Ayurvedic living Archives - Page 13 of 14 - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Emotional Wheel: 3 Case Studies

Emotional wheel is something you’ve probably heard about. Daily, we are bombarded with triggered emotions. If we process them when they happen or within the week, that’s healthy for us so we don’t assume trauma that hurts our happiness. I learned the hard way, but lessons learned gave me wisdom to end the madness even if it was delayed by years.

And these healthy black and white chocolate dipped biscotti (recipe below) ⬇️ represent the refining process of going through (the oven) again to get to the optimal finish line bake. You can make these when you’re working on your emotional wheel feelings, and not sure if you’re feeling up or down or all around that life can serve up.

Jump to Recipe

I was on a recent webinar presentation watching a respected leader and expert I have been listening to for years. She’s usually always on point except for this one display of being on an emotional wheel.

Consequently, her mind jumped all around, from one thought back to another. I felt for her. Like a trouper, she just went on like the professional she is.

Halfway through, she mentioned her forgetful mood was because she didn’t have anything to eat as a result of a hectic morning. But I could see and feel through the screen that the turmoil she was having was from a temporary Vata and Pitta imbalance, simultaneously going on at the same time.

I know that because I’ve been there and I’m sensitive to those imbalances.

We often try and associate our off-ness with a routine missed, or else we just let the moments pass and resolve themselves.

But what if it doesn’t? …and those moody feelings go from a day into days or weeks?

In this webinar I was on, this expert was also more impatient than usual. She didn’t usually point out when she had answered a question already. She typically just graciously found a new way to answer with additional ideas and value. She’s usually very calm and in control in mind-body connection ways.

I’m using this as a case study, as this can happen to any of us in our human-ness, no matter how put together or skilled we are. We’re not robots, thank goodness!

And this helps explain tennis pro, Naomi Osaka’s performance this week in the U.S. Open tennis match (and previous matches) where she has shown signs of frustration, throwing her racquet to the hardcourt. She was up and winning in the first set and then her mind-body turned on her, and she ended up going on a losing streak to a younger underdog player.

This is why they play in professional sports, because mostly if they can contain their emotions and control with a focused, coordinated mind-body, then they shine. But no matter how pro they are, they can lose it if they get inside their heads, and their bodies don’t perform in the tip-top way they want.

Anxiety is one of those emotions that can be crippling. And anger (or irritation as a subtler form) is another. You can go from one undesirable emotion to the next in the spectrum of the emotional wheel.

In my wholeness journey (as a 3^rd study case), I’ve learned how to remove and calm those emotions that used to play a regular or seasonal role in my life. I just thought that was the way I was. I didn’t know back then I could do something about it that would change my life.

Then on top of those emotions, I used to think SADD (seasonal affective disorder) was what I would experience all my life from a teenager on, when every February I would feel hormonally imbalanced or slightly depressed. Do they even talk about this anymore as there are so many other known disorders in our more open, aware society?

I knew once March rolled around I was good and chipper again. But not everyone bounces back that way.

As I grew up, I learned to get the right vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements, and that helped along with all the other healthy and daily practices I implemented to enjoy every day.

In this similar way of seeking knowledge, I learned how to restore anxious-irritated feelings. We all have some feelings we have running on the surface or as undercurrents in our life, and are sometimes stronger based on our life situations.

In my desires and awareness, I learned how to faster restore those symptoms from the body-mind perspective, so that even the inward expression and feelings disappear. That’s a big transformation. And I realized it’s possible to improve your life with better wisdom and practice.

Emotional Wheel: Anxious Vata vs Angry Pitta Imbalances

There’s a varying spectrum of symptoms or descriptions you can use for Vata vs. Pitta imbalances on the emotional wheel.

An anxious Vata imbalance can show signs of being worried, scared or fearful (like if you will lose something valuable or if you feel uncertain about an outcome).

An angry Pitta imbalance can feel hot-tempered, irritated, annoyed, critical, or impatient (or feel a need to be more right about everything than usual).

In both cases, you want to get back to your calmest self as soon as possible. We all know stress causes havoc on our bodies and minds. And when you’re calm, you make better decisions when you can think and act clearly.

But each specific imbalance needs a different remedy.

If you have a Vata imbalance, you can first more notice your symptoms in your heartbeat, stomach, and sweaty hands (before it impacts your mind). You want to control those with your thoughts. You want to change that, to feel fearless and confident.

In a high-pressure situation like in a world-is-watching-your tennis court performance, that’s not easy to do and to revert back right away. At home or in your life, that’s what you want to do.

If you have a Pitta imbalance, your mind can often be impacted first. Triggers can set off your mind, and then your actions create your behaviors that lead to body stressors.

We all are born with a split mind that I won’t get into here, but this can be part of a personal growth journey you take to have one productive, loving mind in your higher self-space.

It’s the stuff I breathe, share, teach (and stand for). I believe your health and happiness are dependent on your growth and based on your choice and decision to take a better path than how you started or were given.

