(815) 756-9609
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The Holidays can be so stressful and draining for so many reasons not least of which is preparing & planning, holiday parties, holiday related expenses, seasonal weather, lack of sunshine, increased exposure to the rush & fury of shopping, not to mention the friends and relatives that may test your patience.
So this month I am sharing with you some ways in which you can re-energize, restore, build resilience and hopefully have a better more enjoyable holiday season!
Practicing Self-Care is important all year long. The busyness of the holidays can cause us to let self-care slide, and set us up for decreased ability to fight off seasonal colds and flu's as well as other immune conditions. This can exacerbate chronic diseases and conditions, making us much more miserable by the holiday season's end.
Some main key self-care items are adequate sleep, staying well hydrated, getting fresh air, adding in fresh fruits and vegetables, finding time to meditate, journal, or some other quiet activity to just tune out of what's around you and tune into yourself, and last but not least adding more laughter into your life.
The Power of Healing Yourself
Each of us has been given the innate gift of being able to Heal Ourselves. There have been a lot of research and books on the subject. One such book I highly recommend is The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton. In Dr. Lipton's book he makes a fantastic case that your health and healing is not as controlled by genetics as we thought.
The subject of Epigenetics is fast growing and being scientifically proven and supported. Epigenetics is: the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. This information is eye opening and inspiring to know you have more control over your health than we have been lead to believe. So what kind of things can influence your genes to change themselves?
In this months blog I am introducing you to the use of Mindfulness and Meditation. This is something that can really impact the amount of calm and peacefulness you have in your life. When all else fails, especially on a really bad day, meditation can help reset your emotions and your stress levels.
Benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation
Meditation can decrease your body's stress response, increasing relaxation, calmness, balancing mood, decreasing blood pressure, inflammation, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, and fatigue. Meditation leaves you feeling happier, more balanced emotionally, and improves your resiliency to life's stresses.
Some people use Mindfulness and Meditation interchangeably. My interpretation though is that they are two different things.
Mindfulness
To me, Mindfulness is something you where you are alert and more aware of your surroundings, but you are more relaxed and not necessarily interacting with your surroundings, just observing them passively. You are taking slower deeper breaths, you are noticing the little things around you, or even in you and observing them, or your feelings, you are not judging what you see or feel, but just acknowledging them. The act of Mindfulness gives you the ability to disengage with the busyness going on around you, focusing on the Now, slowing down your breath, which in turn slows down your heart rate, which then calms your sympathetic nervous system, your fight of flight response. This helps with multiple health benefits to your mind, body, and spirit.
Read more Here: Finding Peace in a Chaotic Life
Goal Setting - How it Can Improve Your Health & Happiness
At some point we all hear about setting goals, most often during the New Year's Holiday as "resolutions." But setting goals is something that can be done on a regular basis. There are short-term goals, that can be something you want to achieve on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. There are long-term goals, that can be something that you are trying to achieve by 1, 5, or 10 years.
Building a Routine for Continued Success of Healthy Eating
Welcome back to Part III of Planning Healthy Meals for the Week! This month I am going to focus on how to in-cooperate your meal planning as part of your routine so you can keep up with your new healthy habit. There is importance in making good habits second nature, like brushing your teeth. They become automatic! When you are able to make this transition to automaticity you have a much better chance of sustaining this lifestyle habit.
Last month I discussed the breakdown of shopping for one day of cooking/prep for a few days worth of meals. So this month I am going to let you in on a secret about incorporating more Whole Food Plant Based meals all month long! Read more here
(815) 756-9609
gatestina57@gmail.com