Why I Love … Journaling

January 19, 2011 by

This guest post is by Maria Walters of Rejournaling Me.

It was August or September, 1999, when I finally realized that then next year was going to be The Year Two Thousand. Being twelve, I loved being involved in anything that I felt like was “making history,” and my anticipation for the New Year rose with the media hype.

At that time I was also avidly collecting novels in the Dear America series, which told the stories of girls growing up at different points in American history. If you couldn’t tell by the name, the novels were in diary form—but they were fiction, a fact that seemed unfortunate in my eyes.

So, on the precipice of what I knew was going to be a new, amazing time in history, I decided that the journal of a real, live, almost-teenage girl would be absolutely fascinating to historians and readers everywhere. And thus, my new year’s resolution was born: to journal every night, to create something that would last for millennia to come.

Yes, a little melodramatic, perhaps, but isn’t that how all dreams seem when you’re twelve? Maybe that’s been a secret of my success: more than eleven years later, I still roll over in bed right before I turn off my light and hand-write a page or two about my day.

Why I journal

Though I started journaling through a naive desire to be famous and make history, I’ve grown to appreciate it much more than that. My journals are my reference books for my life—I can remind myself how much I’ve grown, how far I’ve come, or just how my handwriting has changed by simply flipping through the pages.

My journal is somewhere where I can think out loud and say things without worrying who is reading or how ridiculous my dreams are. I can rant, be frustrated, and think through issues without picking a fight with anyone. And, most of all, I can review my day, even in its dullness, and reflect on what has been good or bad.

Looking back, my journal won’t be the most interesting read for most people—I include plenty of monotonous details about the schedule of my day without being able to encapsulate the funny moments, the tears shed, or the characters of people around me who make life worth living. But I treasure the ability to look back on “normal” days in my life that are completely different than today’s “normal” day.

Start your own journal

The combination of foreignness and familiarity is probably the reason people are often fascinated by the fact that I journal. Often, they mention wishing they had the same habit, or asking how I’ve kept going. Well, there are certainly things (like my spelling!) that I could have improved back in 1999, but here are a couple of things I think helped me keep writing.

Take a head start

I actually started journaling on December 21, 1999, ten days before Y2K. I could be a pretty cautious girl who didn’t like failure, so I decided to test out my new year’s resolution before deciding to make it. That way, if I decided it wasn’t working or wasn’t worth it, I could just not make the resolution, instead of failing right out of the gate. Playing with logic in that way still works for me—I will often start a practice before deciding to commit to it long-term.

Use something beautiful

I remember the process of elimination at the bookstore when I was looking for my new journal—weighing one book in my hand, then another, scrutinizing each carefully. And then I felt it—a slim book, with a satiny smooth, lightly padded cover, covered with an image of a Monet or other impressionistic painting. Since then, I’ve picked out at least three or four journals each year—and I still look for one that looks beautiful and feels right.

Do it every day

I took my journal on two or three sleepovers within the first month of starting it. I’ve written in the light of a flashlight, a closet, in the hallway or bathroom, surrounded by people or alone. I even remember staying up later than I was supposed to, lying on my bedroom floor and writing by the hall light coming in under the door. It was only five or ten minutes, but I found a time for it, every day.

And, yes, I have missed a day or two at a time, but I don’t think about my habit as being “writing almost every day,” because suddenly every day becomes the “almost” part instead of the “every day” part. Writing every day makes me look for ways past the excuses instead of looking for the excuses not to write.

Expect to be boring

As I mentioned before, the way I journal helps me to think back through the day, writing down what I did, who I was with, and sometimes it reads more like a calendar than a novel. Some days I have plenty of emotions to spill or thoughts to think, and I can go on for pages. But when I write, I don’t worry about what I’m going to say, having the perfect phrasing, or any other performance anxiety—I just write something down and know that whether it’s fascinating or boring, I’ll write again tomorrow.

I may not be as famous as 12-year-old me might have hoped, but I have lived through a new, amazing time in history. Now I have a chance to look back and acknowledge it, and I have plenty more new, amazing times to look forward to documenting—which is my hope for you, too, that you have a chance to reflect on what was good and hard, and look forward to it.

What about you? Do you keep a journal? Or do you have some other way to process what happens each day?

Maria shares her old journal entries, 11 years later, at her blog, Rejournaling Me.

3 Ways Not to Look Like an Idiot at the Gym

January 16, 2011 by

Growing up, I was always the “Fat Kid.” When I graduated from High School, I weighed over 400lbs. Then, a couple years ago I decided to take control of my health. Through a combination of low-fat vegetarianism and regular exercise, I lost 175lbs. No surgery, just lifestyle changes.

I’m a professional magician and I wanted to look good on stage. The effect on my appearance was dramatic. Check out these before and after pictures.

Before...

After!

Naturally, I get a lot of questions about this. One thing I hear regularly is, “I don’t like going to the gym! I feel like an idiot!”

If you’re not used to working out, your local gym can be an intimidating place. If you’re really that afraid of looking like an idiot, here’s a handy guide to help you out.

Don’t obsess over how you look

The regulars are there for precisely one purpose: to get a workout in. Most of us have lives outside of the gym and would like to get on with them. Don’t let the movies fool you—there’s nobody on the planet that looks sexy while getting a workout.

I’m not saying you should look like a bum, but every January you’d be forgiven for thinking your gym was a fashion runway instead of a gym. People walk around with matching shoes, shorts, tops, hair ties, and ear buds. Even their iPods match their outfits! It’s not just the ladies that do this. Guys do it too.

Oh, and do you wear makeup? Keep in mind that you’re showing up to sweat! I don’t care if you look like the grim reaper without it. It’s just not practical.

See the buff guy over in the corner with the clean-but-well-used shirt and worn sneakers? I can almost guarantee you he’s a regular.

Be considerate to others

You’re in a room with dozens of other people. This isn’t your living room, so be considerate.

Gym etiquette isn’t rocket science. Nobody wants to work out on a machine that’s covered in your sweat. Wipe it down when you’re done.

