Why you wake up in a bad mood (sometimes)

Bad mood trigger 1: Food intolerance

Food intolerances are responsible for a wide range of physical conditions including nausea and abdominal pain, but they can also affect your mood, causing irritability, mood swings, lack of focus, aggression, nervousness or hyperactivity. If you suffer from regular mood swings, try keeping a food diary – noting what you eat as well as any changes in mood – to see if you can identify a link.

Home decor can affect your mood

Bad mood trigger 2: Your home decor

If you want to give your mood a boost, try changing your home decor as your surroundings can heavily influence your mood. While red can make some people feel irritable or hostile, yellow communicates happiness and blue aids relaxation, so try accessorising your home with colours that enhance your mood. Research has also suggested that hanging up soothing pictures — such as beautiful landscape paintings —can positively affect a person’s mood and reduce stress and anxiety.

Bad mood trigger 3: Getting promoted

While many of us dream of getting a promotion in work, the reality may not be as rosy as you think. A study by researchers at the University of Warwick has found that rather than improving quality of life for workers, following a job promotion employees suffered from increased mental strain and there was on average a 10 per cent decrease in people’s mental health.

Bad mood trigger 4: Your bedside lamp

If you regularly fall asleep reading or watching TV, this can have repercussions on your mood the next day. Research has shown that night time light can suppress the production of melatonin; a mood-regulating hormone which is only produced during darkness. So, try investing in some heavy curtains and make sure you turn off all lights at night to give yourself a happiness boost.

Bad mood trigger 5: Nutrient deficiencies

While depression can be caused by a number of things, symptoms can be worsened or improved by your diet. Deficiencies in vitamin D, the B vitamins (particularly B6, B12 and folate) and omega-3 fatty acids can all lead to feelings of depression and anxiety. Try introducing more foods rich in these nutrients into your diet to see if symptoms improve.

Bad mood trigger 6: Your friends

You might think that spending time with your friends is a great mood booster; however, that could all depend on their mood. Research has found that emotions – both positive and negative – are contagious and easily passed from person to person, often without you being aware of it. Furthermore, you don’t even need to see your friends to catch their mood, as a study suggests that the emotions of Facebook users directly affect the emotions of their friends for up to three days.

Bad mood trigger 7: Late nights

Many of us are aware that lack of sleep can contribute to a low mood; however, research suggests that when you go to sleep could be almost as important as how much sleep you get. According to a study published in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, night owls are almost three times as likely as early birds to experience severe symptoms of depression, so try getting some early nights to boost your mood.

Being a night owl can increase your risk of depression

Bad mood trigger 8: The pill

A study by researchers from Monash University has found that women who take birth control pills are twice as likely to be depressed as those who don’t. For some, certain birth control pills can also lead to mood swings, increased anger and loss of libido. If you think that your mood has changed for the worse since you began taking the pill, visit your GP to discuss the alternatives.

Bad mood trigger 9: Smoking

We all know that smoking causes cancer, heart disease and premature ageing, but it is less well known that cigarettes can also affect your mental health. According to the results of a large study conducted by New Zealand researchers, people who smoke cigarettes may increase their risk of developing depression, and those who are addicted to nicotine may be more than twice as likely to have depressive symptoms than those who are not.

Bad mood trigger 10: Sunlight

Most of us have heard of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) caused by dark winter days, but did you know that sunlight can also bring on the blues? While summer SAD is thought to affect less than one per cent of the population (compared to the five per cent affected by the winter version) it can be a serious condition for those it affects, bringing on insomnia, decreased appetite and depression. Read more on realbuzz.com...


http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/why-you-wake-up-in-a-bad-mood--sometimes-.html

The three times people are happiest - you may be surprised

According to a new UK study involving Apple and the London School of Economics - reported by Hannah Thomas at Marie Claire - 
people are happiest when they are having sex, 
exercising, 
and visiting the theatre. 


Sure, the having sex part is a no brainer. The exercise part is a bit surprising; people are often pretty happy when they've finished exercising - your feel-good hormones are coursing through your body and you have a great sense of accomplishment - but the during part can be quite a struggle. And the theatre? Hey, I like theatre - but I only get there a few times a year, and I imagine only very few people make it part of their regular routine.

