How to Best Spend 60 Seconds

“People who live the most fulfilling lives are the ones who are always rejoicing at what they have.”


Glass Clock

- Richard Carlson, PhD

When we take a few moments to express our appreciation inwardly or to another, immediately we begin to feel happier, more relaxed, more optimistic.

A sense of appreciation is an important part of a positive outlook, and research indicates that a positive attitude is essential to the success of peak performers in both the business and sports worlds.

Studies also provide evidence that a positive, appreciative attitude enhances the body’s healing system and general health.

So, from time to time spend some seconds and ask yourself the following question:

“What’s one thing I’m grateful for?”

When you ask yourself that simple question, you see your cup as half-full. Anything else would be icing on the cake.

And instead of focusing on the I-have-to’s, the question drives you to embrace the super-sexy-sweetness of your life.

What are the psychological benefits?

Scientists at the Institute of HeartMath have discovered that thoughts and even subtle emotions influence the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.

This is significant in that the autonomic nervous system interacts with the digestive, cardiovascular, immune, and hormonal systems. Negative thoughts and emotions tend to create autonomic nervous system imbalance while positive ones encourage physiological balance and strength.

Interestingly, of the numerous positive thought patterns tested by the Institute of HeartMath, appreciation appears to have a particularly strong effect in quickly enhancing the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, resulting in improved hormonal and immune system balance and more effective brain functioning.

HeartMath researchers also have discovered that when an individual engages in thoughts of appreciation, almost immediately his or her heart rate variability smoothes out, indicating heightened psycho physiological coherence - a state associated with reduced stress, increased emotional stability, high performance, and a range of health benefits.

The cool side-effects?

Physician and author Christiane Northrup explains that when you hold feelings of thankfulness for at least 40 to 60 seconds, beneficial physiological changes take place in your body.

Levels of the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine decrease, producing a cascade of beneficial metabolic changes. Coronary arteries relax, thus increasing the blood supply to your heart. And your breathing becomes deeper, raising the oxygen level of your tissues.

And when you think of one thing that makes you thankful, another one pops up. And another, and another, and another - until you fully appreciate what a sweet life you really have.

So, the template to get you started is:

“I’m thankful for this ____”

It will take you less than 60 seconds to complete this task. Try it out for yourself. And remember, gratitude is the best approach to life.

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”



- Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Mood-lifting foodsWe’ve heard the expression “you are what you eat.” When it’s crunch time, we tend to engage in all sorts of unhealthy habits that further increase our stress levels. That pizza? Bad idea. If your anxiety is spiraling out of control, food should be your ally, not your enemy. So if you find yourself cranky, tired and even clinically depressed, try these 11 mood-boosting foods.

1. MILK

Your brain needs an amino acid called tryptophan in order to make serotonin, a neurotransmitter nicknamed the brain’s Prozac, thanks to its happy-making and calming effect. Prozac works by conserving the brain’s serotonin, but tryptophan helps you make more of your own. Milk also contains antioxidants that help destroy free radicals associated with stress. Have some skim milk with your cereal for breakfast or pour yourself a tall, cold glass and use it as an excuse to scarf down a few chocolate chip cookies.

2. CHOCOLATE

Chocolate contains a host of chemicals to brighten your mood, including anadamine, a neurotransmitter that targets the same parts of the brain as THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. But chocolate contains such minuscule levels of anadamide, you’d need to eat kilos of it in order to make any impact on the amount that’s circulating in the brain naturally. So, why does chocolate give us the buzz it does? Scientists believe other chemicals in chocolate cause anadamide to hang around in the brain for longer, enhancing its stimulant effect. The sweet stuff also boosts our levels of endorphins, the brain’s natural happy hormones.

3. WHOLE-GRAIN RICE OR PASTA

It’s a good thing carbohydrates are finally back in style now that everyone has realized those low-carb diets were a bunch of hooey. Eating carbohydrates boosts serotonin levels (thus have a calming, soothing effect), and slow-release ‘complex’ carbs keep you sustained, helping you to stay mellow and preventing between-meals rattiness. While all carbs will give you this kick, stick to whole-grain bread, rice and pasta. Simple carbs like white bread and pastries will only give you a momentary boost followed by a crash, and they will make you pack on the kilos. On the other hand, whole grains (complex carbs) are digested more slowly and will thus keep you feeling fuller — and conceivably happier — for a longer period of time.

4. MACKEREL

A study in Finland found that people who eat more fish are 31 percent less likely to suffer from depression. Oily fish like mackerel are the best source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which help prevent the blues. They boost serotonin levels and also enhance your brain’s receptiveness to the neurotransmitter. High-dose omega-3 supplements can even help patients suffering from clinical depression. Most types of fish are also replete with all-important B vitamins, particularly the renowned stress fighters B6 and B12. In fact, B12 is one of the most important vitamins involved in the synthesis of the “happy” brain chemical serotonin.