I know you’ll take a shower after your workout, but if you stink, please wash up before hitting the gym floor. Your stench will waft through the building until some poor soul (probably me) passes out from it and flies off the treadmill.

If you see a friend and want to have a chat, please talk off to the side—don’t do it while you’re on the equipment. If the gym is busy, chances are there’s a line of people behind you who are getting wicked irritated.

Guys, just because we all change together in the locker room doesn’t mean I want to see your junk. Have some modesty and wear a towel. (I assume the ladies have similar modesty issues, but since I haven’t had the privilege of hanging out in the women’s locker room I don’t know for sure…)

Get some training on the equipment you’re about to use

Most gyms will give you a one-time tutorial without making you pay for personal training. Even if they don’t, do whatever it takes to make sure you know what you’re doing. If you don’t bother, the best case scenario is you’ll look like an idiot. The worst case scenario is that you’ll injure yourself.

I’ll never forget the time I saw a guy just start whomping on a punching bag Jackie-Chan style. He threw out his shoulder and got hauled out in an ambulance. Good times!

If you’re serious about getting fit, you’re going to spend a lot of time working at it. At least take the time to learn how to do it right.

The one thing you shouldn’t worry about…

…is your actual fitness level. Most people have this pre-conceived notion that the gym is filled with beautiful people with perfect bodies. This just isn’t true. The matching-earbud brigade comes the closest, but for the most part there are people of all shapes and sizes there. Every gym has a jerk or two, but everyone else is just trying to live a healthy lifestyle.

Even if you’re really out of shape like I was, don’t worry about it. Many folks are actually silently supportive. I didn’t realize this until a few months had passed and I had shed some of the weight. I started getting a lot of comments along the lines of:

“Hey! I see you here every day… I’m seeing the results! I’m really happy for you, keep up the good work!”

Bottom line? You don’t need to obsess over your appearance or have the perfect body. Just be yourself and be courteous to others. You’ll discover the gym isn’t scary at all, and who knows? You might even find you like it!

Matthew Jones is one of the professional Ohio magicians at Shizzle Dizzle Magic. They provide clean comedy magic for corporate events, festivals, and anti-bullying school assemblies! Check out their blog for more details!

How to Keep that New-Year Feeling All Year Long

January 15, 2011 by

This post is by Dr. Peter J. Meyers of 30GO30.

If you’re a plan junkie like me, New Year’s Day is your High Holy Holiday. There’s nothing quite as liberating as thinking ahead to an entire year of possibilities. Unfortunately, most of us hit January 1st running strong, only to be tripped up by the first obstacle in our path. I’d like to offer a few tips for keeping that New-Year feeling year-round.

Copyright 2009 by Kutay Tanir.

Plan on the obstacles

I know it’s not sexy to plan for setbacks, but it’s essential. It’s easy to hit the gym during your time off, but if that exercise plan falls apart the day you have to go back to work, then what’s the point? You know you’re going back to work. You know that the holiday won’t last forever. Make sure your plans fit your real life.

Work out the details

If your goal is to “get in shape,” don’t just write it on a piece of paper and then watch all the Rocky movies back-to-back. Equip yourself with what you’ll need when January 1st comes. Do you need a gym membership? Do you need some equipment for home or a workout DVD? Are your running shorts in a condition that might get you arrested for indecency?

Figure it out in advance. If your planning is nothing but heady dreams of world domination, and you save the hard stuff for the new year, your plan will fall apart before it even begins. Don’t just make a resolution – resolve yourself to a specific, actionable plan.

Think day by day

It’s easy to make big plans and bask in the glory of what might be, but how do your big plans translate into day-by-day activities? What will you do, specifically, on February 17th or June 3rd? If your New Year’s resolution is to write a novel, you’re probably not going to just think really hard for 364 days and then spew out 400 pages on December 31st. How does that novel translate into pages and words on a daily basis? Are you going to write every day, or just five or six days each week?

If you ask these questions ahead of time and really know how your aspirations translate into action, you’ve got a great shot at succeeding. If you don’t, you may be writing a fairy tale.

Make planning a habit

Sometimes, we get carried away with New Year’s resolutions. The problem is, we’ve essentially picked only one day per year to plan the most important aspects of our lives. We plan every day for the minutiae of our lives, but somehow the really big, important goals get relegated to a December 31st motivational binge.

Set aside time every week to plan. Make it the same time, and really build a planning habit. Your big goals deserve that much. Of course, this means asking the tough questions every week, too. Is this the right direction? Do you have what you need to make it happen? If you set aside the time to evaluate and plan, you may change direction, but you’re much more likely to reach at least one of your destinations.

Dr. Peter J. Meyers (“Dr. Pete”) is a cognitive psychologist, accidental entrepreneur, and aspiring non-procrastinator. He recently founded 30GO30, a site dedicated to finding out exactly how much you can accomplish in 30 days.

Feel Good Online? Feel Great Offline!

January 13, 2011 by

This guest post is by Jane Sheeba of Find All Answers.

I had to go offline for a week. I packed up my stuff. I scheduled blog posts for those days I’d be away. I packed a couple of books I’d purchased, knowing that it would be really hard for me to stay offline. I couldn’t check mails, there’d be no tweets or buzzing… Life is tough that way, I thought.

When I came back, I realized a great difference in myself: I felt a lot better and recharged. I’m not claiming that being offline is the ideal state for well being. But I certainly recommend offline periods for everyone at some frequency. Let me tell you the goodness I experienced.

My eyes

My eyes thanked me for the break. My everyday routine includes a lot of sitting in front of the laptop. I sit in front of a Linux computer at work (I work full time as a Research Scientist in the field of Medical Physics), and at home is my Windows 7 laptop. I almost always look into a computer monitor, since I work on my blog at home.

When I was offline I no longer had eye balls that hurt. I went to bed before my vision got blurry. My eyes did not scream out to me, asking me to blink. I felt that I have done good justice to my eyes, and I could do more in less time in front of the computer when I was offline, since I had a better vision.

