A friend’s son recently moved back home so that he could afford to go back to school. He would often leave the kitchen a mess after making a meal. Once they had a conversation about the importance of cleaning up after yourself so everyone could enjoy the space, they have been able to enjoy time together with few disagreements. He recognizes the importance of cleaning up after himself and keeping the shared space enjoyable!

Kathy Watson

The post Enjoy your living space appeared first on Your Better Life.

Fab Outlet

The long weekend is here and for most of us lucky west coasters -so is the beautiful weather! We teamed up with Fab Outlet in Vancouver, enjoy this 3 part series of hot designer summer looks, for less!

Daniela Butcura

The post summer swag appeared first on Your Better Life.

Food is meant to be enjoyed. It can be challenging to enjoy food and eat healthily. There are so many great meal plans out there, it can be hard to choose one. Start with one small change if you are not ready to make a significant shift. For example, this month, I’m going to work on incorporating more fibre into my diet. Where a friend of mine is working on decreasing the amount of sugar she consumes in a day. What is one controllable, achievable change that you can apply to your diet to make it healthier?

Kathy Watson

The post eating healthy is hard! appeared first on Your Better Life.

Energy, it’s something everyone needs at some point in the day. When I have that mid-day crash, I reach for my oils. So many essential oils have uplifting and energizing benefits. I love doing a drop of a citrus oil (wild orange) and an drop of mint oil (peppermint) into the palm of my hands. I cup my hands around my nose with my eyes shut and just take 3 deep inhales. Your senses get awakened. I then rub the back of my neck with my hands and get the cooling feeling. I find this is a great pick me up halfway through the day or even first thing in the morning!

Ryley Pinton

The post Energy appeared first on Your Better Life.

Give yourself three positive affirmations a day. Start with one at each meal. Positive affirmations can help you feel more successful and develop a stronger self image.

Kathy Watson

The post Evoke Strength and Success appeared first on Your Better Life.

Inspired by the iconic marble statue the Venus to Milo cocktail unites both establishments, MARBL restaurant and Mademoiselle Champagne Bar.

This elegant champagne cocktail combines notes of chamomile, citrus, spice and earl grey offering a refreshing palette teaser, to begin your dining experience.

Shaken to perfection with some edible flowers as a finale touch, I have to say this was one of my favourite drinks.

Ingredients:

• Tanqueray 10

• Cocchi Rosa

• Oleo Saccharum

• Sparkling

• Earl grey mist

Daniela Butcura

The post Venus De Milo appeared first on Your Better Life.

It started as a typical day of plans, then later, checked to see about some company to a musical event. In this, I failed to connect with that person.

Then I tried to go to dinner at a friend’s restaurant and catch up on news, only to find debris stacked in the parking lot as major renovations were taking shape. I again had failed to connect with that person.

I decided after two no-go initiatives, to dine at a bistro that I had not frequented for a few months and, in a “meant to be” serendipitous moment, ended up sitting at a table next to Tom and Kathy Watson. How cool is that?

My intent here is to explain that while people recognize this type of occurrence as lucky or by chance. I believe that we came together because we all have an unseen connection in the natural order.

Another example is, as Canadians, we like to think of ourselves as automatically connected to the outdoors because of its abundance and beauty.

Even as massive shifts are happening in our lives and the world order, we, the people, flock to oceans, lakes, forests, mountains, green spaces, campgrounds and gardens at every available moment as we all feel the connection to nature and the need to relax.

When we come back to our daily lives, we often look to relax with technology, a far cry from the call of a loon on a calm lake and the smell of the forest.

The good news here is that thanks to the work of Tom, Kathy and some incredibly connected people, we can all learn how to use simple basic tools to bring the natural connection into our everyday lives, even while at work.

These tools help us build resiliency, handle rapid change, and show us how to relax under pressure. Of course, some lush green plants give us a focal point that can be enjoyed all day.

The net result is that with these connections, our entire outlook begins to improve, and we are happier by nature.

Gerald Austin

The post Everything is Connected – Naturally appeared first on Your Better Life.

Visualizing the outcome can help you picture your next steps. Whether it be a project you are working on or a relationship that you would like to strengthen, visualizing can provide encouragement.

