An interesting article on this subject, you’ll find HERE
Solitude is the soul’s holiday
December 21st, 2011Watch the path, not the obstacles
October 31st, 2011A nice article of Martha Beck about facing fear on www.oprah.com:
“When you shoot,” my friend Jim, a hockey player, once told me, “you never want to look at the goalie. Look at the space around him. Where your eyes go, the puck goes.” A white-water kayaker warned me, “Look at the water, not at the rocks. Where your eyes go, the boat goes.” My riding instructor shouted, “Look where you want to go, not where you don’t. Where your eyes go, the horse goes.”
Love your ‘mistakes’
October 26th, 2011… Let’s just anticipate that we (all of us) will disappoint ourselves somehow in the decade to come. Go ahead and let it happen. Let somebody else be a better mother than you for one afternoon. Let somebody else go to art school. Let somebody else have a happy marriage, while you foolishly pick the wrong guy. (Hell, I’ve done it; it’s survivable.) While you’re at it, take the wrong job. Move to the wrong city. Lose your temper in front of the boss, quit training for that marathon, wolf down a truckload of cupcakes the day after you start your diet. Blow it all catastrophically, in fact, and then start over with good cheer. This is what we all must learn to do, for this is how maps get charted—by taking wrong turns that lead to surprising passageways that open into spectacularly unexpected new worlds. So just march on. Future generations will thank you—trust me—for showing the way, for beating brave new footpaths out of wonky old mistakes.
Fall flat on your face if you must, but please, for the sake of us all, do not stop. Map your own life.
For the preceding part of this wonderful article by Elizabeth Gilbert, go HERE
Allowing yourself to feel good
October 24th, 2011Interesting article on Oprah.com by Martha Beck:
There was a time when I thought such small-scale enjoyment, in a world so filled with suffering, was a crime in itself. It was hard to take a bite of my overabundant food, hug my healthy children, or drive one fossil-fueled mile without pangs of guilt. The only moral thing to do, I believed, was to sustain an attentive misery, honoring the pain and danger in this world. But over the years, as I’ve seen what leads to positive change and what doesn’t, I’ve become a sort of joy hound. I now agree with the poet Jack Gilbert: “We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” This isn’t narcissistic pleasure-seeking. It’s the way to make your own life work and give your best to the world.
What are you meant to be doing?
October 15th, 2011An interesting article on Oprah.com about listening to your ‘vocation’. It’s written by Parker J. Palmer: author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change.
‘I’ve come to understand vocation not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received—the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation doesn’t come from a voice “out there” calling me to become something I’m not. It comes from a voice “in here” calling me to be the person I was born to be.’
The full article you can read HERE
Reducing stress & anxiety by focused breathing
October 14th, 2011Many different studies have shown that focused breathing not only reduces stress and anxiety, but is also good for your overall health.
For example, a study in the American Journal of Hypertension found that it helps lower your blood pressure. The same study also showed a 23% decrease in the use of antihypertensive drugs among people who practiced focused breathing (1). Another study in the British Medical Journal found that mind-body relaxation techniques significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks (2). While a Harvard study concluded that focused breathing can reduce pain and the production of the stress hormone, cortisol (3). That’s important because increased levels of cortisol are associated with abnormal aging.
How
• Find a quiet comfortable place to sit. Rest your hands in your lap and close your eyes.
• For the first few minutes, focus on the natural rhythm of your breath. Start by inhaling through your nose – holding your breath for a moment – and then exhaling through your mouth. While you’re doing this, feel your muscles starting to unwind and visualize these simple words: I’m letting go.
• As you continue to breathe slowly, focus your concentration on the muscles of your eyes. As you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, imagine this feeling of comfort moving from your eyes up towards your brow, around your ears and over your head. As your face starts to relax, bring the corners of your mouth up into a gentle smile.
• Allow yourself to release everything you may be holding on to (fear, worry, constriction). Not by pushing them away, but by letting go of them a bit, with every exhale. If your attention drifts to other things redirect it to your breath.
Once a day
Try focused breathing at least once a day. Twice a day is even better. You’ll find that it not only improves your mental and emotional health, but it also improves your overall sense of well-being.
(Source: newsletter Al Sears, MD)
1 Schneider R.H., et al., “A randomized controlled trial of stress reduction in the treatment of hypertension in African Americans during one year,” American Journal of Hypertension 2005;18(1):88-98
2 Patel C, Marmot M.G., Terry D.J., et al., “Trial of relaxation in reducing coronary risk: four year follow up,” Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Apr 13;290(6475):1103–6
3 Nidich S, et al., “A randomized controlled trial on effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on blood pressure, psychological distress, and coping in young adults,” Am J Hypertens. 2009 Dec;22(12):1326-31
Lower stress & improve your life
October 12th, 2011On Oprah.com I found an interesting article of Martha Beck on how power of thought can reduce stress and can make your life happier and more relaxed.
