The Positive Effects of Positivity, Good Vibes from Grounding, and more 🌟

Sharing what I'm grateful for and encouraging you to do the same. The health benefits are boundless. Let's ground ourselves in gratitude and grow together.

I was greeting my coworker on Tuesday morning when something special happened. I immediately thought of you and wanted to share it in this week’s newsletter. So, I made a mental note and scheduled the time to write it out during my regular Wednesday writing time I use for to prepare for my Saturday stories.

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And here we are!

I just finished up mowing the lawn, which I firmly believe is a futile, inefficient, and defunct activity we routinely perform as Americans. Lawn care is such a strange thing to me - like really!

We spend hundreds - if not thousands - of hours of our lives on this planet simply going back and forth mowing our lawns. We spend hundreds of gallons of gas, kilowatts upon kilowatts to recharge batteries, and spend oodles of dollars on our lawns… why?

I’m not sure why this is such a norm in our society and this has always perplexed me to tell you the truth. I still don’t understand it.

I simply do it as an act of service to my family members who need the help. I’ve been mowing lawns since I was about 7 yrs old. At around 10 or 12 years old I started using my “mowing time” as prayer time and found it hugely beneficial.

I had nothing better to do, so why not spend some time with my creator in prayer and petition instead of jamming out to the latest music I had heard on the internet.

I hear from many men that tell me that mowing is somewhat cathartic or therapeutic to their emotions and their nature as a human as a whole… which I find fascinating.

There’s something deep inside us that enjoys doing work, that enjoys the labor of our hands and to work with the earth and serve mother nature - at least I believe so. But mowing just to mow… seems definitively insane to me.

Anyway, I mention mowing because I want to share with you a secret health hack I use when mowing to support my wellness journey.

I’ve already mentioned the potential to engage in prayer, mindfulness, or meditation while completing seemingly mundane, redundant and unimpressive routine activities like mowing (or brushing your teeth, brushing your teeth, driving to work, etc), but when it comes to activities outside like mowing or gardening or walking the dog (more on that in just a minute too), you can also consider these times as the perfect opportunity to reconnect yourself to nature and ground yourself in the soil by going barefoot.

Engage your senses by focusing your attention on what you can see, smell, touch, hear, and taste in the air around you. There are countless benefits to grounding on a regular basis. So one of the things that I like to do when I’m mowing is to kick off my shoes and push mow the yard barefoot to habit stack my health hacks. I’m not a fan of mowing in general, but I use it as an excuse to go barefoot, getting grounded in nature, and an opportunity to get some sun. ☀️☀️☀️

And if you’re new to grounding… boy do I have some exciting news for you. 👇

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10 Benefits of Grounding in Nature:

Grounding is a simple and effective way to improve your physical and mental health. If you're looking for a way to reduce stress, improve your mood, and boost your energy levels, spending time in nature is a great option.

Grounding is the practice of connecting with the earth through direct physical contact. It has been shown to have a number of benefits for physical and mental health.

1. Reduces stress and anxiety: Spending time in nature has been shown to reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol, improve mood, and lower blood pressure.

2. Improves mood: Studies have shown that spending time in nature can improve mood and reduce symptoms of depression.

3. Boosts energy levels: Walking in nature has been shown to increase energy levels and reduce fatigue.

4. Improves sleep quality: Spending time in nature before bed can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.

5. Relieves pain: Grounding has been shown to reduce pain in people with chronic pain conditions.

6. Improves cardiovascular health: Walking in nature has been shown to improve cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure and even lowering cholesterol levels overtime.

7. Strengthens the immune system: Spending time in nature has been shown to boost the immune system in numerous ways and reduce the risk of illness.

8. Helps promote potential weight loss: Walking in nature can help you burn calories and lose weight by layered benefits of lowering inflammation, supporting blood sugar balance, improving sleep and hormonal health.

9. Enhances creativity and problem-solving skills: Spending time in nature has been shown to improve creativity and problem-solving skills.

10. Increases feelings of connectedness and well-being: Spending time in nature can help you feel more connected to the world around you and improve your overall sense of well-being.

Grounding is a term we use to describe how the Earth's natural electrical energy has a calming and grounding effect on the body. When we are grounded, we are able to better regulate our emotions and stress levels. We are also able to absorb more nutrients and minerals from the Earth, which can improve our overall health.

If you are looking for a way to improve your health and well-being, grounding is a simple and effective option.

Aaaaaaand with similar simplicity to grounding is the power of the mind. 🧠

Next up, we’re going to quickly dive into gratitude and positive psychology.

First before we dive in, I must acknowledge that the power of positive psychology is not manifestation. It is also not ignoring reality with an “ignorance is bliss” attitude. Practicing gratitude and positive psychology is an act of self care, proactive prevention for burnout, anxiety, and depression, etc.

Practicing gratitude and positive psychology should be a daily habit like sleep or brushing your teeth.

And if you remember the story about my coworker I mentioned at the beginning of this week’s story, let me close the loop on that now.

You see, my coworker is near twice my age. He’s great to chat with and learn from. He’s old fashioned and lives life cool as a cucumber usually.

The other day, I greeted him in the morning asking him how he’s doing this week and he replied “Oh, just peachy!” with a great big grin on his face and a chuckle to finish it off.

