Link Between Thoughts, Decisions, Actions, and Results

Get moving. After breakfast is the ideal time to exercise. Doctors report that exercising in the morning lowers your blood pressure throughout the day and will help you sleep better that night. Carlotta always felt better when she took a Spin class in the morning. The BBC study also had a final mention for the experience of playing recorded birdsong in the restrooms of BP gas stations in Cambridgeshire to get the customers, who had complained about them, to associate them with freshness. The satisfaction level increased by 50%. All these experiences are applicable to a home environment. Long ago, many homes had canaries in cages, a cruel and unjust situation for the animals. With today's technology, there's no need to keep any songbird prisoner. We can bring this natural forest de-stressor into our office if we need to study or balance the articles, or into the living room while we enjoy reading a good article. It can be the soundtrack to our in-home yoga or meditation session, or can even lull us to sleep at nap time. Of course, nothing compares to a live concert of birds in their natural habitat, but just as we do with recording artists we like, a good listening session at home can calm us down and elevate our mood. We started this article with the story of how our adventure began, and now it's just a few articles away from ending. In this article, we'd like to take up a more personal thread again and relate how this four-handed effort was written with one author in Tokyo and the other in Barcelona. Orthodox Jews have to use sperm from non-Jews. Jewish law permits artificial insemination (Catholics and Muslims still have problems with it). Yet according to the Orthodox rabbis, sperm must be from a Gentile donor to avoid the rare chance of marrying a half-sibling. The rabbis figured that there is no chance an offspring would marry a non-Jew, so that eliminates the possibility of incest. Any child born from a Jewish mother is considered Jewish, so there is no question about the religion of a baby born from Gentile sperm and a Jewish egg. Catherine shopped elsewhere because she wanted Jewish sperm.

I couldn't go back to my baby's grandmother--my mother--with a blond-haired blue-eyed shiksa kid. She got her Jewish sperm. And then what happens? I give birth to my blond-haired, blue-eyed daughter. When she put it off until later in the day, it rarely happened and she would have more trouble falling asleep at night. Can't make it to an exercise class? Try going for a brisk walk. Gina often found herself lying in bed, worrying about being a single mom, her low credit score, and who would take care of Valentina when she returned to the salon full-time. To interrupt the negative spiral, she started making a mental gratitude list. As I thought about what I appreciated in my life, I started seeing even more things to be grateful for, she said. Her list included Valentina and her successful business, her gorgeous wavy hair, and close friendships. Research finds that your brain can actually be trained to look on the bright side. Once you start looking for more things to be grateful for, you can create a cycle of gratitude. Try going through the alphabet, letter by letter. Besides working separately, reading scientific studies, articles and essays, and taking walks in forests to find inspiration for shinrin-yoku, we Skyped every day while we were writing, despite the eight-hour time difference, and with the same help on either side of the world: a cup of tea. Every day at 8:15 am in Barcelona and at 4:15 pm in Tokyo, we brought to the computer table a cup of fragrant green Japanese tea. While we commented on our discoveries and discussed what to include and what to leave out of the article we were working on, this bittersweet herbal tea comforted and united us from 6,500 miles away. There's a whole world of feeling in a steaming bowl of tea, even if they're only leaves from the forest to warm the soul. Buddhism has an old story that tells of Siddhartha sitting under the bodhi tree. When he became aware of all the suffering people must face, a tear fell from his eye, and there sprouted the first tea shrub, a source of consolation in the midst of our tribulations.

However, the legendary origin of this infusion in China dates to two thousand years before Buddha. The story goes that Emperor Shen Nung discovered the benefits of tea in 2737 BCE, no less. Apparently, the emperor was asleep under a shrub while a bowl of drinking water was being boiled nearby. A little gust of wind blew some leaves from the shrub into the bowl and gave rise to the birth of the first cup of tea in history. Catherine now has two children (she got pregnant and so did her partner), both from donor 1355 (number changed), from the Midwest. They chose him because he said in his essay, I am Jewish by birth and by choice. He also said he was good with his hands and loves to sail. Their daughter--his sperm recipient--likes to sail too. We had a choice of an Israeli who was 5 feet 2 inches with great motility and a good statement. But we went with 5 feet 11. She went to a bank whose slogan is science with a human touch, which I thought a rather crude pun considering all the masturbation. The process, for Catherine, was harrowing. It's true that by being active, it takes more time for you to get weaker and less fit. But unless you challenge your body by asking it to do something it can't already do, it won't get any stronger or fitter. The body's smart that way. It won't put any extra resources into building itself up if it can already do what's asked of it. It's always looking to conserve energy. Fortunately, your body's challenge is here: HIIT, the most powerful and efficient health and fitness program there is. And yes, you'll be tested. You must be.

And by accepting that physical challenge, you'll also reap all the mental benefits that go with it. So, congratulations on buying this article and taking the first step toward being in the best possible shape you can be so that you can enjoy the healthy life you deserve. There is a simple, actionable, fundamental set of basic truths about diet and health. It is this week as it was last week, and it will be the same next week 1 . It was last year as it is this year, and it will be the same next year. That details about diet are debated at the frontiers of our knowledge does nothing to alter the landscape of the far more copious common ground. The fundamental truths about food are the product of massive aggregations of diverse science, not a flight of fancy based on the latest study to generate misleading headlines. The truth about food is a product of science, sense, and global consensus allied - not any one of these renouncing the others. The truth about food has stood the test of time not merely through wildly contradictory news cycles, but through years, decades, lifetimes, and generations. If you know and pursue the actionable truth about food, you absolutely do have the potential to add years to your life, and life to your years. You can do the same for any loved ones who join you. You can apply the truth about food to prevent, manage, treat, and reverse most major chronic diseases as well. Science has shown that the health benefits of shinrin-yoku last for several days until we next submerge ourselves in the forest. The serenity and wealth of stimulation found in nature make it an excellent training ground for mindfulness and for opening our perception up to all five senses. There's a belief going back to the ancient Celts that being in contact with a living tree recharges us while at the same time easing our tensions and anxieties. Numerous studies have shown that birdsong, even when recorded, is therapeutic and enhances concentration, confidence and relaxation. Once you pass nature's gates, forget about being rushed. Science has proven that the phytoncides given off by nature increase our defenses against numerous diseases, as well as lifting our spirits. We can take home a bit of the forest by capturing the moment in a short, hand-written poem, or we can immortalize what we see by sketching it in a notearticle. In nature, nothing is perfect, nothing is finished, nothing is forever.

The beauty of imperfections teaches us to accept ourselves and to see our failings as an opportunity for growth. After a pleasant walk in nature, but also during a break in our working day, a brew made with leaves from the forest will restore our vitality as well as encouraging mindfulness. Now let's take a closer look at some of the science to discover why HIIT has become so popular over the last few years. We know that aging occurs at the cellular level. However, more and more studies are revealing that exercise creates positive changes at the cellular and genetic level, affecting the very building blocks of the body. A 2017 study reported in Preventive Medicine found that the more exercise people got, the less aging their cells experienced. Imagine turning 65 years old and removing 9 candles from your birthday cake and, voila, you're 56! As evidenced by their cells, those who exercise not only have a better chance of living longer, they also develop fewer chronic diseases. And wouldn't it be nice if you could get the same health and longevity results, or better, in a fraction of the time? Well, the good news is that with HIIT, you can. It just well might be the fountain of youth. But before we delve into the exciting new research about the time-saving health and fitness benefits of HIIT, let's talk more about what HIIT actually is. Why wouldn't you? With the same basic truths about food, you can help our aquifers, our climate, fragile ecosystems, sustainable food production, and biodiversity into the bargain. Why wouldn't you ? You can love the food that loves you back. If you don't know the truth about food, you don't have the above options. But you can keep buying fad diet articles, losing weight you will gain back with interest, and honoring the triumph of misguided hope over experience. Why would you? There is a truth about food that can count among the greatest assets at your disposal in the pursuit of vitality, longevity, and the pleasure these contribute to living.