Meditation Integration

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What do you imagine when someone says they meditate or that you should try meditating? Meditation is a good habit to integrate into your daily routine. It’s easy to learn and beneficial to reduce stress, ease breathing and anxiety and to help you re-center and ground yourself.

Here’s how to begin a simple, uncomplicated meditation practice. Right now, where you are, take a deep breath in, close your eyes ——- then let it out. How do you feel? Repeat it if it feels good. Just this simple step can bring calm to you.

Try a 5-10-minute daily meditation. Choose the best time for you, early morning, midday, after work or before bed, do whatever works for you. Find your ‘spot’ and make it your space for meditating. Start simply by just taking full breaths with your eyes closed and your body relaxed either sitting or lying comfortably. Repeat full, slow, mindful deep breathing while thoughts scatter your mind…let those thoughts come and let them go. When you feel that your thoughts have left, open your eyes and exhale. Exhale the negative and breathe in the positive.

Give it a try! Make it a regular practice. Do it when you think of it. Inhale and exhale fully throughout the day, it will make a positive difference!

Simple Habits for a Healthy Heart

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I want to talk about a healthy heart..again – it’s that important! 20151028_193432

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease (common cause is plaque buildup that can’t be cured, only treated), peripheral artery disease (calcium and fat buildup on artery walls) are common heart issues, followed by other heart issues not caused by dietary and lifestyle habits.

Today, I will focus on how to make healthier food choices that will love your heart as much as you do. We are all guilty of splurging and losing sight of our goals from time-to-time and that’s alright provided you get back on track.

As you repeatedly hear [and read], you should eat more vegetables and fruit – daily. Why? For many reasons but for heart health the reason being higher potassium intake helps your heart muscle maintain strength. It’s important to eat potassium rich foods instead of taking a supplement, unless instructed by your doctor, since too high potassium levels can be dangerous as well as too low levels. Aim for at the very least 3-5 servings of vegetables daily; the average American eats less than one serving per day and that needs to change. Your body is worth the time, effort, taste and the switch to more vegetables and fruit every day. Basically, the more natural potassium in your diet, the less chance of cardio vascular disease.

Both high blood pressure and high cholesterol have no symptoms until there is a serious problem and of course a diagnosis through medical maintenance care. In the case of a hypertensive crisis you may experience symptoms of severe headache, severe, anxiety, nosebleed and shortness of breath.

A high salt diet can lead to heart issues as well as other physical ailments. Salt also increases calcium loss through urine so even if you have not been advised by your doctor, it’s a good habit to adapt to for your overall health.

  • A quick list of high sodium content in common foods include: [mg/serving] frozen dinners = 1000 +, average cereals = 300 +, canned vegetables & beans 400-700+, canned/bottled vegetable juice 500+, deli meat 360+/2 slices, canned soup 740+, sauces/marinades 690-1050+, chips/pretzels/cheese curls/ketchup/relish/pickles etc. 136-400+

Heart disease isn’t limited to salt intake; the foods you choose and the way they’re prepared is a big factor as well. Instead of fries, choose a salad for heart healthy leafy greens and other veggies, choose a baked white or sweet potato or brown rice. Use lemon juice, vinegar and spices in place of salt and other condiments. Eat less red meat, which is associated with stomach cancer, and more lean chicken, fish and beans for lean protein.

Become a label reader and choose the lowest to zero sodium, sugar and saturated fat options. Your heart is the center of life.

Be a Stand-Up Person & Stand Up for Yourself Too

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If you are the kind of person who will almost drop everything you’re doing to help another, remember it’s either your choice or your inborn ways that lead you to do so. When you do for others, make sure you’re doing with a happy heart; if you’re doing out of guilt or expectation, be aware that you might be neglecting your own responsibilities.

Through experience, I and others I know, have fallen off track from personal and professional duties by putting ‘self’ last.