Kathy Watson

The post Visualize an Outcome You Would Like appeared first on Your Better Life.

If you’ve seen the movie “Semi-Pro,” you’ll know that everyone on the “Flint Tropics” basketball team doesn’t get along. So what does the main character Jackie Moon come up with? “Everybody Love Everybody!” Comedy or not, what a great slogan that we should all implement into our lives.

Daniela Butcura

The post everybody love everybody appeared first on Your Better Life.

Do you self-sabotage? Do you sometimes do the reverse of what you know you should be doing? Why? You know what to do, right? Neuroscience brings lights on this matter. Here are two parts of the brains that I will use to explain how it works.

THE LOGICAL MIND

We use our logical mind on the surface in our day-to-day. Your logical mind is the voice you hear in your head all the time. The one you use to make decisions. We give our logical mind lots of responsibilities and place lots of hope on the extent of its power. The logical mind can process an average of five to nine pieces of information at the same time. While you are reading this book, you are likely also able to notice an average of seven other things.

Have you ever noticed when you are driving to a new address, as you come closer and start looking at the civic numbers on doors, you need to lower the volume of the radio in your car? Somehow, your ‘five to nine’ pieces of information juggled by your logical mind get filled up very quickly. As you are driving, with the foot on the brake/accelerator, noticing the red light ahead, the child about to cross the street and the weird guy in the car next to yours, somehow, doing all of this at the same time puts ‘the music’ into the one-too-many category, as you are adding the act of ‘looking at the numbers on the houses’ to all the other actions of that moment.

In light of this fact, knowing that we are restricted to handling only a few things at once, we may be tempted to dismiss the power of our mind. However, the logical mind is just the tip of the iceberg.

According to the research of Dr Raj Rahunathan Ph.D., we generate between 12,000 and 50,000 thoughts per day. Unfortunately, up to 70% of these thoughts are negative. We wonder what is wrong with us. Why is everybody else successful except us? We tell ourselves we are probably not good enough. We think everyone is better and knows more than us. Sadly.

“Who would want to be your friend if you talked to them the same way you talk to yourself?” – Unknown

Our logic might not be that great after all, right? The good news is that the voices inside your head can be reprogrammed when you discover and start connecting with the second part of your mind.

Vince Poscente created a great analogy on the subject. Somehow, you are like an ant bringing food to its shelter. Working tirelessly, feeling that you are doing everything right, plugging away with your logical mind and yet, you don’t see the results you want. You are focused on your goal however, even if you are going steady in one direction, if you don’t realize that you are like an ant going in one direction but standing on top of an elephant that is walking the opposite way of where you want to go, you will keep getting further away from your goal with giant steps. So, do you think the ant should step off the elephant’s back? No, not at all! It should stay on the elephant and instead, it should ask the elephant: “Hey buddy, would you turn around? I would like to go in the other direction please.” By doing so, with the help of the elephant, the ant will get there exponentially faster. Otherwise, your dedicated steps towards your goal will be in vein if you only rely on your logical mind.

The next part of the brain I am about to introduce, is like the elephant, with so much more power.

THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND

While the logical mind is busy with tiny steps, working hard and also talking down to you, the unconscious mind is working efficiently and understanding everything, down in the deep structure of your Self. The unconscious mind can handle over two million pieces of information every second, (while our little logical mind was only able to manage seven, on average).

Everything you have seen, done, thought, heard and felt is organized in your deeper structure waiting for your recall. Your unconscious mind considers everything. It reads all the signs and advertising while you drive to work. It hears every conversation around you, whether you are paying attention or not. It feels all the non-verbal signs that others are communicating with you without their knowledge. It captures all the “behind the scenes” detail that the logical mind misses. It takes all the info, it deletes, distorts and filters everything to create your model of reality.

Your unconscious mind has so much information for you. You have everything you need inside yourself. You got this. The problem is that people are not trained to think with their unconscious mind.

When you send your unconscious mind on a mission, it keeps working for you in the background as you continue to live your life. It makes sure that things happen well for you. You can use your unconscious mind like you would use a personal assistant. Read the next article What if You Had a Personal Assistant 24/7? to find out how to talk to your Elephant.

Nathalie Plamondon-Thomas

The post erase bad thoughts! appeared first on Your Better Life.