Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine?

Happy Wednesday! Superwomen, we have been looking at characteristics that will continue to empower us to be even greater superwomen. Thus far, we have looked at (1) Are we paying attention to the way our internal clocks were designed; (2) Feed our brain and know our brain dominance; and (3) Today... Laughter is really a great RX for you! I looked at several different sites and here is what I found-- the long and the short of it -- you must LAUGH! Even when you feel the stress overload coming... why? Because it is so much more beneficial than what you can ever imagine! Let's take a look!

Look at some of these benefits! WOWZA!

What does laughter do for us? Laughter gives us many short term benefits as well as many long term benefits too!

Short Term Benefits:
(1) It stimulates our organs and gets us going strong for the day! Literally, this means that when we laugh our blood flow is increased meaning we get more oxygen to the brain, and this gets us going stronger! So, circulation improves and our muscles relax!
(2) It activates and relieves our stress response meaning it diminishes the release of cortisol which is our "fight or flight" hormone which was not designed to be used unless we are facing some sort of traumatic event.
(3) It soothes tension, and it serves as an internal workout for our bodies!
(4) Laughter literally releases a cocktail of happy hormones. You know, Superwom@n, it's those hormones that we need to feel good-- that serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin-- all those endorphins we need to tolerate ourselves and for others to tolerate us LOL.

Long Term Benefits:
(1) It improves our immune system and makes it stronger!
(2) It acts as a natural pain reliever.
(3) It increases our personal satisfaction.
(4) It increases our mood.
(5) It improves our blood sugar levels.
(6) The more we laugh, the more we receive the long and short term benefits of laughter! Most importantly, laughing is heart healthy!

Superwom@n, in order to "bring your A-Game" everyday honey child, you gotta LAUGH! I found absolutely nothing that tells us ANY negative benefit of laughing! Now, here's the deal... some of you may say, "Well, I don't have anything to laugh about." To that I say, "Girl, you always have something to laugh about-- you are still here on this earth breathing and you, Superwom@n have a purpose! So, LAUGH!

Just look at all of these benefits of something as simple as laughing! I hope that you are understanding that in order to be a superwom@n, you must first TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF in order to do your best to take care of others!

Promise me that you will laugh today... you know that good belly laugh that makes your eye liner run and you ask your buddy, "Do I have raccoon eyes?"

Terri

Sources:

www.mayoclinic.org

www.huffingtonpost.com

www.laughteronlineuniversity.com

www.webmd.com

Take A Look at Your Internal Clock Superwom@n! It's Important!

I hope that all of you had an extra special day for Valentines and I hope that you haven't started this Monday morning in the rain. So, yesterday we looked into a few characteristics that will help us "UP" our Superwom@n status. You remember? The first characteristics that we looked at was taking a hard look at how we are wired internally so let's do just that! First of all, I need to give you some homework, and it is this: Investigate your "circadian rhythm (your internal clock)" and your "ultradian rhythm (different periods of alertness and drowsiness during the day)." This is essential to understand some of these concepts!

Is this how you feel? I know that I do many, many times!

I looked and investigated three different sources, and they all seem to say very similar things so let's delve into this and I hope you are able to have some "aha" moments! Let's see what our internal body clock tells us about the following:

Our food intake? Our internal body clock really does need us to eat during our eight most active hours of the day. So, here comes the temptation... it is really is hard for me not to want to snack in the evenings so be aware of this -- it is harder for your body to process glucose when you eat late in the evening. Pay attention to what we know and heed the advice superwomen!

Our Sleep? Now, superwomen here is where we can all learn a lesson. Here is what I read... Until we are around the age of 10, we tend to be early, early risers. You know mommas, remember when all you wanted to do was to sleep just a few more minutes and your little toddler and maybe your little prince or princess was waking up like a little alarm clock themselves at 5:00 am or 6:00 am on a Saturday morning... point proven! Then, around the age of 10, our bodies start switching into another gear that of going to bed later and later and waking up later and later... and to think we just all thought teenagers chose this path. Then, as expected, around age 21, we start that upward climb again to get up earlier and earlier. We peak and then around age 50-55, we began the same habits that we had when we were just babies. It's really amazing... look deeper into this! So, what else can we learn about our sleep? Basically, we have "two sleeps" per 24 hour period. One is a long sleep which is when we go to bed at night, and then the "other sleep" happens around 2:00 in the afternoon. Your like, "Yeah, I know, LOL." So, if you know this, then do something about it! When you feel that 2:00 slump creeping up on you, what can you do? We will be looking into this specifically!

Our Exercise? In researching this, it looks like around 3:00-6:00 wins the prize for the best time to work out. Actually, I learned that our muscle tone is at it's peak anywhere from 2:00-6:00. Our lungs tend to function the most efficiently at 5:00. Our eye hand coordination is at it's peak around the late afternoon. And... here it comes... our blood pressure tends to be a bit higher in the morning. Can you believe all of this? If not, check it out for yourself. I will list the sources that I used at the end of the post!

Our WORK? Obviously, we already know that we perform best when we are working at our peak. But, probably what we need to know more about is exactly what is our peak? and why? Look below for how I have tried to take a look at how maybe we can break down our day to bolster our productivity no matter what our profession is!

Our Lighting? Did you know this? Lighting is the single biggest external factor in how our body is operating. Our bodies are programmed to know that the more light the body is provided, then it realizes it is supposed to stay awake! Some of us are hardwired to have what we call a 22-hour "fast" body clock and tend to be called the "morning larks;" whereas, the rest of us have what we call a 25-hour body clock and we tend to be called the "night owls." Where do I fit? I think somewhere in between... I strive to be more of that "morning lark," because I know that is when I get my best completed. And I used to be this way... for example, way back in the day when Zach, Blake, and Brady were just little pea-mites, and I was in graduate school, I set my alarm each morning at 4:00 am. I got up and worked on my dissertation every morning without fail until 5:30, and honestly folks that is how I was able to graduate!

