What does healthy mean?

What does healthy mean anyway?  That is a word that many people are confused about, thanks to the media and the Internet.  The word 'healthy' can be spiritually, physically, intellectually, emotionally, or mentally.  
Many people have the preconceived idea that being overweight a sign of being unhealthy, but is it really?  The skinny physique has been sought after over the last couple of decades.  Many young women and teenagers want to maintain the almost-stick figure of their childhood.  Is it the skinniness that they are after or is it the mindset of their childhood that they crave? 
If that is the case, then the person  is mentally unhealthy.  

Whatever happened to Marilyn Monroe?  We seemed to condemn her and began revering Barbie's image.  Even Lucy and Ethel were no less than a size 12.  Why did that weight mindset shift?  

Is it important to retreat to a gym?  Are gyms really healthy?
What other modes of activity could we do without resorting to gyms? 

 Ever observe that some overweight people are happier and even more fit than a skinnier person?  It's true.  Appearances can be deceiving. Many things make up a body.  Muscle, tendons, organs, bones. blood, water - all make up the body.

No two bodies are alike.  

I have seen and worked with so many people throughout my healthcare years of service.  People will do and try any trend diet if it means a quick weight loss.  There is no such thing as a fast healthy weight loss.  We gain weight gradually, so we must lose the weight gradually.  
When people lose weight too quickly, then they are losing more water weight than they are true weight.  

According to Ayurveda, there are three different types of body constitutions:  Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.  Neither is better, nor is one inferior from another.  Each constitution is unique.  Ayurveda is an Eastern culture health care system that helps people to embrace their constitution; to move the body and embrace the body with what it can do and not compare it to other body types and sizes.  

MINDFULNESS and awareness are the two essential forms of healthiness.  We have to become aware of our bodies and feel how it works, embrace how our bodies move, and know what works.  
READ and KNOW the ingredients of foods and know the QUALITY of the food as well.
 

Walk the Walk and Keep the Faith

When someone says "keep the faith," or "stay positive" what are they really saying?  The person at the other end of those words is in a place where those words may sound foreign.  When someone needs to keep the faith they typically do not understand the meaning of the word faith.  
So how do we help and encourage people who are in the middle of an existential crisis or at a spiritual crossroad?

1. Offer books 
2. Take a walk with them
3. Listen to them 
4. Offer a hug
5.  Be an example of "keeping the faith"

 Life is not easy, but having a best friend (or partner) to listen and even call every other day makes life more tolerable.

When a person doesn't have a partner to walk through life they feel every bump with ten times more intensity.  

Society indirectly sends us messages that we have to be paired up in our twenties, but what if we don't?  Going through the day to day rigor and grind of life can feel daunting and even hopeless at times.  

If you are married and you tell a single person to "keep the faith" or to "stay positive," chances are they most likely have remained positive;  that constant wear and grind takes a toll on the single person.  Nowadays a single person is like a warrior moving against the great, blustery wind.  

Remind yourself that when you say the words "stay positive," that the words "show compassion" come back to you.

Good Morning!  Thank you for beginning another day with me.  

Continuing with my Louise Hay affirmations this week there are a few below that connect with me, very strongly, today:

"The Perfect job is looking for me, and we are being brought together now."

"I have unlimited potential, only good lies before me."

"My job allows me to express my talents and abilities, and I am grateful for this employment."

 Which of these affirmations connects with you today?  

Living a holistic healthy lifestyle is more than just eating "good" foods or taking the proper vitamins and supplements; it is also about living an authentic life and being true to yourself;
that means making sure that each of the other primary foods are balanced and aligned.  To reiterate again, the primary foods are:

1. Career
2. Physical Activity
3. Spirituality
4. Relationships 

Finding ourselves can take a lifetime sometimes, so then how can we find the career that meshes with our true self if we don't find ourselves until much later?

The answer:  Working at a job that FEELS good and doesn't make us feel unhappy.  Do not confuse being unhappy for another reason vs. being unhappy because of your job.  Unhappiness could be from another primary food.

Sit and meditate with nature.  Nature helps to answer the questions we hold deep inside.  If you cannot get into nature, then find a small private space or sit in your bedroom alone and meditate.  

So even if you do not know what you are, your purpose, or who you are, then you can still meditate and become aware of your feelings and senses.  You will soon know what resonates with you. 

Be true to yourself and go with HOW you feel.  Don't say, "Be honest with yourself," because that is different from being TRUE to yourself.  More often than not when we are HONEST with ourselves we tend to be more critical of ourselves.  

Be TRUE and FEEL how we are and see how the flow and energy is with situations.   

Honoring Louise Hay's Legacy

It is no secret that Louise Hay has touched so many people in countless and unlimited ways.  She never embarked on her life's path with that notion either.  All she did was carry her own light and shine it on her own path.  The thing about light is that when you carry it high then other people are drawn to it so that they can see, too.  A light carried is like a wave in the ocean that begins the ripple effect that reshapes earth.

A few of Louise Hay's affirmations are below.  Those particular affirmations resonated with me today, because I am caught inside an existential crisis of my own. I feel this way because I am uneasy in my current life;  I feel as though the momentum is off-kilter.  I observe my co-workers and they all seem comfortable with the job and company.  So why don't I feel comfortable like them?  I then see that they are robotic in their routine because they are living their lives unaware; they are unaware of their own purpose, so they continue at the same mindless job because they don't know anything else.  They do not seem frustrated with the job because their soul is still asleep.  They are not aligned with their true life's path - yet.  

There are also other people who begin at those same "dead-end" jobs who exhibit irritability  and frustration; they display such emotion because they are awakened to their path and purpose, but need to work at a job for the paycheck.   I have fallen into that category countless times.  I don't have a daddy or a husband to fall back on for support.  I rely on my paycheck each week while trying to stay strong and hopeful that my life's purpose takes flight.    So I continue to meditate, write, dance, do my sun salutations, but then I also shed my anger, hostility, and irritability.  My anger doesn't last long, but it is a dark side of me that comes out because all I want is for my purpose to be supported and seen and acknowledged.  The anger is only a symptom of my unacknowledged talents and purpose.  I learned over the years that I have to continue dancing, with or without the music; if I fall or trip then I have to brush myself off and continue the dance.  

• "Today is the future I create for myself."

• "Every decision I make is RIGHT for me."

• "Everything in my life works for ME." 

• "This is a new day, I begin anew and claim and create all that is good."

Which of these affirmations empowers you?  Which one speaks to you today?

Regardless of whether we are working at a job that doesn't fit who we are, we have to  remember that it is NOT  permanent and it is only something that we have to do until we can bring that purpose into fruition.  NOTHING IN LIFE IS PERMANENT; everything in life, including ourselves, is IMPERMANENT. 
Remember that LOUISE HAY started on her life's purpose at the age of 57!  Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't get her first book (from her series) published until she was 65!  Julia Child didn't even enroll in culinary school until she was 37!  

Our life's purpose is OUR PURPOSE and it will  happen.  That is the thing about the human ego is that it always wants everything NOW, but the spiritual side KNOWS it will be achieved in time and requires patience.  The ego is NOT patient and that is where the irritability stems from.  The ego is like a bratty kid; we must put that impetuous bratty "child" at bay...and KEEP THE FAITH.  

FRIYAY WRITING RESPITE

Dear fellow writers, readers, followers:

We made it to Friday!  This weekend will be our last weekend of August.  It seems as though the summer went by too fast but that means there were many events happening. 

 Sometimes when time passes too quickly we need to take a deep breath and find our moments again.  Days and months tend to fly by and we forget to appreciate the present.  We get caught on that fast-paced merry-go-round and we can't seem to jump off to catch our breath.  

FRIDAY WRITING PROMPT:  
"We are caught in the trance of fear when the emotion of fear becomes the core of our identity and constricts our capacity to live fully." ~ Quote by Tara Brach ~

Fear is something I get caught up with more often than I care to admit.  I work on that daily.  Fear is not a fun emotion to feel and make part of who we are;  we do not want fear to be part of our identity.  Fear comes to us in many different ways and rears its ugliness at different encounters.  What can we do?  Stay alert and aware of who and what is around us and if we find our breath quickening and our pulses begin racing, we need to bring ourselves back to the moment.  
REPEAT:  "I am safe in the Universe and all life loves and supports me." 
"I am here and I am okay."

Count your breath and  be aware of when and how you inhale and exhale.  

Anxiety is a sign that we are not addressing the present and we are solely in the future.  
 We do not live in the future.  We can only plan for the future and live the best present so we create a better future.

 Let's make this a terrific weekend and break free from any fear.  We are only here once and we need to make the best of every day.  Even when we are rejected from loved ones and beloved friends or when we realize certain friends do not love us after all; that is heart -breaking but we need to continue creating the best days because we are our legacy.  

Be well.  Thank you for following me.  

In love and  light,

 

Good Morning to my beloved readers,

 Another August morning with a cool breeze and fresh dew on the grass.  The sweet air caresses my senses with a gentle reminder that fall is soon to arrive.  The sweetness is so present and strong that it holds me with a loving embrace.   When I step outside for the first time in the morning  the cool, crisp air fills my lungs with a renewed energy that seems to reawaken my soul.  I swear the sweet air of fall is so palpable and edible that I can take a bite of that sweet delectable air and I would be satiated for the rest of the morning.  I wish I could capture that fragrance and release it during the dead days of winter.  I wish I could be held and embraced by my love of my life.  I wish I could be as cherished and adored by my love on a daily basis, too.  They say we must first know and truly love ourselves before we entwine and engage with another.  I have a strong relationship with myself and I have done many things by myself for so many years that now I long to share myself with company, and my love. I still believe and I still have hope that perhaps my love life is just in the winter phase and my spring is just around the corner.  I hope, pray, believe, trust...

Faith, trust, and believing are all essential components to a holistic lifestyle.  It's not only a healthy diet that we consume, but also the other areas in life that consumes us.  Living the holistic life means to find balance in all areas (primary foods):  physical activity, career, spirituality, and relationships.  Relationships are a big area because it covers our relationship with other people as well as ourselves, including the food that we eat, too.  We do have a relationship with food and it is important that it remains as balanced as anything else and with anyone else.  That is why it is important for writers to find a sort of balance and equilibrium.  Being a writer is much more than a 9 to 5  job; it is a state of mind and life.  We need to stay organized and structured with our days and yet free and unencumbered so our words can flow and take flight. 

Do you smell that fresh pre-autumn air of August?  I am sad to see summer leave me so quickly.  I wasn't sun-kissed as much as I wanted.  I saw and felt more raindrops on my head.  I don't mind dancing and singing in the rain, but I rather bask in the hot sunshine. 

Thursday Writing Prompt:  

 "I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only.  I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary."  ~Quote by Margaret Atwood ~

What does that quote mean to you?  How does it make you feel? 



Thank you for following and I look forward to sharing with you tomorrow! 

In love and light,

Carol 

Morning Pages and Morning Writing Prompts

Not everyone is a morning person, but everyone can benefit from practicing the morning pages ritual. 

Morning Pages allows the words to flow freely for the day.  For me, the fresh air in the morning rejuvenates my energy and I feel renewed.  The morning air is my coffee.  Ideas begin to take form.  

What do I write about?  
 Anything at first.  When I first wake up I write about the first thoughts and images that enter in my mind.  I may even jot down the last dream that is still fresh in my brain.  

I am inspired by quotes and I keep a daily calendar at my desk that ignites my words like a flame to dry kindling.  

Today's quote is:  "People [are] rivers, always ready to move from one state of being into another.  Everyone [is] always becoming and unbecoming."  - quoted from Kathleen Winter.   

So where does that take our minds?  What does it make us feel? 
People do seem to be in a constant state of flux, mentally and physically.  We are continually brainstorming and  we are also constantly doing something.  Whether we are traveling from one area to another, or accomplishing tasks or chores.  Even when we dream our minds are still performing and moving for us.  

When are we not in a state of flux?  When can we dam that internal river that is flowing inside of us?  Do we really want to stop that river? 

My Daily Breath

I find my breath in the little ways that my day shows me.  I look to the sun even when the sun doesn't have that powerful warmth that it releases during the winter months.  I do my daily sun salutations.  It may not always be at the same time in the morning, but they are always done.  Throughout each pose I feel peace. It is a way of communicating with the Universe, and with God. 

My sun salutations are a respite from my problems in my daily life.  It humbles me and keeps me in tune with what is truly important. 

I want to help and guide as many people as I can. 

Every profession has a stereotype.  Scientists are associated as the "mad scientist" who creates Frankenstein; librarians are depicted as the lonely woman with a bun in her hair, and writers/journalists are seen as the heavy drinker, like Ernest Hemingway. 

How can we move forward when there are so many labels in our way?  We need to break-free from labels and stereotypes. 

I am the holistic healthy writer and I do sun salutations for my inspiration.

I hope I inspire you to continue to follow my blog.  It is a fun and amazing journey. 

Let's walk together!