The Wheel Is Turning But The Hamster is Pooped

Sherry, Stop. What Are You Doing?

Sherry had a morning routine. She didn't really choose it, she just evolved into it. Every morning she would get out of bed, flip her energy switch to go and keep moving until she fell back into bed at night, exhausted.


Her planner was as important as her wallet, and her cell phone seemed permanently attached to her right ear.


She was a regular at an up-scale coffee shop and was developing physical symptoms from too much caffeine. She commonly carried ant-acids and painkillers in her purse, kept some in the drawer at work and in her car.

Sherry had also slipped into a routine of regularly choosing fast and easy over healthy in her food plan. She often felt bloated and lethargic as a result.

Sherry was time deficient and over-stimulated. She was stressed, weary and operating well below her potential.

Oh Wise One
Your wonderful body is designed to let you know what you need to pay attention to. It's up to you to listen.

You can visualize a young girl who regularly stays up too late, eats too much sugar, doesn't like her vegetables, and has an organized activity every night of the week. You instinctively know what to change in her best interest. It's not about punishing her; it's about loving her.

The price tag
There are costs to not respecting body wisdom; stress, moodiness, tightness, headaches, fatigue, high blood pressure, digestive problems, etc.

The Good news
Your body can be completely trusted to tell you whether you are smoothly and positively flowing your energies. The messages will be very specific. Listen up.

There are benefits when we do respect body wisdom; a sense of well-being, good night sleeps, energy, healthy digestion, soft and supple muscles in areas such as shoulders and neck, serenity, etc.

Sherry didn't want to suffer
Sherry didn't see much room for change in her life. She said she needed to run her business, needed her cell phone, and was not willing to give up coffee. She recounted her last 'health kick' and how miserable it made her.

Gentle change
Instead of imposing changes that feel punitive, the better approach is small changes that feel loving and wellness based. The energy behind the two approaches is noticably different.


Progress, not perfection is the ideal.


In the spirit of self-care, Sherry committed to a 2-week trial period of several small changes.

Cell phone off during meals and when driving.
Drinking only tea in the evenings.
To bed half an hour earlier.
No business obligations on Sundays.
Epilogue
These small changes made a tremendous difference for Sherry. She liked the specific time frame. It felt do-able. She noticed her body stress level decrease and her energy level increase. She was sleeping easily and right through the night.

Following her 2-week trial, Sherry decided that she would continue, and is looking at making some small healthy changes in her food plan.

The Most Important Piece
Changes made in the spirit of self-acceptance and loving care are the ones that last.

For Your Journal, for Your thoughts

What is my body telling me about the way I am living?
Where does my body experience stress, excitement?
When I am in certain situations, do I feel light, heavy?
What do the sensations mean to me?
Things to consider: (all free and easy to do)

Adequate rest
Updated healthcare appointments
Healthful, nourishing foods
8 glasses of water a day
Vitamin supplements
Time for play and creativity
Time outside, appreciating nature, fresh air

©2009 Joyce Lee
www.joyceleelifecoach.com

Runner's Yoga

Now that I am a runner I don't know how anyone runs without doing yoga as well. The stiffness, tight shortening muscles.... yoga saves the day!

Many poses are helpful, such as Legs Up a Wall, Downward Facing Dog, Reclining Hand to Toe, just to name a few for stretching. Then there's the strenthening poses like Dolphin and Plank, which also work your core to avoid lower back injuries.

Besides runners, I've taught skaters and ballet instructors, who have all benefitted from doing yoga. Along with a great stretch, strenghtening and helping to avoid injuries, yoga is great for concentration as well as proper breathing. When your chest is more open you have more of your lungs available for more air intake. When you're running your heart out... who wouldn't want a little more air?

The new Runner's Yoga class begins Saturday, May 23-June 11. Click here for details.

Practical Secrets to Peaceful Productivity

With permission from the author... I thought this was a great blog entry to share.... enjoy! Kim.

