Even a small amount of stress can have negative effects on your overall health and well-being. Can you spare six minutes of your time to reduce some of that stress? If so, give this a try.
Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed for the next six minutes.
COLORFUL MEDITATION – For meditation and stress reduction is 6 minutes of continuous highly complex computer generated kaleidoscopic imagery with an original New Age ambient music soundtrack…
from www.cinemandala.com
Did you try it? Did it help? Let me know in comments.
For most of us food is more than just the nourishment needed for our survival, it’s also an emotional roller coaster (with many ups and downs). One slice of chocolate cake can take us from desire, to exhilaration, to satisfaction, and often land us right into guilt. Which is exactly why they call it a guilty pleasure. But should we really feel guilty for eating something simply for the pleasure of it? Of course not. So why do we?
I’ll be the first person to admit that sometimes it’s easy to get sucked into that (post indulging) guilt. But the truth is, the guilt can actually be the catalyst that spirals us into more emotional eating and even more guilt. The remedy is to not allow yourself to fall victim to overeating guilt from the start.
When you make a mistake, treat yourself with kindness.
As with everything in life, we need to embrace our imperfections. And regardless of how committed we are to a particular diet or healthy eating program, we always have to leave room for occasional guilty pleasures. Try to focus on the “pleasure” part a guilty pleasures. If you’re going to over indulge, at least enjoy every moment and savor every bite of your indulgence.
Here are some tips to help you avoid overeating and the guilt that often follows…
Evaluating Your Success, Not Your Failure – Cross-posted at BlogHer.com
If you made a New Year’s resolution, you’ve now had a couple of weeks to work on it. How are you making out? Would you say you’ve been successful, or that you’ve already failed? Don’t answer yet.
My New Year’s resolution included eating healthy, but today my daughter made chocolate chip cookies and I had several of them (they were super yummy too). Some might say that by eating those cookies, I’ve failed at my resolution. Have I? What really matters though, is how I perceive it. If I perceive eating cookies as a failure, then it was. However, I choose to not see it as a failure. I’ve learned from years of dieting that I am less likely to be successful if I’m too strict with myself. So instead, I remind myself of all the days that I did make healthy food choices, and that I can still continue to make healthy food choices tomorrow.
We’ve all heard that most people will fail at their New Year’s resolution. In fact, many people will use this knowledge to justify not making a resolution at all. But should we really avoid resolutions because of a our fears of failure? Of course not.
Most successful people will tell you that failure is success, as long as you learn from it. You may have even heard this famous quote from Thomas Edison:
I have not failed, not once. I’ve discovered ten thousand ways that don’t work.
This is the way I see it – If you’ve made a resolution that is really in your best interest to keep, then don’t throw it out the window just because a few weeks into it you are not exactly where you hoped you would be. It’s the intention that matters most. If your intention was good, then now is as good a time as any to tweak your resolution a bit, and make it more realistic for yourself. Remind yourself that you can choose to see your glass as half empty or half full. Perception is the only thing standing between you and success.
So now, how would you answer the question I asked at the beginning of this post…
Would you say you’ve been successful, or that you’ve already failed?
If it helps, take some time to re-evaluate your resolution, and set more realistic goals yourself. And remember, it’s much better for you to focus on the ways you’ve been successful, rather than on the ways you believe you may be failing.
My New Year’s resolution is about doing everything I can do to have more birthdays. At the moment the one thing that could keep me from doing that, is my blood pressure. I’ve had blood pressure and heart rate problems since my twenties, but now in my forties, I know I’m at a much greater risk for having a heart attack or stroke. So this year I plan on taking specific steps to hopefully lower my blood pressure. Like Morra Arrons-Mele, I would like to make these changes holistically. I’m still planning to take my medications, but even on medication my blood pressure is still not controlled.
Here are the steps I plan to take in 2010…
1. Continue to eat healthy, but kick it up a notch.
2. Reduce stress by using meditation and Reiki on a regular basis.
3. Get the Wii Fit and begin doing light exercising and yoga.
I’ll keep track of my progress by documenting my blood pressure and the days I’ve used any of the above steps.
Well, that’s my “more birthdays list.” I hope you’ll join me at the American Cancer Society’s Official Birthday Blog, by sharing a list of your own.
Here are some tips for making and promoting your Bday List and supporting the American Cancer Society’s More Birthdays campaign…
1. Create a list of things (could be one thing or many) you plan to do to stay healthy in 2010 and/or to help create more birthdays. This is your “my more birthdays list.”
