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Sunday, April 5, 2015

April Day Brighteners....#5 Close Your Eyes

"Close Your Eyes"

Many studies show that the body cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. Remembering something pleasurable causes the body to create a cascade of feel-good chemicals. Conversely, if we remember something unpleasant or downright awful, the body's chemistry recreates how we felt at the time and we end up reliving that experience numerous times and feeling really crappy because of it.

Today, play with this little exercise and see how it makes you feel. I do it quite often and it leaves me feeling pretty good.

Day 5....Close your eyes

Close your eyes. Visualize someone you feel you can appreciate (human or animal). See them in your mind's eye and tell yourself 5 qualities you like about that someone. Rinse and repeat.

For this, I choose 2 indiviuals: My cat Lacey, and my friend, Mark. The qualities I admire in Lacey are:

1. The way this tiny cat loves to snuggle with me when I'm reading
2.  Her innate sense of time, giving me "the big stare" at exactly 5:15 every day, letting me know it is tea time (dinner)
3. Her gentle purring and how good it make me feel to hear it
4. How she enjoys tossing around and chasing a catnip-stuffed toy mouse
5. The way she reminds me to live in the moment

The qualities I admire in my friend, Mark....

1. His great sense of humor
2. Dedication to his family
3. His love of Nature and frequent ventures in the great outdoors
4. His love of animals, especially the dog who accompanies him on hikes, bike rides and fishing trips
5.  How he is a caring friend to many

Doing this little exercise can be addictive as it can lead to feeling good any time you do it.

 

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