Finding joy may seem like an impossible task when you place too much focus on the act of “finding” it. Take the mystique out of joy by focusing on what is already in front of you. Did you know that you may be able to find joy in even the simplest of items around your own home?

Before you set out to splurge on the latest set of singing bowls and gongs in your search for joy and inner peace, take a look at some of these everyday moments around your home that could bring you joy.
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Tending to Your Garden Many start a garden to try and find a sense of peace in their home, then that beautiful piece of heaven seems to pivot into a burden. Shift back to why you started your garden in the first place. Clean eating? Saving money of fruits and vegetables? Or is it simply because you enjoy the feeling of getting your hands dirty, the fresh smell of grass and your growing bounty. Cling to living in the present and enjoy those moments outdoors with your garden shears.

Seeing Your Reflection on Newly Cleaned Counters
Nothing beats a clean home, especially clean countertops. The practice of spritzing a cleaning mist over your counters to work out the grime of last night’s delectable dinner of raviolis and freshly shaved parmesan. Enjoy your time cleaning those tried and true countertops, then smile at your reflection when the job is done. Take note of your facial features and how they’re obscured in the marbled pattern of your counters. Then, take a deep breath and smile.

Tune Into the Soundtrack of Your Home
Open your ears to the natural sounds around your house. You might hear birds chirping through an open window and kids playing upstairs. The white noise of your appliances, such as the hum of your dishwasher or the gentle swishing of clothes being dried and warmed in your clothes dryer, can prove to be a peaceful experience too. However, be sure to listen carefully to these appliances. A clunking or wobbling machine can be annoying and even distract you from your meditation practice. If this is the case, take the time to remedy the nuisance with a quick call to your local repairman or home warranty provider. Sometimes, something as simple as a phone call can bring joy in knowing everything is running smoothly in your home.

Feeling the Warmth of the Sun Shining From Your Windows
On those beautiful sunny days where you get to enjoy opening up the blinds and curtains to brighten up your home, take a moment to enjoy the sun. Stand in front of the window with your eyes closed and feel the heat of the sun warming your face. Little moments like these to enjoy life helps us appreciate all that we’ve been given over the years.

Inhaling Freshly Cleaned Linens
Not much beats the smell of freshly cleaned linens. The experience of taking your bed sheets and blankets out of the warm dryer and placing the cloth against your face and inhaling deeply allows us to take a moment and simply be. Don’t think, just feel. Enjoy the warmth of the cloth, the smell of cotton and detergent, and cleanliness.

About the Author: Ascension Lifestyle Guest Contributor

Paige A. Mitchell is a freelance writer who enjoys writing about making homes healthier and more functional.

The Most Unknown takes you through an experience that applies the scientific method to existential questions such as consciousness, life on other planets, and unsolved mysteries in physics. The documentary explores the endeavors of nine scientist, who share the goals and findings of their respective fields of study to one and other within the group. Reminiscent of a marathon, where a torch is passed from one person to the next, each scientist transfers their curiosity of their area of study from researcher to researcher. They mutually learning from the differences and similarities within their respective fields of study.

This documentary demonstrates the collaborative and also codependent nature of science. The nine branches of science in this film share an almost symbiotic relationship in the quest for existential truth. It seems to be that perhaps many scientific challenges require a collaborative effort to work with other scientific fields of study to understand common issues and curiosities. Among their common languages is mathematics, applied relatively to each discipline, the uniqueness of each endeavor is as complex as the universe itself. The dynamics of the natural world require multiple disciplines of study that co-create our understanding of it. The continuity of this documentary is mathematics, and its scientific process to which all the scientist utilize to follow along and keep up with what they were being taught.

You’ll get a glimpse into the day and the life of a researcher, not only observing their work process, but understanding the human needs that make them do what they do. Understanding the person who is conducting the science gives us a glimpse into the motives and drives that play a part in navigating the experiment.

The captivating element of this documentary is that it showed the viewer how advanced a society can be when all the vital branches of science are working together to better understand the limiting problems of the present day. Knowledge is pursued with the same curiosity and vision as a philosopher or spiritualist, armed with objective empirical data to validate the hypotheses.