The time I spent with my family and people

Being offline was like being without any perturbations from outside. While at home, I have all email notifiers turned on. I’ll be away from my laptop to clean my house or to put clothes in the washer, when I hear a ‘bing’ (the alert sound when a chat message or a email comes in). I briefly come to the laptop to see if it’s something important. I have wireless enabled and my android phone is on the Web. Even if I go to bedroom, I can’t avoid the ‘bing’. Or I go to the kitchen and boom—an idea pops into my head. I either rush to my laptop or pick up my phone to type it out online (I want my drafts to be in sync wherever I go).

I spend about 15% of my time with my family when I have Internet access at home. But when I was away I spent about 80% of my time with my family, relatives, and friends. I spent a lot of that talking to people face to face and I felt it a lot more realistic and refreshing compared to online socializing.

My back

Sitting in front of a computer for hours at a time is a curse. It takes a lot of practice to learn and implement the correct ergonomic postures. Even if most of us know the correct postures, we don’t take care to stick to them after some time, once we are working with full concentration. We cannot stop our body from changing postures. As we become more and more involved in our work, we take rather bad postures, doing harm to our back and neck.

Well, I am all saying ‘we’; even though I don’t know about all of you, I know this happens with most people.

I felt a lot firm and straight during the week when I was offline. I did not sit in my chair and lean forward. Actually I did not sit in a chair for the most part. I did a lot of walking and moving around, and my back felt so fresh. I never felt the ache that usually occurs at about bed time.

My productivity

I actually thought that since I was going offline I would kill a lot of my productive time. I worried if I could ever catch up at all with all the pending work that would have piled up on my return. To my surprise, the offline time was actually a productive break. I got super-productive and wrote an ebook in 4 days.

Surprisingly, I wrote this ebook in less than 20% of the time (I spent about 80% of the time on socializing, as I said earlier!). 20% of the time is far very little compared to the time I’d usually take, while online, to get this work done. I achieved something that would take about 15 to 20 days if I chose to do it on those days when I’m always online. The problem is the routine online stuff that distracts me from writing the ebook.

The other online things are not literally distractions—they’re other things that are either equally or more important than writing the ebook, but still they divert me from my writing (or what I am into, generally).

I am not saying that I am totally disorganized when I am online. Not at all! I do all my research and blogging work while being online. I have had no problems with my personal organization and productivity. But being online at least sets two expectations within me:

1. Sync with all servers (emails, drafts, and so on) or get updated.

2. Be alert not to get into online distractions. The very awareness to not get distracted while being online creates restlessness. I’m sure you’ve experienced this yourself.

My humble suggestion: take yourself offline once in a while and you’ll feel a great difference. Your body and mind will receive a great treat if you do so, and so will your productivity.

Jane writes on Blogging Tips, Relationships and Self Improvement at Find All Answers. She has a free ebook for you to grab.

Why I Love … Running

January 12, 2011 by

This post is by Kate Freeman of Kate Freeman Nutrition.

Exercise, to me, is like a drug … well, from what I know about drugs, because I’ve never actually used them. But from what I’ve heard, engaging in vigorous physical activity gives me a similar rush.

Now, I hate putting on my runners and walking out the door but I love the feeling I get at the end of the training session—this amazingly worn out feeling, though I’m energized and alive all at the same time. Exercise makes me view my body more positively, gives me a better perspective on challenging areas of my life, and is the best stress relief technique I’ve ever come across.

It hasn’t always been this way. I use to be a fad exerciser. I’d do something for a couple of weeks until the novelty wore off, and then I’d go back to being lazy again. I took for granted that I was a healthy weight, had healthy bones, muscles and joints, and had a body that seemed to function perfectly.

Then I got pregnant.

By the end of my second pregnancy it had been over two years since I’d engaged in regular physical activity. I had been a bit sporadic—maybe a walk here and a Wii Fit session there—but nothing consistent. Nine months of morning sickness for both pregnancies had left me tired, depleted, and terribly unfit, not to mention hemorrhaging with my first labor, which left me borderline anemic.

The first time I actually did anything more than a walk left me breathless and feeling like passing out after about ten seconds.

Where was my fitness, my stamina, my motivation? It was all gone. My body was way below par and my fitness destination seemed too far from where I was to even begin the path of restoration. My once healthy weight felt like it could balloon at any second. I had to do something.

One thing, only a little thing, was enough to kick start me into action. Here’s the story.

I was eight months pregnant with my second child, and I remember groaning as I pulled myself off the lounge. Every part of me ached. My feet felt like they were burning, I half choked on the acid reflux that came up my throat as my uterus crushed my poor little stomach that felt like it was already in my armpit. My hips were shooting with pain when I made any kind of quick movement, and my poor neck said, “If you vomit one more time, I’m going to pack it in.” Well it didn’t really say that, but I’m sure if it could talk, it would have.

I used to watch this Coca-Cola ad on TV with these perfect, skinny girls running and jumping around, all happy and energetic. I’d go green with envy as my whale of a body, could barely get itself out of bed in the morning.

How I wished I could be like those girls: energetic and carefree. How I wished to have my pre-pregnant body back. If I did, I wouldn’t take it for granted this time. I would look after it, be a regular exerciser, put good food into its tummy and keep it healthy.

That day I made a vow to myself—a promise that I would forever keep. When this baby was out, the exercise was on! It seemed I hadn’t realized what I had until I’d lost it. An unwell pregnancy had made me very grateful for the healthy, functioning body I had before my babies—especially when I realized there were people out there in far more difficulty than I was in.

Three weeks later I held my little baby boy in my arms and revelled in immediate relief from my horrifying pregnancy hormones. No more vomiting, no more reflux, no more hip, neck, back, foot, or body pain. I was back.

After waiting the customary six weeks, and catching up on much-needed sleep, I got the all-clear from the doctor and I was back in business. My vow was still very much in the forefront of my mind. So thankful was I to not be pregnant that I didn’t want to waste a minute. On went the joggers, a new fitness outfit (purple and black, to match my shoes), and my favorite music tracks.