:-)

Overwhelm is one of the toughest things my coaching clients face. No surprise, of course. The people I work with - whether they're in my Platinum Mastermind, or my Uplevel Your Life Mastery Program, or at one of my women's retreats - tend to have one thing in common: They're creative types with lots of great ideas and a deep desire to be of service in the world. (If you're reading this, you're probably that kind of person, too.)
Creative types are often challenged by the practical day-to-day stuff of life. To-do's, organization, finances, getting things done. NONE of this comes easy to them! Overwhelm becomes a way of life. Only problem is this:
Overwhelm leaves you emotionally drained, constantly feeling like you'll never quite catch up. As a creative person, you might have to accept that you'll be overwhelmed on a regular basis, but you can also take a few practical steps to overcome overwhelm. Here are five secrets I've learned along the way that have helped me get back on purpose in my daily life. 1 - Get out of the weeds If you've ever waitressed, then you know what it means to be "in the weeds." So much is happening so fast that you can't even pause to regroup. Many of us live our whole lives like this! We wake up and just start reacting.
If this is you, then it's time to get out of the weeds and into the habit of something I call Self-Summits. A Self-Summit is a weekly 30-minute practice - Sunday's are perfect! - during which you connect with your intentions, remind yourself of your goals, and get clear on your priorities. You look at the week ahead and:· List your top three priorities (not your 57 to-do's!) for the week. · Get clear on upcoming appointments. · Schedule your work-out time, your writing time, your downtime, etc. This one practice does wonders for keeping you on track. Even if your week doesn't work out
exactly as planned, this is better than not having any plan at all! 2 - Project vs. Task Is this your to-do list? --> "Re-paint house. Create website. Write book. Eat healthy." If so, then it's time to discern between a project and a task. A project is something big...like a website. It looms like a monolith on your to-do list, with its own foreboding theme song that plays every time you glance at it.
A task, on the other hand, is something you can actually complete. Like, "Write bio." Or "Call Photographer." Learn to break down your projects into tasks during your Self-Summits, and you'll reduce your overwhelm by at least 75%! 3 - Experience Completion I often make my clients set their weekly goals so small that they laugh at me. I do this because most of the creatives I work with have never allowed themselves the bold luxury of simply experiencing completion. When you experience completion, then you can maintain your motivation. When you are always running to keep up with your 73-item to-do list, then you are prone to overwhelm and burn out. Make your goals and your to-do list small so that you can revel in getting complete! Think of completion as an essential vitamin that makes you immune to overwhelm! 4 - Set the Timer This will sound so simple and stupid that you'll think, "Yea, yea yea. Got it. A timer. Duh." But hear me out!
Let's say you've scheduled 2 hours to write Chapter 4 of your book. Set the timer for 55 minutes, and write. Don't go one minute over or under. Take a five-minute break. Then set your timer for another 55 minutes. When the clock is running, you won't be as tempted to go downstairs to put the clothes in the dryer, or see if the mail has arrived. It's an effective mind game that keeps your butt in the chair and your focus on the task. Even my most skeptical clients have become believers in the timer. 5 - Eliminate All-Or-Nothing Thinking Many creatives see only two options: Either be fun-loving, chaotic, creative and spontaneous... OR
Be a totally boring robot who never experiences love or joy. This is called All-or-Nothing Thinking. It is also a "Limiting Belief." It is downright untrue and even destructive, and it will keep you playing catch-up forever! The trick to overcoming overwhelm is to play with these new habits. Tweak them so they work for YOU. Many people use all-or-nothing thinking as an excuse for not even trying. They give up on themselves way too quickly. Don't expect to be perfect when you first start digging out of overwhelm. But DO expect yourself to keep practicing these habits.

By Christine Kane

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her 'LiveCreative' weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at http://www.christinekane.com/.

Law of Attraction: Setting your intention - for a joyful day, week and life.

Do you have a routine to start your day off right? Do you set an intent for a joyful day, week or life in general?

Today is Monday. I was just telling someone “I LOVE Mondays”! I try to make sure that I have no appointments or pressing obligations and make the day about journaling, yoga, meditation, play and having fun to set the tone of positivity for the whole week.

The law of attraction states that what you think about you will draw to you – wanted or unwanted. I love the weekend because it is family time but I don’t want to dread the end of the weekend or the beginning of the ‘work-week’ either. So, I make Mondays joyful and come into the week gently.
Many people are not as lucky as I to be working from home on this beautiful Monday morning. Many are not happy in general so how can you be joyful in the first place?

First, ask yourself what kind of day do you want? On a scale of 1-10..... a 10 right? What would a 10 look like?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 I wrote this on ‘Happiness’:

Happiness

If you ever think to yourself that you’re just not happy, whether it’s that day or life in general, you may want to remember not to think too far ahead. Life is just a series of moments. It’s just about that one moment.... so make it a perfect one!

Here’s a tip... first, you have to know what makes YOU happy. Then do THAT.

This is what I call MY “Prescription for Wellness”:

RUN, 2-3 times per week. Yesterday was amazing... I pretended that when I was breathing deeply it was like I was drinking in the fresh air and that my face was like a flower taking in the sunshine like food.

JOURNAL, daily. What I want and what I am planning to manifest. If there's anything negative in my life I put it here and move to focus on a solution and not dwell on the negative.

YOGA, daily even if it's just a few poses. Fortunately, I teach yoga so I get to do it for a minimum of 2 hours a week. This keeps my body flexible and my mind clear and calm.

TAKE A CLASS. This gets me out with other adults (I'm a mom to a toddler) and gets me doing something in the winter months. It's belly dancing right now.

GET OUTSIDE, a few times a week. Even if it's in the dead of winter just to shovel the driveway. I crave the outdoors and the sun.

SPIRITUAL REMINDERS. Books, cds.... I have a few books and get some cds on a regular basis that uplift me any time in my life, no matter what. I need to keep them close and listen to them often.

LOOK GOOD. I need to keep my hair cut, keep my eyebrows waxed, have facials.... to feel that I look my best to BE my best.

This is how I stay connected, whole and happy.

Blessings,Kim

Prenatal Yoga with Kim

I have a Prenatal Yoga class 8-week session beginning again on Wednesday, May 20th at my Belleville location. I thought this would be a great time to answer my most asked questions and give a brief description of the class.


The first concern I usually hear is that the mom-to-be hasn’t done yoga before.... and that’s ok! Most of the moms I see have no experience with yoga. My Prenatal Yoga classes are set up for the mom to relax, prepare for birth, bond with their baby and ensure that pregnancy is a wonderful experience! Everyone is encouraged to move at their own pace, only do postures that give joy and have fun.


To prepare for the birth of your baby we do a series of hip opening postures, breathing techniques and relaxation. To help make pregnancy a joyful time in your life we stretch our bodies in places that moms most complain about (to me) throughout pregnancy.


This leads me to the ‘most asked questions’ part..... I am often asked about sciatic symptoms so I do reclining hand to toe, which I found helped me tremendously. Also, leg cramps seem to be an issue for some so we stretch hamstrings with some forward folds. We do cat cow pose to strengthen backs and help to stretch ‘complaining’ backs. If there are any issues that come up with a mom's pregnancy I always do my best to not only find out what might be of assistance but to also try it out during class. I want to be the most support I can in this wonderful, but sometimes stressful time for a family.


I took my Yoga Teacher Training course throughout my pregnancy so I had to do research to be sure that I didn’t hurt myself or my baby. It ended up to be a lovely experience. I’ve now taught many Prenatal Yoga classes, as well as Mom & Baby Yoga classes (since 2008), in support of moms-to-be as well as recovering moms.... and loved every minute of it!!!


Click here to find out more about my Prenatal or Mom & Baby Yoga classes as well as Gentle Relaxation Hatha Yoga classes.


Be sure to check with your health care provider before beginning, as with any exercise routine.

"Supporing families, holistically"

Your Anger Metre

Someone informed me today that not only has she read my blog (the ‘old’ one) but bought a book I recommended because of it! Yaaaaay!!

Since I am planning to remove the ‘old’ blog and replace it with this newer and cooler one, I thought I would re-post this blog entry. It’s from Saturday, November 8, 2008. The person meditating in the picture shown is ME, in the yoga studio, very pregnant! Comments are always welcome. Enjoy!

YOUR ANGER METRE

Someone taking what you say totally out of context, someone else getting intensely angered at a seemingly innocent comment, rude people, bad drivers, people expecting you to live your life the way THEY think you should... does it ever feel like people are trying to test your anger metre? It certainly does to me, lately.... and it’s only going to get worse coming into the holiday season!!

