You’re reading Is Your Comfort Zone Really That Comfortable? 10 Facts You’re Not Quite Sure, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

“Comfort zone” is considered to be psychological space of a human being in which he feels relaxed. This zone is called comfortable due to the fact that everything that happens within it is predictable.

Spending time in this space does not bring about strong emotions and feelings. Predictability allows using a limited set of behavioral reactions and does not require new decisions and actions. That is the moment you stay in the comfort zone when people find out nothing new for themselves, at the same time using only the knowledge and resources possessed.

Comfort zone for adults

The adoption of new solutions for adults is often associated with stress. It can be seen, for example, when purchasing goods or services. If you hadn’t an experience of acquiring a particular category of goods or services, then you would feel insecure and not confident. The cause of stress is related to an individual’s attitude towards the world, other people and expectations.

Comfort zone for children

Children do not feel stressed because world understanding has not formed yet, and each performed action is cognition and study of their capabilities. The absence of stress in children’s life suggests that limiting of some directions is the main cause of comfort zone existence. Directions include certain feelings, such as: fear, guilt, shame, peace, joy, etc. Memories connected with these feelings act for us a stimulus to the commitment or refraining from action. For example, if sales for a person are associated with guilt, which he experienced in childhood, that person will avoid this sphere of activity or will bring this feeling into his work.

Everybody strives for homeostasis (balance). Psychological balance is an important component of your daily life. In case of any new event when the person does not know what to expect, the body feels instability and danger. To avoid this danger you can turn to directions that form the boundary of your comfort zone and keep us well.

Why you need to step out of your comfort zone?

1. You will never know something new without trying.

You can spend a lot of time trying to guess how the life could have turned in a particular case that happened. But you will never learn if you don’t try personally. History repeatedly gives us examples. The great discoveries and achievements were made when people decided to come out of their comfort zone when risking.

Each of us can make a decision to take the risk, but will this risk bring some benefit? For instance, you are a designer and have recently read about new styles and trends. You would like to try something, but you have become so accustomed to the old ones that even such a thought is frightening. Don’t be afraid if something does not work, then you will have an opportunity to return to the old ways. It is possible to expand the network. While dating you need to meet and personally communicate with a person, but you really feel uncomfortable in such situations. But leaving your comfort zone allows you to learn how to work in a team and to reach a new level.

2. You will not evolve and will remain at the same level of development.

Life is a series of specific events and decisions, which teach us to be stronger, give experience and knowledge allow you to cope with some tasks easier. But if you are afraid to go out of your comfort zone, no development will be.

Very often people having reached some kind of a stage or step, refuse to go forth. You believe that a bird in the hand is better than a crane in the sky. You are afraid to take risks, to try new things, set new goals. And this fear, at first glance seems absolutely understandable. Why dream about something, after all, and now all is well. But as soon as you stop setting goals for yourself, you will slowly but surely fade away. Your life will be boring, monotonous, routine. Home, work, home that’s what awaits people who chose “bird” and not want to get out of their comfort zone.

3. Errors are the best teachers.

The main reason why most people are afraid to leave their comfort zone is fear to make mistakes and to lose everything what they have. But mistakes, as mentioned above, are not always bad things. I would even say that it’s great that in your life were situations which caused you to make errors. Any failure is, first and foremost, a lesson to become better, to know ourselves, to understand how to act in a given situation.

If you learn how to analyze mistakes, if you take lessons from them, then you will completely forget what is comfort zone, stop being afraid to do some unusual things, to take the most ambitious and radical solutions.

4. You are too shy and doubtful.

This means that you are afraid of trying some new experiences and emotions, you are unhappy with the current situation. Try new challenges!

5. Starting conversation first  – it’s not about you.

You have doubts and indecisiveness before talking to strangers, this isn’t ok.

6. Refusing to do something unusual.

Don’t hesitate, agree to someone’s respond to help him doing something not familiar to you.

7. Procrastination is your main feature.

You often complain about unpleasant factors, you usually don’t do things in time. Something always holds you back.

8. If/When are your favorite words.

Your main feature is using words of negative connotation, such as: can’t or, for instance, won’t. You are to change these words with more positive ones – should or could.

9. You don’t strive for success.

10. New achievements – aren’t your main goals.

All in all, it is clear that you need to pay attention to this issue due to the fact these factors can influence your life greatly, you don’t set new goals.

Don’t forget: development is a life’s driving force!

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Marta Trenton is a graduate student and an inspired blogger at Tuko.co.ke. 5 years ago she started writing her own short stories on a wide range of topics including education and information technologies. Marta finds travelling a great way to get back to what’s really important in life. You can follow her on Twitter.

You’ve read Is Your Comfort Zone Really That Comfortable? 10 Facts You’re Not Quite Sure, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 7 Things Highly Resilient People Don’t Do, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Have you seen how some people end up being terribly depressed during tough times while others pick themselves up beautifully? The difference is resilience.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back after a major adversity or tragedy.

All of us experience pain. The pain might come from the loss of a loved one, a period of illness, personal conflicts or business failures or any other kind of trauma.

In our attempt to lessen the pain, we sometimes turn to unhealthy behaviours. We choose to sympathise ourselves or envy others.

Let me tell you a short story.

As a young girl, Wilma Rudolph was stuck with a severe illness that left her paralysed. Her doctors said she would never be able to put her foot on the earth again. However, with an unwavering dream of becoming a runner, not only did she learn to walk again but also went on to win three gold medals in 100-meter and 200-meter race during 1960 Olympics.

That’s how powerful a resilience attitude can be. So, let’s look at seven things that highly resilient people don’t do:

1. They don’t feel shy about asking for feedback or help.

Research has shown that having social support is an innumerable advantage during tough times. Instead of facing it alone, it is easy to cope with a failure or setback when we have the support of our peers, community or family.

Unfortunately, people shun themselves away and lock themselves up during bad times. It is totally counter-intuitive to recovery. Resilient people are not afraid of asking for help or being a little vulnerable.

2. They don’t waste energy on things they cannot control:

Everyone’s life has certain aspects that are out of control. Resilient people accept this inevitable fact instead of wasting time and energy on things that are out of their control.

We cannot change or control what has happened to us. The past is unchangeable. Instead of brooding over it, resilient people focus on how to move forward.

3. They don’t attempt to numb the pain.

Somehow, Resilient people have a better endurance to pain. They choose to learn a lesson from the incident instead of letting the situation to make them feel hopeless.

Trying too hard to avoid a painful moment or pretend it doesn’t exist is not a good idea. We create more suffering by not accepting the reality.

4. They don’t let a tragedy paralyse them

Tragedies and painful situations happen to almost all people. During such times, it is natural to feel dejected and be upset. Even highly resilient people face these situations but they don’t allow themselves to be stuck in such a negativity for longer periods.

They look for ways to come out of the situation and move forward.

5. They don’t blame themselves.

Hard times sometimes destroy people’s self-esteem. Many go blaming themselves for almost everything that happens to them. This is a huge challenge.

Sometimes you may be responsible for a failure, other times it may have nothing to do with you. Resilient people understand the difference between blame and responsibility. They do take responsibility for their actions but don’t waste their time in blaming themselves.

6. They don’t base future decision on bad days.

Weak people base their decisions on a single bad incident and tend to quit their goals or shut themselves off completely. However, highly resilient people understand that it’s okay to have tough times. After all, expecting life to be wonderful all the time is foolish.

7. They Don’t wallow in self-pity.

Self-pity is a destructive mindset. Dwelling on negative events and feeling excessively sorry for yourself is the surest way to misery. While it’s totally okay to cry our hearts out, feel hopeless and lost, but you should be able to shake it off at one point and move forward.

Resilient people don’t allow self-pity to creep into their lives. They take responsibility for their own well-being and move forward.

Your Turn now:

Now, here’s the good news. Decades of research says that resilience is a quality that can be developed. And there are scientifically proven methods to become resilient.

These methods are covered in Chapter One of my free email course, 7 Proven Strategies of Enormously Successful People. Along with resilience, you will also learn other methods of massively successful people and lots of free worksheets.

Are you ready to live a successful life?

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Amy inspires readers at BrainyOwls, by writing on self-improvement and productivity. Check out her free email course, that unlocks the secret to massive success.

You’ve read 7 Things Highly Resilient People Don’t Do, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading One Simple Fix That Will Change Your Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Transformation comes from the inside out. One simple step that has big consequences is being conscious of the food you eat. A simple way to invite meaning, experience and energy into your life is to adopt a spiritual sadhana (mindful discipline) of eating fresh foods from the spiritual science of Ayurveda, which is an ancient modality of holistic health and healing from India.

Why not make feeding yourself fresh foods every day at each meal, a spiritual choice?

Many of us spend more time choosing an outfit that makes us look thin or composing the perfect tweet than deciding what to put into our bodies. We look outwardly to fulfill our needs. We chase meaningful moments, but with a bite-sized fast food mentality. Yet, if we aspire to a healthy life, we need to be conscious of the food we eat.

By simply deciding to cook, you are investing in your health and taking ownership of the life you have been given. If you think you don’t have time to cook, you are probably over-investing in other areas of your life. Think of the time you spend waiting in markets, restaurants and drive-thrus. In this way, cooking a fresh meal is a time saver and time well spent. It’s providing a healthy meal for the people you love, making memories with them and getting children to be invested in the meals that they are creating. That’s what I call deliberate multitasking! It surprisingly takes only ten minutes to create a fresh meal that can revive each cell in your body and bring you a surprising amount of energy.

In my own life, time invested in preparing fresh meals was not a sacrifice, but an invitation to be more present.  The opportunity to make conscious choices when we do menu planning and purchasing of necessary ingredients; the sense of ownership that comes from cooking our own meals and crafting our own health; the seduction by aromas that waft through our nose and colors that splash and sensationalize our vision; the engaging of our mind and literally all senses in the ensuing process; the extension of invitations and nourishment of the family circle; the celebration of seasons and festivities of color, texture, and aroma; the entitled requests for favorite recipes by my son, and the look of satisfaction in my husbands eyes, and the smiles of my students — perhaps these are some of the reasons why I cook for my self, my health, and the well being of all who I care about.

Ayurveda clarifies that our goal is eat foods that not only strengthen the body but also revives the mind. Start with eating fresh. Canned, frozen and other convenience foods have an artificially elongated shelf life also come under the stale category. If you want to feel good, you have to stop imbibing “industrial grade slush,” and invest in an experience. Many of us eat these foods out of habit. Choosing meals that taste good and are good for us is a simple adjustment that I promise will positively change your life.

Try this: Permanent change takes small steps. You don’t have to completely revise your menu. Commit to eliminating just one packaged food a meal (e.g. swapping a bag of chips or frozen entrée) and replacing with something fresh. Then see how you feel in a month.

© 2017 Acharya Shunya, author of Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom: A Complete Prescription to Optimize Your Health, Prevent Disease, and Live with Vitality and Joy

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Acharya Shunya is one of the extraordinary teachers of the living, embodied wisdom of Ayurveda. She transmits it through the roots of her ancient family lineage as well as throughout her book, Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom (Sounds True, 2017). Shunya is the driving force behind Vedika Global, a wisdom school dedicated to awakening health and consciousness, and was recognized as one of the Top 100 teachers of Ayurveda and Yoga in America by Spirituality and Health Magazine (2015). Shunya is President of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, a the keynote speaker at national and international conferences, and teaches at California Institute of Integral Studies and at complementary medicine symposiums at Stanford, UCLA, and UCSF. For more information, please visit http://ift.tt/2k19U2f and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

You’ve read One Simple Fix That Will Change Your Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading One Simple Fix That Will Change Your Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Transformation comes from the inside out. One simple step that has big consequences is being conscious of the food you eat. A simple way to invite meaning, experience and energy into your life is to adopt a spiritual sadhana (mindful discipline) of eating fresh foods from the spiritual science of Ayurveda, which is an ancient modality of holistic health and healing from India.

Why not make feeding yourself fresh foods every day at each meal, a spiritual choice?

Many of us spend more time choosing an outfit that makes us look thin or composing the perfect tweet than deciding what to put into our bodies. We look outwardly to fulfill our needs. We chase meaningful moments, but with a bite-sized fast food mentality. Yet, if we aspire to a healthy life, we need to be conscious of the food we eat.

By simply deciding to cook, you are investing in your health and taking ownership of the life you have been given. If you think you don’t have time to cook, you are probably over-investing in other areas of your life. Think of the time you spend waiting in markets, restaurants and drive-thrus. In this way, cooking a fresh meal is a time saver and time well spent. It’s providing a healthy meal for the people you love, making memories with them and getting children to be invested in the meals that they are creating. That’s what I call deliberate multitasking! It surprisingly takes only ten minutes to create a fresh meal that can revive each cell in your body and bring you a surprising amount of energy.

In my own life, time invested in preparing fresh meals was not a sacrifice, but an invitation to be more present.  The opportunity to make conscious choices when we do menu planning and purchasing of necessary ingredients; the sense of ownership that comes from cooking our own meals and crafting our own health; the seduction by aromas that waft through our nose and colors that splash and sensationalize our vision; the engaging of our mind and literally all senses in the ensuing process; the extension of invitations and nourishment of the family circle; the celebration of seasons and festivities of color, texture, and aroma; the entitled requests for favorite recipes by my son, and the look of satisfaction in my husbands eyes, and the smiles of my students — perhaps these are some of the reasons why I cook for my self, my health, and the well being of all who I care about.

Ayurveda clarifies that our goal is eat foods that not only strengthen the body but also revives the mind. Start with eating fresh. Canned, frozen and other convenience foods have an artificially elongated shelf life also come under the stale category. If you want to feel good, you have to stop imbibing “industrial grade slush,” and invest in an experience. Many of us eat these foods out of habit. Choosing meals that taste good and are good for us is a simple adjustment that I promise will positively change your life.

Try this: Permanent change takes small steps. You don’t have to completely revise your menu. Commit to eliminating just one packaged food a meal (e.g. swapping a bag of chips or frozen entrée) and replacing with something fresh. Then see how you feel in a month.

© 2017 Acharya Shunya, author of Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom: A Complete Prescription to Optimize Your Health, Prevent Disease, and Live with Vitality and Joy

---

Acharya Shunya is one of the extraordinary teachers of the living, embodied wisdom of Ayurveda. She transmits it through the roots of her ancient family lineage as well as throughout her book, Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom (Sounds True, 2017). Shunya is the driving force behind Vedika Global, a wisdom school dedicated to awakening health and consciousness, and was recognized as one of the Top 100 teachers of Ayurveda and Yoga in America by Spirituality and Health Magazine (2015). Shunya is President of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, a the keynote speaker at national and international conferences, and teaches at California Institute of Integral Studies and at complementary medicine symposiums at Stanford, UCLA, and UCSF. For more information, please visit http://ift.tt/2k19U2f and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

You’ve read One Simple Fix That Will Change Your Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading Embrace the Number “15” to Accomplish Sustainable Weight Loss, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

I grew up in a family that ate a traditional Southern diet, and I watched as it contributed to diabetes, obesity, and disabilities among my loved ones. I realized that I needed to make changes to escape the devastating effects of poor diet and excess weight that ravaged my family.

Through the years, I figured out how to lose excess weight for good. How did I do it? Not by starving myself or following ridiculous fad diets that eliminate entire food groups. Nor did I do it by pledging my soul to an extreme fitness program that required hours and hours in the gym each week. Instead, I’ve found that tracking servings — instead of calories, fat grams or other units — is an easy, realistic way to eat the right amount of food for successful weight loss. Alongside adjusting serving sizes, my program includes 15-minutes of mindful meditation to stave off stress, and 15-minute exercise sequences to help ease into a daily regimen that brings new energy and vitality to each day.

Imagine enjoying 15 servings a day of the tastiest, easiest-to-prepare, most power-packed foods you will ever eat. Visualize yourself exercising in 15-minute chunks, doing muscle-building moves that give you energy, build strength, and rev up your metabolism. Envision taking 15 minutes of your day to nourish and refresh your mind and to feed your soul, letting go of the stresses of the day.

Science shows that people enjoy greater success by tackling weight loss in small increments. It’s much easier to think of losing 15 pounds than to worry about losing all your excess weight at once. If you have, say, 45 pounds to lose, it’s much easier to think of losing 15 pounds three times than to worry about losing an entire 45 pounds at once. After losing the first 15, you’ve proven to yourself that you have the power to do it again and again. This is the foundation of my Final 15 Plan.

Here’s how to use the number 15 as your guide to sustainable weight loss:

1. Eat 15 servings of food a day.Just to clarify, this doesn’t mean eating 15 times a day, but rather eating 15 true servings of nutritious foods. Americans have a problem with portion distortion — our serving sizes are much too big. It’s important to learn how to judge serving sizes using visual cues (a serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards; a serving of cheese the size of a domino). Then, by following a three-phase plan of 15 days each that steps up more easy-to-prepare food choices as you go (most can be prepared in less than 15 minutes), you can successfully drop 15 pounds of excess weight.

2. Move your body in short, 15-minute increments.The Final 15 Plan also eases you into a daily exercise routine in 15-minute chunks with muscle-building moves that give you energy, build strength, and rev up your metabolism. Exercise, combined with weight loss, greatly diminishes your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, to name just a few. Also, over time, simply having more muscle actually leads to better weight loss. I know it can be hard to jump into an exercise routine. You don’t have to begin by running or going to a high-intensity exercise class. Just take a walk! Before you know it, you’ll be walking longer and faster and exercise will feel less like work and more like a fresh, new way of life.

3. Practice 15 minutes of mindfulness.So much of what we do in life is mindless. We go through our days without paying attention to what we’re thinking and feeling. While we’re engaged in one activity, we’re thinking about another. This mindlessness contributes to weight gain because it allows us to make food choices without really thinking. We can reverse this by practicing mindfulness. Take 15 minutes each day to become fully aware of what’s going on in the present moment. Eliminate judgments of yourself and others, and instead, look for the things to appreciate in the here and now. Mindfulness is a great de-stressor. The better you become at managing stress, the more likely you are to achieve and maintain your life’s goals, including weight loss.

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Dr. Rovenia M. Brock, Ph.D. is a leading nutrition coach for over two decades and author of a new book, Lose Your Final 15: Dr. Ro’s Plan to Eat 15 Servings a Day & Lose 15 Pounds at a Time (Rodale Books, January 2017). Known for her easy-to-apply diet, fitness and health tips for people of all ages, she served as nutrition coach on The View, helping Sherri Shepherd lose more than 40 pounds. She is a frequent contributing Nutrition Coach to the Dr. Oz Show, and also has contributed to NBC’s Today show, The CBS Early Show, Good Morning America, and National Public Radio. Dr. Ro has been featured in O Magazine, Self, Ebony, Essence, The Dallas Morning News,Memphis Commercial Appeal, and was recently named one of More magazine’s top 5 nutritionists. She holds a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from Howard University and is the author of Dr. Ro’s Ten Secrets to Livin’ Healthy. Learn more at EverythingRo.com.

You’ve read Embrace the Number “15” to Accomplish Sustainable Weight Loss, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading How to Get Everything You Want in Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Whether you have clear goals or not, there’s a picture in the back of your head of what you would like to have.

But everything worth having has a price.

That price is usually so significant that you may feel uncomfortable doing what you have to do – to pay it. So, you must delight in doing the challenging activities (the price), day after day. Slowly, these activities will become part of who you are and move you towards what you want.

When someone isn’t willing to pay the price, let’s look at how the scenario plays out.

Sally wants to lose 10lbs of weight so that she be fit and trim. But she isn’t prepared to eat less and consistently exercise. She’s not prepared to let go of the joys of eating whatever she wants, whenever she wants.

To achieve her goal, she will need to do these things:

– Eat healthy
– Drink enough water
– Avoid eating lots of calorically dense foods
– Track her weight

Maybe she manages to eat slightly healthier, but she’s paying just a quarter of the price needed to achieve her goal. She’s only doing one out of four things. Put it simply, her payment towards her goal doesn’t match up with its achievement.

This example manifests itself with any goal we haven’t been able to achieve.  Often, we’ve only been willing to give part of what’s due. And then we complain about not getting it even though we didn’t pay the full price! The universal law of cause and effect states that for every effect there is a definite cause, likewise for every unfulfilled cause there is an incomplete effect.

To put that in perspective, think about taking a grocery bag to the checkout, and being told to pay 40$ but only giving the friendly lady in front of you a 10$ bill. She’ll look at you like you deserve a head examination.

Only go after goals, if you’re willing to pay the full price.

When you’re ready to pay the real price of what you desire, you will finally begin to move faster than ever towards everything you want. Once you’ve made the decision to make the full investment (in heart, soul, and mind), and stick to it on a daily basis, with patience – the results you seek will come.

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln

The life in your years are inextricably linked by how much you’re prepared to delay gratification to reap the joys of success. Not because of how much short-term pleasure you enjoy on a day to day basis.

Pleasure is ephemeral and in the long term, not quite fulfilling. Think of eating an ice cream, or watching a TV show. It has its place, but it’s not going to give your life meaningful significance.

Being relentless in your pursuit of doing what’s necessary, to follow the path that will take you to get where you want to get to, however, will give you significance, both during the journey and at the destination.

All the while, you’ll need to maintain your happiness and sanity in the process – which is a delicate balance.

At first, it will feel uncomfortable to pay the price, you won’t enjoy itOver timeme, it will get easier and easier and you’ll start to love the process. Instead of forcing yourself upstream a river – eventually you will be flowing downstream through the river; you’ll start getting used to paying the price.

 

But what else will create the shift you need, to be able to do the hard things, to get where you want to get to? I believe it comes down to seeing yourself as a visitor to planet Earth, combined with living with a sense of urgency.

One of the best ways to make it easier for yourself to pay the full price for the things that you want is to understand you have a finite time to bless yourself and the world around you with everything you can achieve.

Every step in the right direction you take is a move in the right direction for humanity as a whole. When you pay the price for what you want, you set the right example for others around you; your example liberates others in some small way.

Most people don’t see themselves as visitors to Planet Earth, but as entitled human beings that primarily belong to this country, this nationality, or else. You can be different, and choose to see your life as an opportunity and not a given. An opportunity to provide the world with your unique gifts. But you’ll need to start paying the full price.

My Last Words

If you’re interested in learning the systems to upgrade the way you use your time on this little blue planet, read my free guide. Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How to split up your day into four chunks, so you’ll worry less about external influences.
• How to consistently celebrate your small wins, so that you feel more creative and enthusiastic each day.
• The small hacks that will take your work output on the computer to the next level.

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 Samy Felice is a writer who is passionate about unique ideas related to living a meaningful life. His Free Guide explores ways people can make success easier.

You’ve read How to Get Everything You Want in Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading Does Snoring Have Any Health Risks?, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

For a long time, people have categorized snoring as simply a minor health condition that will go away on its own. However, modern research has declared that snoring is not only irritation to the ears and to peaceful sleep but an indication of a number of complaints in your body. People who are overweight, who are regular smokers or have high cholesterol are prone to snoring, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is defined as a sleep disorder occurring due to the collapse of the airway in the throat during sleep. Particularly posing a threat to men’s health, it’s time to get yourself checked by a doctor for the following.

1. Cardiovascular disease

Sleep apnea is related to cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure and coronary artery disease which eventually lead to heart attacks. The intensity of snoring could also be a cause of carotid atherosclerosis, narrowing of the veins in the neck – leading to a stroke. Studies have shown that Continuous Positive Airway Pressure reduces heart disease down to that people who don’t suffer from sleep apnea. Snoring can also lead to an increase in heart size, putting you at risk of heart attacks and strokes.

2. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

GERD is very common in those suffering from sleep apnea because of the disordered way in which their throat when air passes in and out during sleep. This can cause pressure changes in the throat, causes the acidic contents of your stomach to move up to esophagus. This phenomenon is more to overweight people, and the condition gradually improves as the patient returns to a normal weight.

3. Arrhythmias

Arrhythmias means an ‘irregular heartbeat’ in everyday language. People who snore are at risk of having cardiac arrhythmias or atrial fibrillation. Disorders in tour heartbeat could be because sleep apnea affects the conduct of the heart, while other research suggests that it enlarges the left atrium of the heart over a period of time.

4. Low oxygen levels in blood

Snoring can also mean serious breathing problem, and breathing is an essential part of your system. When you’re not breathing properly, your body does not receive the required amount of oxygen that can constrict blood vessels in your lungs, leading to pulmonary hypertension if left untreated over time.

5. Sleep disorders

Sleep apnea causes immense disturbances in sleep and waking up frequently at night is one of them. This can be due to a number of reasons – repeated interruptions in breathing, disruption in your sleeping cycles due to lack of oxygen and light sleeping as an attempt to keep throat muscles tense to maintain a normal air flow.

6. Chronic headaches

Snorers are also reported to have frequent and chronic headaches, due to altered levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.

Therefore, chronic snoring not only damages your respiratory and cardiovascular system but also results in poor quality sleep and poor work performance. If you sense chronic snoring in your sleep or if your loved one complains of sleepless nights, it would be better to treat the problem once and for all with the help of proper medicines and exercise.

You’ve read Does Snoring Have Any Health Risks?, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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