Two minutes into jogging, I felt like I was going to die.

I could have given up then. It all seemed too much, and I was never going to get my fitness back. But my vow came back to me. All I could hear was my own words in the back of my mind, “You promised yourself, Kate. You remember what it was like to not be able to exercise. Now you can, so don’t miss your chance”.

The next day I gave it another shot, and I got a little bit further. Every time I wanted to give up I remembered my vow, and I remember the feeling of having the opportunity to move my body taken away. The next day I tried again.

My son is now ten months old. I have been exercising consistently for about eight months now. I can interval walk/run 10kms with my jogger pram and have lost 7kg. And I feel great. I’m so happy with my body, I feel confident in the bedroom with my husband, and I have so much energy. I sleep like a log and a month ago I bought a $200 pair of jeans. They go right on—no fuss, no muffin top, just nice.

Don’t get me wrong: there were a couple of highly stressful events during that time when the exercise stopped for a week or two, but the promise, still echoing in my head, made me get right back into it again. I’m not a fad exerciser any more. I’m a consistent exerciser—and that’s the key.

I became a runner because it doesn’t cost me anything, I can take my kids (I have an amazing twin jogger stroller), I can work as hard or as easy as I like, I can go when I like, and it gave me my fitness back. I could start out slow—just a couple of minutes at first—and then build up more and more endurance. I didn’t have to spend heaps of money on equipment or gear, either.

I’m a runner because it taught me patience, endurance and perseverance.

If you have lost your fitness, or maybe you never had it and think it’s all too hard—don’t give up. If I can do it, so can you.

Editor’s Note: Want to tell us what you love—and why—in a post for FeelGooder? Submit your ideas to us!

Kate Freeman is extremely passionate about providing honest, simple nutrition advice and doing it in such a way that inspires and motivates people to make positive lifestyle changes to achieve their health and nutritional goals. She is married with 2 children and lives in New South Wales, Australia.

9 Ways in Which Yoga Changed My Life … And Could Change Yours

January 11, 2011 by

This post is by Claudia Azula Altucher of Claudiayoga.com.

I started practicing yoga because I wanted to look good and feel good. I also wanted to meet men. Through my early practice days I saw that advanced students seemed peaceful, elegant, centered, and almost otherworldly. Little did I know at the time that those were merely projections. Yogis are people, and just like with other people, you can find all kinds.

The promise of what I thought I saw in these practitioners was enough to get me started anyway, and I am glad I did. Yoga brought into my life not just all of the things I initially believed I wanted, but much more. It made me more flexible in body, yes, but it also pointed out other areas of life in which I could bend or stretch more.

Here are some examples of where the practice had a life-changing effect for me.

1. Lifting me from depression

Yoga entered my life and lifted depression away, literally. I’d been on medication from 2003 until 2006, and through the daily practice and everything that happened as a consequence (having a teacher care for me, going to workshops, meeting people, going to brunches with other yogis, learning about yogic principles, and so on), I was able to stop taking drugs.

It didn’t happen overnight—not at all. It took a few years and a lot of trust, but it happened. These days the daily practice of yoga and meditation is so ingrained in my daily activities that I can clearly see how not having it could produce a void that, especially in winter months, could send me singing the blues.

For example, when I took my very first yoga retreat at the end of 2003 in northern British Columbia, I was for the first time aware that one can live life dedicating every action to a higher power, however way we understand that. During that retreat they had us wash lettuce as a dedication, make the bed with total awareness, and stop and pray on the hour, every hour.

Integrating an attitude of devotion, remembering how blessed I was to have food to eat, the possibility of a retreat, and a healthy body, helped me to slowly put things in perspective, and to come into health.

2. Changing the body

The very first way in which yoga showed herself in my life was through my body. I started practicing Ashtanga yoga, which is a set routine practiced every day in the morning, six times a week. What I liked about this particular style is that the student practices on his or her own and poses are added one at the time.

In the beginning the practice was short as I concentrated on learning the poses in the sequence, and the sweating was profuse. I practiced half in a studio and half at home (with a DVD), and within a short period of time of no more than six months I started to notice new muscles in my body, feel more energy, have better posture, and release weight.

Not all styles of yoga are intense like the one I practice, but most classes these days include a comprehensive workout for the whole body. They include backbends, which help with spine flexibility; twists, which help with toxic release and weight loss; inversions, which help us see things differently; and standing routines that build stamina.

Throughout the daily practice of yoga poses, my body began to learn new and change old habits. For example, eating after 7 PM was not an option when I knew I would be attempting a deep twist the following morning.

3. Learning to stop reacting

Practicing yoga asana (poses) every day is perhaps one of the strongest mirrors we can put in front of ourselves. For example, facing a deep twist like Marichasana C is a colossal event.

Marichasana C (author's image)

As we learn it, every single cell in the body seems to scream “no” in resistance. Having a teacher direct us to go deeper into the pose and keep breathing is a major exercise, one with profound consequences in real life. What happens when we are able to stay in a pose like this while still breathing and remaining equanimous is akin to a triumph of epic proportions.

We can see the positive effect of that equanimity later on, as we step off the mat. For me it became very clear at work, where I would attend a meeting and go through the usual tensions that spark in such settings. Yet I’d have a moment before reacting—a small silence, a breathing pause—where I would stay with the feeling before saying anything. Most of the time, if not all the time, situations had a way of resolving themselves before I even uttered a word, and all of this was just a consequence of a small silence, of a moment of staying present, quiet, and aware.

4. Finding true relationships

It never takes very long when one starts on the path to yoga to realize that the asana or poses are just the tip of the iceberg. In my own case this started to manifest in very practical ways, and before I even knew that there were ancient codes of behavior, breathing exercises or other limbs, or branches to yoga (there are eight).

