Written by: Calvin Niles, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. On the 10th of January 49 BCE, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River with his army during his March on Rome. The Rubicon, a shallow river in northeastern Italy, marked the border between Italy and a place called Gaul. Caesar knew that crossing that boundary with an army was not permitted and would be seen as an act of war. It was alleged that Caesar deliberated at the river until a supernatural apparition prompted him to cross it. Once Caesar committed to this action, he knew that he had passed the point of no return. In a similar way today, many of us feel that we have arrived at a point in history where we have reached another Rubicon. We are being called to commit to a journey that will change the course of our lives, individually and collectively. Caesar had legions of support for his quest, and you will need support on yours too. As you are reading this, I will assume that you have already answered your call to adventure, and that you are ready to embrace the next phase on the hero’s journey of your life. For once you have crossed that threshold, you have passed the point of no return – and you will need help. “The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.” ‒ Ben Okri Circumstances will test your resolve On the other side of the threshold you will be tested in new ways. You are alive, and human, so you will most certainly already know suffering. By suffering, I mean the inevitability of human experience; physical and emotional pain, attachment to things that do not last, and the very thing that causes us to believe that things will last. For you, there would be some experience, or more likely cumulative experiences, that caused you to walk this path of personal and spiritual development. The fact that you are courageous does not negate you from bigger tests and trials. On the contrary, their arrival is guaranteed. As Helen Keller once said, “character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.” Some describe this part of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey as the ‘special world.’ Here you will begin to discover capabilities you did not know you had. When financial pressures grow, relationships falter and things feel too much to bear, you begin to see glimpses of your potential with the support of your allies to help you through. “Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.” ‒ Marianne Williamson Assemble your legion of allies Imagine you are out in the middle of the ocean, on a sailboat, with the might of the currents working against you. It is here that your allies act like wind in the sails of your journey. Who are these allies that you can call on? In Mindful Storytelling, we like to think that your allies can be tangible or intangible, visible or invisible and in all cases ‒ real. In the visible world, your allies are likely to be people. They are trustworthy people that you know, love and who you can rely on in times of need along the journey. Alternatively, it may be a book which contains precious insights and encouragement to support you as you grow. But even Caesar did not rely on physical allies alone, he also relied on what historians described as supernatural. Of course, these are natural forces, though they may not always be within our field of awareness. On this invisible side, what we can call our inner dimension, there are mindful attitudes such as patience and acceptance which are powerfully infinite resources to strengthen you, or they could even be your values which act as your lighthouses in dark times. You may even rely on people who are no longer alive or that you have never met. Personally, I have an invisible board of advisors who form part of my legion of allies and who I consult on my own hero’s journey. The chapters of your life story are still being written. To become mindful of the hero’s journey of your life is key to your success, for after the tests come more tests within which huge opportunities to transform are buried. Or as Joseph Campbell better put it, “It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center. You find the jewel, and it draws you off. In loving the spiritual, you cannot despise the earthly.” The more we wake up to this, the more mindful we become of our story. Welcome to the hero’s journey of your life. Want to create a new story for your life? Follow Calvin for more on stories, mindfulness, and poetry on his YouTube channel, connect with him on Instagram or visit his website for more. Read more from Calvin! Calvin Niles, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Calvin Niles is a coach and consultant known as The Mindful Storyteller, making a positive impact on the lives of leaders, entrepreneurs, coaches, and wider society through his services and products. Through his experience in mindfulness, storytelling, coaching, and business, he empowers others to be authentic in their life and work Calvin has worked with hundreds of people from leaders in large corporates to SMEs, and from solopreneurs to some of the top 10 charities in the UK.

Written by: Scott Robinson, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Do you really need eight glasses of water a day? The mantra that you need eight glasses of water daily has been around for a long time. This recommendation originated from the US National Research Council in 1945. There is, in fact, no scientific validation for this recommendation. Food as a primary source of water Most people do not realise that a significant portion of water comes from our daily food. For example, lettuce contains 90 – 99% water; apples contain 80 – 89% water; bananas contain 70– 79% water; salmon has 60 – 69% water etc. Considering the average daily intake of 2000 calories across various food groups, you will need far less than glasses of water daily. A method for calculating how much water you should drink You can also measure the amount of water by this simple calculation. Take your weight (kg) and multiply that by 0.033. A more active person may wish to drink more. That said, these measures are only estimations. The best way to know how much water you should drink daily is to listen to your body and its subtle signals. How the body signals thirst Until recently, the precise mechanism by which the body signals the desire to drink was not known. Recent research shows that the body has the same sensory system as its auditory and visual faculties. The gut, blood and mouth contain nodes that signal to the brain the hydration levels in the body. These signals are a reliable indicator of the body’s actual hydration levels. These signals are sent to the forebrain, determining how much water the body needs. From this, the urge to drink occurs. Drinking and eating You will often hear that you should not drink water during a meal. Water ‘dilutes the stomach acid’, so the 'digestive fire' becomes weak. The physiology of drinking suggests something else. When you eat, it triggers a desire to drink fluid in advance of the proper digestion of the food. The research indicates suppression of eating occurs in the absence of fluid intake. So, drinking whilst eating is a natural process. The role of swallowing The physical act of swallowing water acts as a lever for fluid intake. You will notice that the ability to drink seems endless if you feel thirsty. After drinking so much water, the ability to swallow will feel suppressed. The colour of urine The colour of your urine is a reliable indicator of the body’s hydration level. The kidneys produce urea and other waste products. These dissolve in water. The darker the yellow urine colour, the more dehydrated you are. Of course, other factors may also contribute to a darker urine colour, such as whether you are taking vitamin supplements. Conclusion There is significant confusion about how much water you should drink daily. In particular, that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day. The most reliable indicator is listening to your body and its innate intelligence. The body constantly calculates how much water it needs and will signal the urge to drink. The ability to swallow will gauge the body’s capacity to consume fluid. In other words, let ‘thirst’ be your guide. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin, and visit my website for more information. To receive a complimentary copy of my e-guide, ‘5 Things You Need to Start Your Yoga Practice’, subscribe here. Read more from Scott! Scott Robinson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Scott Robinson is a Finance Professional and Yoga Teacher. He is also the founder of Yogibanker ‒ a specialised yoga & wellbeing service for the financial services industry. He helped found 'dbYoga' at Deutsche Bank, one of the world's leading financial services companies as well as leading regular mindfulness sessions under the brand of 'Mindfulness Mondays'. Over the years, Scott has helped hundreds of finance professionals become stronger, more flexible and less stressed through yoga & mindfulness. Scott's passion is to bring yoga & wellbeing to the financial services industry ‒ one that is kinder, more sustainable with wellbeing at its core.

Written by: Nida Leardprasopsuk, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. I love this saying – how you do anything is how you do everything. This quote is coined by Martha Beck, an author, and life coach. As an expert in human psychology and working with hundreds of clients, I couldn’t agree more. I coach highly successful elite coaches, consultants, and experts. They are exceptional at what they do. But contrary to what most people think, even extraordinary people have challenges. There’s always more inner work you need to do to get to the next level. Most people attempt to solve problems at the surface level because that is what we see with our eyes. What you can’t see is the real root cause. That is where you need to go to solve your problems effectively. Here are a few examples: External problem: keeping underperforming employees for way too long Internal problem: worried about what people will think about me if I fire them (self-esteem issues), conflict avoidant, beliefs about setting boundaries and rules External problem: undercharging Internal problem: self-esteem and self-confidence issues, money mindset block External problem: business is not differentiated and does not stand out Internal problem: avoiding the real problem, scared to stand out (self-esteem issues) External problem: same business problems continue to happen repeatedly Internal problem: avoid facing and dealing with problems, low self-awareness External problem: avoid working towards becoming the industry leader Internal problem: mindset towards success and ambition, self-identity issues External problem: attracting the wrong type of clients Internal problem: your self-belief about who you can attract and deserve to work with External problem: lack of innovation and failure to try out new ideas in your business Internal problem: attachment to fear, safety, and security If you want to solve your business problems or any type of problem in your life, look internally. Where is this really coming from? What core issue is this a reflection of? What am I really avoiding here? What type of person do I have to become in order to solve this issue? Ultimately you need to become that person, and when you do, those external problems will get solved. Otherwise, you will keep going through the same lesson again and again until you do. To summarize, here are the steps: Look internally. What inner problem is causing this? What type of person do you have to become in order to solve this? How can you practice being that type of person? Practice as much as possible to develop the self-identity and mindset you need If you are a world-class leading expert and entrepreneur, take this quiz to find out your entrepreneur edge and get your blueprint for business success delivered to your inbox. Soon we will be sharing a free e-book on how to build a business that is irreplaceable with our subscribers too. At Nida Leard, we advise world-class experts on how to build legendary market outliers. I look forward to connecting with you! Follow Nida on Instagram, Facebook, Clubhouse, Linkedin, and visit her website for more info! Read more from Nida! Nida Leardprasopsuk, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Nida is a top-tier business consultant, mindset coach, and former Fortune 500 executive with more than two decades of experience in marketing, business, research, consumer behavior, and human psychology. Her consulting and coaching business centers around innovation and customer-centricity, a key factor in her own success. She helps forward-thinking and purpose-driven coaches, consultants, experts, thought leaders, and service providers reinvent, innovate, differentiate themselves from the rest of the competition, and become a category one by 1.) Discovering and utilizing their ultra-geniuses 2.) Creating groundbreaking solutions that solve clients’ problems in an innovative way 3.) Using a short and long-term innovative marketing strategy that magnifies their thought leadership over time and 4.) Help entrepreneurs innovate their businesses and build a culture of excellence. She is the author of the One to Millions Entrepreneur and host of the One to Millions Entrepreneur Podcast show. She also has a master’s and bachelor’s degree in Business and Marketing and is currently completing her research for a Ph.D. in Social Psychology. Nida offers 1:1 consulting and coaching services that help forward-thinking and purpose-driven entrepreneurs build a world-class legacy brand and hyper-grow their businesses through innovation and out-of-the-box thinking.

