5 Simple Steps to take to improve your health

Audra McDonie / Health & Wellness / Leave a Comment

There is an inordinate amount of information on the subject of health. It is no wonder that we get confused and overwhelmed when trying to make healthier life choices. After a lot of research, I have narrowed it down to five things you can do to really make a difference in your overall health!

What defines a healthy person?

doesn’t smoke (anything)
works to maintain a healthy weight
eats healthy whole foods
drinks alcohol in moderation (or not at all)
knows how to manage stress in a healthy way
gets quality sleep
emotionally fit

Making a change in your life is difficult. It is more manageable if you try to make a small change each day. Below are five things that will improve your overall health. Take it slow and work towards a healthier you, one day at a time.

1. Diet

Your diet is undeniably the biggest determinant of how healthy you will be.

“A healthy approach to eating is centered on savoring flavor, eating to satisfaction and increasing energy rather than focusing on weight.”
Gaiam.com

Ways to improve your diet:

Eat a diet consisting of whole grains, lean protein, vegetable and legumes.

Whole grain examples: Brown rice, oatmeal, popcorn, whole wheat pasta, bread or crackers

Lean protein examples: white fish (cod, haddock, tilapia flounder), plain greek yogurt, beans, peas and lentils, skinless chicken, low fat cottage cheese, lean beef, powdered peanut butter (it has less calories than regular peanut butter and is great for dipping)

The best bang for your buck legumes and veggies: chickpeas, lentils, peas, kidney beans and soybeans. Spinach, carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale

Be sure to get enough calcium and vitamin D in the food you eat.

Examples of food with calcium: cheese, yogurt, milk, sardines, dark leafy greens, fortified cereal (raisin bran and corn flakes have a lot), fortified orange juice

Examples of food with vitamin D: salmon, herring and sardines, cod liver oil, canned tuna, egg yolks, mushrooms, cow’s milk

Cut out unhealthy saturated fats and replace with healthier fats.

Unhealthy fats: commercially baked pastries and sweets, packaged snack foods, stick margarine, fried foods

Healthy fats: avocados, cheese, dark chocolate, whole eggs, fatty fish, nuts, chia seeds, extra virgin oil

Other easy things you can do to improve your diet:

-Eat one extra fruit or vegetable a day

– Stop drinking calories and cut out soda

-Choose fresh over processed foods

-Drink water (a half an ounce to an ounce for each pound you weigh, ex. if you weigh 150 lbs. you should drink 75 to 150 ounces of water per day)

-Limit alcohol consumption

2. Exercise

“If you want to live well and live longer, you must exercise.”
gaiam.com

One of the easiest things you can do to improve your health is to sit less and move more. You can do this through a planned workout or you can do it by changing little things you do throughout your day. Exercise helps alleviate depression, reduces stress and makes your body healthier.

Ways to move more:

planned workout: running, walking, weight training, sports, etc..
Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator.
Park in a space that is faraway from the entrance.
Walk the perimeter of a big box store before you shop.
Walk and talk while on the phone.
Take your lunch outside, preferably somewhere you have to walk to.
Buy a stand up desk
Workout while watching tv
While sitting at your desk, set a reminder so you remember to get up, walk around and stretch.

3. Learn to Manage Stress

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
William James

Stress Relievers:

Connect with nature
Listen to music
Meditate
Talk to a friend
Take a bath or a shower
Do deep breathing exercises (Check out my blog on sleep for some relaxation exercises: https://www.introvertview.com/how-to-get-a-good-nights-rest)
Reduce caffeine intake

4. Get Enough Sleep

“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep”
E. Joseph Cossman

Getting a good night’s sleep is another important aspect of overall health.

Benefits of a good night’s sleep:

lowers blood pressure
improves memory
reduces stress
Healthy immune system
Heart health
Reduces chance of getting diabetes
Helps with maintaining a healthy weight

I recently wrote a blog called “How To Get A Good Night’s Rest” https://www.introvertview.com/how-to-get-a-good-nights-rest/ please check it out to see some great tips on how to get a good nights sleep.