Through learning about the new branches I realized that I had some ingrained habits that were no longer serving me. For instance, I was attracting men into my life that were not good for me, and were usually unavailable. Te truth is that this is not something that stopped at men, it was a trend within my life—there were other people around me who I thought of as my friends, but who clearly were not. Through reflection I became more aware of what I was doing not just to my body but also to my emotional being.

Changing a lifetime of habits is not something that happens overnight, and breaking that pattern was not something I did at the snap of my fingers—it was a process that started mostly with point three above. Having enough time before reacting or saying “yes” or “no” to something gave me a better opportunity to search for clarity, and to connect with my own inner wisdom. I continued to make wrong choices (I have to admit) but at least I knew that I was choosing the wrong thing. Whoever says that change is easy is probably not being entirely honest.

After I repeated the pattern of choosing the wrong path while completely aware that I was doing that a few times, it suddenly became clear that I could try something new. For example, I could give myself the chance of believing that I was worth loving. I learned to love and respect myself in this way, slowly but surely, and to re-think my circle of friends and intimate relationships. It paid off.

5. Becoming more efficient

Through a practice we learn to pay attention to the breath. This sounds like an unimportant part of our daily life, but as soon as yoga starts kicking in it becomes clearly the most important thing.

How much energy is used to lift up of a chair, to make a cup of tea, how many words we use in every sentence, how focused we are on the task at hand, it is all deeply connected to how we are breathing. Shallow and fast breathing leads to over talking, and to wasting “prana” or vital energy.

Becoming more and more aware of my breath was the doorway into efficiency within my own body. I started noticing all energies coming in and out, and also how often I was going to the bathroom, what I was eating, what I was talking about, and what I was reading.

By making better choices in all of this areas life became less burdened, I started giving away old clothes to charity and eventually, when I lost my job in 2009, I gave away pretty much everything I had. I became lighter, and determined to carry around only those things I really treasure and need. I became efficient.

6. Changing the spirit

The spiritual side for me manifested in trusting my own insight and intuition, and in listening—truly listening—to what I wanted to do, to the song my heart was singing. Through it I became more and more interested in writing, in reading about yoga, in teaching. Many other doors opened up by way of what I call Divine grace: I learned the powerful effect of mantras, I started paying attention to coincidences and chance encounters, and to follow the clues offered in the most trivial situations.

A challenge of stepping into this path is remaining grounded. When someone starts talking about mantras it is easy to dismiss and think that a person might have gone coo-coo. I would not blame anyone for thinking so; it’s always good to keep things in perspective. Good yoga encourages this, to find the connection with the wondrous spiritual world, yet keep the feet solidly grounded in reality, in feeding the children, and in doing the laundry.

7. Changing the mind

Patanjali is a sage who created a masterpiece called the “Yoga Sutras”—a little book of 196 sentences in which he explains the whole science of yoga, and which needs to be de-coded through a lifetime of study. In the book, only two of the 196 sutras are dedicated to asana or poses. All the rest deal with different issues, mostly related to controlling the mind.

The very first sutra “yoga chitta vritti nirodhah” means that yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind, meaning that yoga is becoming still, one-pointed, so centered that whatever we put our attention on we burn with the fire of intention and we can pretty much manifest anything we want. Funnily enough, apparently once one gains that power, one does not want anything. The paradoxes of spiritual advancement!

Learning to work with the mind transformed me by introducing daily meditation into my life—ten minutes, 20 minutes, or sometimes even 30. It took a while (in the beginning I never found the time or motivation), but these days I need it. Life seems meaningless and depraved of magic if I do not sit on the cushion and meditate.

When I was working in the corporate world in busy New York City, I used to take a walk every day at lunch time to a nearby meditation center and sit for the first half an hour of my time off. This conspired in my life to make me a lot more aware of my priorities, of where energy was being wasted, and gave me insight into how to proceed when in difficult situations.

Meditation is the branch of yoga that has brought the most amount of miracles in my life, perhaps the biggest one being that I now live and do work I love, for which I am very grateful.

8. Traveling

Maybe it’s our curiosity to discover traditions that have practiced yoga for a long time, or perhaps it is the fantastic nature of the stories we hear from people coming back from India that eventually makes us curious to travel to see Yoga in its place of origin.

There are many top yoga institutes in major Indian cities like New Dehli, Rishikesh, Chennai, and Mysore. I visited the latter in early 2008 and will be returning soon. For someone living in north America like me, the possibility of visiting Thailand with all its retreat centers and fasting and cleansing facilities became more than a treat. It was a dream, and eventually it happened. Through the grace of yoga I became a curious traveler.

Traveling has a strong effect in the life of the voyager: it opens our eyes, forces us to see things differently (people eat fried insects in some parts of the world), makes us adapt (no brushing your teeth with tap water in India), surprises us, and alchemizes us.

9. Going down the rabbit hole

Somehow this happens when we step on the yoga path: we say goodbye to our old preconceptions and begin to give ourselves the opportunity to look at everything that happens in a new way. We start thinking with new types of images, we dream new possibilities, we become kinder, we notice things, and we see things.

The yogic path is a rewarding way of living, a grounded way to connect with spirit, and a doorway into the magic that lives within us—even as we toss the spinach salad!

Claudia Azula Altucher has studied yoga for over a decade and all over the world including the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India, and at Centered Yoga in Thailand. She writes daily at Claudiayoga.com.

Feeling Lucky? The Positive Effect of Talismans

January 3, 2011 by

This guest post is by Christy Smith, of ThinkBlot Communications.

It found me last summer. I was doing a bit of window shopping, and there it was on the arm of a mannequin in the window: a simple, black, metal cuff that said “Be Extraordinary”. As I put it on my wrist, I felt something shift inside me. I didn’t even look at the price tag; I bought it on the spot because I knew it was meant for me.

For years I’ve been drawn to objects that carry a simple “Be” message: be inspired, be you, be generous. At the moment when I saw that bracelet, I wanted nothing more than to be extraordinary.