5. BROCCOLI

Yet another food that is chock-full of stress-relieving B vitamins, broccoli has the added benefit of containing folate (folic acid), which is also part of the B vitamin family. And since low levels of folate have been linked to depression in many studies, including research following thousands of people in Finland and California, it stands to reason that if you keep your folate levels up, you’re less likely to be down in the dumps.

6. COFFEE

Caffeine is the world’s most popular psychoactive drug. It boosts metabolism and energy levels, making you feel more alert by interfering with the action of drowse-inducing adenosine in the brain. It also manipulates the same channels in the brain as amphetamines, activating the brain’s pleasure centers. There recently was a study from Brazil finding that people who drink coffee with milk each day are less likely to have depression. On the flip side, it’s clear that coffee isn’t for everyone. Its legendary jolt in excess doses — that is, more than whatever your individual body can tolerate — can increase nervousness, hand trembling, and cause rapid heartbeat.

7. TURKEY

Turkey is high in phenylalanine, an amino acid which the brain converts to dopamine, a neurochemical that elevates mood and motivation and prevents depression. A study published in a German psychiatry journal showed that phenylalanine was as effective as an antidepressant drug. As well as turkey, phenylalanine is found in most protein foods, so eat them when you want to feel sharper. The addition of protein to a meal will also help slow the absorption of carbohydrate in the blood. This can help leave you feeling upbeat and productive for hours after eating.

8. LIVER

Liver is one of the richest sources of vitamin B6, which you need to convert the phenylalanine from the protein you’re eating to mood-enhancing dopamine and buzzy adrenaline. If you don’t get enough vitamin B6, you’ll probably feel low, and stress depletes your levels further. If the thought of liver doesn’t exactly boost your mood, get your vitamin B6 from brown rice or other whole grains.

9. BLUEBERRIES

These little blue miracle workers are jam-packed with antioxidants and vitamin C, which are potent stress busters. Because your brain consumes so much oxygen, oxidants do heavy damage there, and those antioxidants will help pick off the free radicals that wear away at your memory. As an added bonus, they’re low in calories, so they won’t make you blimp-like. Blueberries are also a good source of fiber, which can help relieve the cramps and constipation that can occur in times of stress.

10. BRAZIL NUTS

Brazil nuts are the number one source of the mineral selenium, which helps maintain your mood and prevent depression. Although scientists haven’t figured out exactly how, it seems that selenium is essential for maintaining a happy mood — it’s so important that when the body’s stock is being run down, the brain is the last organ to give up its stash. These crunchy little dudes are also packed with vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin E, magnesium, and zinc. B vitamins and magnesium are involved in the production of serotonin, which helps regulate mood and relieve stress. Zinc has also been shown to fight some of the negative effects of stress, while vitamin E is an antioxidant that destroys the free radicals related to stress and heart disease.

11. ANY FOOD THAT TASTES GOOD!

Eating food that tastes good stimulates the production of endorphins — the painkilling peptides that bind to the brain’s opioid receptors, triggering the same kind of reaction as opiate drugs such as the painkiller codeine, and heroin. So eat the things you enjoy for a natural — and legal — high!

Now take a deep breath, chill out and go make yourself a snack.

“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.”
- Homer


Tired after getting a full nine hours and still feeling exhausted? You sleep the sleep of the innocent - you nod off quickly, don’t have nightmares and have no trouble breathing - and still you can hardly get up in the morning and seldom feel totally awake, no matter how long you slept the previous night. You are suffering from a clear-cut case of ineffective sleep.

The good news is that, starting tonight, you can improve the quality of your sleep. So pull up a pillow and learn how to get more rest while spending less time on your back.

1. Go deep.

It is possible to sleep too long or at the wrong time. In both cases you may be getting enough rest, but you still feel weary. That’s because the amount of time you spend in bed is not as important as maximizing sleeping patterns.

Your sleep consists of five stages, distinguished by different brain activities. Just shortly after falling asleep, you start sinking gradually into a deep sleep. You soon surface from this and enter a dreaming period commonly known as REM sleep. After that, it’s back to several deep-sleep phases, which grow shorter as the night progresses.

To wake up easily, set your alarm to wake you up at the end of a cycle rather than in the middle of deep sleep. A cycle normally lasts at least 90 min., bearing in mind that the first one is somewhat shorter, so you will probably be in light sleep after five-and-a-half, seven, and eight-and-a-half hours in bed (that includes the time it takes for you to fall asleep). If you’re still deep in dreamland when the alarm goes off, add a few minutes to your sleeping time the next day.