And in either case of Vata or Pitta imbalances, if you’re not calm then you’re stunted momentarily until you can restore and get back to your balance. You’re frozen from being creative and fully productive as your mind is distracted and can be racing, and that can impact your physical health like getting enough sleep and functioning optimally in the waking hours.

…Such as sitting still can be a Vata challenge and getting motivated to do calming yoga can be something you need to convince your body to do if it will cooperate. And a Pitta challenge can be to not express knee-jerk reactions, opinions, or interrupt. These subtle occurrences are emotional wheel signs that can be balance restored. Just like you get your tire wheels balanced (in alignment) on a car, your body-mind needs addressing, tune-ups and check-ins, so it runs optimally for life.

If you have a Vata imbalance you can witness your jumping from task to task more than usual.

When you have a Pitta imbalance you can also be jumpy, but you may want to interject more often.

You can go from one imbalance to another quickly, the same day, or as often as the weather changes (along with the storms in your body), and naturally can go away.

But, a better goal is you don’t want to be jumpy at all. You want to get off the emotional hamster wheel. There’s no good benefit being on it. You want to be cool, calm and collected. Or happy, and your excitement is contagious so you can be your BEST YOU.

If you let go of the unwanted feelings, then that’s victory. But if these hindering feelings spin out of control in your thought life, then you can end up lashing out at others, being angry, or running away. And these can in a usually-delayed way show up on your body in some form.

When your balance is restored, you know because the feelings of calm and peace wash over, and you can find the joyful moments to keep you productive and happy at the moment. You are free and own the most important thing you have, Your Life. You feel on top of the world and your emotional wheel is balanced.

So now you know about the Vata-Pitta differences (or are getting a little more aware). What do you do about restoring your emotional wheel of undesired feelings?

It’s not exactly one size fits all as we have different bodies and minds (biodiversity), but since we’re all born with a body and mind, there are similar specific remedies that work for these imbalances.

For a Vata, ginger, and cinnamon in black teas can be your magic tea. Orange is one of your magical scents.

If you’re a Vata or have a Vata imbalance, you won’t want grassy tasting green teas (green smoothies are okay all the time 😊) or to do the creative activities, as your mind will still want to protect you like you’re being chased by a tiger.

If you’re a Pitta or have a Pitta imbalance, you won’t want sweets. You’ll prefer a plummy-sour fruit flavor or green tea, and you’ll want to get active. You can want the grassy cologne scents that you won’t normally be attracted to if you’re not a naturally dominant Pitta.

From anxiety to anger, you can easily go into a distracted fight-flight-frozen mode.

You get to know which imbalances you have when you like certain scented lotions and perfumes you like sometimes but not others. All that information is connected to your body-mind intelligence and imbalances.

Your body naturally knows what it wants and needs. It’s fascinating. That’s why I’m passionate about restoring imbalances that lead to better daily happiness and long-term health.

You can learn how to do this for yourself and others. As a first step you could take the body balance quiz to get some quick tips on how to restore your dominant imbalance and get advice for deeper insight on your body-mind imbalances. I love this mantra:

“When you know better, you do better.”
-Oprah and Maya Angelou

Break your patterns, stay curious, and with a growth mindset, you can make tweaks and improvements that affect your health and happiness. Let your emotional wheel of feelings help guide you. Be well.

Print Recipe

Healthy Biscotti (No Butter or Sugar) - Black and White Chocolate Biscotti

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

2-1/2 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp aniseed, crushed
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup coconut oil
1-1/4 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
1 cups blanched almonds
2 tsp milk
finely choped dates, orange zest, dried fruits as sweet

Instructions

Make your dough with the ingredients. It should be cohesive and sticky enough to become a dough. You may need to add more oil or can substitute with yogurt or apple sauce.
Roll our two rectangular loafs flattened at the top in 350°F oven for 25 minutes.
Let cool completely. Then use a serated knife to make even-cut biscotti pieces.
Then flip over and bake for 10 more minutes for twice baked.
Let cool and dip in melted chocolate.
Refrigerate and then dip in white chocolate for duo-chocolate.

Balanced Living This Season

Balanced living and wellness is the best way to live a life worth living.

body-mind balanced

That’s what people discover after they’ve hit rock bottom or they’ve run ragged for long seasons.

When you reset to your calm and whole equilibrium essence, you find your life meaning, purpose, and happiness now and in this season.

That improves mental health that’s delicate to protect for longevity.

If you live every day busy and stressed, even if it’s doing the thing that lights you up and gives you purpose, like owning your own business or being the CEO in your household, you can still feel burnout.

If you don’t develop a strong enough reason WHY for what you’re doing, then you can gradually feel unhappy because you can be missing the meaning piece. Why does the business or my family give me purpose?

Getting to those deeper reasons, you can find it has nothing to do with security or a sense of belonging as you could get those from a solid work career or a community of friends.

It could be more about spiritual alignment, personal growth, and discovering more of who you are.

