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Our lives are filled with lots of activities, actions and accomplishments. We stuff our schedules, often leaving no time for ourselves. At this time of the year, we challenge you to stuff your schedule with things that nurture you, your body, your mind and your spirit. Consider any or all of the following personal stuffing “recipes”:
Rest – Give yourself a break. Schedule it in your calendar. Reflection – Pause and think about the positives in your life. Reading – Even a page or two counts. Renewing – Do whatever makes you feel like you. Reaching Out – Don’t think too much about it, just call that someone. Remembering – Give yourself permission to remember someone or an experience and take the inspiration of the memory into the present. Writing – Pick up an actual pen and write something or someone. It’s old school, but the words may flow in a way that surprise and delight you. Individualize your stuffing recipe for what you need, want & deserve right now.
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Three down and 1 to go. Are you winning or getting walloped? Do you even know your score? We are entering the last quarter of 2017, it’s not too late to finish the year strong. Take a few minutes to ask yourself any or all of the following questions:
What have I accomplished so far this year? How did I do against the intentions/goals/resolutions I set for myself 9 months ago? What do I still want, need and deserve to do for myself in 2017? What do I want more of? What do I want to devote more energy or time to the next 3 months? What do I want to let go of? There’s still time. Make this quarter count and finish the year aware, accountable, and aligned with your best self. It’s back to school time. As adults we have an opportunity to put a unique twist to this time of year. Make this year’s back to school a back to you time. Try the assignment below, it can serve you well and no test will follow. Grab a notebook, a pencil, pen or marker and answer the following questions:
What have been your accomplishments, achievements and wins – big and small- from this year so far? What would you like to add to these by year-end? What could benefit from some extra time, energy and focus? What, if anything do you want to let go of? Now you have your answers, it’s back to you and time to decide how you would like this year to end. Does your life have a pattern that suits you and your needs? Routine is an excellent way to live a healthy life, but being too rigid in your routine can hold you back. We all have a comfort zone. If you think of your zone as a circle that surrounds you, take a moment to think about how can you step outside of it. You only need to take a small step or even just put a toe over the line to try something new and you can always jump right back in. Consider trying one or any of the following to explore outside of your comfort circle: - Eat something new. - Walk a different way to a familiar destination. - Wear a different clothing combination. - Thank someone for something unexpected. - Explore a new store. - Call a friend you don’t normally communicate with. - Try a new beverage. - Read a different genre than you normally read. - Ask for help. - Volunteer for something different. - Take a nap. - Leave your phone alone for a period of time. - Spend time with someone that isn’t in your circle. - Allow yourself to let it go. Once you nudge your comfort zone, it’s very possible that your circle will expand to include new foods, friends, finds & fun. It’s summer. We crave the many benefits of this season, but in reality it’s hot, humid and sticky. To best enjoy all that this season has to bring us, consider incorporating one or all of the following tips into your healthy summer lifestyle:
Stay away from the stove – that’s right, step away from the stove. Summer is not the time to whip up a piping hot casserole or roast chicken. Instead, enjoy cool, room-temperature dishes (salads are clutch) to avoid generating any more heat in the house. Exercise with a splash – everybody in the pool! Jump, swim, walk, stretch or just have fun moving in the cool, refreshing water. Cheers – drink plenty of water. Hydration helps your body move blood to the surface more efficiently, and it allows you to sweat. Sleep like a hibernating bear- or at least make your bedroom feel like a cave. Keep it cool (high 60’s to low 70’s), dark and comfortable. Look like a movie star – don’t leave the house without a hat or sunglasses. Try a movie-star-esque hat with a wide brim. The CDC recommends 3 inches or wider to safely shield your face and neck. Protect your eyes with a pair of cool shades. Chill out – take it easy. Relax in a hammock, read a book in the shade, play a board game, listen to music, be in the moment and feel the stress and heat melt away. This summer stay cool and be cool. We tend to celebrate the big moments in our lives. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, awards and anniversaries. We stop and take time to recognize the occasion and mark it in a unique way. What about celebrating ourselves on a more regular and micro level? Consider one or all of the following to acknowledge your personal success, progress and or simply being:
Any day can be a celebration-you are worth it! Congratulations, We all have our imperfections. This isn’t the same as being broken or enduring a Humpty Dumpty moment, unable to put ourselves’ back together according to Donald Altman, author of One Minute Mindfulness. It also doesn’t mean that we are weak or incapable. When we accept that we each have our individual limitations, we can progress beyond perfection. Today more than ever, we need humility and understanding to help restore harmony and to find sustainable ways of living in peace, love and health. Consider the following practice:
Forget trying to do it all, to be perfect and become present to the way you are and the way things are – imperfections and all. Take a moment to let some light shine through something that is not perfect in your life. This could mean that you let go of selfish or selfless behavior in some way or that you think differently about how to consume or how to act toward another. With this greater sensitivity and clarity, you can acknowledge your cracks and imperfections and your world truly a better, deeper real place. Lets’ all be perfectly imperfect. What happens when you either put junky gas in your tank or you forget to re-fuel? The car doesn’t have the proper energy to get you where you need and want to go. Food works the same way for our bodies. You can fill-up on foods that fool your system or you can enjoy food that truly fuels you. Consider one or all of the following when evaluating your daily nutritional choices:
Coffee – rich in antioxidants and in moderation it gives us a bit of energy. Dilute it with cream, sugar, syrups and you have a liquid that only momentarily satisfies our thirst and boosts our drive. Breakfast – skip it and you will crash. Create a protein dominant morning option and you’ll be fully charged throughout the a.m. Think eggs, Greek yogurt, nuts, or whole grains topped with seeds and fruits. Lunch – fast food fixes us momentarily, but that feeling is fleeting. Make a noontime meal that has an abundance of vegetables, fruit and protein to power you through the better part of the afternoon. Think sandwiches, wraps, salads, bowls or soup.. Snack – fool yourself at the vending machine or fuel yourself with a paired snack. Consider an apple with nut butter, hummus or bean dip with veggies or a healthy portioned trail mix. Dinner – creamy, heavy food that weighs you down or a lighter meal that keeps you stay alert and satisfied. Dessert- the bigger the better, the bigger the high and the sooner the crash will come. Enjoy a sweet ending to the day with a square of dark chocolate, A warm fresh baked cookie, frozen banana yogurt or a piece of seasonal fruit. It’s your choice, will you fool or fuel yourself? Do you have a to do list? What’s on it? What merits getting on “the list”?
Are you on your list? You deserve to be, but to do that you might have to start a new list – a to don’t list. Here are a few things to consider putting on your to don’t list: - Say yes too quickly and too often - Skimp on sleep - Skip packing healthy snacks and meals for yourself - Stress out about those things that you have no control over - Save stuff for someday - Survey a situation over and over again - Shrink from your true passions - Stuff your feelings down - Suggest that you are not deserving Next time something comes up, evaluate if it is “list worthy” and for which list…........ to do or to don’t. You, your body, mind and spirit are worth that and so much more. What is one area of your life that you want to go big on? Yes, just ONE, but one that you really, really, really care about. What one BIG focus will have the most impact in your life? It might scare you, make you a bit dizzy, sad and or sweaty when you think about it, but in your heart you know it’s the right BIG move for you. What will it be?
Your health?
Decide, today and then GO BIG. Make a plan on how you will make this area a priority. Keep it real, realize that you might have setbacks, but commit to going big and big results will be your reward. |
AuthorsHolistic personal coaches committed to helping clients achieve growth & balance CategoriesArchives
July 2025
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