2. Share your list on Facebook and/or Twitter (using the #mybdaylist hashtag). These could be anything from losing 5 pounds or eating more vegetables to training for a 10K or half-marathon.
3. Tweet and/or post messages on Facebook about the progress you’re making on your more birthdays list throughout the year. This will help you get support, tips, and encouragement from others who are trying to accomplish their more birthdays lists.
Are you only concerned with adding days to your life, and forgetting to add life to your days? If so, you are not alone. This is a problem many of us have, and the reason we should all try to make a conscious effort, to live in the present moment.
When we are living in the moment, we are totally immersed in what we are doing. I’m not suggesting in any way, that we should attempt to live in the moment 100% of the time, as much as it would be great if we could, it’s just not practical. To do that, we would be setting ourselves up for failure. What I want you to do, is just make an “attempt” at living in the present moment, this is a positive start, and in the right direction. So, how can you start? Well, you start with “awareness”.
Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer? You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you’re told… maybe not. How would you cope?
That’s the question the twenty young people in this book had to answer when they were diagnosed with childhood cancer. Perseverance shares life lessons learned through their stories and educates the reader on how to incorporate them into his/her life. It tells of their trials and tribulations, of their triumphs, and of the unique challenges that day-to-day life brings them. Perseverance also provides an intimate look at the lives and journeys of these young people and how their courage and strength have affected the lives of others.
We all know that nothing stays the same. And we know that life is constantly changing. However, I think that we all under-estimate this fact in many ways. What I mean is…When things are going great in our lives, we don’t think about the times that they weren’t so great. And, when things are going badly and we are feeling sad, it’s sometimes hard to remember that we were ever happy. In both these cases, it is important for us to not only remember, but to also reflect.
I think this is important because if we take some time to reflect on the bad days, on days that are going well for us, we can get a better perspective on our lives. Seeing a bad day from the perspective of a good day, allows us to become “aware” of the notion that time heals. Something that on our bad days, we may not be able to fully appreciate.
Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.
Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.
There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…
“Go Confidently In The Direction Of Your Dreams” — Henry David Thoreau
With the pressures of daily life, do any of us really have time to think about our dreams? Do we even know what our dreams are? Kids know what their dreams are, just ask them…What do you want to be when you grow up? It is always such and easy answer for them. But once we do grow up, then what? Is is too late for us?
What if we never realized, that we might have been forgetting to follow our dreams? Worse than that, what if we thought we were following our dreams, but it turned out that we were living a nightmare? Then what? Is it too late? Do we get a second chance at our dreams?
When is it too late to follow your dreams? I would like to believe the answer to that question is never. I think our dreams are ever changing, and ever evolving, just as our lives are. I think that it’s o.k. not to be exactly sure what our dreams are, and it’s also o.k. if our dreams change from time to time. The only thing that is not o.k., is to give-up on our dreams. Because, once you give-up your dreams, you lose hope for your future.
But why then, do so many people give-up or deny their dreams? That is an easy one to answer…They give up because they are afraid, afraid of failure. Fear is what stops us from following our dreams. Fear is the darkness that casts a shadow over our light. And, fear is what we need to overcome if we want to reach for our dreams.
The most important thing to remember…Is to never let go of your hopes and dreams, even when you are not sure what they are. So, take some time to figure out what your greatest dreams are for your life, and then walk confidently towards them, without fear.
LeAnn Rimes Interview: Her Courageous Battle With Psoriasis and Her Comments on the Death of Michael Jackson (cross-posted at BlogHer)
So…A few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to interview LeAnn Rimes about her struggles with psoriasis and her awareness campaign Stop Hiding & Start Living. I think it’s a great campaign and I was happy to help bring more awareness to this physically and emotionally debilitating skin condition.
As women we so often feel bad about ourselves because of the way we look. We might be having a bad hair day, or have a bit of acne on our face, or feel like we could stand to lose a few more pounds…It’s really a vicious cycle and sometimes even a pit of despair that we never seem to quite be able to climb out of. I think that’s why stories like the one LeAnn Rimes will share with us in this interview are so empowering.
The American Academy of Dermatology and the National Psoriasis Foundation have joined together to form the Stop Hiding from Psoriasis public education campaign. This campaign is dedicated to:
Educating the general public about how this chronic immune disorder affects nearly 7 million Americans.
Motivating patients suffering from psoriasis to Stop Hiding and
Start Living.