5. Improve Your Emotional Fitness

“Emotional fitness is the state wherein the mind is capable of staying away from negative thoughts and can focus on creative and constructive tasks. Being emotionally fit is the key to success in all aspects of life.”
Dr. Brooke R. Envick and Rick Martinez

Are your emotions all over the place? Do you struggle with constant negative self talk that makes you feel anxious, depressed and guilty all the time. Feeling like this is definitely not good for your emotional or physical health and there are many ways in which to improve your emotional fitness, so you can become a resilient, emotionally mature and mentally strong human being.

How to Build Emotional Fitness:

Stop the rumination spirals. (endlessly criticizing yourself for past mistakes and what you think are your shortcomings as a person) Remember how we think, is how we feel. A positive thought is empowering and a negative thought is disempowering. So how do we stop the negativity and bring the positivity into our lives?

Mindful Meditation: Take 5 minutes each day to strengthen your attention muscle. Focus your attention on your breathing. Thoughts, feelings, sounds will float across your brain, that is normal, all you have to do is bring your attention back to your breathing. It is difficult at first, just like working out your muscles by exercising is hard when you first begin. The more you do it though the more you will have control over where you concentrate your attention.

Talk to yourself. The more a negative thought is allowed to ruminate unnoticed the more negative emotion it will generate. That is where talking to yourself comes in, if you are thinking about something negative and you catch yourself, say out loud – “No, I’m not going to think like that.” What this does is put distance between your thoughts and yourself. It makes you more self aware and more in control of what goes on in your own head.
Seek Counseling. This is an amazing way to help build your emotional fitness. It not only gives you a place to share your feelings, but also gives you access to positive input and priceless advice on how to live a better life.
Try the practice of expressive writing. What this involves is writing continuously for 20 minutes about an issue, exploring your deepest thoughts and feelings about it. While writing do not worry if the writing is good, it is only important that you are getting the thoughts down on paper. What this does is allow us to confront ideas, which lead to new perspectives. A 1988 study showed that people who did expressive writing for four days were healthier six weeks later and happier up to three months later.

I hope that you were able to take away some information that will help you to improve your overall health. Remember, change just one small thing a day and before you know it you’ll be a healthier you!

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How to get a good Night’s rest

Audra McDonie / Health & Wellness / 1 Comment

“A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”
Irish Proverb

A good night’s sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health. According to Sleepfoundation.org one-third of adults experience chronic insomnia. I have suffered with insomnia on and off for the last few years and I am always looking for different things that I can do to improve the quality of my sleep.

Stress and anxiety are often the culprit of sleep issues. When are bodies are tense, they release hormones that make us more awake and alert. Our breathing becomes faster and our heart rate and blood pressure increase. None of these things help to entice sleep. Instead of activating the stress response we need to turn it around, and activate the relaxation response instead. This will help us to calm our minds and relax our bodies so that we can drift off and have a restful night’s sleep.

Relaxation Techniques For Better Sleep

Breathing Exercises

Start by taking 10 deep breaths while lying in bed. This alone may be enough to slow your breathing and make you calm enough to go to sleep.

Diaphragmatic Breathing:

While lying down put one hand on your upper chest and the other hand at the top of the belly right below the rib cage.
Breathe in through your nose so your belly pushes hard against your hand (your other hand and chest should remain as still as possible)
While keeping your chest still, tighten your stomach muscles and exhale through pursed lips.
Then repeat this process 3-5 times.

Visualization Exercises

Body Scans are a type of meditation where you focus attention on different parts of the body.

Take a few deep breaths.
Bring your attention to your feet, notice if you are holding tension in them.
If you notice tension or discomfort visualize it leaving your toes through your breath.
Then move your focus to each part of your body from your feet all the way to your forehead.

Other Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Increase natural sunlight or bright light during the day. It helps keep your circadian rhythm (natural time keeping clock) healthy.

Reduce blue light exposure at night. Stop watching all electronic devices at least an hour before going to bed. This is good for you in general, not just for sleep.

Don’t consume caffeine late in the day. Actually some studies have shown that even having a caffeinated drink six hours before you go to bed can still affect your sleep.

Get up and go to sleep around the same time every day.

Keep your bedroom cool. This is one of the more significant things you can do to improve overall sleep. Studies have shown that temps between 60 degrees and 69 degrees are optimal for sleeping.

A comfortable mattress and pillow. This is has been a game changer for me. My husband and I did a lot of research (he actually more than me) on mattresses and pillows and I think we came up with the perfect combo. The Purple bed and the Eden pillow by Coop. It really does make a huge difference when you find a comfortable mattress and pillow that are just right for you.

