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Good In Motion

By Sinem Bilen Onabanjo
13 July 2019   |   3:21 am
There’S so much filth, evil and misery in the world that instinctively I’ve spent the last few months reading books on all things light and bright. Think hygge, think happiness, think good, I would have read at least one book on the title. The most recent one, a Turkish book entitled Good in Motion. “Look…

mental health Photo:Pixabay

There’S so much filth, evil and misery in the world that instinctively I’ve spent the last few months reading books on all things light and bright. Think hygge, think happiness, think good, I would have read at least one book on the title. The most recent one, a Turkish book entitled Good in Motion.

“Look around you,” urges Metin Hara, the writer in the foreword, “All those whom you know and love have scars… People are unhappy. It’s as if we’ve forgotten what’s more important. Adults who waste happiness and time on making money perhaps pay the biggest price by betraying their nature.”

He suggests healing our own cars and in turn healing those of others with ‘good in motion’ – micro-moves one can perform in seven key areas of life: physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, relationships, ecology, productivity, inner journey, good in action. His claim is that small steps in these areas lead to great change.

As he breaks down the small steps, or as he calls them ‘micro-moves’, into seven key areas, let’s look at the top tips in each.

Take a walk down your street
Put on your walking shoes and go for a touristic stroll in your neighbourhood. Pay attention to places you may have walked past a thousand times, discover new places. To get out of habit every now and again, will broaden your horizon, help your brain perform better and activate the happiness hormones.

Give thanks
You don’t need a reason to give thanks at all. First thank yourself, then to everyone and everything around you. Gratitude doesn’t just strengthen relationships it also increases productivity. A grateful heart also accounts for overall good health. According to research, the two little words ‘thank you’ fire up the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn slows the stress response by releasing hormones that relax the mind and body while inhibiting, or slowing, many of the high energy functions of the body.

Disconnect to reconnect
Switch off your mobile phone for 30 minutes every day. Instead of focusing on the screen in your hand, you can focus your attention on what’s going on around you. The 30 minutes you’ll be saving disconnecting from your phone, you can instead use to re-connect with friends and family in meaningful ways that go beyond likes and follows.

Think before you speak
Before you speak, ask yourself – are you speaking to hurt someone or to win an argument, or to express yourself? Practice conscious speaking and choose your words with care. Before you speak a word, consider how it will make the other person feel.

Single-task
Avoid multi-tasking at all costs. According to research, the brain can concentrate on one activity at a time, and when faced with distractions, its performance falters. Turn off the notifications from apps you don’t really need, close the tabs on your browser when you’re working on something that’ll require your full attention. Focus on the job at hand so you can complete it fast and effectively.

Declutter
Get rid of anything that no longer serves you. Everything has energy. Life is the whole of energies at different vibrations where like attracts like. Harmonious living is possible through harnessing like energy. For this reason, it’s crucial to remove from your life any source of energy that no longer serves you or makes you happy.

Don’t be a waste man
Try reducing your daily waste. According to research, an urban dweller produces 1kg of waste daily. While ruining the rural landscape, food waste decay produces methane gas which has 23 times bigger impact on global warming than carbon emissions. Try to break or at least reduce the impact of this vicious circle by changing your habits.

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