If you were a rose flower, even during blooming season, your intact delicate petals could become brittle, and fall off under wind-blowing conditions.

But if you knew your purpose and greater giving impact was to be naturally beautiful, fragrant, healthy, and alive, and that your inner beauty helps to spread love to your environment and the world, then you would be able to embrace chaos and changing environmental situations.

You can get your unique raison d’etre (reason of being) when seeking meaning and purpose this season which requires your focus, mindful space, and deeper thought.

Quiet time, introspection, and journaling can bring that wisdom out of you.

If you are body-mind balanced in balanced living, then you can tune in more acutely because when you’re healthy you can do infinitely all that you’re capable and willing to do in alignment.

A healthy body-mind provides the starting foundation for your inner wisdom to grow.

To be healthy, it’s important to find time to soak in what your body is conveying to you in each season of your unique life and take time to nourish your naturally resilient but unique body.

The one and only body you will get and can transform if you wish. A simple daily task of moisturizing your dry skin (the largest organ in your body) can be a healthy body-mind exercise especially if you’re a Vata and have those tendencies.

You could stop to smell the roses daily and sense all their pretty features like bright and pastel colors… subtle rose scents (great for a judgmental mind)… soft and silky smooth texture …and balanced intricate design.

In those mindful moments, you can connect with yourself, and realize how you can make an impact in your life and others this season of life… Time you will never get back. Losing time can be a motivator (Your Why) as it has been for me.

Before I was conscious of body imbalances, I didn’t realize I had fallen rose petals from lack of self-care attention. I may have noticed random petals and brushed that off as nothing.

Had I been more in tune back then, I could have adapted and thrived better to my seasonal situations to keep the petals blooming.

And I would’ve reached my higher frequency instead of survival mode in a modern rat-race work life. You can miss out on fulfilling years of personal growth and finding your whole self that way.

Looking back, I went through the motions. In the season when I had a Kapha imbalance, I couldn’t get myself up an hour earlier than I desired and accumulated more than one of everything.

When I had a Pitta imbalance, I noticed acne in new spots and was more critical than usual.

When I had a Vata imbalance, I was more forgetful, inconsistent, unfocused darting from unimportant task to task, and indecisive making small decisions difficult.

Multitasking BTW is the epitome of a lack of mindfulness.

Out of living balanced, inconsistent symptoms show up, such as accumulating body weight, feeling impatient, being withdrawn or slower than usual.. and so much more!

When I learned how to restore my gradually stored up appearing imbalances, then I had a new framework and perspective for tackling all that I wanted to do in a loving way and productively.

More importantly, being the person I wanted to be (…and you can too!).

You could be fully aligned with the creative flow (even if you think you’re not creative or in this season). You gain clarity and laser focus (and feel unstoppable, and not starting and stopping).

You can be your super-productive self while still enjoying some of the uneventful days of this season. They don’t matter in balance.

Finding unique joyful activities you love can help to prevent burnout. And proactively learning how to naturally restore your body-mind balanced self and balanced living is how you can start to be your healthiest self (and the best rose in your life).

Each year can be your best year because you make the most out of it and see how what you did brought you to where you are.

Encouragement for today… you every day feel better than the day before if you proactively look for how to intervene and get those wholesome perspectives and wisdom.

If yesterday wasn’t the best, you have a low bar to surpass today. If yesterday was great (hopefully it was) then today you can follow in those footsteps, and also keep trying new things. You keep going and growing.

As busy humans, we have complex lives. One day, we can be pivoting, and the next day looking for more happiness in our lives while handling the necessary tasks in the here and now.

Some of our specific situations can sometimes leave us feeling drained, tired, anxious, worried, annoyed or irritated. If you feel any of those symptoms, you can do something about it.

You can find out what your body imbalance type is in this season and make positive, restorative changes. Getting aware helps your body-mind balanced lliving.

Your body and mind imbalances can change from season to season and can show up in many ways. The mind and body keeps memory and score.

As part of this season, I hope (and challenge you if that’s what you need!) that you will take time to find your specific purpose, meaning, and take some extra balanced, self-care time out.

6 Productive Take Time Out Activity Ideas For Balanced Living (So You Don’t Burnout!)

Every day, try and choose at least one of these “time out” activities that can be for 10 minutes or more per day. If you only have 5 minutes, then take those 5 minutes.

If you feel guilt about taking time away from whatever your busy list is (work, family, etc.), recognize the feeling, and reason with yourself that this prevents you from burning out in the long run.

When you come back to your busy life, take note that nothing significantly earth-shattering has happened. The more you can record evidence for that, the less guilt if any, you can feel. And then you also gained quality time for yourself, and you feel healthier and happier, and the people around you notice.

Breathing time. If you can’t remember the last time you paid attention to your breath inhale and exhale breathing, then you’re probably too busy to be mindful and too busy this season. Be intentional and come back to it for your health and balanced living.

