Healing the Whole Body - Free Training for Women

Hello my dears! Check out this exciting event on November 5th! You can read more about it, and sign up for this free event HERE! I am honored to be speaking, and below you will find out more about the other wonderful people who will be teaching us more about our health and vitality!

We are also doing an interview (Colleen and Christine) on Monday afternoon! You this link to tune in! ZOOM 

Debbi Sluys, CEO, Dare to Declare.

Deb specializes in helping people elevate and improve their physical, mental and spiritual well-being, expanding the brain’s potential, and with living intentionally in a state of gratitude and kindness. With nearly 30 years experience in early childhood development, Debbi has gathered a wealth of valuable knowledge about the power of mindset, visioning  and success. With her background in professional development and skills in public speaking, Debbi can help you use your brain’s full capacity to reveal your individual dreams, discover your “whys” and accomplish your personal destiny.

Karena Thek, CEO, Pilates Teck. Author, International Lecturer and Radio and TV Host; creator of Scolio-Pilates method. 

Karena has been leading the direction of her organization since its inception in 1999. In this time, she has authored three books: ScolioPilates, OsteoPilates and The Pilates Golf Athlete. In addition to the techniques described in detail in her three books, she is also developing NeuroPilates. NeuroPilates is based on her interest in Traumatic Brain Injury and her initial work with the Wounded Warrior Batallion at the San Diego Naval Medical Center in the Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care Unit (C5 Unit).

About Your Host:

Christine Harmon holds space for those looking to improve the quality of their lives through self-care. She is the owner and founder of Body Acumen, LLC., and brings 18 years experience in the health and wellness industry to her work. She educates people about their bodies and supports them as they discover how simple self-treatment techniques can empower them to live active and full lives.
Christine believes you:
1) Can take control of your own health
2) Can become pain-free without invasive procedures or pills
3) Deserve to look and feel great in your body every day.

Don't Zone Out - Harmful to your Happiness

Don't Zone Out - It's Harmful to Your Happiness

Today we have a surprising TED talk about daydreaming and happiness. Science has found that when our minds wander, we are often thinking negatively. Even if pleasant thoughts fill our minds, we are virtually NEVER as happy as if we were focusing on the present moment.

Bottom Line: BE HERE NOW!

Even if our daydreams are positive ones, we are at best, 90-some-% as happy as we would be if we were focused on the present moment.

For example, DREAMING of a beach vacation only has the potential to make us ALMOST as happy as if we just focus on what we are currently doing....like washing one dish at a time, as we empty the kitchen sink after dinner!

At any given moment, our shot at the greatest level of happiness is to be MINDFUL of the present moment, even if we are doing something boring, such as commuting to work. In the following research, this was true for every activity!

Here's the video of Matt Killingsworth's presentation/research:
SURPRISING Science of Mind Wandering (DAYDREAMING)

As a Positive Psychology researcher, he wonders what causes happiness. Matt studies the contents of our moment to moment experiences on Trackyourhappiness.org (you can get the app and join in!)

As of video's publishing, at least 15,000 people have been studied, who were of a wide range of ages, income, education, and marital status. Results were based on the most common activities that people usually do through the day.

He wondered:
Does mind wondering increase our happiness?
What if thoughts are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral?
What happens first? mind wandering or unhappiness?

He found:
Mind wandering decreases our happiness.
Mind wandering PRECEDES unhappiness (rather than unhappiness coming before mind wandering).
This is the case, whether thoughts are unpleasant, neutral, or PLEASANT.

So keep your mind clear and enjoy your moments!

Related Posts:
Mindfulness Made Easy
All You Need is Love
Fantastic Feelings of Forgiveness
Positive Psychology
Boston Marathon Heartbreak Like No Other
Canada's Eating Tips 

I realize I haven't ever written a post about one of my favorite books, A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle, so I hope to share some of my favorite parts here soon! In the meantime, check it out: A New Earth. This book was the first place I ever learned about focusing on the present moment.

Cheers!

Canada's Newest Food Guide Makes a Big Change!

I have so much to share, so I am committing to a weekly post, beginning today!

First, what has me so excited lately - Canada's newest nutrition guidelines! You know, Canada, just a bit north of the United States!

The most significant change is that due to the overwhelming science establishing the harm of dairy consumption, the country of Canada is no longer recommending that it's citizens consume dairy! This understanding is overwhelming in evidence based nutrition research, however it goes against the grain of what we have always been told, "Milk does a body good".

