Belief Systems and Our Health

Our belief systems need to be challenged constantly. Much of the current "virtual reality" that we assume to be "real" or "true" is just pure fantasy. "Don't believe everything you hear or see" is never truer than in the world of advertising.

Today, I came across this article in the Franson Chiropractic Blog: That's Nuts!

The gist of this informative and entertaining article by Dr. Stephen Franson, which is a "must read", is that at a certain national donut chain there currently is displayed a picture of a donut under which are written the words "Warning Health Alert: Doughnut Contains Almonds."

For those of you who haven't already fallen on the floor laughing, Franson points out that the ONLY healthy ingredient in that donut IS the almonds. Yes, he says, some people do have nut allergies. But many, many, many more people are allergic to all the other ingredients in that donut - sugar, white flour, trans fats, etc. [We break out in fat! - my contribution to his article.]

Where was the health expert when this advertising campaign was conceived?

Practicing Extreme Self-Care: Reprise

The very first post I wrote in this blog was on Practicing Extreme Self-Care. And now, almost two years later, I am circling around to this subject again. Why? Because when you design, create, build, and live the life of your dreams, then practicing self-care and creating potent health in your body, mind, psyche, and spirit becomes absolutely essential. It is the solid foundation of the mansion that is your life.

Henry David Thoreau is quoted as saying, If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; now put the foundations under them. Your health, your vitality, your energy are the foundations of your life. These things need to be in place - strong and solid.

Two years ago, I was just beginning to build those foundations for myself. Today, they are strong, and getting stronger by the day. Today, I can write from experience instead of from theory. Today, I can tell you that focusing on building health in all these areas, especially in the physical body, is the best thing I have ever done for myself.

So, what wisdom can I add to that original article? Here are a few thoughts:

First, fall in love with your body. For many people, that is not an easy thing to do. But it IS do-able. What it takes is acceptance, appreciation, and gratitude. Whatever body we have been given, it IS the body we have been given. It is the vehicle that houses our psyche, senses, soul, and spirit. It is, as some have said, the Temple of our soul. We need to treat our bodies with love and reverence, and take care of them as we would take care of the most precious of places or people or possessions in our lives. As for appreciation and gratitude, it is our bodies that allow us to experience magnificent sunrises and sunsets, music that moves us to tears, the sensuous taste of food like chocolate, the smell of the briny ocean or a rose in bloom, and the touch of a baby's smooth bottom or the embrace of a friend or lover. The more I have come to understand the miracle of having a body with which to experience this world and this life, the more I have come to accept, embrace, nurture, and appreciate my body.

Second, a friend recently shared with me these secrets for living a long and healthy life, and I am passing them on to you. The keys to creating perfect health are these "triple powers": Right Thinking, Nutrition, and Joy in all that you do:

Sickness is not the natural state of the human body; it is a perfect creation of the Perfect Creator. Though injuries must come to balance the wheel of destiny, sickness is a self-imposed torture that should not be. Through the triple powers of right thinking, nutrition, and joy in all that you do, the body should always be in perfect health. (excerpted from Spiritual Living, unpublished manuscript, ©Robert G. Black, 2007.)

Right Thinking means thinking positive thoughts and having positive expectations. (e.g. "I am healthy and getting healthier every day" or "I expect to live and be healthy until I am at least 100 or more".) This kind of thinking is also the basis for the Law of Attraction and the laws of Cause and Effect. To borrow and rework Henry Ford's famous quote, if you think you're healthy (or youthful, or whatever) or you think you're not, you're right.

Nutrition surely is key. I have been learning this for myself these past two years. What we put into our bodies for nourishment and fuel is absolutely ESSENTIAL to how we function on a daily basis and how we set ourselves up for the future. If you don't know much about nutrition, go read everything you can find about it. Subscribe to publications like Nutrition Action or Environmental Nutrition or Prevention Magazine, or Dr. Andrew Weil's monthly Self-Healing Newsletter, or any one of many wonderful medical school publications. Read every book or internet article you can find. [Check out these informative and entertaining books by Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz - YOU The Owner's Manual, YOU on a Diet, or YOU Staying Young.] Talk with a nutritionist, naturopathic or holistic doctor, or any other expert in nutrition. And, if you already know a lot about nutrition, but are not putting your knowledge into action, then what are you waiting for? DO IT TODAY!

And as for finding Joy in everything you do, that is what designing, building, and living the life of your dreams is all about! And here's the key: you must know what you want (and that can be as specific as a "I want to be the author of a best-selling historical novel" or as open as "I want to be happy"), believe that you can have or achieve what you want, know that you are worthy and deserve to have what you want, and then be motivated and courageous enough to actually go for it!

