Beautiful Illustrated Quotations: 3 Joy Quotes: How Does Practicing JOY Bring Order and Harmony Into Your Life? Also, Joy Contagious Lip-Syncing Cop Viral Video

From Denny:  Now if everyone in politics and every CEO in Big Business would read this, think how much people would quit hating their jobs, their bosses and their politicians!

Joyful X 2 Bathmat

Beautiful Illustrated Quotations: 3 Joy Quotes: How Does Practicing JOY Bring Order and Harmony Into Your Life? Also, Joy Contagious Lip-Syncing Cop Viral Video: From Denny:  Have you ever noticed that when you are filled with Joy that your whole world is suddenly harmonious and everything just falls into place?  Joy is contagious too.  When you feel good, everyone around you feels good too!

While not everyone is called to enter into the decades long rigorous training to become a mystic for the benefit of humanity, a lot can be learned and practiced in everyday life to better enjoy life's journey.  Practicing Joy is practicing healthy spirituality, regardless of religion or no specific religious preferences at all.

Joy is a central principle for the human spirit.  Joy sustains us through life's sorrows   and disappointments.  Joy acts as a counter balance while climbing out of depression or grief, dealing with past trauma and the ensuing PTSD, keeping us from sinking down further into negative emotions and thoughts.  Joy is important to safeguard not just our mental, emotional and spiritual health but it has a direct positive benefit upon our physical health too.

Adults often develop habits that steer away from Joy.  Babies laugh hundreds of times a day.  How much have you laughed out loud today?  How much have you laughed in the past month?  Do you find your world crumbling around you, feeling out of sorts and grumpy, thinking limiting thoughts, focused upon how little is going your way? ... read more

Joyful X 2 Padfolio

Inspire: Keep your Joy up and flowing to attract order and harmony into your life all year long!  
Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com - see what's new!  Thank you to those who are supporting this effort.  You rock!  

Proceeds go to Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank (Louisiana) and to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital for all the awesome help they have given to the children of the Gulf Coast.  

Developing this online gift store is one of the ways of how I keep my Joy up, focusing upon creativity that creates proceeds for charities doing great work.

*** Joyful x 2 design found in the Denny Lyon Gifts store @ Cafe Press in these sections:  bedding, stationery and inspiration (plenty of style choices for women, men, baby and kid's t-shirts and hoodies.)

Poems From A Spiritual Heart: When The Angels Cry For Us

Poems From A Spiritual Heart: When The Angels Cry For Us: How do we look to outside observers as we live our lives, especially those of us who do not grow, re-think our approach and change from our experiences?

What About Angels?

From Denny:  Humanity spends a lot of time agonizing over "what other people think" about them. What if we are observed by what we cannot physically see - yet sense on a deeper level?
What if angelic beings are real and just exist in a veiled close dimension of time but are not present in our exact time and space? How do you think they might perceive our daily lives and choices as they are witness to our time here on Earth?

Love Light Square Compact Mirror @ Cafe Press

Let your love light shine!

* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  - see what's new!  

Lonely people: Under More Pressure Have Higher Blood Pressure

*** Be aware of how loneliness can impact your daily health.





From Denny: The "geniuses" in the medical community have finally figured out the obvious - that loneliness and social isolation can cause more than severe tearing on the psyche. It also affects blood pressure.

The study was done at the University of Chicago. Researchers surveyed 229 people ages 50 to 68. These respondents were part of the Chicago Health, Aging and Social Relations Study. This was a multi-year study cutting across racial and ethnic boundaries as well as gender to include white, black and Latino men and women.

Those surveyed were asked to rate their feelings about various statements, for example:

"I lack companionship"
"I feel in tune with the people around me"
"My social relationships are superficial"

The study also recorded other details like smoking status, physical activity levels, body mass index and cardiovascular health to see how it might impact the survey results. Those surveyed were monitored for five years.

What did researchers discover about the link of loneliness to higher blood pressure? They found out that those who ranked the highest for feeling the most lonely had blood pressure levels as much as 14.4 points higher than those surveyed who felt least lonely.