Encouraging patients to see a dermatologist and discuss appropriate ways to manage
their disease.
LeAnn Rimes stands up to psoriasis…
The spotlight has followed singer LeAnn Rimes for most of her life. Unfortunately, so has the embarrassment of her psoriasis. But not anymore. LeAnn is taking a stand to Stop Hiding from her psoriasis and wants you to Stop Hiding and Start Living too.
Earlier this week I spoke with LeAnn…
How difficult was it growing up with psoriasis and at such a young age?
Well yes, I was diagnosed when I was two, so I pretty much don’t know anything other than having it…by the time I was six I was 80% covered, everything but my hands, feet and face. It was very debilitating physically and mentally. Even as a child having people really not understanding what the disease is and thinking it was contagious and trying to stay away from me. My parents really did a good job of covering it up, especially my mom, [with] the way she dressed me. And it was hard, it was hard being in the public eye. ‘Til the time I was 13 I wasn’t really able to wear dresses (short dresses) on the red carpet, or shorts in the middle of the summer…I would always wear jeans. It was really tough; it took a toll on my self esteem for a long time.
Did other children tease you when you were a child?
Yes, I would sometimes miss out on pool parties and things because I would never want to be around other girls with my bathing suite on – because they really didn’t understand what it was.
Last week I watched Valerie Bertinelli and Marie Osmond on the Oprah Winfrey Show talking about their personal weight loss success stories, and I found both stories to be very inspirational. As most of you already know, I’ve been struggling with my weight for several years now. And for that reason, I find myself easily able to relate to these two women. After watching that show I felt more motivated then ever to continue eating healthy and losing weight. I don’t think I was alone, but as always, there was also a backlash.
Whether you are suffering from a chronic illness, pregnant, or just getting older. Keeping a personal medical journal, is important, and can really come in handy. Some may want to do this on a weekly or monthly basis, others on a daily basis, this will depend on the severity of your health issues.
STEP ONE: Just go out and get a notebook that you can use for this purpose alone. This journal will be helpful to you, as well as the medical practitioners you are working with. Especially, if you move, need to change doctors, or are hospitalized. Which reminds me, if you go on vacation, or extended holiday, bring your medical information with you, it will make it much easier if you need to see an unfamiliar physician, or be hospitalized.
When you hear the word “yoga” what do you think of? You may think you know all there is to know about yoga, but there is a good chance that you don’t. Let’s take a look at some of what women are blogging on the topic of yoga.
Would you like to live to 100 years and beyond? Dr. Oz and other medical experts believe that a calorie restriction diet can help people to live longer with a higher quality of life. The calorie restriction diet also focuses on consuming calories that provide a high nutritional value, not just low calorie.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about today, and then I came across this interesting article on how reading can reduce stress. Since I love to read, and I also love anything that can help me reduce stress, I thought this would be a great post for today.
Are you stressed about the economy? Your job? Your kids? Politics? It’s no secret that life is very stressful these days. So…What can we do to reduce stress? Apparently, reading a book is one of the best ways to reduce stress.
Reading is the best way to relax and even six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds or 68%.
New research by consultancy Mindlab International at the University of Sussex says reading works better and faster than other methods to calm frazzled nerves such as listening to music, going for a walk or settling down with a cup of tea.
Are you a reader? Does it help you relax and de-stress?
Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.
Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.
There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…
A few weeks ago I was flipping through the million channels on my TV trying to find just one thing worth watching (which isn’t an easy task). Luckily I found Dr. Wayne Dyer on PBS.
I read my first book by Dr. Wayne Dyer (Real Magic) about twelve years ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. So when I watched his seminar on PBS that was based on his latest book, of course I had to run out the next day and buy it. This one is called Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life, and it’s his interpretation of the 81 verses of the Tao.
[The Tao Te Ching was written five hundred years before the birth of Jesus, and offers advice and guidance for living a balanced life.]
As I read, I came across aspects of this wisdom that are helpful in my quest for better health and weight loss. So, even though I’m no philosopher (obviously), I thought I would share some verses that stood out for me. They offer guidance for healthy living and even weight loss. Here are three.
[Keep in mind that I am only pulling the parts of these verses that I find most relevant to good health, this is by no means a complete look at any of these verses.]
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I wanted to do a little more than the average breast cancer awareness post. Here is my humble attempt. I’ve put this post together with; videos of survivors, an interview with Christina Applegate, early signs & symptoms, blogs of note, news, and links to informative support sites. If I’ve missed something (and I’m sure I have), please share the information with our readers in comments.
Can a good movie reduce stress? I’ve always believed that smiling and laughing is healing in some way. And, there is a lot of evidence that supports that theory. I also know that for me, music can deeply affect my mood. Some songs are sad reminders of the past, and others are happy reminders of experiences I never want to forget. Seeing the movie Mamma Mia with my daughter, and listening to all the music, is definitely going to be a lasting and happy memory for me.
I have a love/hate relationship with my scale. — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
About eight weeks ago I posted about how I started a pre-diet. I was trying to get reacquainted with the taste of healthy foods, and wean myself off of sugar. As far as that goes, I feel like I’m doing pretty well, I’ve even lost some weight. At the time of the post I had lost about six pounds, and since then I have lost another six. I’m now down 12 pounds from my heaviest weight ever (not counting when I was pregnant), I know because that’s what my scale says. If it wasn’t for my scale I wouldn’t believe I’ve lost any weight at all, so for that reason, I love my scale. However, I also hate that the number is still so high. And, I hate that even after losing 12 pounds, I still have almost 30 to go.
In a much better interview than had been done by Kathie Lee on the Today Show last week, tonight’s Nightline interview with Dooce was witty, clever, and informative. Here is a video clip of the full segment on Nightline…
Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and I was honored to be asked to participate in an ACORNMother’s Day Special. I was asked to write a post on how my mother has influenced me politically. In my family, my daughter has become the fourth generation of strong, politically savvy women…that began with my grandmother.
Because I blog about politics every single day, my 14 year-old daughter is exposed to every aspect of politics, and could probably hold her own debating the issues with someone twice her age. When her grandfather (half) jokingly told her that Hillary could never be president because she is a woman, my daughter snapped back at him, “Are you kidding me?” Then she wanted to know if he thought she could never be president, because after all, she’s a woman too? Showing his true chauvinistic side, he responded to her by saying that she could maybe be president someday, but she would have to live in a little pink house next to the While House. Needless to say, my daughter was unamused.
Since I grew-up before the onset of 24 hour cable news, my mother’s political influence on me was a bit more subtle. I remember the first political discussion I ever had with my mother. We had been in a waiting room with many magazines, and I was too young to read any of them, but I did notice covers with horribly graphic photos of men at war. It happened to be towards the end of the Vietnam War, and I asked my mother, “Why is there war?” She told me that people don’t want to be at war, the leaders of the countries make the wars. That was when I realized women were not in positions of political power. Then I said, “We should make women the leaders of all the countries in the world, and then there would never be any wars.” My mother told me that sounded like a good idea, but it probably would never happen. My response was, “Then those men leaders who want a war, should fight it themselves.” I didn’t understand then, and I still don’t understand today, how war solves any problems, neither does my mother.
Anyway, my mother always had an interest in politics, and she voted regularly. Women’s issues were always very important to her, and they still are. She also never voted with a specific party; she always voted for the person she believed was best for the job. So, the way my mother most influenced my views on politics, was by raising me to be an independent thinker, and to believe that any one of us could affect change. I’d like to think that is the way I’m raising my daughter also.
And, my mother was influenced by her mother, who was also a strong, independent woman. I came across a post that my mother recently wrote about her relationship with my grandmother. Here is an excerpt…
I didn’t know it then, but I see it clearly now in retrospect, she was a feminist before that word even existed. Back in the early 50s, she decided she wanted to learn how to drive a car. There weren’t many women drivers on the road back then. Husbands usually did all the driving, or there was public transportation. That wasn’t good enough for my mother. She hired a driving instructor, passed her driver’s test and acquired a license long before her four sisters. As a matter of fact, she became their main mode of transportation, and even though she urged them to get their own licenses, it was several years before the first one found the courage to do it. — read her full post at Frances Ellen Speaks
So, that’s my special Mother’s Day post. How did your mother influence your political views? How do you think you have influenced your daughter?
Living and Blogging with Chronic Illness — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
I was surfing the BlogHer Health and Wellness Blogroll, looking for something to write about tonight, and I came across a new blog on living with autoimmune disease. As you might already know, I live with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and other chronic health problems…So, I decided to do tonight’s post, on living with chronic illness.