Why does any of this matter? It matters because break throughs in each of these disciplines ultimately effect everyone in the long run. It gives us more control over the variables that effect our day to day lives, more control over what effects our existence. With that comes greater efficiency and more doors of possibilities in our symbiotic relationship with the natural world.

The documentary is enjoyable for anyone, even if you don’t have a scientific background. Although the documentary was discussing complex topics, the film was not difficult to understand. Any young person wanting to get into a scientific discipline would find this film useful, as it serves a purpose in inspiring the viewer to get involved in science.

The Most Unknown was produced by Ian Cheney, an Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker. He grew up in New England and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University. 

About the Author: Ascension Lifestyle Staff Writer John Azu

How To Make Your Home Environmentally Friendly

Sustainable homes have been on the rise in the recent years and it’s quite understandable. A growing number of people want to have their share of responsibility in fighting this problem, opting for making their homes environmentally friendly. Another contributing factor to going green in your home is also the opportunity to save money, as an eco-friendly home is also an energy-efficient home.

Here’s how you can make your home environmentally friendly and reduce your ecological footprint but also give it a stylish touch.

Choose your wood furniture wisely

The best option would be to try to find vintage pieces instead of buying new ones – a dash of spray paint will turn the piece into an astonishing decorative item. Another environmentally friendly option is to look for reclaimed wood, namely, wood that has been reused from previous construction. It will also add to the warm industrial look in case you prefer it.

On the other hand, if you really want to buy new wooden furniture pieces, then opt for certified sustainably harvested furniture. Also, try to buy local products – that way, you will reduce your ecological footprint but also support local craftsmen.

Mindful minimalism

Getting rid of the clutter in your home automatically means you will be more attentive to the things you buy. Minimalism is a way of life – be honest with yourself: do you really need all those things in your home? Separate the things that you haven’t used in months and do the following with them: donate them, give them away or recycle them.

The next step is to, every time you want to buy something, stop and think: Do I really need this item or I just want to buy it? It is necessary or it’s just an emotional response? With mindful purchasing, your ecological print will be much lower and you will save a lot of money.

Green roof and walls

The aesthetics and energy-efficiency of green roofs are truly remarkable. Installing them today has become easier and practical. Not only will you have a natural way to cool your home but you will have the chance to design beautiful and natural landscape.

Opt for proper lighting

Whenever you can, use natural light in your home. Of course, for the evenings choose LED lighting instead of the usual electric bulbs. They are both environmentally friendly and energy-efficient. There are several types – some give off cold, blue-base light and others give off the yellow-based light. You can also choose between warm white, soft white and daylight – options are numerous, offering you the possibility to add to the specific ambiance of your home.

Save water in your household

Small leaks can make a big difference when it comes to water consumption. If you don’t do anything about a leaking tap or a leaking toilet, the amount of wasted water can go up to 300,000 liters annually. Don’t wait until the leak makes a more serious damage to your home and consult reliable plumbing services to deal with the issue. Another option is to install a water saving shower head with a low flow – it could reduce your water consumption by up to 40%.

Mind the tags

It’s not a sure thing anymore that using natural fibers for clothing means you are being eco-friendly. Unfortunately, cotton production today means using a lot of pesticides, so look for organic cotton – it also presumes using natural dyes. Wool should be made from humanely-treated animals, while linen and hemp are eco-friendly natural fibers for sure. If you buy synthetics, then look for recycled polyester tag, the one that brands like Patagonia make.

All in all

Having a green home today means several things: it helps the environment but it also helps you save money in various ways. What’s also great about green homes is that they can also be aesthetically beautiful and comfortable to live in – a dream come true!

About the Author: Stella Ryne

Stella is an art historian, traveler, conscious consumer and a proud mother. When she is not trying to improve the things around her (and herself, for that matter), she likes to lose herself in a good book.

How starting a little retail business set me on the path to spiritual advancement.

​Ever since the first time I floated, I knew I was going to open a float center. It was just something I had to do. What I experienced in the tank that day changed me forever and starting and running this business over the last two years has been nothing short of the perfect script for spiritual advancement. I’ve learned more than I ever dreamed of about myself, business and the meaning of life through this process but I didn’t come at all the way I expected. Or, gently.

