Otoya Quotes

Your consciousness is made up of thought patterns, habits and routines. This means that you’ll often think about the same types of things on a regular basis – whether these are positive or negative. Whatever your mind chooses to think about most of the time is going to be its path of least resistance. It’s going to be the thing that is the easiest to think about.

Benefits of Positivity on Your Body Longer Life Being more optimistic can decrease the rate at which you age, which prolongs your lifespan. When you think in a positive light, you are much less likely to die from serious health issues. Pessimism feeds stress, which can make you sick and develop ailments such as heart disease, just to name one. Makes for Stronger Immune Health If you hate being sick, then positive thinking is not only a much cheaper alternative to over-the-counter medications. However, it is a natural remedy that works better than most drugs. If you are a constant Negative Nancy, you are much more likely to get sicknesses like the cold and flu, since negativity weakens essential areas of the brain that help with immune responses. Benefits of Positivity on the Mind It Fights Off Depression Psychologists have found that depression is strongly linked to a negative mindset. When one is able to simply change their point of view to see the positive rather than focus on the pessimistic aspects of what they are going through, they are able to fight against the development of depression as much as 54% more. Positivity improves mood, no matter the situation at hand and is better at treating depression than almost all other therapies. Stronger Sense of Confidence Positive thinkers are naturally more confident. I mean, they do not want to spend the time pretending they are in the shoes of another person. They want to strive to love themselves the way they are. It Is Easier to Accomplish Success Optimistic individuals are better able to focus on the good they do rather than their failures. They see failures as not short-comings but as golden opportunities to learn and grow. They are always open-minded to try out new things and embracing different methods of thinking. This is one of the essential parts of leading a fruitful life. Stronger Motivation Having a positive attitude helps to fuel your motivation levels and help you start on what you wish to achieve. You will find that having an optimistic attitude gets you to where you want to go much faster and easier than dwelling in the negative. Resilience When faced with an issue, positive thinkers are able to do whatever it takes to fix the problem and are not hesitant to ask for the assistance of other people.

What Rumination Does to Our Bodies Our mind and bodies are directly intertwined with one another, so it is no secret that having an overly anxious state of mind on an everyday basis is not good for neither your mental or physical well-being. Bodily effects of anxiety can include: Digestive and stomach issues Always feeling like you cannot quite catch your breath Twitching or shaking Trembling Inability to be able to relax Headaches Muscles tension Irritability and mood swings Fatigue Easily startled Insomnia Sadly, these are just a few of the negative effects that rumination causes but meditation has the ability to turn these things around. How Meditation Transforms the Brain There is plenty of research that displays the correlation between the practice of meditation and the positive effects it has on the way our brain functions. Utilizing daily meditation methods has been shown to drastically change the grey matter that our brains are made up of. Mediation has the power to greatly reduce anxiety Meditation causes a domino effect in the brain that triggers the release of feel-good hormones such as dopamine, making it an effective treatment for anxiety and depression. Improves attention and ability to concentrate Meditation itself takes a large amount of intense concentration, and this can aid in the rise of cognitive abilities once it is practiced for a period of time. Changes areas of the brain positively The practice of meditation can cause our brains, even as adults, to warp and change in very positive ways. Practicing focused meditation increases the thickness of the hippocampus, which is the portion of our brain that is in charge of how we learn and retain memory. This also goes for the parts of the brain that we use to regulate ourselves emotionally. And even better news is that with the thickening and growing of the more positive areas is the decrease in areas such as the amygdala, which is the part of our brains that triggers fear and rumination. Reduces stress Stress at too high of levels is a component that fuels us in feeling agitated and moody. Meditation allows individuals to take charge of how their mind and bodies react to changes that impact your emotional state of mind as well as important areas of the body such as the nervous system. Meditation allows those that practice it to effectively regular emotion.

The Altered State: The human body is gifted with the process of intense performance, rapid healing and powerful learning. When our minds are in this state, the brainwave activity, and chemistry shift, making us into more creative and intuitive people.

Metaphoric Imagery: Metaphoric imagery is best used with symbols rather than reality. For example, watching a flower grow and open its petals is a direct metaphor that it has the potential to blossom again. Go on YouTube and search for a time lapse that could symbolize rebirth such as a sunrise or caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Imagine your old mental state dying and a new one being born. End State Imagery: End state imagery is utilized if one wishes to imagine an outcome or potential goal realistically. For example, picturing yourself strong and illness free, or playing a sport you wish to play someday. This is also referred to as mental rehearsal. Feeling State Imagery: Feeling state imagery has the power to change your mood and typically involves picturing yourself in a favorite place or looking back to a happy memory. Any types of images that reflect feelings of gratitude, safety and/or love, etc. are great qualifiers. How to Use Guided Imagery When it comes to visualization and diminishing rumination, practice makes perfect. Having someone you trust, or a recording as a guide will help you as a beginner master the ways of guided imagery. Be patient with yourself, it will take dedicated time and practice to really nail it down. Below are the simple steps to guided imagery:

your life is a car, you are the driver – never forget this. We often get bombarded with life’s demands and forget that we are the ones in control. If your boss is always getting you down, start looking for a new job. If your relationship is falling apart, seek relationship therapy or read books on healthy relationships. This may sound like I am oversimplifying but the truth is that when you get out of your head and start taking action it’s a lot easier to stop thinking. Instead of thinking about what’s bothering you, start actively trying to fix it.

Erase distracting thoughts Think of thoughts as guests in a hotel that come and go. This means you should do your best to keep the pesky guests that want to stay awhile out. Your thoughts do not make up who you are. That’s why with rumination, it is important to learn how to ground yourself and constructively sort through your thoughts and feelings. You and only you have the power to bring yourself up and tear yourself down. You cannot stop those negative thoughts from knocking at your mind’s door and peaking their ugly head inside, but you can keep them from entering your mind and taking it over. Keep an everyday journal that you can write down how you truly feel about experiences, people and other such things in. For some people, writing this sort of stuff out helps them rid their minds of those thoughts because they are now on paper and not just trapped with the recesses of their mind. Patience There are moments throughout the day that calls for us to wait patiently. It can be waiting in the drive-thru for a meal, stopping at a red light, waiting for someone outside, etc. If you experience irritation in having to wait, it is an important tool to learn how to change your focus target. Calm yourself down by searching for and concentrating on the things that surround you at that moment. If this does not work well for you, focus on your breathing patterns.

Write down at least three to five of the most important tasks that you must get done or at least start that day. Focus on the ones that stress you out just thinking about them. Then, ask yourself the following questions about the tasks you have jotted out so that you can prioritize them accordingly: Which tasks will help me inch closer to achieving my main goal? What task do I have the most fearful anxious thoughts about? Which tasks have the potential to cancel out others if done successfully? Spend least 90 minutes accomplishing your daily priorities Once you have narrowed down your top priorities to accomplish for the day, set aside at least an hour and a half of time to focus just on that task. It is vital to target your main goals during the morning hours because we are the most productive during the first three to four hours of the day.