He could have simply just said “fine” like 95% of other people. He could have had headphones in all day and ignored any chance for human interaction like some people do today. He could have started complaining about something he felt agitated about over the past weekend but instead he took the chance to enlighten the room and spark positivity by being over the top with positive psychology and practicing gratitude.

That’s a lesson I learned a long long time ago but it’s so remarkably important to remember at every stage of our lives, especially when things are going well because they won’t always and we need a strong defense against negative energy when things get tough in life as they inevitably will.

Our lesson this week is to take a quick audit of our life and daily activities in hopes to include incremental changes to boost our positivity and practice gratitude on a regular basis.

With that in mind, let’s dive in.

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10 Benefits of Gratitude and Positive Psychology:

1. Increased happiness and well-being - even if you have to fake it ‘til you make it in the beginning. Find and focus on the silver lining.

2. Reduced stress and anxiety

3. Improved sleep quality - less worrying, less ruminating thoughts and emotions, easier emotions as you progress into sleepiness.

4. Stronger relationships - not many people are energetically attracted to a negative nancy, but many people are interested in positive mindsets.

5. Increased self-esteem

6. Increased motivation and productivity - no longer held down by victim-mentality or selling yourself short by the story you tell yourself. You got this!

7. Improved physical health - more positivity = more motivation = more dopamine and higher energy endorphins = improved physiological effects and more desire for physical fitness

8. Increased creativity and problem-solving skills - “Everything is figure-out-able.” Possessing a more positive mindset sets you up for deeper learning, greater problem solving and greater enjoyment in solving the problem.

9. Increased resilience in the face of adversity - ability to brush off the bad days as you focus on the good days; knowledge that there are good days to come and the sun always shines after the rain

10. Increased compassion and empathy for others - deeper understanding, deeper wisdom to both lead by example and feed positivity to others as a conduit of positive energy that has a genuine and authentic physiological effect for your friends, family, coworkers.

Gratitude and positive psychology are powerful tools that can help you live a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life. When you focus on the good things in your life, it can lead to a boost in your mood and overall sense of well-being.

Practicing gratitude can help you to focus on the positive aspects of your life, which can help to reduce stress and anxiety. When you're grateful for the good things in your life, it can help you to relax and fall asleep more easily.

When you express gratitude to others, it can help to strengthen your relationships and deepen connection from a heart-heart vulnerability. When you focus on your strengths and accomplishments, it can help to boost your self-esteem. When you're grateful for what you have, it can help drive your loyalty, appreciation, and respect to those around you and the work that you do.

Studies have shown that gratitude can lead to improved physical health, including lower blood pressure and a stronger immune system.

When you have a strong sense of gratitude, it can help you to bounce back from difficult times more easily. Practice with a Gratitude Journal.

It Only Takes 5 Minutes a Day.

When you focus on the good in the world, it can help you to be more compassionate and empathetic towards others. Subscribe to Global Positive News via email or on Instagram and alter the energy of your news feed.

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Let me lead by example now and tell you 5 things I’m grateful for this week, even while the last couple weeks have been extremely difficult for me in my personal life.

1. I work with an amazing team of health professionals who encourage me, inspire me, and push me to show up in this world as my very best

2. I’ve had 3 or 4 unexpected conversations with health gurus over LinkedIn in the last few days that has been fascinating and energizing to my spirit.

3. I’m continuously impressed with people close to me in this world who are genuinely good spirits, nurturers, compassionate comrades, and servant leaders in my community.

4. I’m currently recovering from a random and unexpected arm injury I suffered a few weeks ago, which has left me unable to perform at my best physically in how I like to maintain a strong and active lifestyle. I’m probably at 80% now and grateful to get back into my regular workout routine.

5. I have a few mentors I speak with regularly who are much older than me but still treat me with mutual respect as an adult, who listen when I speak and have the authenticity to share their heart and mission with me as well. Coming from the proverbial position of “a prophet is never welcome in his own village,” I’m genuinely nourished by mature adults speaking with wisdom and authenticity.

Even in the midst of the chaos, it’s extremely important to maintain this practice to keep us steady, strong, and sane. Even while I’ve been working behind the scenes to craft and launch my NEW Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes Program, life has handed me a complicated mess of circumstance I’m still striving to care for well.

At the end of the day, I think some of the best effort we can have is to lead our lives with a balance of passion, grace, and service, courage, dedication, empathy, and run the good race practicing gratitude and harnessing the power of positivity as best we can.

As I like to tell others…

“Choosing positivity is just good common sense.

The opposing viewpoint is one that eats you alive from the inside out and slowly destroys your relationships to all the people, places, and things around you as a negative, pessimistic contagion infects your heart, soul, and mind suffocating all light and oxygen from the life of light you were created to live out.”

☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️

So I bid you farewell this week encouraging you to take a deeper look at your own gratitude practices (or the lack thereof) and consider the power of positivity in your own personal health journey.

If you missed last week’s audio session, listen to it here.

I firmly and fundamentally believe that every person is running. 🏃‍♂️ 💨 🏃‍♀️ 💨

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As I think about next week’s story, I think the content may end up feeling heavy for many of us but I think it will be a worthy conversation to have and one that deserves our attention. I hope you’ll join us and seek wisdom with empathy and understanding as I believe we can.

I’m signing off for now and I’ll be in your ears 🎧 this Wednesday 🎤 with a brand new Saturday submission coming again next week.

#GoodVibesOnly ✊