What do you think of you?

Here's a big one and a lot of people struggle wit it. Write down 5 things that you like about yourself. It could be qualities, skills, personality traits, etc. Then find 5 things that you like about your body. These positive views about yourself will set up your mind to focus on what is great about you. You will feel better about yourself and about your goal of getting healthier.

Think positive.

One thing that I have noticed with weight loss clients is that they have a tendency to put themselves down. And that includes their achievement. When you lose your first 5 pounds, be proud of yourself. Don't focus on the fact that you still have a lot to lose.

So, what do you focus on? Your shortcomings and defeats? Do you wonder why it keeps coming back? Would it be so hard to focus on what is going right? You have to acknowledge your daily success. Make a list of what went well today. At home in the morning, your commute, your work day, lunch time, your workout, etc... Make an effort to write down all the good stuff that happens in the day. It will change your outlook.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world - Buddha

What's on your mind?

No I'm not trying to copy Facebook. I just want to alert you on what you are thinking about. Your mind is very powerful when it comes to your state of wellness and health. We have all heard about miracles that have happened to people with positive attitude. Have you ever looked up the definition of think? It goes like this "exercise the mind positively with one's idea; become mentally aware". Wow, that says it all. And yes it is an exercise. The more you think positively, the easier it gets. Just like any skill.

Deflate your stress by inflating your lungs.

Imagine that you cannot breathe for 2 minutes. Your conscious of it and for some reason you just cannot get a breath in. Would you feel stressed? I bet you would. And your internal organs would be stressed also because the level of CO2 would increase. And most of us get our bodies stressed by not breathing properly. This time we are not conscious of it. But the rest of your body is.

So in order to reduce the level of stress on your body, I suggest you take breathing breaks. Every hour, you take 5 deep breaths. Breath as deep as you can by inflating your belly, hold for a second and expel. If you do this right, you will automatically feel more relaxed. Try it and let me know what you think.

What do you think is most important?

What do you think is the most important element to your health and wellness? Food? Water? Exercise? I put my money on air, or better yet, oxygen. How long can you survive without it? So why is it that most people do not know how to breath? Why do we just take it for granted and don't really focus on it if it is so important to our survival?

First we need to ask ourselves, what is breathing? If you consult the dictionary, it will tell you that breathe is "to take air into and expel from the lungs" Pretty self explanatory isn't it. And how do we breathe well? In order to get enough oxygen in and expel CO2, we need to practice deep breathing. Breathing from your belly and involving your diaphragm. By doing so, your cells will have a better environment to work with and you will feel a greater sense of wellness. My next post will be about a breathing exercise.

The pillars of wellness

I got this concept after coming across the pyramid of needs of Abraham Maslow. At the bottom, you find basic physiological needs: food, and water. And only after these needs are met can you go up the pyramid. The next level is safety, like shelter. Then you get into social aspects and intimacy. The fourth level is self-esteem and then self-actualization. When you attain that fifth level, you can be all that you can be.

So I started thinking how as humans we do not respect that hierarchy. I mean, we don't nourish ourselves well and we expect to perform at a high level. How many men have poor health and just take Viagra? We have bad sleep habits and we expect to be patient with the kids.

So what I want to do is to bring you back to your basic needs. Or more your body's basic needs. And by fulfilling those needs it will be easier to deal with the other stresses of life. If you treat your body well, it will treat you well in return. This blog is to educate and give you strategies on the 7 pillars of wellness.