And believe me when I tell you that you don't have to have all the answers, or have all your ducks in a row, before you begin. You just have to start taking action, one baby step at a time towards your dream, and the whole world opens up before you!

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A Different Kind of Christmas

For me, in the past, the entire holiday season, from Thanksgiving right through the New Year holiday, has been stressful - full of deadlines, too many things to do, financially draining, tiring, too many expectations, too much food, too much stuff. Many of you, I know, have gone through this too.

This year was different. It had a lot to do with the year-long Letting-Go Experiment that I have been doing. This year, I decided to downsize and de-stress the holidays. And this year, I had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season.

Just what was different? Here's my list:

1. Entertaining - this was the first year since I was married in the 60's that I was not the hostess for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and one of only a few times that I was not the hostess for Thanksgiving or any other large holiday gathering. This year, I was a guest instead. Until this year, I didn't fully appreciate how much work it is to host one of these holiday gatherings. I just did it. The absence of doing it created a lot more time for relaxation and a whole lot less stress.

2. Gifts - after talking it over with friends and family, I pared my gift list way down. My friends and I mutually agreed not to exchange gifts, but to go out for celebratory meals or to the movies instead. My family and I agreed to cut down the number and cost of the gifts we exhange and to forego doing Christmas stockings. This made for a much less stressful Christmas financially. Some of the money saved was given to charity.

3. Christmas cards - in past years, I have sent out over 150 cards during the holidays, as well as writing and sending a Christmas letter. This year, I did not do the letter, and sent only a few cards (most of those late) in response to the ones I received. This is normally one of my favorite holiday activities. I love being in touch with people at this time of year, reading their news and sharing mine. But this year, I let myself off the hook in terms of deadlines. I decided instead to take time in January to be in touch with these people, at my leisure.

4. Christmas tree - this year, for the first year ever, I decided not to have a Christmas tree. I did put out a few simple yet festive decorations - a door wreath, a poinsettia plant, a pine arrangement, lots of candles. I thought I would miss the tree. Even thought I might give in at the last moment and put one up. But I did not, and, strangely, I did not miss it. And I certainly didn't miss the work of setting it up and taking it down.

5. Food and drink - in past years, I have overdone cooking, baking, and eating, and have gained weight. This year, I took the emphasis off of food and drink and onto other things instead. (And actually lost a pound or two.) I only baked once - the traditional Buche de Noel we have enjoyed in our family every year on Christmas Day. No cookies, candy, pastries, etc. If we needed them (and we usually didn't), I bought them. I had eggnog, my favorite holiday drink, only once - at someone else's home. Tomorrow, New Year's Day, will be an exception, as I participate in an extravagent New Year's Day Brunch at the Stage Neck Inn in York, Maine, which has been a tradition with friends for more than 15 years.

6. Relaxation and enjoyment - This year, I decided to enjoy the holiday season by doing fun, non-material things. I love music and singing, so I sang in a holiday concert and in our town's Christmas pageant. I took rides to see the colorful holiday lights, but left my own window candles and most of my other decorations in the closet this year. I did a lot of walking. I window-shopped in our delightful town of Rockport, enjoying the ambience of the season; I avoided the malls. I spent time playing with my granddaughter. I partied with good friends, yet let some social events go. Christmas Day at my son's house was low-key, relaxing, and fun. We de-emphasized gifts and food and played more instead, taking a beautiful walk in nature and playing the Disney version of Scene-It.

I can't think of any way to spend the holidays that would be more relaxing and less stressful than it was this year, unless we ignored them altogether (which can also be stressful) or went on a cruise where we were waited on hand and foot. (Well, maybe next year?)

I hope your Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa, and New Year's holidays were joyful, peaceful, relaxing and devoid of stress. If they were not, what might you do differently next year?

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Email: connie@conniekomack.com
Web: www.conniekomack.com

Practicing Extreme Self-Care

Many New Year's resolutions concern taking better care of our health and body in some way - reducing our weight, eating more healthy foods, drinking more water, exercising more, or stopping or changing some habit, such as smoking, that is not serving us.

In my coaching practice, I have found that no matter what the focus of our work together is - whether it is personal, professional, career, or business development, growth and change - the first issue we often address is the state of the client's self-care practice.

Attention to self-care is vital to the success of any endeavor. Good health and fitness, and a high level of energy, is the best foundation for every aspect of our lives. Unfortunately, many people do not hold self-care as a high priority. Here are some of the most common excuses I hear:

• I'm too busy.
• I don't have time.
• I put others ahead of myself.
• I'm being selfish when I take time for myself.
• It costs too much.
• I can't afford it.
• I'm too stressed out.
• My ____ (fill in the blank) comes first.
• I forget. The time just get by me.
• I don't know where to start.

What's your excuse?

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