Tag: calm

Sunday, September 3

Today is Sunday, September 3, 2023. The seasonal changes begin again. The cycle continues.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: Get outside into a space that brings you close to nature and beauty, where you can safely walk, ride, bike, or swim. Spend some time moving around in, and being a part of, Nature. Avoid headphones or obligations for the moment. Enjoy the solitude. Let your mind wander and be free to think about whatever you want.

A quote by Marcus Aurelius, “You have power over your mind- not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

Thank you to Nicole Siparsky, MD, for sharing this photo, Lotus Flower.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Saturday, June 24

Today is Saturday, June 24, 2023. Reflecting with a compassionate heart helps learning and personal growth.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: Last week, if you were writing things down, look back at where your mind was at those times you chose to jot down some notes.

Now, whether you wrote things down last week or not, write, “Current Reflections” at the top of the next sheet and write down everything on your mind right now. Some of it may be influenced from last week or maybe not.

Finally, write, “Upcoming Week” and write your thoughts about this week coming up. It might be a to do list, your schedule, what you hope for, what you want to accomplish, or just what is on your mind. Let your mind get oriented to the week and let it be comfortable.

A quote by Flannery O’Connor, “I write to discover what I know.”

Thank you to K8 for sharing this photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, May 26

Today is Friday, May 26, 2023. As we continue onto week 3 of moving towards dreams, aspirations, goals, you can continue to work on establishing your sleep ritual as we shift to awake times.

Think about this: As part of your daily routine, maybe even with your brain dump from last week, consider a reflection about instant pleasure vs. deep satisfaction in your day or week. Instant pleasure is short acting and immediate. It does not last. It lights up certain areas of the brain that drive us to want more if “that.” It doesn’t care if it is good for you or not, that kind of instant pleasure lights up specific brain cells.

Deep satisfaction lights up the whole brain and creates a warm glow that lasts. It is recharging. It feels good and nourishes the soul. It is good for your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Bottom line, it is so very good for you.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: For this next week, reflect on the people, places and things that cause you to experience deep satisfaction. Make a list and then see if you can figure out what are some similarities about the items on the list. What causes you deep satisfaction? Maybe you can find ways to increase opportunities for more of those deeply satisfying experiences.

A quote by Michael Franti, “Love is the action of soul satisfaction.”

Thank you to Benjamin Lehman for sharing this photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, April 21

Today is Friday, April 21, 2023. The bulbs are bursting, the trees are flowering, the grass is greener, it is a great time to pause and notice the nature around us.

Think about this: Sometimes, there is so much going on around us, it can lead to an overload. There can be so many thoughts, feelings, things to do. It can amplify negative thoughts and feelings and make it harder to see the path forward. The good news is that there’s a remedy.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: When the mind is full and the feelings are bouncing around, 1. take a minute to observe your breathing. Then, 2. start to slow the breathing down, make each breath last longer, and breathe from your belly so that your belly rises when you breathe in, and it releases when you breathe out. This activates the vagus nerve and allows your body to calm and settle down. Finally, 3. write down what is on your mind so you can see it. Bonus: maybe even share it with someone you trust.

A quote by Navaz Habib, “The vagus nerve is the conductor of the human body symphony orchestra.”

Thank you to Drew Beamer for sharing this lovely photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, April 14

Today is Friday, April 14, 2023. There comes a time when a fresh start, a reset is necessary. Maybe that is today.

Think about this: It’s easier to imagine the fresh start or reset when there is a clear end and a clear marker to starting. For example, the beginning of the new year, the day after graduation, the new season, a celebration, a new haircut, “after” the trip.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: Consider shortening the time in between new starts and the end. Rather than waiting a whole year for the year to end and for New Year’s Day to start something new, consider a new start on Saturday morning. Friday night, close out your previous “cycle” in some meaningful way and reset for a fresh beginning tomorrow morning.

A quote by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, “The beginning is always today.”

Thank you to Zeke Tucker for sharing this lovely photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, March 10

Today is Friday, March 10, 2023. This week’s practice to expand your vitality is to reclaim some personal thinking time. If this option is a tool that appeals to you, please join us.

Think about this: Your brain needs regular time to think. This is time to be curious, to integrate ideas, to think about things in new ways, to process experiences, to allow your brain to be creative and play.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: Identify a regularly occurring time that doesn’t require much effort and use that time to let your mind run free and think about whatever is on your mind. The mindless activity times, like doing dishes, vacuuming or folding laundry, or during regular fixed routines like commuting, exercising, or bathing. Consider journaling or keeping a log of what you thought about.

A quote by Charles Kettering, “Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future.”

Thank you to Sandesh Deshmukh for this photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, February 24

Today is Friday, February 24. This week’s practice to expand your vitality is by freeing the mind to be creative. If this option is a tool that appeals to you, please join us.

Think about this: From the minute we wake up until we fall asleep, there are outside influences that are designed to grab people’s attention and redirect- email, social media, news, ads, billboard signs, radio & talk shows, etc. etc. These aim to hoard anybody’s and everybody’s attention. There are also those that are meaningful and personal, specific to you and your relationships –pets, children, partners, family, classmates, coworkers, colleagues, etc. who also desire your attention. When is it your turn to attend to you?

