Tag: healthy

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Searching for Peace

Where has your peace gone

You know today the world is ever so busy.  Rushing around all day, sitting in traffic, checking emails, checking social media, dealing with kids, employees, spouses, lovers, friends, it can all be overwhelming at times.

Is it any wonder we don’t feel much peace in our lives?  Psychology Today calls it Hurry Sickness. By definition, hurry sickness is “a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness; an overwhelming and continual sense of urgency.”

Saying no to giving your peace away

So how do we cure “Hurry Sickness?” You can start by prioritizing things in your life.  What is really important for me to do today.  Don’t forget to add some “Me Time” to your list.  Start working on time management.  Maybe you need to wake up a few minutes early to enjoy a little quiet time with your coffee, a good book, writing in a journal, exercising. Leave for work a bit early to avoid traffic. Start saying no, stop giving so many pieces of yourself away.  Maybe you say no to baking cookies for the bake sale because it means you have to stay up an hour later and get an hour less sleep. That’s detrimental to your health, don’t do it.  Start letting others help you.  Ask your spouse, family, friends, lovers to help support you a little more.  If you don’t let others know what you need, they can’t read your mind, they’ll just keep taking the pieces of you that you’re giving.

Find your Peace once more

One thing I like to do on the weekends, or whatever day I have free during the week, is to get outside.  If I can get away on a short road trip to do some photography, or go on a hike, even better.  But even if it’s just to my own front porch, I will sit outside and just watch the birds, listen to them singing.  Notice the world around me and how beautiful it is.  Remind myself how lucky I am to be here in this moment of peace out in nature.  Take some deep breaths, do a little meditating, talk positive about myself to myself.  You see positivity in any situation can make things more peaceful.  So next time you catch yourself taking on more then you should or you start to feel overwhelmed and stressed, stop, just stop for a few seconds.  Re-evaluate what you’re doing in the moment and then make some decisions.  If you don’t start finding ways to be at peace, the “Hurry Sickness” can literally kill you.  Take back your life, stop giving so many pieces of yourself away, and find your peace once more.

Cause I’m not there yet, but perhaps, Soon Enuff….

Peace & Love,

Amy

I am a published author of the book, Soon Enuff.  Available worldwide on Amazon.

I am a Certifed Life Coach with specialities in surviving Psychological Abuse and Happiness Therapy, as well as a Certified Relationship Facilitator.  You may email me [email protected]

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The Moon & Me

Affects of the Moon on Emotions

The Full moon can cause violent behavior.  There have been studies proving that there are more incidents of homicide and aggravated assaults around a full moon.  While not everyone will turn violent, I have definitely noticed that I tend to be more aggravated and quick to anger in the days approaching a full moon.

Full Moon can lead to a lack of sleep which affects your moods.  Ever notice a few days before a full moon you suddenly start waking up earlier or not being able to fall asleep? Studies have shown that we tend to experience less time spent in the deepest phase of sleep nearing a full moon, which then affects our moods.

Full Moon can make you feel more introspective.  Have you ever noticed a few days before the full moon you start to reflect more on your life and what’s happening in it?

A full moon can make you feel more anxious, it brings about more energy and unless you’re doing something with that extra energy it can cause nervousness, make you feel manic, and cause nightmares.

The full moon can make you go from being very loving to very combative, which in turn, can make you feel crazy.

The Moon & Emotions

I think the best thing we can do for ourselves is keep track of the moon phases.  Be mindful of the days before a New Moon or Full Moon.  Become more aware of what’s causing you to feel a certain way, especially when it’s out of character.  The one thing I’ve made the mistake of is not realizing until it was too late, like the moon is already full.  I wonder why I’ve been insane for the past week. Too quick to anger, totally out of control at times, not sleeping well.  Feeling “frisky, like really frisky,” and then just as quickly not wanting anything to do with anyone.  Then all of a sudden, I’m like, oh, the moon is full tonight, and the next morning I feel fully released, back to normal.

Hope this helps with some of the things you find yourself struggling with.  The great thing about the moon is that it does tend to bring things to the surface.  If you can keep control of your emotions by realizing what’s causing them, you can benefit from the moons phases greatly.