Break time. In between busy activities, take short breaks to get mindful, Doing laundry, making a snack, pouring water, and looking at nature or a plant that’s moving or growing as you read this and go about your regular day, can be satisfying to a balanced body-mind. If you feel tensions, then something could be off.

Use mind space and relaxing your body, as your break time theme. You could be standing up, taking a walk, or sitting on the deck, and watching the world go by, looking for productive future thoughts to enter. You can start with something you look forward to. If you find yourself pacing or your mind is racing, step outside into new surroundings and air.

Silent time to get a peaceful mind. Have moments in the day where it’s completely quiet in your surroundings, or you put on white noise or a quieting headset.

Let ideas pop into your head. This means not watching the television.

This means tuning out the sounds from your immediate world that can come from another room.

You can meditate, but I suggest keeping your eyes open so you can take a look at your surroundings for inspirational ideas.

“Me time.” I grew up in a decade where it was a less sensitive world than today. People weren’t as aware or empathetic.

Taking “me time” sounded selfish to others, but then our society became more open to the idea that when you practice self-care and self-love, you have more love to give to others (time, space, and forgiveness).

Thankfully living in a more transparent world frees you to be a better you.

If you find pride creeping up, you can have a daily intention or practice to be grateful.

Find gratitude time. Pause and think of a few moments this week that you’re grateful for.

Write them down in a journal or on the back of a temporary envelope if that will help better solidify those temporary memories in your mind.

You can do this while you turn on the news. With sad headlines, you can have deeper compassion, and that helps you find gratitude, meaning, and contentment in your life.

This can improve your daily happiness and feeling good about what you do have and how you can contribute and make an impact to serve and help others.

Gaining an internal and grounded perspective can keep you feeling peaceful and in control, instead of living an up and down daily roller coaster lifestyle based on the highs and lows going on in your life.

If you’re feeling frustrated or defeated:

Find organize task time (or time to piddle around and tidy up). If you feel overwhelmed or are unwinding from the day, doing mindless tasks can feel good and be productive.

You can use this time to also catch up on podcasts or listen to music to get calm and back to your usual self.

If you have more time, you can do a rainy day project like organizing a file, bookshelf, or drawer. Make it fun.

You can create a good memory by stuffing a good ‘old photo, some stickers, or memorable words you write on paper, and add them to your project.

When you’re done, you’ll feel better for your small, but mighty in your mind daily achievement. That can be all your mind needs to relax and get back to the mood you want.

And in the future when you pick up the tangible memory you just made, that can put a smile on your face again. Small tasks can make big differences.

Have a good (no, have a GREAT) balanced living week!

Easy No Egg Blueberry Waffles

Short on eggs, you can make this easy recipe in 3 minutes.

Course Breakfast, brunch

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 tbsp blueberries, frozen
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp whole wheat flour, plain flour, or gluten free flour
1 tsp neutral oil

Instructions

Mix ingredients and add to your medium hot waffle maker. This is a liquid-y batter. Add more oats to fill in if it becomes too liquid in spots. This is a very forgiving recipe and great for lazy weekends!
Cook for about 3 minutes or until easy to pull in one piece off the waffle iron with a fork.
Flip the bottom for the top as often that's better cooked.
For healthy version, dust collagen powder on top instead of powdered sugar.

Flying Travel Essentials For Ayurvedic Body Self-Care

Flying travel essentials are good to pack so you are prepared to have a great trip without hassles.

You may be rusty and getting your travel legs back, as you and some of us have not traveled much over the past years.

But this article will help you get excited again about packing and for your travel adventures. ✈️ Be sure to read the wellness list below.

Firstly, travel conveniences have evolved. Liquids don’t have to be pre-packed in bags anymore, so you want to be sure to bring your creams and eye drops you may have forgottten about especially if we haven’t traveled in a few years. There’s no total quantity limit.

And many innovative airports have smartphone chargers built-in.

You sometimes don’t even have to bring out your cords for your newer devices. That something to get excited about before you board! 💛

flying travel essentials to take on your next trip.

Hello, I’m a planner at heart. I’m the person that will have what is needed while others fly by the seat of their pants. 😁 One profile that I adopted as an event planner early on is focusing on details. And in the details, we plan everything.

But some things we can’t plan.

Like the new space travel and space tourism category.

Not too long ago, Jeff Bezos took off in his Blue Origin aircraft and we heard “best day ever!” after the 4-some landed back on earth.

I think it’s exciting that there are new possibilities and options available. This was kinda like the mission effect of the first man on the moon about half-a-century earlier. 🌕

But for most of us, we’re planning and dreaming of earth travel in new and familiar places that have been traveled to before.

I consider myself lucky to have leisurely traveled overseas almost every other year for a decade.

Because travel offers a good change in scenery and a learning experience wherever you go.

If that’s how you or someone you know feels now, I have some flying travel essentials and tips for your health to take with you so you adventure is enhanced and more enjoyable.

Plus a food-as-medicine healthy digestif elixir 🍶recipe you can prepare and carry with you that will solve some of your body feeling off symptoms for temporary situation changes.

OK, this is a little unknown, maybe unique fact about me that will help you make the hotel choice easy… because I love staying in hotels!

Maybe that’s why I was attracted to and started my young career working in hotel catering management.

Hotels make vacation life easy, as they have an in-person check-in/out and additional services, a coffee café or restaurant with room service, and breakfast options usually.

They run 24 x 7 so there’s always someone there to avoid hassles with a card or code that doesn’t work (that leads to Pitta frustration).

Keys were pre-Ayurvedic days. And these days, listening to your body and Ayurvedic habits pay off. No matter what temporary roof you have on travel, today we can do so much on-travel to self-restore our balance and wellness. 🌱

This can start with making choices like using a full-service hotel good for pampering and ultimate body self-care.

Some hotel rooms even come with tempting luxury robes and irresistible turn-down chocolates if you’re lucky.

Some have a knowledgeable in-house concierge who can answer your questions, and in-hotel spa and attendants.

They also have bellmen that can do the heavy lift, moving your luggage to your room and can help you get around by ordering taxis for you.

And if those services aren’t enough, there are usually clothing cleaning valet services from the housekeeping staff who clean the rooms and make your bed every day. That could be a robot someday soon, just sayin’!. 🤖

During the pandemic, hotels were one of the first business impacted and testing robots to fold towels.

Another hotel feature is in-room safes that give us peace of mind so we can relax on vacation.

Hotels run a business with consistent features that’s different experience than a short-term rental run by your neighbor .

For short stays, hotels can be less stressful.

And in true Vata fashion on vacation, you don’t mind and like to move around from hotel to hotel, to get a different hotel vibe and soak in a new locale while visiting new places. For others, that may sound like work.

…But, everyone’s a little different. To each her own, and that’s what makes this world go round and each of us uniquely special. 🌍

One things that helps everyone is planning ahead. It comes in handy as it saves time and prevents hassle inconveniences as some need travel items can’t be found in certain places.

For flying travel essentials, I still put the liquids in a zip lock size bag (out of organized habit) and pack it to the rim.

But now you can pack many more on your carry-on as long as any one liquid bottle does not exceed the amount limit. That’s something to be happy about. 😊

You can even bring your small liquid soaps, so you don’t have to use the shampoo or hard bar of soap.

So go ahead and add those toiletries you can’t live without to your list now or in your carry-on bag.

Other flying travel essentials includes personal things that calm your senses like essential oils.

Vanilla scents will help your anxiety and rose scents for your irritated moments. Those are common feelings you’ll experience on travel.

Also, dryness is usually a part of flying travel life, as the re-circulating air on planes is filtered, but drying and drinking too many liquids mean inconvenient bathroom runs.

Time zones also affect your body in every way. You want to moisturize your thirsty skin after you get settled and after you take a shower especially from a long overnight flight.

You can also use a green tea, lavender, or rose face mist that feels soothing to restore a Pitta body.

Stress Reducing Flying Travel Essentials

Jet lag temporary stress doesn’t do body damage like chronic stress, but being on a vacation can produce stressful moments if you get lost, are on a time crunch, or when you’re with a new travel partner where you don’t know what to expect.

Some other common stress-inducing situations:

…Once you leave your house for vacation, your eating times, patterns, and what you eat routine changes as food is prepared for you unless you have access to a kitchen under your temporary vacation roof. But then foraging is always a new adventure.

The ingredients consumed are different than back home. Maybe, bring a spice or two that reminds you of home cooking that’ll help calm nerves.

And also pack Ayurvedic spices like turmeric (anti-inflammatory), cumin when it’s Pitta hot, and cayenne pepper when it’s Kapha cool temperatures.

Cinnamon is good for Vata and good for a sweet addition and sugar-alternative for beverages

…A home sleeping routine is interrupted. You rarely hear that people naturally slept better on a plane ride than in their bed at home.

Bring your ear buds that come in handy in more ways than one.

Flying Travel Essentials: What to Pack in a Carry-on Bag (checklist)

__ Allowable liquids (remembering you’ll have to toss out water or any liquids larger than the size allotted when you get to Security after you airport checkin)

__ Bagged teas for comfort (peppermint tea bags to calm a stomach that’s doing somersaults. Herbal teas are found in most hotels)

__Eye drops and nasal sprays. You can also carry a little coconut oil or Vaseline that isn’t considered a liquid.

__Moisturizing lip balm, sunscreen lip balm, face, and hand moisturizer, and body sunscreen.

__A light essential oil scent like citrus, vanilla, or bergamot for calming. Taking a whiff of peppermint oil helps headaches. Gone are the days when wearing scents on a plane are customary.

__Scarf for coolness. In some countries, they require shoulders to be covered going inside churches so it’s good to have a lightweight one for covering.

