Ingredients To A Balanced Life (part 2)

“The more I have observed human behavior, the more convinced I have become that the key to health is understanding each person’s individual needs, rather than following a set of predetermined rules. I saw plenty of evidence that having a happy relationship, a fulfilling career, an exercise routine and a spiritual practice are more important to health than a daily diet.”

                                               Joshua Rosenthal, from Integrative Nutrition

While we cannot deny that what we eat is important to the way we feel and the way we function from day to day, it is also important to recognize that other factors play an enormous role in our health as well. Our overall happiness and satisfaction is nourished by our physical, emotional and spiritual practices. We don’t just live well by eating right and exercising we also crave healthy relationships, achievements, romance, intimacy, creative expression, adventure, spiritual connections and fun. These energies feed us, give us purpose and meaning and offer a reason to live well, as Joshua Rosenthal calls them they are our primary foods.

“Primary food is more than what is on your plate. Healthy relationships, regular physical activity, fulfilling career and a spiritual practice can fill your soul and satisfy your hunger for life. When primary food is balanced and satiating, your life feeds you, making what you eat secondary.”

Rosenthal makes more suggestions on how to get the most nourishment from our primary sources, beginning with the company you keep. When you surround yourself with negative individuals, people who don’t share your vision or philosophies they drag you down. It is important to be around those who bring your energy up, inspire and encourage you.  We all tend to hang on to old relationships that no longer serve us, a high school friend, a former lover or co-worker who we feel an obligation to but who really doesn’t ”fit” into our current life.  Sometimes these old relationship alienate potential healthier, new relationships, therefore it is time to cut the cord. Rosenthal recommends looking at old friendships like    you do your wardrobe, clear it out as the seasons of your life change and discard what no longer serves you, sounds harsh but it makes sense. Is it time you for to shop for some new friends?

Another area of nourishment is how we spend our time, most of which is spent at work. Do you enjoy your work? Is it draining you? Stressing you? If you love your work you find it invigorating and it feeds your energy.  Obviously with today’s economy it isn’t realistic to imagine you can just quit your job and go find one that you love. So instead learn to love (or make the most of) the job you are in. I remember a woman that was a sign holder on a road construction crew that was doing work on a hi-way near where I live. All summer, a hot summer, she did nothing but hold that sign, talk into the walkie talkie and turn the sign, a boring job by anyone’s standard. She was enthralling to watch, she waved at each car, smiled, joked and made the day of the people in the cars waiting to pass the construction zone.  Before the end of the summer the drivers that used that route regularly were on a first name bases with the Sign Lady, they would bring her coffee if they were traveling in the morning or cool drinks in in the afternoon. She found a way to fall in love with her job, she was making a contribution. I will never forget her friendly face, if you can’t change your job find a way to make it the best it can be, sometimes that might be simply changing your way of thinking.

A spiritiul practice, yet another of our primary foods, is important to bring us in tune with ourself and the universe. No one is an island, we are all part of the bigger picture and when we have a spiritual connection, whether that is through prayer, meditation, nature or whatever, we have the ability to connect with others, our goals and our purpose. Our spiritual connection nourishes and allows us to grow in appreciation and understanding of the world. What are you doing to feed your spirit these days, meditating? journalling? visualization? Find something that you can make a daily practise and take the time to restore and nourish your soul.

Rosenthal's Intergrated Food Pyramid

Become aware of all the aspects of your day that nourish you, not just the food you eat but the "primary foods" as well. You are a unique human being and therfore the solution to you achieving optimal health is unique. Only you can calculate the correct measure of each ingredient, do you require more rest or more exercise, more solitude or more companionship discover what works and go and get it and learn to love yourself and be the best you can be.  

   By loving yourself completely you will reach a new height of health that no food could ever give you. And by expressing your authentic self, your life force will soar, your heart will open, and the world will never look  the same.

Ingredients to a Balanced Life (part 1)

To have a truly balanced life you need to incorporate the basic ingredients of body, mind and spirit. I know that seems rather like a cliche statement, the entire body, mind, spirit terminology has been sooo overused. I rather think of it as  intellectually, physically, spiritually and recreationally balanced. Move your body through strength work, cardiovascular training and stretching with exercises like yoga and find an eating program that works for you. Feed your intelligence through studying, reading and observation. Find something that nourishes your spirit, meditation, prayer, alone time, communing with nature or whatever allows you to connect with your higher self. Finally, remember to have fun, enjoy yourself and make your work your play and your play your work. All of the above are required to be fullfilled and "balanced" in your life.

"To keep the body in good health is a duty...

otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear."

    ~Buddha~

I have always been active but not necessarily fit. Somewhere on my journey I realized I needed to move more, I had always dreamed of being really fit, lean and in great shape. Then one day I saw a talk show with a woman in a gold bikini, blond hair, fake tan and incredibly fit, she was forty years old and had a far better body then I. She was promoting her latest workout book and I decided I needed that book. I performed the recommended program faithfully and it was the beginning of my love affair with exercise. Over the years my routine has changed and manifested in all directions, I lift weights, I added running to my repertoire, I certified as a trainer and instructed for a while. I started a daily yoga practice, performed the P90X program for two and a half years, and now I swing!, kettle-bells that is.  I have been working out for years and when I get bored of the current program I add something new. I keep it fresh and, no matter what, I keep moving.

But , the bottom line is that it is important to find something you love, whether it is a sport, walking, running, weights, fitness videos or classes and, as Nike says, "Just Do It".

"To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art."
- La Rochefoucauld~

We have to eat to live, unfortunately a lot of people live to eat. I have always struggled with eating right, not that I ate bad, but I lacked consistency. In our house we have experimented with all types of  programs, ( I don't use the word diet as it implies weight loss plans) we have never used sugar and avoided white flour products. Due to allergies in the kids we have gone wheat free or dairy free for periods of time. We have bought organic when we could find economical source and desserts were made from scratch with whole ingredients. Coffee, soft drinks and candy have always been absent  at our from the house. We drink lots of water, from our own well. We don't go out to eat very often and for the most part we have eaten "clean" compared to the general population. However, we did consume a lot of beef and chicken, raised by ourselves on our farm. Today I am working on my consistency, I have a gluten intolerance and avoid most grains and  recently I have cut out meat. I eat lots of greens, rice, beans, veggies, fruit and drink carrot juice daily. Beef and chicken are still on the menu for the rest of the family but not as often as they used to be. I use supplements when I feel a need and generally try to keep my eating balanced and consistent.

“Most people would be much better off consuming less meat, milk, sugar, chemicalized, artificial junk food, alcohol, caffeine and tobacco and increasing their consumption of water, whole grains and vegetables, especially dark leafy greens.”

                                                                           ~Joshua Rosenthal~

Taking care of your physical self is only part of your whole health. As Joshua Rosenthal explains in his book Integrated Nutrition, "our bodies thrive on movement, and quickly degenerate without it". He also says what we eat is only our primary food . He has some really cool thoughts on integrated living. Read part two of this blog to see what else I have discovered as the Ingredients to a Balanced Life.

Life Is Like Coffee

In one of my favourite movies, The Peaceful Warrior, the character known as 

Socrates tells his protege Dan, "there is never nothing going on".

 Every moment of everyday holds something that we can observe, learn and find beauty.

Imagine you could fast forward right now and 

arrive at a place where all of your goals and 

dreams have been fulfilled, everything you 

have ever wanted is done, you're finished and 

you have arrived! You get to skip over of the
hard work, the messiness, the sad times and
the dealing with difficult people. But, you also miss 

the travel, the pursuit, the study and learning, the
amazing people, the celebrations and the fun
stuff that is part of "getting there".

Will it be worth it? Isn't "getting there" supposed to half of the fun (or all of the fun)?

                                                                        The best part of "getting there", includes all of the experiences encountered along the way. The full flavour and richness is not in the arrival but in the vessel which delivers us, that is LIFE. The relationships, good and bad, the highs and the lows, the successes and failures add texture and interest to the experience. Learning opportunities are present in every moment, it doesn't matter what form it comes in, an angry client, a friendly face, a news story or a cup of coffee. The quality is determined by our attitude toward the experience. If we tell ourselves that the coffee is good today, it might turn out to be the best cup we have ever had.

"Live simply.  Speak kindly.  Care deeply.  Love generously"

Finding Focus Through Meditation

I have been working towards a regular meditation practice for a couple of years. I began by listening to music with a positive subliminal message attached, this usually took place around midday and ended with me falling asleep. I believed that because it was subliminal and I could still hear it I was benefiting from resting and listening. Next I tried self trance/hypnoses recordings, I would be instructed to visualize! as the soothing voice lead me deeper and deeper and guided me.......usually to sleep! Perhaps lying down at noon wasn't the best practice for me. I then found guided meditation and this really helped me become more focused, I experienced some true insights.These guided meditations had a focus that kept my mind from wandering and me from dozing off. Sometimes my meditations lead to the past, or future, towards health and healing or even to problem resolution. I was really thrilled with the direction these recordings were taking me but I had not developed a consistant habit of using them and the benefits were intermittent at best. I wanted to become committed to the practice so I decided to make it a daily habit. Just as I consistently show up for my workout, yoga and personal hygiene habits every day I wanted show up to meditate. 

At first I would sit down to meditate AFTER my workout and that was pretty disastrous, I couldn't calm my mind, I just couldn't focus. I decided to try to implement my new habit first thing in the morning before my work out. Now, for me this was a tough thing to do for a couple of reasons, #1, this was the coveted spot for my workouts, I have been doing this for years. However, I reminded myself that my workout is a well established habit and I would make it happen no matter what! And, #2, I feared I would just fall back to sleep if I wasn't moving around. But I tried it and it worked for me, now everyday I get up at five a'clock, grab a drink of water and retreat to my "space", I put on some light music, (an instrumental called Weightless which is supposed to be the most relaxing song ever), I dim the lights and sometimes light a candle, I position myself comfortably with my legs crossed and I begin. I use different techniques to focus my mind, some I learned through practice some I created as I went along. I do whatever it takes to "tame the drunk monkeys" in my mind. The more I "practice" the easier and easier it is to stay focused. I can sit longer without feeling my back ache or my feet falling asleep. More and more often I am quick to slide into a light meditation and become unaware of my surroundings, things like the furnace blowing, the temperature in the room or the light coming through the window don't distract me. I arrive at a calm and focused place that is unparalleled to any other place I have been. Most days want to sit longer, I don't want it to end.

                                           I can completely relate to the Samurai in the video.

My meditation practice has improved my ability to focus. I find that I am able to stay on task and concentrate better and I have learned to focus on one thing at a time. Also, when I'm focused I find I can complete a job more efficiently and in half the time.  I remember to focus on the progress of the project not worry about the possibility of failure. I find it difficult to believe that such a simple practice, sitting down and meditating, can have such an enormous impact on a persons life.  Making meditation a daily habit has helped me become more focused and I can't wait to see
 where my practice takes me next.

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand.

The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

                                                                                  Alexander Graham Bell

        

Overcoming Resistance

"You can't make an omelet without first cracking the egg"

                                                                                                                Joseph Campbell

The world is full of examples of overcoming resistance. Consider the transcontinental highway the resistance to that grandiose plan was huge yet there it is. Again, Steven Pressfield author of The War of Art says, to overcome resistance we must turn Pro. The amateur shows up sporadically, he plays part time while the pro is committed and plays all out, full time. The amateur is not a master of his task he hasn't put in the time and the pro has done the work and has the experience to tackle the job. So, how do we turn pro?, easy- PUT IN THE TIME!



A student works 4-5 years to get their degree and still is not considered a professional in their chosen field, give them a couple more years on the job and they get the experience and maybe the right to be called a pro. Even in the trades, as they are designed in Canada, the class time plus up to 5000-6000 hours of on the job training is still not enough to be called a professional, usually  2-3 more years in your industry is required to get the confidence and respect to be a true pro.

My point is this, if you want to get really good at something you have to 

overcome the resistance to the doing and just do! 

and, I might add, to do "it" often.

Someone once said that if something is easy it's not worth doing. So what is it that you want?? If you want to be thin, go pro! Start behaving, talking and committing to being thin. That means it's not going to happen overnight or in a couple of weeks, months or maybe even years. It requires you to PUT IN THE TIME and do the work - no short cuts, look at it as if you are getting a degree in thin. You have to fall in love with the idea and turn it into a lifestyle and not a one time thing. Overcoming resistance means being aware of the big picture,not necessarily in detail, and putting one foot in front of the other and take one step at a time.

Resistance, a.k.a fear, holds us back! Whatever you are resisting - relationships, education, career, family, emotions, health, fitness, creative work or housecleaning an alternative is just one "first" step away. You only have to take the first step, it will be the hardest one, then take another and another until you look back and see how far you have come. You will be stronger, wiser, thinner, healthier, happier, richer, whatever, but it begins with opening up to possibility. Breaking through the resistance barrier and letting all the good stuff flow out.

Resistance

Have you ever had the brakes on your car seize up? If you continue to drive the engine has to work really hard against the resistance, the brakes grind, they smoke, it smells and you get no where fast. Not a good idea to keep driving against this resistance, but if the brakes let go (or when you get them fixed) its smooth sailing again. Your mechanic can explain what happened and why your brakes act like this, there is always a reason for resistance.

What do you resist, your work, honouring commitments, apologizing, exercising, eating right? 

All day long we dig our heels in and resist doing the things we know we could be doing, and then, to add   

                         insult to injury we reprimand ourselves for not doing these same thing. 

Why, why do we continually do that? It's a vicious cycle of resist, reprimand, regret, repeat!

That is why Steven Pressfield the author of  "The War of Art" calls resistance the enemy. He says that we resist taking action when we know we should for many reasons and most are based in fear.We fear being successful in our endeavors and having to change our current conditions, we fear making the wrong decision, we fear losing the attention we get from not doing, we fear no longer living the the tumultuous soap opera lifestyle we have created and we fear having to really look at ourselves and analyse what and who we have become, (scary).

So you would imagine that, as intelligent human beings, we would rise up and kick resistance in the ass and tell it to move over because we're coming through. Easier said then done because the enemy has its hooks in deep, we are comfortable, we are in a grove and in some perverse way we like it. Oh sure, on a subconscious level we are aware things could be better, we could be more creative, productive, effective, disciplined, healthier and enthusiastic about life, but what would we loose, how would we have to change, who would we have to alienate if we started acting without the fear?

The really interesting thing, however, is that when we push fear to the side and take that first step towards our goal or purpose the resistance begins to back down. I'm sure we can all think of an example, for instance sending out a resume, the hardest part is probably printing it out and actually dropping it in the mail box or delivering it in person. Once we have accomplished the task relief sets in and we think "that wasn't so bad". Or if we have a writing assignment due, the biggest challenge is sitting down, committing to doing it and writing down that first sentence.

                      Maybe it'll be crap but it kicks fear to the curb and gets us started.                                                                      

Think of someone you respect for the achievements they have made. Then imagine their process, do you honestly believe they got to where they are without some resistance?, not likely. It could have been self inflicted or external but they obviously took the steps to push through and achieve the task they set out to achieve. If they had continued to resist they would not be on your radar of respect.

Chronic patients- face fear everyday, fear of pain, fear of treatment failure, fear of death an they do it anyway. Performers, artists and writers face fear of of non-acceptance, criticism and /or failure but if they are following their passion they do it anyway. Parents fear not doing a good job and screwing up their kids, but have kids that turn out just fine (most of the time). We can come up with all kinds of reasons why we shouldn't do something and some will be legitimate, take fear out of the equation and check again, re-evaluate and take the pressure of the resistance off. 

Ask yourself what do I want to do? How can I get there? What small steps or changes have to happen? it doesn't have to be a radical thing, maybe start small, like buying a book on a subject you want to pursue or enrolling in a course. Face fear a little at a time and knock it down to a more manageable size, overcome resistance and before you know it you'll be ready let the brakes off completely and you'll coast all the way to your destination.

Make It or Take It

I have been asked many, many times over the years about how I make time to workout and stay so fit when I have a lot of other things going on as well. And, my answer has always been the same. I don't make time, we all work on the same 24 hour clock, I TAKE the time by making it
a priority. If it is important you will take the time to do what
it is you need to do and that may mean dropping something of lesser importance. For years I have been waking up long before the rest of the household to perform my most important task for the day and that is to work out. I usually have my cardio, weights, yoga and more recently 30 minutes of meditation done before the rest of the fam-jam are up and moving. Crazy, maybe, but I am taking the time, making it a priority and showing up because it is important to ME. I don't make excuses or complain, I just do it. It helps a lot that I also love, love, love doing these things and being up early, by myself in the quiet morning light. I get my best "stuff" done early in the morning. However, the point is I have found a method that works for me to get it done. I didn't create an extra two hours on the clock, I simply dip into the time that is already there and use it to my advantage.

                                       I TAKE IT.....


I may not have it completely figured out for all aspects of my day I still have those moments when I ask myself how will I find the time? Those moments are usually when I am faced with a task I'm really not that interested in doing, like dishes, uhg. Yet when I "just do it", as Nike says, I realize two things, 1) it's not that bad and 2) it doesn't take that long, I just had to take the time, file it and move on. If I don't get the dishes washed, no biggy, not a top priority for me, not to say your the same, but eh, I'll do them tomorrow. I guess the point is, what is it that gets you ramped up? What do you want to accomplish in a day? What is your top priority?. When you get that figured out put it at the top of your list and do it first, or make the appointment to do it, literally schedule it into your day and "TAKE" that time to get it done. Everything else becomes secondary to your #1.
                                                     
                                                                            That's how you take the time, 

                                 you aren't making more time, your claiming it as your own.

I have been a list maker for years and I tend to number the items on my list, I do the first thing first and so on. I focus on one thing at a time, I can't do yoga and think about my laundry or meditate and think about yoga, when I finish that item I move to the next. I place all my energy into the activity I am doing right now. If I make a list that is a bit over zealous and don't get it all done I put it on tomorrows list. If it becomes a top priority (because I have postponed it too long) it moves to the top of the list. It all gets done eventually but my fundamentals, my top priorities get accomplished without fail, because I TAKE the time to do them because they are at the top of my list, everyday!.

You're never going to make more time, ever.... So, set your priorities, rank them, schedule them and take the time because it is important to YOU. It doesn't matter what it is or who's watching just do it for yourself. You may be sorry it if you don't, but I can almost guarantee that you will never regret it when you TAKE  the time to make yourself your top priority.