Insight - Choice - Not choosing is a choice which is often worse in the long run. I came to a fork in the trails… Just pick a direction… in this case if I didn’t choose, I’d keep going straight & that was awkward terrain, and I’d probably have fallen in a hole and broken something!

​Song of the Day: All of Me – John Legend – is my love song to myself...

​One of the best things about early morning running is saying high to doggies on the trail! And also, I spotted a Great Blue Heron and a Green Heron in my crick😊And, I studied some dewy webs...

I watched many an interesting interview from the Heart Mind Institute’s Mega- Summit: Rewiring Your Brain… 14 discussions / 8 days… out of the 71 total… it’s taken me a while to digest… What I understand is that neuroscience is substantiating what meditation and mindfulness practitioners have been saying for years/eons… and it really all comes down to the main basic things one needs to live an optimal life (longevity and healthy).
E.g., Stephen Kotler recommends…
Daily:

• 5 min gratitude
• 10-12 min mindfulness (meditation, breathwork, tapping, etc.,)
• 30-40 min exercise

(if stressed, do all 3; if calm, you can do 1)
(also: eat nutritionally well, sleep 7-9 hours/night, drink water)
If you want to rock until you drop, you have to REGULARLY ENGAGE  in CHALLENGING, SOCIAL and CREATIVE activities that demand DYNAMIC, deliberate PLAY that take place in NOVEL, OUTDOOR environments. Easy peasy? You have to intentionally choose to do these things in a society that makes it easy to not choose these things.
(Dynamic means all 5 categories of functional fitness:
                1. stamina/cardio
                2. strength
                3. flexibility
                4. balance
                5. agility
                And that explains Pickle Ball!)
And then I watched many interviews from the Meditation Summit… and many of the different methods/beliefs/ways into KNOWING are seemingly different names for the same outcome… now I’m stressed out about all this freakin’ Wellness I’m supposed to fit into my life! 

Stephen Kotler -- author, speaker, flow researcher, gravity lover 
​https://www.stevenkotler.com/
https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/blog/how-to-get-into-flow-state
Inspiring videos: https://www.stevenkotler.com/video-audio

Stephen’s Recipe for less stress in life…
Daily:

•   5 min gratitude
•  10-12 min mindfulness (meditation, breathwork, tapping, etc.,…)
• 30-40 min exercise

(if stressed, do all 3; if calm, you can do 1)
(also: eat nutritionally well, sleep 7-9 hours/night, drink water)

 "Aging is not 'lost youth' but a new stage of opportunity and strength"
(Robert N. Butler, the pioneering gerontologist who coined the term "ageism" and established the first U.S. National Institute on Aging)
​
A positive mindset towards aging is key: “I think my best days are ahead of me. I think the second half of my life is going to be filled with exciting possibility!” A shift in mindset can add up to 8 extra years…
                “In study after study I conducted, I found that older people with more-positive perceptions of aging performed better physically and cognitively than those with more-negative perceptions; they were more likely to recover from severe disability, they remembered better, they walked faster, and they even lived longer.”
— Becca Levy

“There is actually no single biological marker to identify when someone has reached old age, which means that old age is a somewhat fluid social construct. This is one of the reasons age beliefs, with their associated expectations, are so powerful: they define how we experience our later years.”
— Becca Levy

Ellen Langer, often called the "godmother of mindfulness," has influenced how we view peak performance and aging by emphasizing the power of a mindful attitude and the impact of rigid mindset on physical and mental limitations. While there isn't a specific quote encompassing all three aspects, her core ideas are captured in quotes such as:

"The rigid mindsets we hold about ourselves affect our performance" and "Mindfulness lets us see things in a new light and believe in the possibility of change". Her work suggests that by being mindful and challenging limiting beliefs, we can improve performance and aging at any age.

“Social psychologists argue that who we are at any one time depends mostly on the context in which we find ourselves. But who creates the context? The more mindful we are, the more we can create the contexts we are in. When we create the context, we are more likely to be authentic. Mindfulness lets us see things in a new light and believe in the possibility of change.”
― Ellen J. Langer, Mindfulness

A very wise lady, indeed…

• "No matter what you're doing, there's a way of doing it so it's fun". 
• "All we have are moments. If you make the moment matter, it all matters". 
• "Rather than worry about making the right decision, we should make the decision right". 

Dynamic means all 5 categories of functional fitness:
                1. stamina/cardio
                2. strength
                3. flexibility
                4. balance
                5. agility
                (Have you tried pickle ball? – Aaaah, that explains it!)

“Just as important as physical exercise is systematic cognitive exercise. Use it and receive more of it, in my opinion, rather than “Use it or lose it.” — Elkhonon Goldberg, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and clinical professor of neurology at the New York University School of Medicine.

Another walk/trot through the neighbourhood, with a playlist of songs that I wasn’t very familiar with… I did it for the Dopamine! And the Heart Mind Institute’s Rewire Your Brain Mega-Summit… 

​Why do the thing? I choose to exercise – not for a bikini body because: bikinis are uncomfortable; I dislike beaches; and too much skin is exposed to the sun (I go lobster 🦞red)… so looking fab in a bikini is not my motivation. It might be someone else’s but not mine.
So why exercise?
For Future Me: to live better longer;
for Present Me: feels good & I sleep better  (I’m a gem I’ll have you know!);
for: my brain, mind, body, spirit/soul…

I happened upon an article online about the “Japanese Walking” trend and thought, ooh good idea, especially since it had become less hot outside and more optimal for exerting energy outside… https://www.cbc.ca/news/japanese-walking-tiktok-1.7587007 so I went for a walk about the neighbourhood… I walked by local Dundas artist Danuta Niton's house & studio, which is always a treat:)

I used this YouTube video for the music that guided the speed switches: https://youtu.be/VTQghR6mFHc?si=f7jvLGXDB1NX4usS – The music was kind of boring… which is why I made playlists.