__ Compression socks (good for flying where air changes and it gets cold).

Wear regular socks on the plane as likely you’ll have to take your shoes off to go through Security. And there’s nothing less comforting than having to walk bare feet on the cold public floor.

__ Gloves for if you get cold hands or it’s winter. An extra pair of gloves is good to bring as sometimes you lose one.

__A squishable hat or ballcap that you can attach to the outside of your bag makes you American, but so adorable. If you have long hair, remember to pack hair ties to keep you cool.

__Vitamins help to boost immunity when you don’t have immunity foods at your convenience and you’re in and around the public more often.

Include: Vitamin C, a mushroom or onion complex, and/or zinc, elderberry.

Take extra vitamin C as it’s water soluble and your body naturally rids of any extra (that’s not the case with B, A, and E that are also essential flying travel vitamins you can get in a multivitamin or immunity support supplement that you can dissolve in water).

__Minerals such as magnesium-calcium will help you on travel and with your circadian rhythm. Lavender tea or your Sleepy-time blend of tea can also help your sleeping efforts.

Some other miscellaneous flying travel essentials that are often forgotten, include: tissues, cough drops (in case your throat gets dry), and an apple good when you can’t brush your teeth. It will help clean teeth, so is better than gum.

Check-in bag items:

Water bottles are not always easy to find in some countries outside the U.S. So if you want to be cool, and stay cool, it’s good to bring an aluminum one.

You can store some of your smaller items inside until it’s filled with water at your destination.

Plastic or aluminum ones can be expensive to buy in a pinch. I learned my lesson in Rome when the fountain-style public tap water is potable (safe to drink), but the water bottles for tourists to buy could be as high as $40. You can bring your cooling metal bottle or purchase a collapsible travel bottle to pack in your other bag.

Of course, you can use regular plastic water bottles you buy locally, but your water bottle would look cooler in your memorable photos. 📸

You can also bring cut ginger, to add to your water. This is an Ayurvedic practice. The best way to get the ginger juices out is to chew the piece with your teeth and drink with water.

Ginger is great for morning hygiene and digestion. It’s a good primer before coffee in the morning. Or you can bring ginger spice (to make everything nice) for your long travel adventures.

For in-between meals, oatmeal is a good dry food to bring along as you can usually find warm water in your room from the room coffee/tea maker.

Some chain hotels even offer free breakfasts with warm oatmeal or oatmeal packets.

It’s smart to carry nutrition bars just in case you get super hungry, have low blood sugar, or have a drop in potassium.

Carrying bars around even when you’re in town cruising around is a good idea as it won’t ruin your next meal but will tie you over

…I was once in a museum where you had to stand in a line and wait to go in, and the only food they sold in the gift shop was a high sugar candy bar.

I could’ve brought a bar and not spent extra minutes moving around.

On travel, you can bring healthy energy powder supplement where you just add water.

You can also consider protein powder if you want to squeeze in a run, or a quick workout in your room or the hotel gym. With a full-on meal, you’d have to wait for your food to digest. So powders and bars have their smart use in place!

It’s also a good idea to bring a bathing suit on any trip. I actually pack this in my travel flying essentials bag because it’s so lightweight and I know I’ll need it.

Even if it’s winter and not warm beach weather, I find an indoor pool, spa, sauna, hot steam room, or jacuzzi that can be very relaxing and therapeutic.

Aaah… I’m dreaming already.

And the last thing you want to do is go bathing suit shopping on vacation unless you’re at the beach.

And one last thing…

Pack a pair of flip-flops. They take little bag space and they’re good to walk around with in a room, outdoor patio, or hotel spa (…ahhh!).

And you can wash them off with a little shampoo and water in your hotel room before you can quickly dry them off and put them back in your bag.

You can easily find cheap flip flops for a few bucks in America, in case you don’t want to bring them back home.

And this is a good food-as-medicine bottle to make and bring for your Ayurvedic balance…

organic navel orange peel for ayurveda drinks

Ayurvedic Apple Cider Vinegar Heartburn and Digestif Elixir

To calm heartburn, apple cider vinegar is a good "medicine" to have on you and this digestif will help with temporary indigestion symptoms.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

apple cider vinegar (with the mother)
water
orange zest
cinnamon
five spice blend (fennel, cloves, anise, pepper)

Instructions

Shake up apple cider vinegar if it has the healthy "mother."
Add ACV and water (about 1:1 ratio) to a small bottle. Add additional ingredients. Shake. Ready to go! Are you?

Balance 80/20 Real Life vs. Virtual World Digital Life

real life vs. virtual world tips includes healthy home eating — Avocados 🥑 are nutri-delicious and you can grow an avocado plant easily from a healthy seed as a heathy real life activity! 🌱

We’re all living out our lives differently, balancing real life vs. virtual world digital life.

What’s exciting today is a brand new day of possibilities.

Exciting to you may mean the idea of being in an amusement park or near ocean waves… or of new sights and sounds in overseas travel or being a comfortable staycation homebody (my world of excitements).

