DANCE WITH ENDORPHINS - What exercise does for the brain

Why DANCE WITH ENDORPHINS?  Because exercise has a profound effect on our happiness.  It helps ease anxiety and depression, improves sleep, boost energy, increases creativity, sharpens the memory, reduces cognitive decline and more. 

I know this for certain -I ALWAYS FEEL BETTER AFTER I EXERCISE.  The other day I was feeling blue, dealing with the loneliness of working from home.  I need to be around people and yet I work alone. It's easy to spiral downward.   I had a meeting with myself and decided to do the very last thing I wanted to do -  shake, shake it off.  A class of body pump pushes the nasty out of my head, although I need to find a hot tub because my massive muscles get sore!

 

What triggers happiness in our brain when we exercise?

There's a connection to our brain with our mood, and exercising stimulates feeling better. Bufferapp says when you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. So as your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect you, your brain releases a protein called BDNF  (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). This boosts your memory neurons and acts as a reset switch. 

That's why we often feel so at ease and things seem more clear after exercising.  At the same time, endorphins are released, which block the feeling and pain in exchange for euphoria -- making you feel happy! 

So there you have it.  Get your happy on by shaking your groove thing!

Cyndy, The Whoopie Queen  

Hugs,

Cyndy, The Whoopie Queen 

Take the Daily Grind from Blah to Brilliant!

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall," Fitzgerald wrote in The Great Gatsby.    

It's the beginning of a new school year and the perfect time to start fresh.  This time of year begs for creation.  The sky is Michelangelo-blue and we witness nature's art direction as leaves transform into vibrant colors.  The September Equinox is actually a holiday in the whoopiesphere - September 22 is the Autumnal New Year.  However, getting the kids back to school, driving carpools, and weekends with a plethora of obligatory activities can create the blahs.  We are busy with obligations!  Here are some ways to make the daily grind go from blah to brilliant.   

1.  Make time for yourself.  Self care is health care.  Schedule at least one activity a week to pamper yourself.  A recent study found that 87% women would rather have a massage than sex.  Ok, well go out there and get your freaking massage!  

2.  Chores.  Make a list of household jobs and have a family meeting to decide who will take on which jobs.  Who knows, you may just get rid of having to clean the toilets.  

3.  Whoopify the carpool.  Add a locker disco ball to your dashboard with a rockin' play list.  Or, listen to a book on tape.   Provide crazy hats for riders.  Wear your tiara, real or  metaphoric, to be the queen of your life and make whoopie in the world.

The point is that there are always things in life to improve and to transform.  Do you have something you want to change or create? Maybe you'd like to...

* Make a transition in your career 

* Improve your love life 

* Free yourself from self doubt

* Cultivate ways to enjoy a tough situation 

* Get your child(ren) to behave differently

* Or feel more positive about something 

If you want to speed up your success rate, then I'd like to help you do it with a special one-on-one personal "Creating Your Life" coaching session where we'll work together to...create a vision for ultimate success so you know exactly what you want, where you're headed, and what you need to do to make it happen. Uncover hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your ability to make changes that last or that are slowing down your progress.  Leave this session renewed, re-energized, and inspired to finally achieve the change you seek- once and for all.

 ****  "Creating Your Life" Coaching Session   ****

If you'd like to take advantage of this very special, very limited, and totally FREE 30 minute "Creating Your Life" coaching session, email me @cyndy@whoopiequeen.com.  This offer is good through the Autumnal Equinox on September 22, 2014.  Whoop POW! 

Hugs,

Cyndy, The Whoopie Queen 

FLASHDANCE: TAKE YOUR PASSION AND MAKE IT HAPPEN

The best ALS ice bucket video I've seen is by Brad Letson,

What a feeling

Being's believing

I can have it all

Now I'm dancing for my life

Take your passion

And make it happen

Pictures come alive

You can dance right through your life

Why was the movie Flashdance a hit?  The main character, Alex, went from rags to riches-in-rags (her cutoff sweatshirt).  She transformed from a factory-worker-welder into a superstar-breakdancing-ballet dancer.  She was a woman who reached her dreams.  

      

Ok, Flashdancers, try these steps to take your passion and make it happen:      

1.  Write your dreams down in a life list.  Pretend you are a superhero who could choose to do anything and be successful. Pretend there are no other players in the game-nobody to judge or to tell you you're wrong.

  

2. Plan it. Take out a piece of paper. Make two columns. In the left column, write down your dreams. In the right column, next to each dream, write down the one single thing you can do today to achieve that dream.   Then add what else you could do. 

3. Take action.  Do one thing a day that gets you on your path.  Imagine what will happen in 7 years if you accomplished one task every day toward fulfilling your dreams!

WHAT A FEELING!

Hugs,
Cyndy