2. Surrender to your genes.

As I mentioned, there are three optimal lengths of sleep -­ but that doesn’t mean you can just choose one. A study completed this spring by Washington State University Spokane suggests that our sleep patterns are embedded in our bodies - perhaps in our very genes. Some of us will need five-and-a-half hours of sleep, while others will need at least eight-and-a-half. Most people will manage comfortably on seven hours. Your genes decide for you and you can’t just alter it without paying the price.

There is hardly anybody out there who knows what it means to be fully awake. Studies have found that proper sleeping patterns emerge only after you have caught up with up to 25 hours of missing sleep. To optimize your sleep, crawl into bed half an hour earlier each evening for a few nights. As long as you have a sleep deficit to catch up on, you should have no problem falling asleep. After that, allow yourself as much sleep as you need. If you persistently sleep too little, you run the risk of becoming overweight, absent-minded and ill; a daily sleep deficit of two hours over a period of 14 days is as damaging as a night with no sleep.

Sleeping too much is also a rest buster. If you sleep for longer than your personal optimal period, your sleep will be empty and restless. If you oversleep for many hours, you will fall into another deep sleep in the morning. This will upset your circadian clock and you will wake up feeling absolutely whacked. If this is your problem, you can reverse the situation by keeping your time in bed to the absolute minimum and staying up a bit later at night to prolong the restful deep sleep at the beginning of the night.

3. Worship the sun.

Most people can get away with some wildness in their routines as long as they soak up some bright light at the right time. Normal indoor lighting provides 400 lux of illumination, which doesn’t help much; the sun, however, provides 1 500 to 100 000 lux. So if you spend one hour outdoors before starting work you will be more alert and cheerful during the day.

It’s easier to do in summer than winter but if you can’t manage it at all, you could follow the European trend of substituting your light quota with some artificial sunlight. For a positive effect, you need at least half an hour at 10 000 lux or two hours at 2 500 lux. You can also gradually adjust your preferred sleeping times using artificial sunlight - to party longer into the night, you will have to soak up some light in the evening - artificial light will bring some relief but your sleep and wellbeing will still suffer.

4. Keep the rhythm.

Your body was designed to sync with the cycles of nature - including daylight and darkness. Your circadian, or biological clock, regulates aspects of your metabolism, physiology and behavior. At night, it triggers the supply of the sleep hormone melatolin, and in the morning the wake-up substance cortisol. It also regulates body temperature so that lowest point is reached at about 3 a.m.

Biologically speaking, this is the witching hour and the most inappropriate time to be awake. The prime time for deep sleep occurs in the first five hours of sleep and before 3 a.m. If you’re in the habit of staying up way past midnight, you can forget about quality sleep, even if you’ll sleep till noon.

And don’t even think about going to bed too early because you have to get up early or want to squeeze in an extra workout. This only works if you’re already exhausted and fall asleep instantly; what’s more likely is that you will lie half-awake, start to brood and finally get to sleep tense and restless.

It’s hardly possible to stock up on sleep, so you should rather go to bed at the usual time (observe the cycle) and make up for lost sleep by tucking in a bit earlier the following night. Alternatively, catch a siesta during the day.

5. Watch the time.

To get the most out of your shutdown time, keep regular hours. Go to bed at about the same time every night and ­- even more importantly ­- get up the same time each morning.

Don’t oversleep to make up for a poor night’s sleep. This may sound regimental but the circadian clock is highly sensitive to unstable life patterns. The inner day for most people would be 25 hours long if it weren’t for external time indicators such as sunshine, which keeps the clock ticking over properly. (Depending whether you are a night owl or morning lark, your sleep-wake rhythm may be up to 27 hours, for owls, or shorter than 25 hours, for larks.) If you live an erratic life, your internal clock will be thrown off kilter.

The result: you may want to be functioning when your body temperature is at the witching hour, making you feel cold, sapped of energy and irritable, and trying to rest when your temperature is geared for action. Routine is a simple solution.

Forget about sleeping late at the weekend. The circadian clock reacts immediately to delays in getting up - doing that for even a couple of days can reset your body clock and make it hard for you to get to sleep at night. Rather wake up at about the same time and allow yourself the luxury of a short snooze during the day ­- or go to bed earlier if you are really short on sleep.

Overlooking the single most important thing you can do for your health is easy with all the clamor surrounding various health products in the marketplace. But good-quality sleep goes far and beyond those products when it comes to restoring your health. And best of all, sleep is free. So try these proven techniques and get the rest you need