Written by: Pauline Morris, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Last year I couldn’t walk. I also couldn’t swim. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s start with I couldn’t walk. And yes, that does sound dramatic, but it was true. I was angry, annoyed, frustrated, upset; you name it, I was feeling it. Not one but two major tendons in my ankle were inflamed and it was incredibly painful. I couldn’t bear weight and had to wear a boot for six weeks. My doctor then went on to advise that the only exercise I could do safely was swim. Well, that presented a problem – I had never learned how to swim!! Just the mere thought of getting water up my nose gave me shivers. It took me a while to get over feeling sorry for myself (I’m not particularly proud of how long that took), but when I did, I decided to do something about the situation. I decided to learn to swim. Like many defining moments in life, I didn’t just learn that one thing. I didn’t just learn how to swim; I learned some other life lessons along the way… Find opportunity in disappointment ‒ changing perspectives opens doors. Find solutions, not just problems ‒ it’s about making choices, not just reacting. Use any and all resources you have available to ‒ we all need healthy ways to cope with life’s inevitable dramas, big and little. Set goals and share them (with the right people) to keep you accountable. Don’t get derailed! ‒ motivation and inspiration are great, but they aren’t enough. Having a plan keeps you focused when those emotions fail you. Getting help is NOT a passive event ‒ people will not invest in you if you are not invested in yourself. Here comes the scuba part! Growing up in the Caribbean, I knew the seas and oceans were fascinatingly beautiful places, worlds within a world. I always wanted to dive, explore, to experience this magic. Never in a million years did I think I would be able to scuba dive. How could I? I couldn’t swim, never mind dive! I was afraid. But, Because I had a setback, Because I faced a challenge, Because I conquered a fear, I now get to fulfill a lifelong dream (see life lesson 1!) Not only have I completed my ‘try dive’ I am on my way to earning my recreational diving certification! Yeah me!! So, here’s the 7th life lesson – Even when you’re told/taught otherwise, You Can Reclaim Lost Dreams! Your turn. What challenge will you turn into an opportunity? What fear will you conquer? What lost dream/s are you going to reclaim? You can follow Pauline on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and can book a session through her website! Read more from Pauline! Pauline Morris, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Spanning several regions including the Caribbean, Middle East, and the United Kingdom, Dr. Pauline Morris brings a wealth of experience as a leader within and outside of medicine, as a Consultant Anaesthetist, and as a Career Coach. After becoming a single mum at 17 and choosing a life of caring for others, she realized the true difficulties doctors face in attaining happy healthy lives, whilst providing a gold standard of care to their patients. As the founder of Doctors Caring for Doctors, a career coaching and support service for physicians, her mission is to help all doctors discover how they can have a fulfilling life and a successful career without burning out. In crafting her own successful career as a physician and entrepreneur, she is well placed to help doctors who crave inspired solutions to the competing demands of a medical career and home life. One of her greatest gifts is her ability to authentically connect with her clients, allowing them the space to find the complete clarity that leads them to their own unique path, emotional freedom, personal joy, and professional achievement.

Written by: Vivian Chan, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. If you’re an introvert thinking you’ll never break free from a full-time job to start your own sustainable business that lasts – think again! I learned this the hardest way during a pandemic no less, and I’m beyond thrilled to tell this tale from the other side. “You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” – Albert Einstein While this isn’t a piece about the power of introverts or my rags to riches background (though that’s a great story for another time), this is my best attempt to condense the five most robust learnings I’ve mastered along the way from being a chronically dissatisfied, burnt out and mismanaged IT Manager at a big public institution to a full-time business coach making 87x more money doing what I absolutely love to support female-driven business owners ready to work smarter, not harder! Mind you, this transition was far from a walk in the park – more like massive fear of walking away from a steady paycheck. Classic story, right? A combination of pandemic-fueled uncertainty and my own historical self-doubts could have easily kept me back for several more unhappy years at a job that simply didn’t serve my bigger vision. I was faced with all the classic red flags of a poorly mismanaged work environment – a wholly self-unaware supervisor who lacked basic delegation skills and poor communication at every turn. This began to eat at me, until finally one day, an event I’ll never forget broke the camel’s back. I finally mustered everything in me to quit my job and take the long overdue leap to start my own business, Sette. If you are struggling in a full-time job where you spend more time daydreaming about that side hustle (hello, Great Resignation) or a different path than the one you’re on, I invite you to reimagine the possible altogether. If you’ve already leapt to the other side and feel stuck in the broken loop of “will I actually make it?” it’s time to turn this around. I tell my clients time and time again – it all starts with stepping outside your comfort zone. Let’s explore exactly how to do this wherever you find yourself on the entrepreneurial path, and bust some misunderstood myths along the way! The core principles of a sustainable business When we hear the word “sustainability,” our minds often associate it immediately with climate change. So how do we apply this to business? The capacity for a business to run by itself, grow at scale and give you back time is an absolutely attainable reality if it’s set up with the right kind of strength-based leadership, operations and team. The kind of business that fulfills you and makes you the kind of money you actually want is NOT a far cry from reality. It simply boils down to working smarter, not harder. This is the core of The Sustainable Business Growth Catalyst, my signature framework to fuel growth, support sustainability and introduce balance, which I’ve distilled down further below! Consider these 5 ways to build a sustainable business 1. Have strong systems in place All too often I’ll hear my client say, “What I do is special and too complex to be systematized.” Sound familiar? In truth, complexity can always be systematized and automated without sacrificing personal touch. This doesn’t mean you have to invest in fancy software especially in the early days of starting up – small tweaks can have a big impact for solopreneurs and bigger businesses alike. In fact, it will cost you more money to run a team and operate a business without the right systems. You’ll end up paying your employees more money while they’re feeling confused and frustrated, wasting time with unnecessary back and forth communication about what needs to get done, and spending more resources redoing the work. How to create systems to give you back time: Assess your current processes: Identify what’s working and what’s not. A question like “if I were to replace myself and hand over this process to someone else, could they do the work?” can help you get clear about whether your systems are effective. If you answered “no,” then follow up by asking how you can improve the process and make it scalable. Identify repetitive tasks: Once you figure out which tasks can be potentially automated, start with the basic, smaller ones that you can systematize to free up your time and mental bandwidth. Over time, you can move on to bigger tasks that require more effort and steps. Manage the rest: For processes that can’t be automated or require a level of human touch can be outsourced or handled by a team (more on that below). 2. Hire a well-rounded team So many businesses and solopreneurs opt to hire well-rounded people (aka unicorns) versus team members with tailored strengths. The most sustainable ones that come out on top are those that build a well-rounded team – NOT an individual. What’s important here is to capitalize on collective strengths and prevent the group from becoming one-sided. Unicorns end up over-resourced and this ultimately impacts performance on the whole. As I told a recent client, who came to me for team restructuring support, “Don’t put the wrong people in the wrong seat.” How to hire a well-rounded team to buy back time: Build a well-rounded team: The proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” is core here. The secret to building great teams is choosing members based on 1-2 unique strengths (versus 3-4) so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well. Hire slow: Avoid rushing to fill a position or look to hire for immediate help at all costs. What you stand to lose by doing this is breezing through the important process of defining clear roles and responsibilities for your incoming candidates. Take your time to write an accurate job posting, do a proper screening and interview of the candidates, and onboard the new hire thoughtfully. Evaluate underperformance with care: If you notice signs that you want to fire someone on your team, pause and ask yourself if you’ve given yourself and the underperforming team member a fair chance and time to course correct. Don’t prolong this. The best time to have the conversation is when you notice early signs of them falling short. Be sure to ask them if they fully understand what’s expected of them and get more clarity on whether they need additional training! 3. Be self-aware This one is near and dear to my heart for personal reasons. Remember my previous manager whose mismanagement took a toll on the entire department? All it takes is for one unaware leader to tip the scales towards a negative working relationship and work culture. So many leaders believe they already know themselves (including likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses), and that they don’t see the need to learn anymore. Little do they know that self-awareness has everything to do with HOW you lead, communicate and delegate. When a leader becomes more self-aware, confident, and aligned with their natural abilities – the entire business and team thrive! How to practice self-awareness to gain back time: Understand your strengths: Take different assessments to become familiar with your unique traits and behaviors, the lens you use to look at the world, and roadblocks that typically keep you stuck. The more you can understand yourself, the quicker you’ll spot opportunities for your business and gain the clarity to lead your team with intention. Train your brain to use those strengths: Once you’ve taken those assessments, you’ll need to practice playing to your strengths. Another way to crack this is to pay attention to your day-to-day experiences and notice what makes you feel good because chances are you’re doing something naturally well. As you trace those positive experiences, your brain will begin to recognize those behaviors associated with your talents. Remember the downside of NOT practicing self-awareness: Start to notice the ripple effects of unaware leaders. Perhaps you’ll notice that they’re unable to tap into their full potential, develop their strengths, or notice how their blind spots affect others’ wellbeing. People in these shoes tend to make mistakes over and over again, and experience a mismatch between how they see themselves and how others perceive them. Businesses with high turnover would stand to benefit from evaluating their leader’s self-awareness. 