Sunday, April 25, 2010

Getting a Life - Getting ourselves up and out

Healthy striving goes along with healthy self-esteem. And when your self-esteem is alive and well, you tend to live from the inside out. I came across this interesting article about how to stop being so hard on yourself. Why is this important? Because being hard on ourselves stop us exploring and living.
Treatment: The Get a Life Game
Now it's time to kick off your Perfectionitis treatment plan.
Pick one or two of the the following items. Do it for three days and watch yourPerfectionitis. subside.

Please don't try to do this perfectly ... small steps are the surest way to succeed.

1. Center Yourself. Take in three deep breaths of tenderness. Let out three deep breaths of fatigue. Brava! You just took a step toward replenishing yourself. Way to go!

2. Ask for the Greater Good. As Mayor, take a moment and claim your office, and ask that your choices that are aligned with the highest good for all concerned.

3. Set Your Intention. Set the intention to be gentle with yourself and to honor all of you.

4. Just Say No. Take a look at what's on your schedule. Write down what you plan to get done today. How much time have you marked out for each item? Double it. Stuff takes longer than you think. What items on your list need to be removed? Say no to those tasks and renegotiate their timeline. Dr. Andrew Jacobs, one of the country's top sports psychologists, has helped many champions cultivate the mental attitudes that make them winners. He suggests to clients, "Learn to say no. Learn to let go."

5. Get Real. That's not all. Where is your You Time? If you don't schedule in time for yourself, who will? As Mayor, plan a recess break of at least 15 minutes. And make sure you keep it.

6. Get Really Real. Take a peep at your To Do List. Are your goals realistic? Or would you need to clone yourself to get everything done? Take a tip from my friend David Allen. Make a Maybe Someday List of those items you'd like to get to but can't at the moment. Check your Maybe Someday List weekly to see if the status has changed.

7. Get Really, Really Real. Stop being the Lone Ranger. Pick up the phone. Ask for help or advice. You probably have a pal who excels in an area that isn't your best.

8. Keep It Real. Sharing support is a sure sign of being in Perfectionitis recovery. There is nothing like pairing up with somebody to help you get real. Check in with each other. Having a buddy will help you to keep your commitment to take care of you while setting more realistic goals.

9. Praise and Prize. Congratulate yourself often. Even for the silly little things. " Boy, what a good job of flossing I did today." "Bravo, that was a superb meal I prepared for the cat." The more you praise yourself, the less you will be driven to seek praise from others.

10. Thank Yourself. Thank yourself for making any fabulous choice to take back your life.

Eli Davidson: How to Stop Being So Hard on Yourself
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Sustained weight loss - is Gym a false Trail?

A low impact discipline like Yoga or Chi Gung can be better for long-term health gains than just attending the Gym. The mix of stress lowering mindfullness and improved cardio-vascular circulation is a big part of the difference. Another point that's often overlooked though, is that 2 or three times during the working day, we can take time out to do a quick, calming sub-routine from Chi-Gung or Tai Chi. The moves lower stress, and restore better breathing. There is no need for equipment, and we can go into the stairwell, or the printer area if we need a quiet moment to ourselves. Tara Stiles has written more about this and attached a video:
People need and want to lose weight, and being drawn into the practice of yoga by the lure of a tight tummy is often stronger than the lure of being more in touch with yourself. The big secret in my message is: there is no difference between being in touch with yourself, living a healthy life, and maintaining a healthy weight. If "Tone my butt" gets you on the mat, then I'm fully prepared to tone my butt right along with you.

Yoga brings you back to you. It is entirely experiential. People wonder how can a bunch of low impact activity lead to weight loss? Well, for starters attending a yoga class, or carving out a home practice that brings you to your edge and challenges you physically, will burn calories, blast fat, and tone everything up without harming your joints. But that's only part of the equation. I've gone through piles of modern research that is starting to catch up with what has always been true. In short, yoga works.

A regular yoga practice leads to a healthy body and mind. You will lose the weight, keep it off, and not feel like you are punishing yourself. We've been brainwashed that poisonous foods are fun to eat. When you have a regular yoga practice you'll be drawn to eat foods that are healthy and promote a healthy lifestyle. And the best part ... you'll actually enjoy them without feeling deprived. By contrast, a good gym workout might do very little for weight loss, instead leading us to eat more (often unhealthy) food. A recent New York TImes Magazine article titled "Weighing the Evidence on Exercise" points out that exercise alone is "especially useless because people often end up consuming more calories when they exercise." So we need something more than the gym. Maintaining a healthy weight isn't a vanity issue, it's a health issue. And your health should be a priority.

Tara Stiles: The Real Deal Weight Loss Plan (VIDEO)
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Treating Depression without Drugs

Dr Mark Hyman keeps coming up with some interesting claims. There's a new study in The New England Journal of Medicine that suggests that our huge consumption of antidepressants might just be based on misleading claims. I'm not so sure, because I've seen interesting changes in people on antidepressants. However, Dr Hyman has some really useful tips on treating depression without drugs.:
7 Steps to Treat Depression without Drugs

1. Try an anti-inflammatory elimination diet that gets rid of common food allergens. As I mentioned above, food allergies and the resultant inflammation have been connected with depression and other mood disorders.

2. Check for hypothyroidism. This unrecognized epidemic is a leading cause of depression. Make sure to have thorough thyroid exam if you are depressed.

3. Take vitamin D. Deficiency in this essential vitamin can lead to depression. Supplement with at least 2,000 to 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day.

4. Take omega-3 fats. Your brain is made of up this fat, and deficiency can lead to a host of problems. Supplement with 1,000 to 2,000 mg of purified fish oil a day.

5. Take adequate B12 (1,000 micrograms, or mcg, a day), B6 (25 mg) and folic acid (800 mcg). These vitamins are critical for metabolizing homocysteine, which can play a factor in depression.

6. Get checked for mercury. Heavy metal toxicity has been correlated with depression and other mood and neurological problems.

7. Exercise vigorously five times a week for 30 minutes. This increases levels of BDNF, a natural antidepressant in your brain.

Overcoming depression is an important step toward lifelong vibrant health. These are just of few of the easiest and most effective things you can do to treat depression. But there are even more, which you can address by simply working through the 7 Keys to UltraWellness.

Mark Hyman, MD: Why Antidepressants Don't Work for Treating Depression