[One] You can’t change your genes, but you can tinker with the essential wiring of your brain. Selective serotonin reuptake [this is such an interesting word to me...and has some spiritual parameters, even the next word, 'inhibitors'] inhibitors, such as Prozac, Zoloft, and others work to prolong the action of serotonin, the brain chemical that helps to regulate mood.

[Two] Meditation, it turns out, also works with the brain’s basic structure. Researchers at the Lab for Affective Neuroscience at the U of Wisconsin hooked meditating Tibetan monks up to brain monitors and found that the left prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain that is most active when we are happy and alert — lit up like Times Square. Follow up studies with a group of stressed-out employees at a biotech company proved that even non-monks can raise their set points through meditation. Liz Seymour

Don’t you find it interesting that they lit up like Times Square? Not just a small indication, but something significant?

I’m glad non-monks benefit from meditation, because most of us aren’t monks, nor would we desire to live that kind of life. But we all live a life of community, even if our communities are more loosely run than a monastery.

Somehow this reminds me of the true life story I read recently, possibly in the magazine I read that is Indian-American. It talked about a woman in India with mental problems. She spent her time under a tree and people in her area took turns bringing her food and spending a bit of time with her. That made me think of community and how we could broaden our definition of it, to be more responsive to others and to ourselves.

[No, I wrote about it earlier in my blog and it was from a book.]

Knowing how to reduce our own stress levels is an important part of self-knowledge. It’s also important not to put ourselves last on the list of things to do or situations to find solutions for. Like the truism of putting on your own oxygen mask before helping another, we need to take care of ourselves so we have something to pour out for others. That’s easy to say in a life filled with lists and activities, but not so hard to put into effect if we take moments and begin to string them together in our days.

What I found interesting is to learn how few seconds we have to put on an oxygen mask, if we needed to, before we would black out. It is surprisingly short, not minutes. They always make it look so casual when they discuss it on a plane, but it’s not something to fool around with. There’s a truth there for life. We think we can put ourselves last (or maybe we forget about ourselves) until we reach the end of our resources and realize we should have caught the slide earlier.

I think taking care of ourselves is an integral part of happiness.

Take time to take care of yourself. Move your body. Do some stretching or some yoga, or both. Do something strengthening, either physically or mentally. Eat good food. Be sure to drink enough, especially in a hot climate — or if you are swimming for a long time — who knew you could get dehydrated when swimming. Get out in nature. Get into some sunshine (important for serotonin) or sit by a window with sun. Get out on the water or look at it. Even better if you see trees reflected in it. Find a friend and develop community, even if there are times when community seems the farthest from what is helpful. Read a book. Share a laugh. Do something for someone else. Let someone do something for you. Be compassionate, even with yourself. Stay well or get well.

Somehow it seems like a good sense of having a life of balance would take care of much of this without having to put a lot of thought into it. But doing a self-assessment once in a while would show us where we need to be more alert.

How good are you at any of this? Have you learned to put yourself first, at least in some respects?

More to follow.

Karin

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