When the brain is constantly being directed by outside influences- without sufficient time to rest and recharge – the circuits can get overloaded and feelings of anxiety or overwhelm may occur. In turn, this can interfere with mental peace and creativity, which is when the brain can play with ideas and invent something novel. Nature immersion, meditation, exercising, bathing, listening to instrumental music, drawing, journaling, or sipping unsweet tea and reading a book, all help you control your brain’s inputs and lets your brain rest and recharge, to think freely and play.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: Try deliberately postponing “brain inputs” on waking. Notice what happens if you protect some quiet time immediately after waking, before allowing digital, media, and other uncontrolled inputs. What do you think about? Where does your mind go? What do you notice? What if you direct your attention to nature, like sunshine, the sound of birds chirping, the feel of the blowing wind? Consider this activity on waking most days this week. Jot down a note each time and review it after a week.

A quote by Albert Einstein, “Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.”

Thank you to Alex Marrero for this photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, February 10

Today is Friday, February 10. This week’s practice to expand your vitality is inspired by Dacher Keltner in Awe. If this option is a tool that appeals to you, please join us.

Think about this: Experiencing awe improves health and wellbeing by stimulating the vagus nerve known to cause a relaxation response. Awe is associated with markers of lower inflammation and it also releases the hormone oxytocin known to increase the feelings of deep love, trust and bonding.

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: This week and beyond, seek out opportunities to experience moments of awe.

A quote by Sharon Saltzberg, “Restore your attention or bring it to a new level by dramatically slowing down whatever you’re doing.”

Thank you to Stephan Leonardi for this photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Friday, January 27

Today is Friday, January 27. This week’s practice to expand your vitality is to have time daydreaming. If this option is a tool that is appealing to you, please join us.

Think about this: When we zone out, there is quiet time, without any other human inputs, the mind wanders and has novel ideas and thoughts. When was the last time you got to do that and cherish your thoughts?

DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: This week, choose some quiet time in a location that you will not be interrupted by other people or media or drama or news or words. This may be outside in nature, in a room or while walking, riding, or swimming. Let your mind wander. Give yourself permission to daydream and see where it takes you. Be curious.

A quote by Rachel Naomi Remen, “Sometimes all that is needed is a sense of possibility.”

Thank you to Khaled Ali for this photo.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP 

Saturday, December 31

Today is Saturday, December 31, 2022. In March of 2020, we began this part of the journey together. We’ve made mistakes, laughed and learned. We keep appreciating, adapting and moving forward.

A quote by Dalai Lama, “Compassion is the wish to see others free from suffering.” 

Photo by Fiona Smallwood

Today, with the closing of another year, marks an opportunity for change, for fresh starts and to launch new beginnings. Reflecting back, being present, and thinking forward.

The Daily Gift of Vitality is also changing. We started together on a journey to create a safe space in March of 2020. Today, marks the final Daily Gift of Vitality in this format.  For now, we will shift to once weekly posts to this website. Over the next several weeks we will be looking forward to how we can adapt the Daily Gift of Vitality for the current times. In the meantime, you may access previous content on the website, DailyGiftOfVitality.com

Reflecting back, here is a snippet from March of 2020…

“While there is uncertainty and fear around us right now, there is also love and kindness around us, always.

During times of uncertainty, it helps to have some structured routines. We offer a daily anchoring message for those of you who may find it helpful for you, your coworkers, your loved ones, and/or your community.”

We anchored messages to our purpose:

  1. To provide a single simple message to everyone everywhere allowing individuals to learn and practice simple self-regulating actions daily for optimal health, function & recovery.
  2. To provide a reliable daily anchor- keeping it simple, easy to learn and remember – and quick to apply.
  3. To provide a routine. Each message will maintain a standardized, dependable structure to allow it to be used as a “routine” to start a day, transition from work to home mindset or after reading/watching news/social media, or to end the day.
  4. To create safe space to rest and recharge. The messaging is meant to be a “safe” space and deliberately avoids using terms that may be triggering and common in current communications.
  5. To establish an easy-to-implement way to keep people connected & cared for despite being physically in different spaces.

As we move forward, we will consider what next. Meanwhile…

Practice this Mindfulness Activity to Re-energize your Body and Mind whenever you need a moment to reset – while waiting, before, after, or to transition between activities.

Throughout, we begin this activity the same, with the same first 2 steps to signal to the body and mind that we are pausing to get centered and recharge. Over time, we have explored and practiced various ways to use this signal to further maximize the benefits. Today, we bring back a simple way settle your mind, like early on, “Here’s what you can do today, right now.”

Establishing a regular practice of pausing makes it easier to reset when you need it the most. You can start your practice at any time, even now.

  • Straighten your spine. Roll your shoulders back and down, smile to yourself, & relax your jaw.  
  • Take slow deep belly breaths, allowing your stomach to rise with each breath in and relax with each breath out. You may find that each breath gets better and better. Allow your shoulders to relax on each exhale. 

Settle your mind.

  • Imagine a box with a lid. It can be colorful or plain. It can be large or small or any size you want. Put that box on the side.  
  • Take those feelings that don’t serve you right now and place them in the box.   
  • Now, place all the thoughts about things you don’t have control over, and place them in the box also.   
  • You can come back to the box any time to add or examine what you have in there, but you don’t need to carry it with you. You can leave it for a bit. It will be safe there. 

Recharge yourself, tap into your strength and share positive energy when you repeat:  

“I am [*Name*]. I can do this. I am always learning. I have successfully handled difficult challenges in the past. As I connect to my inner self, I am open to the Happiness and positive energy around me. I send loving kindness and compassion to all people including me. Together, we can do great things.”

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your day. Wishing All a Happy & Healthy New Year full of Love, Joy and Laughter.

With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,

Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP