Spring Wellness

We're right in the middle of spring and this is the perfect time to check in with yourself and see how you're doing with your New Year's Resolutions or goals for 2012. 

How is your overall wellness? Are you drinking enough water? Are you active every day? How are your personal relationships? Are you happy with your present career/job? While you're taking stock of your current situation, remember to be gentle with yourself. It's possible that you've been neglecting some of your initial intentions for the year. Or, maybe you're kicking some serious ass and checking things off of your year-long to do list. Either way, it's ok. You're ok. Find areas to make improvements and just go for it, with confidence in yourself and your ability to achieve whatever it is that you want to do.

While you're doing all of this, don't forget to notice the positive! 

I'm sure you're doing something right, somewhere in your life. Maybe you are going to bed a little earlier at night, maybe you've started meditating or praying more often. Maybe you joined a gym, are taking yoga classes or are eating home cooked meals more often. Whatever you're doing, be grateful for yourself and the progress you are making. The best and most long lasting progress takes time and patience. Anyone can clear out their cupboards and restock them with organic whole foods overnight, but if you aren't truly prepared to change your eating habits, then the next time you run to the store, you just may begin buying that same chemically processed junk food you cleared out not that long ago. Have faith in yourself and trust that you're exactly where you're supposed to be in this moment. Continue making progress in the direction of your dreams and goals, but be kind to yourself as well. The more loving and supportive you are of and towards yourself, the more likely your progress will stick.

Since Spring is associated with rebirth and new beginnings, this is a great time for a cleanse, as well. This can be as complex as an all juice diet, complete with colon cleansing or as simple as eliminating sugar or caffeine from your diet for a few days. You get to decide how intense, how long and exactly what your cleanse will be. Another idea would be to eliminate watching television or checking in with Facebook for a day (or a week..). Listen to your inner guide and let it tell you what you have too much of right now....cleansing feels wonderful and can put things into proper perspective, too. 

So, I hope you're enjoying this Spring, and that you're feeling pretty fantastic about your wellness....feel free to leave a comment below about how you're doing so far in 2012.

Have a great week!!

Juicing

If you're looking for a way to spruce up your health and get a whole bunch of nutrients and vitamins into your body there's a really cool solution...

Juicing.

About 6 months ago, I stumbled upon an amazing and inspiring documentary and it really got me pumped for juicing:

'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead' by Joe Cross. 

Quick synopsis:

An Australian man is sick with a disorder that causes him to break out in hives at random times-nothing in particular triggers his reactions, so he can't just avoid certain irritants. Instead, he has to take prescribed steroids, which have a host of side affects. He seeks all kinds of medical advice, all to no avail. Through his research and seeking for an answer, he discovers the concept of rebooting his body and immune system with a juice cleanse...he cuts out all foods for sixty days and drinks fruit and vegetable juices that he makes himself with a juicer. He travels throughout the U.S. to spread the word about what he's doing and what his hopes are for the outcome of his experiment. He meets and inspires some great people along the way...the documentary also features the story of a man named Phil Staples that Joe meets during his trip through the U.S. They have the same disorder and swap notes on how awful and painful it can be. Joe offers to help Phil on his path to better health, and that's when things get really good....

I don't want to give away any more, I just highly recommend it. It's truly inspiring and I tear up every time I watch it. (It's available instantly on Netflix).


I did a juice cleanse at the beginning of this year and I made it 12 days. It was really difficult some days, but I felt absolutely amazing. I was energized, my skin was glowing and healthy, I was in a great mood, I felt FULL after juicing (which was definitely surprising), oh, and as a nice bonus, I lost (and have kept off) 20 pounds. Amazing stuff.




Juicing allows your body to quickly absorb a ton of nutrients and vitamins that your body so desperately needs and quite possibly doesn't get....our Standard American Diet just doesn't allow for it. Maybe you have a healthy diet, and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables already, but it's quite possible that you're still not getting everything that you need....(I'll go into the poor growing conditions that most of our produce is produced from in a later post). By ingesting the nutrients in a liquid form, it allows your body to detox and heal more efficiently because it's saving energy by not having to digest solid food. This is especially helpful if your diet usually consists of processed foods and lots of meat and dairy. It gives your body a much needed break. Juicing also lets your body get back to the basics and reboot itself so it can handle all of the bad stuff it's supposed to be able to fight off (and avoid)....i.e...most colds and infections, high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes, even cancer. If the cells in your body are healthy and at their best, they have the ability to keep you healthy. I'm not claiming that if you juice, you get a free pass through life, without any possible health issues at all...however, I am saying that you really might want to consider giving your body every bit of protection possible, and one step in doing this is providing proper nutrition for it, and juicing can be a major contributor-one that's pretty easy and tastes great, too.


I plan to do a juice cleanse seasonally, 4 times a year. I encourage everyone to check it out, and if you have any questions that I may be able to help you with, or if you need a little support along the way, feel free to contact me here or email me at:

bebalancedandwell@yahoo.com

Have a great week and I hope this opens up a new topic to you and possibly inspires you to take a step in the direction of better health, wherever your health may be right now. 




Also, check out these links for more information......


http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

http://myjuicecleanse.com/juicer-recipes/mean-green-juice-recipes/

http://www.juicer-guru.com/

Morning and Evening Routines

I absolutely love taking a little bit of time for myself every day. It's refreshing, and allows me to recharge and then I'm also able to give more to those I care about and work with. Having a nice morning routine, and a nice evening or bedtime routine allows me to begin and end each day on a positive, relaxing note. Here are a few things that I like to do...

In the Morning.....

I set my alarm for 6am.....no one else is awake yet, and I usually get 30-60 minutes all to myself. During this time, I go into the kitchen and drink a big glass of water. I refill my glass of water, bring it into the living room, light my meditation candle and set the timer on my phone so that I get a solid 15-30 minutes of meditating. At this point I'm already feeling pretty awesome. I get up and go back into the kitchen and make myself a nice hot cup of organic Chai tea and then open my laptop and read some positive and uplifting emails that I get in my inbox everyday. My favorite is The Daily Love by Mastin Kipp. I highly, highly recommend it. Mastin blogs everyday (7 days a week!) about an interesting and relevant topic regarding self growth, and he also features 3 other blogs by other amazing people within his blog. It's truly uplifting and it always speaks to me....about this time my family is starting to wake up, so my morning routine is all over, but I'm ready to take care of everyone because I've taken this time for myself. (This is also a great time to practice a little yoga, play Just Dance on your Wii or go for a walk and breathe in some fresh morning air and watch the sun rise).

In the Evening....














I think it's incredibly important to get a good amount of sleep every night. 7-9 hours is recommended for adults, and I say, find what works best for you. Now, in order to set yourself up for a good night's rest, you need to do a few things beforehand. Like, turn off your TV, computer and phone.....I know, I know, it's really hard. A lot of people like to watch TV right before going to sleep and myself, I like to play with my  phone...I'm completely addicted to Draw Something and StumbleUpon. I also downloaded an app that plays relaxing music and shows an image of a fire burning, or a beach with waves crashing in, or I could choose from many other soothing scenes. However, the big problem with all of these things: the TV, computer, and phone is that the light that they emit prevents you from producing those happy sleep hormones and you will not fall asleep and stay asleep like your body needs you to. So, unplug everything an hour before you want to go to sleep. And instead of filling that time with staying connected to the virtual world that we're all so plugged in to during the day, meditate, take a warm bath or shower, read a nice, easy to read book, snuggle with your partner, have a hot cup of sleepytime tea and gaze at the stars out of your bedroom window, or, another one of my favorite me-time activities-write in your journal. Maybe a gratitude list-jot down some things that made your day super awesome....even if you had a rough day, you can write about that. Cleanse your mind from the things that may keep you awake.

Leave a comment below about what you do to help yourself in the morning or evening....I love getting new ideas....and you just may help someone else figure out what will work for them....have a great week!!!