Don’t eat late at night before you go to bed. Don’t worry you can still have a little snack at night, but try to have it at least 2 hours before you are going to turn in.

Exercise regularly. According to Healthline.com, exercise reduces time to sleep by 55%, total night wakefulness by 30% and anxiety by 18%, while increasing total sleep by 18%. So exercise is a game changer when it comes to getting more z’s.

Declutter your bedroom. Studies have shown that the more cluttered the bedroom, the more likely you are to have a sleep disorder. So clean up those rooms and get organized so you can sleep sounder and cleaner!

These are some of the things that have helped me to get a good night’s rest. I hope that you will give some of these tips a try and that they will help you sleep better than you ever have before. Don’t let the bed bug’s bite!

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Be Artistic! It’s a great way to express your emotions

Audra McDonie / Health & Wellness / Leave a Comment

Art therapy helps people explore their inner world through creatively expressing what is going on with them emotionally. For some, it is easier to express emotion non-verbally, and that is what this unique therapy allows people to do.

Art Therapy Techniques:

Drawing
Painting
Coloring
Sculpting
Collage

The basic premise of the process is to create art, and then analyze how what you made makes you feel. You explore themes and conflicts in your art that may be affecting thoughts, emotions and behaviors. All ages of people can benefit from art therapy and it requires no special artistic ability or talent.

This therapy has been around since the 1940’s. Doctors noticed that people suffering from mental illness often did drawings and other artwork to express themselves. They then explored it as a healing technique. Art has become an important part of the therapy field.

Art Therapy Helps:

Mental disorders
Behavior or social problems
Trauma
Stress
Learning disabilities
Brain injuries
Age related issues
Substance abuse
Cancer
and more…

There are many settings where art therapy can be done, some of them include: impatient offices, private health offices, schools and art studios. An art therapy session differs from a regular art class because in an art class you learn technique and your objective is on the finished product. In art therapy, you focus on the inner experience, perceptions, imagination and feelings.

You can also do art therapy at home. It is a great self care activity. A 2016 study published in The Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, found that just 45 minutes of creative activity can reduce stress and put you in a more relaxed state. It is also a great hobby that gives you time to yourself and leaves you with something that you created. It is also a great way to get into a “state of flow” Flow is when you are so involved in what you are doing, you lose track of time. Anytime you are in a state of flow, you are more relaxed and happy.

3 Artistic Activities To Do At Home To Improve Your Sense of Wellbeing:

Draw what you feel – Realistically or abstractly. It can help you express feelings that you can’t get out in words. Draw with a pencil in a sketchbook, or go crazy and get some colored pencils or even some paint. It is really up to you how you want to express yourself!
Keep a Gratitude Journal – Write down 3-5 things you’re grateful for and then find pictures of things and places you love. (either printed from the internet or go old school and cut them out of magazines.) Make a collage around what you are grateful for with the pictures. Collaging is a great artistic outlet and the pictures you choose to add to your collage will give you insight into yourself.
Color– Coloring is relaxing and requires mindfulness and concentration in the moment. It is an excellent artistic activity to relieve stress and help you into a relaxed “state of flow.”

Here is a picture from my gratitude journal: (See? No artistic talent needed!)

I really enjoyed doing this. I was completely engrossed in the process. I even incorporated some drawings and coloring in it. It definitely relaxed me, and I didn’t think of anything else while I was doing it. I think I even got into “a state of flow.” I think art therapy is a wonderful way to become more in touch with feelings and emotions and it is something that I am going to try to do more often.

If you would like more information on art therapy or if you would like to know where to find a professional art therapist, please click here: www.arttherapy.org. to learn more at The American Art Therapy Association website.

“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.”— Edward Hopper

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9 Simple Ways to Improve your Self Esteem

Audra McDonie / Health & Wellness, Self-Help / 3 Comments

Self esteem is an individual’s evaluation of their own worth. It is what you believe to be true about yourself. I’m not sure why, but we tend to be our own harshest critics. Low self esteem can negatively affect every part of your life including your relationships, your job and even your health. So it’s probably not a stretch to say, that seeing your worth and loving yourself can definitely change your life for the better. So let’s do it!

