1. Boost Mood and Calm

Research published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology in 2015 found that indoor plants can make you feel more comfortable and soothing. Specifically the study found that an indoor gardening task such as repotting a house plant lowered stress response. In contrast, a computer task project caused a spike in heart rate and blood pressure even though participants were young men who were very experienced with computer work. Researchers concluded that indoor plants help reduce physiological and psychological stress. Horticulture therapy has been around for many centuries. A story published on the Manchester England website discussed the benefits of doctors prescribing plant therapy to patients with symptoms of depression or anxiety. So with remote work here to stay, we can follow the example of Manchester, England, and use horticulture therapy to help us thrive better in our home offices.

2. Sharpen Attention and Focus

In a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research on Public Health in 2019, researchers found that having real plants in study spaces helps students be more attentive and concentrate better. Brain scans of participants in the study showed that the students who studied with live plants were more attentive and better able to concentrate than students without a real plant. But importantly, it must be be a real plant, not a fake plant or photo of a plant. So a bromeliad may be one of the best study aids to put in your workspace to help increase focus and attention.

3. Improve Productivity and Creativity

Many studies have found that plants in the workspace increase both productivity and creativity. One study frequently cited is a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Horticulture in 1996. The study found the people working in a computer lab  12% faster and were less stressed when there was a live plant nearby. In another study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology in 2004, researchers challenged students to make creative word associations. The scientific evidence supports that having alive indoor plant in a workspace can improve productivity and creativity. So putting a plant near your study or work space can help increase your creativity and productivity.

4. Improve Brain Health

Many studies have shown that surrounding yourself with greenery and house plants can improve the white and gray matter in your brain. A recent article in the International Journal of Environmental Horticulture found that plants have far reaching benefits for mental health, including reduced anxiety and stress, decreased depression, enhanced memory retention, increased creativity, and improved self-esteem. Being around plant life, whether indoors or outdoors, can help improve our psychological and cognitive well being, which may help to more happiness and life satisfaction.

Thrive More with Indoor Plants

There are many self-care ways to fight the negative impact of the pandemic and adjust to more remote working. One of the simplest, proven ways to thrive more is to add indoor plants to your remote workspace. Imagine a bookshelf with a cute family of plant friends that makes you smile. Or imagine a favorite plant friend always near your computer workspace, helping you stay calm and focused. Or imagine a big, beautiful plant in the corner of your room oozing feel-good positive vibes.

Easy Solutions to Order Plants Online

In today’s remote work environment, there is a lot more shopping online, even for house plants. You can view plants, make your selections, purchase with a credit card, and have them shipped directly to your home. Most online retailers package the plants in protective layers and use expedited shipping to ensure safe arrival. One of my favorite online plant retailers is called The Sill. You can sign up for their newsletter and get discounts and tips and even sign up for a monthly plant purchase plan.  You can also enjoy browsing for plants at  your local plant nursery shop. My favorite local plant therapy store in Fort Worth is called Grow Plant Shop which also provides online shopping

Believe in the power of plants to help you thrive more.  Have fun browsing plants online or at your local nursery and treat yourself to a new plant buddy today.

Live Well with Zest!

Cheers,

Bev

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“The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than discovery of a new star.” Anthelme Brillat-Savarin—

Food is a joyful part of holidays and life’s celebrations. But there are many small ways to find joy and happiness in food every day. All we have to do is take time to savor “food moments” each day.  For example, appreciate everything from creating a new recipe to sharing a cup of warm cocoa with a loved one, to joining friends and family at life’s celebration meals. Food is a source of daily joy that contributes much more to human happiness than we give it credit. To quote a famous foodie, the French epicure and gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, “The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star.”

Here are five fun and easy ways to find joy in food.

1. Let Go of Expectations

Try a new recipe or add a new ingredient to a recipe that inspires you. Don’t worry whether your recipe ends up looking like the picture on the box or in the magazine. Enjoy the creative process and let it unfold.  Invite a few friends over for brunch and don’t obsess over the souffle. You’ll be amazed at how great the food tastes when you focus on friends, family, and good conversation.

