Stretching soothes, continued...

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Click on the below article link to obtain background information to this blog post:

Examiner article

To me, most any type of stretch is healthy (of course you have to properly warm the body).  But what I mean by this is, whether I’m looking at a stretch of the beach as it curves and dissipates into the horizon or I’m stretching my mind to learn a new realm or literally I am physically stretching my muscles, I’m improving myself!

The first thing I do when I open my eyes each morning is first I take a minute to recover any dreams still lingering within my mind, I then say a silent prayer to prepare for my day and lastly, I stretch my arms and legs to gift me with a boost of energy before I get out of bed.

As I engage my mind surrounding schoolwork, I continue to expand my intellectual muscle. As I engage my body I improve my motor movement and increase my muscle length. It is a win-win all around.

If you’re not stretching in your current routine, take a few minutes to try it out and let me know if you feel the benefit from this practice!

Labeling emotions, continued...

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Click on the below article link to obtain background information to this blog post:

Examiner article

As a student in the Counseling program, the type of studies talked about in this article is awe-inspiring for me. I am a verbal person. I’ve always vented to friends and talked about my emotions while, of course, offering a good balance of listening time enabling them to do the same. It does make me feel better and I’m sure from my years of “being a shoulder to cry on” my friends feel the same way.

Keeping emotions bottled up inside only causes blockage, which will eventually manifest into health issues. If you do not have someone to lean on, pull out a journal and write down your feelings. It has a similar affect!

If you’re someone who has trouble labeling your feelings and putting them into words, take a look at Wikipedia.org for their definition below:

“Emotion or Passion: An affective state of consciousness, often accompanied by physiological changes, (as joy, sorrow, fear, and hate), to be distinguished from cognitive (knowledge and perception) and volitional (willing and intending) states of consciousness [Dictionary definition]. According to Cognitive Theories of Emotions, an emotion can have a cognitive component, a judgment. Such cognitive theories go back to Aristotle and the Stoics. Emotion not to be confused with a bodily appetite, as hunger or thirst. Mood: A disposition to acquire certain emotional states of mind in certain situations. For instance, depression is a mood that weakens one's ability to easily become elated or sad.”

Sonoma.edu offers this list of emotions:

“Abandoned, acceptance, adoration, affection, aggravated, agitated, aggressive, alert, amazed, ambitious, amused, anger, animosity, annoyed, anticipation, anxiousness, appreciative, apprehensive, ardent, aroused, ashamed, astonished, attraction (sexual), attraction (intellectual), attraction (spiritual), awed, betrayed, bewildered, bitter, bliss, blue, boastful, bored, breathless, bubbly, calamitous, calm, camaraderie, cautious, cheerful, cocky, cold, collected, comfortable, compassionate, concerned, confident, confused, contempt, content, courageous, cowardly, crafty, cranky, crazy, cruelty, crummy, crushed, curious, cynic, dark, dejected, delighted, delirious, denial, depression, desire, despair, determined, devastated, disappointed, discouraged, disgust, disheartened, dismal, dispirited, distracted, distressed, dopey, down, dreadful, dreary, eager, ecstatic, embarrassed, emotional-detest, empathic, emptiness, enchanted,  enigmatic, enlightened, enraged, enthralled, enthusiastic, envy, euphoric, excited, exhausted, expectation, exuberance, fascinated, fear, flabbergasted, fight or flight, foolish, frazzled, frustrated, fulfillment furious, gay, giddy, gleeful, gloomy, goofy, grateful, gratified, greedy, gray because of a broken heart, grief, grouchy, grudging, guilty, happy, hate, heartbroken, homesick, hopeful, hopeless, horrified, hostile, humiliated, humored, hurt, hyper, hysterical, indignation, infatuation, infuriated, inner peace, innocent, insanity, insecure, inspired, interest, intimidated, invidious, irate, irritability, irritated, jaded, jealousy, joy, jubilant, kind, lazy, left out, liberated, lively, loathsome, lonely, longing, love, lovesick, loyal, lust, mad, mean, melancholic, mellow, mercy, merry, mildness, miserable, morbid, mourning, needed, needy, nervous, obscene, obsessed, offended, optimistic, outraged, overwhelmed, pacified, pain, panicky, paranoia, passion, pathetic, peaceful, perturbation, pessimistic, petrified, pity, playful, pleased, pleasure, possessive, pride, provoked, proud, puzzled, rage, regretful, relief, remorse, resentment, resignation, resolved, sadness, satisfied, scared, scorn, selfish, sensual, sensitive, sexy, shame, sheepish, shocked, shy, sincerity, solemn, somber, sorrow, sorry, spirited, stressed, strong, submissive, superior, surprised, sweet, sympathetic, temperamental, tense, terrified, threatened, thrilled, tired, tranquil, troubled, trust, tormented, uncertainty, uneasiness, unhappy, upset, vengeful, vicious, warm, weary, worn-out, worried, worthless, wrathful, yearning and zesty”

How are you feeling today? I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.