart Bates and Charlotte Nichols, performing Olympic-type games on their own.  To raise money for ALS research.  Now, if you are wondering what ALS is, let’s hope neither you nor anyone you know ever gets it.  Its full name is Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis, also known in the UK as Motor Neurone Disease, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, after the famous baseball player who suffered from it.  Unfortunately, ALS is a progressive nerve disease that will eventually kill the sufferer, after a few months of intense pain.  It’s horrible.  Stuart Bates’s brother, Spencer “Spenny” Bates, died of ALS in 2011.

So along came the 2021 Olympics, with 17 days of games. And Stuart Bates and Charlotte Nichols decided to play 96 of those, just the two of them, with coaches and friends cheering them on.  Every major news outlet covered this audacious yet cheerful project.  According to The Guardian, the couple raised over 100,000 pounds or about $180,000, far beyond their original goal of raising 10,000 pounds.  Stuart and Spenny Bates’ mother commented to CBS News that Spenny was “probably laughing his socks off in Heaven.”  In an interview with Studio London, Stuart Bates said real Olympians were texting their friendship and support from Tokyo. Professionals from many sports fields contributed their support, and for team sports, such as (British) football and rowing, the couple competed within professional teams.

If you want to help celebrate the Spennylympics and the future conquering of ALS, you can give to the cause at Spennylympics.com or mndassociation.org .

Do you feel inspired now?  Thinking of some positive projects of your own? Well, that’s you, being ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is an energy transformation expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Life Moves On

Tags

Arcadia Color Nursery, bad thing, Baker Nursery, choices, Effective living, Embrace the Now, good thing, good thing or bad thing, Kebba, Relax, Release the past, stress, Stress Management

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

20th Century Baker Nursery Sign

I was excited when I realized what I was seeing, right in front of me, at the Arcadia Color Nursery, on 52d Street in Phoenix:  the original Baker Nursery sign!  That day, it happened to be caressed by a fairyland-worthy curtain of weeping, blossoming branches.  In fact, we had just discovered the Arcadia Color Nursery that day (2020).  We were also discovering that members of the Baker family had decided to open this nursery after the closing of the Baker Nursery near 40th St. and Osborn.  The Baker nursery stood there from 1968, when Jim Baker purchased a failing nursery, according to newspaper accounts (Arizona Republic).

This classic sign must have graced that 9-acre property from about 1968 until the nursery closed in 2014.  Jim Baker sold the property to a developer, and now the Villas At Baker Park stand where once there were deeply tanned staff, tall trees, greenhouses and open tables covered with colorful blooms.  My Feng Shui Garden had flowers from Baker Nursery in every season.

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM. http://www.kebba.com

A few days ago, I wrote about our tendency to think of things as good or bad.  While I am still sad whenever I drive past the old Baker Nursery site and see the new homes, I am glad for the family and know they are blessed by the sale income.  So it feels bad that the nursery is gone, and it feels good that the family has hopefully done very well out of the redevelopment.

Today, I got another shock.  Looking for the phone number of Arcadia Color Nursery, I found a note on Yelp that said Moon Valley Nurseries had bought them out, and they closed as of February 1.  A commenter says Arcadia Color Nursery is closed for remodeling.  I do hope Moon Valley revives the site.  And maybe even leaves the iconic sign that says Baker Nursery, that leans against the wall of the outbuilding.

Like any individual plant, life always moves along and begins to look different. As we grieve the Past for a moment, we must then embrace the Now, in order to move into the Future we desire.  And that’s being ever more Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm!  It’s up to you!  

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Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: 3 Way Cure for Boredom

Tags

Bored, Boredom, choices, Effective living, Kebba, Relax, stress, Stress Management

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo by 戸山 神奈 on Unsplash

Can we agree that boredom has been a huge issue everywhere in the last year?  So today I’m sharing an evergreen article from ezinearticles.com, by Linda H. Hudson. Her article is titled, “3 Way Cure for Boredom”.  Other than the photos, which I selected,  I am sharing her article in its entirety.  

_____________________________________________________________________

3 Way Cure For Boredom

By Linda M Hudson, Submitted On August 06, 2010

Here are 3 suggestions on how to cure boredom when you are stuck and seeking something to do:

Boredom Killer #1. Get out of the house. This is the oldest boredom antidote in the book right here.

I sometimes find that I get bored when I’m in the house. If your boredom started in the house, you must be tired of staring at the same stuff. So the instinctive thing to do is just get get out!

Get yourself to a friends house or to the mall, try the park. Take the dog out if you have one. You know damn well he’s been holding his crap in since you got home – he’ll love you forever if you walk him! Just do something so you can to take yourself away from the region of your house you got bored in.

Cure My Boredom Tip #2. Don’t come back for at-least one hour!

If somehow you can get away from your ‘place of boredom’ for that one hour, then I guarantee that area won’t be such a bore-zone when you get back! Stay away for at least that amount of time. This is just enough to make the place you got bored in, somewhat ‘fresh’ again.

Cure For Boredom #3. Make up something fun to do!

What do you like doing think? Thinking is a cure for boredom in itself but that’s a article for another time. Back to the subject if you play a sport, find a friend or acquaintance who’s up for a game. It doesn’t really have to be anything competitive but if competitiveness is what motivates you do it! A quick game of football hacky-sack, basketball, soccer,…these things can kick boredom in the face!

The social aspect of this is very important. Just being able to see a face you haven’t seen for a while oh let’s say 2 days or so should be enough to un-bore you, a good friend can be a great boredom killer.

There are alternative to killing boredom other than getting out of the house. I’ll list the top three.

* The Computer= Gaming+ The Internet: umm… you can’t really go wrong there. Unless you’re the ‘Internet God’ then I guess you’ve seen it all, but still you can find all types of interesting things to help you cure boredom.

* Console Gaming: You have the Xbox 360, PS3 and the Wii pick your boredom killer either one them could satisfy you for hours maybe even days or weeks hell months even.

* Watch A Movie: I prefer the action and horror genre as my boredom cure of choice but whatever type of movie stimulates your mind should be a suitable boredom antidote.

The thing is you have to try and break away for your everyday routine once in a while it’s the only sure fire way to cure boredom do different than what you’ve been doing to get bored, you’ll find out how to concoct the perfect boredom antidote for yourself!

Perhaps you could beat your boredom by Finding a Hobby? That link is to an article about discovering new hobby ideas.

If all else fails check out my site Cure-My-Boredom.comit has all sorts of stuff to keep your brain from numbing. Shameless plug? I know but heck I made that site cause I was bored and typed this article for that same reason. The point I’m trying to make is when your bored just do something! It’s as simple as that.

Expect more articles in the near future.

____________________________________________________________________

Photo by Marco Testi on Unsplash

So, how about you?  Have you been experiencing boredom in the last year?  Do any of these ideas sound good, or are you already using them and having success?  What else are you doing to combat boredom?  The more engaged with life and people you stay, the more you’ll be in the realm of Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm!  It’s up to you!  

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Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Good Thing or Bad Thing?

Tags

bad thing, choices, Effective living, good thing, good thing or bad thing, judge not, judging, Kebba, Relax, stress, Stress Management

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM

We tend to think of things as good or bad— events, experiences, weather, choices– but do we know for sure?  And how would we define “good” and “bad“?  My Chinese locust tree buds and leafs out enthusiastically most of the year, here in Phoenix.  It provides lush shade for parking in the late afternoon.  But suddenly, in about December, all the leaves turn brown and fall away!  They do this over a 3-day period.  You’re thinking, “Oh no! This is bad! Is the tree sick?” But then, equally suddenly, about 6 weeks later, the tree begins to bud and leaf out again. And you never know exactly when this will happen.

