5 Ways to Start Fresh

It has been said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. 21 days out of an entire lifetime is like snapping your fingers. It is a short period of time relative to the many many years you have on earth. The next time you declare that your ideal goal is too hard to attain, try looking at it from this fresh new perspective. As you try new things or begin to form habits around the things that are working, know that the first, easiest path is to do what you can when you can. You can do it! Let go of old stories and renew your will by starting again; each week or each day and another day and another day... 21 days will be here before you know it.

Start fresh each week or each day by:

1. Working with your body, not against it. Dis-ease feeds on negativity, whether it's negative thoughts, actions or foods/drinks that the body cannot process. Setting your intention and then feeding yourself negativity in any form will put you back to square one. Accept, don't hate, what you have now. Appreciation for the magnificent form we call the body, no matter its present condition, helps decrease the chronic un-ease we call dis-ease.


2. Knowing that it takes steps to form a path. Wellness is a process of consistently making choices toward good health. If you stand in the same place complaining or not taking action, of course it will be impossible to see change. Feel encouraged by moving forward, even if you are doing one additional healthy activity a day.


3. Realizing that past disappointments can be celebrated; they help shape and refine your goals. OK, maybe you did not succeed with the last attempt. The best thing about "failing" is that you have a ready-made list of what doesn't work. You know not to try the same thing again right? Ask yourself how can you tweak what was done to get better results next time. Let go of the guilt and regret and understand that you are always learning.


4. Doing what you can when you are ready. Either you are ready for change or you are not. If you are ready, use that will to get through each day. Visualize what you want and hold those images in your mind. If you aren't ready for change, forcing yourself builds resistance and resentment to the activity, people around you and yourself.


5. Having fun! What do you have fun doing? Do you love to dance? Enjoy singing when no one is around? Can't get enough of cleaning? Take what you love and infuse it in whatever healthy activity you are doing. Sing your favorite song while juicing. Dance all the way to your mat for situps. Smile for 5 minutes straight before meditation. Fun gives you fuel to keep going!

We are all meant to live happy, healthy lives.

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Tips for Relaxing the Mind and Body

More and more women are leading stressful lifestyles nowadays. Between the stress of work, children at home, financial responsibilities and just keeping up with everyday tasks, you find that there is no time left for anything else. Here are few tips for relaxing your mind and body.

Meditate

Not necessarily in its traditional definition.

You can get the positive impacts of meditation by doing repetitive actions, anything from sports activities such as walking and swimming, to painting, knitting or other activities that require you to pay attention.

You might find that you are thinking about the issues that are occupying you, especially at the beginning, try to relax those thoughts and focus on what you are doing at the moment.

Pretend you are relaxed

Take some time for yourself and imagine that you are in a relaxed environment.

Whether reflecting on your favorite trip or a relaxing fun memory or simply imagining a quiet day on the beach.

Tea

Drinking hot tea can help you reduce your stress levels. If you drink a lot of coffee, try transitioning or at least replacing some coffee with tea instead.

Caffeine can increase your stress level and doesn't help you relax. Both green tea and black tea have been shown to have many positive health benefits in addition to fighting stress.

Try herbal teas also. Chamomile tea is one of the best type of teas used for reducing stress and calming you down. You can also try mint, fennel seed and catnip tea.

Take a nap

Naps work wonders. If you cannot enough sleep at night, taking a couple of 20 minutes naps during the day can seriously help you power up through your day.

Sometimes, they are just what you need to get this additional boost that helps you relax and distress.

Massage

Too busy to take some time to go to a spa? No problem, try a self-massage option. Massages can often help you relax by releasing some of the tense muscles in your back and shoulder area.

Using a tennis ball to give yourself a shoulder rub, this is a quick and easy step to relax your muscles and reduce the tension in your muscles.

Deep Breathing

Never underestimate how well deep breathing exercise can help you. Deep breathing can turn tension into relaxation. Taking few minutes daily to breathe properly can do you a lot of good.

Just take a deep breath through your nose and slowly let out a sigh through your pursed lips. Relax your entire body as you do that and try to isolate the stressful thoughts of your never-ending to-do list.

Care for yourself

As the mother, wife and best friend, you are always caring for someone else and restoring order in your home. Try taking sometime for yourself.

While you might not have this luxury very often, schedule time for yourself where you can read your favorite book or do an activity that you enjoy without anyone interrupting you or calling for your attention.

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Are You Healthy And Wealthy?

Are you thinking, "What an odd question?" If you are, then maybe you aren't healthy and wealthy! As a business owner and fitness expert, I know that being healthy is really what makes the business wealthy.

How so? Well, if we are unhealthy and feeling out of sorts, we don't have the energy to run our business. We are not able to effectively execute all that we need to do as a business owner. We don't feel like doing it, plain and simple, and then we will force ourselves to do stuff. When we are sluggish and lethargic, everything seems to take so long. It feels like such an effort and we never seem to get anything done... and if we do, we find we have made tons of mistakes and have to re-do things.

This is no way to live!

However, when we are healthy we have a lot of energy to run our businesses. We go to networking events and put our best foot forward to connect with people and make follow-up coffee appointments to get to know the other person better. We effortlessly tackle our to-do lists and we complete so much more... and we do it right the first time! New projects excite us and everything is fun.

So you can see how being healthy leads to being wealthy. Today I am sharing with you three of my top tips for being-and staying-healthy while running and growing your business (and if you don't have a business, no problem, you can use these tips in living your life). When I follow these throughout my work day, I feel great and get more done which equals better health and wealth!

Tip 1: Get plenty of sleep. Most business owners (most people for that fact) don't get enough sleep. Give yourself a bedtime and stick to it. Create a routine around your bedtime so that you have plenty of time to wind down after your day. Research shows that we need more time than we think to get the sleep our bodies require. There is no sense jumping into bed without relaxing first because your body and your mind have no time to shift from being active to becoming (then being) inactive.

Tip 2: Drink plenty of water. Water is key to our survival. When we are dehydrated we feel tired, sluggish and irritated. Simply drinking enough water for your body weight is the key to keeping your energy levels up as well as staying focused on what you are doing. Plus you'll have breaks built in because you'll need to get up to go to the restroom! It's kind of like a failsafe so that you aren't stuck sitting at your desk or your workstation for ridiculously extended periods of time with no movement. Get a fun water bottle or glass and note how many ounces it holds, then aim to drink as many glasses to equal at least 32 oz. if not 64.

Tip 3: Take a break: You thought I was going to say exercise. Well yes, that is true. BUT really what needs to happen is a break, whether it is 5 minutes or a day off. When you work, work, work, you cannot succeed in being health and wealthy. The reason is that our brains and bodies need periods of rest to renew and refresh. Our thinking goes stagnant without breaks as does our bodies (that's where the exercise comes in).

That's it - start with those three simple tips and drop me a line on how you feel.

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