Looking back, when the bracelet came into my life, I was standing at a crossroads. Open before me was the traditional path that I’d been following for years. There was nothing new or special about it—it was comfortable and well-worn. But I had caught a glimpse of another path, one that was uncertain, risky, and scary, but appealed to my deepest desire to do more with the gifts I’ve been given. I felt like those simple words, Be Extraordinary, summed up what I knew I needed to do if I was going to pursue that new dream.

I wear the bracelet every day, and now feel as naked without it as I do without my wedding ring. The bracelet is my personal call to action. It is my talisman for good luck in navigating my new path, and is a constant reminder that I should strive to do not just great things, but extraordinary things. This small object is the physical manifestation of my goals and dreams.

Why do talismans touch us?

The use of talismans goes back to ancient times, when people believed that certain objects carried mystical powers and harnessed positive energy. To be in possession of one granted you access to those powers. Talismans were used as protection from bad luck, and a way to focus energy on a positive outcome that the owner hoped would come to pass.

In times of uncertainty, adversity, and personal reflection, talismans become particularly attractive. They can make us feel like we’re giving control of our destiny to something outside of us. Even though we are still 100% in control, it’s within this illusion that we can drive the behaviors needed to achieve our goals.

Talismans can be any physical objects, like a photo, piece of clothing, or an item of jewelry. We may keep and treasure things that belonged to loved ones who are no longer with us because we feel the connection to them through those objects. Those connections bring us strength and comfort. We may assign significance to talismans that are given to us under special circumstances if we think that they will bring us the same type of luck or fortune that was enjoyed by previous owners.

A confidence boost

We’ve all heard the stories about athletes who wear a certain item of clothing each time they compete, performers who insist on having certain items around them before they go onstage, or artists who need a special object in order to create. The behaviors all stem from the same kind of belief. It’s a bit superstitious, but nonetheless many feel that consistently creating the same environment will drive the desired level of performance.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal detailed the story of a wig that was being passed between cancer treatment patients. Each of the previous owners of the wig had fought their battle against cancer and won. The wig brings hope as it is passed along the chain from survivor to current patient. The wig carries with it each woman’s story, and is considered a powerful good luck charm for each new recipient.

Trying to debunk the mystery

Of course, there’s nothing mystical or magical about the power of a talisman beyond the energy that we give it. It becomes the outward manifestation of our inner motivations, wants, and needs. Using a talisman is harmless to the extent that we draw positive energy from it in our times of need. Our talismans are there for us on even the darkest day, to give us a sense of comfort, security, and hope.

Science now is starting to dig into these superstitions, with surprising results. Barbara Stoberock, Thomas Mussweiler, and Lysann Damisch from the University of Cologne published earlier this year the results of their study, which concluded that people who used good luck charms during the research study performed better on tests. The researchers theorize that those participants had higher confidence in their abilities. There was nothing about the charms that actually led to better performance—other than the participants’ belief in them. This research implies that talismans are a classic example of the placebo effect. But why knock it if it works?

I know that my bracelet doesn’t actually confer special powers onto me. The results of my actions, good or bad, are completely my own. I don’t blame the bracelet if I make a bad decision, and on the flip side, if something wonderful happens, I take full personal credit. But I wear it all the same. I like having the symbolic reminder, and it makes me happy when I look at it. And still every day, I work to Be Extraordinary.

Christy is the founder of ThinkBlot Communications and is a self-diagnosed Pollyanna. She is currently exploring the ways we can create positive self-dialogue to achieve our goals. She can be found at Twitter @thinkblotcom.

FeelGooder Fitness Tweak: Single Mom Needs a Little Push

December 26, 2010 by

Lisa H. is one of my favorite people on Twitter. She is warm-hearted, funny, a Florida Mom with three kids, and someone who has a super-busy schedule.


She home-schools her kids, and works full-time from home as a freelance writer and professional blogger.  She gives 100% to her kids and her career. She just needs to give herself a little attention too.

The situation

Lisa’s not unhappy with the way she looks, but would like to get a little more toned. She also has noticed her blood pressure has been creeping up and finds herself stressed out at times. She loves fruits and vegetables (good) and also likes cheese (not as good!). She’d like to find ways to cook healthfully without spending as much money at the grocery store, and she mostly cooks from scratch.

Available equipment

An elliptical trainer.

The plan: cardio

Lisa’s already doing one long walk a week with her kids in one of the local amusement parks in Florida. That’s great. Lisa, while you’re doing it, think about adding a little speed. Maybe you can “race” your kids from point A to point B to get a little goose out of your calorie burn. Unless you’re breaking a sweat, it’s movement … but it’s not cardio.

For the rest of the week, combine what you love with what you’d rather not do. Record one of your favorite shows, like “Glee,” and only watch it on the elliptical. Go for a minimum of 20 minutes, but if you’re enjoying the show and want to, go longer, and enjoy! Do this four to five days per week.

You mentioned that you can get stressed and you want exercise to reduce your stress levels. Think about the most stressful times of your day and time your exercise to coincide with that. Another possible way to use exercise is to think of it as a transition time. So, you could home-school your kids, do some cardio, and then move on to work. Try a couple of different times of day to see what works best for you.

The plan: weight training

Lisa mentioned she’d like her arms to be more toned, and to work on her abs too.

Pushups are the answer. Start from the knees and make sure you body is in a plank position. To get in the plank there are three things you have to think about.

  1. Squeeze your backside and keep it in line with the rest of your body.
  2. Pull your abs up away from the floor, and think about lifting your belly button up and under your rib cage.
  3. Your shoulder blades should slide down your back toward your backside. Don’t let them come up to your ears.

This should put you in an absolutely straight line—the “dart” position. Lower your body down by flexing your elbows until the elbows are at 90 degrees. Make sure you get to 90! Do as many as you can the first day to figure out your threshold. If it’s one, it’s one … just start from wherever you’re at. From there, add one more pushup every other workout. This will tone your arms, chest, and back.

Another great arm exercise is my Hollywood Arms workout. You can literally just use soup cans to start with but if you have one- or two-pound weights, that would be ideal. You don’t need a lot of weight here to get an intense arm workout—it took me a year to get up to three pounds! You can check out the video if you like.

