Sunday Journal Prompt

“As long as you’re giving, you will be receiving.”

 – Deepak Chopra

Holistic health advocate and author Deepak Chopra says he aims to give to everyone he comes into contact with—a prayer, a blessing, laughter, a compliment, something. According to him, “As long as you’re giving, you will be receiving.” We are drawn to those who share their light with us, as it helps recharge us so that we can give energy—in the form of kindness, understanding and love—to others.

One of my earliest memories is one I which I’m sitting with my church preschool classmates, all of us holding up our index fingers and singing “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” I recall feeling happy and warm—a deep sense of contentment and awareness. Though I couldn’t have articulated it at age four, learning that I had a light in me that could brighten the lives of others offered me a deep sense of receiving.

 

Whom can you give to today? How can you share your light with others?

 

 

However, for those in one-sided relationships, giving and giving without an exchange can drain us. In those cases, consider limiting your time with the “taker” in your life.

Sunday Journal Prompt

“Writing co-ops very different areas of your brain into the task, so it’s a much more meaningful and deeper exercise when you write.”

 

 - Dr. Guy Winch, author of Emotional First Aid
 

With rejection, our self-esteem gets damaged. While the rejection causes 10-20% of the hit, according to psychologist Guy Winch, our own negative internal voice prolongs the pain. For example, someone who is romantically rejected may have a host of negative thoughts: I'm too this, too that, not enough this, not enough that. To cope with rejection, Winch says we need to remind ourselves what we do bring to the world. He advises us to make a list of our meaningful, important qualities—such as being funny, emotionally available, loyal or great with in-laws. He says to choose one and write a paragraph or two about why it’s important and how we manifest it.

Clients often tell him they did this exercise in their heads, but Winch says “it doesn’t work that way.” He compares it to someone who is hungry who opens the refrigerator and imagines eating the food in it. Afterwards, that person is still going to be hungry. “You actually have to write it down,” he said in a recent The One You Feed podcast episode. “The writing coops very different areas of your brain into the task, so it’s a much more meaningful and deeper exercise when you write.” He says focusing on all the things we have to offer helps us cope with rejection.

 

What rejection are you coping with? Write two paragraphs about what gifts you bring to the world.

 

 

Sunday Journal Prompt

Smoko - a slang term used on building sites in Australia, meaning a morning-tea break or a smoke break. 

- UrbanDictionary.com
                               

                                
My student Josia, who had studied in Australia, mentioned the term “Smoko” to me, referring to our class breaks in which I provide time for students to scroll through social media feeds (rather than during class time), to go for a brief walk or to get some water. According to the Australian government’s Fair Work Ombudsman, rest breaks are also referred to as “crib breaks,” “rest pauses” or “tea breaks,” as detailed in the employee entitlement section of its guidelines—though Smoko derives from mid-morning cigarette breaks taken during work or military duty.

A University of Illinois study found that the brain’s attentional resources drop after a long period of focusing on a single task, decreasing our focus and hampering performance. Though it’s counterintuitive, breaks boost our performance. While social-media breaks are better than not taking breaks, they are not re-energizing, as Andrew Deutscher, VP of Business Development at The Energy Project and an expert on office productivity, explained to the Huffington Post: “They're not going to be nearly as refreshed and recovered as if they took a real break to walk outside.”

How can you schedule mid-morning and afternoon walks into your day?

 

Sunday Journal Prompt

“Unlock iPhone, click on app, log food … 150 calories in Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, 30 calories in the vanilla unsweetened almond milk, 100 calories for a piece of 100% whole grain Brownberry bread, 90 calories for a tablespoon of peanut butter, 85 calories for small apple, 0 calories for 10 celery sticks, 140 calories for small packet of ranch dressing. That means in order to stay under my daily calorie goal, I can eat 800 more calories today, so I can have those two slices of pizza. No problem.”      

– Lindsay Moeller, age 21   

In her analysis of Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, my student Lindsay wisely opened her term paper with this description of her daily food log. Reading it exhausts me, accomplishing the effect she was going for.

While I didn’t use an app, I used to log what I ate each day in a notebook. It started as a way to determine which foods caused my Crohn’s symptoms, but later I added a section for my weight—since I weighed myself daily—and time spent on the elliptical machine. Not only did this take time to think about and record, but when I was disappointed in my results, the negative voice in my head shamed me—draining my energy.

The name of the app Lindsay used has the word “pal” in it, but to me it wasn’t a friendly encounter. While I know the rush of meeting daily goals, I suspect that thinking this way consumes time and energy that could be better spent on energizing tasks.

When I stopped going to the gym, stopped tracking my food intake, and stopped logging my “progress,” I lost weight, gained muscle and mindfully chose natural foods on a daily basis. I had more time and energy to prepare healthy meals. I no longer weigh myself daily. In fact, I threw away my scale and canceled my gym membership. Instead I practice yoga and meditate at home for 20 minutes daily, and attend gentle exercise classes twice a week with people who have become dear to me.

What’s your relationship with food and exercise? If it drains your energy, how can you mindfully shift gears toward a more nourishing relationship?