Browse Tag: habits

10 Small Steps To Improve Your Health

source : angelweekly

Many of us make health-related resolutions, such as to lose weight, stop smoking or join the neighbourhood health club. While it is common to set high goals, experts say that setting smaller goals could do more for our health.

“Small steps are achievable and are easier to fit into your daily routine,” says James O. Hill, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. “They are less overwhelming than a big, sudden change.”

Here are 10 to try:

  1. Stop gaining weight. Even if you gain just a pound or two every year, the extra weight adds up quickly.
  2. Take more small steps. Use a pedometer to count your daily steps; then add 2,000, the equivalent of one extra mile. Keep adding steps, 1,000 to 2,000 each month or so, until you take 10,000 steps on most days.
  3. Eat breakfast. Breakfast eaters tend to weigh less and have better diets overall. For a filling and nutrition-packed breakfast, top Whole Grain TotalÆ with fresh fruit slices and low-fat or fat-free milk.
  4. Switch three grain servings each day to whole grain. If you’re like the average American, you eat less than one whole grain serving a day.
  5. Have at least one green salad every day. Eating a salad (with low-fat or fat-free dressing) is filling and may help you eat less during the meal. It also counts toward your five daily cups of vegetables and fruits.
  6. Trim the fat. Fat has a lot of calories, and calories count. Purchase lean meats, eat poultry without the skin, switch to lower-fat cheeses, use a nonstick pan with only a dab of oil or butter.
  7. Consider calcium by including two or three daily servings of low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt. Dairy calcium is good for bones and may also help you lose weight.
  8. Downsize. The smaller the bag, bottle or bowl, the less you will eat.
  9. Lose just 5 to 10 percent of your current weight. The health benefits are huge-lower blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides.
  10. Keep track of your eating. Write down what you eat over the next couple of days and look for problem spots. Often, just writing things down can help you eat less.

Just for today – I will count my blessings !

The 5th Fifth Principle of Reiki

Just for today – I will count my blessings !

Life tends to give us what we need, it may not be what we want but it will be what we need. Karmicly throughout our lives we receive what we need to grow and learn in this lifetime. 

If we grasp these lessons and grow accordingly we will become spiritually enlightened. Instead of wasting your life complaining of the things that have happened to you, and the problems you face. 

Step back for a moment on a regular basis and discover and appreciate the many blessings in your life. 

Make a list of all your blessings. You will be amazed at how many wonderful things there are to give thanks for. Leave the materialistic things aside.

They are shallow and meaningless. Pay attention to, and focus on the things that are free and bring joy and humility to your life. For example, your mind, body, spirit, health, family, friends, flowers, trees, sea, sun, love, faith, knowledge, the countryside, animals, birds, etc., the list is endless. 

I remember that my diary 2012, 2013 & 2014 was filled with gratitude statements everyday I have probably practiced gratitude as a habit since 10 years now. When I am stuck Im grateful . When I am in pain , I try and see the positive side of why this pain in the first place. I try to see the sunny side in everything.

When I appreciated the true wonders of life and let go of the materialistic needs ,I started to enjoy my life more. 

What is NLP?

NLP -Neuro linguistic programming Is about changing the way you think about thinking.Thought experiments . Technology that reveals thoughts feelings and actions to be habitual programs open to manipulation .
 

NLP : The new technology of achievement best introductions to the discipline.

Benefits of NLP are :

Getting motivated

Discovering your mission

Achieving your goals 

Creating rapport and strong relationships 

Persuasion techniques and strategies

Eliminating fears and phobias 

Building self confidence 

Creating self appreciation and self esteem 

Securing a positive and mental attitude 

Achieving peak performance 

The 10 Principles of NLP are  :

1-Map is not the territory 

2-Experience has a structure 

3-If one person can do something anyone can learn to do it 

4-The mind and body are parts of the same system 

5-People already have all the resources they need 

6- You cannot not communicate

7- The meaning of your communication is the response you get 

8- Underlying every behavior is a positive intention 

9-People are always making the best choices available to them 

10- If what you are doing isn’t working , do something else . 

Watch the video here >>

Mindfulness and mental well being

You may feel stressed-out when waiting in a line at the bank or the post office, when driving in traffic or along an unfamiliar route, when facing a deadline, or when having an uncomfortable conversation.

You can even experience stress reactions as a result of anticipating or remembering such events.

Though these stresses seem fairly minor, they can cause all sorts of symptoms, such as muscular tension, headaches, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, and skin conditions. Long-term stress can also be a factor in serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and dementia, particularly if you rely on unhealthy strategies to cope with stress, such as smoking, substance abuse, overeating, or overworking.

One of the gifts that mindfulness offers is helping you recognize that there are choices in how you respond to any stressful situation.

Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and holocaust survivor, describes this eloquently: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom” (Pattakos 2008, viii).

Even amidst Frankl’s imprisonment, he found ways to provide comfort and healing to those around him, underscoring that, with awareness, everyone has freedom of choice how to respond. The key is awareness.

Of course, conditioning is a powerful force that can make it difficult to change. Just as water finds the path of least resistance, you’ll tend to fall back on habits because in many ways this is the easiest course to follow. This includes habitual ways of seeing and reacting.

To help provide motivation for the challenging work of turning off your autopilot and resisting habitual reactions and behaviors, mindfulness activities such as Mandala art , meditation or breath awareness will help you explore how stress is impacting your life.

Becoming truly aware of the stress in your life and how you interact with it is a necessary first step in choosing new responses that will serve you better.

Let me ask you today – Are you aware in the present moment? And from a scale of 1-10 how aware are you?

(Adapted from the book- Mindfulness Stress Based Reduction workbook)