Hold the weights in your hands, with your palms face-up. Your arms should be stiff but the elbows should have a slight bend to them, and your hands should be directly in front of your body. Start to do small, tight circles keeping the palms up the entire time. Gradually start to move the hands away from each other, moving them about 90 degrees to the sides of the body. Pause. Reverse the direction of the circles and very slowly pull the arms back to the start position. Repeat the set a second time with the palms facing the floor. These work great! I use them all the time with brides, fashionistas, and local celebrities.

Abs

We’re just going to do crunches to start. But I’m going to give you my secret weapon: kegels! Kegels are the stop-your-pee exercise that moms frequently learn after giving birth, but they’re also great at getting rid of that post-pregnancy bulge.

Lie on the floor with your knees bent, and back flattened against the floor. Put your hands behind the head, your loosely intertwined fingers supporting the base of the skull, and your elbows wide. Inhale to get ready. On the exhale feel as if you have bungee cords at the base of your rib cage pulling your ribs down towards your hip bones. Lift your head off the mat and flatten your back into the mat. This is just a basic crunch but I want you to feel the work in your abs. I don’t want you to just yank your head up with your hands and call that an ab exercise! Pull your belly button up and under your rib cage, and add a kegel! Do one long set of 15. Work up to 20 by adding one rep every other workout.

Once you get to 20, lift your legs off the floor into what we call “tabletop”—you have a 90-degree angle at your hip and 90 degrees at the knees, and your legs are together. Go back down to 12 reps and work up to 20 again. This will increase the intensity of the exercise. I’m using Pilates form here because it’s so effective for postpartum work. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how effective this is!

The second exercise here is for obliques. Focus on your core muscles again. Come up and hold the crunch position, focusing on your abs and your kegel. Your fingers should be lightly supporting your head—they’re not helping with the exercise. Pretend your have a dinner napkin on your tummy. Two corners are on your hip bones and the other two corners are at the bottom of your rib cage. Keep the belly button pulling up and under the rib cage and fold the imaginary napkin from corner to corner as if you were folding it into a triangle. Your shoulders and arms should be quiet—they’re just going along for the ride. All the work should be in the abs!

I can’t tell you how many people I see doing obliques incorrectly! Do ten on each side and work up to 20 by adding one rep every other workout. As above, when you get to ten, bring the legs up into tabletop position.

This is a very basic resistance training program, but because of your high blood pressure I want you to focus on your cardio. It’s important to make sure that’s in check so you can give your kids the best Mom they can have.

As for eating on the cheap, I’m totally with you. I just bought Eating Well on a Budget by Jessie Price and the Eating Well Test Kitchen. It’s got great recipes broken down by cost per serving, and focuses on meals for less than $3 per serving. It also has a great section about stocking up your pantry so you have almost everything you need at hand.

Hope this helps Lisa. :et me know if you have any questions. If anyone else would like a FeelGooder fitness tweak you can contact me at my blog, LisaJohnsonFitness.com.

Harness Transformational Courage to Change Your Life

December 22, 2010 by

This post is by Marly McMillen of NamelyMarly.

We are, all of us, descendants of immigrants. In fact, American scientist Carl Sagan once said, “For 99.9 percent of the time since our species came to be, we were hunters and foragers, wanderers on the savannahs and the steppes.” As humans, we have a voyager spirit. It drives us to journey to new lands.

But many of us today find ourselves stationed in our plot of terra firma. Maybe we make a move or two, but very few of us have made the life-or-death sort of transformational journeys of our ancestors. These were people who journeyed far, fleeing harsh conditions to endure a grueling passage that many did not survive to an unknown and possibly unforgiving new land.

Laurie Fabiano, the O Magazine-recommended novelist, wrote a fictional story based on people from her family who emigrated from Italy to the United States. In her novel, Elizabeth Street, Fabiano described the horrors from which people were fleeing. In my interview with Laurie, she told me, “It’s not like the people in my family were looking for adventure. They didn’t want to leave Italy, but they were starving to death. The poverty there was horrific in those days. It wasn’t like they said, ‘Wow! Let’s have an adventure and journey to America!’ And the journey itself was also horrific.”

If today we find ourselves too rooted in either land or life, how can we channel the spirits of our immigrant ancestors to journey to the life of our dreams?

It’s worth noting that we don’t have to physically uproot our families to revive transformation courage in our lives.

Elizabeth Gilbert wrote the book, Eat, Pray, Love as a sort of memoir of her multi-month journey to Europe as she was recovering from a divorce and rediscovering her own identity. During times of self-reflection and renewal, people choose to reinvent themselves in different ways. Some, like Elizabeth Gilbert, go on journeys. But that’s not always a practical option for everyone. Elizabeth says herself that it’s possible to transform yourself right at home. The trick is committing the time and energy toward that endeavor.

You may be considering a major life change like a new career or you may be looking for space and permission to finally write that novel. Or maybe you’d like to stretch yourself by running for the school board. Living a successful life is all about that: stretching yourself, learning, growing, and then learning some more.

How can you use transformational courage to help you along the way? Here are some tips for creating your own transformational journey.

Acquire satellites

After you punch an address into your GPS, “Acquiring satellites” is usually the first message you’ll see. That’s because the only way to get to where you’re going is to understand where you are.

Carl Rogers once said, “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” Create for yourself a Transformational Journal (any spiral notebook will do) and begin the first page with an assessment of where you are in your life. Write down areas where you’re happy, where you’re ambivalent, and other areas where you’d like to see some changes.

Become a wonderer

Have you ever pondered a “what if” question? What if you would have taken that advanced track in college? What if you would have jumped at that impromptu trip to Europe? Now it’s time to take that wondering spirit and apply it to your future.

Get our your Transformational Journal and on the next page, write this down:

“I wonder what would happen if I ___________.”