4. Know what success means to you All too often, my clients tell me they want to do what successful people do without truly understanding if that’s what they really want themselves! Think building an agency, selling courses and retreats, and so on. What they’re missing is the ability to get clear on their goals and work backward from what’s most important. In reality, if leaders chase the wrong goals, they’ll also bring their whole team down the wrong path too. Talk about inefficiencies! How knowing what success means to you gives you back time: Figure out your desired outcome: Why do you ultimately want to run your own business? What are the deeper values, motivations and passions behind giving up a steady paycheck and security of a full-time job? For me, one of my big desires was to start a business that I could take with me anywhere in the world and spend more time visiting my family in Malaysia. Ask the important question: You’ll never know what success can mean to you unless you go right to the heart of the question, “If money weren’t an issue and no one judged, what topic would you want to share on stage at a summit?” In other words, what lights you up so much that you’d want to share it with the world? Don’t compare yourself to others: The more you chase other people’s goals, the less you’ll aim for what you truly want. You left your safety net for a reason – now’s the time to fully own what success and happiness look like for you, and make it happen! 5. Learn to let go and not get attached to the outcome Finally, there’s the all-too-common thought, “If I don’t do the work myself, I’m not adding to my business’s success.” False! If your team is doing well, then clearly so are you. Make delegation and management your best friends to help your business thrive. Remember, the whole point of building a sustainable business is to free up your precious resources (time, space and energy) for things that matter most to you in life. How learning to let go can buy you back time: Separate your self-worth from success: This one’s particularly hard! We’re conditioned to associate our value in life with the career and accomplishments we achieve. Our upbringing, culture and environment contribute to this unhealthy reinforcement. We’re not trying to build a house on a rocky foundation! Reframe your self-worth: There’s no better way to come back to yourself than to know who you are apart from what you do. My self-worth, values, strengths, experiences and skills won’t simply disappear when I don’t accomplish something. They are still a part of me no matter what. Instead of thinking, “I must do things to feel worthy,” I shift to “I value empowering others to do their best at work.” How far we can go together is a much greater measure of success than how far I can go alone. I’m incredibly proud of my team’s collective achievements! Remember the downside of NOT learning to get-go: What’s lost if you don’t practice finding your value outside of work? You’ll always be chasing your tail, trying to fill your plate. When you liberate yourself from needing to be defined by what you do, you’ll open up a wider window of purpose and passion. Key takeaways for building a sustainable business Your inner sustainability as a leader will ultimately reflect the outer sustainability of the business you build to run and scale in a balanced fashion. This informs the heart of my Sustainable Business Growth Catalyst, which has helped hundreds of female-driven businesses achieve financial growth, support sustainability and cultivate more balance. To close, remember to consider these 5 ways to build a sustainable business to buy back time in your life! Have your systems in place Hire a well-rounded team Be self-aware Know what success means to you Learn to let go of the outcome If you want all those things AND MORE for you and your business, then booking a free discovery call with me can be that powerful first step toward sustainable business growth. Let’s discover how we can unlock the potential within you and your business together! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Vivian! Vivian Chan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Vivian Chan is a leadership and team-building expert who teaches successful but overwhelmed leaders how to grow a sustainable business. With her strategic insight and signature framework of The Sustainable Business Growth Catalyst, she empowers clients to take time off without the fear of their business falling apart. As a Gallup-trained BP10 coach, she’s helped thousands of students discover, develop, and direct their business-building talents. With her guidance, her clients learn how to become better leaders and how to unlock their unique potential by learning to identify their greatest strengths and the right time to call on them. She’s also a Certified Affiliate Manager.

Written by: Elizabeth Noske, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Marci Shimoff (yes, the one who featured in The Secret many years ago and is a world-renowned transformational leader) decided to write a book on happiness. She searched the world for the happiest people she could find and reduced her research to those she referred to as the happy 100. Within this select group, she focused her research on what it is that makes them more consistently happy than the rest of us mere mortals. She condensed her findings into book form, titled Happy For No Reason – 7 Steps to Being Happy From the Inside Out. Let’s dive into the neuroscience of Marci’s ‘home for happiness’ model. Marci uses the model of a house to help us remember the 7 secrets to living a happy life. Foundation: Take responsibility for your own happiness Pillar of the Mind: Take control of your thoughts Pillar of the Heart: Live with an open heart Pillar of the Body: Happy cells, happy body Pillar of the Soul: Connect to your soul’s passion The Roof: Live a life of purpose The Garden: Grow your garden of relationships Foundation: Take Responsibility For Your Own Happiness If only 10% of our happiness set-point is due to circumstances, why are so many of us not particularly happy on a day-do-day basis? Why are so many of us ‘glass half empty’ instead of ‘glass half full’ kind of people? Why do we prefer to blame other people and external circumstances for our state of mind rather than take responsibility for our own happiness? Neuroscientists and psychologists agree that the ability to sustain positive emotions over time is the best way to take responsibility for our own happiness. The ventral striatum, a brain region deep in our emotional brain, has been identified as being directly related to the maintenance of positive emotions, and the self-rewarding spray of dopamine that we experience as a result of having them. Interestingly, researchers discovered that it is not just the intensity, but also the duration of the positive emotions that makes the difference. Evenly more importantly, maintaining positive emotions is within our conscious control. They also found that showing kindness and compassion towards others increases our ability to sustain and therefore enjoy our positive emotions. Marci selected three happiness practices that encourage us to take responsibility for our own happiness. Focus on Solutions: Rate a troubling situation 1-10. Write down the things you are already doing to warrant scoring yourself as high as you did. What small steps could you take to increase your rating, even just a little? Look for the Lesson and the Gift: Recall a specific situation in which you felt wronged. From a more distant perspective, consider what part you could take responsibility for and/or how you could have done it differently. What’s the lesson for you and how might you find the higher purpose ‘gift’? Make Peace with Yourself: M-Power March is a manoeuvre courtesy of Morter HealthSystem© to re-time your body and update muscle physiology. You’ll find it on the internet. Pillar Of The Mind: Take Control Of Your Thoughts Dr. Richard Davidson, chair of the Center for Healthy minds and renown researcher on affective neuroscience believes that happiness is located in our left-brain hemisphere, and that when we are experiencing excitement, energy, positivity and hope the most neural activity is taking place in our left prefrontal cortex. He believes that the key to having a happy life is having a healthy mind. The research identified what happens in the brain when a person meditates and focuses on kindness, altruism, and happiness. Using fMRI technology his team discovered that when we feel upset, stressed, or depressed, circuits that link the amygdala (our brain’s panic button) with our more conscious and logical prefrontal cortex (most specially in the right hemisphere) this brain region is highly active and in a state of hypervigilance. Whereas when we’re feeling calm, optimistic, hopeful, and relaxed the intense neuronal activity can be found in the left prefrontal cortex. They suggested that we can ‘appease’ our over-active right frontal lobe by practicing meditation, kindness, altruism, taking some ‘me time’, nurturing friendships, maintaining motivation and enthusiasm, and staying positive and hopeful. As Dr. Davidson states, “The amazing fact is that through mental activity alone we can intentionally change our own brains” and in so doing, we can help to raise our happiness set-point. Marci’s happiness habits to support the pillar of the mind are: Question Your Thoughts: Consider a current belief and ask yourself if it is true, how you react when you believe the thought, and who you would be without this thought. Then find three genuine examples of how a turnaround thought might be true. Go Beyond the Mind and Let Go: A powerful process excerpted from The Sedona Method, which a technique designed to help you let go of any painful or unwanted feeling in the moment. Incline Your Mind Toward Joy: Give out five Daily Happiness Awards each day, sifting through your experiences for the cutest dog, friendliest smile, most courteous service, or the best solution to a problem. Pillar Of The Heart: Live With An Open Heart The heart and brain communicate in four main ways. Neurologically through the nervous system, biochemically through hormones, biophysically through pressure waves, and energetically through electromagnetic field interactions. We know how quickly our heart reacts to prepare us for ‘fight or flight’ by rapidly raising our heart rate and blood pressure. Recent research indicates that the heart has its own ’logic’ that doesn’t necessarily mirror that of our central nervous system (our brain). It seems that there are documented instances of the heart having a ‘mind of its own’ and actually sending meaningful messages to the brain that are both understood and obeyed by it. So intricate and complex is this process that researchers have named this life-sustaining organ the heart-brain, and believe that not only can it operate independently of our cranial brain, but it can also learn, remember, make decisions, and experience feelings. It seems that the philosophers and poets were right after all! According to the Heart Math Institute, neural messages from the heart travel upwards to the medulla, hypothalamus, thalamus, and