How to Improve Self Esteem

Are your thoughts True? Are the thoughts and views you are having about yourself consistent with facts and logic? It is difficult to see mistakes in your thinking because many of these thoughts are ones that you have long held and they can feel normal and factual even though they are just opinions or perceptions. Write down these self defeating thoughts and challenge them. Make yourself come up with definitive facts and reasons for the bad things you are thinking about yourself. You will be very surprised to find that you won’t be able to come up with facts for what you are thinking, and you will see there is no reason to be beating yourself up!

List Your Accomplishments: Write down everything that you’ve done in your life that you feel proud of and everything that you feel you have done well. These are facts about yourself that you can read when you need a boost of self confidence!

Create Personal Boundaries: What are your personal boundaries? Many people allow other people to treat them poorly. It is hard to feel good about yourself if you are allowing friends, family or co-workers to take advantage of or disrespect you. The first step is to define for yourself what someone crossing the line looks like to you. Then when someone crosses it, you need to know how you will respond to them. This will give you a clear idea of what you will put up with and what you won’t, then when that personal boundary is crossed you will be aware and know how to handle it. Standing up for yourself shows you have self respect and that you are your own best advocate. It will also without a doubt help you to feel better about yourself!

Exercise: I cannot say enough about exercise as a way to boost your self esteem. It’s benefits are two fold. First, when you exercise and get your blood pumping, your overall mental state will improve. Cardiovascular exercise increases endorphins, dopamine and adrenaline. These are all brain chemicals associated with feeling happy, confident and capable. They also help you feel less anxiety, stress and less physical pain. Secondly, exercise makes your body look better, thus making you feel better about yourself. Exercise gives you a lot of bang for your buck in improving the way you feel and see yourself!

Do Things That Make You Happy: We are so busy these days. We run blindly from one commitment and chore to another. It is easy to go weeks and even months without doing anything that you find fun and relaxing. Schedule a little time every day to do something that you enjoy and let it be something that is just for you. This is a great way to get to know yourself and to find out what makes you happy. It will make you a more content person and thus will make you feel better about yourself and your life.

Celebrate The Small Things You Do Well: This is very simple. At the end of each day, write down 3 things that you did well. It doesn’t have to be anything earth shattering. It could just be the cool outfit you put together for yourself, or crossing 3 things off your to do list, or the delicious chicken parmesan you made for dinner. It is just a way for you to acknowledge the good stuff you do every day, but usually just ignore. Give your self props every day, you deserve it!

Become Mindful Of Your Self Talk: Negative self talk is not good. You need to become aware of it and by doing that you can work on not believing it and then add some positive self talk to balance it out. Meditation teacher Allan Lokos says, “don’t believe everything you think, thoughts are just that, thoughts.” My father told me something when I was a teenager that changed my life. He told me my mind was just a huge computer, full of information – information goes in and thoughts are made, but my mind is just a tool, it is not my master. If you look at your thoughts as just random manufactured things made up by a computer, you probably wouldn’t take everything you thought so seriously. Use your mind as a tool, be discriminating about your thoughts and you be the master of it. This will change your life and the way you feel about yourself!

Don’t Compare Yourself To Others: I know when you look around on social media or in your own neighborhood it seems like everyone has the perfect life with no concerns or worries. Believe me when I tell you that this is a false narrative and one that will only lead to you being unhappy. Everyone has their own set of obstacles and challenges. Nobody in this thing called life gets away without things to overcome. That is what life is all about, without these, we would not enjoy when things are going great. Remember nobody has a charmed life except in the fantasy worlds of Instagram and Facebook!

Being of Service To Others: Volunteering or lending someone a helping hand takes you out of your own head. If you are busy helping someone who is less fortunate then you, it gives you a different perspective and it keeps you from thinking too much about yourself. Also when you help others it makes you feel proud of and respect yourself, which makes it easier to recognize your own worth!

I hope that this blog has given you some tools to use to help you to feel better about yourself and puts you further along the path to loving yourself. Remember you are an amazing, unique and wonderful human being who deserves all the best this life has to offer!

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The traditional way to smudge

Audra McDonie / Health & Wellness / Leave a Comment

When I began the research for this blog, I found that there was a lot written on the subject of smudging. However, the more research I did, the more I realized that a lot of the information is a watered down version of the Native American tradition. I decided I wanted to learn the traditional way the ritual is done and the reasons it is performed.