Follow your gut and follow through with your intentions and promises but don’t lose yourself along the way.  If it’s a matter of who you are, don’t let it get out of hand. Learn to say no when you must, learn to let go when it’s time and realize that everything is not up to you to fix.

None of us must carry a burden alone. Do what you can. Be true to who you are. Don’t lose yourself to anyone for any reason.

Be kind to others but also be kind to yourself.

Always be your authentic self and learn not to apologize for who you are and what you are committed to do.

Breathe. Take a moment, reflect on where you are in your personal life and professional life. Recharge your plans, duties and goals.

New Year & Throughout the Year Recharge

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A few times throughout the year you might find yourself worn down, out of energy, physically & mentally drained; January is most often one of those times due to the hustle/bustle of the holidays. When you find yourself in need of a recharge the following tips can help boost your energy and alertness.

  • Get enough sleep. Go to bed just one half hour earlier than usual, it can make a big difference after a week or two.
  • Drink enough water. Often in the colder/cooler weather we forget to drink plain, clean and delicious water. Your body is about 75% water – drinking more water helps flush toxins out that can make you feel sluggish.
  • Eat enough veggies and fruit. An ultimate amount of fruit and veggies is 8-13 servings a day but a large majority of us don’t even get 3-5 servings a day so shoot for at least 3/day. A serving can be estimated by using your hand, a half cup is a cupped palm-full, aim for one half to one full cup per serving.
  • Choose beans, nuts and fish for your protein instead of meat a few times a week. They have low to no fat, lots of fiber and iron.
  • Supplement your daily intake with a good quality fish oil, learn how to choose the right fish oil HERE and Supplement with 1000-5000mg of vitamin D daily. If you have not been tested recently and are not sure how much to start with, my suggestion is 2000mg/day – but knowing your blood panels for certain can help your health in many ways, so if you have not had a physical and blood work lately, don’t forget to make an appointment with your PCP.

It’s important and necessary to take time for yourself every so often so that you can catch your breath, recharge your energy and mind and to just exhale stress. Make scheduled appointments with yourself throught the year to do what you need/want to do – it helps you keep a healthy mindset and it can put you back on track with your personal goals.

In order to take care of others you must first take careof yourself.

Setting Goals

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20150313_084209As each new year settles in, many of us have set goals for ourselves for the coming year. It’s common habit to follow through for the first few months but often by April, we have forgotten our plan. Why does this happen? There are a few likely reasons that we let go of our resolutions. We might lose interest in our goals, our goals are set too high, we get busy, we didn’t plan well, we are overwhelmed, we slipped so we gave up, or even worse, we lose faith in ourselves. Whatever reason you might have personally, probably has happened more than once.

Resolutions and goal setting around weight loss is one of the most popular subjects followed by eating better, working out, and tidying up. Important goals to achieve that aren’t always in the forefront is emotional relief and personal care. Taking care of yourself includes mind, body and spirit.

A few quick guidelines to goal setting include:

  • 1 – Make your goal(s) reasonable, don’t over-burden yourself with too many goals at one time
  • 2 – If you slip up, don’t give up – never use the word cheat it’s a negative word and you need positive encouragement
  • 3 – Set a time when you will work on your goal each day or week depending on your personal goal
  • 4 – Be held accountable and learn what works for your particular body-type and schedule.

When you set goals, it’s important to plan properly, make sure your goals are reasonable, and figure out why you can’t seem to stay on task. Getting guidance from a certified wellness coach is an important step in setting and reaching your personal goals. Learning the proper steps and what works for you specifically, will ensure lifelong success.

 

Cold Hands & Feet

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Do you often have cold hands and feet when the rest of your body is warm? Does it keep you from feeling comfortable or from falling asleep easily? I have a few tips that just might help you out!

There is a wide range of causes for cold hands and feet including underlying diseases such as Raynaud’s Disease, lupus, diabetes, anemia, artery damage, carpal tunnel, beta blockers, OTC cold medicines, birth control pills, caffeine and smoking.  Additional factors are gender, age, cold climates, family history and anxiety. Cold hand and feet is more common in women due to estrogen fluctuations.

Low B-12, niacin, iron and underactive thyroid can play a role as well. Age related ongoing shooting pain is a red flag; you should see your doctor to make sure you do not have clogged arteries which could lead to serious complications and illness.

If you don’t suspect a disease and have been to your doctor regularly, you can try some of the following suggestions.

  • If you smoke, stop! There are more benefits to quitting. Smoking constricts your blood vessels making your limbs colder, smoking also causes lung diseases and heart disease.
  • Limit caffeine if you drink a lot of it. Remember it’s not only in coffee and tea, you can find it in sports drinks, soda, and energy drinks. Caffeine also has a ten-hour half-life – meaning 10 hours after you have consumed 100mg. of caffeine, 50mg. is still in your system; can’t sleep? This could be why.
  • Make sure socks and jewelry is not tight.
  • Control stress. Breathe, meditate and take time out. (See article below for guidance)
  • Exercise and movement helps to get your blood flowing, warming your extremities.
  • Layer up! May be obvious, but make sure you’re dressed for comfort not just fashion. A warm torso will help warm your hands and feet since the blood doesn’t have to stay in your core to keep your organs warm and safe.
  • Nutrition for cold hands and feet include the following:
  • Eat spicier! Black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cumin, chili peppers and chili powder, garlic, cloves, fennel seeds are all warming spices, chai tea and other herbal spiced teas help too.
  • Take fish oil supplements. Not sure which one? Read this article (link)
  • Iron rich foods include spinach, kale, broccoli, prunes, figs, raisins, yams, squash, unions, leeks, garlic, scallions, parsley, parsnips, quinoa, walnuts, sunflower seeds, spelt and oats.
  • Evening primrose oil and borage oil might help too.

Give these suggestions a try. If you smoke or drink a lot of caffeine and are not ready to quit ‘cold turkey’ it’s okay, just try to limit it; take each step a day at a time. There’s not failure in trying no matter how many times you start over.

Cleansing Healthy One Bowl

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I’m a big fan of getting all the nutrients from a meal in one dish; I like one dish casseroles, soup and stew and absolutely a “Buddha” bowl of health!

Since the holidays have come and gone there’s no better time to either start a healthy body, healthy diet regimen. All it takes is making the right choices, portion control and a little bit of exercise every day. Today I’m going to share a simple strategy for making a Healthy One Bowl for lunch or dinner. Don’t be fooled, this might not seem filling and satisfying but I promise you it is!

Pick a base layer:

Brown rice, quinoa, rice noodles, barley, bulgur

Pick a protein:

Beans (rinsed well and drained or fried that has been soaked overnight and simmered until soft), tofu, lean chicken or fish, or omit this option depending on what you feel like or have on hand that day

Pick your veggies: (and fruit if you wish)

Steamed, sautéed or raw – sweet potato (baked), squash, kale, spinach, pea sprouts, beets, carrots, celery, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, bean sprouts, other sprouts, any greens you enjoy… Fruit choices, sliced or chopped apple, pear, pineapple, mango, kiwi, orange/Clementine

Choose your toppings:

Hard/soft boiled eggs-chopped, chickpeas, avocado, berries, nuts, seeds

Add a sauce, olive oil salt and pepper work well, *tahini paste blended well with olive oil, lemon juice and nutritional yeast makes a great drizzle for any “One Bowl”.

*thin it with water if needed until it’s thin and syrupy enough to drizzle.

Leftovers from dinner, or make extra for a few lunches following, make great addition to a Healthy One Bowl. The only rules to a healthy one bowl are choose low-fat/fat-free, whole, natural foods. Make meal time easy for yourself and remember that mealtime is merely a time to fuel your body.

Taking Time to Breathe

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Having been exposed to poor breathing issues both personally and secondary to family members since childhood, I’ve come to appreciate the art of breathing more than ever. As a young child I was hospitalized for 21 days with pneumonia and my lungs haven’t been the same since. My younger brother has suffered from severe asthma since infancy and as an adult I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma. Illness can affect the nature of your lungs greatly.

Smoking. Those who smoke never want to hear the words, “you should quit” and most often they already know they should but as I’ve been told many times over, quitting isn’t easy. I’ve never smoked so I cannot and will not judge; I will only urge and offer my best support.

Most recently I’ve experienced close up the effects that a long term smoker is suffering; this makes me want to be able to wave a wand over those I know and love who smoke causing them to quit cold-turkey without cravings or urges to ever smoke again. In order to help you imagine what I saw/see and experienced this person dealing with, name & character withheld for privacy reasons, I’ll mention that this person has been in and out of the hospital often for the past year and a half, they suffer from severe COPD and without going into details, they are suffering greatly. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a combination of chronic bronchial infections and emphysema. COPD affects your breathing through the breakdown of lung tissue and as it advances it causes breakdown of the capillaries in the lungs. Oxygen going to the heart decreases causing the body to make more red blood cells that the heart has to pump at a higher rate which often leads to heart conditions and failure.

If your resolution for the year or the month or even for the day is to quit smoking, take it seriously. Do anything you can that will help you quit and learn and practice ways to increase and deepen your every breath. Even if you don’t smoke begin a practice as well. Meditation and yoga practices are great ways to learn to breathe.

When you learn to breathe fully and practice doing it on a daily basis you can experience, less fatigue, less fogginess, you’ll feel less tired and less depressed. Proper breathing helps you center yourself, detoxify your body and become one with your thoughts. Breathing affects every aspect of your life because life is breath; it sounds crazy maybe but we need to remember to just breathe.

Detoxifying Baked-Stuffed Winter Squash

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cropped-htc-10-10-12-082.jpgEating lean and clean after big celebrations such as winter holidays and summertime barbeques can be beneficial to keeping yourself in good health. Here is a wintertime squash recipe that can help your body get rid of toxins and sluggish cells.

Choose Acorn, pumpkin, butternut or buttercup squash

1 cup Brussels sprouts cleaned and cut into quarters (use frozen if fresh aren’t available)

1 cup mushrooms (optional) sliced

1 small red onion

1 large clove garlic –chopped

Olive oil

Seeds – sesame, sunflower, poppy, ground flax, pumpkin

1 small apple – diced small

Salt & pepper to taste

Cut squash in half, oil cut side, sprinkle with salt and lay cut side down on baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 45 -60 minutes until knife goes in easily. Remove from oven.

While squash is baking, sauté Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, onion & garlic for about 20 minutes.

Place each squash half on dinner plate and spoon sautéed mixture into each half – sprinkle with seeds and apple. Season with salt & pepper and serve.

*Optional: sprinkle with nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.

Resolutions

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I’ve never been one to make New Year Resolutions; I’m not sure why other than I like to make daily or weekly resolutions and I teach my clients to do the same. Making a daily/weekly resolution seems more reachable. Each year, each month, even each day is a great place to start over. Decide what biggest change you want to make and renew your resolve every morning..every hour if that helps.

Let’s look at what a resolution is. As a verb, resolve means to 1-find a solution to a matter 2-decide firmly on a course of action. As a noun, resolve means 1-firm determination to do something. They work together when you make a list of resolutions; a sort of “bucket list” for the year.

Have you made any resolutions? How reachable are they? What steps will help you resolve your “bucket list for the year”?

Even though it is past January 1st, don’t throw it away, use the next 2 weeks to decide on your new year resolution(s), don’t make them too overwhelming, and don’t over-do it with the number of things you want to resolve this year. Take a step at a time, and if you feel as though you fell back, forgot, cheated, slipped…or whatever word you use, don’t sweat it, there is no failure, just brush your thoughts off and continue on. Write your resolution somewhere you can read it every day. Set reminders on your phone, your calendar or anywhere throughout your home.

Chin up with a smile and forward bound!

Happy, Healthy, New Year to you!