The study, which is largely based on updates, via an app, by 45,000 iPhone users regarding levels of contentment, also determined that people are happiest during midday on Christmas. I guess this is while you're still riding a high from opening a bunch of presents, but before the extended family has arrived? (No mention, though, of how non-observers of this particular holiday are feeling around this time.) People were also found to be very happy on bank holidays - a paid day off work is pretty universally seen as a treat - and generally happier on weekends.

And the unhappiest time? Around 8pm on January 31. No explanation for why this particular date was the least fun, but it's easy to speculate about the gloom and isolation that can set in mid winter. Further, working, commuting to work, and standing in line were found to be the least happy-making activities. No mention, though, of one of my all-time, least happy moments: when you're standing in line, during your commute to work, and someone cuts in front. It's a triple threat, in the worst possible way.


(Why happiness can add years to your life
More sex is the secret to a longer, healthier life)

The secret to living happily every after?

More than 200 women in long-term relationships are interviewed to find out what they're secret is. 
What they all did

Is distance the key to a happy marriage?

(Thinkstock Photos)

Boredom.  It’s the leading deal-breaker in marriages, according to a recent survey of over 100 family and divorce lawyers.  Not to mention Brad Pitt. 

Married for 23 years, journalist Iris Krasnow has a personal antidote to the long-term marital rut that  creeps into relationships over time: separate summer vacations.

Once a year for about a decade, she’s spent a portion of her summer away from her husband. When her four sons were young, she’d work as a counselor at their camp in the Adirondacks while her husband, an architect and furniture maker, focused on his own projects back at their Annapolis, Maryland home. “I love nature so I just thrived up there and he’d get so much work done back home,” says Krasnow, an associate professor of communication at American University.

Related link: The one reason you should get married

After seven weeks away (with a visit in between) their marriage was usually stronger than ever. “When I’d come home, the grind of an ordinary marriage seemed extraordinary,” she says.

It’s one of the trade secrets she’s learned in her own marriage, and through interviewing over 200 women in long-term relationships, for her new book, "The Secret Lives of Wives". 

A little distance is key to growing "separately, together," as Krasnow calls it. "You can't live happily ever after in your marriage if you're not happy outside of it," she says. One major misconception in marriage, as Krasnow sees it, is believing your spouse is your only source of happiness. "No one person can make you happy, it has to come from within," says Krasnow. “When you live with someone day in and out the 'hot' doesn’t stay 'hot' unless you take time apart to discover yourself and what makes you happy independent of your partner.”

Related link: Canadian marriages on the decline

For Krasnow, that means a few spouse-less weeks away.  For some of the women she interviewed, it's come in the form of a girlfriends' getaway or a newfound hobby that forces a little separation between family life and personal identity. "All of the women I've interviewed with strong marriages have great girlfriends they can drink, travel, and vent with," she says with a snicker.  "The trick is having separateadventures and pursuits from your spouse, not separate lives."

She limits her time apart from her husband to three to four weeks maximum and she’s learned in her time  away to feel comfort in her husband’s absence. “It’s okay to miss someone you love,” she says. “It’s a very powerful aphrodisiac.”

Some couples take it one step further, dividing their time between two separate homes. In 2006, 3.8 million married couples were considered “living apart together.” Judith Newman and her husband of more than a decade, are one of them.  “Living apart has allowed us to stay married and remain in love,”Newman writes in Self Magazine. From the get-go they had different ideas about how to keep a home, how to  decorate, and how to live peacefully inside their shared space.  Their solution was to keep two separate apartments nearby, even after they had kids.  “We do find each other essential,” she writes. “It’s just that, like many couples, we find each other deeply annoying, too. The only difference with us is that sometimes we can breathe a deep sigh of relief at the end of the day and say: I love you, honey; now get the hell out of here!”

Related link: Three risks to take in your marriage

One reason a little distance goes a long way in a marriage: it fosters self-reliance. A study published in the journal Family Relations found that wives of men with fishing or trucking jobs that took them away from home for weeks at a time were more likely to take on male roles in the house. The ability to fix things in the home, and accomplish tasks they’d otherwise rely on their spouse for, bolstered confidence and diminished the "neediness" factor that festers in a long-term relationship.    

But not everyone believes co-dependence is a bad thing.  Dr. Paul Amato, author of  "Alone Together: How Marriage in America is Changing", found that couples are spending more time apart than ever. Over a period of 20 years, more spouses are vacationing, networking, and making friends outside of their family units.  He suggests that too much independence and self-reliance can make the idea of divorce more palatable.

A partner-free vacation is only a problem if your marriage is unstable,  says psychologist Ruth A. Peters,  PhD. “When the relationship is intact, occasional separate vacations can add a terrific dimension to your marriage,” Peters tells MSNBC. “But if trouble is already brewing between partners, a separate vacation may do more harm than good. Consider your true motivation for the vacation, the stability of your finances and relationship, ages of your children, and willingness to compromise.”

Related link: Is it your job to make your partner happy?

For Angela Neustatter, compromise saved her marriage. So did a little time apart under one roof. After a protracted marital rut characterized by frustration and bickering, she and her husband considered separating, until they came up with a plan. “Separate togetherness,” is how Neustatter described their deal in the Telegraph. Together the couple assigned themselves “private spaces in our home to retreat to,  allowing us to choose when we wanted to be together.” It did wonders.  “It was the best thing we could have done. We went back to behaving as we had much earlier in our relationship...And as we grew closer, we were able to talk about having felt we’d grown apart and the pleasure in growing together again. “

Sometimes a little distance, be it a few feet or few thousand miles, goes a long way. 

Why Men Marry: Revealed

Why (and who) do men choose to marry? How do men define happily ever after? Are men really commitment-phobic and sex-obsessed?

In a book entitled VoiceMale: What Husbands Really Think About Their Marriages, Their Wives, Sex, Housework, and Commitment (Simon & Shuster, 2007) author Neil Chethik examines the findings from a national survey of married men, including in-depth interviews with 70 men and a survey of another 288. And some of his findings just might surprise you.

Why Do Men Marry?

Contrary to what some of my girlfriends have said, men do not marry for free laundry service. According toVoiceMale, “Men propose marriage primarily because they want the physical, emotional and intellectual companionship of a woman. Men like company.”

Are men commitment-phobic? Not with the right woman. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nine out of 10 men will marry in their lifetime. And according to the VoiceMale survey, “Men do the proposing 85 per cent of the time. At least formally, it is overwhelmingly men who initiate the marriage commitment.”

Can you drag a man to the altar? Not likely. According to Chethik, “Men entertain the idea of marriage only when they’re ready.” And these days, men judge readiness as a “flagging interest in the singles scene.” One man quoted in VoiceMale stated, “One morning I woke up next to a woman who could have been a Playboy model, and I didn’t want her.”

Where Do They Meet the Women They’re Going to Marry?

# 24% of husbands met their wives in school
# 18% met their wives at a social event, such as a party or wedding
# 18% were introduced to their wives by friends
# 23% of men married in the last three years met their wives at work
# 6% met their wives at a bar (Who says you never meet someone nice at a bar!)
# 4% met their wives at church, synagogue or another religious setting
# 1% met online. “Because of the newness of online dating, no studies have yet been completed on whether marriages that begin online are more or less successful in the long term than those that start in more traditional ways.”

What Do Men Look for in a Future Wife?

Surprisingly, beauty was not the most important criteria for a man in choosing a wife. Sure, beauty attracts, and attraction is crucial, but the most important factors men look for in a woman are a positive outlook and self-confidence. Also high on the list were brains (hallelujah!), self-respect, motherliness and for some, devoutness to faith.

What’s more, according to Chethik’s survey, “A man who knows within a month of meeting a woman that he wants to marry her is likely to be happier in the marriage than a man who takes longer to decide.”

Do Married Men Get Enough Sex?

The stereotypes are true. Most married men don’t get as much sex as they’d like. (Although in fairness, many single men don’t get as much sex as they’d like either.)

However, the solution for all the sex-starved husbands might be as close as the broom closet. According to the VoiceMale survey, “The more satisfied a wife is with the division of household duties, the more satisfied a man is with his marital sex life.” That’s right guys, there’s nothing sexier than a man who knows how to use a toilet brush.

In the honeymoon phase (the first three years) men are generally happy with their sex lives (54 per cent get it at least three times a week, and eight per cent get it every day!). But the childrearing years (years four-20) are the toughest for men sexually.

The number of men having sex three times per week drops to 24 per cent. The next stage of marriage (years 21-35) brings with it an increase in sex, 29 per cent of men report their wives have an equal sex drive. And finally, in the last stage of marriage (35 years or more) the frequency of sex drops considerably, but 88 per cent of men are satisfied with their sex lives during this phase of marriage.