amygdala and from there to the cerebral cortex. The heart actually sends more messages to the brain, than the brain does to the heart. The heart is also a hormone gland that secretes oxytocin, the ‘love and bonding hormone’. But when we are stressed, unhappy or angry our heart’s rhythm will be more erratic and signals will be sent to the brain to obstruct our higher order cognitive functions, such as thinking, memory and concentration. This is why we think more clearly when we are happy than when depressed or upset. Marci’s gratitude, forgiveness, and appreciation practices are a great way to strengthen the heart-brain connection. Focus on Gratitude: The Quick Coherence ® Technique releases stress and halts the draining emotions of frustration, irritation, anxiety, and anger. Check it out online. Practice Forgiveness: Think of someone about whom you are holding anger, hatred, or resentment. See them as having some pain, lack or suffering. Sit quietly with feelings of expansion and compassion. Spread Loving Kindness: Expand your capacity for compassion by first repeating the phrase, “May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease.” Now move onto your family and friends, using the pronoun “you” and finally someone who has upset or wronged you. Pillar Of The Body: Happy Cells, Happy Body I think we can all agree that the biggest robber of happiness is stress. Although we live in relative safety in our modern world, our brain continues to operate with very ancient software. It sees danger and threats to our survival around each and every corner. The amygdala sounds the alarm when we are fearful and initiates a fight or flight response to dangerous or threatening situations. It also slaps on a ‘remember this!’ sticker in our memory to ensure we avoid the situation in the future. Our hypothalamus initiates the stress response by sending a message to the pituitary gland, which passes it onto the adrenal glands, which in turn releases the stress hormone, cortisol to energize the body for a vigorous response to the perceived danger. Excessive and prolonged stress is associated with loss of appetite and compromised immunity in the short term, through to depression, anxiety, memory loss, and dementia in the long term. Clearly, anything that reduces our stress and keeps out body healthy will be an important factor in maintaining consistently high levels of happiness. Fortunately, our brain is also a pharmacy for a range of wonderful mood and health-enhancing chemicals; including serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin, to name just a few. On top of everyone’s list of supporting a happy body should certainly be restful sleep, great nutrition, and energizing exercise. The happiness habits that Marci suggests for the body include: Nourish the Body: Take the “The Mood Cure” questionnaire to ascertain your current holistic state of wellness. Energize Your Body: Try the Spring Forest Qigong – you’ll find it on the internet. Tune Into Your Body’s Wisdom: Sit quietly with eyes closed. Ask the part of the body that’s uncomfortable what it needs to feel better. You may hear an answer in your head. Pillar Of The Soul: Connect To Your Soul’s Passion Marci Shimoff noted that all the happy people she interviewed felt deeply connected to their souls and associated universal energies. They didn’t necessarily adhere to any specific religion or belief system, and referred to this higher energy as God, spirit, the divine, the universal or creative intelligence, to name just a few. Does this mean that there is, or could be a ‘god spot’ in our brain and if so, where might it be located? This is by no means a modern question, but the more recent availability of fMRI’s has opened the door for neuroscientists to explore how our brain participates in experiences considered spiritual, divine, or transcendent. Although the brain comprises only 2% of our adult body weight, it consumes 20% of the body’s energy supplies. Its number one priority is to keep us alive and to ensure there is always sufficient energy to respond to an unexpected crisis, so it maintains efficiency by using the same neural pathways for different functions and tasks. People who have had a ‘soul experience’ often report feelings of peace, joy, and pleasure. Studies show that activation occurs in the same areas of the brain as do other rewarding and pleasurable experiences, like love, sex, chocolate, and cocaine. The nucleus accumbens, which processes feelings of reward, was highly active, as was the media prefrontal cortex, which is involved in judgment and moral reasoning. The parietal cortex, involved in awareness of self and others, seems to be also activated during spiritual experiences. Regardless of what it is called or where it is located, there are many and varied ways in which people of different times, cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs create a meaningful connection to the pillar of their soul. Marci’s suggestions include: Light Meditation: Relax, breathe, visualize light and warmth filling your body and spend 10 minutes allowing your thoughts to flow unimpeded. Inner Listening: Sit with pen and paper. Write down a question or issue about which you require guidance and ask your inner voice to respond. Write down whatever comes to mind, whether it seems to make sense or not. Then read what you’ve written. Inviting Grace: Write a letter to your Higher Power, asking for the perfect people, places, and circumstances to be brought to you. Put it aside and check in over the days, weeks, and months to see how the universe has responded. The Roof: Live A Life Of Purpose We are happiest when engaged in activities that have purpose and meaning in our lives. Some of us know exactly where our passions lie; others may need to do some digging around to uncover them. But if you’re looking for that ultimate job, your dream career, or captivating activity you may be looking in the wrong place, because it is our own unique attitude and perspective towards what we are doing that creates the feeling of purpose in our lives. Once again, we can identify the ventral striatum, which is part of the basal ganglia, a group of structures that are involved in both motivation and voluntary movements, so it is instrumental in helping us to turn our thoughts into actions. Sustained activation has a positive impact even in the absence of direct feedback, indicating that people with a higher sense of purpose are more intrinsically motivated than those seeking tangible rewards. Higher activation in the ventral striatum is also associated with lower levels of cortisol with the result that purposeful people are healthier, happier, and better able to respond to everyday stressors. Having a purpose in life also slows down the aging process; deterioration of cognitive, memory and processing speed; and reduces the inflammation responsible for so many of our health issues. Brain scans show that purposeful people have physically different brain structurally and are also more open-minded to accept health advice. Marci suggests the following happiness habits to help us live a life inspired by purpose: Identify Your Passion: Janet and Chris Attwood designed this exercise as a first step to getting clear about what it is that you want. They describe a three-step process to follow, which you can find online. Acting From Inspiration: Quiet your mind and ask yourself these three questions, adapted from A Course in Miracles. “What would spirit have me do? Where would spirit have me go? What would spirit have me say, and to whom?” Call to Serve Visualization: This guided or self-directed meditation is designed to connect you to universal ‘grand design’ and consider, “How am I being called to serve?” The Garden: Grow Your Garden Of Relationships Jim Rohan, motivational speaker and self-help guru is credited with saying, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” While you may or may not agree with this statement, research does show that we are heavily impacted by our relationships, and our connections influence our thinking, our self-esteem, and our decisions. Like a garden, we can surround ourselves by beautiful, nurturing plants or we can allow toxic weeds to flourish. Scientists describe this as the phenomenon of emotional contagion. Just as we can catch a cold from sick people, we can also catch the negativity of those around us. It’s better to surround ourselves with positive people and soak up their positivity instead. We all need positive connections, starting from birth but also throughout our lives. Loving connections stimulate the flow of oxytocin, the bonding hormone. Our brain is actually wired for connection. We have happy hormones that encourage us to seek positive relationships; there are designated reward centers in the ventral striatum and septal areas of the brain that encourage social interactions, and pleasure centers in the nucleus accumbens so that we will repeat the rewarding behavior. Marci suggests these practices to grow our garden of relationships: The Appreciation Practice: Take turns to share what you appreciate about another person. Repeat five times, then acknowledge something you appreciate about yourself. Find or Create a Support Group: Join a group of people you respect and trust. Have a meeting structure that includes sharing wins and accomplishments, goals, and intended actions. See the World As Your Family: Wherever you go and whatever you do, relate to other people with the care and attention you would give a loved family member. Notice how happy and peaceful you feel as a result. Conclusion If you are struggling to be ‘happy for no reason’ it would be fair enough to blame your brain. It takes its role in keeping you alive much more seriously than it does in making you happy. Hundreds of generations of human evolution have convinced it that it is much safer to err on the side of pessimistic negativity than it is to risk being too joyful and optimistic and thereby invite the possibility (however slight and unlikely) of being overtaken by disaster. But thanks to the brain’s neuroplasticity, it is possible to retrain our negativity bias and build an inner home for happiness. Marci’s 21 Ways to Raise Your Happiness Set-Point is a great way to start building life-long ‘glass half full’ happiness habits. Can you think of a better time to raise your happiness set-point than right now? For more information, go to my Linktree, Facebook, and follow me on my website! Check out my best-selling book Mindfull Parent: Parenting With the Brain in Mind Read more from Elizabeth! Elizabeth Noske, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Elizabeth is a unique parenting coach because she: Made all the mistakes you could possibly make as a young mother Finally got her act together and went skydiving, hiking, travelled, SCUBA dived, and played team sports with her children during their middle childhood and teenage years Has formally studied the neuroscience of teaching, learning, and parenting and is passionate about sharing her knowledge, expertise, and insights with as many people as she possibly can Believes that our brain has a mind of its own And the only behavior we can actually change is our own If you’d like to learn more, schedule a zoom meeting, email at hello@mindfullparent.com, book a call on Schedule Once https://go.oncehub.com/LizzyNoske, and visit her website or join her on her Facebook Page Mindful Parenting | Facebook. Her first book, Mindful Parent: Parenting With the Brain in Mind, is an easy-to-read neuro parenting book, and her Mindful Parent Turnaround Programs will support you through the process of changing your parenting habits.

Written by: Cassandra Wiley, Senior Level Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Today, most products have an organic option. You can buy fruit, vegetables, salad dressing, and even organic bouillon cubes. People may have reservations about buying organic because they do not believe that it is necessary. They do not suffer from chronic illnesses or allergies, nor do they have a family history of them. Food products are different today than they were 50 years ago. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) did not exist. Since their introduction, there has been an increase in chronic illnesses and cancers. If a person has a family history of a chronic illness, like high blood pressure, following a low-sodium diet and healthy eating can reduce your chances of getting the disease. On the flip side, a person without a family history of high blood pressure can develop it if they are under high stress and eat high sodium foods. For example, those that cook with bouillon cubes typically use them to add flavor to foods; however, they are high in sodium. One bouillon cube has approximately 800mg of sodium! This is above the daily allowance. Organic bouillon cubes that are lower in sodium would be a better option. They may question if a product is truly organic. There are ways to tell. First, grocery stores have a separate organic section. Organic products and foods have a label. Those products will not contain artificial ingredients and preservatives. In addition, organic produce will contain a five-digit code beginning with a “9”. Those treated with chemicals and pesticides have a four-digit code. You may also see a label that states” USDA Organic.” All products that have not been genetically modified will have a “Non-GMO -Verified” label on the container. As previously mentioned, food products are different today. The quality of most foods has decreased significantly. Sometimes produce is very ripe, bruised, or rotting. Oftentimes, you may notice that fruits like apples have a shiny appearance. This is shellac or carnauba wax. Food growers use it to improve the appearance and extend shelf life. When you buy “locally grown” apples, you will notice that they have a “dusty” appearance, like they came off a tree or fallen from a tree. It will have a shorter shelf life; however, no modification in any way. The nutritional value of food is also decreasing due to rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. In conclusion, if you opt to buy organic products, there are small business owners that specialize in making their own organic products as well. Grocery stores may sell their products, and others may have their own store or website. These owners usually make their own products because they cannot eat or use other products because of an allergy to a specific ingredient. Listen to your body and your spirit. Learn more from Cassandra by visiting her website. Read more from Cassandra! Cassandra Wiley, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Cassandra Wiley is a health coach and founder of Have Faith and Live Well with Chasadah LLC. She focuses primarily on chronic illnesses such as pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity. Her mission is to empower individuals to lose weight and teach a new healthier approach to food to live better lives. She was successful in reversing her pre-diabetes and high cholesterol diagnoses naturally. The weight loss was an added benefit. She has helped clients change their diets and “have faith” in themselves to meet their health and wellness goals.

Written by: Linda Allen-Hardisty, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Less than 48 hours after an unexpected loss in the family, I find myself at a total loss for knowing what to do for my daily morning mindfulness practice. I actually do not know what to do with myself to start the morning without her. I find myself in unfamiliar territory. I couldn’t even leave our bedroom by myself this morning to walk downstairs, with no sweet face greeting me with that look in her eyes “Let’s go on our walk, Linda! Grab that coffee faster, I can’t wait.” So, I waited for my husband to wake up so we could reluctantly move together downstairs to rest our eyes on an empty living room. Our Irish Wolfhound, Coco, passed away unexpectedly this weekend. Her decline was fast and furious. Our morning began as usual 48 hours ago, with our morning walk together – my daily mindfulness practice for which dogs are absolutely magical for providing. Everything went as per routine, one poop bag later. We ate our breakfast together – she inhaled her dog food as I shared my banana with her. The day proceeded as normal. Mid-afternoon, my heart sank the moment I arrived home without her instantly waiting for me at the door as I walked in from the garage. It didn’t take long to decide that she needed to be examined by a vet. Once I saw that x-ray at the vet clinic, I knew exactly what lay ahead. What I didn’t expect is the overwhelming loss of knowing how to manage the next morning without her. And that feeling has not left me. The definition of mindfulness is really personal, in my opinion. Ask ten people how they define mindfulness, and you will likely hear ten different definitions. For me, the Oxford definition of mindfulness totally hits the mark for me: Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique (Oxford dictionary). Therapeutic indeed. Moments later, my Apple Watch prompted me to open my Mindfulness app. I clicked “open.” What inspired me to write this article right now is this prompt: Think of something that brings you joy. Remember how the joy feels. Be guided by that joy. Coco brought me joy. I sat with that statement for a long time because I couldn’t stop. As I remembered how the joy felt, I was immediately transported back to the day, July 4, 2015, when we met her for the first time. She was a 6-month-old who was in her third home (unreal!), and even though she didn’t have her for long, Kasia knew we would give her a wonderful home. So, just like that, we became her Forever Home. She blended in well with our Irish wolfhound, Gracie, and life with two began. At first, I would say we rescued Coco along with Kasia’s efforts; however, I soon realized that Coco actually rescued me. Her demeanor kept me present so I could calmly acknowledge my feelings and thoughts, especially in the mornings. In my morning mindfulness practices, I often thought through the challenges of running my own executive coaching business, took time to celebrate the achievements of my coaching clients, reflected on all the beautiful people in my life, and spent time learning how to be with my emotions about some tough decisions. All of this I experienced during my dog walks. When Coco became our only dog in the home, she put my mindfulness practice on steroids! I totally immersed myself in just being present at the moment with her at my side. So, here we are. We aren’t ready to have the conversation about “next” or “never” however, a dog in our future always remains a question that doesn’t require an answer right now. As her groomer, Janet, said to console me this weekend, “Dogs don’t live in the future. They don’t think about what’s next”. To me, that is exactly why dogs are truly natural at mindfulness practice. I am lucky Coco found me. She taught me how to truly strengthen my mindfulness practice. Perhaps her departure means I have everything in place now to practice solo. For a while… NOTE: To adopt a dog, contact your local animal shelter. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Linda! Linda Allen-Hardisty, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Linda Allen-Hardisty, is a leader in executive coaching, emotional intelligence, and leadership team performance. After her own corporate leadership experiences left her full of curiosity about development, Linda discovered strategies to dramatically strengthen leaders and their teams. She has since dedicated her professional practice to coaching leaders in the C-suite and on leadership teams to do the inner work of achieving tremendous results. She is President and Founder of Allen-Hardisty Leadership Group, the executive leadership development firm with clients across Canada. Her clients include industries of oil and gas, utilities, aviation, universities, crown corporations, Indigenous business, agri-value, and more. Linda is a lead facilitator in the Organizational Development Program at Queens University IRC, Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation, a keynote speaker and author on emotionally effective leadership, and a national award winner. Her mission: Spark new insights in each coaching conversation

Written by: Rebecca Rosas, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Being a creative person my whole life, I’ve often been challenged in my creativity. When I was young, I was such a playful kid. So many ideas! I was always exploring and using my imagination. Along the way, my ideas were dimmed down by others. There were more rules and obstacles in my way of fully embracing myself and my ability to create. We all have times when someone may have dismissed our ideas. Maybe one of our ideas did not turn out well. We lost the belief in ourselves and our ability to create whatever we wanted. Unfortunately, those memories have a way of sticking with us because of the shame, guilt, fear, pain, sadness, disappointment, or trauma they may have caused. Any negative experiences from our past can cause a seed of doubt in our abilities—the pain of not feeling enough. Whether it is from a teacher, a parent, a friend, or a boss, this pain happens to most of us. We give away a little of our power to others whenever our ideas are cast aside, and we believe that our creations are not good enough. Here are a few tips to take your power back and believe in your ability to create. 1. Face Your Fears & Get to the Root of Your Creative Block - Reflect on what emotions are coming up for you. Journal out your thoughts. For instance, is there fear in your ability to create a new project? Is there some concern you may cause disappointment to others? Next, try to connect to the root of your block. Where else in your life did you have a similar fear? Did you experience disappointment or lack of support from others? When we bring awareness of our past experiences holding us back, we can acknowledge and release those emotions. 2. Be Intentional - Once you acknowledge your emotions and get to the root of your block, be intentional in releasing those emotions and thoughts that no longer serve you. Visualize those thoughts and emotions lifting off of you and disappearing into the air. Call your power back from all the times you gave it away to others in your past. Next, practice positive self-talk. Tell yourself, “maybe one of my past ideas or projects didn’t work as well as I had hoped, but my thoughts and ideas are limitless! I believe in myself and my ability to create.” 3. Tap Into Your Inner Child & Shift Your Perspective - Take some time to connect to your inner child. The part of you that played and had fun when you were little. Connect to that inner child and ask them what they would do. If your past ideas didn’t work, try a different approach. Look at things from a different perspective: brainstorm new ideas and ways of creating and thinking outside the box. 4. Visualize What Your Inner Power Looks Like - What does it look like to be in your power? How do you move? How do you dress? What sort of things do you say to yourself? Visualize yourself as this strong, powerful person. Give yourself the self-love and validation that you are worthy of creating and receiving all you desire. Speak your truth and embody an unwavering belief in yourself as the creator of your life. We strengthen our ability to create by releasing and acknowledging our emotions and creative blocks, connecting to our inner child, practicing self-love, and embodying our inner power. Step into your power and start creating today! All the answers are within you. You can learn more about Rebecca at @illuminatewithbecky on Instagram or Facebook or email me here. Read more from Rebecca! Rebecca Rosas, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Rebecca Rosas is a Divine Feminine Empowerment & Creativity Coach as well as an Abstract Artist, Creative Entrepreneur and Energy Healer. She empowers women to use the healing power of creativity to express their emotions, heal their heart, connect to their feminine energy, deepen their self love and raise their vibration. Her approach helps women tap into their unlimited potential and align to their true soul essence. She is certified as an Usui/Holy Fire®III World Peace Karuna Reiki® Master and Creatively Fit™ Art Coach and trained as a Soul Coach. As a creative entrepreneur she has a background in marketing & advertising.

