People generally take better care of their cars than they do their bodies. I’m always amazed at the grocery store when I see what people buy. Some baskets have NOTHING that is actually food. Nothing that is fresh or whole instead of processed or pakaged pretty.
I am not a nutritionist by any means, but over the years I have learned a lot about how to fuel my body for feeling and performing best. I’m lucky to have a few friends who are experts on the topic, and I’ve read a lot of books.
But the best information I ever got was from actually trying new foods, cutting down on others and then listening to my body and seeing how I felt.
Here is what I have learned about my body:
>Wheat and gluten are a big no-no. I feel the effects instantly.
>I like to start the day with fruit and then have protein for lunch.
>I’ve learned to crave fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water.
>I actually need and crave meat.
>I still have the sugar addiction but limit it to one time a day or every few days.
>When I eat sugar, I try to enjoyit rather than feel guilty about it.
> I tend to eat when I am stressed.
The list goes on and on. It took some time to figure out what works best for me. And I’m far from perfect at it. It’s a learning experience that takes dedication to staying conscious and changing my habits.
Why not try this concept on and see how it fits for you? There’s so much information out there. Start by sifting through it to get a feel for what is the perfect approach for you.
Then I invite you to become conscious, begin pre-planning and try different things to see what actually works best for you!
November 2nd, 2007
I love watching my 2-year-old play. She plays with such CURIOSITY. How does this work and what happens when I change it or try it this way? How will mom respond when I do this? Curiosity leads to discovery, uncovering answers and drawing out insights.
As we grow up, we seem to lose some of that curiosity. We become conditioned to need to know all the answers or to try to control things.
I’ve been practicing and receiving CranioSacral Therapy long enough to know that any work I do on the table is only being brought into my awareness to enhance my life or move me forward in my process. If I remain curious about what comes up in my sessions and know that it’s being shown to me in order to gain greater insight, it allows me to uncover those dark places easier and with less fear.
So my message for this month is to try on CURIOSITY and see what opens up for you, and how it might deepen your perspective on life. You’ll know you’re being curious when you’re not gathering
more information but looking at things with your mind AND with your heart, soul and intuition. This allows you to see with new eyes, and into places you haven’t looked before.
Imagine how it would feel to be undistracted by self-sabotaging talk, history, the opinions of others or anything else. Now imagine how it would be to go inside for the answers and really trust what you’re getting.
Just for now, instead of being judgmental, play with the concept of curiosity. You may love what you discover about yourself.
August 31st, 2007
How did it get to be August so fast? While we are still
enjoying the beautiful days of summer, we are already
planning for the fall months ahead.
Planning and Organizing our lives can sometimes feel
difficult, overwhelming and monotonous. Do you
sometimes not know what to do, so do nothing at all or over
analyze and get stuck spinning in your head? Neither
of these options seem to work very well.
I have been reading the book by Martha Stewart called
Martha Rules. In this book, she talks about getting a
telescope, a wide-angle lens, and a microscope. She is
talking about business of course but I love how it can
be used when looking at your life. She explains how the
telescope allows you to see the big idea or vision, the
microscope allows you to see the details and the
wide angle allows you to be flexible enough to zoom in or out
as you grow and shift in your life.
This theory is closely related to a principle that I learned in Healing
From the Core, called Acknowledging and Widening your
perceptual lens. This will allow you to see more clearly, release
your expectations and open more fully to life giving you more
possibilities.
“If I continue to believe as I have always believed,
I will continue to act as I have always acted.
If I continue to act as I have always acted,
I will continue to get what I have always gotten.”
(Anonymous)
So next time you are stuck, overanalyzing, regrouping or relooking
at your life, I invite you take out your camera bag and look at it with
all different lenses and to see what is available to you from different
angles and perspectives.
August 6th, 2007
July 6th is my birthday. I mention this not
because I want a card or a gift, but to share
with you a gift of awareness I recently received.
I work with a professional coach. When I met my
business goals a few months back, she asked me
what I did to celebrate. “Celebrate?” I thought
with surprise. And then it hit me. If I don’t
celebrate myself, who will?
So I took some time to pat myself on the back by
doing something I’ve always wanted to do. I hired
a personal trainer to work with me a few weeks and
set me up on a organized fitness routine.
It felt so good. It changed my perspective and
gave me the freedom to appreciate being ME.
The bonus was that I felt even freer to set new
goals that inspire me forward. Now I’m even more
excited about meeting them. I can’t wait to see
what fun I have in store for myself when I get
there!
In the meantime, I celebrated my 37th birthday by
inviting some friends to
Kensington
Park for the
morning. We rode our bikes and enjoyed a picnic
together. It was a wonderful day.
As the icing on the cake, I received this poem
from a dear client of mine. As you read it,
please put yourself in the picture. Because no
one deserves to be celebrated more than YOU.
