Attitude in ahhhhhtumn…
As you all know I say that age isn’t a real factor in the way we live our lives, but ATTITUDE is! You may have celebrated (haha) your fiftieth birthday but in your heart, but you carry the attitude of a 28 year old, bound-for-the-tropics world traveller, and that is how the world will treat you. That’s what having the right attitude can do for you. But easier said than done, right?
Here’s 5 concrete steps to hep you adopt a healthy attitude today!
1. Change Your Location: Why is trying to adjust your attitude so difficult? Perhaps its because your surroundings are not conducive to the change you are striving for. One of the newest medical sciences, epigenetics, is the study of how genes turn on and off in response to cues outside of the genetic code. In essence, a whole lot of scientists are finding that the environmental factor has been downplayed in its importance to the biological processes that govern our bodies. This means that some of the “feel great” chemicals produced in your body might respond to environmental cues more than was previously thought. YOUR body is not the problem; where you body is MIGHT be.
2. When feeling overwhelmed, smile. You might think it a bad thing to “force” a smile when you don’t feel it, but studies have shown that hormonal and neurological processes take cues from changes in your expression. Simply breaking out in a grin can have a profound effect on the amount of the stress hormone cortisol circulating in your blood stream, making you healthier and happier.
3. Exercise your concentration: These days, we are all on information overload. Some people prefer to have some kind of stimulus to “tune-out.” I say, TUNE IN to something specific in order to limber up your brain’s thinking muscles. I do this by taking a shower really really well. Sound odd? Try it. When you step into the bathroom for a shower concentrate on nothing else except the task at hand. Turn on the water and feel the cool chrome hot-water knob in your hand, see only the rain of the water and feel it striking your shoulder. It’s a meditation and it’s not easy to do without thoughts other than ‘showering’ come into your head. Consider it my challenge for the day.
4. Tell a story: It doesn’t have to be an epic. It could even be a knock knock joke. The idea is to tell anything interesting to anyone which results in their eyes brightening up a little. Seeing that in another human being makes us feel influential in a highly social environment. It makes people like us too 
5. Stretch: Finally, I want to stress the mind-body connection again. Most of us abuse our bodies in some way during the day. Sitting in one chair for hours on end is my particular curse. Light stretching at intervals during the day, and just before and after sleeping does wonders for feeling alive. Do you favorite stretches for 5 minutes. Your body and mind will be much more in tune, I promise it.
photo credit: Dan Hankin’s photostream
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