Another startling fact of concern is that those surveyed who had the higher levels of loneliness when they started the study found their systolic blood pressure increased over the years of the study.

Need a definition of what is systolic blood pressure? Check out what eMedTV says: "Systolic blood pressure is the amount of pressure that blood exerts on vessels while the heart is beating. In a blood pressure reading (such as 120/80), it is the number on the top. If the top and bottom blood pressures are both too high, a person is said to have high blood pressure. If only the top number is higher than 140, the person has a condition called isolated systolic hypertension."

Researchers also found that even when they factored in other details like age, race, ethnicity, gender, cardiovascular risk factors and depression - their findings held true. Lonely people find their blood pressure higher than others feeling less lonely.

The study appeared in the journal Psychology and Aging.

This is where having a pet and/or a regular social routine is helpful to manage stress. Be sure to see your doctor and a nutritionist if you are suffering feelings of loneliness and/or depression.

Many times, depression and low feelings are a result of an improper diet. Many people with active nervous systems - like creative people - need higher levels of B vitamins. It is often that simple to start feeling better and more sociable.


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

Celebrities Who Fought Postpartum Depression

*** Two Hollywood celebrities are sharing how they suffered with postpartum depression after the births of their children, hoping others will seek help.





Actress Gwyneth Paltrow at Toronto International Film Festival, photo by AP


Actress Gwyneth Paltrow suffered from postpartum depression

From Denny: Postpartum depression cuts across all economic, race and cultural lines to affect new mothers just after giving birth. It may be their first, second or even third child. Each pregnancy can be different from previous ones.

The tough thing about this disorder is that it makes a woman feel such low self-esteem that she doubts her ability to be a good mother, even months after the birth. Too many women feel they are alone in feeling this way.

Celebrity actress Gwyneth Paltrow and "New Moon" star Bryce Dallas Howard have decided to go public with their personal trials and painful experiences to help other women suffering from this particular and other mood disorders. They are hoping other women will quit hiding their suffering and seek help. It's OK to admit they are not as excited to be new mothers as they thought they would be. If you are experiencing this, see your doctor and talk it over to see if this could be an issue.

Women are society's primary caregivers around the clock

As it is women are the primary caregivers in society, caring for the new born as well as the aging parents or grandparents in their last years. Women carry a lot of the long term stress of physical and emotional burdens of society, especially in America. Women tend to attribute these negative feelings to something else, not realizing they may be suffering from postpartum depression or perhaps a generalized depression. A generalized depression could be a result of sleep deprivation and a poor diet. Once those factors are addressed the depression can easily lift.

Here is how Paltrow described how she felt immediately following the birth of her second child, son Moses: "It was one of the darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters of my life." It was a surprise to her since she had such a wonderful experience after the birth of her first child. She said she experienced an incredible euphoria and was expecting the same after this second birth.

How many new mothers suffer pregnancy related mood disorders?

According to the medical site, WebMD, there are about 800,000 women each year in America who just don't experience that sense of wonderful joy after giving birth. That's about one in five new mothers, about 20 percent, who suffer from perinatal mood disorders.

Pregnancy related mood disorders don't always present as depression, though these are the most common. In some women they can appear as anxiety or panic disorder, agoraphobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Fewer still suffer from intrusive, unwanted thoughts that are frightening to them because those thoughts are about hurting the baby. So, they tell no one about those destructive thoughts which only makes matters worse.

Bryce Dallas Howard's struggle with postpartum depression

Bryce Dallas Howard revealed how she was struggling with postpartum depression after giving birth to her son in 2007. "In those moments after giving birth, I felt nothing," she told People Magazine. "I definitely felt I was a rotten mother - not a bad one, a rotten one. Because the truth was, every time I looked at my son, I wanted to disappear."

Howard went on to relate she tried to distance herself emotionally from her son by referring to him as "It" instead of by his name. She also said she could not tolerate breast feeding him because of the intense pain.

More women need help than seek help. About 80 percent of new mothers do experience some of the "Baby Blues" as doctors label the experience. However, sometimes, doctors can confuse the Baby Blues with serious postpartum depression so it's important to seek a second opinion if you are told not to worry about the depression or negative thoughts you are experiencing.

Baby Blues versus Postpartum Depression

How do you know the difference? Baby Blues can be similar to a mood disorder yet those symptoms fade away within a couple of weeks as your body gets its balance back hormone wise.

So how can you know if what you are feeling is within the range of what's considered normal or if it's something far more serious? Karen Kleiman has written several books about this subject. She is the executive director of the Postpartum Stress Center in Rosemont, PA. She tells new mothers and pregnant women to "Trust your instincts and if you think something isn't right, it probably isn't." Don't override those instincts with the doubts of second guessing; get some help. Kleiman said, "It doesn't mean something terrible is going on, but you should get help."


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

12 Hidden Reasons 4 Fatigue and How to Fight Fatigue

*** Check out what Dr. Jennifer Ashton tells us are other factors that may be causing us to feel tired - besides not getting enough sleep.





Hidden fatigue factor: What other reasons can explain fatigue besides the obvious one of not enough sleep? What can you do to fight fatigue?


1 - Breakfast - You may not be eating a nutritious breakfast every day and getting hydrated well throughout the day. Your body needs quality fuel to run on all day so make sure you eat some light protein like an egg white omelet, complex carbs like whole wheat toast and some fruit to get you started. The goal is to maintain a steady level for your blood sugar as this will fight off fatigue beautifully.

2 - Anemia - Most women of reproductive age suffer from some anemia as do pregnant women. The important thing is to find out why you are anemic. Is it just a diet that can easily be corrected or is it something more serious? Is there an issue with heavy or excessive menstrual bleeding? If so, then find out the root cause and fix it.

"Anemia is when your body doesn't have enough red blood cells -- which provides oxygen to the body tissues and organs. Women can be more likely to get iron-deficiency anemia during menstruation and/or pregnancy," said Ashton, "According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), more than 10 percent of women ages 12 to 49 are iron deficient. Anemia can be a result of a poor diet -- a diet is consistently low in iron and vitamins, especially folate, put you at risk for anemia."

3 - Several meals daily - Make sure you eat several small frequent meals all day long as opposed to waiting for one large woofing it down meal where you can overload your digestion system and get tired. Eating too little can cause fatigue just as easily as eating the wrong foods.

4 - Foods to include in your diet - Make sure you are taking in a diet rich in foods to build red blood cells. For iron, add beans and meat to your diet. Folate, is also important to fighting fatigue. Add green leafy vegetables to your diet. Vitamin B12 is found in dairy and meat.

5 - Rest breaks - Take frequent 10 minute breaks daily, even a short nap to refresh and restore. Keeping a fast paced day will create lingering fatigue. Short rest breaks frequently will combat that fatigue.

6 - Underactive Thyroid (hypothyroidism) - It's an endocrine gland that when out of balance can cause you to feel fatigued. The thyroid controls the speed of your metabolism. Usually, it affects about 17 percent of women over the age of 60 and some men. If you are gaining weight and feel sluggish yet are not eating more calories to explain the weight gain then see your doctor to get checked out.

7 - Depression - Take note that you can feel depressed if you have not been resting enough - and often - or not been getting a quality night's sleep over an extended period of time. When you rule out this situation then see your doctor.

8 - Sleep-related disorder like Sleep Apnea - This is a possibility if you are unable to get a good night's sleep over a long period of time. Sleep Apnea can cause you to actually stop breathing for a few moments while you are asleep and it can happen several times a night.

You may never remember what happened during the night. Sleep Apnea will cause you to feel fatigued even when you wake up in the morning. What explains the fatigue is that each time you stop breathing momentarily you wake up long enough to break your sleep cycle yet you are not aware of doing so. Sometimes, the only clue to this sleep disorder is your constant fatigue even though you spent plenty of time sleeping.

A lifestyle change is in order to deal with this disorder. Losing weight is a must for better breathing at night while you sleep. Quit smoking too to lose the fatigue.

Untreated sleep apnea can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. Most people benefit from over the counter solutions to help keep the nasal airways open while sleeping since those muscles relax and swell when we sleep. In severe cases surgery can be necessary to open the airways.

9 - Undiagnosed Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)- Most women expect the usual symptoms of burning or a sense of an urgency to urinate as tell tale signs this is an issue. Actually, fatigue may be the only symptom this may be a problem. See a doctor to rule out. UTIs are caused by bacteria living in the urinary tract because of improper toilet hygiene or even from sexual intercourse.

10 - Too much caffeine - Lay off the coffee and soft drinks. When most people feel their energy ebbing late in the afternoon, they grab a soft drink or a cup of coffee as a pick me up. Unfortunately, there are those folks that too much caffeine in their system creates fatigue. If this is your issue then the chocolate and tea has to go too - and even some medications that contain caffeine. You might be pleasantly surprised these sources were the reason for your unexplained fatigue.

11 - Hidden Food Intolerances - This is not about food allergies of which only about 5 percent of the population suffers. However, even a mild food intolerance can make you feel sleepy. If you keep eating the problem food over an extended period of time you will end up feeling downright exhausted. So, keep a diet journal to see what you have been eating lately and see what's changed or what you can change in order to get your energy back.

12 - Undiagnosed Heart Disease - Activity that used to be easy for you in the past but is now difficult and exhausting may be a sign of heart disease. If you suffer an overwhelming fatigue for doing simple yard work, vacuuming the house or commuting from work each day, then heart disease should be considered. In fact, your heart may be sending out an SOS help call to get you to seek medical attention. Talk to your doctor if this is the case.

Think about your reasons for fatigue

Stop and think about chugging that next energy drink or cup of coffee when you feel fatigued. Are you pushing your heart too much? Are you diet deficit? Are you sleep deprived? When enough rest and changes to a proper diet after a couple of weeks does not help the fatigue it's time to see your doctor.



Why You May Be Tired



Watch CBS News Videos Online



*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

If You're Bipolar Stay On Your Meds

If You're Bipolar Stay On Your Meds - "It's no easy trick to manage the ups and downs of a bipolar brain. The treatment goal is to help you function within a normal range -- not too up, not too down, but just right...As a bipolar, your brain suffers from a major chemical imbalance.

One way or another, it needs to be rebalanced, it craves to be rebalanced. This is why, without even knowing they're doing it, so many bipolars turn to "self-medicating" with alcohol and drugs. They are naturally obeying their brain's command to please, please stop this roller coaster and give me some peace!"

By Mighty Mom
Photo by allspice1 @ flickr

Excellent read from someone who deals with this condition every day.

When The Angels Cry For Us

When The Angels Cry For Us: "A lot of humanity spends a lot of time agonizing over 'what other people think' about them. What if we are observed by what we cannot physically see yet sense on a deeper level?"

By Denny Lyon
Photo by alicepopkorn @ flickr

BIPOLAR DISORDER and proven natural ways of healing

BIPOLAR DISORDER and proven natural ways of healing - This is an article written by a friend and writer over at HubPages.com who is from Croatia. She writes about other causes to consider concerning bi-polar depression: not having enough certain mineral salts in your system can cause psychiatric disorders or the thyroid gland may be an issue. 10 tips to assist in the balance of mood swings is also included.

Warning: If you or a loved one suffers from depression, it's worth it to check out alternative ideas for natural healing. Keep your doctor informed of what you may be considering as it's important to remain on your medications. Why? They were calibrated for your particular system and just abruptly taking yourself off meds can cause serious setbacks or damage.

Work with your doctor for a safe and slower approach when changing or coming off meds. The object is to heal completely or find a way to manage the problem - not create a worse problem. This article is very interesting, informative and is in depth, teaching along the way.

Photo of artwork by Vincent Van Gogh