There is a timeless parable about a Chinese rice farmer, that poses this question of good things vs. bad things.    Here is Alan Watt’s summary of the story:

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.” The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.” The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”

The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad — because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.

As each thing happened, the Chinese farmer declined to judge its nature.  He simply accepted what was.  In today’s terms, he gave no energy to judging or reacting to each event.  He remained calm and allowed events to unfold.  I have heard a version in which the farmer always says, “Good thing, bad thing–who knows?” and another in which he says, “We’ll see.”  I have many times seen people judge and assume, then get upset and burn a lot of energy– only to find out events were unfolding in their favor.  Where do you want to put your energy?

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Have you ever caught yourself “rushing to judgement” and realized you had totally wasted your frustration energy?  How about the times when you thought you had lost your keys, you panicked, and at last, the keys showed up near where they should have been?  Choose where you put your energy, judge not, and you’ll be more and more  Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm!  It’s up to you!  

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Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: One Word Chants to Change Your Life

Tags

choices, Effective living, focus, Kebba, One Word Chants, receive, Relax, stress, Stress Management

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo by Jesse Bowser on Unsplash

In my holistic healing practice, I often hear people say they cannot concentrate.  They cannot quiet “the monkey mind”– chatter chatter chatter!  But what if you could say one word that would magically bring your thoughts to one point and allow you to concentrate?  Sometimes, the briefest communication is the most effective.  I recommend this One Word Chant^sm, repeated many times if necessary:  FOCUS. You are kindly giving direction to your inner mind.  Just try it. You’ll be amazed.

Clients sometimes tell me they are so wound up that they are unable to let go, even when they are in a session, receiving energy therapy or a massage.  They realize they are tight or even rigid, lying on the cushy, soft, luxurious therapy table, receiving from a favorite therapist.  They realize they should be sinking into a mellow state, but they aren’t.  In this situation, I recommend this one word chant, repeated frequently: RELAX.  Sometimes a second One Word Chant compliments RELAX, and that is RECEIVE.  Try alternating these.  You must be somewhat relaxed, at least, to be open to receiving. So these two One Word Chants fit together well.

Photo by processingly on Unsplash

Does a single word sound too simple to change your life?  Have you ever called out “HELP”?  Or “AMEN”?  Just try it.  Using a One Word Chant is a new habit, and it’s one that will help you build the life you want.  Your life is precious.  And you only go around once, at least this trip.Support yourself with a One Word Chant^sm, to be more and more Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm!  It’s up to you!  

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Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: What Causes Your Stress?

Tags

at choice, choices, Effective living, Kebba, living beyond, stress, Stress causes, Stress Management

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

What’s stressing you out?

As a stress management expert and holistic guide, I hear people describe their stress every day. What they are usually describing are the stress symptoms, not the causes– headaches, stiff necks, back pain, legs that ache, feet that burn… the list goes on and on.  They are often grasping a body part that hurts, or rubbing points on the face.  Many of these people didn’t realize they “had stress” until something began to hurt.  Their bodies tell them when stress causes are too much.

A second group I talk with are the ones looking for strategies and solutions for the causes of their stress: conflicts, unmet needs, and circumstances.  Here’s a chart of these causes:

Stress Sources

CONFLICTS

Difficult People

Available Time vs. Needs and Goals

Available Resources vs. Needs and Goals

Personal Values vs. Values of an Authority Figure

Worry/Anxiety About These

UNMET NEEDS

Unmet Emotional Needs

Unmet Physical Needs

Pain, Chronic Health Conditions

Limited Body Mobility

Old Emotional Agendas

Feeling Limited Or Trapped

UNEXPECTED EXTERNAL FACTORS

Significant Personal Loss (Death of Spouse or Child, Job Loss)

Significant Community Loss (9/11 Attacks, Superstorm Sandy, COVID19 Pandemic)

Do you have any of these stress sources in your life?  Of course you do!  We all do.  What we need to keep in mind is that stress symptoms in the body can turn into conditions and diseases.  In Oriental medicine, this is area-specific; each emotion affects a particular part of the body.