​My first float was in Whitefish at a little place that was tucked in an office building downtown, just around the corner from the retail shops and the big restaurants and bars. I stayed up there in a little cabin just outside of town and cell phone range, decompressing in silence, thinking about the future for a few days.

I had come a long way over the past few years. I had hit bottom in college, when my lifestyle and the lasting effects of my military service caught up with me. One of the things that helped pull me out of it was my interest in entrepreneurship. I learned quickly that what I could produce was a direct function of what kind of physical and mental shape I was in. And I really wanted to create something awesome. Not for the money, but for the stories. For the experience of it.

I started working on my self and things were really falling into place. I got back in shape, starting eating well, cut back on drinking significantly, got a great paying job, moved in with a great girl, adopted and old dog and planned our future together. I had every reason to be happy but I wasn’t and in the tank that first time, I figured out why.

I spent the first half of the float quietly breathing, trying to comprehend how there was absolutely nothing that demanded my attention at the present moment and marveling at just how busy I had been for the last ten years. I hadn’t stopped to do nothing…ever. The second half was spent observing the problems my conscious mind served up to fill that void and just how much of that narrative was really negative, dark and frankly, bullshit.

These patterns of thought I had developed, I noticed, were all formed during the most traumatic periods of my life, mostly things that I had developed in combat and childhood. I remember how anxious I used to get in crowds, mostly at bars when I was in College. I just tried to sit there with the memory and the feeling it evoked in me. My shoulders were stuck up by my ears, my eyes were scanning the crowd and my mind was thinking up ways I could kill each and every person in the room if I had to.

I ran through a dozen of these scripts – anger, depression, anxiety, self hatred, coping mechanisms, especially shutting off. I realized that almost all of them were born in traumas of the past but I was unconsciously carrying these patterns into every new moment. They weren’t helping me anymore. In fact, they were eating me alive. They were turning me into stone, piece by piece, calcifying my body and blinding me to who I really was. I never truly connected with others because I was too busy projecting who I wanted them to think I was.

I can’t describe how deep these realizations were. It was like waking up and realizing I had been asleep my entire life. I was living out my traumatic past and it was all happening right behind my awareness. Worse, that inner critic hated me. All day, every day, he was telling me what I piece of shit I was. An impostor. Broken. Just kill yourself already. It was always there, just beneath the surface.

Figuring out what the hell that was, where I got it and what I was going to do about became my highest priority. I couldn’t un-see it. I had to find a way to beat it. The only way I had found so far was floating and I was dead set on opening my own place to focus on that full time. I quit my job, I got a small business loan, I signed a lease on a location, hired contractors, got permits. I was still stressed to the max but I felt deeply aligned with my true self. I felt like I was on the path. I was energized.

Then…

I realized we weren’t going to have enough money to get the doors open. Then, I found out the building owner was welching on the fifty grand he committed to the project. Then, the general contractors bid came in six-fold over budget. I had a choice to make – walk away and lose everything or double down and find the money to finish the project. The second option required going out and asking for more money which, probably as a result of my humble upbringing, I was very ashamed to do.

Instead, I stepped in as the de-facto general contractor, slashed the size of the project and worked day and night doing any manual labor I could. After all that, we were still twenty five grand short. We turned to Kickstarter but to be successful, I knew I would have to open up about why I was doing this. I was mortified. I had been in the closet even to myself about my struggles with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, substance abuse, etc. I thought no one would ever invest in a business run by a broken piece of shit like me.

I was terrified about how people’s perception of me would change after this got out. I worried about shit like my life insurance policy being revoked or something worse that I hadn’t even conceived of yet. I knew this would help me sort myself out and I thought it would help other people too. That’s not exactly a business model but the message resonated and raised over $26,000 in just two weeks. We were off and running and finally opened the doors on Valentine’s day 2017.

Over the last 18 months, we’ve floated over four thousand people about six thousand times. That took just shy of twelve thousand labor hours, five thousand pounds of salt, six thousand towels and as many earplugs. Turning over a room in between sessions takes about ten minutes, so we’ve spent about a thousand hours or forty one days wiping down tanks, laying out towels and earplugs and introducing people to floating. We’ve spent three hundred more hours or twelve days on our hands and knees cleaning every inch of the lab, the stuff no one sees.