Whatever that eye-popping adventure is for you, believe better ideas are being dreamed up by our organizing Universe for your enjoyment while we’re all sharing some degree of doing home life (and blended WFH life).

Getting off or on your devices can be more of a challenge, and as you hear more stories about people going on social media fasts or sleeping next to their phones.

I personally was getting into my technical groove and all the Zoom-type calls, and then like many others, decided it was time to go back to a simpler, writing stuff down on paper that once upon a time was the only way to communicate full sentences effectively and non-verbally. It can get tiresome waiting for apps to load and overload, and keep up with ongoing update maintenance and daily changes.

And if you settle into your real life vs. digital life right balance and boundaries, the reward can be great:

You’ll be happier and get more restful sleep.

Below I provide some ideas and tips from my own self-discovery of an 80/20, 2020 (tongue twister and year of twisters!) real life vs. virtual world digital balance lessons I learned this past year.

This new communication global society we’re in is here to stay. If you’re not plugged in, you may want to start (or get plugged back in at least with one eye so you don’t get left behind).

If you lean too much away from the digital revolution that can keep you from being relevant in evolving real-life conversations that build upon previous knowledge.

And if you’re spending too much time on your devices, and not petting the dog and taking walks, your overall mental health can be at stake. Developing wellness and personal growth habits lead to success and happiness.

For the first group (I’ll just describe as off the grid), if you’re not checking-in regularly in the social media world, then you want to stick around to the end of this article, so you get a few tips of what people are doing that’s so different than a decade ago online.

Offline (real life), I once had a coworker who had over a dozen healthy plants in her office and as a conversation starter I said to her, “the air in here must be really good!”

She pointed out the growth of specific plants (they were her babies), and how wee-small they were when her daughter was born and now she’s in college. And how her plants are fully grown.

That inspired me to bring in my own house plant as you can never have enough metaphors in life for growth (I think) …And don’t you just miss those deeper connection conversations?

In your WFH living situation, if you grow plants (or A plant) you can breathe in fresh oxygen and exhale the stale air from yesterday. You can start with a simple avocado seed (that even a brown thumb like me can grow).

Lessons Learned From 80/20 Real Life vs. Virtual World

If you want to live more balanced, get more good sleep, and enjoy this life while not missing seasons, creating boundaries is important. As I also learned.

If you find that you’re less than 20% in the real life vs. the virtual world (80% plus), you definitely want to evaluate and change some things so you can “stop and smell the roses” and enjoy your foods, that are not in digital cookies.

That’s what I found my life was becoming in our socially distancing world and while ever evolving new apps started taking center stage (as newer ways to communicate and do virtual events).

So it’s getting complex as we’re learning new habits, there are also new platforms being added that affect our behaviors. And I know from having a busy, complicated life pre-social media days, that simple vs. overwhelm is the formula for life success.

It is reported that Gen Z generations living in this increasingly heavy digital world are reporting their sleep is suffering. Unlike younger and older Millennials (Xennials), they weren’t all born before the internet so they only know the Web 3 world we’re in.

Many of these newer adults would be getting their feet wet in the real-life working environment, and the kids in school if we weren’t socially distanced.

They are experiencing early on as challenges that life can bring. And like all of us, have the opportunity in our actions and beliefs to make lemons out of lemonade in our lives. And that makes them resourceful and stronger.

These days not having digital boundaries is definitely affecting all of us and especially if we decide to stay unaware.

This brings me back to the point of finding the right mix balance.

Getting inspiration to go back to at least 60% real life vs. virtual world is a healthier balance, no matter what your type of work is, for an overall happier life.

Counting and gauging your overall daily hours online is a healthy, first-step awareness exercise.

Your time on Zoom counts as hours. Meeting for coffee in the real world has a different effect than seeing someone on a Zoom screen, where Zoom is no different than the effect of being on the phone with more complex bells and whistles.

This technology is the difference between a two-way conversation podcast and a video. We’ll laugh about this video conferencing tech version one, years from now, when the tech changes again.

Connecting to people in the virtual world saves travel time and the value is the idea exchange, growing further, sharing, and collaborating newborn opportunities and ideas with people around the world.

Balancing the two worlds (real life vs. virtual world) is tricky, but necessary if you want to be part of this evolving and amazing world of possibilities we live in. Personally, I think it’s an exciting time we live in…

And getting mindful of what I was doing, why I was doing it, and pivoting as needed made all the difference.

Counting hours helped me to become aware of my own behaviors, and helped influence me to add back real-world life hours and joy in a safe physical environment.

One thing is, I learned how to use the manual setting on an SLR camera that’s been sitting in a closet for almost a decade dying to be used properly.

Since applying learned camera lessons, I’ve been excited to take photos again.

Another example is, I learned how to use the dough hook that comes with the Kitchen Aid mixer, where I was able to make delicious ciabatta bread.

I invented new smoothies and dips using the Magic Bullet blender and created new yoga poses solving my own aches and pains.

Some come from unused parts of the body aren’t needed to auto-tap buttons and keys on a device. In the real world, we like feeling different textures that create a new experience.

Another idea for plugging into the real world is staying in touch with friends using the phone as a telephone that can remind you of not being alone, which never gets old.

You can drum up new mocktails using barely used tools like a zester in your kitchen drawer and newer ingredients like coconut flour.

There’s always a healthier and more innovative joyful twist around the corner in our innovative real life vs. virtual world. Like, I didn’t know there was a Cara Cara orange variety until I infused them in my low-sugar orange scones.

If you’re a Vata like me, you can see these changing evolutions in the world as good change through the lens of greater variety.

And when adopting enhancements in your adapting life, you probably have progressed more in your life than you give yourself credit for.

Here are some additional positive examples that happened (that maybe you did also in the past year or want to try!):

2020 Pantry Stock (Real life vs. virtual world)

I learned how to stock and keep a supply of grocery goods in a closet pantry for convenience (and just in case), that saves time.

While pulling out older items, I took the time to read the nutrition labels and intentionally deciding to keep some of the “bad foods” that’s readily available when we didn’t know if a food shortage could exist.

…They are still joyful foods for kids and we do live in a real world where it’s good to be sensitive to the world’s food insecurities in community, compassion, and empathy, in a kinder-giving and patient world we’re living in and becoming.

Having a pantry makes you appreciate the real world vs. virtual world.

When you leave your digital device and healthy food interweb searches, you get to compassionately learn that food banks have lines and where more expensive healthy meal planning is not the main goal of the average American household.

And when I think back to Pop Tarts or a bag of Tootsie lollipops (off the charts in sugar content), I stop healthy judgment, and feel grounded from my humbled beginnings. These have been popular treats since I was a little girl.

What You Could Do – Daily Real Life vs. Virtual World Changes

You may be in between real life and the digital world, using office store-bought yellow Post-its (the old-fashioned kind) and Asana/Trello digital squares… or you may not even know what those are. That’s how divided our times are becoming. Continue reading “Balance 80/20 Real Life vs. Virtual World Digital Life”

Overcome Performance Anxiety: Examples in “The Great British Baking Show”

performance anxiety

In my life, I first noticed my performance anxiety early on when it came to test-taking time in school.

Since then I figured out that performance anxiety comes from panic, perfectionism, and overthinking. Those all had one thing in common – my mind.

That’s where it all started when I believed I wasn’t prepared enough.

That set my subconscious mind sending unclear messages that left me in an internal nervous frenzy and blowing up into anxiety and panic, which further prevented productive rational conscious thinking (and maybe this has happened to you also).

All through childhood, I grew up achieving ideal perfectionist standards that aren’t so easy to shake off as an adult, even with constant reminders.

But doing it imperfectly and progress over perfection is the better mantra way, that has also changed in schools.

In school terms, that’s being a “C” student and passing, over being an excellent “A” student as the only successful path.

A few years ago, I may have cringed at that thought. But we’ve turned into a more empathetic world that allows us to be brave and follow Nike’s long-running ad advice, just do it.

There are still times when you’re asked in your work to strive for perfection. On those occasions, you’re asked to nail the performance or delivery, and you’re not gonna turn down the ask if it’s your employer.

But if it’s self-imposed, then that’s something to be observant about and look out for.

You can ask yourself why you didn’t hit send or complete the intended task imperfectly. That’s what I do as checks and balance along with believing, love is in detail (the positive side of perfectionism).

In our gray decision-making world and in finding our own individual balance, we can get better at when to turn it on or off for different scenarios.

In a test-taking performance environment, overthinking test questions and re-writing subjective essay answers can hurt a test taker.

Usually, your gut instinct and the first thought are better than second-guessing. If you’re not sure, stick with your first guess.

When you combine these complex dimensions of growing panic, aiming for perfectionism, and overthinking, those elements mixed together are a recipe for performance anxiety and a test-taking disaster (and in my scenarios all I could do was hope for the best and move on).

Performance Anxiety on The Great British Baking Show Competition

On the topic of combining and mixing, in The Great British Baking Show series, the invited competitors are challenged to create great bakes, that require overcoming performance anxiety on top of great talent and skill.

They’re the nation’s best bakers.

If the contestant can wow the judges week after a week staying in the competition, stay calm, keep emotions in check, and not lose his or her marbles, they move onto the final rounds.

By the final week, nerves can grow for each contestant, as you would expect. The final ones that get in their heads with worry and anxiety are the ones that end up making mistakes and messing up because of their overriding emotions and minds sending mixed messages.

They can have the greatest talent and high skills under low-pressure conditions like baking at home, where they could create perfect masterpiece bakes.

But when put in a stressful lab environment and varying conditions, those most affected in performance are often Vatas. The natural Pittas and Kaphas are generally better built for stamina and competition settings. Continue reading “Overcome Performance Anxiety: Examples in “The Great British Baking Show””