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Tag Archives: stress
Daily On-The-Go Meditations with Shine!
For years I’ve been a mediation and mindfulness junkie. It’s safe to say that mindfulness techniques have changed my life and allowed me to deal with stress in a more productive manner. So when I was asked to be a part of offering amazing meditations to the world, of course I said “YES!” I’m ecstatic to announce I’ve been working with the lovely team at Shine Text to voice mindfulness meditations for their brand new app! Shine sends you free daily text messages with motivational quotes, positive affirmations and actions you can take every morning. Their text messages reach millions of users and now with their new app, they are offering mindfulness moments and challenges to help us refocus on the present moment and have the best day possible.
You can download their app now, and you’ll hear my voice on any of the FREE meditations, or in the “Get Fulfilled Challenge.” I also wrote an article for Shine, about my personal struggle with success addiction and the journey to fulfillment which you can read HERE.
-XO Raw Girl
Got Mg? How Magnesium Deficiency Can Stress You Out
via Huff Post
As the saying goes: “I’m too blessed to be stressed,” but if I don’t supplement my Mg, stress could show up at my front door anyway! Did you know deficiencies in certain nutrients can actually create stress or exacerbate the stress in your life? Crazy, huh? “Well insufficient amounts of just one mineral, magnesium, can result in anxiety, asthma, anorexia, birth defects, hardened arteries, mental disorders, hyperactivity, hypertension, hypothermia, insomnia, menstrual pain, muscle weakness, tremors, seizures, AND it’s been linked in studies to be associated with increased risk of cancer development.” There’s a past article on Mg on my site, but because it’s such an important mineral, I’m revisiting it again and including some of the same info.
Here’s the deal when it comes to stress and magnesium: lack of magnesium tends to magnify the stress reaction, which in turn creates more stress and worsens the problem. Research has shown that adrenaline and cortisol which are by-products of our “fight or flight response” when we are anxious or in danger are directly associated with decreased magnesium. The problem with stress and “fight or flight” is most often we have that response to things that are not life threatening at all. The response is meant to assist us in times of danger, but it becomes detrimental to our health if our stress levels are way up consistently for drama at work, toxic relationships, unexpected tragedy or whatever stressors may show up in our daily lives.
Moral of the story? If you want to reduce your stress levels magnesium is your new bff. Magnesium and stress relief go together like peanut butter and jelly. So it’s important to take a look at your diet and ensure you are getting in some Mg rich foods.
The RDA and UL (Tolerable Upper Limit) levels for magnesium for adults (over 18) are as follows:
| RDA | Age | Male | Female |
| 19-30 | 400 mg | 310 mg | |
| 31-50 | 420 mg | 320 mg | |
| UL | 19 + | 350 mg | 350 mg |
Mg can be helpful as a therapeutic intervention for these conditions:
- Anxiety, irritability
- Insomnia
- Muscle cramps
- Hypertension
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Diabetes mellitus
- Migraine headaches
- Asthma (as intravenous infusion for an acute attack)
Food Sources of Magnesium
Mustard greens, blackstrap molasses, turnip greens, sea vegetables, green beans and collard greens, spelt, cucumber, bell peppers, celery, kale, cantaloupe, cacao, brazil nuts, almonds, cashews and a variety of seeds, including sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and flaxseeds. -Xo Raw Girl
References:
Haas, E. M., & Levin, B. (2006).Staying healthy with nutrition: the complete guide to diet and nutritional medicine. Berkeley: Celestial Arts.
Ross, A. C., Caballero, B. , Cousins, R. J., Tucker, K.L. & Ziegler, T. R. (2014). Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. (11th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
National Institutes of Health. 2016. Magnesium: Fact sheet for health care professionals. Retrieved from: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
Aldrich, N. (2016). Magnesium. Retrieved from https://learn.muih.edu/courses/4673/pages/magnesium?module_item_id=108286.
7 Reasons to Meditate: The Benefits of Mindfulness
Meditation is sometimes seen as a woo-wooey practice reserved for new age hippies, actors who are “spritual”, self-help gurus, and hardcore yogis, but the truth is meditation is for everyone. Just like yoga, which brings the body in alignment with the mind and helps to quite that incessant babbling of thoughts we have going daily that frequently get in the way of our true happiness, meditation cleans house. It’s like setting the reset button for a few minutes daily, that allows you to truly go with the flow, promotes inner peace, feelings of oneness with others, empathy, service, and even boosts creativity. I have experienced firsthand regular daily meditation can be a catalyst for amazing things happening in your life. As you practice and get deeper in the flow of life, synchronicity or seeming miracles became normal every day occurrences.
Going back to daily practice has re-awakened my love and appreciation for meditation as a scientific tool. Every single time you to sit to practice, you are literally rewiring your brain, and tapping further into THE SOURCE of all. As a result of this you may find yourself extremely calm in usually stressful situations, generally happier, optimistic, and attracting people and things that help you achieve your dreams, effortlessly. There are a bunch of meditation naysayers out there who feel like it’s quackery, or object to meditation because they are afraid it contradicts with their religion. This is not the case. Meditation and mindfulness practices have been practiced and incorporated by every major religion. In the Bible it says, “Be still and know that I am God.” My favorite Deepak Chopra quote is: “Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is listening.” Indeed the silence speaks volumes. Creativity can increase and intuition begins to guide daily decisions more strongly. It sounds like a gimmick until you try it. The only way for you to feel the shift in yourself is to sit down and meditate and stick with it consistently. It does not take weeks to start to feel a shift. Each day, you will begin to notice little things. Oh meditation, mediation, how I love thee! Let me count the ways. Below are seven of many reasons (backed by scientific research) why sitting down in silence daily is good for you. Don’t take my word for it, try it yourself. Namaste. -XoXo Raw Girl
- Stay in the Stress-Free Zone. The journal of health psychology published research that not only does meditation make you feel less stressed, it actually reduces the levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
- Rewire Bad Habits. One of the first thing I noticed was that when I kept up with regular meditation it started to shift my emotional responses to situations that were previously aggravating. Going within helps us require bad habits as well as observe our actions and reactions in a way we may have never done before and make conscious adjustments.
- Boosts Your Mental Performance. Research conducted at the University of California, Santa Barbara found that college students trained in mindfulness performed better on verbal reasoning sections on the GRE and also had improvements in retention of material. The outcome of the study suggested that mindfulness improves overall cognitive function.
- Can Keep You From Going Cray-Cray. Mental illness and emotional wellness are two issues that are usually highly medicated when you visit a doctor to address them. Well, according to researchers from the University of Oregon, mediation techniques in the form of integrative body and mind training can result in brain changes which protect against mental illness. Due to meditation practice protective tissue increases as well as signaling connections in the brain.
- Sleep Like a Baby. A University of Utah study found that mindfulness training helps people sleep better at night. You know how sometimes you can’t sleep because of the “monkey mind” that can’t stop making to-do lists and generally stressing about whatever happened that day? Well meditation shuts the monkey up long enough for you to get adequate rest and wake up feeling refreshed.
- Gives You a Major Dose of Happy. In general meditation helps to balance out emotions and moods, and has been shown in numerous studies to reduce the risk of depression. It’s great for pregnant women struggling with post-pardom, teens, and really anyone of any age.
- Boosts Your Immunity. By now you should know that optimal health has to do with emotional, physical, and mental wellness. Just paying attention to your diet alone may still leave you at risk for major terminal diseases if you do not manage your emotions and stress in a healthy way. Meditation and mindfulness practices calm you the heck down, so that you can avoid toxic emotions that may cause disease later on.