My name is Michelle and I decided to start a blog about my illness and my life. I became sick about 2 years ago and at that time I didn’t know what was happening to me. 2 doctors, 3 neurologists, and 1 rheumatologist later I now know that I have a couple of autoimmune diseases; still working on a definite diagnosis… So far I have Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Dermatomyositis, and most recently what they think is the early stages of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
It’s the last day of 2007, and I thought I would do this post on some of the hot topics from BlogHer Health and Wellness. So, in no particular order, here is what I think are the top ten.
2. In a related story, this year the world was introduced to a dieting product called “Alli”. But names can really be deceiving, and that sure is true with this product. Here is my post from July…Alli: “The Diarrhea Diet“.
4. Vaccines in general have always been somewhat controversial, and with all the new ones that are being developed (and mandated), this has been a hot topic. My posts were on the Chicken Pox vaccine being mandated and also, Are the Cures Becoming the Cause,.
5. At the BlogHer Convention this year, I met many women who blog about Autism. Just before the convention I did this post on Autism, here are a few others.
I was pleasantly surprised today, to find that my political blog “Informed Voters” was receiving incoming links from The Huffington Post. It seems Carol Jenkins wrote a post about women in politics, and my list of over 275 women political bloggers got a nod. As happy as I am about being recognized by The Huffington Post, the overall message of Carol’s post is an extremely important one…
“Don’t let your voice be silent. Let’s change the conversation together.”
The Women’s Media Center has created Progressive Women’s Voices, a new program to change the conversation and ensure that all of our voices are heard. Through this program, the Women’s Media Center will train, brief and support 15 progressive women whose stories and expertise are critically missing from the national debate.
The Women’s Media Center is seeking participants who represent diverse backgrounds, with experience and knowledge of specific subject areas and with strong communication skills which they will help to further develop. Full program details are available here.
We need your help now – to identify these women and give them a chance to receive the training and support they deserve.
So tell us: Who are the great women out there whose voices deserve to be heard, but who are not yet a part of the national dialogue? Leave your suggestions here, and we’ll make sure that the program information gets in their hands.
And if you’re reading this and think that you may be that woman, then let us know. Whether your expertise is war or peace, leadership, climate change, health care, or technology, chances are you follow the news, and realize that progressive women’s voices, like yours, are missing.
This is something I wrote almost a year ago, and I thought it would be nice to include it here.
WHO WILL “STAND BY YOU”? — by Catherine Morgan
One of my favorite songs to listen to is, “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders — you can play the song at the bottom of this post. I was listening to it today in the car (while riding home from my mammogram). I began to think about how nice it is to know that someone will “stand by you” no matter what. As a mom, I will “stand by” my kids no matter what…I think they know that (especially since I play the song all the time and tell them). The song always makes me think about how lucky people are when they know (really know) that they have someone who will “stand by them” no matter what.
Sometimes when we are feeling down, and life isn’t going our way, and we feel all alone…..That’s the time we find out who will “stand by us”. It’s sad in a way, that it takes tragedy, or pain to find out who the people in our life are that will “stand by us”, even in our darkest hours. The people who are like angels on earth to us–Connie. The people who were like angels on earth to us–Becky. The people that pick us up when we feel like we are in a never ending free fall of grief–Dawny. The people who save us when we just want to die–Vicki. The people who support us when we can barley support ourselves–Frances Ellen. I feel sad for the people who have perfect lives and never get to really find out who these people are in their lives. It is truly the one great blessing that comes out of our heartache and pain.
My name is Catherine Morgan, and I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. Above are links to my blogs, that also list many of the posts and articles that I've written for them.
I'm also at BlogHer Health & Wellness.
Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer? You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you’re told… maybe not. How would you cope?
How difficult was it growing up with psoriasis and at such a young age?
Well yes, I was diagnosed when I was two, so I pretty much don’t know anything other than having it…by the time I was six I was 80% covered, everything but my hands, feet and face. It was very debilitating physically and mentally. Even as a child having people really not understanding what the disease is and thinking it was contagious and trying to stay away from me. My parents really did a good job of covering it up, especially my mom, [with] the way she dressed me. And it was hard, it was hard being in the public eye. ‘Til the time I was 13 I wasn’t really able to wear dresses (short dresses) on the red carpet, or shorts in the middle of the summer…I would always wear jeans. It was really tough; it took a toll on my self esteem for a long time.
Did other children tease you when you were a child?
Yes, I would sometimes miss out on pool parties and things because I would never want to be around other girls with my bathing suite on – because they really didn’t understand what it was.
[The 