When we finally opened our doors, I worked ninety hours a week for three months straight. I ate chinese food out of the container with my bare hands and napped on the concrete floor in between appointments. Over the past two years, I’ve paid myself about eight thousand dollars. I’ve worked no less than six thousand hours, so I make about $1.33 an hour. And I’m still $125,000 in debt.

The business has turned a profit most months since we opened and when it does, I’ve poured that money into improving and expanding what we offer. Some months we lose a little bit of money and those are the months I don’t get paid. Sometimes I give back what I was paid in the past. Sometimes I have to shuffle around the bills like a shell game just to make ends meet. Sometimes ends don’t meet.

Then, just as things were seeming to stabilize, I got divorced. It called everything into question – who I was, where I was going, even where I had been. Everything was up in the air.

I did the logical thing. I doubled down again and slept at the Lab for a few weeks. I would work all day and sleep in the unfinished room in the back and wake up, shower in one of the rooms, brush my teeth in the bathroom and get ready for the first customers of the day. The couch everyone loves in the lounge, yeah, that’s the couch from my apartment. I didn’t have anywhere to put it, so I put it there. I once ate an ice cream sandwich in the sauna wearing a robe while watching Workaholics on the iPad.

It got dark.

My own life was in shambles but I couldn’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t know what to say anyway. I was so invested in being an entrepreneur, being the owner of the Lab, being someone who had sorted themselves out that I simply could not admit that I had lost almost everything, including myself…and the Lab could be next.

A few months ago, I woke with a bit of a hangover, checked the calendar and saw that I didn’t have any appointments until after noon. I thought, ‘I don’t want to go to work and I don’t get paid, so why should I? The business is just another thing I use to punish myself.’ I thought better of it, maybe someone will need me.

Someone did. One of our first ever members came barreling through the door and told me, through the tears, that his young wife had died last week of an aneurysm and he had just buried her and how he was dealing with their four kids. It was a devastating tragedy but also beautiful and deeply meaningful. He told me about the last day they spent together at the Kettlehouse Amphitheater and how a year ago, they were on the really struggling in their marriage and how her floating had given them the space they needed to get through it and allowed them to have that last day together.

She was a trauma surgeon, you see, and she poured herself out at work all day too. What he got to see was whatever was left when she got home but floating had given her just a little bit of extra compassion in her tank to spend at home with her kids and her husband. He thanked me for giving them that time together.

It drove home not just the meaningful nature of the work that I was doing but what a cost I had paid for it and how silently I had suffered.

I took a week off after that. I had to because I couldn’t stop crying. I sat in meditation for three days and floated after hours each night. I had been in intensive therapy since my marriage fell apart. I also dedicated every minute of free time I had to sorting myself out. Layers of the onion started to peel back.

I can’t begin to unveil all the things I’ve learned about myself, life and whatever happens after. But, one of the things I learned is critical to this piece. I recognized that I don’t particularly like myself. I felt like I had some existential debt to pay and sacrificing my own wellbeing in the service of others is the path to repaying that debt.

That’s why I joined the Army. That’s why I opened the Lab. I desperately wanted to unfuck myself but I didn’t think I deserved it unless I was first offering that to others. I got so wrapped up in helping others, I forgot to help myself. I didn’t float. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep or I slept too much. I worked my ass off seven days a week and drank every night until I could shut off that inner critic I discovered in my first float that was telling me what a piece of shit I was. Broken. Blind. Just kill yourself.

Ah, welcome back, old friend.

When that little voice came back, I was ready for it. I didn’t fight it. I didn’t try to shut it off. I just sat there with it. I tried to point out where it lived in my body. I tried to accept that it was there, that it was real. Not accepting the underlying narrative about why it was there, just that it was there. If I could sit there and be present with it for long enough, the deeper truth would come out. I was scared of being alone. I was scared I would never be happy. I was scared that if I wasn’t the owner of the Lab, I wasn’t good enough.

But who I was, who I was underneath that inner voice, who I found myself to be in my deepest states of meditation in the tank, had absolutely nothing to do with that. It dawned on me that I had done it. I had gone behind the voice of that inner critic and met my true self for the first time, who I was behind all the stories I told.

