Grier Cooper's Blog, page 2

The First Step to Finding Inner Peace

Many of us are looking for the first step to finding inner peace, longing to feel calm and peaceful more often. We may experience fleeting moments of peacefulness but it doesn’t last as long as we would like. We continue to search for answers, hoping to find the right formula, or waiting for conditions to be just right.  Yet the only way we will find inner peace is by taking time and space to look within ourselves.

Inner peace is an inside job.

Inner peace lives within us; it is an inside job. T...

Trying to Find Inner Peace? Look Within

Many of us are trying to find inner peace, longing to feel calm and peaceful more often. We may experience fleeting moments of peacefulness but it doesn’t last as long as we would like. We continue to search for answers, hoping to find the right formula, or waiting for conditions to be just right.  Yet the only way we will find inner peace is by taking time and space to look within ourselves.

Inner peace is an inside job.

Inner peace lives within us; it is an inside job. That’s why we call it in...

How We Block Ourselves From Feeling Peaceful

We block ourselves from feeling peaceful more often than we realize, and the cause of our distress is the 6 inches or so that lies between our ears…. In other words, it’s the mind. Our minds are busy all day long churning out thoughts, many of which are either negative or not helpful.. No wonder we don’t feel peaceful! This kind of thinking is crazy-making. Once we begin to understand the way our minds work, we can begin to shift them towards better-feeling thoughts, and create lives that are mo...

Do This One Thing to Up Your Joy

Do this one thing to up your joy: realize that mornings hold great opportunity to set the tone for your entire day. The moment we open our eyes to a new day we have a chance to think differently. And in doing so our lives can shift in new and magical ways.

While we were sleeping our brains relaxed. We had a full system reset. Our bodies regenerated themselves and we are now renewed, recharged, and rejuvenated. Our normal thought patterns have quieted.

Have you ever notices your first thoughts wh...

Why Worrying is Useless: How to Reclaim Your Calm

This morning I woke up thinking about why worry is useless and counterproductive. You see, right now we are riding the rollercoaster of arranging end-of-life care for not one but two parents. And yet, I’m not worried. In the past I worried a lot. But this took a toll on my health and well-being until I took steps to discard the habit of worrying. As a recovered worrier, I know that worrying is often our natural instinct whenever we are facing big, hairy challenges. But there’s a better way to ma...

This morning I woke up thinking about why worry is useles...

This morning I woke up thinking about why worry is useless and counterproductive. You see, right now we are riding the rollercoaster of arranging end-of-life care for not one but two parents. Simultaneously. Worrying is often our natural instinct whenever we are facing big, hairy challenges.

Anytime we fall prey to fear and worry we give up our power to handle our challenges effectively.

Why? Well, anytime we worry or feel afraid our lizard brain kicks into gear. It wants the best for us, of cou...

25+ Simple Ways to Have Fun [It’s Good for Your Health!]

Recently I wrote this article about how most adults have forgotten how to have fun. At the risk of sounding flippant, I’d say it’s reached the proportions of a pandemic… Luckily one has an easy fix, ready at your fingertips: choose one or two of these 25+ simple ways to have fun. Or better yet, work your way down the list and do them all!

 

Catch a sunrise or a sunset.Play a board game.Take a walk around your neighborhood. (This can be especially magical at night, depending on your neighborho...

Why Fun is Good For Your Health and What We Can Learn From Kids

Today I was reflecting on all of the years I’ve worked with kids and found myself missing their playful exuberance, their enthusiasm for life, and their open- hearted wisdom. Kids are fun to be around. They know how to have fun and they’re looking for more fun any way they can get it. Grownups, not so much. Which lead to this post about why fun is good for your health and what we can learn from kids.

For some reason, most of us grownups have forgotten how to have fun, or to even remember that fu...

Sleep Well and Feel Better: 5 Small Steps That Create Big Results

I have an embarrassing confession to make: For most of my life I’ve been a pusher. Not in the sense of pressuring others into using illicit substances, but driving myself to accomplish as much as possible and use every second productively. I don’t think I’m alone. Ask a friend how they’re doing and the typical response is,”I’m so busy,” as if it’s a good thing. Constant busy-ness, what I like to call The Busy-ness Lifestyle,  has become the new cultural norm. But is the busy-ness actually good f...

Your Brain Will Thank You For This

When I was eight years old, I mad one of the biggest mistakes of my life: I watched Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Alone. For the next week, I saw his pale, menacing face every time I turned out the lights. I’m pretty sure I hardly slept at all. I was one exhausted third-grader. That one incredibly spooky vampire movie had such a profound effect on me that I realized I had to be more careful about what I watched.

Since then I’ve come to understand that everything I watched, or read, or listened to had t...