Many studies show that practicing gratitude provides us with a sense of overall well-being. It can also reduce depression and anxiety, lower our risk of disease, and flood the brain with feel-good chemicals like serotonin.

In the midst of our chaotic lives, a daily gratitude practice can help us maintain a steady sense of calm and happiness.

The benefits of a gratitude practice will extend far beyond your health. It will enhance the quality of your life experiences as your ability to be aware of and engaged with what is real and true in each person you encounter and in each moment you live expands to both difficult times and in happy ones.

Like other areas of the body, your mouth teems with bacteria — mostly harmless. But your mouth is the entry point to your digestive and respiratory tracts, and some of these bacteria can cause disease.

Certain medications — such as decongestants, antihistamines, painkillers, diuretics and antidepressants — can reduce saliva flow. Saliva washes away food and neutralizes acids produced by bacteria in the mouth, helping to protect you from microbes that multiply and lead to disease.

Studies suggest that oral bacteria and the inflammation associated with a severe form of gum disease (periodontitis) might play a role in some diseases. And certain diseases, such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS, can lower the body’s resistance to infection, making oral health problems more severe.

To protect your overall health and wellness, practice good oral hygiene daily.

• Brush your teeth at least twice a day with a soft-bristled brush using fluoride toothpaste.
• Floss daily.
• Use mouthwash to remove food particles left after brushing and flossing.
• Eat a healthy diet and limit food with added sugars.
• Replace your toothbrush every three months or sooner if bristles are splayed or worn.
• Schedule regular dental checkups and cleanings.
• Avoid tobacco use.

Also, contact your dentist as soon as an oral health problem arises. Taking care of your oral health is an investment in your overall health.

When we heat certain plastics or put hot items in contact with them – heated food for example – harmful chemicals are released and can even penetrate the food being stored, eventually making its way into our human bodies upon consumption of the item. These harmful chemicals have been linked to certain cancers, endometriosis, neurological damage, endocrine disruption, birth defects and child developmental disorders, reproductive damage, immune damage, asthma, and multiple organ damage. In many situations, we can reduce these exposures by replacing plastic food storage containers with glass or ceramic or seeking plastic alternatives proven not to be harmful for your desired purposes.

One of plastic’s most desirable traits—its durability and resistance to decomposition—is also the source of one of its greatest problems when it comes to disposal. Nature has a very difficult time breaking down the synthetic chemical bonds in plastic, creating the tremendous problem of its persistence. A very small amount of total plastic production (less than 10%) is effectively recycled; the remaining plastic is sent to landfills, where it is destined to remain for hundreds of thousands of years, or to incinerators, where its toxic compounds are spewed throughout the atmosphere to be accumulated throughout the surrounding ecosystems.Take a few extra minutes to sort your plastics and look for local recycling facilities that can help you properly dispose of unused and unwanted plastic materials before just throwing them in your regular garbage can

Need some suggestions for how to engage and use your mind to stimulate your intellectual health and wellness?

1. Look (or ask) around for locally offered adult education classes or wellness programs in your community. Your local school or adult education departments, chamber of commerce, cooperative extension or community colleges might be a great place to begin exploring. Our local recreation departments also offer adult “field trips” and programs that provide learning AND fitness!

2. Search online for learning videos or webinars on any topic of interest to you. You can find online video learning at no or low cost, but be certain that what you are watching or reading comes from a reputable source. Many companies and organizations have a database of videos on their website or a YouTube channel with archives you can view.

Not sure what you might be interested in learning or limited on time? Here are a few reputable sites dedicated to online learning in smaller segments

Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Their mission is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. They offer a wide range of classes in short video segments.

TED Talks (www.ted.com) is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). They cover almost all topics — from science to business to global issues. You can plug in a few of your interests and they will curate a list of suggestions for you!

By breaking major goals into smaller bite-sized daily goals, you know the concrete steps you need to take every day rather than feeling overwhelmed by the huge goal.

Each day is made up of several of these small tasks. So whether that’s practicing a skill, completing part of a larger project, or hitting a daily quota at the office, with the right daily goals, you’re building momentum and getting closer to reaching your larger goals every single day.

Daily goals force us to think in terms of concrete action steps, rather than just lofty goals. For example, committing to write every day, even if it’s just a page or a paragraph or two, is better than just having a big goal to write a novel. The basic idea is to get you moving toward your goal on a daily basis.

There is a limit to the number of daily goals you can realistically accomplish. That’s a good thing because it forces us to decide what really matters. Clear out the clutter and isolate what it is you really want to accomplish. The longer your list, the less likely you’ll accomplish any of them.

