Mark Laham's Blog

Here is a link to an article i found on the Institute of HeartMath website.  It gives some great tips on how deal with money troubles.

Here is a few lines from the article
“Most of us believe if we just work harder, think harder and try harder, we can resolve our financial issues. But what if focusing more brainpower and effort in these problems actually gets us even further away from finding solutions? Instead of trying even harder to think our way through these problems, here’s an alternative approach to consider. “

“A different method for resolving your challenges involves releasing stress and allowing your intuition to help guide your thoughts and actions. By using tools to stop the continual loop of anxiety and fear, we actually free up energy to find new answers to old problems. ”

“3.Shift your focus. Stop and remember the basic conveniences and luxuries you may take for granted. Much of the world lives in poverty and while it may sound simplistic, when we stop to think about someone much less fortunate, it puts our financial situations in a larger wholeness perspective.”

“5. Don’t over-saturate yourself with bad news about the economy. While staying informed is important, taking in so much disturbing news day after day, can lead to a growing sense of pessimism. Try to watch or read the financial news without getting lost in a negative mindset and look for stories that help stimulate more creative, optimistic thinking about money.” 

9.Don’t punish yourself with blame or shame. Having financial difficulties does not equate to failure. Some times the circumstances are beyond your control. Freeing yourself from these disapproving feelings enhances your perception and intuition, allowing you to think better and more clearly. Despite a sense that things may always be this way, your current condition is not permanent. Change is constant and that includes your finances.

As a kid growing up, I always hated when my father would tell me to sit up straight.  Now that I have studied and experienced the effects of years of improper posture, I wish I would have listened to him.

Here is some quotes from an article from CBS titled Straight Facts On Good Posture

“The Saturday Early Show’s Dr. Mallika Marshall says if you have good posture, it means that your bones are properly aligned. And proper alignment is necessary if you want your muscles, joints and ligaments to work properly. If you have good posture, your internal organs are in the right position and can work more effectively.”

“Bad posture can lead to serious health issues, including chronic back pain.”

“There are many signs you may have bad posture. Some of the most common are when you have rounded shoulders and a rounded upper back.”

“# Exercise Regularly: If you exercise, you are more flexible and your muscles are stronger, which helps support proper posture.”

To help you out with your posture.  Check out my video on proper sitting posture:

I also recommend you  try Yin Yoga.  It’s great to help undo years of improper posture as it focuses on the connective tissue layer.  Slowly reshaping your body to stand tall.

Try the Front line Sequence in my MindBodyWarrior Yin yoga dvd.

If you are in downtown Ottawa on Wednesdays at noon…  Join us  for free yoga classes on beautiful lawn of the Parliament buildings…

For more details check events pages.

Open the pages of any major news publication these days and you will no doubt find an article about some study suggesting that yoga and meditation have positive effects on your over all well-being.

Whether it be reduced stress, increased brain activity, or even reducing the effects of aging, there is no reason for you to delay this practice.

Here is yet another article from the Harvard Medical School giving you some more proof.

http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/pressreleases/mgh/1105meditation.html

Here are a few quotes from the article:

….. regular practice of meditation appears to produce structural changes in areas of the brain associated with attention and sensory processing… …particular areas of the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, were thicker in participants who were experienced practitioners of a type of meditation …

…meditation can produce experience-based structural alterations in the brain…

… meditation may slow down the aging-related atrophy of certain areas of the brain…..

…meditation can produce alterations in brain activity, and meditation practitioners have described changes in mental function that last long after actual meditation ceases, implying long-term effects…

Add this to the list of other studies done all over the world at universities and research institutes that show the benefits of meditation or what I like to call “Focused Attention”. The only question left is how do I start.

Check out my video on meditation for some easy to use tips: