tiring or inspiring?

      Kris Carr, the crazy sexy cancer guru who I heard at last week-end's Hay House I-Can-Do-It conference, proposed a very easy way to tap into your intuition about a situation or an activity or your job you are not sure about.  She suggested to ask yourself whether it tires or inspires you.

            Emotions and feelings are easy and sure indicators on where you stand with things although they are not well understood.  It seems we don't quite now what to do with them.  Wouldn't life be easier if we didn't have any emotions?  Guys used to be raised that way - be tough, don't show your pain, just forget her, there'll be others.  So we tend to ignore our feelings, bury them, or criticize ourselves for having them.  But cell biologist Bruce Lipton assured us during that same conference last week-end that "feelings are a more accurate description of life than thoughts."

            That means that we can use them as indicators, they provide us with valuable information.  Do you love being at your job and doing whatever it is that you do?  Are you challenged, appreciated and energized?  Or do you feel tired and drained at the end of the day wishing for a different way to earn your daily bread?  Does your partner in crime inspire you, lift your spirits, and show his appreciation for who you are?  Or not so much?  Do you love to go to the gym and derive great energy from it?  Or do you dread going to the gym because you do it out of a sense of obligation?   Nancy Levin wrote in one of her poems "...it's a sign of healing to be feeling..."  Feelings are very practical road signs to help you navigate your life.

savory over sweet

I used to buy several 5lb jars of honey every few months, and get quart containers of maple syrup a few times a year.  I also bought lots of organic evaporated cane juice aka sugar for all the baking we did.  We bought organic fruit juices, raisins and dried sweetened cranberries.

            But organic or not, I fooled myself a bit.  Organic or not, it was still all sugary.  The calories wasted on sugar were being diverted from much more nutritious options like vegetables (lots of those!), nuts and good quality fats.  In addition, sugars (and starches because they break down into sugar quickly) acidify the body and can lead to diabetes, heart problems, various inflammatory afflictions, as well as cancer, especially in combination with starches (white flour and pasta, bread and starchy veggies), too much meat and processed foods.

            My husband naturally lost about 15lbs when we began to cut sugar and starch out of our diet a few months ago, and I am able to close pants whose top button I used to have to leave open.  Our taste buds readjusted quite quickly and I find mildly sweet foods sweet enough and overly sweet foods cloying.  I have taken to making all kinds of different vegetable pastes as snacks to eat on raw veggies like red peppers, carrots, zucchini or celery.  Nuts are a great nutritious snack as well.

            Every body and digestive system has different tolerances and weaknesses.  However, a lot of people report not only natural weight loss but also an energy gain when they cut out sugars and starches. 

growing deep roots

             After Hurricane Sandy a few years ago a neighboring property with a lot of conifers looked like a disaster zone because many of them had toppled over.  All the deciduous trees, however, stood tall and unharmed.  Conifers have shallow roots and are easily uprooted, while deciduous trees grow a deep and extensive root system that anchors them firmly in the ground.

            Being grounded like a tree with deep roots helps to stay emotionally neutral when faced with a difficult or crisis situation.   The leaves may sway in the wind, but the tree won't topple over.  Instead of making a rash ungrounded decision you might regret later, or being confused about what to do, being grounded helps to keep a clear head.

            A regular meditation practice promotes grounding; you might visualize growing roots from under your feet deep into the ground; deep breathing (when we're in crisis mode we tend to forget to breathe deeply and don't get enough oxygen to the brain); walking, especially barefoot, and in nature, and dancing, sports in general, as a matter of fact, are grounding; gardening and working with the soil is literally a grounding activity; and any other activity that fortifies the root chakra, the chakra of basic needs and security.  Red is the color of the root chakra.  It's my favorite color.  Wearing it or surrounding yourself with it strengthens this first chakra.

gotta get out

         When I stay around my home base too long I notice that my ideas and thoughts become a bit stale, creativity wanes and I tend to think along self established lines.   Whether you do the same comfortable job for a bunch of years, don't get out much, forget to invite people over from time to time, we all tend to get a bit stuck periodically.  So we all need inspiration from outside, fresh blood so-to-speak.  Travelling is a great way to see something completely different if you challenge yourself and travel outside of your comfort zone.  People can be a great inspiration and their ideas can give you a jolt out of whatever thinking modality you may be stuck in, whether in the simple form of socializing or in the more formal form of attending a workshop or conference.  Nature is a wonderful teacher, and animals can be as well - walking the Appalachian Trail or swimming with the dolphins for extremes.

            I make it a point to attend at least one inspirational conference each year so I can bring fresh ideas to my blog and book-in-the-making.  Two falls ago I attended Omega Institute's Sustainability Conference, last fall I went to Local Future's Voice of Hope in a Time of Crisis conference.  I am looking forward to his coming week-end's Hay House I Can Do it! conference.  What are you doing to dust off your mind?

busybusybusy

It's the American mantra.  "How are you?  I'm busy."  Many people believe that if they do not profess to be busy they are perceived as slackers.  That is cultural pressure.  The Japanese have had to ease up on that pressure in recent years as well after a growing pattern of suicides and heart attacks among middle-aged men who were simply done and couldn't give any more.

            A counter stream is now weaving itself into this workaholic culture of the American dreamer who must work hard to achieve a better lot in life than his or her parents.  Many younger people want more family time, whether in the form of paternity leave, longer maternity leave than the standard skimpy six weeks, half days on Fridays, working four longer days earning them a three-day week-end, more vacation time than the "standard two weeks" (so you forego your family vacation because you had a sick child???), working from home, and a clearly defined work schedule that doesn't stretch into the wee hours or includes responding to work emails and texts 24/7.

            Makes sense, it's a quality of life matter.  You and I are more than our profession (although it's always good to earn a living doing something you enjoy).  Family time, cultural time, friends time, sports and activities time - so many fun things to do besides work.  From all I have been reading, more and more employers on this side of the Atlantic get the message and are slowly beginning to inch a bit closer to the European model.  Acknowledge and voice your needs.

what makes me happy

Here are some of the things that make me content and happy: a sense of inner peace; feeling safe and protected; a sense of abundance and the knowledge that I have all I need; friendship and togetherness (very very important) and being part of a network; giving and experiencing kindness; self-realization or expressing myself through what I do and what and who I surround myself with; giving and sharing; being appreciated and respected by others; when those around me are well and content. Things that don't contribute to my happiness: A new car seems pretty irrelevant to my happiness (mine is pretty beat up and not very new and is a fine means of transporting stuff and people around the way it is); expensive jewelry (wouldn't want to worry about it, bling is just as pretty); expensive name brands (waste of money, only feeds luxury corporations, the actual value of such items is probably 10% of what they cost).

Sure, if I won the lottery I'd go on safari in Africa. But I am perfectly happy not going on safari in Africa. Money can buy basic creature comforts but not happiness. I wonder what makes you happy?

diet, exercise and wellbeing

For a while there it seems that Coca Cola had us duped into believing that exercise, more so than diet, is the most important factor for weight loss and wellbeing. The Coca Cola Company gave almost $3 million to the American Academy of Pediatrics over the past three years, as the NY Times reported yesterday in a spill-it-all article, in addition to infiltrating many small community organizations with their web of donations and sponsorships, and having "bought" dieticians and scientists. Talk about covert and not-so covert manipulation and unscientific science.             The bottom line is this: diet is tantamount to a healthy body, more so than exercise. You cannot make up for poor food and drink choices by exercising more, believing in exercise alone as a ticket to a healthy body. It is much more important to clean up your diet, learn to shop and cook, and to make healthy food and drink choices. Once you've got that down pat exercise is a complementary component for sure, keeping in mind that every body - or everybody - thrives on a different type of exercise and on different weekly amounts. A gentle and automatic weight adjustment and an increase in energy and wellbeing naturally follow a switch to a wholesome diet.