Cause I’m not there yet, but perhaps….Soon Enuff

Peace & love,

Amy

I am a published author of the book, “Soon Enuff.” Available worldwide on Amazon.

I’m also a Certified Life Coach with specialties in surviving psychological abuse and happiness therapy.

You may email me at [email protected]

Follow and like this blog to receive updates and alerts 🙂

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Effects of Stress

Letting go of Stress

I think we all know and understand that the research on stress has shown it to be lethal to our health.  Stress causes hormones to be released , namely adrenaline and cortisol.  When you live in a constant state of stress this can be disastrous to your mind and body. But, this is not the only problem….

Effects of not letting the stressor go

Research is now showing that even years later simply re-living the past stress causes the exact same complications to your body as it did the when the stress initially happened! So for people like me, the over thinkers, we’re literally killing ourselves over and over just by re-playing the scene out, even months and years later.  When we don’t learn to let go, it just doesn’t play mind games with our emotions, it literally is killing you.

Your psychology makes your biology…..it’s true my friends!

“You’ll never let go if you keep

allowing your mind to take you back…”

Amy Lopez

This is a tough one for sure, and one that I haven’t mastered, but I continually work on living in the present, it’s the only way to train your mind not to dwell in the past.

Cause I’m not there yet, but perhaps….Soon Enuff

There are 3 days left to purchase my book, Soon Enuff at the Fall Sale Price of $9.99.  It’s available worldwide on Amazon or on my Etsy Shop at https://www.etsy.com/shops/LilBitsofMeandPoetry

 

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Editing Day

Sunday is editing day

On Sunday mornings I like to sit in silence with my coffee and think back on my week.  Not to punish myself but to see what changes I want to make to make the new week better.

It’s always better to edit

The same way you wouldn’t leave a manuscript unedited, it just makes sense to make the necessary edits to your life.  You see, Sunday is like an opportunity to choose to evolve or repeat.  Again, this isn’t to look back and punish yourself, but just like editing your writing, you look over it again to make sure you’re getting things right.

To edit is to evolve

Honestly, I think a little of both, evolving and repeating is okay.  You want to evolve past the mistakes, change what you can, and repeat the good things that made your soul happy.

Wishing you a beautiful Sunday and a happy and healthy new week ahead.

Cause I’m not there yet, but perhaps, “Soon Enuff.”

You can find my new book, Soon Enuff, worldwide on Amazon or the link in my Facebook bio @lilbitsofme22 or on Instagran @lilbitsofme22

 

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Friendship….

Meaning of friendship: Kindness, love, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of each other’s company, trust, ability to be oneself, and to make mistakes without fear of judgement from the friend.

A new study came out that was done over the last four years have now consistently found that adults with the highest levels of happiness and general well being also reported strong, close ties to at least one or multiple friends.  Having a friend in adult-hood provides companionship, affection, and emotional support.  It has been to improve good health and longevity.  Conversely, loneliness has been linked to increased heart disease , viral infection and cancer, as well as higher mortality rates.

I’ve struggled a bit with adult-hood friendships.  My childhood best friend, from about 4th grade until we were adults was my everything.  She was my lioness, my soul mate, my confidante…all the things listed above under the meaning of friend… She passed away when we were in our early 30’s of breast cancer.  It was devastating and I struggled for years afterwards, really keeping my distance from friends.  As my children have now become adults, I have found that they are some of my best friends.  However, friendships with your family members aren’t quite the same, and here’s why….

As family members, we still tend to impose our own will, at times being judgemental, even if we try not to, because it’s a different type of love.  A true friend, that’s not family, we don’t judge, we are just there for each other, to help and care for, even in distance.  A friend is just a totally different type of relationship…you can possibly go days, weeks, and occasionally even months without talking, and yet, pick right back up where you left off at any given moment. Friends, at soul level, can feel each other’s pain, yet, understand that it’s not their pain, and instead support the other by being their lion, giving them the best advice, and just being there to listen without imposing our own will onto them.

In all honesty, I’m still a little guarded, but I have come to have two very close friends, that aren’t family.  I don’t depend on them for anything, which is a different type of feeling.  I just know that they are there if I need to talk or need an honest opinion on something.  It’s a great relationship, that offers nothing in and of itself, except acceptance and understanding.

I hope if you have been struggling with loneliness you’ll put yourself out there and make new friends, or even perhaps, look up that old friend that you’ve grown apart from and re-kindle a relationship that is beneficial for both of you. Friendship is one of the most important foundations in our lives, and I truly believe that a friendship out of family, is very important.

Peace & love

Cause I’m not there yet, but perhaps, Soon Enuff

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Fit Friday….let’s talk fitness

Hi guys…

So my daughter, who is also a Doctor of Physical Therapy, has been telling me for months to see a Biomedical Doctor for my stomach issues.  Here’s a little history behind that:

3 years ago I was having some really bad stomach pain, worsened as the night went on until I could no longer take it.  My husband finally made me go to the ER where they did some blood work and rushed me into an emergency exploratory surgery.  Turns out I almost died…had diverticulitis, which I never knew I had, and it ruptured, spilling poison in my body.  Five days in the hospital and my stomach cut from chest bone to pelvis bone. It was really traumatic, I didn’t much want to live, let alone, think I would ever recover.  Six months later, they went back in and reversed the surgery I had, re-opening the same area and also cutting horizontally this time.  So, needless to say, my abdominals have never been the same, nor do I think they ever will be. That’s also why you’ll never see a fitness picture of me with my stomach in it… 🙁

However, after the surgeries and now 3 years later, I am healing and feeling better each day.  I have, though, continued to struggle with stomach issues, despite the fact they also removed my gall bladder during the surgery.  I still have so many foods that I cannot eat without getting very ill.

So, upon listening to my daughters advice I started a new diet and workout regime consisting of very healthy eating (though I do love sweets on occasion…lots of occasions ha) and I work out 6 days a week, sometimes twice per day.  I have started incorporating yoga as well as P-90 and Barre.  Once it warms up a bit I’ll venture back out for a few runs a week, though I’m not super stoked, running isn’t my favorite thing to do.

I wanted to share with you a few things I’ve started this year that have already really improved my overall feeling of well being.  First, I started taking a probiotic called Visbiome.  After doing some careful research I believe this to be the best on the market, having over 112.5 billion bacteria per capsule.

I ordered it on Amazon, around $59 for 60 capsules.  It does say to take 5-6 per day, but I honestly only take two, one in the morning and one at night, and I can tell a big difference.  Well worth the cost…

I’ve also started to just add “more color” to my plate.  For instance, this was my breakfast this morning:

I cooked kale in about 2 tbl. of olive oil, along with a 1/4 of a yellow pepper, onion, and mushroom, just until tender.  Then I scrambled up two eggs, poured it over the top of the veggies and then cut up some little cherry tomatoes on top.  Used some corn tortillas, which have no gluten, and very low carbohydrates to make a little breakfast taco.  Cut up some strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and pineapple.  Like I said, colorful, and oh my, so, so, tasty.  I’m not a kale lover, but I’ve been trying to incorporate it into my meals at least twice a day.  Kale is low in calorie, high in fiber and has zero fat. One cup of kale has only 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber and 0 grams of fat. It is great for aiding in digestion and elimination with its great fiber content. It’s also filled with so many nutrients, vitamins, folate and magnesium.

I’ll get into the benefits of the other ingredients on another Fit Day.

My workout today is 1 hour morning Yogaflow, and then P-90 legs and back.  I’m telling you I used to think Yoga was honestly for wimps that couldn’t handle a “real work out.”  I’ve been doing P-90 for about two years, and it’s a killer, but I love that type of hard exercise.  I’ve been doing yoga now for about a month, and I don’t believe any other type of exercise has pushed me to my limit quite like this.  I’m a super competitive person, so not being able to master some of the moves is really good for me, it just makes me want to work harder at it until I get it.  I’m quite sure I’ll never be a master at it, but it’s fun, something new, and very challenging.  It also gives me a great time to just concentrate on my breath and be mindful of what my body is doing.  I honestly love it and have rarely missed a day since I started.

If any of you enjoy Yoga, let me know what your favorite type of Yoga is and also what position gives you the most trouble, or that you’re best at.  I love to learn what other people are doing for exercise.

I hope your day is awesome, try to make some better choices for your body and mind today.  Remember, we can’t control everything, but we can control what we put in our mouths 🙂

Not there yet, but perhaps, I will be, Soon Enuff…..