Health

Without integrity we are nothing. It’s the foundation of trust. Now you can have varying degrees of integrity, but if those degrees don’t line up between partners, friends or spouses the relationship will fail. – Dad

You can close your eyes to the things you don’t want to see, but you can’t close your heart to the things you don’t want to feel. – Johnny Depp

In Tibetan Buddhism there is a concept that is known as “Shenpa”, meaning attachment or a place where we get either hooked or stuck. For example an urge comes up we succumb to it, and it becomes stronger. We reinforce our craving, habits and addictions by giving in to them repeatedly. Triggers if you will. Things that set you off are your shenpas. Mindfulness is the antidote to a shenpa. – Pema Chodron

How to reduce insulin levels – Jason Fung

• Limit added sugars
• Don’t eat snacks
• Don’t always eat breakfast
• Eat whole unprocessed foods
• Stay away from sugared drinks.
• Coffee/Tea/Red Wine is good
• Dark chocolate (70% cacao) is good
• Bone broth is good
• Reduce consumption of refined (processed) grains (flour, breads, pastas, cakes, muffins).
• Moderate protein consumption (20%-30% of daily diet).
• Increase consumption of natural fats (olive oils, butter, avocado oil, nuts, full fat dairy).
• Increase consumption of protective factors (fiber, fruits, beans, seeds, vinegar,)

HRV measures the different intervals between your heartbeats over time. So while heart rate records your beats per minute (bpm), HRV tracks the variance in your bpm. In general, you want to see a higher HRV, which means that your body is more capable of adjusting to and recovering from stressors. It’s a sign that your nervous system is in good health and responsive to environmental demands. Low HRV, on the other hand, typically means that either the sympathetic or parasympathetic branch (usually the former) is dominating. This could indicate a lack of sleep, dehydration, or illness. HRV also tends to decline with age. – Maria Teresa

Today I attended a presentation of four entrepreneurs who each overcame a monumental challenge in their lives before achieving success. Those challenges individually were sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction and attempted suicide. The lesson here is that we get to choose how we process extreme trauma. We can either lay down and let it steamroll us or we can use the experience as fuel and further our personal development. – Dad