Written by: Helena Carrizosa, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Whenever you think about technology's fast progress, do you get excited or overwhelmed? While everyone has a different relationship with technology, we could say that overall, we all seek to keep up with it. And for many, this means spending most of their time producing and consuming as much information as possible in frantic endless scrolling. However, are we aware that this consumption is happening the other way around? I believe we are letting ourselves become consumed by this amount of information. But, how much are we talking about? here are some astonishing data for you to get an idea. We spend an average of 6h:58 minutes daily on the internet, according to GWI. On average, every human created at least 1.7 MB of data per second in 2020. 4,500,000 videos are streamed over YouTube every 60 seconds Video traffic makes up 82% of all consumer internet traffic. 2.5 quintillion is the number of bytes of new data created every single day and only 15% of data is original. Hang on! as my mind cannot comprehend this figure, I had to find a visual equivalent, so imagine 2.5 quintillion pennies would if laid out flat, would cover the Earth five times. Wow! I don’t know about you, but as much as I found these statistics interesting, I equally felt incredibly overwhelmed at the thought of them. I can see and appreciate how technology keeps us connected, but on the flip side of the coin, we also find disconnection between ourselves and our reality! After which, I read that more than 264 million people suffer from depression worldwide, and how is the leading cause of disability in the world, according to research done by World Health Organization in 2020. I am not at all surprised when I read about these mental health crises and the fact that we spend an average of 6 hours each day browsing random information online. But, how do you feel about the idea that spending most of your time browsing is what could be contributing to your daily stress, anxiety and frustrations? If we spend most of our time with our minds busy with everything else but ourselves and our reality. Whether consciously or subconsciously, it would make us unsatisfied with our life as we would find ourselves wishing we were there, wishing we had that, wishing we were them, so if we are never really here, when do we take care of our life? Our dreams and ourselves? I understand that sometimes our reality feels burdensome, and not thinking about our state of affairs gives us a sense of relief. But allow me to ask you. If you escape from it constantly and avoid taking action to change it, how are you expecting your reality to improve? And speaking of reality, how would you know that what you want for yourself is authentically connected to your soul's path? Or has it been influenced by an algorithm? We are becoming products of algorithms that choose the information for us. It suggests what we should like, follow and purchase, keeping us inside a very tight and predictable box. What does all of this mean? It means we are not living a life, but just observing it. We are becoming a predictable response and result of what we consume, or as I have said before, that is, consuming us, giving us a sense of temporary gratification but at the cost of a long-lasting feeling of dissatisfaction with our life and confusion about what we want. But I should stop here as it is becoming very doom and gloom, and now I invite you to explore what can be done instead. So, let me ask you, How could you cut through all that noise? How could you discern what your truth is? How do you keep centred and avoid losing your path with overwhelming information and external influences? There is but one technology that can truthfully and effectively cut through all that noise to guide you towards what is TRUE FOR YOU whilst keeping you safe and in alignment with your path. And that is YOUR INTUITION! And as I call it, your inherent intuitive technology! We hear intuition is a compass, a guide, a tool, a superpower! But for what exactly? To where? Before I answer these questions, I want to make you aware of the importance of the words I will use to describe intuitions' purpose. Intuition is a TRUTH seeker! IS ALL ABOUT TRUTH, of your essence! It is about objective truth, not influenced or tampered with by anything or anyone! And from the multiple reasons I can think of, I have chosen only 5 to show you how astounding this technology is. 1. It can process an infinite amount of information. Data is everywhere, from what we can physically see and cannot see in our subconscious to the quantum realms' unperceivable and complex information. It would never overwhelm us as it knows how to deliver this information in digestible amounts and when we are ready for it! As an example to compare both, let's say technology will give you options about flights, jobs, and even on Tinder, but it cannot tell you which one is best for you, nor which flight could be cancelled or delayed. Only your intuitive technology can guide you towards what is best for you now and future based, as it can tell you, Wait, something better is coming. 2. It is ecological and sustainable for the planet! It requires no equipment, repair or monthly payment. Intuition remains permanently connected to the wifi of higher consciousness, and it has the same usage potential for each of us, and all we need to do is learn to develop it. It never gets outdated as it constantly pushes you for new experiences to get you out of your comfort zone, where big rewards manifest! 3. It is your most sophisticated safety mechanism! Intuition is hardwired to keep you safe at all times, to keep you alive and thriving. It's uncorrupted by your past or whatever fear you have from it. As you focus on your past painful experiences, your future fear takes over you, blocking intuition and driving you to attract what you fear most! Instead, intuition uses your cognitive learnings from the past, and your soul's truth, to guide you towards more secure and genuine choices. 4. It has your soul's destiny built in! All you need to do is to listen to the messages leading you towards your truth! Even though some situations won't go as you've expected, when trusting your intuition, it is essential to release your expectations and fears, as perhaps is the universe, course correcting you towards a better option. There will never be a technological algorithm capable of knowing your soul's purpose or the best steps to take towards it! 5. Its data is 100% reliable! Often, I hear people say intuition sometimes misleads them into undesirable situations. What they are unaware of, is how this only happens when they have listened to their ego, subconscious fears, past traumas, or algorithms, amongst other factors. Intuition is an objective channel that processes complex information for us coming from the universe, god, or high consciousness, whichever way you prefer to call it. How fascinating to know we have embedded within us the most powerful technology ever existed. And such a waste that we are not using it to its full potential like we used to. This technology was used by early civilizations that astonished us beyond our comprehension with their ability to build unbelievable complex structures and their knowledge of science and astrology without books or the internet. All they were using was their embedded INTUITIVE TECHNOLOGY. A technology lost and suppressed as the industrial revolution and religious dogmas developed. All we need to do is remember it again. Imagine for a moment the potential available in your hands if you would learn how to use it again. Let’s stay connected on Facebook & LinkedIn and for more information on how to connect to your intuitive technology and the right flow of your life, please visit Coaching Helena Carrizosa Helena Carrizosa, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Helena Carrizosa specializes in realigning people again to “The Flow of Life”, with the use of their intuition as a compass and superpower to help them feel empowered and thrive in all areas of their life and work. "THE FLOW OF LIFE IS A PROGRAM FOR TRANSFORMATION AND A WAY OF LIVING, WHERE WE ARE GUIDED CLOSER TO THE PATH THAT IS MEANT FOR US" Helena is a passionate life and business coach who focuses on intuition, alignment and finding harmony on all levels of human experience, the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. Through her practice, Helena provides clients with programs and courses so they can reactivate their sixth sense, reach ultimate success, and create a conscious impact on their life.