When I went back to work, I was different. I had lost almost everything – my marriage, my plans for the future, who I thought I was – all of it had burned off. But I still had the Lab. I had already made peace with the fact that it could and probably would fail some day but that wouldn’t say anything about who I am. I had a renewed energy. All the pressure was off. I started thinking about what I really wanted to do with this creation of mine.

First, I’d like everyone to try floating. If you’ve heard about it and this story resonates with you, consider this a formal invitation. If you’re like me and floating has helped you, share your story with friends and family. If you can’t share your story, share mine. Some of us need a little push to take better care of ourselves. I’d really love to introduce a few thousand more people to floating this year.
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Second, I really want every Veteran and their spouse to try floating. I believe in it so much that I’m going to make it free starting in December this year. To do that, I’m partnering with the Red Willow Learning Center to raise $15,000 to provide free float sessions to any Veteran, their spouse or caregiver. That’s 250 people I can trade stories with in person and I think we’ll all be better for it. You can join me in that mission here.

About the Author: Matt Gangloff

Matt is a two-tour combat veteran of the US Army and is the owner of Enlyten Lab float center in Missoula Montana. You can find him at https://www.enlytenlab.com

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s often difficult to maintain the most important aspects of your life, specifically, your mental health. Having to beat the clock and fight the emotional battles of workplace competition can take a toll on your emotional state and upset your balance. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and you have the power to make a change starting today.

Stop the Clock

Day in and day out it’s the same routine. Show up to the office, grab a cup of coffee, listen to your co-workers complain about the boss, and choke down a bite of lunch while rushing to get back to the grind within a paltry 60 minutes. Even if your days don’t look like that, you’ve likely found that your workplace affects you both physically and emotionally, and you’re not alone. Slate recently shed light on the alarming reality of how irregular working hours, nonexistent work/life balance, and economic insecurity leads to approximately 120,000 deaths each year and costs Americans nearly $200 billion annually in added healthcare expenditures.

If you ever wish you could just quit your job and rely on your own skills, knowledge, and expertise to make a living, you’re in luck. The self-employment, or “gig,” economy has made it easier than ever to pull the hands right off the clock and live and work on your own terms.

A New Kind of Balance

Exiting the nine-to-five world is very freeing. It allows you to handle important aspects of your self-care, such as sleep, exercise, and nurturing strong relationships without sacrificing an income. However, it requires dedication and a willingness to hunt for your own opportunities. Marketing yourself may be intimidating, and competition is fierce when it comes to online contract employment opportunities.

One of the biggest hurdles many fledgling entrepreneurs face is learning how to manage finances for both a business and a home. This is where self-discipline comes into play and you must have your proverbial ducks in a row when it comes to keeping up with your income, collecting payments, and managing expenditures. If you plan on acquiring financing for your business, which include flexible SBA loans and business lines of credit, do your research and don’t just apply for the first loan you think you’ll qualify for.

A newfound flexibility can also open a Pandora’s Box of issues if you don’t have time management skills. You’re responsible for setting your own structure and that can be difficult with distractions such as social media. Once you learn when you are at your most productive, however, you can give yourself back many hours that would otherwise have been spent working for a paycheck that you had no control over.

Self-Care and Self-Employment

As a self-employed individual, you give yourself the gift of holding the reins of your financial future. You can avoid office politics, excessive traffic, and workplace drama, all of which can take a toll on your mental health. Perhaps the biggest benefit of leaping into the world of the gig economy is having an opportunity to focus on your own needs. Overlooked self-care practices, such as getting enough sleep and taking the time to prepare a nutritious lunch, are benefits those who work for themselves enjoy. By taking the time to focus on your needs instead of simply your finances, you will be more effective in your chosen career and more available for your family and friends.

While working for yourself presents its own unique challenges, freelance contract work is ideal if you suffer with depression, anxiety, or other mental health care concerns. Not only do you become your own boss, but you are also empowered to say no to taking on more responsibilities and to say yes to living your best life.

 About the Author Julie Morris:

Ms. Morris is a life and career coach who strives to help others live the best lives that they can. She believes she can relate to clients who feel run over by life because of her own experiences. She spent years in an unfulfilling career in finance before deciding to help people in other ways.

Image via Pixabay