The 411 on Wellness

How Chemistry Drives Behavior

Many people come to see me because they don’t feel well, they’re depressed or anxious.  Sometimes this is accompanied by physical symptoms, as well.  These clients tend to believe that the way they feel is their own fault, that they’re defective.  I’m here to tell you it’s not true! 

Chemistry drives behavior 100% of the time.

If your body’s chemistry is balanced, your behavior will be balanced.  Likewise, if something with the chemistry of your body is out of balance, some aspect of your behavior will be off balance.

Here’s an example:

You feel like you’re having a heart attack and you go to the emergency room.  They tell you there’s nothing wrong with your heart - it might be anxiety.  You’re alarmed by this because you are not anxious and you’ve never had a panic attack in your life.  What’s going on? 

You come to me, and I find that you have a lack of magnesium or not enough B vitamins, or that your hormones are changing, etc.  So what’s happened is your body’s chemistry has changed… maybe you are depleted in some nutrient.  I would simply give your body what’s missing, and you would feel better again.

So, it’s not really about you having panic or anxiety.

It’s about your body saying, “There’s something going on here, and this is what I’m feeling.” Your body’s symptoms are simply the language it speaks to get your attention. If you are willing to listen to your body objectively in this way, you can find ways to heal yourself while truly honoring yourself in the process.

Another example I could use is that your 12 year old can’t focus at school. Instead of rushing to put him on meds for ADD – you could maybe change his diet and even add a few brain nutrients such as fish oil and B vitamins.

So, it isn’t always about something being wrong with you or you being an emotional wreck.  It isn’t that there’s something wrong with your son because he can’t sit still and focus.  It’s often way beyond that.  That’s why I’m always looking for the root of the problem; if I can fix your chemistry, you can feel better, you can feel at peace, and you get to that state of health that you want to be in… that’s the take-home message here!

 

Exercise and Well-Being

Did you begin 2012 with the resolution to get healthy?  Three weeks into the New Year, how are you doing with that resolution?  I always say that improving your health consists of simple things:  a healthy diet, lots of water, adequate sleep, and exercise.  Let’s talk about exercise.

Our bodies are designed to move. 

When we’re not in movement, we’re stagnant.  Our lymph system is a system that is designed to detoxify or help rid our blood system of waste products or toxins.  It’s an anaerobic system, and it doesn’t move unless you move. Thus, your natural detoxing machine becomes stagnant. So if you’re sedentary, you’ve already got more toxins in your body. 

Movement is key. 

Again, our bodies are designed to move.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a 15 minute walk every day, an hour of aerobics, yoga or twenty minutes of weights three times a week.  Whatever kind of rhythm you can incorporate is going to help. 

You don’t have to be obsessive about exercise.

Some people don’t bother to exercise because they feel that if they don’t get in an hour of exercise six days a week, then it’s not worth it.  Not so. Take a walk in the morning, at lunch or in the evening.  Take advantage of our nice weather when you get home from work, and take a walk.  Walking and swimming are considered some of the best overall exercises for your body.

 

Exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym.

You can do everything at home: 

• You can buy an exercise tape and do it at home. 
• They have Wii fit now; a lot of my patients are doing Wii fit because they have various activities and exercises that are really fun. 
• There’s a fabulous station on cable or YouTube called Fit TV that has core training, belly dancing, yoga, stretching, ball exercises, ab workouts -  everything.
• As we age it’s really important to incorporate some weight-bearing exercise for our bone density and our muscle tone because you lose muscle tone as you age.  So, you can combine walking with small dumbbells.
• It’s important to stretch if you sit all day.  Remember – our bodies are designed to move.

It’s more about cross-training.

The more well-rounded you can make your exercise by combining different activities, the better.

• Cardio
• Weight-bearing exercises
• Stretching/deep breathing
• Fun

Don’t leave out the fun of exercise.

If there’ something that you really enjoy, like hiking in the mountains or dancing, seek it out because if you’re going to have fun at it, you’re going to be more prone to do it regularly and to stick to it.

Stick to It!

That’s really the key with everything.  Be consistent.  Do whatever you need to do; go to the gym, exercise at home, go for neighborhood walks, or play at the beach.  Exercise is extremely important to your well-being and is necessary to enable your body to do what it’s supposed to do.

So don’t give up on yourself...you can do it!

 

I am a Human "Being"

I have often used this phrase with clients, family and friends, “I am a human being, NOT a human doing!” It’s cute, it’s catchy – but what does it really mean?

To me this means that we need to honor our lives in a more reverent way and allow ourselves to just BE more often. We have such pressures and so many obligations these days that it feels more like a race than a life. And I am all about having a quality life.

So how exactly do we put this into practice?

I think there are thousands of ways to put this into practice on a daily basis. It’s the big things and the little things and everything in between. It’s learning to slow down and smell the flowers, it’s learning to just say no, but thank you. It could even mean learning to say YES!

I think there is a little voice inside all of us that knows how – we simply need to start listening to it and when possible, allow ourselves to follow our inner guidance. It takes courage, and it takes patience but I guarantee it will be worth it. Being is not about doing, although it can be about taking action when that feels authentic.

Now I am not giving license here to lie around all day eating bon-bons, what I’m talking about is the genuine act of just being. This could mean being more present with your kids, being kind to yourself, being more realistic about your schedule, being mindful about your health, maybe being the observer more often. It could also mean lying on the couch watching a movie on a rainy day instead of running around “doing” all of the things on your to-do list once in a while.

I say it every year - winter is the time of year to reflect, go within, do less, and nourish ourselves. Instead we are usually rushing around buying gifts, going to holiday parties, eating rich foods and in general burning the candle at both ends.

Let this be the year you give yourself the Ultimate Gift…the gift of allowing yourself to just BE.

Ah, doesn’t that feel nice?

 

Goodbye my friend…

They say that all good things must come to an end and I guess my 40+ year love affair with chocolate is finally coming to an end. I haven’t had chocolate or any sugar for that matter in over 18 days and counting! It started off as a 3 day experiment and here I am 18 days later.

I have known for a long time that I needed to say goodbye to this beloved friend. I have done the same with many other bad habits, and this one is my last.  It feels strangely empowering - even for this short period of time.

We sometimes have choices to make that aren’t always easy – but can often improve our quality of life. All it takes is a little courage and a lot of self talk! It seems that I am having more and more opportunities to reflect on what is good for my life now.

We so often live in the past or just stay stuck in our habits because it’s what we’ve always known, and it is comfortable. Of course it’s scary to make changes - but what I am talking about here is getting to that place where it is really beneficial to evaluate your life in order to see if your current circumstances are still serving you.

This past year or so has been one of many changes for me. Some were comfortable and some…not so much. There are also people I have grown apart from for various reasons who I still think of – I miss them and wish them well on their journey.

And just as important there have been quite a few things that I have come to terms with that needed my attention, things that needed to be changed or released that have been difficult but necessary nonetheless. What I am learning is that the older I get the more honest I have to be with myself so that I can grow and flourish. That line pops up in my head every once in a while “just do it”.

I will miss my wonderful daily dark chocolate indulgence, not to say that I won’t ever eat it again, but I am grown up enough to know that the habit became an addiction and it no longer serves me.  Therefore I say farewell to a friend with great appreciation for what it provided me – all the while knowing that this change opens the pathway for my greater good.

What is Time?

I absolutely love 3 day weekends! The strange thing for me is that it seems I just had that exact thought…only that was 3 months ago during Memorial Day weekend.

Wow…where does the time go? I mean seriously – this year just flew by. I know I am not the only one feeling it - I hear it from my clients, my friends and even from strangers. The internet is full of websites that are actually devoted to the subject. And if you follow the Mayan Calendar philosophy you may have read that it is now considered the “Fourth Night of the Ninth Wave” and in regards to time it means that 18 days is now comparable to what 365 days used to be!

So, what are we to do? Well I have been pondering this all summer. There were so many things on my to do list that I was sure I would have plenty of time for – only to find that here we are in the beginning of September and I did not do most of them. Ugh!

It isn’t the end of the world that I didn’t get these things done, it’s just that I know time is really a concept, and I have never really had a good grasp on it. So I made it my business to try and get a better grasp on what I could do to feel better equipped to manage my time.

After reading many articles in scientific journals, I found that scientists, physicists, philosophers, scholars and laymen have been trying to understand what time is since way before the days of Einstein. I was comforted by the knowledge that “time” did not exist until we (man) decided it did. We were the ones who transformed time into clocks and calendars.

I then realized that I could personally transform my relationship with time, which ultimately brought me a sense of peace.

Here are some of my new coping strategies regarding time:

• Change your expectations…of everything!
• Don’t view time as something tangible, embrace it as what it is - motion.
• More than ever try to just go with the flow.
• The motion of time equates to change, which is what life is all about.
• Lose the word “lack” in regards to time – there will always be more available.
• If even the most brilliant scientists can’t fully explain time, let’s not try to either.

Might I recommend just enjoying your time as much as possible. Be grateful for little gifts of “extra” time – which I plan to do right now…for Labor Day.