Tip of the day....Stop stressing, stop worrying. All that is meant to be will be and the only thing that stress and worry will contribute is to age you and make you sick. Feel Blessed, Have Faith, Find patience and Breathe. www.LifeSpan-Fitness.com
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Tip of the Week; Drink more water. When it is cold out, we drink less water. We need to continue to drink lots of water and eat water-filled foods. Our bodies are made up of at least 60% h2o and every bodily function depends on it. When we are dehydrated we can't move with efficiency, we feel sluggish, our skin doesn't glow and our autonomic nervous system can not be responsive. Stay Hydrated & Stay Vibrant! I am enjoying a nice warm mug of water on this freezing cold day, won't you join me in a mug?
Take care of yourself first.
We are still hearing discussion about the most recent school shooting. We are expressing anger, sadness and wondering what we can do to stop this from happening again. I have also been wondering; How can we do better? How can we create a safer world? How can we be better to those around us and be more observant to potential problems before they become disasterous? My answer; Take care of yourself first.
Think about the last time that you were on an airplane. The flight attendant went through emergency procedures instructing us in the use of emergency exits, flotatation devices and oxygen masks. Remember also that the flight attendant instructs us, if the need should arise, that if we are with small children or disabled partners to put our oxygen mask on first. At first this seems odd, even alarming. It seems neglegent to not take care of the person in our care first. Here is the catch; if you put the mask on the child first and then you lose consciousness then what good are you in the continued care and comfort to the child? We are instructed to take care of ourselves (our oxygen needs) first and then care for the person who needs help.
Now, back to everyday living. We are really great at taking care of our children, our parents our spouses, our job, our friends....but we consistently put ourselves on the "back-burner" with excuses like " I don't have time"...."I will get to myself later".
Well, I can say from my own experience of making my own self-care a priority and when I put myself on the "Later" list that I am not as attentive to others, I am less observant and feel less joyful. If I don't get enough sleep, I feel grumpy. If I drink too much alcohol, I feel grumpy, foggy and my attention-span is minimal. If I give too much of myself to others,I feel drained & tired. When I eat poorly, my body doesn't work efficiently. When I don't take care of myself, my focus becomes filled more with how icky, grumpy, foggy, drained I feel. When I make myself a priority I feel more observant, cared for, loved, balanced. When I put myself on the back-burner I find myself searching for things to make me feel better....like alcohol, processed foods, laying around on the couch....
So, how can we create a more peaceful, loving and kinder world? Start with making yourself a priority.
"Be the change you want to see in the world" Mahatma Gandhi
Add this to your To-Do list Today. Make yourself the priority.
1. Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night
2. Drink a lot of water
3. Eat foods that fuel and support you
4. Eat in moderation
5. Have at least 10 miniutes of quiet time every day - Pray & Meditate
6. Exercise 5-6 days per week
7. Do something that you love every day
8. Drink alcohol in moderation (if you drink alcohol)
9. MELT daily - get rid of stuck stress and tension
10. Connect with a body-worker; MELT, Massage, Chiropractor, Accupressure, Rolfer
11. Start each day with gratitude
For more go to www.LifeSpan-Fitness.com
To get a Free Download of over 20 Must-Do's for your personal Self Care, go to my website. www.LifeSpan-Fitness.com and click on the Free Download Page.
I love this time of year! The leaves are beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow. During my early morning run, the air is crisp and the smell of fire-place is in the air. I bundle up in my favorite turquoise knit hat (which conveniently hides my early morning hair-do), and my soft, eggplant-colored, fleece jacket. It is a time when we are purposely and thoughtfully grateful about our lives: our family, our health, our kids, food…. This is also a time, when we forget that being grateful should be a daily feeling. We spend more time in our days worrying about deadlines and/or bills, feeling unhappy about our weight, our surroundings, our job… Or, even worse; we keep ourselves so busy and disconnected that we don’t feel anything. We stop paying attention to what is really important in life. When this happens we find ourselves in a state of dis-satisfaction and dis-ease. We find that our health is deteriorating and we feel helpless to this. In fact, many of us blame this on age. So, let me challenge you to stay in gratitude. Re-connect with yourself. For the next 24 hours, find as many things as you can to be grateful for. It can be something simple or something grand. Right now, I am grateful for the early morning run that I just finished and that I have the time to sit down and just write. I feel great, energized and peaceful at the same time. I am grateful that I have plenty of fresh vegetables to prepare with my free-range chicken eggs (which I get right out of my own chicken coop). I am grateful for the warm fire that is burning next to me in the wood-stove and that my husband is quietly eating breakfast so that I may write. Life is good. God is good. Find your gratitude today. Make a list and by the end of the day, see how much you really have.