As far as happily ever after is concerned, you might be interested to know that 93 per cent of the men surveyed by Chethik said if given the chance, they’d marry the same woman all over again. Now who’s afraid of commitment?

~By Lisa Daily

Scent of a woman's tears lowers men's desire

What a downer! Men who smell a woman's tears experience a dip in both sexual arousal and testosterone, a new study finds. 

The libido-dampening effect occurred even when the men never saw the women cry and didn't know they were sniffing tears, researchers report online today (Jan. 6, 2011) in the journal Science.

The results are the first to suggest that humans can chemically communicate with tears.

"We conclude that there is a chemosignal in human tears, and at least one of the things the chemosignal does is reduce sexual arousal," study researcher Noam Sobel, a neuroscientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, told LiveScience.

An odorless signal

It's obvious that humans communicate both verbally and visually, but recent research has shown that chemosignals also carry lots of information. Chemosignals may be entirely odorless - in Sobel's study, participants were unable to tell the difference between tears and saline solution - but they affect both behavior and physiology.

Earlier work by Sobel and others found that male sweat can boost mood and sexual arousal in women, as well as bumping up their levels of the stress hormone cortisol. And a 2004 study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior found that the scent of a lactating woman's nursing pads could increase sexual desire in other women.

Scientists have found that emotional tears contain more proteinthan do the everyday tears that protect the eyes. Until now, however, chemical signals in tears had been found only in mice and blind mole rats. To investigate the phenomenon in humans, Sobel and his colleagues put out fliers recruiting people who could cry easily. They got about 70 responses (only one of them from a man), he said. The researchers screened the volunteers and found the three best criers - women who could produce at least a milliliter of tears while watching a sad movie.

The researchers then had 24 men sniff both saline and the women's tears. Both the tears and saline had been allowed to roll down the women's cheeks, as a way to control for any odors in their skin or sweat.

None of the men could tell the difference between the two samples, and even the experimenter was kept in the dark about which she was presenting. The men then saw photos of women's faces, which they rated for sadness and sexual attractiveness. [Read Sexual Pheromones: Myth or Reality?]

"To our surprise, there was absolutely no influence on sadness or empathy or anything of that sort that we had expected," Sobel said. However, "sexual arousal dropped after sniffing tears."

Questions about crying

The researchers tried the experiment again, this time priming 50 male volunteers for sadness by showing them a depressing video clip. Again, sniffing tears instead of saline didn't make men sadder. But it did lower their sexual arousal and their testosterone levels.

As a final experiment, the researchers repeated the tear-sniffing with 16 men who were situated inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine (fMRI). The fMRI shows patterns of blood flow in the brain, which coincide with brain activity.

Sure enough, the tears reduced activity in areas known to be involved in sexual arousal. Those areas included the hypothalamus, an almond-size structure just above the brainstem, and the left fusiform gyrus, which is on the surface of the left side of the brain.

The study was "very well done," said Charles Wysocki, a psychobiologist at the Monell Chemical Sense Center in Philadelphia.

"Tears contain proteins that are also found in the underarm," Wysocki told LiveScience. "And in the underarm they bind the chemicals that we think are involved with chemical communication, so it's quite possible that these proteins found in tears might be doing the same thing."

The finding is likely to remain controversial until researchers discover a specific chemical that causes the response, however. Sobel's lab is now working to identify the compound in tears that sends the signal.

"There's something that's operating at a very low concentration to cause this effect," George Preti, an organic chemist at the Monell Center who wasn't involved in the study, told LiveScience. "It's obviously a molecule with a lot of oomph."

The study also raises questions of whether children's and men's tears send signals, and what signals are conveyed within one's own gender by tears. Whether happy tears send a signal is another open question, Wysocki said.

"You can understand where women might not be aroused when they are, in fact, crying," Wysocki said. "And maybe they're telling the male, it's a chemical communication way of saying 'No' or at least 'Not now.' You can see that, it makes sense. But if doesn't make sense to have the same chemical signal being released when a guy gets back after a year of tour of duty and his wife greets him withtears of happiness and pleasure. I would speculate that those tears would be containing something else."

Given the newfound parallel between rodents and human tears, the idea that humans are the only mammals to cry emotional tears may be wrong, Sobel said.