So What is All of this Hype About Our Work Schedule... Simply put examine below!

Things that We Probably Need to Do Prior to the Lunch (12:00) Hour: 

1. Check your emails while you are at your peak-- BUT, don't let the time monster eat you up checking them... this can happen before you even realize it!
2. It is during this time your brain is operating at it's highest capacity, so be sure to schedule your "cognitive heavy tasks" during this time-- it is during this time that you will be more likely to be able to push through these tasks most successfully!

Things that We Probably Need to Do from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM:

1. Check Facebook (if you just have too)
2. Tweet (if you just have too)
3. Focus on low energy and low value tasks
4. It is imperative to remember that it is during these times that your attention span is at its lowest and you can become highly distracted and potentially make mistakes in your work and productivity, and part of your superwom@n abilities is to be able to see and be aware of this and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
5. Hammer out those big tasks and complete those "heavy thinking" tasks that you planned the night before as you thought about today!

What Happens at the 2:00 PM Hour?

1. It is at this 2:00 hour that you are most likely to just simply fall asleep! Did you know this? Chances are that you have experienced it honestly!
2. If possible, go for a fast walk!
3. If possible, take a "brain break!"

Around 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, What Should I Do to Work With my Internal Clock?

1. This is the very best time to work out and exercise.
2. Be creative... if this tends to be homework time at your house, be creative, wear a pedometer and be walking around the house in between those math problems and that language homework!
3. If this is your time to get dinner going, again get creative and walk, jog, etc. in place while inner is going!

What Happens Around 9:00 PM at night?

1. It is at this time when we tend to actually be the most creative! Why in the world is this? Think about it... it is actually at this time when our brain is fuzzy and tired, and it doesn't naturally inhibit our creativity, and it is during this time that honestly we have the best opportunities for hashing out a creative project that we are working on and can make big strides in its progress!
2. So, some of us are ready to go to bed shortly after this, and then some of us are inclined to stay up until around 11:00 PM as we write our tasks for the next day! 

What are the "Take-Aways from This?"

**Pay attention to the research that folks have done who have way more expertise than us!

**During your day, pay attention to what you have just read and heed the advice and practice these suggestions!

**Make the changes in your day that help your internal clock so that you can supercharge into hero mode for sure! I will upload a couple of tools that may help you with some of this!

Try to Stay Dry Today Superwom@n!

Love,

Terri

Sources: 

www.lifehacker.com

www.lifeweb.com

www.asianefficiency.com

Calling All Superwomen... How Often Do You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/beyond-comfort-zone-independent-thinking-judy-willis

On this cold morning, the day before Valentine's Day, as I open my little journal that I shared with you when we first started this journey blogging about what we do as superwomen, I open to this particular topic and page... Go Outside Your Comfort Zone! WOW! That says a mouthful. It also had a great info-graphic which honestly being such a visual learner, I relate to this much better than just an explanation. Professionally, what is your comfort zone? I decided to be somewhat vulnerable and map mine out and then use those parameters of my "not so comfort zone places" as opportunities to grow my superwom@n abilities! Why should we engage in this task? I think this visual probably explains it better than I can in words:

This graphic says it all... this is why it is vital that we all engage in this endeavor!

So here we go! We are going to take this four levels and I will use myself as an example. The first level is that of your comfort zone itself. So, what are you comfortable with doing professionally that you know that you do well and do not experience a lot of anxieties. I would say for me that is (1) doing large scale trainings on educational topics that I have spent a long time studying; (2) teaching courses to undergraduate and graduate education students; and (3) working with kids of all ages! Now, the next level (we are traveling now... outside that comfort zone) is that of "what you are willing to try professionally." For me, I would say that is: (1) blogging professionally; (2) creating and publishing e-books to complement training sessions; and (3) creating additional resources that are helpful and useful to teachers. Now, this brings us to the third level. The third level is that of "reluctant to try." Again, for me, I would state the following: (1) creating webinars for on-line training so that teachers can earn CEU's from the comfort of home and not be in such a hurry; (2) on-line coaching again for teaching in some area that thy deem necessary to become better; and (3) how to make blogs more professionally done (I am sooooo struggling here... almost to the point of avoiding the learning curve LOL). Finally, the final level is that of what is "terrifying" to you to try professionally? For me, I want to write a book, in fact, I have started but that's all I have done is start. I already think about the fear of rejection and I am no where ready to send it anywhere for someone else to even think about reading. Honestly, I think I just want to pay the extra money and publish it myself! So, I may have a solution to this terrifying goal that I would love to accomplish. Now, ya'll are going to laugh at me but the other thing that terrifies me at this very moment is my darn Silhouette Cameo that I want to perfect soooooo bad! I see these precious projects that everyone makes, and I want to learn how as well. But, on some of the projects, I am almost scared to try because I don't want to make a mess of something LOL so I have got to get busy to get over this hump! Now, enough of me, I wanted to spell out my "out of comfort zone" levels so that you would hopefully take the time to do yours this weekend-- then get out your planner and promise yourself to carve out time for addressing these! You will be glad that you did! I have included below some graphics and links for you to look at if your interested on getting out of your comfort zone. BTW, I will be more faithful to our Superwom@n blog... I have been trying to work on another one that is my own domain and hosted by another service that I can do more with which is also out of my comfort zone and way frustrating LOL.

http://www.angelfire.com/bug/brownjay/courage.htm

Try your best to work through this activity-- I think that you will be glad that you did!

 Have an awesome Saturday all of you Superwomen!

Terri