Absence due to sickness has increased sharply in recent years in Sweden, both among managers and employees. We repeatedly see how leaders expose their employees to mental illness because they are being stressed. Should we continue like this? Is this good for anyone? In times of crisis, managers need to take care of themselves and manage their stress. Therefore, the experts at Mood At Work are now working to urge the seriousness of this and, at the same time, offer help, so that companies and managers can both save money and health during these difficult times. In times of crisis, managers need to take care of themselves and manage their own stress. It's just like with the oxygen mask on airplanes - take care of your own oxygen first, and then you can help others. This is extra important now, because the leader must be on hand to support employees who are extra dependent on security and clarity when there are uncertainty and worry. Each manager's behavior affects the work environment to a great extent, and here is an opportunity to be a leader who positively affects the health of the employees. Many managers and leaders usually live with the feeling of having too much to do and way too little time to do it. That feeling is most likely reinforced in these challenging "corona times." But it is essential to take the time, inform, listen and be supportive to their employees. "It should not be difficult to do things right." As the company name reveals - Mood At Work - Their area of expertise is prosperous at work. They are specialists in the working environment, leadership, HR, and practical labor law, and work together with companies and organizations for a healthy working environment. – For us, this is more than just a job. Our passion is to develop and inspire managers, employees, and companies to create a profitable and healthy workplace. In fact, we think it is a human right to feel good at work! For us, it is not "just" about doing the right things according to law and agreements, but it is profitable for companies to invest in the work environment and leadership development, says Jessica Schultz, one of the founders. Jessica continues: – We know that it is both fun and easy to do the right things if you know how to do it. That's what we do - we show the way. Many studies and research show that companies that invest in different efforts in the work environment receive so much back to the company. That is, it is an investment, not a cost. People who are happy and feel good at work perform better. We work long-term with most of our customers because this is not a "quick fix". Creating a change takes time. "Prioritizing and focusing on sustainability will, in the long run, result in higher profitability." Working with sustainable individuals and organizations is profitable, and we offer our customers research-based process support for sustainable results and employees. To give a few examples, a person lowers their productivity by 12% when having sleeping problems, and 9% when feeling stressed. It may not sound much, but it affects the company enormously. Here is 4 things you can do to work with sustainability and save lots of money: 1. Engage - Management's commitment is essential Don't just create a document filled with policy rules and guidelines. As a manager, you have to lead and show the way. Get your employees to think and work safely, both physically and psychosocially. You probably need to change your behavior. Do things differently. Sit down with your employees and talk about what you do in the company. What do we do in the company? What are the risks? It is essential to understand why working with the work environment is necessary. The management's task is to sell it to the employees. Get them on board! 2. Prevention, prevention, and prevention! The preventive work. In addition to reducing human suffering, there is money to save. Take sick leave as a simple example; here, you can quickly obtain improvements by working preventively. The significant advantage of working preventively is that there is money to save, not only in reduced costs but also in increased productivity. Productivity loss at high-stress level, lack of sleep, and/or lack of work environment is according to studies between 9-40%. These figures apply when employees are present at work, less productive, but not yet sick. Absence due to illness or sick leave is a simple example where you can very quickly recover cost savings. If the managers do not have to call in substitutes, do not manage administration, do not have meetings with the Social Insurance Office and doctors, do not have to spend time dealing with the consequences of the sick leave. All sick leave can not be avoided. But having routines for how to work preventively, before employees are absent, saves time, money, and often human suffering—especially linked to mental illness where the average absence due to illness is almost 130 days according to Statistics in Sweden. And the way back to work is long and time-consuming for both employers and individuals. 3. Plan You need to have a plan for how the work should be carried out. Take, for example, a project manager who is working on a large project that runs over the summer period. Can he/she take out their planned vacation, or must telephone calls and crisis management be handled from the beach? Can you introduce someone else in the project to ensure recovery and prevent unhealthy workload? 4. Risk assessment Risk assessment is about deciding and anticipating risks before they occur. You will not be able to handle all the risks, it is about prioritizing, and you must deal with the severe risks. Here, you greatly benefit from preventative reports on risk observations, learning from things that have happened, and best of all, from things that have not yet happened but that have been identified as a potential risk. To be aware of the risk situations that can occur and assess what we can do to minimize sickness and accidents, our work must be done regularly. Mood At Work: - Credibility - Competence - Generosity - Innovations

Maxim, Wellness & Business coach and Founder of www.livewithsmile.com, started his entrepreneurial journey as a personal trainer and wellness coach. Through the years of self education and working with clients in achieving their health goals, he realized that real wellness is achieved through a balance and fulfillment in finances, relationship, parenting, and of course, self-care. His mission is to help stay at home mothers, parents or those who are not fulfilled in their life to breakthrough their beliefs, transform their relationship and communication as well as start building an online coaching, consulting or experts business that will both allow them generate more income, free more time, promote self-growth and in the end lead to that desired fulfillment with finances, relationship, kids and well being. You’re the Wellness & Business Coach combining Health, Wealth, and Fulfillment into your work. Why are those three topics so important to you and how did you become an expert within it? I started my journey about five years ago when I have begun my wellness coaching business here in Hong Kong. 
I started it while I was still working full time as a logistics manager of a beauty company. And I can tell to you one thing - I hated my job. It made me stressed, and it has impacted my quality of life physically and mentally, which lead to it affecting my family relationships. So firstly, I have done it for me: I needed to re-establish my health and get control over my life and start getting independent while calling my own shots and having the ability to grow and expand.
 Thru the years, I was involved in self-development one way or another: Reading books, attending seminars, working with coaches, participating in mentorship programs, doing online courses - you name it. 

With my experience working with clients on the health aspect, I have realized that many of them are in some form or shape in the same situation I was in the past: 
Stuck in a workplace, they don’t enjoy. So I decided to change that and start working with people to achieve financial, parenting, relationship and health fulfillment because they are interlinked and impacting each other.
 It took me a lot of reading, conversations, coaching sessions and just seeing what’s going on around in the coaching industry to find my voice and fine-tune what I do and its reason. You’re living in Hong Kong right now. How is that, and did you move there because of business reasons? I moved to Hong Kong over 12 years ago, and it was not business related (in a sense).
 Back then, I was working in a bank while living with my parents. I had a conversation with a friend of mine where I told him that I know that I will get stuck with my parents forever if I do not do something drastic.
 So I looked for jobs that include relocation, and I chose Hong Kong as it was a cool destination to practice martial arts ( I am a certified Tai Chi instructor ), so I said let's jump do it. 
Since then many things have changed, but my passion for health and wellness has never changed and probably never will. Connecting with moms is something you’re good at. What do you think is the reason for that, and what kind of help are they mostly looking for that you can provide them with? Being a parent myself while going through pretty rough times with my kid and my wife that almost led to divorce - I learned to see things not only from my side but from hers (realizing how self-centered we are without actually paying attention to it)
, which I think helped me better understand what mothers are going through and to have this immediate connection and understanding. 

I don’t know if women are more comfortable to work with women or men when they go through coaching but what I found is that every time I had a coaching call with a woman/mom, I was able to get her entire life story pretty much in 1 call with everything she went through and they were willing to share it with me willingly. "That's why many mothers sink in depression and anxiety." I guess people feel comfortable opening up to me - I think there is a truth to that.

 When I had done my research, I discovered that mothers, be it if they are working moms or stay at home, will always be torn apart between investing in themselves and their family. 
If they are working, it is usually work stress combined with missed time with the kids. if its stay at home moms they tend to lose their identity and find that they live their kids' lives instead of their own and at some point, they realize they gave everything to everyone, but they got nothing for themselves. No one appreciates that. So that's why many mothers sink in depression and anxiety. They are stressed in their relationship, and it is not helping anyone.

 What I do is to help them first to identify their real deep-rooted challenges to overcome so that they can be in control of what's going on with them and have clarity and direction in life. Then I help them start an online business of service and contribution ( be it as a coach, a consultant or an expert of some kind ). That both helps them achieve a sense of purpose, start generating income for themselves - which many times get them back their confidence and independence and build themselves up as the best partner and mother they can be so the whole family will be happy and fulfilled in all the aspects I have mentioned earlier. Weight loss is one of your areas of expertise. What are your three best tips on weight loss? When I have started my journey as a wellness coach, I thought like many others that 'let's fix nutrition and exercise', but it is far from it - you actually need to create a holistic approach to weight loss to achieve sustainable long term success (by the way its no different from building a business) 1. Understand what is not working: People tentatively think that if they want to lose weight, they can do it by start exercising. Although exercise is very important for a healthy lifestyle and weight loss, it is not the main factor.
 People need to look at the whole picture: their physical activity, their diet, their environment, their stress, sleep, hydration, and identify sabotaging patterns. 2. Its a game of numbers: The weight loss formula is pretty simple, and it has never changed no matter how people tried to complicate if. 
It is still calories in, calories out (though compared to business, you actually want more out then in). 
So you have to get clear on what your daily intake is and your daily expenditure first and start working from there. If you don't know the numbers, you are just playing a guessing game, and it is not the best strategy for success. 3. If you go to the extreme - you have to be ready for it. 
Both health and business are a marathon, not a sprint. If you make drastic changes (like crash diets or some type or restricted diets ), first you need to know what are the side effects, understand the challenges, and be willing to deal with them.
 Although we hear people who have achieved success on different diets ( see point 2 ), Most of the time, people can't sustain it because they are missing the part of self-discipline and healthy habit creation, leading to a drastic weight loss following by a rapid weight GAIN.
 With everyone I have achieved success with - I have worked on a balanced diet, continues followups, adjustments, controlled caloric deficit, and shifting the mindset around food and healthy choices - and it works 100%. Positioning yourself in business is something you find very important. Do you have any specific tips on how to position yourself? Before you position yourself, you have to get clear that you can 100% produce the results you promise (and if not, you will do whatever it take to do so). 
I see many people starting coaching business with no idea about coaching or without undergoing coaching themselves, so they claim they are a coach, yet they act more like advisors. When your purpose, skills, knowledge, and ability to produce results aligned, positioning yourself is simple: start doing what you do best and impact people's lives.
 Share your experience openly, be authentic with your audience and showcase your expertise. 
Like anything else - if you get good at what you do at some point, you will reach the 
'tipping point 'where people will automatically find their way to you just because they know you are the best (or at least the best for them).
For some people, it might take longer for some, it happens pretty quick. 
But as I said about diet - it is a marathon, not a sprint. Finally, what do you have in front of you and what’s your next big goal or project? Now my goal is to reach and help as many parents and families as I can to achieve fulfillment with finances, relationships, parenting and find happiness.
 2020 is a tough year for many families and although it impacted their financial situation, many are still dominated by fear and their own limiting beliefs and accept their reality, be it earning less, working more, and living under constant pressure and stress.
 This can change very quickly, but they have to believe it first and want to go on the journey themselves Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Maxim!

Susan Watson specializes in working worldwide with all ages experiencing Anxiety, Emotions, and Trauma, in a content freestyle, so that no talking really needs to take place unless wanted. Working with feelings and emotions within the body, Susan releases the emotional connection of past experiences. She teaches self-help tools to help others live their best life, the life that is deserved. Susan supports individuals, groups and the workplace with her Be Your Own Empowered Hero workshops, which were introduced as a measure to reduce the risk of future issues with mental and emotional health. Introduce yourself, who is Susan? – Who I am? That is a huge question! Okay, I am a wife, married to my lovely husband Scott, and we live in Kirkliston, a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. I am a mother; I have 3 adult children, and I am a grandmother to 8 ranging from 3 years to 21. I have a son and 3 grandchildren who live in the USA, and I love my visits there and my ever-patient daughter in law puts up with me. My other son and daughter live local to me, which is wonderful. Over and above that, I am very independent and have found my purpose in life by supporting others through challenging times in their life, and I love to laugh and my happiest and most enjoyable times are spent with my family. I am also a therapist and a coach, which is a driving passion in my life. I treasure time on my own to recharge my batteries. This normally entails listening to some loud Rock / Metal music, which is my self-care time. Tell us a little bit about your business, Perfect Solutions Coaching. – I have 2 sides to Perfect Solutions coaching. On one side, I work with all ages who experience life challenges, mainly anxiety, unhelpful emotions, or are struggling with past trauma. This is on a 1-1 basis, and I work in a way that blends many of the therapeutic methods I have trained in. I spend around 1.5 hours in a session with the client, for clearance, and teaching them self- help methods, and then they have a take-home “tool kit” to use themselves when they need it most. I work in a way that is all about self-empowerment, helping people to be able to manage their own lives and make positive changes on their own, and I am just there in the background should they need me if they decide that is needed. I run the sessions in person and worldwide over the internet, which is fantastic. – My work's 2nd branch is my workshops, “Be Your Own Empowered Hero” I started the workshop initially as a preventative step, to teach young children and families about their mind and body, to recognize emotions and stress, anxiety, etc and self-help tools. This was all about reducing the risk to young people and families. I then realized why should self-care stop at any age? I take the workshops now into all groups, workplaces, etc. Promoting self-care, personal responsibility, and importantly all the workshops are fun, interactive, and teach life-long skills to help everyone manage their own wellbeing. Prevention is so important. You have lived with an anxiety disorder for almost 40 years. What was that like, and what did you do to leave the anxiety behind? – I did not even know I had anxiety until I started looking into this when I was in my 40s. I was always a troubled child, quite a loner and never really felt that I fitted in anywhere, bullied at school and felt like an alien in the world, that I was not meant to be here. I did not like anything about myself and was rebellious. I also had some emotional problems just due to life experiences and felt extremely uncomfortable around people. Anxiety made my world so much smaller than it should have been. I always felt I was being ridiculed and judged. The strange thing is that even as I hated being around people, I was so desperate to have a connection and to feel part of something. I always felt so alone; I did not see my own value at all. I could hardly speak to someone without it becoming such a major event and socializing was a nightmare for me. I had this chronic fear of upsetting other people and would replay conversations constantly with obsessive worries about what other people thought of me. – This led me to make life decisions that were not good in any way. I left home very young, I was married, had 3 kids and on my own again by the time I was 23. Fast forward to age 40 and I had 3 broken marriages, homeless twice and had been in woman’s aid and experienced a lot of all kinds of abuse in my life. It was recognizing that my life could not continue in this way that I started to look for ways to make changes. I finally realized that I had made bad decisions and choices, which were based on accepting less than I deserved, fear and having exceptionally low self-worth and I set out to change that. – I made a pact with myself that I would take responsibility for all the bad things in my life and by doing that, I would be responsible for my future. I took a different route than most, I was lucky enough to get my first office job at 40 and they must have seen something in me as within a year, I was a manager and point of contact for staff with Mental Health issues. This was a huge boost to my confidence, I then went on to study diplomas such as Stress Management, CBT, Life Coaching, Hypnotherapy, all of this was to work on myself and I cried through every course I ever went on, just releasing pain and other emotions. I just kept pushing through the fear, I didn’t let anything stop me, no matter how bad it was, I just did it, and the more I did it, the easier it became, slowly but surely. I have trained in so many techniques and methods now. I look back on the past version of me with compassion and love. I am a hugely different person now. My own life experiences led me to work with clients with emotional issues and anxiety and past trauma. I have been there, I know that no matter we experience in life, it is possible to make the changes you wish for, it may take effort and hard work at times. However, it is so worth it. Everyone deserves an opportunity to live their best life. If I'm feeling anxious, what are your three best free tips to relieve the anxiety? – The 3 tips that I am sharing today are quick and easy, and I have selected them as you can use them anywhere at any time, without being noticed as they are quite discreet and when you have the anxiety, you want discreet. It always helps to breathe correctly when doing the exercises. Just remember a long breath out, if you can do that, this will go a long way to calm you. 1. Just sit at home, nice and quiet and hold your wrist in front of the wrist bone and close your eyes, and say in your mind PEACE, feel it, breathe it… see a peaceful color or picture… every part of your body full of peace. Practice this often. Then when you need to feel peace, no matter where you are, just squeezing your wrist on that same point. You have installed what is called an anchor. Your mind will associate that grip with peace and calm you and fill you with this when you need it most 2. Stick out the index finger and middle finger on one hand ( one hand will work better than the other, so try both) now with the other hand, grip those two fingers as high up to the hand as possible and SQUEEZE. Squeeze until you feel a little movement or pulse….if you hold the fingers that tight with that pulse for around 2 minutes, it calms you and can stop the panic. 3. Have a color which represents peace and calm for you, or perhaps a light and just imagine that color or light washing through all your body, everything it touches relaxing, healing and comforting… like little kisses of peace spreading all the way through you, make it stronger and brighter, imagine your heart glowing in this color, every breath you breathe in are this color, your body’s cells and organs becoming all this color, relaxing and peaceful. Carry something with you which is also this color and just hold it in your hand, squeeze it and look at it when you need it Who should book a session with you? – If you feel that you are ready to move on from anxiety, unhelpful emotions, and past trauma's heaviness, then even making the first step to have a chat with me is worth the effort. All you need is an open mind to trying things that are a little different. We only talk details if you want to talk. Mainly I work with the emotion, so really, I do not even have to know any details of what has brought you to see me. My sessions are interactive and we both have a part to play. I show you how and your own mind makes all the changes. We can do this work over the video so anywhere in the world. The main point here is that no matter what the age I am working with, they come to see me willingly and are ready to make a change. What kind of content will you provide our readers with? – I am looking to share a variety of content and information. Self-help techniques, educational information on the mind and the body along with information on the different methods I work with that can very quickly help all kinds of life experiences. I would also like to share tips of confidence building and the importance of self-care as I know how life-changing this was for me. At times this can be tough love. It isn’t all hugs and light. When we just have to say enough is enough, take a deep breath and go for it. It is just easier with a helping hand supporting you on your journey. If anyone has any questions for me, they just need to contact me. I am always happy to help. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Susan!

Mindset and wellness mentor Sara Abaza comes from Kuwait and a conservative Arabic family, and she was fed with thoughts of limiting beliefs and a narrow mindset from early age. She was stuck in that mindset for a long time but the turning point came when she started listening to English music. That was the one thing that inspired her to go beyond her surroundings, to go beyond what she thought she was. What is the reason why you help people control their level of stress? – Stress is the main cause of all the diseases mentally and physically in the modern world and people don't understand the main reason for the disease is a continuous pattern after getting motions and feelings. Ones they are trapped into the stressed, they are actually trapped into a bigger picture which is an emotion which is not healthy which rewires your brain neurologically and the change our whole emotions negatively that's not serving them. What do you say is important working and being a stress coach expert? – I organically speak about my career with everyone and anyone. It's like my number one topic to help someone with their stress or to allow them to see the positive aspects of their life to uplift them and make them see that it's also choices when it comes how we feel and make them see gratitude and appreciation. You are helping corporations and schools with your work - what is the reason for that, and why do you think they choose you as a speaker and coach? – When it comes to school, I represent the generation and I feel that students want to see someone like them, and it's very important to show them that I have been as from this generation through a lot of emotions and self Discovery that made me self-reliant and obsessed about getting myself to understand myself. – If students know what I know, they will be happier and with fewer regrets and less stress in their future as they will be equipped to handle the stressful situations in their life and can perform better and bigger in their early stage of career, so it's essential to invest in the mental conditioning of students. – I believe it is a duty of any school management that they invest in bringing the mindset of students of their schools to grow and achieve less stressful conditions. As a client and a coach, everyone walks through businesses and I always pay attention to the people who work smooth their body posture and everyday conversation with each other. I always see that I have something that can be implemented to get better results as a whole and make business Rise and Shine and make people happy and more satisfied. You are such a positive person. Is that something you always been, and can you teach others how to become more optimistic? – I have always been an intuitive person. I've always relied on listening to my intuition since I was a kid, and my environment wasn't the healthiest or the best. However, I think that's what I feel my purpose is and why I have become very wise from inside of everything happening around me without getting involved in the emotional state that may drag anyone into it. I think its power like something from God. I will always be a positive person and have always been looking at the best-case scenario of my life. Finally, what are your goals for the near future? – For the Future, I want to work with as many people as I can. I want to help as many people as I can, and I am bringing on a very special and very focused program for people who want to get a better life, a better future for themself just by understanding some concepts and going through some easy to use techniques a daily basis. I want to serve every human on this globe to live a better and happy life. To learn more, visit Sara's website and follow her on Instagram Read more from Sara!

Written by: Tanya Slater, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Do You Want Business Success AND Quality Time with your Family? Then, go home! The Girl Who Simplified explains how her students are moving forward in life, and business, by decluttering and simplifying their homes. Tanya’s alternative, holistic approach to happiness, fulfillment and success is exploding and about to take the business world by storm. Tanya says, “When you take control of your home, you WILL take control of your life.” As one of Tanya’s students puts it, ”Move over Marie Kondo, The Girl Who Simplified takes clearing to a whole other level!” Let’s take a moment to look at the reality for many female business owners and entrepreneurs. The child/work guiltconundrum - Being responsible for children, a home and a business is a common scenario for female business owners. Millions of us are in this (or similar) situation, knowing we are capable of so much more than we’re currently achieving. If only we had more time to focus on the business without interruption or distraction. When working, we feel guilty that we’re not doing more with the children and when we’re with our children, we feel guilty about the work we’re neglecting. This never-ending cycle of emotion hampers creativity and productivity in both areas. This, dear mum, is when you need to go home. Self-Care – But I’m too tired! – You see it everywhere you look; you should be exercising, you should be taking time for yourself, you should be eating healthily, not to mention you should be the most important person in your life. Now, while I admit that one of my favorite sayings is “shoulda’s are shit”, there is an element of truth in all of this. You know the drill; you can’t pour from an empty cup! That’s all well and good, I hear you say, but how can any of this happen when I have no spare time, energy, headspace, or money? I’m already struggling to fit everything in, so how are things ever going to change? This, my deserving fellow human, is when you need to go home. Want to make £10k a month? – Surely that would solve all my problems, right? Hmm... nope! I frequently see this ‘magpie effect’ (and been subjected to it myself) where some clever marketers have managed to speak to your deep-rooted insecurities, convincing you that what they have to offer is the missing piece of the puzzle. That if you implement their software, use their tool or embark on their coaching program, you will finally make it; you and your business will be a success! Be honest with yourself, how many things have you invested in that you have not used because, surprise surprise, you don’t have the time or the energy to commit and/or be consistent. This, my ambitious business-owning friend, is when you need to go home. Boundaries. Setting them AND upholding them – This could be an entire article on its own (and most likely will be!), but for now, we’ll just dip a toe in. What is the one thing you wish you had more of? Most people will answer “time”. Time is the most coveted global commodity. None of us know how much we have, and most of us give it away far too freely to people and situations that we don’t really want to and, as a result, don’t give our precious time to the people and things that are most important to us. Why do we do this? I believe it’s partly due to a lifetime of conditioning and partly due to our inability to set and uphold boundaries - both in our personal life and in our work. This, my beautiful soul, is when you need to go home. So, what do I mean when I say, “Go Home”? Exactly that! If there’s anything in your life or business that isn’t working, that’s draining you or taking up time and energy you know would be better invested elsewhere, look to your home. “When you take control of your home, you will take control of your life.” - Tanya Slater I have been on a decade-long journey of clearing and simplifying. I started in my home and went on to declutter my entire life: finances, friends, family, health, business, spirituality, commitments, the lot! I now know that our home should be a place of sanctuary, a place where each household member feels accepted for who they are and that they belong. When our home supports us to feel like this, we feel connected to ourselves and to each other. When we experience this, we start to gain clarity on our purpose and goals in life, and with that comes improved confidence in ourselves and our ability to run a house, lead a family, be healthy and grow a successful business. Over many years, a lack of this connection has seen us fill our homes and lives with unnecessary ‘stuff’, hoping it will solve our problems and bring us happiness. The reality is that all this ‘stuff’ we have accumulated is actually why we constantly feel tired, drained, overwhelmed, financially strained and like we never have enough time to do all the things in life we want to and know we’re capable of. There is a solution that can solve almost all your problems, and I want to spend my life shouting about it because it’s so simple. It costs nothing and anyone can do it—Declutter your home my friend. I’ll say it again. DECLUTTER YOUR HOME. That’s it. I love this quote, “Clutter is just a load of delayed decisions.” Unknown. This is something we tend to be oblivious of, and it’s only when we shine a spotlight on the clutter in our homes and lives that we begin to understand how much it weighs us down. I love witnessing the transformational shift in my Home Clearing Club students when they begin to experience weightlifting and the knock-on effect this has on their well-being, family, home, life, and business. It is truly magical. There is an old saying “tidy house, tidy mind”, and in my many years’ experience, this is spot on. They go hand in hand. I find that I can’t keep my focus on work or relax when I try to, if my home is upside down and many of my students often share with me that their house is a direct reflection of how they are feeling inside. If you have reached your ‘enough is enough’ moment and want things to change in your home, personal life, and business, why not put a stake in the ground and with a decided heart, try implementing the following actions and begin your own clearing journey. 9 Things you can do start creating a home that supports you and your family better and trigger a ‘snowball effect’ of benefits by simply ‘simplifying’. Get yourself a dedicated Clearing Journal Write down your big life goals and desires Think about how a clearer, more simplified home could benefit you and your family – what would you all gain? Think about the purpose of your home and write that down too Now visit every room in the home and decide on the purpose of each space – This is a great opportunity for fun family discussions Start in the entrance to your home and schedule a time this week to begin clearing With the purpose of each space in mind, first remove everything that appears obvious not to belong there Next, spend some time working, item by item, through the room, removing everything that is no longer needed and does not support the purpose of the room Over the next few days, observe how people come and go and find solutions for the items that seem to need a home there. I hope this short read has given you an insight into the power of decluttering, and looking within for the answers you seek, to start you on your own clearing journey. If you would like to learn more about how I help women like you turn the page, pick up your pen and write the next successful chapter of your life story, check out our awesome online community and enjoy regular tips and inspiration to your inbox. You can also check out my website, learn about my Home Clearing Club starting October 1st and join my free private community, The Curious Souls Life Clearing Club. I cannot wait to meet and empower you to take control of your home so you can take control of your life. Here’s to the simple life, Tanya Tanya Slater, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Bringing together a lifetime of experiences, childhood trauma and adult pain as well as a decade of clearing, Tanya introduces entrepreneurs to the power of decluttering so that they can enjoy success in business AND quality time for themselves and their families. Working online, Tanya runs The Home Clearing Club, guiding and coaching busy business owners methodically through the rooms in their homes while leveraging the power of peer support in the group. Her proven method sees her students experiencing the concept “when you take control of your environment, you can take control of your life” very quickly for themselves. Tanya loves witnessing people's surprise as they experience the transformational shift from such a simple act of clearing. The Girl Who Simplified mirrors Tanya’s own learning and journey of 30+ years condensed into a succinct and tried and tested formula. The Home Clearing Club has her students coming back for more and continuing their clearing and simplifying adventure in other areas of their life as members of The Curious Souls Life Clearing Club. Clarity, confidence, calm, inner peace, purpose, improved relationships, better mental and physical health, family communication, business success, life purpose, and the list of benefits are endless and joyful and it all starts in your home and heart.

Written by: Yogesh Osher, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. In my 20 years of coaching people, I found that the one single most common problem that stops so many from achieving their life or business goals is the lack of motivation or you can say the tendency to procrastinate. Procrastination can cause damage in every area of life, be it in business, relationships, health, wealth, education or even spirituality. Today I want to share with you a different, unconventional, thought-provoking and even you may say radical approach to this big problem of procrastination. Firstly let us recognize that emotions are at play with all procrastination. And therefore, awareness of emotions must also be part of the solution. There are two ways you can approach a task, want or should, and the difference is like day and night. The key is to know what kind of approach attitude or mindset, if you like, are you using and what are the emotions involved around the task. In general, with procrastination, I identify three core emotions that accompany the experience, fear, shame and resentment. These three are deeply interconnected and have been ingrained, in many cases, from early childhood. Yet they are not actually the problem; they are side effects; they can serve and help us to grow in becoming more aligned and fulfilled. Now you may think what the H is he talking about?! Bare with me. You’ll see what I mean, I’ll elaborate… The three emotions of fear, shame and resentment are powerful messages from the deeper true self. These emotions are signs that something is not aligned, that there is a gap, that your self-expression and the deeper aspirations are actually different and maybe even contradictory. They can be either a bad sign from the true self that we are NOT being who we really are, or a good sign that we are actually making some productive progress and it feels uncomfortable. In every case, awareness of these emotions helps us move towards a more integrated, authentic and fulfilled life. Let me explain . The life experience we have is the result of our emotions and the emotions are the fruits of our perspectives, and our perspectives are created by the ways we’ve learned to view the world and ourselves. The good news is that we can re-learn to see the world and ourselves in a way that serves us rather than hurts us. If you experience procrastination, it means that you keep entertaining a familiar way of viewing yourself and the world, even if it is outdated and painful. In turn, this fosters the three emotions to cycle through and makes it even harder to do what you want to do or get where you want to get. But this is not always bad. Because if you’re not aligned with your true self, you’ll be just compounding suffering for yourself. For example, a person with high artistic nature may feel fear and think they ‘should’ be making money, so they adjust to a job that has no artistic avenue, and they will slowly but surely feel more and more resentful, and inwardly ashamed of not being true to their calling. Today I’ll go deeper into looking at the first emotion, shame, and its two functions. But firstly, let’s look at what is the ‘True Self’? The ‘True Self’ is that sense of ‘I’ that is deeper than the perspectives and behaviors that we may adopt to please others to conform and be accepted by family, friends or society. True self is not a face to the world, neither good or bad. It is the deeper truth we experience in a given situation. This true self is made by the inner aspirations and a value system that we innately have. That’s not to be confused with the morals we learned or the world rules we uphold, but an inner knowing that is simply here. Now back to the first emotion attached to procrastination, shame. Shame is the feeling of I am not OK, I am not good enough, I am inadequate, or flowed. Shame is triggered when there is a split between the emotional experience and the superimposed idea of how ‘should’ I be. In a radically individualistic world, we may get a message that we are never good enough on the one hand and that we are entitled to everything on the other hand. Believing either or both of these ideas will inevitably arise shame as we deeply know that both are not true. Not good enough is a message, so many people have internalized and have to spend the rest of their lives proving wrong by achieving more and more. The external achievements however, can never fulfill the deeper longing for feeling ‘good enough’. Rather the opposite may happen. The more you rely on external approval, accreditation, recognition, or admiration, the more vulnerable and the more dominant is your pride and the weaker becomes the inner sense of ‘I’. Shame that I am not what I ‘should’ be or shame that I am what I ‘should’ be. Are two opposing functions of shame and tell us two very different messages! One is external shame or false shame, and the other is inner shame or true shame. When we are alienated from our true selves, we hold a facade of personality, say high achiever or expert or master or teacher or anything that is not truly integrated. We then experience a gap, and we know it. We know that we are false, and we feel shame and want to avoid the falseness. But here is the catch! We may also feel shame when being honest and true to who we are, because we think we 'should' be something else. And as long as we hold that 'should', we will suffer persisting procrastination habits, and we will not be free to be ourselves or interact honestly. The opposite case may be that we are aligning to ourselves and then stand out from the crowd, becoming no longer the 'normal'. We then become uniquely differentiated from others and may have conflict with people or culture around us. This can trigger shame too, but this shame is false and can be transformed by going deeper and knowing your inner aspirations and, most importantly, by the rejection of 'shoulds'. (Detoxing the root cause of Procrastination). So shame in itself is not the problem. The actual problem is the 'should' and the gap that this should presents and superimposes on our true self's authentic expression. To overcome this, you'll have to do the work of detoxing the 'shoulds'. That means to look deeply into each 'should' that you may carry and examine it with your adult eyes and think, do I really want to carry this 'should' or not? Does it actually have anything to do with who I truly am and what I truly value? When you have an awareness of emotions at work, you can DETOX yourself from 'shoulds,' and you'll have more chance of aligning your actions with who you really are. When your 'shoulds' are detoxed, you remain with an honest want or don't want. This dramatically empowers you and reduces or even eliminates your Procrastination. If you’re successful in overcoming false Shame, than the next enemy is fear. And this will be the topic of our next article. We will explore fear of being your true self vs. the fear of not being your true self. Remember, Awareness gives you Choice, and Choice leads you to productive Action! For more information, visit https://www.livingtotalwellness.live/detoxpro Yogesh Osher, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Yogesh Osher holds a Masters Degree in Gestalt Therapy. He is a highly skilled Gestalt therapist and group facilitator as well as a certified Wellness Coach and Yoga teacher and a Detox Practitioner (Dip. Natural Therapeutics). He is the founder of Living Total Wellness and a co-founder in the global naturopathic movement of Natural Yogic Treatments. In the past two decades, he has been studying, practicing, and teaching Zen, Tantra Yoga Meditation, Gestalt Therapy and Functional Medicine. His life purpose is true wellness. Engaging a synergetic synthesis of east and west, and drawing on methodologies, practices and systems that bring real results. He currently offers online wellness programs integrating personal growth with detoxification and lifestyle changes. He brings a spiritual outlook to promote lasting transformations in the life of his clients. Using gestalt process, self-empowerment and practical wellness, Yogesh promotes a heartfelt integration and elevation of life as a whole.

Written by: Natasha Bazilevych, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Have you ever had a moment when you were giving a speech or presentation and forgot what you wanted to say? How did you get out of that situation? Would you like to have a strategy to help you always remember your speech perfectly well? I was in this situation a few years ago when I was giving a speech at my Toastmasters club. In the middle of my delivery, I suddenly realized I couldn’t remember what’s next. At first, my brain froze in panic. Then it started searching for ideas. Meanwhile, my face was keeping a neutral expression. I tried not to let anybody know I was feverishly searching for ways out of an awkward situation. Do you think I was able to fool the audience? I doubt it. Of course, I kept on talking, jumped to the next point, and eventually got back on track. And maybe some people didn’t even notice. But, in any case, the effect and the power of the speech was lost. How can we prevent such failures from happening? I’ve got a few tips for you. Remember the Big Idea of your speech. May it be your lighthouse, the beacon of light in the dark storm. Even if you get nervous, forget the words, knowing the main idea, the key message of your speech will help you get back on track. Write and remember the outline perfectly well. Allow it to be your map, your navigation system. Keep it in mind by all means. Make sure not to have too many points in your plan. Use odd numbers as they’re easier to remember. Our brain focuses better on lists of 3, 5, or 7. Memorize the opening and the closing. First of all, remember your opening. Carve it into your brain. The first few seconds or even minutes are usually the most nerve-wracking. If you know your opening sentences perfectly well, it’ll gain you confidence and help you get into a speech flow. And don’t forget to prepare and memorize your ending. Otherwise, you’ll start rambling, talk too much and kill the power of your message. Learn the transition phrases and sentences. If you’d like to remember the whole speech word by word (which is not always necessary), transition sentences will be your torches in this tunnel. You’ll most likely have several sub-points supporting your main idea. Memorize the phrases that connect these different small ideas within the speech. It’ll often be the first sentence of each paragraph. Rehearse the speech minimum three times. How often in your life have you heard phrases like “practice makes perfect”, “repetition is the mother of skill”? It’s because they’re true! And no matter how sick and tired you are of hearing them, make sure to apply these truths in public speaking. Rehearse your speech. Repeat it several times just to yourself. Then, ask your friends to listen to you. Finally, shoot a video of yourself giving the speech and then watch it for analysis. These are my five practical tips for you. Would you like to dive deeper into public speaking? We’ve just reopened enrollment to our 8-week advanced program Speak With Power. You’ll learn how to: Overcome nervousness and build confidence Write clear and concise messages Use storytelling and humor in speeches Speak with persuasion and win debates Convince your customers with ease Deliver speeches with power Join today because the doors will close in a couple of days! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and visit my website for more info! Read more from Natasha! Natasha Bazilevych, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Natasha Bazilevych is an international speaker and business trainer. She teaches business owners, top manager and entrepreneurs to give powerful presentations and reach audacious goals. Natasha has been teaching business skills for 13 years, has two bachelor degrees and an MBA. Her signature program “Speak With Power” is a unique experience after which each participant knows how to overcome fear, craft powerful messages and deliver them with confidence.

Written by: Sukanya Datta, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Ever wondered about the history of how beauty evolved? This dates back to the era of Queen Cleopatra to the Victorian era. As seen through history, the meaning of beauty varied from country to country. Styles evolved, wanting women to achieve the perfect body. Asymmetrical waistline, lesser mass in the body and no scars was considered to be the epitome of beauty. A woman’s body has been the subject of scrutiny for several centuries. The norm remained in the society and the core problem remained unsolved. Young girls being pressurized to achieve perfect looks. Most advertisements in electronic media and newspapers revolved around women having great bodies. Of course, it’s never bad to have such bodies. But things tend to get worse when people start comparing themselves and ashamed of their physic. Lest, a person who seems to be larger feels neglected. In the realm of society, most stereotyping takes place. We often find people blatantly criticizing others for shapeless bodies or scars. Constant nagging often leads to depression. We, as a woman, need to understand the societal pressure another woman has to undergo. How often do we find people getting bullied in public or perhaps in the families only? These issues have mostly remained silent. Beauty, as defined by laws, has seen women going into depression. The term “fat”, “overweight”, “skinny” and “underweight” has been misinterpreted, and people have been wrongly judged. A fat or skinny person may be termed as unhealthy. But appearance is often deceiving. Have you ever thought that you can maintain a hearty life with a balanced diet and exercise and still loving the cellulite that is developing underneath? “OVERCOMING ALL THE CHALLENGES” Acceptance is of utmost importance. The mental stress that comes with and having to deal with it daily becomes a challenge for many. We often find ourselves in turmoil that lingers on—surrounded by the negative energy created that stirs in mind and the environment, and this gets carried on to others as well. Delving into the deep ocean of mindset. It is seen that issues have risen when there is insecurity and low self-esteem. Certain situations put people into their own dilemma. Is the fear of inner self causing this low confidence? Why are they ashamed of themselves? “CHANGING THE WORLD” We are here to believe in ourselves and that you are beautiful. Life is short. People often forget their own virtue. Every day each one of us strive for a better living. Eliminating unstable minds that create havoc in personal life. We have to unite and fight this. Bring change in our society and trends. Change is what we need. Visit my Instagram for more info! Sukanya Datta, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sukanya Datta is an electrical engineer. Along with the tech side, she is also a certified fashion designer. Being a tech lover, she have had a penchant for creativity. Entrepreneurship is a big journey and both tech and fashion have been a boon in her life. From developing monetary strategies and embark on the body positivity mission across the world and bridging the gap between women and fashion.

Written by: Nancy Michieli, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Like many girls growing up in the ’80s, I loved Wonder Woman and wanted to be her. I thought her pose was strong and magnificent. In 2012, Amy Cuddy’s famous TedTalk on “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are”, led us on a movement of Power Posing as our inner Wonder Women. The study focused on evaluating if body language would allow us to increase risk tolerance with decreased stress by assessing levels of testosterone and cortisol. The launch of this TedTalk, a series of studies on power posing, has struggled to validate Amy and her team's work. But here is the question, does power posing help women in the workplace be more successful. I propose No, it doesn't. Imagine walking into a room or a meeting with a woman taking one of the two open power poses. How does she make you feel? When women come across as aggressive, they are less liked, negatively impacting our ability to be heard and respected. We don’t want to feel like we are entering a boxing match. In research by Laura Kray, on feminine charm indicated that women are more likely to be successful in negotiating if she is both flirty and friendly. Women who are only friendly are seen as too nice and give everything up. Whereas using the combination of flirty and friendly in feminine charm has a sense of self-interest in the negotiation. These women who employ feminine charm can negotiate better while maintaining their likability. So, if Women need to have more feminine charm, then I propose replacing power posing with boosting our self-esteem and learning how to be more Fun, Flirty and Fabulous. According to Nathaniel Branden, when we have high self-esteem, we have the confidence to assert our needs and wants without minimizing those who are around us. Here are three tips for using body language for success: Fun - Engage Your Mindset Prepare yourself for a business meeting or life event like playing a game. Make it fun! When we look at challenges as hard, our mindset finds roadblocks which prevent our success. If we shift the perspective to fun and a game, this will allow our creativity to shine. It takes the pressure off, relaxing us and allowing us the opportunity to win. Flirty - Smile away We often think of flirty in a sexual connotation, but we can be more flirty in a non-sexual way when we have high self-esteem. A simple technique to learn how to be more flirty is to practice smiling in a mirror or laughing at yourself and the situation. These techniques will help you feel better about yourself and quickly shift your emotion from stress to success. When you smile at people around you, they relax, and you become more likable and approachable in the situation. Fabulous - Practice Yoga Standing Poses How we stand or sit in a room, people will take notice. In 2017, Agnieszka Golec de Zalava did a study to compare using Yoga Standing Pose to Power Poses to increase Energy and Self-Esteem. This study indicated that if we stand in the open position, we can increase our energy because our lungs are in a position to connect better with our breath. As well, the mountain pose opens our hearts, making our body is more receptive to those around us. You can walk into any room as confident and owning the space. When women increase their energy in a relaxed, confident stance, we increase our self-esteem, becoming fabulous. In my experience in the Oil & Gas industry, when I walk into a room relaxed, with my head held high, my body open, with a smile on my face, and high self-esteem, I have been able to lead teams to save companies as much as 10 Million dollars in a single year. As well, I have received a job offer where I could write my paycheck at whatever value I wanted. Women, if you want to increase your success in business and life, then stop power posing and develop your feminine charm by raising your self-esteem and learning the benefits of body language. You have the right to be happy and flourish in life and business. Follow her Podcast Luv2bMe, on Instagram at nancymichieli, or take her free 60-Seconds to Boost Your Self-Esteem. Nancy Michieli, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Nancy Michieli is excited to launch a new movement Luv2bMe. She is inspiring women to boost their self-esteem to be more fun, flirty and fabulous to flourish in life and business. Nancy is a Certified Rapid Transformation Therapy Practitioner, Certified Holistic Life, Career and Executive Coach and Certified Consulting Hypnotist. As well, Nancy holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, her Diploma as a Certified Sommelier from the Canadian Professional Sommelier Association and loves to compete in American Ballroom 9 Dance with the charming husband. During a successful 25 year career as an Engineer, Project Manager and Leader in the Oil&Gas Industry, Nancy discovered that women in the male-dominated field succeed when they bring their feminine charm. Her mission is to help women fall in love with being women, engaging their elegant, assertive feminine energy to achieve their life dreams.

Mark Sephton is a personal mentor to entrepreneurs. His mission to help others has seen him break into global markets while working with startups and millionaire entrepreneurs worldwide. Mark's love for entrepreneurship has been expressed through serving as TV host of the show "One More Round." When not on the big screen, Mark is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine and a speaker for corporate events, entrepreneurship summits, and major conferences worldwide. His expertise in personal and professional development has positioned him as an expert in the industry, resulting in transformational experiences for audiences, clients, and businesses alike. – I am of the belief that our own stories actually say a lot about our future. They give credence to what is to come. We are all an expression of the stories we are apart of, the ones we have experienced, and the ones we tell ourselves. It's a two-fold understanding based on the past stories and the narrative and stories we tell ourselves each and every day. Between these two caveats is where your current state and future lie. – When I started working with entrepreneurs, it quickly became apparent that there were some key markers and indicators to what indeed inspired an entrepreneur and also what hindered them. After 3 years of working with entrepreneurs, I decided to reflect and trawl over the notes I kept for each and every client. Once I had calculated and evaluated the essence of these notes, the findings for me were very interesting. What I found from these observations is what now has formed my GPS system. What is your GPS system? – The essence of my GPS system is what I formalize with a client and use as a framework to engineer and frame our sessions. The GPS helps reveal blindspots, efficiencies and deficiencies, and it's through me detecting and analyzing the health of each of these fundamentals, which helps gauge the focus and shift of our ongoing work. The GPS is made up of 10 key focused fundamental indicators of what I believe makes up a person's basic DNA and how to understand your health and performance within that is where growth and your focus should lay. – I have now been working with entrepreneurs, creatives and business owners for the best part of 10 years, and I get a huge kick out of seeing others innovate, create, build and outsmart the current problems and challenges we all face. I love the energy of business and I love the creativity and audacity of finding a solution to a problem, which is really the essence of business. Where did your love of business and people come from? – My love for business stems from my late grandfather, he showed me at a very early age that having a solid reputation was the bedrock of any lasting business and the business will scale based on one thing and one thing only. The bigger the problem, the bigger the reward, the more people affected by the same problem will always indicate how valuable your solution is. In effect, the more people affected by a problem you solve, the more money and scalable your business becomes. As for reputation, the best way to grow that is through a combination of being authentic, stop trying to be someone else. Secondly, it's showing up and delivering that which you promise. – I have now been working for entrepreneurs for over 10 years. I was in the hospitality industry for 12 years, developed brands, increased margins, improved customer experience, improved operations and the list goes on. I have always got a kick out of service-related businesses. I love to give of myself. I received a diploma in coaching and then took my hospitality experience with my love of working with people and formalized my own hospitality consultancy business, and from there, I pivoted to working with entrepreneurs and creatives. How do you build your brand? – I started producing content on YouTube, which then was discovered by Entrepreneur magazine, which then gave me the confidence to write my first book “Inside Job”. Whenever you have a book, you seem to get invites for speaking at conferences and summits naturally. Eventually, with all the content I was creating, which coincided with me hosting my own radio show “ Talk Business “ for a local community radio called Radio Plus, I was very much in the sweet spot of what I loved to do. – Radio then took me to TV where I was headhunted to host my current TV Show “ One More Round “ I joined allegiance with Direct Sales TV and have recently formed a new partnership with Glewed TV Via the Roku and Apple Networks. I went on to write my second book “ Plot Twist, “ and I am currently writing my third book. This third book will be specifically for men, helping men be better men, helping men express their emotions and how to deal with what is expected of them. What are some key entrepreneurial truths? – I came from a broken family. There is clear evidence that a high percentage of entrepreneurs had a problematic childhood and the common denominator for this is based on the fact that if you had to problem solve as a child, it actually raised your ability and skill to problem solve more effectively as an adult. Interestingly that then equates to the fact that the majority of businesses are just about solving problems. That's why our future experiences, which I call stories, lead the way for your future. – I have always taken my experiences both in my personal and business life to actually build something in the future. My 3 keys to the kingdom, which are paramount to ensure you make the right choices and head in the right direction, are doing what you love, doing what you are good at and doing and committing only to the opportunities which will take you to where you want to go. – The great thing about my GPS system is it will pinpoint exactly the direction you are to take. It will then formalize where you need to focus your energy and crystallize the direction you are to take to make sure you have a fulfilled life and one that creates a legacy where the essence of who you are will outlive this earthy body. I want that for me, and I want that for those I work with. How do we continue to grow and develop? – We must continue to become reflective and constantly look at how we can grow and develop within ourselves. Over the past year, I have been working with a psychologist after identifying a number of problems that I have not been able to master. I have been able to identify what the issues are, but unfortunately, I couldn’t mentor myself regardless of my wealth of knowledge and tools I kept to fix the problems, So I practice what I preach and I went and found some support, its been working and my reframing of my thoughts and my ability to soothe myself when those problems arise has been significant. – I mention this because it's so important that we get help, but more importantly, that we get help from the right person. When it comes to mentoring and coaching or even working with a psychologist, go work with someone who has what you don't have, or has what you want, a piece of your puzzle. Don't just work with anyone. Look at what the person represents, look at what they offer, look at what they have that you would like, and then base your choices on them. – For example, I have never sold a business in my life, but I have taught and coached thousands of people on what direction they should take, what they were put on earth to do, and how to lead themselves and their choices better. If you come to me wanting someone to help coach you through the process of selling a business, I am not your guy. Go find a coach who has done that. – It's worth noting that when selecting a coach or mentor, you find one who fires you up, you need a bit of chemistry, you need to be challenged, you need to be able to get real and you need to welcome being told what you need to hear and not what you want to hear. How do you work with entrepreneurs? – One of my most watched Youtube videos is called “ How to Give Birth “ I would like to say I am a marketing genius with this one, but it kinda just happened. If you go to YouTube and write how to give birth, you will see hundreds of videos and in most cases, you see a woman in extreme pain literally giving birth as a thumbnail. When you come across me and my smiley face, I am sure curiosity gets the better of most or perhaps even hatred if women think how this man can say about childbirth and click and watch my video. The truth is my Youtube video has nothing to do with giving birth naturally. It has everything to do with giving birth metaphorically. We all have a dream, a vision or something within us, which we want to take from a simple thought into reality. We all carry something deep within us which we need to express, you will have to go take a look at the video to get more of what I am saying, but I talk about how we need the pressures of life in order to get what’s within us out of us and giving birth to the dream and desire we have carried within us over the years, if you need help giving birth I am your man. – I love getting inside peoples heads. I love making people think. I love to work with high energy people. It is a privilege to come alongside someone who clearly has something within them, a solution to a problem, an innovation and idea, or a concept. They want to express what they have and need some directional input, a way of taking what's within them and expressing it in a profitable way and true to who they are. I give all I have in each session in both energy and my stories and experiences, which have served me and helped me build my own brand and circle of influence. – It's never too late to change your course, regardless of what happened to you in the past, you can write the next chapter on your journey, it's time to write another story. A story that you are proud to be the author of. Feel free to follow Mark on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and YouTube , or email Mark at info@marksephton.com You can buy his book on Amazon !

Written by: Laura Flanagan, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. When I first moved to Costa Rica, I began exploring all of the exotic fruits and vegetables that hold such powerful medicinal properties. After all, I left the world of Western Medicine after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2013. Having taken myself off the medicine prescribed to me to prevent recurrence meant that I had to be well prepared to replace these with ‘food as medicine’. My predictions were accurate – there are more exotic fruits and vegetables here to create your own natural pharmacy! One of my many favorite exotic fruits is Mangosteen. The mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) is a tropical evergreen tree, believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. The tree grows from 7 to 25 meters tall. The edible fruit is deep reddish-purple when ripe. In Asia, the mangosteen fruit is known as the "Queen of Fruits," while the durian (Durio spp.) is known as the "King of Fruits." It is closely related to other edible tropical fruits such as button mangosteen and lemon drop mangosteen. The outer shell of the fruit is rather hard, typically 4-6 cm in diameter. Cutting through the shell, one finds a white, fleshy fruit 3-5 cm in diameter. Depending on the size and ripeness, there may or may not be pits in the fruit segments. The number of fruit pods is directly related to the number of petals on the shell's bottom. On average, a mangosteen has five fruits (round up figure). Prevents hardening of the arteries Protects the heart muscle Anti-Parkinson, anti-Alzheimer and other forms of dementia Anti-depressant Prevents and arrest fungus Prevents bacterial infections Viral fighters and prevention of infections Prevents gum disease Anti-diarrheal Lowers fevers Eye care-prevents glaucoma and cataracts Pansystemic - synergistic health effect on the whole body Energy boosters - anti-fatigue Anti-aging Weight loss Lowers blood fat Anti-tumor benefits Cancer: Mangosteen helps in the prevention of cancer with its powerful antioxidants. Lowers blood pressure Numerous references to "Immunostimulants" Blood sugar lowering On top of all of these benefits, it tastes amazing, and when I imbibe in these as I do for breakfast often, I feel more energetic for the rest of the day. Now, if you cannot come to visit me soon at the Socrates Center in Costa Rica where I will prepare a plethora of exotic and healthy fruit and vegetable delights, you can find Mangosteen juice at many natural health food stores and if you cannot venture out, you can also order the juice on Amazon! Follow me on Instagram, YouTube and visit my website for more info! Read more from Laura! Laura Flanagan MS, RYT, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Laura Flanagan is a Scientist by education and career, but she recently left her corporate job and moved to Costa Rica with her horse to open and Equine Therapy Center. Concurrently with her career as a scientist, she has been teaching Yoga and Meditation for over 18 years. Laura is a Yoga Instructor, Yamuna Body Rolling Instructor, Meditation Teacher, and Director of the Socrates Center in Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica. She has helped thousands of clients with physical pain through her certification with Yamuna who uses a form of small ball therapy. She has used her Yoga, Body Rolling, and Meditation practices to assist in her own recovery from breast cancer. She is also enrolled in the Functional Nutrition Counselor program through https://fxnutrition.com/

Written by: Hoda Elsobky, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Did you ever wonder why you don’t seem to be doing something that you love, or why you don’t seem to be loving what you do? Did you ever woke up in the morning wondering why nothing seems to be working the way you wanted it to be? If you found yourself there, don’t worry, I was there too! I was wondering if anything could ever work for me, and as the title suggests:” I reinvented myself!”. Actually, during my journey, I reinvented myself four times – If I could do it, you definitely can! Here is my story, I was doing bits of here and there, but never been doing what I exactly love to do. Only when I got clear about my passion, then nothing could have stopped me. “Writing” was my passion, and once I got hold of it, I started reading every single book that fell in my hand, I researched and studied how to write my first book, I went to a writing retreat, and simply - I did the work! And walked its walk, and now I am simply holding in my hands my first book “ Dare To Be Happy ”. Since then, my life has changed, and everything seems to fall in its right place ever after. Tips to help you discover yourself and your Passion: Ask your Parents and your closest old friends about your most dominant character/characters and your talents. What is it that they always saw in you? Ask yourself what is that thing that when you perform, you lose track of time, and you don’t seem to get tired while doing it. On the contrary, you find yourself full of Energy, Passion and Love. Try to get more connected with your authentic inner self. Meditation, relaxation, Yoga and Prayers can all help. Ask yourself direct questions, like what is my passion in life? Or seek the help of a Life Coach. Once you reach a clear answer on each of the above questions, then don't waste your time any longer; the floor is yours! Start the process of "Reinventing yourself" immediately. Here exactly lies the sweet spot between what you love doing, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for. This is your "IKIGAI' as clearly stated by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, and this your "FLOW State" as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. To conclude, if you think you don’t have any Talent, then you are wrong. No one in this world is born without a special Gift or Talent. There are only people who haven’t yet discovered the genius in themselves. Throughout my life I saw obese people becoming slim; less pretty women becoming beauty top models; Shy People becoming Public Speakers; Academic low flyers holding top positions and the list goes on.. You can be whatever you set your mind to. This is proven through studies, observations and real life. To learn more, follow Hoda on Facebook , Instagram and visit her website and Youtube-Channel ! Read more from Hoda Elsobky! Hoda Elsobky, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Hoda was born in Cairo, Egypt. Graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majored in Economics and minor in Business Administration. Later, She received her MBA in Marketing. Her greatest interest lies in the fields of philosophy and positive psychology, with a focus on self help and wellness. Above all, she is passionated about happiness as a way of living! She have worked in multinational IT companies in Egypt, like IBM and Oracle, in sales, marketing and business development capacity, from 1994 till 2005. At that point she flew with her husband to live in Vienna for three years and then to Dubai. There she discovered her passion for writing.