I CELEBRATE ME
I am worth celebrating. I am worth everything. I
am unique. In the whole world, there is only one
me. There is only one person with my talents,
experience, gifts. No one may take my place.
God created only one me, precious in His sight. I
have immense potential to love, care, create,
grow, sacrifice, if I believe in myself.
It doesn’t matter my age, or color, or whether my
parents or someone else loved me or not. (Maybe
they wanted to but couldn’t.)
It doesn’t matter what I have been, the things
I’ve done, mistakes I’ve made, people I’ve hurt.
I am forgiven.
I am accepted. I am okay. I am loved in spite of
everything. So I love myself and nourish seeds
within me.
I celebrate me. I begin now, start anew, I give
myself a new birth today. I am me, and that is
all I need to be.
Today is a new beginning, a new life, given
freely. So I celebrate the miracle; and I
celebrate me.
July 1st, 2007
I often get people canceling their appointments at the last
minute because “they are too stressed to come in.” I find
a lot of humor in this because that is the exact reason you
are coming to see me — to reduce your stress! And now is
the absolute perfect time to see how well CranioSacral
therapy can help you do this.
Let me give you a little anatomy lesson and the reason you
should not cancel your appointment!
Your nervous system has two parts to it: the parasympathetic
branch, which is for rest and digestion, and the sympathetic
branch, which is that “fight or flight” part of the brain.
set the sympathetic off, and that is what is supposed to happen.
The sympathetic branch is the protective part of the brain, which
will save your life in a crisis.
However, what tends to happen is that the sympathetic part
gets revved up and does not come back to the neutral point,
so to speak. Instead we have more stress and it gets revved
up higher and higher without resetting.
When this happens, stress chemicals keep getting sent to the
brain, heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, liver and adrenals.
This keeps your body in a high state of alert, which increases
the occurrence of stress-related diseases and more rapid aging.
CranioSacral therapy helps reset the nervous system and
unwind stress from your tissues!
It also helps you reconnect to yourself so you can get a clearer
picture of why you are so stressed, and how you can deal with
it better in the present and the future. Many life-changing “aha”
moments happen on the table!
So next time you are “too stressed to come in,” I invite you to
just come in anyway. It might be just what you need to reconnect,
regroup and rejuvenate!
June 6th, 2007
People often ask me when I would recommend CranioSacral Therapy (CST) over massage therapy. Ironically, most people who seek either massage or CST are actually looking for the same benefits: pain relief, stress reduction, relaxation, headaches, even relief from emotional issues. But since many people have never heard of CST, they often don’t recognize when it may be even better for them.
Here are some of the primary differences. First, massage therapy generally requires you to disrobe and recline on a treatment table under appropriately draped sheets. Lotion or oil may be used, and the pressure can vary from light and comfortable to deep and forceful.
With CranioSacral Therapy you also lie down on a comfortable treatment table, but you stay fully clothed. The therapist uses no lotion or oil, just a gentle touch. An evaluation generally requires no more pressure than 5 grams, or roughly the weight of a nickel.
Where massage focuses on the musculoskeletal system, CST focuses on the central nervous system, the connective tissues that run throughout the body, and the internal fluids. By releasing tensions around the central nervous system, CST helps correct and strengthen this master control system to better regulate all your body’s systems and functions. It allows your body to regenerate at a core level, creating far-reaching effects.
Simply put, CranioSacral Therapy releases your pain, stress and discomfort from the source of the problem rather than trying to make it feel better on a superficial level. The results can be much longer lasting, and often even permanent.
What’s the best way for you to know if a CranioSacral Therapy session might help you more than a massage? Here’s one tip: If you find yourself getting massage over and over to deal with the same issues, try CST. See if you can get to the core of the issue so you don’t have to keep dealing with the same uncomfortable symptoms.
Also, keep in mind that everyone has some sort of stress in their lives. So a CST tune-up now and again to balance the central nervous system will allow you to function at your best, and feel good from head to toe.
Now don’t get me wrong – I love a nice massage as much as you do. But the next time you think you need a massage, ask yourself this: Could a CST session help me even more? It may just beat massage, hands down.
For more information, contact me at CranioSacral WestBloomfield or Massage West Bloomfield. Thanks.
April 1st, 2007
What do you do to nurture and nourish yourself? You have probably heard me ask you that at one session or another. It seems to be the theme of the week. Sometimes we are so caught up in our life; work, our health, taking care of others that we forget about how important it is to really to take some time for ourselves. This type of time out should refresh us, rejuvinate us and fill us up. When we are depleted we really can not give our full attention or all to the task at hand. Some of us have not done this for so long we don’t even know what types of things to do.
Let me give you some clues- exercise, movement, painting, knitting, lunch with a friend, petting the dog, a warm shower, a walk outside, watching the sunset, a tv show, journaling, breathing, meditating…Ok you get the idea. Thanks for the reminder. I think I will go take a bath!
March 15th, 2007