“Shortly after World War II, executives at Japan’s Toyota Motor Company made a decision from which, I believe, we all can benefit. They decided to make cars the way they’d make, say, sushi. Unlike most manufacturers, which bought and stored massive stockpiles of supplies, Toyota began ordering just enough parts to keep their lines moving, just when those parts were needed. This made them spectacularly productive, and turned the phrase “just in time” into business legend.
I know of the Toyota case because in my former life as an academic, I taught international business management. My students and I had some rousing discussions about just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, as well as its alternative, which is known as just-in-case (JIC) inventory. These students were the first people who hired me as a life coach (perhaps because I could never resist applying business theory to everyday life). When we discussed JIT versus JIC management as a lifestyle strategy, we concluded that Toyota’s business innovation could positively impact all of our lives. If you feel overburdened, overstressed, and anxious, I’m betting the same is true for you.”
The rest of the article you can find HERE
Gezonde hap
August 27th, 2011Broodje, dun laagje mayonaise, geprakte avocado, plakjes tomaat, beetje zout, beetje Panathea extra virgin olijfolie, eventueel wat tuinkers. Daar kan geen gebakje tegenop!
Ademhaling verruimen
August 19th, 2011• Ga rechtop staan, met lage schouders.
• Adem nu krachtig in. Je borstkas zet hierbij naar buiten uit. Houd je schouders ontspannen.
• Adem uit op een klank. Houd deze zo lang mogelijk aan, totdat je longen helemaal leeg zijn.
• Doe dit drie keer.
• Blijf even staan en haal een paar keer diep adem.
• Breng je kin richting je borst en rol dan wervel voor wervel naar beneden af. Houd je knieën hierbij een beetje gebogen. Laat je hoofd, armen en handen losjes hangen. Verdeel je gewicht goed over beide voeten. Sta niet teveel op je hielen en ook niet teveel op je voorvoet. Zoek de houding daartussen in. Adem in deze houding een paar keer diep in en uit. Laat je adem tot in je onderrug en flanken komen: voel bij iedere inademing hoe die uitzetten.
• Rol wervel voor wervel weer overeind. Je hoofd komt als laatste omhoog.
Afronding
• Zet je voeten iets breder dan heupbreedte en buig je knieën ietsjes. Houd je schouders laag.
• Leg één hand op je buik, de andere hand op dezelfde hoogte op je onderrug. Houd je schouders laag.
• Blijf een poosje zo staan, met gesloten ogen. Adem rustig in en uit.
Protein rich foods
August 15th, 2011Especially when you want to lose weight, it’s important to eat protein rich foods. Not all proteins, though, are alike.
Processed meat
Protein can be damaged by heat. When you heat it for too long or when the cooking temparature is too high, you ‘denature’ protein. Thus, the nature of the protein changes.
This is what happens with processed meat. Pre-cooked and pre-packaged meats like hot dogs, smoked meats, lunch meats, bacon, breakfast sausage and soy proteins, are all processed through heat. Their nutritional value is not only ruined, when your body breaks down these cured proteins, a byproduct can combine with the nitrites used in meat processing to make nitrosamines. There are over 300 different forms of nitrosamines, and over 90 percent are cancer-causing.
When it comes to eating protein, it is clever to follow two steps.
Step 1: Eat protein from a variety of natural sources. That can be anything from eating an egg every morning, to having a scoop of grass-fed whey protein from a pure and trusted source.
Also milk has protein, but pasteurized milk protein is denatured. Whole, raw milk still has its proteins intact.
Stick with meat from grass fed animals like beef. Also, eat wild-caught fish, free-range chicken and turkey and cage-free whole eggs. These are the purest forms of protein you can get, and have the most nutritional value.
Step 2: Take the nutrients that fight nitrosamines: vitamins C and E. Scientists found vitamin C’s protective power by accident. Researchers were studying nitrosamine formation caused by a drug they were testing. When they went to use a new batch, no nitrosamines were formed. They found that the new batch had been made with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as a preservative, but the original batch had not. Vitamin E has a similar effect.
Studies show vitamin C works by disarming free radicals before they can damage your DNA or stimulate tumor growth.
When you add vitamin E, you increase the protection of vitamin C. As it turns out vitamin E is a ‘synergistic’ nutrient. It needs other antioxidants to work best. It’s prevention at its finest.
Sources
Besides fruit, other food sources of vitamin C are bright-colored peppers, and peppermint leaves. The spices thyme and parsley have a lot of vitamin C, too. You can add them to any soup, stew or salad.
The most important food sources for vitamin E are seeds, nuts and eggs. Dry roasted sunflower seeds and almonds are the natural sources with the most vitamin E.
Of course you can also take supplements. Not the cheap ones though, often they are not natural vitamins but synthetic. Ask a nutrition specialist for advice on this.
(Source: newsletter Al Sears, MD)