According to Steve Coyote, a Native American educator, Native Americans believe that the power of herbs and healing are the best solutions to rid the body or environment of unwanted thoughts, feelings, spirits and energy. Smudging is a ritual that is used to clear people and places of elements that are not contributing to their well being. It has been used for centuries in every Native American culture within the Western Hemisphere.

Why Do A Smudging Session?

To better the lives of people and the places they live
Bridge between higher realms, bringing in good spirits and eliminating negative and stagnant ones.
To lift away sadness, impurities, anxieties and remediate poor health, leaving nothing but peace and harmony.

Herbs Used:

Sage – Cleanses away negative energy and brings strength, clarity and wisdom
Cedar – Cleanses and purifies, eliminates bad energy within people and objects. Also helps with a connection to the spiritual world.
Sweetgrass – Carries prayers to the spirit world. Also, attracts good spirits and positive energy.

How to Smudge:

Items needed:

Large clay bowl (many beautiful ones available on Etsy)
Herbs of your choosing (Sage, cedar or sweet grass)
Wooden matches
Feather to wave smoke

Open a window to allow a steady airflow
Stay in the moment and focused
Put the herbs in the bowl and use a match to ignite them. Let them flame up for 20-30 seconds, before you put them out. Put them out by holding your hand above them to deprive them of oxygen. (blowing them out is the incorrect way to put out the flame.)
Smoke will begin to rise from the bowl, rub your hands in the smoke and then gather the smoke and bring it in to your body and rub it on yourself, especially in areas you feel you need spiritual healing. (You can also use the feather for this)
Keep praying all the while that unseen powers of the plant will cleanse your spirit.

“We were taught to look for dark spots in a persons spirit body. You have to “see” a person’s spirit body glowing around them, and where there’s dark or foggy parts you brush the smoke into those holes in the “spirit body.” This helps to heal the spirit and close the holes.”

6. Next, start to cleanse the space in the room, moving the smoke in a slow and relaxed way. Go into every corner of every room and over every item in each room.

If you want to cleanse yourself and your home of negative energy then the ritual is done and you would take the burning herbs outside and put them out in the dirt – returning them to the soil. This signifies the energy being given back to the earth and shows respect.

If you wanted to go a couple of steps further, you could do a “Light House Cleansing.” This is explained below:

You have already done the smudging ritual above with sage to drive out negativity and bad influences.
So after you extinguish the sage in the dirt outside, you would then light the cedar and cleanse your home with the cedar the same way you did with the sage.
Then extinguish the cedar outside like you did the sage.
Continue by lighting the sweetgrass and do the same cleansing process again to bring in the good influences, putting it out in the earth when you are done.
Lastly, carry a lit candle all over the house and push light into every corner.

Below is a smudging prayer that you can say before, after or during.

May my hands be cleansed that they may create beautiful things. May my feet be cleansed that they may take me where I need to be. May my heart be cleansed, that I may hear its message clearly. May my throat be cleansed that I many speak rightly when words are needed. May my eyes be cleansed that I may see signs and wonders of this world. May I and this space be washed clean by the smoke of this fragrant plant. And may that smoke carry my prayers spiraling to heaven.

I hope that this helps you to learn how to cleanse yourself and your space, and that this beautiful Native American tradition will help you to feel more happy, peaceful and positive! Smudge away!

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52 Card Shuffle Workout

Audra McDonie / Health & Wellness / Leave a Comment

This workout has really helped me with my fitness goals and it requires almost no equipment! All you need is a regular deck of cards, 5-10 lb. hand weights, a mat and water.

So this is what you do: Turn over the first card, and let’s say it’s the 9 of Diamonds – you would then look at the chart and see that the first exercise for Diamonds is squats, so you would do 9 squats. Then you turn over another card and see it’s the Queen of clubs for example, so then you would do 15 mountain climbers. Each time a card suit comes up, you alternate between the two exercises in that suit. Also, when you get an ace, it’s time to rev it up and do some cardio. I usually run or run/walk for 7-10 minutes, but the type of cardio you do is up to you. Then you continue to turn over the cards in the deck until there are no more left – It’s as easy as that!

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