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Episode #48 – Hugging

Episode #48 - Gratitude for Hugging

Welcome to Episode 48 of the Get in the G Zone podcast.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and venture that you didn’t know today – January 21st – is National Hugging Day. That’s right – hugging. Like you do with a romantic partner, dog, or favorite stuffed animal. There are many benefits to hugging you may not be aware of – so today, we’re going to celebrate hugging and find reasons to be thankful for the hugs in our lives.

RESOURCES FROM TODAY’S PODCAST

https://bethrogerson.com/build-better-you-8-hugs

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2000-01-13-0001130751-story.html (vague reference to the bunny cholesterol story)

https://peaandthepodchiropractic.com/articles-tips/page/3/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6169869/

https://www.thehealthy.com/mental-health/benefits-of-hugging/

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LAURA ORSINI is a social alchemist who strives to influence people to be their best selves and live their best lives. She is an author, speaker, publisher, and podcaster who focuses on gratitude and all the benefits it can bestow in our lives. Find her book, Get in the G Zone: Develop a Gratitude Attitude so You Can Win in Life, and its accompanying journal on her website, GetInTheGZone.com.

Episode #47 – Change Agents & Influencers

Episode #47 - Change Agents & Influencers

Welcome to Episode 47 of the Get in the G Zone podcast.

It’s MLK Day, so today we are going to explore gratitude for influencers and change agents. Look up the term “change agent” on the Google and you’re likely to first see a lot of discussion about an individual who creates change within an organization. That is certainly one interpretation of a change agent. However, I’m taking a broader approach to the term, viewing it more in terms of someone who is using their skills, confidence, power, relationships, and personal courage to make a positive difference in any avenue of life or corner of the world. There’s the key word – positive. Loads of influential people have made a difference, not all of them positive. Who do you think of when you consider the concept of positive agent of change?

 

RESOURCES CITED IN THIS PODCAST

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

http://d-demaree.blogspot.com/2011/12/agent-of-change.html

https://artsednow.org/product/change-agent-tip-sheet

https://wealthygorilla.com/most-influential-people

https://www.marieclaire.com.au/famous-women-in-history

https://www.changemakers.com/stories/changing-world-101

https://ashokau.org/blog/we-are-rarely-born-as-changemakers

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/opinion/changemaker-social-entrepreneur.html

https://myanimals.com/animals/pet-therapy-for-prisoners/

 

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LAURA ORSINI is a social alchemist who strives to influence people to be their best selves and live their best lives. She is an author, speaker, publisher, and podcaster who focuses on gratitude and all the benefits it can bestow in our lives. Find her book, Get in the G Zone: Develop a Gratitude Attitude so You Can Win in Life, and its accompanying journal on her website, GetInTheGZone.com.

Episode #46 – Names

A rose by any other name

Welcome to Episode 46 of the Get in the G Zone podcast.

Today our podcast meditation focuses on names.

The definition of the word name is fairly simple – a word or group of words by which a person, place, or thing is known or referred to. The concept of naming, however, is so complicated and far-reaching that it’s not even known how far back the tradition of giving individuals names actually goes. In this podcast, we’ll consider all kinds of names – and our gratitude for them.

RESOURCES FROM TODAY’S PODCAST

https://heraldry.sca.org/names/namehist.html

https://www.kabalarians.com/cfm/what-does-my-name-mean.cfm

https://www.behindthename.com

https://seattlebridemag.com/expert-wedding-advice/history-behind-maiden-vs-married-names

https://www.genealogy.com/articles/research/35_donna.html

https://www.todaysparent.com/pregnancy/baby-names/when-did-naming-your-kid-after-yourself-become-a-parenting-faux-pas

https://pocketcultures.com/2011/04/13/children-naming-traditions

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/03/04/how-does-the-pope-choose-his-pope-name/#c04595148aed

https://didyouknowboats.com/why-are-boats-called-a-she

https://earthsky.org/earth/how-do-hurricanes-get-their-names

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/502251/funniest-town-name-all-50-states

https://www.fastcompany.com/90156104/2017s-best-and-worst-names-and-3-naming-trends-for-2018

https://www.thelifecraftingguide.com/NumerologyServices

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LAURA ORSINI is a social alchemist who strives to influence people to be their best selves and live their best lives. She is an author, speaker, publisher, and podcaster who focuses on gratitude and all the benefits it can bestow in our lives. Find her book, Get in the G Zone: Develop a Gratitude Attitude so You Can Win in Life, and its accompanying journal on her website, GetInTheGZone.com.

Episode #2 – Self-Perception

 

Welcome to Episode 2 of the Get in the G Zone podcast.

Today we’re going to focus on Self-Perception – and the things you can be grateful for when it comes to your self-perception. Quite simply, self-perception is the way you see yourself. If you have strong self-esteem, this may be a fairly easy exercise for you. If  your self-esteem is low – or could use a boost – you may need to dig a bit deeper to find those qualities or characteristics for which you feel genuine gratitude.

The surface things are what we notice first. Our appearance includes things like our hair, our manner of dress, our weight, our smile. It includes things like our voice, our posture, and the way we walk. But self-perception also includes how we see ourselves in terms of character traits. Confident – or lacking self-assurance. Funny – or serious. Able to take a joke – or easily embarrassed. Outgoing – or more introverted. None of these can be labeled right or wrong. These are just ways to describe how we show up in the world. If we want to change any of them, we can work on that. Our goal today, however, is to be grateful for who we are – our how we perceive ourselves to be – in this moment.

Of course, we’re all human, so we all have times when we’re a bit disappointed in the way we look or come across. If this is a regular challenge for you, I invite you to listen to this meditation for a few days in a row, until you can light on one or two or three things about yourself for which you are truly grateful.

Please listen. Please comment. Please share the G Zone with anyone you know who would benefit by incorporating more gratitude into their lives.

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LAURA ORSINI is a social alchemist who strives to influence people to be their best selves and live their best lives. She is an author, speaker, publisher, and podcaster who focuses on gratitude and all the benefits it can bestow in our lives. Find her book, Get in the G Zone: Develop a Gratitude Attitude so You Can Win in Life, and its accompanying journal on her website, GetInTheGZone.com.

Episode #1 – Why Gratitude?

Welcome to the Get in the G Zone podcast

The word gratitude comes from the Latin word gratus, which means “thankful” or “agreeable” or “welcome” or “beloved.” Therefore, at its core, to be grateful means to have appreciation or express thankfulness.

And most of us are familiar with the concept of being “in the zone.” This also is described as “the flow,” a state of awareness where time disappears and you are one with whatever activity you are performing at the moment. Athletes experience it, as do artists and entrepreneurs. It is a feeling of harmony when the work or activity is effortless. In this mental state, we producer our greatest results.

Even if you have to go back to your teen years or childhood, chances are you can remember at least one instance when you were so caught up in what you were doing that you lost track of all time. It might have been romping outside with friend, playing dress-up or creating a fantasy world, running track, searching for shells at the beach, drawing a picture, riding a horse, skipping stones on a pond, or watching turtles at the zoo. It might not have been a monumental activity, relative to life accomplishments, but it was important to you at the time, so much so that it caught your attention, occupied you, and allowed all other things to fall away.

Articles, books, videos, and seminars have been dedicated to the concept of getting into the zone – giving people a way to find that focus and harmony virtually on demand.

The “G” Zone – or the gratitude zone – is a bit different, in that you’ll probably retain your sense of where you and what you’re doing. But it’s similar in that it is a thing – a feeling – you can learn to access at will.

The “G” Zone is a place you can go anytime you need an energy boost, a reminder that things are more good than bad, a pick-me-up on hearing bad news, a motivator when you find yourself in a rut, or a place to celebrate the many gifts you will find life showering on you as soon as you start making gratitude a habit and regular practice in your life. 

Generally speaking, grateful people are healthier and wealthier; they sleep better, they have lovelier relationships, and they tend to enjoy life more than people who don’t have a baseline of gratitude.

The problem is that most of us default to low-vibration emotions like anger, fear, guilt, blame, and shame. For most people, gratitude is not their native behavior. The good news is that gratitude can be learned.

The goal of this podcast is to explore ways to bring more gratitude into our lives. Six episodes per week will incorporate a meditation of sorts around a specific topic. On Thursdays, we’ll shift things to include interviews with gratitude experts and/or conversations where I just share my thoughts on gratitude as it pertains to whatever is top of mind for me at the moment.

Please listen. Please comment. Please share the G Zone with anyone you know who would benefit by incorporating more gratitude into their lives.

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LAURA ORSINI is a social alchemist who strives to influence people to be their best selves and live their best lives. She is an author, speaker, publisher, and podcaster who focuses on gratitude and all the benefits it can bestow in our lives. Find her book, Get in the G Zone: Develop a Gratitude Attitude so You Can Win in Life, and its accompanying journal on her website, GetInTheGZone.com.