2. Embrace Each Moment

Whether it’s cooking, or pretty much anything else in life, the best results come when we enjoy the moments along the way. Finding pleasure in food means taking the time to enjoy the cooking process and not just the end result. When you focus on the joy of each step of preparing food, the dish always tastes better in the end.

3. Keep It Simple

Sometimes the best dishes are those with the fewest ingredients. Sriracha, peppercorn, garlic, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, are a few tasty yet simple ingredients that can add amazing flavor and zest to dozens of dishes. Enjoy the simple ways to add more taste and zest to foods you eat each day.

4. Make It Pretty

A few cinnamon sprinkles or a dollop of whipped cream can make even the most basic dishes more appetizing. Cooking and baking should embrace all the senses. A lit candle or pretty dish towels are simple, inexpensive ways to make your kitchen more inviting.

5. Share the Love

Food is always more enjoyable when it is shared.  Participating in potlucks, baking for a sick neighbor or donating food to a charity are simple ways to share food, joy, and a part of yourself with others.  When you pour your love into your food, others will enjoy it all the more too.

I hope you try a few of these ways to experience more joy in food each day!

Enjoy and Live Well with Zest!

Bev xo

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Irish Influence in My Life–

Throughout my life I’ve met many people with a mix of Irish heritage in our American ethnic melting pot. When I was a child in Catholic School, many kids in my classes had an O’ name like O’Malley. When I was a young a professional working in Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, my Irish American colleagues would introduce me to their favorite Irish pubs to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. All Americans are Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! Later in my career, I worked with Irish colleagues on global project teams and made numerous business trips to Ireland.

Gift of the Irish

Looking back, the funny coincidence is that virtually all of my “Irish” friends and colleagues made me laugh more than most people. Laughter was just in them, turned on high. They didn’t force being funny by telling a joke, they couldn’t help it—they carried a natural sense of humor. Laughter just spilled out of them with a bubbling effervescence that made me smile and added joy to my day.

Lessons from the Irish

I have wondered if the “Irish” sense of humor comes from Nature- in their genes, or from nurture– their cultural heritage. Wherever it comes from, I am grateful for the extra dose of laughter and levity I feel whenever I’m around “Irish” folks. They’ve taught me that no matter how rough things might be, a little levity and laughter helps make you feel better so you can deal with the day to day challenges of life more easily. The Irish must have known for centuries, long before the Industrial Age and discoveries in modern science, that good laughter and good sleep are not only essential to human survival but are also necessary for thriving and living a healthy, happy life.

Laughter is Medicine

This Irish proverb “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything” reminds me that “laughter is medicine.” Laughter not only helps a single person feel better, but it’s so contagious that it can help an entire group of people feel better. And the benefit of laughter spreads and it keeps spreading. It can literally boost the immune system of an entire community.

A day full of laughter is like giving the body physical and mental exercise. You can’t help but feel happily tired and have good sleep after a daily “laughter workout” So get your daily dose of laughter, wake up well rested, smiling, and spread laughter medicine–and then do it all over again. Take a page out of the Irish Proverbs and their secret to a happy, healthy life—and live well with west!

Live Well with Zest!
Bev xo

Written by Bev Hope

The post Daily Medicine: Laugh, Relax and Enjoy Life! appeared first on Well with Zest.

“One kind word can warm three winter months.” Japanese Proverb–

One of my favorite Japanese proverbs goes, “One kind word can warm three winter months.” We know kind words can have a lasting impact. But kind words can do much more—they can affect a person’s entire life without our even knowing it. The proverb should probably go, “One kind word can warm the coldest nights for an entire life”.

Kindness Matters

Kindness really matters. It is at the heart of what we need to live happier lives and to make the world a better place.  Kindness invokes positivity in one person that can spread to others like wildflowers. Philosophically, kindness is like an energy or “angel dust” that can ignite positivity and progress across the entire planet. Scientifically there are physical and mental benefits we gain from small acts of kindness.

5 Physical and Mental Benefits of Kindness

1. Ease Anxiety

Feeling anxious is something we all face from time to time. But chronic anxiety is debilitating and needs to be managed. One way to help reduce anxiety is by providing inspiration and motivation to others through intentional acts of kindness. Next time you are feeling anxious, do something nice for someone and see how your mood changes from worry to happy.

2. Illness Prevention

Inflammation is associated with a variety of chronic health problems including cancer, chronic pain, diabetes, migraines, and obesity and many more health problems. In a recent study comprised of adults between the ages of 57 and 85, volunteering equated to lower inflammation levels due to the release of oxytocin (a social bonding hormone) in the body. When we intentionally do something kind for others, such as volunteering for a charity, we are releasing chemicals that can ease inflammation in our own bodies. The power of kindness is one of the keys to living a happier and healthier life–and a more socially engaged life.

3. Longer Life

People who do not maintain a strong network of relatives and friends have a higher risk of heart disease. Kindness is key to developing and maintaining meaningful close relationships with friends, family, community and colleagues. Feeling connected to people we care about gives us purpose and is an essential ingredient to living a happy, healthy life. Being kind and staying connected helps us live longer.

4. Stress Reduction

Many of us are looking for ways to reduce stress in our fast-paced, hyperconnected, but yet more isolated lives. When we choose to do something kind, we turn off the stressful routines playing in our brains and turn on pro social routines that reduce emotional stress. Choosing kindness adds peace and calm and reduces the stress and inflammation in our bodies that makes us sick. A worthwhile goal in daily our lives is to make kindness virtually second nature in our interactions with others–in other words have kindness become a way of life for us. This will be good for our physical and mental health!

5. Kindness Spreads Wellness

When we give kindness, it spreads. It not only helps us live well with zest, it helps our circle of friends and countless other people live healthier happier lives. Spread kindness like wildflowers to improve your health and help improve lives across the whole planet.

Be Kind and Live Well with Zest!

Bev xo

Written by Bev Hope

Reviewed by Board Certified MD

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There’s some debate about this quote: the where, when, and who of it. The quote sounds like something Shaw would say, but it also reminds me of Eliza Doolittle, Shaw’s fictional character from Pygmalion (1912), and also in the musical spin-off, My Fair Lady (1956). I’ve always loved My Fair Lady because Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite actresses and she played Eliza perfectly. But it’s also one of my favorites because Eliza’s story is so universal–it’s the iconic journey of self-transformation. I’ve always been inspired by people, whether real or fictional, who have radically re-defined themselves, overcome extreme challenges and difficulties, moved past self-doubt or limiting beliefs, to achieve their dreams and find immense joy.

Lessons from Pygmalion: Create Yourself!

Long before there was George Bernard Shaw’s Cockney flower girl turned into a Fair Lady, there was the original Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. Pygmalion was a Cypriot sculptor, who carved the perfect woman out of stone. He named her Galatea, and then he fell so deeply in love with his creation that he begged the Greek goddess Aphrodite to give her life. Myths are stories that teach us universal lessons. Pygmalion teaches us we are all a work in process, we are creating our own Galatea. It’s up to us to sculpt ourselves and to love ourselves. We are our own creation to love!

Every day, we have decisions to make about who we are creating. We can allow the tragedies of life (deaths, loss, illness, disappointments all kinds) to harden us and turn us into cold stone. Or, we can follow the old adages and choose to live a vibrant full life:I can allow the tragedies of life harden me and make me into stone. Or I can Create My Dreams… Live Well with Zest!

• Create Your Dreams!
• Live Your Dreams!
• Be You!

For me, Shaw’s quote is a reminder to wake up every day and choose how we sculpt our own lives, how we create ourselves. It’s up to us to make the choices that will help us become our best self and live our best life. 

Be You! And Live Well with Zest!

Bev

xo

Written by Bev Hope

The post Be You! – Choose to Live Your Best Life appeared first on Well with Zest.

Ever since I had my first apartment, I’ve thought of house plants as friends or peaceful “roommates”. They filled an empty corner, added life to a room, accented the space with color and textures. House plants have always brought me beauty and joy and have always been an essential part of any room where I spend much time— either at home or at work.

While plants are beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, they also have numerous health benefits and serve many functional purposes too. They have many surprising benefits from helping us relax, adding humidity to the air, recycling carbon dioxide and more. Here’s more:

House Plants are Nature’s Ventilators

Did you know that incorporating house plants into your home or office can help combat what is referred to as “sick building syndrome.”?  That occurs when your indoor environment releases contaminants. These bad elements enter the air from carpets, copy machines, and a wide range of other sources. If the space isn’t ventilated well, then the contaminants can add up and cause health problems. The negative impacts can be sinus irritation, skin problems, headaches, fatigue, and nausea. But fortunately, house plants are natural ventilators. Adding plants to these areas can help cleanse the interior environment, reduce toxins being released, and the significantly lessen the risk of experiencing health-related issues.

Choose the Right House Plants

Choosing the right plants is essential— the ones that bring benefits and don’t add to any stress from their maintenance. Pick plants that will thrive when they’re living indoors in your climate. Select plants that do well living in warmer temperatures and don’t require a significant amount of sunlight. Under most circumstances, tropical plants including dracaenas, evergreens, peace lilies, and philodendrons do well in indoor environments.

House Plants that Support Your Health

• Aloe Vera: soothes sunburn and minor skin wounds
• Boston Fern removes indoor airborne pollutants
• Garden Mum: purifies the air
• Lavender and Jasmine: helps induce tranquility
• Spider Plant: removes xylene and formaldehyde from the air

Wellness Benefits of House Plants

My favorite benefits from house plants, besides bringing me beauty and joy, are helping me breath better air and feel relaxed. When you add indoor plants to your home or office, you are breathing better air. This is because many plants remove formaldehyde and benzene from the air. For example, the bromeliad plant is known for eliminating over 80% of six volatile compounds during a 12-hour time frame. Another plant, the Dracaena, will remove up to 94% of acetone from the air. Plants also reduce noise while simultaneously adding comfort by increasing the humidity in the air. They help reduce our stress and improve the environment’s sense of calmness.

I’ve learned a lot about the benefits of house plants since living in my first apartment. But my instincts were right— plants are good for us.  Add plants to your indoor spaces. They will be good “roommates” and help you live live well with zest!

Live Well with Zest!

Bev xo

Written by Bev Hope

The post Benefits of Living with House Plants appeared first on Well with Zest.

I’ve been running off and on for more than 4 decades. Over the years, my running routine has changed from  solo runs, to buddy runs, to group runs! Now every weekend, I see all kinds of running groups at running stores, trail heads, local parks and on running paths.  If you are out on Saturday mornings, you can’t miss seeing groups running together. Look for a tight knot of runners that bounds along as a pack, usually smiling or laughing even while they’re breaking a sweat. It makes sense, says an article in Women’s Running — spending time with friends is fun, and running can be too… so why wouldn’t you do both at the same time?

Some people are naturally attracted to joining running groups, but others shy away and avoid them. There are plenty of reasons people avoid running groups: the start time doesn’t work, the meeting place is inconvenient, the concern that nobody could possibly be as slow as you are, or you won’t know anyone, or you might get hurt trying to keep up just so you won’t be embarrassed. But reflecting back, there are far more benefits from running in a group than running alone.

Group vs. Solo Running

For all the turtle runners out there, take heart: no matter who you are, somebody else out there runs/walks/runs a mile at the same pace you do (or slower), and most groups have standing commitments to make sure every runner has at least one partner. I know because I was in one of those groups. Thankfully, I had lots of partners in my slower group. There were so many of us that our nickname was the “Thundering Herd”.