Written by: Donna Collins, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Anxiety can be hugely debilitating for so many people. There is a belief that anxiety is something to learn to live with and restricts so many people in their lives. This article describes how it is possible to overcome anxiety and live with clarity instead. How can we do this? STEP 1 In the moments when anxiety strikes, it can be difficult to control the sense of overwhelm that is experienced in the body. The initial steps, therefore, describe how to be with anxiety when this happens. The first step to relieving anxiety is to recognise that you are not alone in your experience. Millions of people are, right now, while you’re reading this article, experiencing very similar bodily sensations of shallow breathing, breathlessness, raised heart rates, and cold waves of rapid, thought induced, fear and panic racing through their entire being. Realising you are not alone in your experience can be incredibly healing and help reduce anxiety symptoms, as this awareness can bring a sense of normality to what is happening in your body. Without this, many people experience further heightened fear, when they start imagining that something is wrong with them and what might happen next. STEP 2 Focus on your breath. When a person feels anxious, fear of what is happening is heightened by a sense of being out of control and the imagined notion of what else is going to happen. The body responds to this fear by activating an adrenaline-induced, fight, flight, or freeze survival function and this alters the breath to more shallow breathing. It is hugely challenging in these moments to consciously choose to breathe down into our stomachs, using diaphragmatic breathing, however, it is possible. This simply means intentionally directing your breath down into your lungs and, as your lungs and chest expand, allowing your stomach to expand also. This makes space for your diaphragm to move down so that your lungs fill with air. Focus on the exhale. Many people find exhaling difficult and breathe out in a very shallow way even if they are inhaling deeply. Continuing your focus on the out-breath and drawing your stomach inwards, allows you to exhale fully, even if you pause briefly mid-exhale, and then continue. It can be helpful to breathe out through your mouth with pursed lips while you do this. The exhale is incredibly important as it brings a sense of calm. Many people know to breathe more deeply when they are experiencing anxiety however increasing the amount of air they breathe in can also act as a stimulus and can increase anxiety levels not reduce them. STEP 3 The third step is to be clear in your belief that the anxiety ‘attack’ that you are experiencing right now will pass. High levels of fear and panic bring thoughts to many people that perpetuate the belief that anxiety symptoms will continue for a long time, if not forever. Telling yourself ‘this will pass’ is so important in the moments when anxiety seems to be taking a firmer hold over your body. This is not as simple as it sounds in these moments. Anxiety can assert its hold over a person, so much so, that any reassuring thoughts seem to be blocked out, or so quiet they become hard to hear over the voice of fear. It can take a lot of effort and repetition of the same words, to start to believe that the wave of fear is going to take its leave at some point soon. So repeating the words ‘this will pass,’ and asking those who are close to you to tell you this at times when they may witness you having this experience, can also be helpful. Having post-it notes around your house or a note on your phone that states these words can also be really helpful reminders. STEP 4 It can be very easy to look to the outer world as a way to distract from having anxiety and in some moments, when an anxiety attack occurs, it can be helpful to look at textures around you, such as rattan furniture, or furry leaves on a plant, or a pet to stroke, or simply the texture of the clothes you are wearing, as a means of taking the focus away from your body and onto things that you know and love. There will be a natural propensity to rush this. I have heard people say, after a second of touching a leaf, ‘this isn’t working!’ This practice takes time. Whilst focusing on your breath, try to notice all of the detail of the leaf; the colour; the shape; the fine lines running through the leaf; the delicate softness; and the sense of aliveness about the leaf that gives it fullness and depth of green. Sensory perception can be a huge help in a moment of intense anxiety, focusing on things that are familiar to you, by using your vision, smell, taste and hearing, as well as touch, can assist in alleviating more acute symptoms. Many people find it helpful to look at and notice colours and textures in cushions; art or ornaments as well as plants. Smelling plants such as lavender, rosemary and salvia, along with many other herbs, can help bring a sense of calm back into the body. Meditative music can also help if the anxiety symptoms allow the person to attend to this type of music in more intense moments. STEP 5 To overcome anxiety in the long term, however, there is a fundamental step that needs to be acknowledged and taken. This step is the belief and acceptance that overcoming anxiety can ultimately, in my experience, only happen if there is a will to look within at what may be the underlying cause. This can bring a lot of fear to people which prevents them from doing so. Instead, many people believe that the only way to stop experiencing anxiety is to start taking medication, which can be helpful in the short term. Or using substances, or continuously attempting to change their external world to get some relief and feel better. These distractions are purely a short-term fix and anxiety, inevitably, does not go away. The distraction usually gives a reprieve from anxiety which re-commences as soon as the distraction ends. This step is crucial in creating possible change from anxiety to clarity and some people may require the support of a therapist at this stage. STEP 6 If step five is fully surrendered to and accepted, it is possible to move to step six. As a psychotherapist, I offer a unique way of overcoming anxiety. In my experience of observing clients with anxiety, in the majority, if not all cases, symptoms seem to occur when there is a part of the Self that is not being listened to. This is an unconscious process and most people do not realise that this is happening. Instead, they experience inner conflict that occurs when trying to keep this part quiet, energetically through their body, as the sensation and symptoms of anxiety. As this is an unconscious process, it can be very difficult to access these parts of the self and in most cases, it again may require a therapist to facilitate awareness of them. However, some techniques can be used consciously to bring about change. To assist in understanding what may be happening inside the psyche, it can be helpful to imagine a flower that has grown enough to become a bud. It has an amazing amount of beauty inside and yet, as it is forming, it starts to experience words and actions from people that tell it that it is not ok to be that particular flower. The bud becomes stuck. Some of its energy trying to open and bloom and the rest desperately trying to stay closed and somehow open as a different flower. Some manage to open differently, perhaps becoming a different shape or colour, as an attempt to be acceptable to others, however, some remain closed. Imagine the amount of energy that goes into remaining in this static state. This analogy helps to understand what happens to many people as they develop throughout childhood and into their adult selves. In my experience, this is the fundamental, underlying cause of anxiety. The energy that is being used in the inner conflict manifests in adults as surging energy through the body, in the form of anxiety and panic attacks and also a constant, unrelenting dialogue, that continuously brings exhaustion, and adds to the already present fear of what might happen next. This dialogue tends to be incredibly critical and again exacerbates the anxiety and impacts on a person's self-esteem and wellbeing. Imagine that the dialogue inside your head is different aspects of yourself calling to be heard. Instead of listening to this part, out of fear, and also because we don’t know how to, we are using huge amounts of energy trying to keep this part quiet, which is why many sufferers of anxiety also report feeling exhausted and drained. STEP 7 Step 7 is to recognise that the voices that are taking part in the incessant dialogue in our heads are parts of ourselves. Fundamental to transforming anxiety, therefore, is to start noticing, listening to, and recognising your critical voice. It can be very helpful to imagine that this voice is criticising another part of you that is feeling very afraid and often very sad too! Symbolically, the adapted flower is talking to the original or authentic beautiful bud in the analogy used previously. Continued focus on our inner voices starts to change our inner conflicting dynamics. The repetitive practise of noticing when the critical voice starts talking and implementing kindness, understanding and compassion instead can feel liberating for many people. This is not easy, it takes sustained practice! However, in my experience, this step alone can bring huge transformative effects, reducing fear and importantly, bringing happiness and a sense of emerging peace. STEP 8 Start believing that sensitivity is not a weakness! This step can also be hugely challenging. However, a significant number of people who experience anxiety are incredibly sensitive souls. That is why they have integrated unaccepting voices and tried to mould themselves into whom they feel they should be, as they are afraid of experiencing conflict. This prevents them from standing in the truth of who they are. We can imagine that it is this sensitive part, the beautiful, unopened bud, that is responding to the critical voice! Unbelievably for some, it is this part that is creating the experience of anxiety in your body! So harnessing this strength by no longer criticising, no longer attempting not to be the bud that you are, for fear of being weak, is crucial to bringing an end to anxiety. STEP 9 Spend time remembering what you used to like doing before you experienced anxiety. This will help you start to connect with the sensitive parts of yourself. Who were you before you felt you needed to do things to prove yourself? It can also be helpful to remember experiencing happiness when you were young. What brought joy? What brought happiness? What did you like doing then? Allowing yourself to be creative can also help in this journey of remembering, as creativity allows more of a sense of freedom, rather than one of limitation. The experience for many when they do start remembering and become more creative, is that they start remembering their innate qualities; all the things we are by simply existing in the world. Being aware of our qualities is incredibly important to learn to trust ourselves so that when we do learn to listen to our inner wisdom, we believe it! Knowing and believing in our qualities is essential so that we are not thrown about in the wind when events happen in life that might otherwise feel de-stabilising. STEP 10 Pay more attention to your body. When anxiety has started subsiding through the previous steps, it can be helpful to start practising doing a body scan. Notice how your toes feel today! Scan your body for tension and practice breathing this out. The more you are aware of your body, the more you will start feeling a sense of wholeness. This is because so many people have spent their entire lives focused on the thoughts inside their heads. Awareness of the body brings an immediate realisation of being something greater than this. Many people are surprised to hear that intelligence is not just in the mind. Intelligence is within every cell of our entire bodies! That means that by bringing your attention to your body, you are hugely increasing the intelligent awareness of yourself! This step is crucial to help you learn to listen and become more aware of yourself in a deeper way, and as the next step to starting to experience CLARITY. There are many guided meditations that facilitate body awareness including those on Guided Visualisations STEP 11 Clarity comes from inside not outside! We can start to listen to ourselves even more deeply, by focusing our attention on our hearts, and learning to listen beyond the thoughts and words in our heads. When you are more comfortable in your body, through the previous practices; quietening the critical voice, and scanning your body; practice taking your attention to your heart. We all have a deep, inner voice of wisdom, that becomes silent when we experience fear and spend most of our time in a constant stream of thoughts. Taking your attention to your heart takes you toward your inner voice of wisdom. It is in this place that CLARITY can be found and anxiety starts to lessen. We can learn to heighten our sense of clarity by focusing on a sense of certainty within that emerges once we have taken our awareness beyond the limitations of what we have been conditioned to think about ourselves, into a deeper embodied sense of knowing, and deeper still into the heart. The connection with our hearts connects us to ourselves and enables us to connect with others, so these practices not only improve our relationship with ourselves but with others too. Ultimately, we start to operate from a place of love rather than fear. We can start to realise that although logical, intellectual thinking is useful and important, our true wisdom and clarity come from a deep sense within ourselves that is beyond this. We become aware that there are two levels of existence – the inner knowing and wisdom of the bigger picture of our entire life journey and purpose, and the day to day to behaviours and actions we need to take to get there. This knowing and wisdom fundamentally change life experience and it is this wisdom, found in the heart space, that brings the sense of certainty and clarity, as a deep, embodied experience of belief and trust in the direction of our lives, which lies in a place of peace, beyond anxiety. Donna Collins is a specialist in her field of psychotherapy in working with anxiety, proven through the transformative effects experienced by her clients. If you would like more support with anxiety you can contact me online . Living With Clarity is a 6-week online course starting in August. Click here to enrol. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Donna! Donna Collins, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Donna Collins is a unique presence in the field of psychotherapy and evolutionary consciousness. She is the author of Faith In Everyday Life; a Psychotherapist, Life Coach, and the Founder of Star Energy Healing. Bereavement was the catalyst for a significant spiritual awakening, which transformed Donna's life from a corporate environment to psychotherapy and healing. Donna has refined her work and now teaches sensitive people how to overcome their fears and create a life they love.

Written by: Mariann Sebestyen , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. You are not alone with this question when you ask yourself every time you have a bad relationship. I used to ask myself this question, and I am sure so many women and even men can resonate with this situation. What is wrong with me? Do you go into blaming yourself and feeling down? When the relationship is not working out, we often feel that we can’t find another one like that. You might feel that way at that moment. This is more complex than you think because the way we perceive the experience often doesn’t mean our interpretation or coding is right. So as the relationship ends, you are likely to feel hurt, rejected, abandoned, and worthless and just want to get ice cream or sugary food to make you feel better or reach for that bottle of alcohol. It can probably numb the pain short term, but it is not a solution for attracting good and loving relationships. The problem is that we internalize the experience and conclude that I am not lovable, no one loves me, or I don’t deserve a good relationship, and I will never try again. It Starts with Your Childhood Your Childhood has so much to do with bad relationships, especially if you grew up in a dysfunctional family or experienced any form of abuse. Then you are much more likely to attract that into your adulthood. When it is about attachment that you experienced in your childhood between the caregiver-child relationship (mother-child, father-child), it becomes the prototype of your future relationships. An internal working model of attachment is a mental representation formed through a child's early experiences with their primary caregiver. This mental representation can influence how the child interacts and builds relationships with others as they grow. So if this was not secure based, rather it was insecure, then you attract people who feed those feelings in you in the future as well. So, you attract people who make you feel bad about yourself, but often that is their projection. Remember, we do not have to internalize other people’s projections. We have to become more self-aware to change and recognize the red flags next time. Often this can become like a vicious cycle that you feel that you can never break free from. But I can assure you that you can, and it is possible to change that. Red Flags The red flags can tell the feature of your partner, which might be identical to your caregiver, who had the same feature when you grew up. The negative feelings can be familiar and link to your experience with your caregivers. This pattern can be unconscious, maybe until this moment when you recognize the signs and when you do, then you know it will not give you a pleasurable experience. You might attract someone: Who is emotionally unavailable , is not comfortable with their feeling or sharing their emotions, or is emotionally immature and just dislikes to think ahead or plan with you. Perhaps those who have narcissistic personality features who lack empathy, have a fragile self-esteem, use gaslighting or making you a scapegoat, put you down, so they can feel better and make it all about themselves. You can also attract people where the relationship is one-sided, so you only put the effort into the relationship. Please note this is very common with people who were not loved in childhood and adulthood they feel they have to work for love and do everything to be loved. An unloved child will become an adult who will do anything just to seek love and attention. The person is not into you, so just take advantage of you and literally take what they need. Abuse is not normal ! No one deserves to be abused that is not a sign of love, so please do not believe when someone loves you, it is painful. No, love is not painful! It is a myth that goes around and tells people a lie. It is a lie that comes from generations where people believe that they can change a person. Staying in abusive relationship damage and destroy you inside , isolate you from other people and possible help that could be there for you. So, when you grow up in a dysfunctional family, you only learn that pattern , and you know exactly how to attract a dysfunctional relationship and perhaps a person who had a similar experience. As mentioned above, like attract like. You have not learned in childhood how to attract a loving relationship , but you can change that in adulthood. Oh, yeah, “You have the power,” dear reader. It Continues with You You are not going into a relationship and expecting the other person to fix anything about you or you fix them. That is a huge responsibility, but also, what happens if they make you feel bad. That is the reason why it is so important to heal your inner wounds and pain points; work on yourself because you can attract a healthier and happier relationship. What you can do to attract a loving relationship. Firstly, self-awareness becomes the key in this process. You can make the difference between what is good and what is not good in the relationship. What was familiar from your childhood is not serving you anymore. The bad pattern, the bad schema, and behaviour were more familiar to you because you grew up in that and could be normalized easily. However, as you can see now, that does not mean it makes you happy or it is good for you or your future. Instead, you can have a different ending because you now recognize that these old patterns of behaviour are not working for you in the present. Rewrite limiting beliefs: The best what you can give yourself is to rewrite your limiting beliefs and implement more positive ones about yourself and your relationships. Past bad experiences happened because of that mindset, environment energy, beliefs, and learned behaviour. But now you can choose to change that. If you want a beautiful relationship, then you need a new mindset, environment, beliefs, energy, and behaviour. Heal the child and adult self: Relationship wounds, childhood wounds, the self which can be on child and adult self-level. Having a positive relationship with yourself and your past can open up new possibilities and doors for you now. Self-Love : Learn to love yourself unconditionally. When you fall in love with yourself, so others can fall in love with you as well. Accept and love who you are. Healthy Self-esteem and self-confidence : See your inner worth, and raise your self-esteem by setting healthy boundaries. You are a magnificent being. What you look for in the relationship or person : Values, emotion, communication, intimacy, openness, honesty, appreciation, love, kindness, understanding, respect, and consent. You know exactly what relationship you want and be specific about it. Everything is possible! Give yourself time : You don’t have to make decisions overnight. Spend time with yourself before you decide to spend time with someone else. Give yourself time to get to know the other person gradually. Know yourself : It is much better to know yourself and discover who you are. See what you are good at and what is your interest, skills, values, and talent. So, you come to see yourself as valuable for the right person and relationship. Let’s change it together! If you would like to have a chat or share anything with me about yourself. I am happy to listen and help you to achieve your goals. You can read my regular post on my social media platforms. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Mariann! Mariann Sebestyen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mariann Sebestyen is an expert in inner child wound healing, breaking free from unhealthy patterns and restoring a healthier self-concept. Adversity in early life left her with developmental challenges, childhood wounds, unmet needs, and the feeling of powerlessness and helplessness. Mariann generated strategies to extraordinarily change her relationship with herself, step into her power and create a positive self-image to become. She has since dedicated her life to helping others unleash their power, letting their true selves shine, and confidently move towards a new life. She is the founder of Inner Child Wound Healing and the Childhood Trauma Healing Journey program. Her mission: Self Restoration.