Certainly, the United States will follow suit in the next few decades, and I will be in a pleasant state of shock if this recommendation will come in 2020, when our next set of guidelines is due to be published. In the 2015 USDA recommendations, soy milk was listed as an alternative to dairy milk, a step in the right direction. Though the focus was on lactose intolerance, rather that the myriad of reasons one ought to opt for non-dairy alternatives.

The Canadian plate is very similar to the USDA plate otherwise, since both promote a significantly whole foods plant based plate. Consider that 75% of the plate must come from plants, and the "protein foods" can easily come from plant sources.

Canada is also providing the following wonderful tips and messages! They also say "Healthy eating is more that the foods you eat." and "Eat well. Live Well."

1. Be mindful of your eating habits. Here is a Mindfulness Made Easy post :)
2. Cook more often.
3. Enjoy your food. For more, check out my Savor Your Sweets post.
4. Eat meals with others. You might enjoy my post highlighting the Blue Zones.
5. Use food labels. Check out Food Labels for Dummies.
6. Limit foods high in sodium, sugars, or saturated fat.
7. Be aware of food marketing. 

Here is a handout you can download: Canada's Food Guide
Here is the Canadian Government's website with lots of awesome resources: Resources.

All You Need is Love

Last weekend, I had the honor of taking a fabulous class: The Wisdom of the Heart: Where Psychology, Health, and Spirituality Meet with Joan Borysenko.

My spirit and my brain gained much on this day! I love simple, non-invasive, non-medicative ways to be healthier and happier AND the science and physiology behind them!

Joan is very accomplished with degree after degree (from Harvard Medical School), author of 16 books, researcher, friend of many other wonderful doctors, researchers, and religious leaders. Joan is an amazing, warm, personable, and real woman.

I'll share three especially exciting bits I learned: 

#1 TLC and LOVE Heal Us!
Our acts of love induce and sustain self-healing by REDUCING IL-6 and cortisol and a naturally INCREASING HGH. These are very beneficial changes, and note that HGH supplements are unapproved by the FDA AND ineffective. Besides being an antagonist to stress, love stimulates our pleasure system, so endorphins, cyanocobalamins, dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin, and nitric oxide (NO) all increase. These changes decrease our fear and increase our motivation! 

#2 "Where ever we COME ALIVE, that's where we are spiritual!" For me, that's right here, teaching others about how to be healthy inside and out, as well as when I feed my family and friends :)

#3 We can BECOME MORE RESILIENT!
Remember that golden trait of kids? Who wouldn't want more?!
Joan discussed many methods of increasing resilience:
Mindfulness, Meditation, Breathing, Gratefulness, Forgiveness, Yoga, Exercise and Compassion/Kindness. Physiology involves two parts of the brain: the amygdala ("emotional brain") and the prefrontal cortex (planning and control center). Resilient people, show up to 30x more activation in the prefrontal cortex than people who lack resilience. When meditating or practicing some other method mentioned above, the prefrontal cortex sends inhibitory GABA to the amydgala, which decreases its activity. In effect, the alarm raised by the amygdala turns off and our emotions are calmed.

BONUS TIP: A Meditation and Lojong Song to TRY

Sing or Say:
"May I be filled with lovingkindness, may I be well.
May I be peaceful, and at ease.
And may I be happy."

After this first verse, repeat with the substitution of "I" for "you", which with each repetition, could be with the intention of anybody or any group of people, including loved ones, as well as enemies, and those we don't understand.

Or perhaps try repeating one of these tips which could serve as slogan for this mental training practice.

When Joan introduced this song, she talked about how researchers at Tufts University were studying Tibetan Monks and found that these practices improve resilience specifically by making one less reactive to stress AND decreasing inflammation. Singing this "song", or just repeating it in your head, is a perfect way to Wish Others Well :)

Another related topic Joan mentioned and I love is Positive Psychology, I surprisingly haven't done a post on this relatively new, and awesome field! The resiliency-boosting topics listed all basically fit under the blanket of Positive Psychology. 

Related link: Inner Peace for Busy People: From Stress to Strength

COMMENTS: I love Love Actually: it's actually one of my favorite movies! Do you like to watch a movie once like my hubby, or over and over, like me? Do you like scary movies? I have a post coming soon about the interesting topic of fear :)

Fantastic Feelings From Forgiveness

What can reduce anxiety and increase happiness and PEACE? Surprise, it's forgiveness!

Here are some benefits straight from the Mayo Clinic:

• Healthier relationships
• Greater spiritual and psychological well-being
• Less anxiety, stress, and hostility
• Lower blood pressure
• Fewer Symptoms of depression
• Lower risk of alcohol and substance abuse

Forgiveness for inner peace.

What does it mean? LET GO of a resentment, grudge, or bitterness toward someone who has hurt you. You are NOT justifying actions.

Think of a resentment as a HEAVY ROCK pressing down on your chest. Imagine how wonderful it will feel to let that rock fall away from you. Holding on to a resentment is hurting YOU more than the other person, or certainly the situation which you resent.

Forgiving helps YOU feel better, inside and out!
Forgiving frees YOUR time.
Forgiving helps YOUR heart, health, and mind.

In fact, the Mayo Clinic even has an informative article all about forgiveness, including how to reach a state of forgiveness, and more!

Other habits that can help you in similar ways include:

Simplifying

Mindfulness 

Daily exercise

Meditation

Yoga

Nose breathing

BONUS QUOTE: Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it.  -- Mark Twain

Mindfulness Made Easy

Have you heard about this? Mindfulness, being "PRESENT", focused on NOW, conscious.

It is a concept, habit, WAY OF LIFE, that I have been trying to make more and more a part of my life for several years. It's about enjoying EACH MOMENT. ACCEPTING whatever comes your way, not wanting 'right now' to be more or less of whatever it is.

It can apply to many areas of your life.

• Patiently waiting for a green light when you are stopped.
• Doing one thing at a time.
• Noticing the many sounds and sights around you.
• Really taking time to notice pain, hunger, thirst, cold, heat, wind, sun.
• Acting with intention as much as possible (rather than being lost on 'autopilot').

Here are 3 specific EXAMPLES in my life:

EATING

• Taste each bite in your mouth.
• Take time to chew.
• Take breaks between bites.
• Not reading, watching, driving while eating.
• Taste, feel, smell, see your food, even hear the crunch!
• Eat a meal or snack without one sense (close your eyes) to heighten your other senses. You may find you eat less than usual, feeling satisfied sooner having really taken in all the sensory input of your food.

My sweet kindergartner said tonight, as she was slowly eating her single Starburst on the way to her swimming lesson, "I want to put 'SAVORING CANDY' or 'SAVORING CHOCOLATE CHIPS' on the Internet, so people can learn about it!" If nothing else, I am thrilled to have passed this on to her! I haven't even mastered the skill as well as her, AND I don’t think she will ever have to face an addiction to sweets, sugar, or carbs!

RUNNING/EXERCISING

You can run forever, taking ONE step at a time! Just think about what you are doing in this single moment, and you can do ANYTHING!

PARENTING

Take time to just BE with your kids, besides taking care of them, dressing, feeding, cleaning, teaching, and disciplining them.
Play with them, whatever they want to do, ACCEPT their ideas and plans, without doing anything else... no talking on the phone, checking email, folding laundry.
They really respond to this in an awesome way! They feel your LOVE and ATTENTION.

I love the following suggestion from my Kindergartner's religion book (God is Love by the Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, OH), which actually got the idea from another book (Raising Faith-Filled Kids by Tom McGrath):

“Here is a trick to help you increase your awareness. The next time you and your child are doing something as simple as picking up toys..., imagine yourself many years in the future looking back at this moment. From this vantage point, what seems important about this current moment? It probably isn’t the orderliness of the family room as much as it is the time spent with this precious child at this time in his or her life.

Life in a family can be busy and demanding. It’s also a time of miracles. Make it your spiritual goal to find ways to be mindful so that the busy-ness and demands don’t make you miss the miracles.”

Doing this more and more = more and more HAPPINESS, SATISFACTION, PEACE, AND CONTENTMENT in your life :)

The following are books that I love which I thought of right away when I considered my daughter’s lesson. Each discusses this concept from a slightly different angle and each is easy to understand and easy to apply. GREAT READS!

A New Earth by Eckart Tolle
Everyday Blessings: the Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn
Flow in Sports: the Keys to Optimal Experiences and Performances by Susan Jackson and Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky
Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry Lee MacLean (this one is a great one for teaching children all about mindfulness in a fun way!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK? TELL ME IN A COMMENT: Do you ever go on autopilot? Do you have any tricks to keep you alert and aware of the world around you?