 

Shutterstock photo

One of my mentors said this:

“Stress is probably ultimately the underlying cause of all disease.”

 –Dr. Gladys T. McGarey MD, MD(H)

Medical research has proven that stress is a factor in human health conditions, especially depression, heart disease, HIV/Aids, and some virally caused cancers. In a review of a range of medical studies, psychology professor Sheldon Cohen, of Carnegie Melon University, found two pathways by which stress might increase how sick we are.

Stress creates changes that may, in turn, cause or increase illness.

First, stressed people don’t sleep well and are less likely to take care of themselves and follow doctors’ orders.  Second, stress impacts the body’s endocrine system, which should be releasing certain patterns of hormones that affect the immune system and inflammation.  Stress creates changes that create changes that may, in turn, cause or increase illness.  Cohen found a strong relationship between stress and depression, especially in people with strong social stress factors, like a divorce or the death of someone they love.  Workplace stress and other forms of chronic stress, however, were more likely to contribute to heart disease.  Since 2000, a number of studies have also shown that there is a link between stress and HIV/AIDS.  No doubt upcoming studies will relate stress and COVID19 symptomology.

Given the Pandemic we are living with currently, it seems wise to manage our stress as well as we can, to stay as well as we can.  There are so many tools for dissolving stress and its symptoms: attitude/philosophy, developing personal peace, breathwork, diet, exercise, meditation, energy therapies. We’ll discuss those more in upcoming articles.

Stress can be costly, and this is your life!  Wouldn’t you rather be Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm?  It’s up to you!  

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Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Sugar as an Energy Food– Not!

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choices, dopamine, Grief, Kebba Buckley Button, sugar is an energy food, The life you want, yang food, yin food

© 2020 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

In recent decades, we have heard repeatedly that sugar is an energy food.  Doesn’t that sound wonderful?  And sugary foods and beverages certainly taste good.  So we might easily assume that sweet foods and beverages are body-friendly.  But now is a good time to challenge that perception.  On balance, sugars may not be your great friend.  Today, I speak from my holistic healing practice.

When we eat sugars, the mesolimbic dopamine system in the brain clicks on.  The brain’s neurons start releasing dopamine, which makes us feel happy. And this makes us want more of that stuff that causes dopamine production:  sugars.  Ever notice that when you start eating ice cream from the container, you keep wanting more?  That’s the brain calling for more of that dopamine-production fuel.  You are meeting your body’s biochemistry straight on! This is the effect that possibly makes people think sugar gives them energy.  They feel perked up.  Plus, if their insulin is working well, they will get more blood glucose flowing into their muscles, temporarily.

However, most people get a crash after that blood sugar high, and the blood sugar level then drops steadily until the next meal or snack.  Then the post-sugar person is weak, tired, bleary-eyed, cranky, and fog-brained.  There will be less of a crash if you have some protein with your sugary snack: a bit of chicken, tuna, garbanzo beans, nuts, cheese, or eggs.  And sweet foods with fiber, i.e., fruits, will process more slowly and give you less of a crash.

So back to why sugar actually makes us tired and weak:

1. You burn through your available insulin, as above.
2. Sugars are, by definition, yin foods, in Chinese medicine.  You must eat yang foods to balance yin foods, or you will be tired and weak.  More on yin– and yang foods in an upcoming article.
3. You’re not getting nutrition to support your many thousands of metabolic processes, when you eat white sugar.  It’s refined, and that removes the nutrition, other than the sugar itself.  So on a high-sugar diet, you are malnourished, which is a weakened state.

So let’s challenge that perception that sugar is energy food! Have a little for fun and pleasure, and then eat your veggies, proteins, and limited fruit.  (More on healthy eating in an upcoming column.)  Try for the least sugar in your diet, and you will find yourself increasingly Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm!

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Kebba Buckley Button is a stress solutions expert and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She also has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button