 Yes, a Saturday! But that’s the deal I made with Brain when I didn’t feel like doing it on Monday or Tuesday…
 
I used it with this prompt… I'd like a 30 - 45 minutes playlist with 11 songs alternating between slow and fast in different genres.

And ChatGPT said: Got it 👍 You want a 30–45 min playlist with 11 songs, alternating slow → fast → slow → fast, covering different genres. I can’t give you copyrighted tracks directly, but I can build you a playlist structure with song suggestions (artist + track) that match the flow and timing.

I took the song suggestions & used my PAID Apple Music subscription to create each playlist, which I’ll share, so other people don’t have to unnecessarily use the resources involved in the usage of the same ChatGPT interaction — which I’m admittedly fuzzy about, but I’ve heard things & it’s on a future rabbit-hole list to learn more about it.

In the meantime, here’s a thought experiment: What if I didn’t use ChatGPT? With 100% certainty, I can say, that 4 weeks later, I’d still be trying to make the perfect playlist. I wouldn’t have gotten to the exercise part, so here we are… Day 16 (not is a row, but 4 days each week for 4 weeks.)
And without prompting, it seems Sneaky ChatGPT has increased the length of some of the fast songs… Today’s Madchester Mix had some much longer fast tunes and I almost died, but I didn’t – I live to tell my tale😊 So now I’ll intentionally ask the Evil Bot to add a longer fast song to the prompt, as my fitness increases.
 
IWT  8: Madchester 1 -- Classic Baggy Energy

1. Slow – The Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored
2. Fast – Happy Mondays – Step On
3. Slow – New Order – True Faith
4. Fast – The Charlatans – The Only One I Know
5. Slow – Electronic – Getting Away With It
6. Fast – The Stone Roses – She Bangs the Drums
7. Slow – Inspiral Carpets – This Is How It Feels
8. Fast – New Order – Blue Monday
9. Slow – James – Laid (acoustic)
10. Fast – Happy Mondays – 24 Hour Party People
11. Slow – The Stone Roses – Waterfall'

Why Madchester tunes? When I lived in the Greater Manchester Area for a few years in my 20s, I used to run to these songs… you know, when I would go for a run to cure a hangover after 3 hours sleep; ready for a late morning footy match and then a banger night at the club (5th Avenue or 42nd Street). I did it for the Dopamine! – My favourite song was a fairly long (13 minutes?) techno version of Radiohead’s Street Spirit, which I have never been able to find since. It really got me moving! I's hoping to channel my useful energy!
 
#Madchester #TheArtofWellnessJourney #theartofwellness #theartofMe #sneakyChatGPT #diditforthedopamine #IWTplaylist #iamart #missnikki_everydaywellness

​One of the best things about jogging? Thinking thoughts...
 
For example:
Roar by Katy Perry is my reparented song. I was always stifled, muffled & shut down as I grew up… and there were some substantial consequences (that we will not go into right now).

Objectively, I now know She did her best & I find that to be very sad… there have been less-than-ideal consequences as a result of a mind & spirit unwilling to change brain & body She had a fixed mindset & a refusal to be anything other than a victim of life (and that is a topic for a therapist to unravel, I’m sure). To sum up:

If one is unwilling to change, then one is in for worse fates.
 
I am a Late Bloomer who eventually woke up and became someone closer to Me… and this reminds me of Bevy Smith’s Ted Talk – She says: “It get GREATER Later!” I am inclined to agree. (Another post for another time will be to acknowledge those folks who encouraged me to shine, whether they know it or not!)
https://www.ted.com/talks/bevy_smith_how_to_discover_your_authentic_self_at_any_age?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
 
And here’s how this whole Wellness Journey got started (which I haven’t posted yet, but I will tell the origin story in a non-linear fashion, because let’s face it – I’m a wee bit askew & kooky…
 
Mind said, Brain, « Some is better than none » and Brain said, «  Yeah but more is even better! » (That’s how sometimes we do extra because Brain chooses it & Brain likes to be in control.) Sometimes I have to remind brain that « we don’t have to put a number to everything »
Brain pouts & because numbers yay… we love a good number sequence…
 
Week 1 was about just getting Brain onboard. Then on day 4 Brain said « more! » so we climbed 1 set of 72 stairs… then like Fibonacci, on week 2, we did 1 set again…. I love the Fibonacci numbers (I do love a good number patter or sequence)  but that is definitely too much too fast, so…
1 week for 1, 2 for 2, 3 for 3, 4 for 4, etc.,… is the N-Sequence, as I've coined it:)
 
Mind is happy
Brain is happy
Body is happy 
Spirit is happy

​And my fav playlist - IVT 6: Power Pop Pump - tells me I’m substantially better, fitter & faster than at the start; this is the control variable, I suppose, the Constant…
Further, I never would have come up with this playlist on my own ever never… It is both an energetic & empowering mix: