Gratitude

I am Grateful For…

Art Display at North Beach, San Francisco

The world is filled with economic uncertainty, health crises, and pain due to injustices, but there are many things I am grateful for during these critical and historic times. They calm souls, energize, and give hopes.

Read on…

Breathwork

good-morning5
Courtesy of Owais Ali

A few weeks ago, I attended a Commonwealth Club meeting by Valerie Moselle who wrote the book Breathwork: A 3-Week Breathing Program to Gain Clarity, Calm, and Better Health.  Tow things I learned, I immediately put into practice.

First is the concept of “Resistance Breathing” – passing air with resistance through the throat, like singing “ha” when you breathe in (lung expanding – a few practices would make this much easier) and breathe out (lung collapsing).  As I practice this, I can feel my breath become slower and fuller.  What is the benefit of this?  Slow, deep, full breathing helps to moderate the stress response in our body.  The more oxygen you can give to your body and cells, the healthier they can be.   I found the best time to practice this – before I close my eyes in the bed.  The practice of resistance breathing completely makes me sleepy, and I can easily fall asleep.

Second is the importance of the hormone, oxytocin (the bliss hormone, the hormone of well-being), which increases when you slow down your breath.  Often, people confuse dopamine with oxytocin, with the former giving pleasure but not providing well-being, which to me is more important for health.

What are the activities that release more oxytocin?

  • getting a massage
  • giving someone’s a hug for 30 seconds
  • playing with pets
  • chanting
  • singing in groups
  • dancing
  • eating chocolate

One time, I hurt my ankle pretty badly and was limping.  Once I attended the community choir and sang with a big group, I not only could stand for hours, but my pain was gone, and I could walk again.  Such was the power of Oxytocin!

To aid my practice of breathing, I have begun using the Balance app, which provides personalized meditation with the help of a “personal” coach.  The app is really beautiful and clean and clearly engages you.  The foundation course is about breath control.  There are tracks for you to adapt to your needs such as “energize”, “wind-down”, “anxiety”, “relax”, “sleep”, “commute”, which appear to be all free.  Many users have commented that many meditation apps do not stick, but this one does.  I tend to agree.

 

 

 

 

 

All About Expressing Yourself

CocktailsI am coming back to this space as something was inspiring me tonight.  In the next few days, Google is having its Google Cloud Conference in San Francisco.  Tonight, Google held a Diversity and Inclusion event called Women in Tech Social at the Palace Hotel.  I love the fact that Google has embraced women in its senior management: Diane Greene, founder of VM Ware, is Google Cloud’s CEO while Fei Fei Li, another woman, is the Chief Scientist for Machine Learning/AI.  In the conference, Google has 10 events in diversity and inclusion.  At the bar tonight, attendees were asked to express themselves by creating their own cocktails.

According to research, in the U.S., women are paid around 80% of the wages of men even though 50% of the undergraduates and graduates are women.  For women in tech, companies offer between 4% to 45% less pay to women for the same job.  Women did ask for a lower pay 66% of the time.  In industries such as VCs and hedge funds, less than 5% are women at the Partners or Chief Investment Officers level.  Still, in the U.S., women are controlling 51% of the total wealth.  Globally, women’s economic clout and wealth are rising definitively.

So, a toast to the rising strength of women with a self-made, self-expressed cocktail – non-alcoholic drink filled with wonderful herbs and gorgeous edible flowers.

One Flaw in Women

Beautiful words and reminder – think you might like it!

Morning Story and Dilbert

Morning Story and Dilbert Vintage Dilbert – November 7, 1991

Women have strengths that amaze men…..IT IS THAT
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in..
They stand up to injustice.
They don’t take “no” for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they
think there…

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