"Human emotional tears were considered unique because they were considered purely an emotional response," he said. "But what we've shown is that they're a form of chemosignaling, at least in part, and that puts them on par with mice tears and mole-rat tears."

• New Theory for Why We Cry
• Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind
• Top 10 Things That Make Humans Special

Everybody wants to be happy, you too! (simple recipe)

21 Simple Ways to Be Happy,
Tips to Help You Find Happiness

If you are looking for happiness, you've come to the right place! Happiness is a state of being that only you can create. Happiness is a choice that you make. Using what I've learned as a life and wellness coach, this gallery will share with you the best tips on happiness that can help you to create happiness in your life! Get ready to smile, chant, eat dark chocolate and dream... big!  By Janice Taylor

Be Your Own BFF > Enjoy your own company. Embrace everything about you! Without a doubt, it’s the most important step towards. Smile, Giggle, Snigger, or Chuckle! > Smiling releases serotonin in the brain, which instantaneously gives your mood a lift. Warm Up Your Tootsies > Pull on your best pair of warm socks, wiggle your toes and enjoy a cozy kind of bliss. Sing Out Loud! > Shut the doors and the windows tight, put on your favorite song, and let your voice ring! Indulge in Dark Chocolate > Savor a small piece and watch your mood improve. Expect a Miracle > Believe that something wonderful will happen for you today. The universe is waiting to shower happy blessings on you. Meditate, Pray, and Chant > Research shows that people who are spiritual tend to be happier and healthier than those who are not. Laugh at Your Shortcomings > We all make mistakes; none of us is perfect. Forgive your imperfections, accept your faults, and laugh. Sleep, Baby, Sleep. 7 or 8 hours each night should increase your energy and decrease moodiness.Count Your Blessings Daily > Gratitude, the emotion of thankfulness, is one of the key ingredients for living a happy life. Make gratitude a habit and happiness will be yours. Wake Up Early! > Start the day off on a happy foot, with a happy thought. The morning hours are full ofspiritual energy and prana (life force). Let the Sun Shine In > 20 minutes of sunlight per day improves mood and wards of Seasonal Affection Disorder (SAD). Create a Positive Affirmation > Think it, read it, say it, sing it! "My happiness brings me more happiness." Say "Good Job!" > Give yourself permission to pat yourself on the back. Recognize your accomplishments and positive qualities. Catch Happiness from Others > Remembering that happiness is contagious, surround yourself with happy, positive people who share your values, goals, and dreams. Grow a Garden >  Watching plants grow and thrive under your care is thrilling! Pencil in 'Quiet' Time > Each and every day sit awhile, without television, without magazines, without the Internet. Just be! Look to the Future > Set goals and then make plans to succeed and take action. Pursuing something we value always makes us happy. Accept What You Cannot Change > Don't waste your precious time, energy, or thoughts on something that is beyond your control. Let it go. Take a Cat Nap > A 10-minute nap is all it takes to rejuvenate your spirit and get the happiness to flow. Love Everything > Love who you are. Love what you are doing. Love the person you're with. Love your friends and your enemies, too. Love! Love! Love!

....or how Julia Roberts would say: EAT PRAY LOVE!

The body is your temple — don't neglect it!

Photos by From: powerofharmony.tripod.com

What are the top four things that you "cannot live without"?, I was asked not long ago. So this is what I listed without thinking:
1. Music
2. Connection to the 'world' (family & friends) via phone or internet
3. Fresh water
4. Sunshine
[obviously we need oxygen, but it's a fact, not a choice]


Music is the food to my soul, therefore is the most important to me;  It vibrates and soothes my mind, whispers to me, clams down my nervous system. It has been my own therapy ever since I remember....
Some tunes are pleasing and some are annoying. So not all music is equal. The sound frequency + harmony is very powerful. It is so powerful that certain frequencies have healing powers. For example, the third note, frequency 528 Hz is used by genetic biochemists to repair broken DNA!  [Source: The Ancient Solfeggio Frequencies ]

The Six Solfeggio Frequencies include:

• UT –   396 Hz – Liberating Guilt and Fear 
• RE –   417 Hz – Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change 
• MI –   528 Hz – Transformation and Miracles (DNA Repair) 
• FA –   639 Hz – Connecting/Relationships 
• SOL – 741 Hz – Awakening Intuition 
• LA –   852 Hz – Returning to Spiritual Order

Enough about music, I was going to share Osho's Notes on Detoxing your Mind and Body.

"Health has two aspects to it. One is the physical, the other is the spiritual. The body is your temple -- don't neglect it. Your foolish, ascetics have been telling you to neglect it -- not only to neglect but to destroy your body. Pythagoras is not an ascetic: he is a man of understanding. Pythagoras says: Respect, don't neglect, your body. If your body is neglected, you will not be able to find the inner harmony -- because if the body is harmonious it helps to attain to inner harmony. Take every care of your health, of your body; love it, respect it, it is a great gift. It is a miracle! a mystery.

What food is for the body repose* is in exactly the same way for the soul: food nourishes the body and repose nourishes the soul. The materialist forgets about repose; that's why in the West there is so much restlessness -- they have forgotten repose, they don't know how to relax. They don't know how to be in a state of unoccupiedness; they don't know how to sit silently doing nothing. They have completely forgotten! The materialist is bound to forget. He goes on eating too much, and he has forgotten that only his body goes on becoming fatter and fatter, and his soul goes on becoming thinner and thinner. 

Repose is far more essential even than food. If sometimes you go on a small fast it is good, but repose should never be forgotten -- because basically the body is only a temple: the deity is within. The body has to be loved only because it is a temple of the deity. The body is only a means; the end is inside.

Repose is food, meditation is food, for the soul. Repose means silence, rest, relaxation, calmness, coolness, collectedness, meditativeness. A state of unoccupied mind, empty, silent, with no idea of any doing, not going anywhere, not rushing anywhere -- just being herenow. That is repose. And to be herenow is tremendously nourishing, because then you are deeply in tune with godliness, then music showers on you.

The past is no more, it is dead; the future is not yet, it is unborn. Only the present is. Only the present is alive. When you are herenow, life flows in you. When you are herenow, you are in godliness. And that is nourishment, that is real food.
In that sense the Upanishads have said: anam brahm -- food is God, God is food. In the sense of repose it is really food. As the body will die without food, the soul dies without repose.

The materialist thinks only of the body, and the spiritualist thinks only of repose, and both remain lopsided. One has a very nourished soul but an undernourished body; the temple is in ruins. And one has a beautiful temple, a marble temple, but the deity is dead, or has not come yet. Both are missing something.

We need a music of earth and sky, of body and soul; we need a harmony between the visible and the invisible. The food is visible, repose is invisible. And you need both, and you need a rhythm between the two.

The person who has not known what repose is starts stuffing too much food in himself/herself. Nothing can help him/her unless s/he learns repose -- no dieting is going to help, no exercises are going to help, no disciplining is going to help. Sooner or later s/he will start eating again, because his/hers inner being feels so empty and s/he knows no other way to fill it -- s/he knows only one way: to go on throwing food inside himself/herself.

When people come to me with the problem of too much obsession with food, my only suggestion is: become more meditative. Don't be worried about food. Become more loving, become more meditative, and the problem will disappear. When you are full of love and meditativeness, you need not stuff yourself with food. The food is only a substitute -- because you are missing the inner food, you are trying to substitute it by outer food.

The man of repose always remains very very alert, aware, of what he is eating, how much he is eating. He cannot eat more than is needed, and he will not eat less than is needed. He is always in the middle, he is a balance.

Too much attention or too little shun...

Don't hanker for too much attention from people -- that is an ego trip. Don't try to become very famous, well-known, this and that -- that is an ego trip. But that does not mean start trying to become a nonentity -- that nobody should know you, that you should remain anonymous -- that is again the same trip on the other extreme. Avoid both.
All extremes have to be avoided. Excess is evil according to Pythagoras -- and it is. And to be in the middle, to be exactly in the middle, is virtue. Never be an ascetic, and never become indulgent. Don't eat too much food and don't go on long fasts. Don't become too much obsessed with luxury, and don't become too much anti-luxury, anti-comfort."

Osho. 

             Excerpted from Philosophia Perennis/courtesy Osho International Foundation/www.osho.com

[*REPOSE: temporary rest from activity, excitement, or exertion, esp. sleep or the rest given by sleep]

The Achilles’ Heel of Aging: a proven method to extend life exists

....a proven method to extend life already exists; scientists have known about it since the 1930s. It’s called calorie restriction, or CR. Feed a mouse a nutritious diet that has 30 percent fewer calories, and she lives 30 percent longer than the one in the next cage.