Here’s our list of things you can do on a regular basis to raise your personal vibration. Why raise your vibration at all? Because much of the current research, as well as the perennial teachings from nearly every spiritual background, indicate that at a higher vibration you are more likely to experience well-being in terms of your body, mind, and spirit, and with your overall quality of life. And isn’t that what we all want, really?

Exactly whose research am I citing? Well, among others, Lynne McTaggart, an American, award-winning, investigative journalist who did extensive research in this area. Her book, “The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe” is a well-researched look at the leading edge of consciousness research. It overlaps with much of the information that is coming out of quantum physics. Some other consciousness researchers include Cleve Backster, Jacques Benveniste, William Braud, Bob Jahn, Edgar Mitchell, Elisabeth Targ, and Charles Tart.

What this research tells us is that our beliefs, thoughts, behavior,
repetitive activities, and lifestyle choices have a direct bearing on the
quality of our personal vibration. And our personal vibration directly
affects the quality of our life, as well as our perception and mood.
More than that, over time it alters our brain chemistry.

Here, truly, is a viable alternative to anti-depressants and anti-anxiety
medicines. And that’s just for starters. If we want to increase our capacity
for joy, wisdom, peace of mind, meaning, fulfillment, authentic power, harmony, creativity, and love (!), we need only raise our personal vibration.

In an effort to be totally transparent, I’ll share with you that I’m a
student of this list myself. Being a “student of ” is just another way of
saying that it’s a work in progress. I certainly don’t attend to or
practice everything on this list, all the time. Not even close. I’m lucky if
I can incorporate a few of these things, some of the time. But it helps … a
lot … to be aware of these things, and aware that my goal is to continually
raise my personal vibration as much as possible.

Now, this is not intended as a definitive list. You may have other things on
your own list. If so, let us know. If we agree with your suggestions, we’ll
add them to this list so that others might benefit from it.

And it’s not an all-or-nothing list. You can do just some of these things,
some of the time, and still derive benefit. Nor is it a list to adhere to
slavishly. Use it in a way that appeals to you. Have fun with it. Enjoy it.
And watch your life blossom in ways you may not even imagine …

• Meditate
• Pray
• Exercise
• Eat healthy food & drink purified water
• Do breathing exercises
• Enjoy a spiritual practice
• Practice forgiveness
• Access inspiring images, music and readings
• Practice generosity
• Use visualizations and the power of imagination
• Cultivate a positive attitude and outlook
• Manage your time and simplify your life
• Practice gratitude
• Seek truth and beauty all around you, no matter your circumstances
• Use non-violent communication
• Nurture your body
• Get enough sleep
• Chronicle your personal growth in an ongoing journal
• Practice relaxation
• Reduce your stress
• Enjoy the nurturing and healing aspects of nature
• Use your voice to sing, hum and make toning sounds
• Practice kindness
• Upgrade your beliefs
• Learn more about and access energy medicine
• Observe and express your emotions in healthy ways
• Celebrate the increasing synchronicities in your life
• Get adequate support
• Be happy for no reason
• Nurture your friendships and enjoy your social life
• Be impeccably honest
• Open to pleasure, play and laughter
• Be of service
• Practice lifelong learning
• Be in and around water … at home, and especially in nature
• Do work that you love and love your work
• Access the power of intention
• Use the law of attraction
• Open to receiving
• Focus on joy and compassion
• Practice right action
• Offer love in all you do

Are you a little overwhelmed with this list? Well, yeaaaah!

But don’t worry. In the weeks and months to come, along with my regular
exploration of wellness concepts, tips and techniques, I’ll be writing in my
blog about ways to raise your personal vibration.

Please join us on a regular basis and be sure to tell your friends and
colleagues about Wellbeing Lifestyles™. We have well-researched wellness
information (much of it is free!) that can change your life … for good!

I have a new fascination, and apparently millions of other people do too. I’ve been consumed of late with Mad Men, the television program that has won three Golden Globes and nine Emmys so far including back-to-back Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series. Now, having me comment on any TV program at all is ironic, since I turned off my television 17 years ago and I’m not connected to cable.

Normally I have no interest in watching TV. But I do have a Netflix account and the first few seasons of Mad Men are available, three episodes at a time, via DVD.

(Here’s one of three facts regarding depression that you’ll find embedded in this blog post. Did you know that watching entertainment TV can be a cause of depression? It’s true. Well-founded research has shown that those mindless sitcoms and reality shows that take up so much of our time tend to lull our frontal lobes into a passive mode that can become a marker for depression.

Actually, one marker alone probably won’t result in depression…it generally requires four or more. But please take note: if you’re using up one of your markers to occasionally watch a good film or a selected television drama or even a PBS special, it may require you to be more vigilant in other areas of your life.)

So then, what renders Mad Men still worth watching for me?  Well, the content, writing, casting and acting are all excellent. In fact, in my humble opinion, they’re far better and more engaging than that found in most TV programs…maybe any other since Thirty Something was a hit 20 years ago when I was still partaking of the tube. Simply put, it’s a well conceived and executed series…that’s why it keeps winning awards.

But there’s more to it than that. Mad Men uniquely offers a well wrought glimpse at our changing cultural values and perceptions over the past half century, particularly those related to women and men, and how we relate. That’s why I’m willing…no, driven…to sit and watch.

For those of you not yet smitten, Mad Men is about the male-dominated advertising scene in New York during the early 1960’s. “Mad men” was apparently a self-descriptive term that they themselves coined. Watching this program is like encountering a hermetically-sealed time capsule from that period with all its sexism, racism, homophobia, lack of health awareness, and other Eisenhower-era beliefs blatantly and unselfconsciously still intact. It’s chock-a-block full of the cultural and perceptual detritus of “pre-enlightened” America.

Everyone in Mad Men is smoking cigarettes, drinking hard liquor, driving without seat belts and letting their young children play with those plastic bags that come from the dry cleaners. (Smoking cigarettes and imbibing alcohol are two more markers for depression – for some individuals that includes the “red wine with food” that is so widely touted these days as being heart-healthy. Alcohol is, after all, a depressant.)

I stare at the screen in disbelief as a pregnant mother interrupts her chain smoking just long enough to take another sip of her wine. I shudder at the Leave It To Beaver-styled family mentalities. I wonder at the husband who calls his wife’s psychiatrist to get a confidentiality-violating update on her progress – did that really happen back then?!? And yes, it’s most often the women who pay an emotional price for all the chauvinistic madness in the 1960’s, especially in the New York ad industry as depicted in this series.

But the times they were a changin’.  As I watch (I’ve just finished the first season), I wonder what will happen as some of the new influences of the sixties begin to take effect – like the sexual revolution, the women’s movement, the civil rights movement, the very beginnings of the gay/lesbian movements, as well as our growing health-related and social awareness.

More importantly, I wonder what we, the audience, will learn about ourselves as we parse this fictional, yet revealing chronicle of our not-so-long-ago cultural past. How much have we really changed…and where are we still stuck in our own self-limiting beliefs?