It’s thanks to that large “Thundering Herd” running group that I went from not believing to totally believing I could actually run a Half Marathon! I thought….’if all of these people can do it, then certainly I can too’.  But what was so amazing is that I experienced deeper change running with the “Thundering Herd”. I went from not only believing I could run a Half Marathon to exceeding my goal and completing a Full Marathon!

Joining a training group changed my life and my belief in what I was capable of doing as I aged. Group running was one of the most empowering choices I made. Better late than never because now I continue to run and train for long distance running goals and empower others to do the same too! I’ll never go back to solo running.

The Benefits Running Together 

Running (along with other forms of regular, steady aerobic exercise) is like a fountain of youth. Exercise is an essential component of staying fit as we age. When dealing with chronic health conditions, proper exercise helps keep them under control. Running releases stress, a major exacerbating trigger to most chronic diseases.  Natural body chemicals called endorphins are released when running. They help relax the body, enhance a sense of well-being, and reduce or eliminate muscle aches and pain.

Running also helps clear ‘cobwebs’ in your in head, so you feel refreshed and energized. It can even be a cancer preventative and a remedy even for major depressive disorders, according to studies in The Journal of Nutrition and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.  Movement is scientifically proven to be medicine for the body.

Motivating Accountability Partners

Despite the many health benefits of running, the hardest part of running is keeping up your motivation to stick with it! It’s especially challenging if you’re dealing with some form of a chronic health condition at the same time. It’s easy to give in, roll over and not get up to go on a run when you are training alone.

But when running in a group, it’s like having a whole team of accountability partners. It’s invaluable having other runners with you who know what you’re going through and can pick you up on the hard days. Running partners are a great inspiration when times get tough, especially when the weather is yucky. Then comes the joy of smooth, no-pain runs on beautiful clear sunny days with the same friends. The journey through “thick and thin” together is what gives group running a new level of meaning.

Running Groups and Training for Goals

Training for a goal, whether a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon or Marathon, is something that takes dedication and discipline. To get trained for long distance goals in a way that is empowering for your mind and your body, rather than breaking you down, takes steady effort. You don’t decide to do it once — you decide to do it over and over again, each week of training as you walk out the door to do your run.

I’ve found that when you run in a group you are stronger individually and stronger as a group. The benefits of group running actually increase over time as you train for a goal. Having friends on the same journey can motivate you in unique ways. You may find you have a friendly competition going with the granny of the group — “If she can do it, I can do it!”. Then you’ll find you’ve created a bond with another runner who matches your pace. You may push her on to a new personal best on a fast day. Her encouragement may keep your tired legs in motion on that long run after a long hard work week.

The most important motivator and benefit of being in a group is having fun together. Getting out the door and spending time with friends can lift your mood and improve your health. What better reason to get out there and run!

Start a Running Group for Health, Fun, and Empowerment!

I’m a follower and advocate of the Jeff Galloway Run-Walk-Run method that I learned in the Raleigh Galloway Training Group. When I moved to Fort Worth, I felt lost without my “Thundering Herd” running group. I went back to solo running on the treadmill and felt more drudge than joy in my running. So, after a couple of years, I decided to start a Galloway Training Group in Fort Worth and got certified to be a Program Director. Now I am enjoying meeting, connecting and bonding with like-minded run-walk-runners and helping empower others to achieve and exceed their goals like I did using the Jeff Galloway Run-Walk-Run training method.

Can’t find a running group nearby for group training? Think about starting your own. The benefits of joining a running group may even compound when you’re in a leadership role. You’ll find your desire to stay in a group for the long run is stronger if you’re helping others to achieve their goals with each new mile. Helping transform others is one of the most transforming things you can do for yourself. When your aerobic routine becomes more about bonding with the group and getting the most out of life than forcing your feet through another step, you’re getting far more than the physical benefits out of running. You’ve found the joy of running and are doing something worthwhile and meaningful. Run-walk-running in a group is a way of life for me.

Keep moving and live Well with Zest!

Bev xo

Written by Bev Hope

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