Uncategorized

Breathe In, Breathe Out

Today’s episode “Breathe In, Breathe out” is on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, SpotifyOvercast, Libsyn, Pocket CastStitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Today we talk about the myths and benefits of meditation. You don’t have to sit cross legged, atop a peaceful, grassy knoll, detaching in transcendental bliss for hours at a time. Just a few minutes a day can bring you a connection to your true self, decrease anxiety and stress, and improve overall health. If Deepak Chopra says it’s true, we believe him.

We talk about how anyone can benefit from meditation…anyone. While meditation is commonly associated with spiritualism, Buddhism, Yoga, don’t let the stereotypes keep you from trying this truly beneficial practice. People of all faiths (or no faith at all) practice meditation. Busy, hard-working people meditate. You don’t have to wear flowy robes and loose pants (though we aren’t saying no to that, tbh) sitting in a garden with your eyes closed for hours every day to be good at meditating.

Repeat after us: Anyone. Can. Meditate.

And we believe everyone should.

The trick is making it a priority and practicing regularly. Ok…so we know it sounded too good to be true. But honestly, how difficult is 3, 5, 10 minutes a day to focus on breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out? Not really. So, yeah, it takes discipline, but not a whole bunch. And the possibilities of all the goodness that comes with meditation are pretty numerous. Like we said, if more political groups across the world had meditation, 10-minute massages, puppies and a couple warm chocolate chip cookies before meeting, we would all be existing on a better globe. Congress, call us.

Probably the best thing we can tell you, is that at chopra.com, you still have time to register for the Deepak Chopra/Oprah Winfrey 21-day meditation challenge! It starts on February 3rd, and best news of all: IT’S FREE. Kris and Kym like benefits for free. It doesn’t get better than that.

And here we are at the place where we give you more information about all the good things we talk about…drumroll…the resource list:

  • The Myths. Go ahead and Google “myths about meditation. You’ll get a LOT of articles offering TONS of writeups. But really, all we needed was Deepak Chopra’s article 7 Myths of Meditation at chopra.com.
  • The Apps. For meditation apps, check out verywellmind.com‘s article 8 Best Meditation Apps of 2020 for a starting point.
  • Our Personal Favorite App – NOT on the list above – is called Relax Melodies which can be found in Apple’s App Store (and maybe Google’s app store as well, we don’t know as we’re iPhone gals). You can also check out their website here. The basic version is free, but Kris found the premium version worth the upgrade cost.
  • Dan Harris. Dan wrote his book Ten Percent Happier outlining his path of recovery and serenity via meditation practices after suffering a full blown, on-air panic attack in June 2004. This is a good one for all the skeptics out there. Dan was HIGHLY raised-eyebrow/side-eye about the whole thing, but because he pushed through his personal misconceptions and doubts, his life is a bit more than 10% happier. Kris first learned about him after listening to the Audible audiobook version of Ten Percent Happier. Recommend: 10/10!
  • Sleep Meditations. Kym’s go-to guy on YouTube for guided sleep meditations is Jason Stephenson. Check out this playlist of his guided meditations.
  • Corpse Pose. Welp. Since Kris doesn’t practice yoga, we can’t fault her too harshly for not knowing the correct way to do the corpse pose is not face down, but lying on your back, face up. She’s a true crime fiend…not surprising she envisioned corpse pose face down. In a pool. With a knife in the back. Here’s what it really is and how to do it. Tsk Kris. Making everything about murder. All the time.
  • Haven Gastropub in Orange. Excuse us. It’s Haven Craft Kitchen+Bar. Pffft, only plebs call it a gastropub. Anyway. Expensive coffee, but they’ll let you use their bathroom if you look desperate enough.
  • Schweddy Balls. Because we HAVE to link to Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon’s NPR Saturday Night Live sketch with Alec Baldwin. WE HAVE TO. It’s the law.

Thank you for joining us dear readers! Want to know what all the write up is about? Become dear listeners! Check out The Mugly Truth Podcast’s episode “Breath In, Breathe Out” on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, SpotifyOvercast, Libsyn, Pocket CastStitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2020 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2020. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.

Featured Photo of meditating woman by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Uncategorized

Do You Feel Lucky?

Today’s episode “Do You Feel Lucky?” is on  iTunes/Apple PodcastsSpotifyOvercastLibsynPocket CastStitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Well, do you? Insert squinty-eyed cop here. Oh boy! Do you have your seatbelt fastened? Are you ready for the thrills and chills of (drumroll please…..) FRIDAY THE 13th WITH A SIDE OF FULL MOON?? Did you also know that bad luck is (in our opinion) a bunch of claptrap? It’s all in your perspective dear friends, all in your perspective. That said, we’re aware there’s a small group of people worldwide who will never open this article, or hear the episode simply because of Friggatriskaidekaphobia. That makes us sad. Because today’s episode is FUN!

First off, let’s say HELLO AGAIN to “Words With the Mugly Truth” as we stumble over our old friends: Greek Words. So much so, Kris gives up without a fight. Kym, on the other hand, powered through and showed Greek Words who’s boss. Is it any wonder our favorite words to struggle with have to do with phobias? If you don’t know what we’re talking about, you need to download and listen to our episodes Disturbia and Disturbia Short Shot post haste.

We peruse the well written October 2017 article “Friday the 13th” from the fine editors at history.com, and 13 Facts About Friday the 13th at timeanddate.com for some very cool facts about the superstitions surrounding our upcoming fateful Friday of ten+three. From the Last Supper with its 13 guests, to the Code of Hammurabi accidentally omitting numbering its 13th law, coincidences throughout history have spawned all sorts of dodgy mind-games designed make us feel better about life (like going from floor 12 to 14 in a hotel or hospital elevator, or airports not having a 13th gate), and inspired illustrious groups such as the Thirteen Club, books (Thomas William Lawson’s 1907 novel “Friday the Thirteenth) and, yes, allllll those Jason Voorhees movies.

Photo by David Bartus on Pexels.com

Fear not friends. If you want to knock the wind out of ol’ FTT’s sails, just do what the Italians do. Believe 13 is actually a lucky number and then stay in bed on Tuesday the 17th because that’s their bemoaned day of woe. We believe it may be due to a certain lack of tacos on Tuesdays and if they would just give that a shot, things might look up. But that’s our humble opinion and we’re not here to change the world, or global superstitions. So…goodonya Italia (and Greece), you keep doing you.

For other articles cited in the episode:

  • Definitely check out the cool chart at Wikipedia that shows all the Friday the 13ths in the past and future!
  • 13 Superstitions for Friday the 13th with Tad and Polly at Big Frog 104 which list some of the more well-known superstitions that might not have to do with Friday the 13th specifically, but are important to know about, especially if you want to Thirteen Club this thing and put all the bad things in one big art installation and make a statement about the fallacy of human thinking. All you need is a black cat, a ladder, a broken mirror, and a wobbly salt cellar under one big opened umbrella indoors somewhere. Cut your hair for good…bad?…measure and then drop us a line to let us know how your day went. We’re genuinely curious. Also, to undo all that don’t forget to spin around 7 times but you might want to clarify counterclockwise or clockwise…we don’t know the answer to that part. Sorry.
What do YOU see? Something beautiful or a bad omen? Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As for other points of interest that piqued our curiosity:

For more information about the Code of Hammurabi and the stele that appears in the Louvre, check out this article from (again!) history.com;

Yeah, we asked, who was Kitty Genovese?!? And man, do we need to turn in our true-crime-fan cards and hang our heads in utter shame. We know this incredibly sad story, as many great podcasts that we listen to have covered it. The grisly and brutal murder of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese in New York City in 1964 led to what’s now known as The Bystander Effect, and the implementation of the emergency phone call system of 911 in the United States. There is lots of information out there about this murder (including history.com and biography.com), but this is a pretty good article about this “milestone” murder;

And, finally, oh you, 666. You silly, pesky, not-evil number you. Interested in what all the numbers hubbub is? Do you see 11:11 or other repeating numbers or a certain combination of numbers often? Oh, there’s LOTS of scientific reasons about why we focus on specific numbers that seemingly cross our paths more often than others, but if you think there might be a deeper meaning for you and you’re curious about the spiritual background of what those repeating numbers might mean to you personally, check this article out as a starting point. Beware the rabbit hole though. You’ve been warned and have fun.

And while we might deeply inwardly shudder at the number 666, or jump over cracks in the sidewalk, or believe in ghosts, we also want to be big girls and encourage everyone – along with us – to get over this friggin’ friggatriskaidekaphobia and show Friday, September 13th, 2019 WHO (clap) IS (clap) IN (clap) CHARGE (CLAP)! Let’s combat fear with courage! Fight negative thinking with positive affirmations! Whenever we think something bad is gonna happen because “it’s a bad luck day”, we’re gonna put all our energy into thinking the OPPOSITE and focus on the good things that are happening. Do a little extra…you know, that whole Random Acts of Kindness thing, and put out into the world what we would like to have in return! If we want lots of good luck, good feelz, and good times, let’s put that stuff out there in droves. And, IF something does happen that’s not great, we’re not going to give “bad luck” the power of our thoughts and energy. Instead, we’ll chalk it up to “shite just sometimes happens because LIFE” and move forward. That’s OUR prescription for Friday the 13th. We need to remember that reality is really just our perspective of what’s going on around us. And perspective is a mighty powerful tool for change.

Full disclosure: we DO believe the full moon causes all kinds of weirdness, so…you know…maybe we’ll tuck in early that night??? Does that completely negate our feel good power of positive thinking perspective speech? DANG IT.

So go on and check out our “Do You Feel Lucky?” episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, SpotifyOvercast, Libsyn, Pocket CastStitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Featured Dice Photo by fotografierende on
Pexels.com.