Saturday 9 August

[Loppy lugs]

Good morning all,

Sorry weather forecast coming up. The sun is streaming through the window, generally a day when it is easy to be cheerful.

Thanks for all the support yesterday, I was in a good mood when I got home anyway and reading all that made me even happier. A few girlfrends went to see Mama Mia. I laughed until I cried. We went for dinner first and I was also amazed to discover that if I am not included it is perfectly reasonable for 3 people to share a bottle of wine over dinner. It seems to be a theme, everyone is drinking less now that I don't. So general health tip for all, help your mate to give up. What you lose on funny stories you make up for on a healthy liver.

Ok now for the airhead bit. Most of you will have forgotten how IT illiterate I am. Where do I find people's blogs?

Got to dash but have a great weekend everyone, hope you all have nice things to do not just chores.

[A Work in Progress]

Good morning, up at 5am this morning, still dark out but that's OK, now I can get onto the MWO site from home, and that's good. Yesterday I had a good long walk with a friend/colleague, someone who is also a mindfulness/meditation teacher... we are working on a collaborative business model, which is good, but even better is the fact that she is a new friend who is not associated with my past heavy drinking. Instead of being a trigger/cue for drinking, she is a trigger for living a healthy life. That is VERY helpful.

Today... still doing tasks connected with my mother's STUFF, and I want to re-arrange my living room, and clear off my desk and dining room table, they have been in various states of disarray for the last 6-8 weeks...

best wishes, all

wip

[Doggygirl]

Happy Saturday! (or Sunday in some parts...)

Loppy I have heard so much good press about Mamma Mia - wish I could have gone with you and your friends to see it! (someday..) LOL on how far a bottle of wine can go without us partaking. Same here. One full bottle was typically not enough for me alone at a nice (long) dinner. Sounds like you had lots of fun!! I hope you are still smiling about your 100 day accomplishment.

wip - glad you can finally get on the internet from home. I love these wee AM hours before the sun is up - that's my "me" time before Mr. Doggy, the actual Doggies, the phones, etc. etc. get going. Have fun (well...) cleaning your office and dining room. It will feel good when it's done anyway.

In between supervising dog training today I'm just going to be an Olympics junkie. And that's what I have planned for tomorrow too. Especially tomorrow - it's going to be a "me" kind of day which I am in bad need of. Haven't had a full day like that just to relax in quite a long time. Will be going Monday to visit dad (unless there is an emergency situation this weekend) but decided to take the day tomorrow to re-charge my own batteries.

I can't believe it's AFHF day 80 - the time seems to be going (too) fast but the good news is that this is feeling a bit easier. I know there will always be moments and I must NEVER EVER let my guard down. But I dont' want to fall back into the bottle and then go through the difficult early days again, so that is really a motivator for me to steer clear of AL. I like this feeling of freedom a LOT. Even last night when I had a little family upset, I was HAPPY because all I wanted was comfort food - I really didn't think of AL or nicotine. That's a victory right there.

Have a good day everyone. And positive thoughts to anyone who is hurting today.

DG

[Nurseindistress]

DG
You are such an inspiration. You are not only AF, but all of the other healthy things you are trying to do--how do you motivate yourself to do it all? And it is motivating to hear how much better you are feeling mentally as time goes on. Wow--I have been in awe for months now.

[ready2change]

Morning all Abber's...Happy Saturday. Great to hear everyone is doing so well. Had a great AF friday nite cuddling with doggies and watching TV shows that made me laugh. Life is good.

Thanks again for all your pm's and support. You guys give me strength, bless you. Today I will not drink, I will go hike a damn mountain instead. And yell F)@K AL when I get to the top!

Have a great day everyone.

R2C

[Determinator]

Happy Saturday ABlanders far and wide!!

huge congrads to Doggygirl and R2C for AF times! they all count and they all feel good eh?

Loppy, the link to blogs is on the top of the page...just scroll up and it's in the horizontal tool bar.
My latest blog entry regards feeling like you are trapped in an elevator.

Loppy I like the fact that instead of despairing over not having wine you found the positive highlights of that decision. well done! It's easy to get wrapped in negative thinking if we are not careful.

So glad to be home with my dear Dx. she is working longer hours now so we really cherish our 'together time'. We are going clothes shopping today....guess she saw my latest picture uploads hahahaha!!!

AWIP, love to hear any insights on the mindful meditation.....

Nurse, great to have you here.

be well friends!

[A Work in Progress]

R2C I will go up that mountain with you!

Det here's something I clipped from a really good website that is directed to people who do work in mediation (professional who work with conflict all the time) but it applies equally to anyone... esp. people in conflict with themselves, family members, etc. It's called:

Should Mediators Meditate?

Yes, or find some other method to increase your level of mindfulness. A mediator's mindfulness promotes reflective mind and keeps you out of reactive brain. A mindful, self-aware mediator is creative, responsive, in-the-moment, and mentally fit. Promoting your own mindfulness is a professional responsibility, not to mention integral to excellent service to clients.

Diana Winston, director of Mindfulness Education at the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, says:

Mindfulness will be like the introduction of seat belts in cars; at first no one thought they were important and now they are a safety requirement, ... Mindfulness may become the seat belt of mental health ... .

Meditation and its effects have undergone much research recently. From "Meditation and Immunity":

By taking a step back and learning the art of paying attention to the now, people learn from mindfulness meditation to deal more effectively with many aspects of everyday life, including stress, said David Creswell, a research scientist at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA.

In recent years, the practice of becoming more mindful and tuning in to ones internal experiences has gained scientific momentum. Multiple research studies have confirmed its beneficial effects in boosting the immune system and thickening brain areas in charge of decision making and emotion regulation.

Both decision making and emotion regulation are key to any process of conflict resolution. Katharine McLennan, founder of Mindful Leadership and executive director of the Neuroleadership Institute writes in her article "The Neuroscience of Leadership and Culture" [pdf downloaded from here] that another benefit of meditation is innovation, also welcome in the resolution of disputes, yes?

McLennan writes:

One of the most effective remedies to the stressed and rushed environment we are living in today is proving to be meditation—the slowing of the mind, which technically means reducing the frequency of our brain waves.
...

[A]s we lower the frequency of our brain waves, we begin to produce neurochemicals and hormones that are much more beneficial to creativity and learning.

Not meditating yet? Pick up a copy of Mindfulness in Plain English, read it and just start practicing. Or read "Awareness in Lawyering: A Primer on Paying Attention" by Leonard Riskin in The Affective Assistance of Counsel. Most cities have classes in meditation, too. As a result of your meditation practice, people in both your personal and professional life will reap big rewards.

I'll post something I wrote about mindfulness/meditation on the mindfulness thread that is buried somewhere... I'll start it going again... With your interest in complementary medicine, I think this is something you would find worth looking into...

wip

wip

[Determinator]

wonderful WIP! love that. yes, keep it coming.....thank you.

very interesting. reducing the frequency of brain waves....hmmmmm.

al consumption does that but leads to obvious dysfunction. We seek this lessening of the brain frequency already with al. Subconsciously we know we need to do that...the key is to do it in a healthful manner with meditative disciplines and not toxins.