Daily goals must be limited in time. We can’t have three daily goals that each take several hours. It’s not realistic. Mini-goals are powerful when repeated daily, though. They can be related to your finances, health, relationships, or any area of your life. Because mini-goals are achievable, you increase the likelihood of accomplishing them and making progress toward larger goals.

Need help keeping track of your short list of daily goals? Download and print a free checklist template here: organized31.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Daily-To-Do-Checklist.pdf

Despite all that is known about the harms of sugar, the average American consumes 17 teaspoons (68 grams) a day! The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of added sugars you consume. So how much should we have? Whether it’s a natural sweetener or not, women and children (ages 2-18) should aim to consume no more than 6 teaspoons (or 24 grams) per day and men should limit their sugar consumption to no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams) per day.

Today, we challenge you to pause on your sugar/sweets intake to take a good hard look at your relationship with sugar. How much do you normally consume? Do you have a realistic idea? It’s in so many of the prepared foods and beverages that we consume and comes in so many different forms, so it can be VERY difficult to rein in. You may not even fully grasp how much sugar you are consuming. Food tracking apps like My Fitness Pal and SparkPeople are great for getting a baseline on your typical day. Track everything you eat for a few days and the app will tell you EXACTLY how much sugar content it had. Give the nutrition labels on some of the snack foods you regularly eat a little check. As a point of reference, 4 grams of sugar on a nutrition label equals 1 teaspoon. How much sugar do the foods you regularly consume contain? Are you surprised?

Practicing yoga regularly provides a host of benefits, even if you only do it once a week. There is much research being done to better quantify these positive health & wellness impacts, but we don’t need research to tell us that moving more is almost always linked to improved health and wellness outcomes.

It doesn’t have to be a full, formal yoga workout or in a class environment if you are uncomfortable or find it cost-prohibitive. You can create a practice of yoga right in your own home thanks to technology. The following video has some additional information as well as some basics to help get you started!

VIDEO LINK: What are the Benefits of Yoga?

All parents are excited when their children say their first words, but it’s equally important that they listen when parents give instruction or warning. Terrible listening skills start young as toddlers run off with parents calling “STOP!” from behind. It continues through the teenage years with eye rolls and the zoned out/glazed eye stare as mom or dad provide life lessons from their own experiences. Technology drags our eyes downward as early as elementary school and continues long into adulthood – distracting us as we make weak nods of acknowledgement and provide little eye contact to the person speaking.

We might think we listen, yet we do not always “attend” to the person who is speaking to us. We are too busy doing other things or even thinking about things while others are talking to us! How many times do you catch yourself holding onto judgments, opinions, or even beliefs about someone or something that is being said – while they are talking! How good of a listener are you? Want to know for sure? Ask the people closest to you. Don’t get upset if they tell you areas for improvement. Use it as a starting point for a positive change!

When you take a look at your office desk or home office areas, what do you see? Are there papers sprawled everywhere? Lingering trash? Or is there simply nothing but blank walls and empty desk space?

Creating and maintaining a healthy workspace is about more than just getting rid of some clutter. It’s about creating a space that promotes healthy habits and helps you feel comfortable and calm throughout your workday. If your workspace makes you feel anything but zen, it might be time for a little makeover.

Each of us prefers his or her own style of organized workspace, but here are a few tips to get you started:

• Start with sanitation. Wipe down and disinfect desk tops, keyboards, computer mice and phones. Try to regularly rid your desk of the germs that can gather there.
• Get rid of clutter. Old papers, dirty coffee mugs, and extra, useless supplies shouldn’t have a home at your workspace.
• Don’t forget what you can’t see. Sometimes having a junk drawer is just unavoidable. That doesn’t mean every one of your desk drawers should be a junk drawer, though.
• Don’t overdo it. You need to be comfortable at your workspace. If it’s too clean or organized, and you feel like you can’t actually do work, you’ve gone too far.
• Organize both physically and virtually. In most workplaces, a computer is a vital part of your workspace. Clean up and organize your digital files, too.
• Do this regularly. Creating a clean workspace isn’t a one and done event. As you continue your work, your desk will probably get messy again.
• Personalize your workspace. If you are allowed to, customize your workspace by bringing in personal items/décor or integrating colors that bring you joy.

The effects of stress caused by negativity include poor sleep, high blood pressure, heart disease, poor digestion, stomach aches, headaches, and a compromised immune system.

Stress, anger, negativity, and fear all engage the amygdala producing a fight-or-flight response and when the nervous system is in “fight-or-flight,” the body’s self-repair mechanisms don’t function properly and the body is predisposed to illness.

In essence, a negative approach to the world around you can make you more susceptible to the harmful viruses and bacteria you encounter.

New scientific studies indicate that negativity’s impact on our stress response can actually decrease our lifespan by shortening our telomeres (the “end caps” of our DNA strands, which play a big role in aging).