It was said that you easily forget things that do not really matter. So, I guess having less-than-good eyesight and misplacing my reading glasses are not important. Ha!
Above all of the things we lose memory of, there is one thing I wish – that we forget the heartbreak given to us by this Coronavirus pandemic!
Louise Hart said: Self-esteem is as important to our well-being as legs are to a table. It is essential for physical and mental health and for happiness.
Self-esteem is as important to our well-being as legs are to a table. It is essential for physical and mental health and for happiness.
Louise Hart
Happy Bench Monday
Nurse: just another word to describe a person strong enough to tolerate anything and soft enough to understand anyone.
Unknown Author
May 12th is International Nurses Day or World Nurses Day, annual celebration of our medical care takers and life savers. This day ends Nurses Week that starts on May 6th.
May 11th is Eat What You Want Day, an annual celebration created by the couple, Thomas and Ruth Roy, particularly for those who feel frustrated about their diet. At least, for one day, one can take a break from a meager meal and indulge something more sumptuous without guilt.
Abraham Lincoln said: All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.
Abraham Lincoln
Samuel Taylor Coleridge said: The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father.
The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
May 10th, 2020 or the 2nd Sunday of May is Mother’s Day, an annual celebrating honoring all mothers around the world.
Martha Stewart said: Buttons are the fossils of the sartorial world, enduring long past the garments they were designed to hold together.
Buttons are the fossils of the sartorial world, enduring long past the garments they were designed to hold together.
Martha Stewart
Jonathan Anderson said: Buttons, for me, are very sculptural things, and they are so fascinating.
Buttons, for me, are very sculptural things, and they are so fascinating.
Jonathan Anderson
Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.
Robert Browning
May 9th is Hooray for Buttons Day, also known as Hurray for Buttons Day, which happens annually.
Enjoy the honey dew of slumber. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, quote
The average amount of sleep we need is 8 hours; that is, one third in a 24-hour period. But most of us, including me, push the limit of waking hours depriving us of that good-health-promoting slumber time.
It’s so ironic for me to think that I am freely given one third of that daily 24-hour period to doze off and yet, I lie wide awake on bed worrying… Why do you think bears hibernate – just to dream of honey fields??! Get to your cave and recharge . . . please! But, of course, you’ll say, “we’ll I’m not a bear.”
Neuroscientist Russell Foster cited three reasons why via TED:
After a whole day of activities, sleep is your avenue to restore used up energy. Some parts of the brain, including specific genes, are more active when sleeping.
Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together. Thomas Dekker quote
We turn off our tv, computer and other electronic gadgets to conserve energy. Similarly, we turn off our thoughts by hitting the sack. Foster shared that about 110 calories per night is saved.
Never waste any time you can spend sleeping. Frank H. Knight quote
Studies suggest that blood circulation is regulated and long-term memory is consolidated through the last two stages of sleep…
The Non-REM (or No Rapid Eye Movement stage of) sleep is believed to be associated with transferring your declarative memory from short-term to long-term memory storage in the cortex. This happens about 3 hours after you drifted into sleep.
REM sleep, the final stage on the other hand, helps in consolidating your procedural memory. (1)
In other words, depending on what was learned and when you slept, sleep aids in stabilizing that memory – promoting both quantitative and qualitative changes in brain activity. (2) While slow wave sleep or SWS consolidates your newly acquired math equation even within 2 hours of dozing off, deep REM sleep will make you remember your piano scale when you wake up the next day. (3)
Quoting Foster: “After you try to learn a task, and you sleep-deprive individuals, the ability to learn that task is smashed… Our ability to come up with novel solutions to complex problems is hugely enhanced by night of sleep.” (4)
Synapse is the passing of information between neurons in our brain. The changes in connection caused by synapses is called synaptic plasticity.
Synaptic plasticity, which is particularly important to memory and learning, is boosted during sleep. (5) Studies have shown that sleep establishes active consolidation of memories – “stimulating the idea that forming long-term memories represents a general function of sleep.” (6)
If you’re going to do something tonight that you’ll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late. Henny Youngman
Youngman, above, has hinted us that there will be ill effects for not going to bed at the right time. I so agree because it makes me feel hungry that I end up raiding my fridge. Plus, knowing that I didn’t hop onto my “sleep train” right away, I get stressed thinking what time it’s coming back to pick me up. It usually comes around past midnight or somewhere close to dawn. (pitiful sigh)
Studies also suggest “that sleep and mental illness aren’t simply associated, they are physically linked.” Sleep disruption could be an early warning sign of schizophrenia (as schizophrenic patients seem confused between the right timing for sleep and wakefulness). Sleep then becomes the doorway to begin therapy before the real onset of such mental illness. (7)
Now, let me end this article the way Foster cleverly ended his TED talk – by quoting…
Sleep is God. Go Worship. Jim Butcher quote
References:
Rumi said: We are born of love. Love is our mother.
We are born of love. Love is our mother.
Rumi
Val Saintsbury said: Nurses dispense comfort, compassion and caring without even a prescription.
Nurses dispense comfort, compassion and caring without even a prescription.
Val Saintsbury
Happy Nurses Week from May 6th to 12, 2020! Cheers to one group of many Coronavirus COVID-19 care givers!!!
May 6th is National Nurses Day, celebrated annually since 1978 and formally recognized in 1982 by the American Nurses Association Board of Directors and President Reagan.
May 6th is National Nurses Day, a yearly celebration since New Jersey Governor Brendon Byrne declared it in 1978. Red Bank resident, Edward Scanlan, recognized and promoted this event by adding it to Chase’s calendar of annual events.
In 1982, the American Nurses Association (ANA) Board of Directors and United States Congress formally acknowledged May 6th as National Recognition Day for Nurses. President Ronald Reagan signed its proclamation.
The ANA Board of Directors also recognized National Nurses Day as the beginning of National Nurses Week ending in May 12th – this end-day being International Nurses Day and birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing.
On a Wednesday, within the nurse-day week, National Student Nurses Day is also celebrated annually.
Reference:
National Nurses Week History. Retrieved April 12, 2020 from https://www.nursingworld.org/education-events/national-nurses-week/history/.
Steve Job said: Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
Steve Jobs
Happy Bench Monday
George Eliot said: Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.
Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.
George Eliot
Adam Ant said: Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It’s the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with.
Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It’s the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with.
Adam Ant
Paulo Coelho said: Stress, anxiety and depression are caused when we are living to please others
Stress, anxiety and depression are caused when we are living to please others.
Paulo Coelho
Glenn Close said: What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation about illnesses that affect not only individuals, but their families as well.
What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation about illnesses that affect not only individuals, but their families as well.
Glenn Close, Mental Illness: The Stigma of Silence
We should take care of our mental health as we take care of our bodies. Thanks for the reminder!
Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans experience a Mental Health Condition. Every American is affected and or impacted through their friends & family. YOU can do something to help!
First things first…STOP THE STIGMA! Mental Illnesses come in many different forms. Allow the person to be seen for who they really are & NOT the illness.
This topic in particular hits very close to home. I am passionate about being an advocate for those who feel they don’t have a voice by bringing awareness & tearing down the walls that stigma creates.
I hope you’ll join me in becoming an advocate for Mental Health. Let’s replace the Stigma with Hope. 💚 #gogreenformentalhealth #mayismentalhealthawarenessmonth
XoXo 💋
Mamas Open Heart ♥️
Lori Deschene said: At the end of the day, remind yourself that you did the best you could today, and that is good enough.
At the end of the day, remind yourself that you did the best you could today, and that is good enough.
Lori Deschene
Martha Graham said: Dance is the hidden language of the soul.
Dance is the hidden language of the soul.
Martha Graham
Paula Abdul said: I can’t wait to be back on the dance floor. I feel really good about it.
I can’t wait to be back on the dance floor. I feel really good about it.
Paula Abdul
April 29th: Happy World Dance Day
This write-up is a great reminder to stay mentally fit, not just in May but also through the years to come. Good job!
As one knows, exercise can help improve your mental health. Mental and physical health are connected, with you feeling great after a good workout. There are many exercises you can do to improve your physical health, but there are some exercises that focus on your mental health as well. These come in the form of actual physical exercises, and sometimes they’re more mental ones.
Let’s look at a few of them…
If you are physically unfit, it can take a bit for you to build up your ability to go on a nice jog, but the more you do it, the better you become, and eventually, you can run for hours. Running is therapeutic for…
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These 8 great tips to improve mental health is suitable for those with mild depression. Per original author, Renard’s World, these may uplift their spirits. However, if you have severe depression, please seek help from a mental health professional.
These are great tips! Although I try to avoid coffee ☕️ for the meantime. I understand its health benefits. It sure is great to get out in the sun and then reconnect with someone. 🍻
It’s almost May – mental health month. Time to read more about this as it is as important as body health. Thanks for the reminder! 😊
Sugar, especially refined white sugar which has been processed, inflates waistlines and contributes to obesity. But, while some studies have shown that sugar may have a detrimental effect on the mood, not a whole lot of research has been done on sugar’s effects on mental health.
In a past post, Good, Good, Good Nutrition, part II: Foods to Avoid When Managing Bipolar Disorder, we covered how sugar can cause wild mood swings in bipolar patients. And how obesity can make some bipolar medications ineffective, especially if the weight is gained around the middle. But there are other ways sugar harms mental health.
Let’s dig in.
The addictive properties of sugar have been studied in recent years, though the research is still controversial. But anyone who’s craving a chocolate fix can understand how additive sugar is. Sugar and actual drugs both flood the brain with dopamine, a feel-good…
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References:
Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off; it enters into us like breath into our lungs; it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.
Patrick Süskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
A woman wears both jewelry and fragrance and both recall happy moments of her life.
A woman wears both jewelry and fragrance and both recall happy moments of her life.
Alain Boucheron
I call her Mnimi 