Love is the Answer

 Knowing This (Fill In the Blank), How Do I Love the World? In todays' environment that Blank could be filled a thousand times but I want you to fill it with what hurts your soul. We become almost numb by all the bad news and then something comes along that slaps us in the face and stops us in our tracks. For me, it was the murder of a friend's stepdaughter by her estranged husband. Having never met her, I broke down sobbing, heaving and a pain clutching my chest. 

"Why is there so much hate in the world"? It was too much to bear. For an empath, these are tricky,  perilous waters we navigate. How do we keep our hearts open, filled with light and love when faced with atrocity?

At our most basic, every action we take, every thought we have is rooted in either Fear or Love. To quote from the must read book "Conversations with God Book 1" by Neale Donald Walsch, this is what Fear and Love look like:

Fear is the energy that contracts, closes down, draws in, runs, hides, hoards, harms. 

Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, stays, reveals, shares, heals.

Fear wraps our bodies in clothing, Love allows us to stand naked.

Fear clings to and clutches all that we have, Love gives all that we have away.

Fear holds close, Love holds dear.

Fear grasps, Love lets go.

Fear rankles, Love soothes.

Fear attacks, Love amends.

Beautiful isn't it? Being self aware enough to know where our thoughts and actions come from, enables us to choose differently. Gives us the capacity to change our trajectory, course of action. Meditation is the birthing place of self awareness, where we shift our view of the world from "I" the ego to the selfless, to the all encompassing "oneness". Where we remember we are all tethered by an unbreakable thread of connection. Does this awareness make atrocities any easier to witness or face? It does not. What it does do is remind us to focus on the light not the darkness. To have faith that there is more good than bad, simply put.  That instead of wanting to close down, shield up from pain, hang a NO Vacancy sign on our hearts, we honor the victims by keeping up the good fight, by helping others in turn, by offering support to those who are suffering. We recognize the darkness and shine our light on it to force it out of hiding. 

Because that is what LOVE does.

A Couple's Weight Loss Success Story

 Roy, at 76, lost 44lbs and 8 inches off his waistline in Five months and Trish, at 69, lost 22lbs of fat and 4 inches off her waistline. How did they do it? These are the concrete steps they took. 

1. They wanted to get back to their pre-pandemic exercise routine but were not comfortable going back to a gym setting as Covid is still prevalent. So they made the decision to hire a Personal Trainer that would come to their home. They chose to invest in themselves and their health.

2. After our preliminary meeting, we got to work. Every personal trainer will take body measurements and perform a senior fitness test to assess a baseline. Their main goal was to lose weight along with physical conditioning. We set a reasonable timeline for a specific amount of weight loss and off we went! With their Personal Training package purchase, came a Free nutritional assessment.

3. I met with R & T monthly. I checked up on them weekly to see how they were progressing, what wasn't working, any questions or concerns they had. Nutrition is a huge component for weight loss, after all, you can't exercise your way out of a bad diet!! We tweaked their nutritional intake as we progressed along.

4. R & T were diligent about exercising and following a nutritional diet, even switching to a low carb beer! They motivated each other and seeing the scale go down along with their blood work numbers improve dramatically kept them on track and encouraged them to do more.

5. We added HIIT training to encourage fat loss but keep muscle and they loved that! Who doesn't love HIIT? 20 minutes and you're done!

6. They are a hip, adorable couple always willing to learn, adapt and try new things. One of those new things was a fitness tracker and a food journal app for their phone. Dare I say, they are addicted to the fitness tracker. Who of us isn't? Such a cool way of tracking calories burned, heart rate, sleep patterns, even oxygen levels.

Roy surpassed the weight loss goal we set by 14 lbs. Trish did phenomenal and her entire weight loss was in fat lbs. Yes, we can measure that! More importantly, they feel better, look great and have more energy to play with their grandchild and do the activities they love. This Christmas, Roy's Santa outfit didn't fit, Mrs. Claus had to add padding LOL But the kids didn't notice.

As we enter a New Year, get clear on what fitness and health goals you want to accomplish for yourself. Be specific. Remember, to create a new habit we must break or lose an old one. Then, take action towards that goal. Whether it's hiring a Personal Trainer, a Nutritionist, joining a gym or starting a walking program with a friend. Every step counts. 

As a Holistic Fitness Coach I focus on all aspects of health, including physical, nutritional and emotional. I have several different programs to fit your budget. As a lifelong fitness enthusiast and long time fitness instructor, my goal is to build a successful fitness coaching business. To encourage that, my rates today are very reasonable to help promote growth and a referral source. What are you waiting for?

                                                    Roy December 2021, Santa bought smaller jeans
 

Halloween Season Meditation

 This is our last pause before the holiday season rushes in and for some, Halloween marks the end of the year or cycle as a new one begins. Whatever your beliefs are, this meditation helps ground us and prepare for the new year soon approaching.

If you are fortunate enough to have a hearth or outdoor firepit, do this meditation while enjoying the glow of a real fire. Otherwise, use your imagination or YouTube provides countless fireplace videos to use as a background.

First, turn off all distractions and get comfortable in your seat. Close your eyes or lower your gaze and begin to focus on your breath. Don't force the breath, just become aware of its rhythm. Notice if it becomes stuck anywhere, its pace, if it's shallow. If need be, place a hand on your belly and feel it rise and fall with the breath. As we change our breath, we change our emotion. Allow inhale and exhale to slow down and stay present with the breath. Do this for about five minutes until you begin to feel yourself relax a bit more, the mind slowing down its thoughts.

Now, place your hands wherever its comfortable and visualize a roaring, crackling fire warming your skin. Its flames dancing and licking the glowing hot logs. This is a holy fire, the Diving fire of Grace, God or the Universe. Fire not only destroys but also transforms and provides. We will play with all three aspects in this meditation.

Bring to mind three habits, aspects, thoughts or thought patterns, feelings you want to let go. Whether they are negative self talk or aspects of your personality that no longer serve you, hold you back from being happy, or confine you. Mentally write each one down on a piece of paper, thank them for protecting you in the past and then toss each one into the fire. As they burn, feel yourself being freed from these invisible chains to well-being, a burden lifted off your soul. By "destroying" these negative patterns we create space, clear sacred ground for something new. 

What do you want more of? Peace, love, financial security, good health? Conjure up three life changes that will bring you more happiness. Once identified, which one will possibly bring you all of them? Drill down to the original seed that will sprout and grow into contentment for you. This is the seed you will plant and cultivate in this sacred ground you cleared. You are always welcome to add more seeds. But for now let us start with one. 

Now comes the transformation. What concrete steps will you take to achieve this life change? As you cannot just plant a seed and expect it to reach its full potential without nurturing it, so it goes with what we want to create in our lives. Choose three to five concrete actions, big or small, you can take right now or in the immediate future and mentally jot them down on pieces of paper. View these as offerings to make and toss into the Divine Fire. 

Next, how will this life change feel inside you? How will it provide and transform your life? See the change as if it has already happened, feel it in your soul, your mind and body. What we think, we create. By providing our desire with a positive, nurturing environment to flourish we encourage the change to occur.

Take the next few minutes to silently sit with your elevated emotions and lean into it.

Happy Autumn Season to you 

WALK YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS

 

We have a saying in the exercise community " The slower your steps, the closer you are to Death". OK, not uplifting but you get the point. Two relatively new studies highlight the truth in that saying. The conclusion from them was that no matter what your race, sex, comorbidities or diet the following held true. 

To live longer, those who took 7,000+ steps daily were 50% less likely to die early. Take 9,000 steps and that increases to 70%. And no, taking more than 10,000 steps did not make a difference in mortality. So the sweet spot seems to be 7,000-8,000 steps daily including 30-45 minutes of intentional exercise most days of the week. What kind of exercise you ask? They include swimming, tennis, biking, jogging, weightlifting, aerobic exercise, soccer...anything that will get your heart rate up for 30-45 minutes. That can include fast walking or hiking as well. Those who exercised MORE than 10 hours a week lost 1/3 of mortality benefits. This is not the first study to mention how TOO much exercise can be bad for you.

How to get started on an exercise program? If you have been sedentary for a while, start with a visit to your PCP for a general check up and mention your plan on starting an exercise program. Once cleared for exercise, the best gift you can give yourself is to meet with a Certified Personal Trainer to get started. Some Trainers, such as myself, are also Certified Nutritionists and you can add on that service for a weight loss program. 

If you cannot afford a Personal Trainer, no problem. There are plenty of sites online that can help you get started. Start with tracking your steps for 3 days. Strap on a wearable fitness tracker, such as Apple Watch or Fitbit (I love my Fitbit), and wear it from morning till night. Most smart phones have a Health App preinstalled and track your steps, but you would have to carry your phone everywhere and unless you're a Millenial or a Gen Z'er you probably don't. This will give you a good idea of how many steps you are taking already. To increase your steps, add 1,000 steps to what you are already doing regularly for a week and see how you do. Once you have reached that goal consistently ( 6 out of 7 days), add another 1,000. And so on till you reach your goal. 

Small ways to increase your steps include the following: 

1. Park further away, not only will you add steps but your car won't get dinged as much! If parking in a strip center where you will shop at a couple of different stores, park in between both places and walk back and forth from there. 

2. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. 

3. Master the art of inefficiency. Instead of gathering a bunch of items and moving them from one room to another in one trip, try taking several trips. As I get older this becomes easier, since I forget what I need in that room half the time now LOL. So my forgetfulness is benefiting my steps.

4. Get a dog! Or walk your dog every day if you do not already. When I first got my Fitbit I was obsessed with making my steps. So if by evening I was going to fall short, I would grab the leash and take my Aussie for a second walk. She loved it and we both lost weight!

5. Find a walking buddy. Exercise is not only more fun but a buddy holds you accountable. You are more likely to stick to your exercise routine if there is another person counting on you. Neighbors make great walking buddies!

These are easy ways to add steps into your daily life. Exercise not only helps us live longer but it increases our quality of life, reduces cardiovascular disease, diabetes and several cancers. Not to mention the mental and emotional benefits it brings. So grab a pair of walking shoes and head out the door!

The studies I mention in this article can be found here, JAMA and Mayo Clinic