Living a Meaningful Life

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Jim Carrey

Yesterday I was looking for a documentary to watch on Netflix and I came across one that inspired me so much that I wanted to write a blog post about it. It’s called “Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things”. If you never watched it, you should. This documentary will definitely show you another way to look at life. It made me reflect about what’s really important to me.

So, what’s minimalism? “Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.” 
The Minimalists

Nowadays, we are surrounded by all these ads that make us want things. We go on social media and we see those bloggers talking about their amazing products, showing their closets full of clothes and accessories that they don’t even remember they have. Some of us don’t even want wear the same clothes twice! We live in a world that values things so much that we end up forgetting about what really matters. We don’t really want that new watch or that new car. We want what we think these things can bring us, such as happiness, joy, and recognition. We want the feeling, the emotional state, the experience. Do you really need all those things laying around your house? Do all those things really make you feel happy? If you could trade all these things for real happiness, free of pressure and worries, would do? I would!

I think that at the end, all these things we have and seek to have and all this search for status and consumption end up being meaningless. What stays are the moments with our family and friends. The love and memories. Material items and consumption cannot provide us long-lasting happiness. Even knowing that, we spend most of our time in a job that we hate to buy these things.

My husband is a minimalist without knowing it. He just wears one pair of jeans.  One day I told him that we needed to buy some more jeans for him. He answered me saying that one was enough for him and asked me why he needed to have more pairs if that one was doing its purpose. He was right. He didn’t really need it, but our addiction to consumption makes us want to have more.

I’m not a minimalist, but I confess that this minimalist philosophy is liberating and made a lot of sense to me. I’m not going to lie that I worry so much about the future, about money, career, and status that I end up leaving more important things behind. I feel pressured by what society tells me I should be/have. By 30 years old you “should” have a stable career, be married, and have kids. You should own a house, a car and this and that. Oh, and you also should be all fit to follow the society’s standard of beauty! Why? Because of all this pressure, we never have time and we never have enough money. It’s very liberating to think that we can design our own lives and do everything that really makes us happy on our own time, without having to worry about all these things.

I’m not saying we have to be radical, stop buying things and quit our jobs. If you really want to own that car or that watch, go for it! If these things are important to you, get it! I’m just saying that we probably need to make decisions more consciously. Not only about things we buy, but about everything, our relationships, our health, our careers, etc.  How many people you hang out with that don’t add any value to your life? How many things we buy just because it’s on sale and never even open the package? We buy for “just in case” and that “just in case” end up never being the case! It’s just laying there, making a mess, causing a stressful life. You get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff and the messy house. Maybe if we try to simplify everything and consume less, we can have a more peaceful and meaningful life.

We just need to think what’s really essential for us. What’s essential for one person can be different from what’s essential for another. Do the things you own really bring value, meaning and purpose to your life? Think twice about your choices and do whatever makes you happy. Discover purpose and experience real freedom in your life! Live a meaningful life!

Mind-body Connection – Understand it and Improve it!

“When the mind, body, and spirit work as one, anything is possible.”

We see quotes about the connection between our minds and bodies all the time, but what does this connection really mean?

Understanding Mind-body Connection

When we are sick or stressed we don’t realize how strongly this interrelation between body and mind is affecting us. If we did, we would take more care of our bodies in order to have healthier minds and we would pay more attention to our minds, so our bodies could heal.

For example, a few years ago, I used to cough everyday, all the time, for one year. It was tiring and painful. I went to many different doctors and they couldn’t find an answer for it. I wasn’t allergic to anything, my exams results were all normal. Nobody found the cause of my cough up until now. What happened was that I was living such a stressful moment in my life that I ended up having a very weird body reaction. Only when I calmed down and stopped worrying, I immediately stopped coughing. That made me reflect a lot about the body-mind connection. I began to notice a lot of positive changes of my overall health when I started to be aware of the power of that connection.

Our mind consists of mental states such as thoughts and emotions. Every mental state has a physiology related to it. For instance, the mental state of anxiety can cause you stress hormones. Our bodies affects our minds and our minds definitely impacts our bodies.

What can I do to improve it?

My husband always finds me listening to motivational or meditation podcasts and he asks me why I always listen to it. He doesn’t understand how powerful those podcasts can be for my mental and consequently for my physical wellbeing. Also, when I go to the gym in the morning, specially when I’m stressed, it reduces my stress and energizes me for the day. Listening to positive podcasts and exercising are some of the things I do to try to have a healthier mind and body. Another very important thing is to eat well. Our nutritional intake can have a huge impact on how we feel. I have a friend that when she doesn’t eat well she’s always in a bad mood. I understand that we are always in a hurry and we never have enough time to take care of ourselves. Simple changes can make a difference. For example, taking a pre-made meal to eat for lunch at work can be a good way to nurture your body with nutritious food instead of eating fast food.

Let’s become more conscious about our mental states and our physical health? What do you do to have a healthier body and mind? I would love to hear from you!

Aline

Are you anxious?

Your answer will probably be yes. Every human being suffers from anxiety, it is part of our defense system. For example, it’s absolutely normal that anyone would feel anxious before giving a speech. However, when your anxiety brings you harm such as insomnia, tachycardia, tremors, etc., you will need a psychotherapeutic intervention. Anxiety is a sensation or feeling that comes from the excessive excitement of our central nervous system in consequence of a dangerous situation. We interpret that we are in danger, we fear and the anxiety comes.

In the past, anxiety used to be crucial for the development of species. The most anxious caveman (the unquiet ones) would survive first from a threat to life than the others who were more distracted. The worried ones would escape faster. Therefore, anxiety in old times could define who would or wouldn’t live. Today, instead of the danger of losing your life, the danger can be loss of status, interests, economic power, affection, among others.

Also, the simple fact of being in a new environment or in an unknown situation can be enough for us to feel anxious.We all know it’s not easy to control anxiety. Your thoughts get confused, accelerated and your body gets tense. An accelerated mind is an unbalanced mind. To fight against it, we need to first, focus on our breath. We need to slow down our breath because it has the ability to control our bodies and minds. Our thoughts should go away with the expelled air. Next, we need to think positive. Anxiety always tries to bring pessimistic thinking. Finally, accept your insecurities. The more you try to get rid of it, the more you feel anxious. If you learn about yourself, identify and accept your fears, you will find a way to live and deal with your insecurities. It is normal, they will always exist. The fact that you accept it will at least calm down your mind.

I know we hear everywhere for about millions of times that we need to breath, to meditate, to think positively, and all this seems like a cliche. We hear it all the time, but do we really put into practice? If you try it hard, I’m sure you will get good results. Everything can be done with effort and dedication. If you really tried it hard and nothing happened, you will have to look for a doctor that will probably give you an anxiolytic prescription.

I could spend hours and hours writing about anxiety! It’s a very broad subject and it has different causes and theories about it. In order not to be long, I will end here, but if you have any questions just let me know. I would be glad if I could help!