The Top 5 Foods For Sleep
1. Oatmeal
While traditionally considered a breakfast food, oatmeal can actually help induce sleep. Because it is a complex carbohydrates, oatmeal triggers a rise in insulin production that releases sleep-inducing chemicals. Oats are also rich in vitamin B6, which has been demonstrated to alleviate stress and anxiety leading to less worries and more zzz’s.
2. Raw Honey
The natural sugar found in honey raises our insulin levels enough to allow tryptophan – the compound notorious for that “turkey coma” at Thanksgiving – to enter our brains more easily. Mixing a spoonful of honey into a cup of herbal tea before bed promotes relaxation.
3. Nuts
Almonds contain both tryptophan and magnesium, which help to reduce muscle and nerve function while steadying your heart rhythm. The melatonin in walnuts not only improves sleep but also offers antioxidant protection from diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
4. Calcium-rich leafy greens
A study published in the European Neurology Journal found that during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, calcium levels are the highest, and disruption or absence of REM deep sleep is directly related to calcium deficiency. Leafy green provide an easily absorbed source of calcium, so when looking for a bedtime snack, reach for dale chips or a small salad.
5. Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate contains serotonin, helping to relax both your body and mind. Dark chocolate also contains the chemical phenylethylamine, which boosts endorphins to promote feelings of love and excitement. A small square before bed can help you go to sleep feeling happy.
MIND – Return to Essence: How to be in the Flow and Fulfill Your Life’s Purpose by Gina Lake
When we are in the flow, we experience whatever we are experiencing without telling a story about it. Thoughts may arise, but we recognize them as thoughts as an attempt on the part of the ego to define the moment, because that is what the ego tries to do. Meanwhile, we just stay in the experience of the moment, which is forever morphing into something else.
The mind tries to draw us away from experience into a mental world that simulates an experience. It tries to draw us into an imagined story about the experience. If it succeeds, that story becomes our reality. If we agree to go to that mental world, feelings will also arise and add reality to that world, but it is still a mental world. Once we act on those thoughts and feelings, we create new experiences.
In this way, the ego does manage to shape our life, and that will go on as long as we allow it to. Most people’s lives are shaped nearly entirely by the ego. Essence allows this because it enjoys the growth that results, but living this way is full of suffering. Essence offers other possibilities for our life that we may miss if we aren’t in the flow.
Recognizing the flow is easy – it feels good. Anyone who performs at his or her peak is familiar with what it feels like to be in the low. However, you don’t have to be at the top of your field to experience the flow. You can experience it right now.
Notice how the moment – the flow – is always changing into something else. What is arising in this new moment? Urges for action also arise and things happen, so in the next moment, you may find yourself doing something else. Being in the flow is much simpler than you think. Instead of just being, doing arises from the moment without thinking. This spontaneous doing is an amazing experience when you first become aware of it.
Habits That Bring Us into the Flow
Pay attention to the egoic mind is a bad habit, but we can establish new habits that counteract our egoic programming and bring us into the flow. Here are some suggestions for developing some habits that will bring you into the flow and help you stay there:
1. Make a habit of recognizing the egoic mind and not indulging it. When a negative thought arises, don’t believe it. See it as ego. When a complaint arises, don’t speak it. See it as ego. When a judgement arises, see it as ego. When a comparison arises, see it as ego. When a story arises, see it as ego. Look for words like always and never. They are indicators of a story.
2. Make a habit of noticing “I” in your thoughts. What follows is almost always ego. Don’t get involved with that thought. See it as ego and let it go.
3. Make a habit of noticing your feelings. Any thought that makes you feel bad comes from the ego, not Essence. Identify the mistaken assumptions, or beliefs, behind the feeling.
4. Make a habit of noticing Essence as it appears as Awareness. Feel the energy of your true Self. Notice how it has no location. When a thought arises, ask, “Who is aware of this thought?” When a feeling arises, ask, “Who is aware of this feeling?” When “I” arises, ask, “Who is are of “I”? These questions help you stay identified with Essence as Awareness. Experience what Essence is experiencing.
5. Make a habit of asking for assistance from unseen helpers. Affirm your desire to be in the flow.
6. Make a habit of doing things that return you to Essence: meditate, play music, sing, dance, create, garden, hike. Do what you love.
7. Make a habit of reading books that remind you of who you are.
8. Make a habit of spending time with those who are committed to living in the flow.
9. Make a habit of listening for guidance and acting on it. Doing that will develop your intuition and your connection to unseen helpers.
10. Make a habit of saying “yes” to whatever is happening. Be curious about whatever is arising. Stay alert and present to whatever is happening, without judging or evaluating it.
11. Make a habit of expressing gratitude. That will increase you ability to experience it. Gratitude is a sign that you are in Essence.
12. Make a habit of forgiving yourself when you indulge in egoic behavior. It’s not easy moving beyond the programming we were given! Being gentle and kind with yourself will drop you into Essence.
SPIRIT- Seeking Happiness: Essays About True Nature by Nirmala
Q: Do we seek happiness because of a void, or is it our nature to long for more?
A: We do seek first for happiness and something better and then for spiritual truth to try to fill the void, or emptiness, within. But both are doomed to failure because everything we put in the emptiness and every experience we have are dissolved back into emptiness. Trying to fill the emptiness is like trying to fill a bucket with lots of holes – it never fills up no matter how much water we put in! Eventually after massive amounts of failure, we get so tired of seeking and trying to find happiness that we finally just let ourselves experience the emptiness itself. What is emptiness like? Is emptiness a bad sensation? What is present in the emptiness? What are the qualities of the emptiness itself? One of the many surprises you discover is that joy and happiness actually flow out of the emptiness. When seeking stops, it’s possible to notice the happiness and peace that are present in the emptiness and actually present in every moment.
If you’re still seeking or wanting something, including happiness, then usually the best thing to do is keep seeking. The worst that can happen is you’ll wear yourself out even sooner! But it’s also possible that you’re already exhausted enough from seeking to just rest and let yourself be empty. Some joy, peace, or love may be noticed in that emptiness, or the experience of emptiness may trigger another round of trying to fill the emptiness, which will just wear you out some more.
When happiness appears, just pay attention to it. Where is it really coming from? Does getting or knowing something really make you happy, or does it just allow you to rest for a moment and finally experience the happiness that has always been there? Does happiness ever show up even when you don’t get what you want? Is happiness there when you’re just still for a moment and you finally let yourself be empty:? Eventually, you discover that you can trust the emptiness more than your seeking.
Instant Pep Talk Corner
You can’t be both awesome and negative. Choose one!!
Do not fear change. Change fear.
Live your happiest life by knowing often Plan B is even better than Plan A. Ditto on Plan C.
View failure as “fullure”, full of lessons to learn.
You can’t force people to be or do what you want. All you can do is share your desires clearly, and hope they keep an open mind and open heart.
TIME FOR SELF NEWSLETTER contributed by:
Heather Young, owner of Time for Self
Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) / Yuen Method™/ Holistic Practitioner
Certified Personal Transformation Coach / Alternative and Energetic Medicines
403-358-2362 — Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
