Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines ~ A Poem by Dylan Thomas

Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines

Dylan Thomas

Light breaks where no sun shines;
Where no sea runs, the waters of the heart
Push in their tides;
And, broken ghosts with glowworms in their heads,
The things of light
File through the flesh where no flesh decks the bones.

A candle in the thighs
Warms youth and seed and burns the seeds of age;
Where no seed stirs,
The fruit of man unwrinkles in the stars,
Bright as a fig;
Where no wax is, the candle shows its hairs.

Dawn breaks behind the eyes;
From poles of skull and toe the windy blood
Slides like a sea;
Nor fenced, nor staked, the gushers of the sky
Spout to the rod
Divining in a smile the oil of tears.

Night in the sockets rounds,
Like some pitch moon, the limit of the globes;
Day lights the bone;
Where no cold is, the skinning gales unpin
The winter’s robes;
The film of spring is hanging from the lids.

Light breaks on secret lots,
On tips of thought where thoughts smell in the rain;
When logics die,
The secret of the soil grows through the eye,
And blood jumps in the sun;
Above the waste allotments the dawn halts.

Source

Get Healthy: Burn More Caloris

I asked ChatGPT (AI) if it was possible to trick your body into burning more calories.

Here’s ChatGPT’s response:

Yes, there are several strategies that people use to try to increase their calorie burn, although it’s important to approach them with realistic expectations and a focus on overall health rather than just calorie burning. Here are some common methods:

  1. Increase Muscle Mass: Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, even at rest. Strength training exercises, like weight lifting, can help build muscle mass, potentially increasing the number of calories your body burns throughout the day.
  2. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): HIIT involves short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief rest periods. This type of workout is believed to boost metabolism significantly more than moderate-intensity exercise, leading to more calories burned, sometimes even after the workout is over, a phenomenon known as “afterburn” or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).
  3. Stay Active Throughout the Day: Outside of dedicated workout times, try to be more active during the day. Simple changes like standing instead of sitting, taking stairs instead of elevators, and walking more can slightly increase your daily calorie expenditure.
  4. Cold Exposure: Some research suggests that being in a cooler environment can increase calorie burn, as your body has to work harder to maintain its core temperature. This might involve lower indoor temperatures or cold water immersion. However, this should be approached with caution and might not be suitable for everyone.
  5. Drink Cold Water: Drinking water can temporarily speed up metabolism, and cold water may cause the body to use more calories to warm the water up to body temperature.
  6. Eat Spicy Foods: Some spices, like capsaicin found in chili peppers, can slightly increase metabolism immediately after a meal.
  7. Sleep Well: Poor sleep can negatively affect your metabolism and increase your appetite for high-calorie foods. Getting enough quality sleep can help maintain a healthy metabolism.
  8. Protein-Rich Diet: Digesting protein burns more calories than digesting fats or carbohydrates. Eating enough protein can also help with muscle building, especially important if you’re strength training.

While these strategies can contribute to a higher calorie burn, the effects are often modest. The most effective way to lose weight or change body composition is through a comprehensive approach that includes diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes, focusing on long-term habits rather than quick fixes. Always consider consulting with a healthcare provider before making significant changes to your diet or exercise routine, especially if you have underlying health conditions.

Today’s Joke: Joe Went for a Run

Joe: “I wasn’t planning to run today, but I did.”

Pete: “What made you change your mind?”

Joe: “The cops showed up.”

From Darkness to Light: Embracing Love After Loss ~ Episode 83

Welcome to episode 83 of Dr. Ray Calabrese’s ‘Journey from Grief to Healing’ podcast, titled “Navigating Grief: Understanding the Differences Between Physical and Emotional Pain”. In this episode, Dr. Calabrese draws from his personal experiences to delve into the contrasts in our brain’s processing of physical and emotional pain, particularly as it relates to grieving.

He begins by exploring his own physical injuries from athletics and surgeries, recounting how the intensity of the pain they inflicted has faded. The conversation then shifts to the emotional pain of grief – a pain that doesn’t fade away quite as easily. This insight leads Dr. Calabrese to a discovery – our brains process and record physical and emotional pain very differently.

While physical pain is dealt with urgently by the brain’s distress signal system, emotional pain, such as the grief from losing a loved one, is processed through the areas of the brain linked to emotions, memories, and social bonding. This can explain why grieving can feel physically painful and leave us feeling foggy or unmotivated.

Dr. Calabrese makes an enlightening suggestion that the emotional pain associated with grief is often intertwined with our identities and social connections. This becomes the basis for a ‘story’ we create for ourselves in the course of our grieving. Once we become conscious of this ‘story’, there’s potential to alternatively use it as a tool to guide us in reshaping our lives to better cope with our loss.

In the concluding part of the podcast, listeners are encouraged to examine carefully the story they are creating in their heads and to recognize the power they possess in rewriting it. We have the ability to drastically alter our grieving narrative, using it as a driving force towards healing, peace, and ultimately, a renewed perspective on life.

You can listen to Episode 83 on your favorite podcasting app or click here for Episode 83

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Today’s Thought: Do You Have the Right Stuff?

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. ~ Frederick Douglass

NOTE: Ninety-nine percent of the current world population of 8.04 billion people know what Frederick Douglas was speaking about when he said, “no struggle, no progress.” It’s how life teaches us. Life requires us to learn and evolve (change, adapt). If we seek a life without struggle, we are seeking an illusion. Once we master something, the next challenge appears as if it was waiting for us. It’s asking us if we’re up to the challenge. The struggle is not so much with the challenge we face, the struggle is with ourselves. At each step we have to ask ourselves if we’re willing to sacrifice, focus, and commit our energy to the task with which we are engaged. Life asks us every day if we have the right stuff.

It’s Time to Exercise Your Brain – Take the Anagram Challenge  

Today’s mind sharpening anagram is a two or three word phrase. Can you unscramble the anagram to discover the two or three word phrase? It’s time to exercise your brain! 

Today’s Anagram:  

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