Then begin filling in the blanks. Julia Cameron, in her book The Artist’s Way at Work, suggests creating this Wonderer as an inner voice in your life. She says that you can “get to know and trust your Wonderer as an important guide to creative breakthrough.”

Set some coordinates

In the show, A Very Brady Sequel, Mike Brady says to his family, “Remember kids, a very wise man once said, ‘Wherever you go, there you are.’” Yes, it’s true, this is a quote from the Brady Bunch, but the point is still valid. Where do you want to go? Where do you want to be in your life?

Maybe you’ve thought about starting your own business. Or taking an art class. Now is the time to get some of these goals on a page. On page two of your Transformational Journal, write down some dreams you have for yourself, whether it’s improving an existing skill or learning something entirely new.

Define the standards

Are you looking for the freeway route or do you want to take the scenic side roads? There are certainly pros and cons to both; you just have to know what the priority is for your life. And remember, there are no right or wrong answers here: you can combine both speedy and sedate segments of your journey.

Maybe you want to sign up for a brief, two-day photography workshop, but take your time developing a blog to showcase your work. This is an entry for page three of your Transformational Journal. Write down the “how” of making your life course happen. Brainstorm ideas such as networking with people in the industry of your choice, to taking courses, to exploring websites that can help you learn more.

Pick a milestone

Setting some achievable landmarks along the journey can help you feel a sense of accomplishment along the way. Milestones can occur at any point in a journey, but their purpose is the same: to inspire the weary wanderer to stay the course. Think about the immigrants who braved brutal conditions crossing the Atlantic to come to the United States. The Statue of Liberty was a significant milestone for many of them.

Take another look at your Transformational Journal and on the next page write down some milestones that can help you know you’re on the right path. If you’re aiming to become healthier, then list ways that you’ll know you’re getting there, such as getting back into those jeans from last year.

Get on the road!

The longest journey begins with just one step. You’ve heard this many times before, but it remains true today. Don’t judge yourself in a negative light for taking even the tiniest of steps. It’s those tiny steps combined together that will get you to your destination.

We are all immigrants on the journey of life. Carl Sagan was right. We have been wanderers from the beginning. It’s in our DNA. The trick is cultivating those immigrant skills to lead us to the life of our dreams. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.”

Marly McMillen has a passion for life, family, vegan food, and names. She writes about all of these and more on her site at NamelyMarly. Marly’s podcast, NamelyMarly, can be found on iTunes, where she interviews people about their names. The people she interviews include famous authors, models, and even the people she meets at the park. Marly is also passionate about healthy food and shares vegan recipes as well.

FeelGooder Fitness Tweak: Winter Running

December 19, 2010 by

Lisa Johnson is a fitness blogger at LisaJohnsonFitness.com.

Brian Kelsey, Carpenter, TV Host, drops the last 10 pounds.

Brian Kelsey is the host of Kelsey on the House.  He is an up-and-comer at HGTV and also does voiceover work.  I laughed when I clicked on his voiceover links—we’ve been hearing this guy for years on everything from movie trailers to CNN!

The situation

Brian gets a lot of resistance training from his job on set at Home Remodels.  He’s constantly swinging a hammer and hauling two-by-fours. What he wants to do is focus on losing ten pounds or so by running.

Available equipment

A pair of sneakers.

The plan: cardio

First Brian, please check that your sneakers are fresh and wearing well. Especially as you’re going into the wintry weather of New York in the next few months, you might want to consider a new pair. Generally speaking you should replace your sneakers every six months, or 250 miles.

Also check with your local running store for thoughts on winter running gear. You’re going to need layers, gloves, a good hat, sunglasses for the glare from the snow, a face shield of some sort, good running tights/sweats, and a light jacket that’s easy to move in.  There will be a little bit of investment in gear now, but it will save you from overheating or freezing later.

If you’re just starting out, consider the Couch to 5K program—I’m a fan! It’s a great run/walk program that takes ten weeks and culminates in a 5K road race that you’ve targeted.  Brian has been running for a while, so for him, we’re going to work on pacing and consistency.

Strategy

Winter running requires strategy.  You’ll need to plan a consistent three to four days per week for your running schedule, but the weather might not cooperate.  Look at your work schedule and your local weather to plot the best days for running each week.  You might find yourself running on the morning of a snow storm to get your miles in.  Be flexible.

Scope out a local gym in case the worst case scenario happens and you can’t fit in an outdoor run.  Just pay a single-day user fee (usually $15 to $20) and hop on the treadmill for the day.  It won’t be great, but at least you’ll get your running done.

Outdoor running

For your normal runs, work on pacing yourself.  The first few minutes should be nice and easy until you break a sweat.  For two runs a week, do a nice steady-state run where you’re just going along at your usual pace.  One day a week do tempo runs and spend one day a week doing hill climbs.

Tempo runs. Tempo runs are comfortably hard runs that push your endurance and your metabolic threshold. You’ll be running almost at your speed limit for two to four miles.  It needs to be a sustained effort to be effective.  The payoff is torching calories and increasing your metabolism, which means those pounds will just melt right off you.  Runner’s World has a great article on the specifics.

Hill climbs. There’s this killer hill near my house.  All the local runners know it, and on Saturdays it looks like this weird road race with people running up in a line and then trotting/walking back down.  It’s really too steep to run down.  This hill is killer for legs and really works to strengthen hamstrings and glutes—muscles that can get little activity if you’re running on flat surfaces all the time.  Find a decently hard hill near your house and get to work.  Do a quick warm up—just enough to break a sweat and get your body loosened up.  Then head to your hill and chug up that sucker.  Do three to five repeats, depending on how high the hill is and how stressed your lungs are.  This is another way to shock the system and boost your metabolism.  You should come back good and sweaty from your hill climb days.  Here’s another post with some more tips on hill climb runs.

Brian, you’ll see the weight come right off, but you’ll also see your race times improve. You might just want to pick out a race that’s six to ten weeks away and see how you do.

Good luck with your TV show and your running, and let me know if you have any questions.  If anyone else would like a Fitness Tweak just email me through my website—it’s listed below.

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