Here’s one perspective on anger..... Thick That Hanh teaches that anger is a form of disease and how can you blame or not have compassion for someone with an illness? But, if YOU are the one with the anger ‘disease’ why not treat it like you would any other illness? I used to have a really short fuse, road rage, the whole package! My husband and I were discussing it just last night and the fact that we’re both very different people than we were just a few years ago. Here’s what is turning it around for me and my husband.... Yoga, Meditation and, about 3 years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the book “Ask and It Is Given” by Jerry & Esther Hicks that changed my look on life and my beliefs forever.

Most people have heard that yoga and meditation reduces stress and calms the body. Know why? Breathing deeply, through your nose, warms the air and calms the body. Focusing your mind inward trains your brain to focus on one thing and have more of a clutter-free mind. Yoga and meditation take away the stress hormones that create the ‘fight or flight’ reaction.

I have heard people say that they’ve tried yoga or meditation a few times and it didn’t work for them but if you went to your medical doctor for a pill to take symptoms away, and didn’t take the pill, you wouldn’t expect the symptoms to go away. If you went to your naturopathic doctor for some herbs to cure an illness, and you were inconsistent in taking the herbs, you wouldn’t expect the illness to go away. Same with yoga and meditation.... you need to do it regularly for it to have an effect on you. It’s habitual. The more you do it, the better it works.

The Abraham teachings really hit home with me right from the first book I read, “Ask and it is Given” and I not only have all the books, I sell them now, too. I’ve also seen Esther and Jerry Hicks speak in person. You can get a daily inspirational quote from their website sent right to your email inbox and two years after I’ve been getting them I still am excited each morning to see what they have to say! Here’s their website: http://tinyurl.com/64nvxc

Regardless of how calm a person you turn out to be, some people are going to be even more annoyed with you the more in alignment that you are. Some would say, “You just can’t win!” but I say, “Those who are in alignment have already won!”

Mom & Baby Yoga

I am hoping to have a Mom & Baby Yoga class start next week, here at the PH studio, and I'm pretty excited about it! I LOVE that class and if I could use the sounds of the giggling babies the class would be full every time at both locations.

I get lots of questions about the class and have even had a mom tell me that her husband asked her if we just sit around watching the babies do yoga! Too funny!

:-)

I tell moms that the time to start just about when they feel they are ready and have had a baby as young as 3 weeks in the class. For the baby the concern isn't 'too young' but 'too old'. When a baby can crawl, the last thing he/she wants is to be tied to mom.... they want to use their new skill and explore. So, about 3 weeks until crawling is the perfect age.

Another question I commonly get is what do you do in class? No experience is necessary at all....I have a breathing exercise to start with, some ab exercises, some hip openers (all the while baby is sitting/standing on mom), some baby time that focuses just on baby and some standing things where moms are standing while holding their baby. At the end of the class we do a calming meditation.

Moms are encouraged to feed/nurse and change their baby any time during or before/after the class. Meditation is the perfect time for feeding as it's a loving and calming way to end the class and assist for a very joyful ride home!

I LOVE this class and hope that I always have a class going! It's a lovely way to not only bond with your baby but relax, have fun AND see other moms. A wonderful social outlet!

In 2008 there was a nice article done on my class from Linda O'Conner at the Belleville Intel. Check it out if you like: http://tinyurl.com/ch8qa6

Do you love what you do?

So, this is my first post on my NEW blog... woo hoo! I’ve done it before, on my website, but it wasn’t as much fun and certainly not as cool!

I’ve got lots to say but where to start?? Hmmm... I have my dream job, teaching yoga. I am certified in yoga instruction (Hatha Yoga) and teach Mom & Baby Yoga as well. My darling husband built a yoga studio in our home (in the Quinte area) and we call it “Patchoulimoon Holistics”, where I also sell holistic products. ‘Holistic’ meaning body, mind and spirit..... natural body care products, singing bowls, books, cds... that sort of thing.

I LOVE my life and would only change two things.... #1 - I’d like to teach more yoga and #2 - have more money coming in. Who wouldn't want more money?

So, that’s what I do.... what about YOU? Do you do what you love? How is it going???

Many Blessings,
Kim