 Your personal life includes everything from your significant other to your style to your job. If you feel emotionless, constantly tired, or as if you're merely surviving, it might be time to make a few changes in your personal life to improve your physical and emotional well-being.
Not Exercising Exercise doesn't just build muscle and help you maintain a healthy weight; it's also beneficial to your mental health. Physical activity stimulates the brain to release endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals that can help you better manage stress and ward off depression. In fact, you may improve symptoms of depression and anxiety by getting at least 30 minutes of physical exercise at least three days per week, as noted by the Mayo Clinic. Fortunately, Monona, WI, is home to several gyms, and you can go for walks in green spaces like Winnequah Park. Not Making Self-Care a Priority With so many obligations, such as family and work, it can easily become difficult to make time for yourself. However, you should make self-care a priority to keep your sanity. As a general rule, everyone is different in terms of how much self-care they need. With that being said, even if you only have 10 minutes each day to dedicate to yourself, do it. Use that time to meditate, write in a journal, or even just sip a cup of tea and zone out. Working at a Job You Hate Stop working a job you hate. Going to a job you dislike can lead to difficulty sleeping and an increase in anxiety and depression. Instead, start sending your resume to other prospective employers who may be able to offer you more money, better benefits, or an improved work environment. Before doing so, make sure you have an outstanding resume that highlights your skills well. Fortunately, you can easily create a new, professional-looking resume by using a free resume builder. These options allow you to choose from a library of resume designs and simply add your photos and copy. You may even customize colors to suit your personality. Perhaps, you need a change of pace completely. In this case, consider going back to school and changing careers. Fortunately, a variety of programs are available on WGU.edu so you may continue working and taking care of your family obligations without disrupting your schedule. Not Eating Right Living a hectic life can cause you not to eat as you should. You may choose convenience foods in place of cooking a meal because you're tired. On the other hand, you may snack more rather than sitting down to eat a meal to save time. However, take the time to eat right. Consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables because these foods are loaded with the vitamins and minerals your body needs. You might even see if a vegan diet suits you, as it's known to provide more antioxidants and fiber than a meat-and-plant-based diet. This diet is also known to lower your risk of heart disease and certain cancers. Live Better and Be Happier Make changes to your personal life to live a better and happier one. Visit The Joy of Being Well for more tips for living your best life. [Article submitted by Jennifer McGregor mcgregor_jennifer@publichealthlibrary.org PublicHealthLibrary.org ]
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 Photo via Pixabay Improved Wellness for Parents of Special Needs Children
As a parent of a child with special needs, you do your best to advocate for and support your child. Fatigue is a common issue among parents of special needs children. By recognizing the signs and taking vital steps, you can develop a practical and balanced self-care plan. Here are some tips from The Joy of Being Well. Fatigue Affects Your Wellbeing Parenting a special needs child exposes you to more stress with little relief. That’s why parental burnout and compassion fatigue are closely linked. Burnout can reduce your effectiveness and satisfaction as a parent. It can also jeopardize your interpersonal relationships, and you may experience depression and anxiety. To address the problem, start by considering factors that influence your wellbeing:
Caregiving Is a Partnership Gender inequities can worsen caregiver burnout. Housework gender gaps persist. In one recent survey, 59% of women reported performing more household chores than their male partners. Women also disproportionately shoulder the work of caregiving. Shared caregiving responsibility is critical to improving physical, mental, and emotional wellness. When partners share the load, they more effectively can meet their own needs. They also provide better care for their special needs children. Wellness Starts at Home Both minor and major home environment modifications can impact your wellness. Houseplants bring more of the natural world indoors, which benefits your mental health. One recent study showed a correlation between more indoor greenery and reduced depression. Clutter is a practical problem, increasing the risk of fires and in-home accidents. It also collects dust, which can worsen respiratory allergies. Research has also found a link between clutter and higher cortisol levels. These can trigger symptoms like irritability and high blood pressure. To reduce clutter, resist impulse purchases and donate items you don’t use. Personal Development Is Vital A balanced lifestyle supports basic and complex human needs. Psychologist Abraham Maslow categorized these into a basic hierarchy. Self-esteem and accomplishment take priority after meeting physiological, safety, and belonging needs. Starting a business satisfies a practical purpose: bringing in income. Meanwhile, it can also provide a sense of satisfaction. You can register as a limited liability company. This business structure offers several benefits:
Pursuing higher education can help you realize your potential. Online degree programs fit into a busy schedule and provide interactive learning environments. Government statistics reveal that a degree can also significantly improve employment prospects. Negative Outcomes May Come From Self-Care Without prudent creation and practice, self-care plans can bring about their own problems. You may hyperfocus on certain aspects and neglect others—for instance, putting “me time” above family connections. Such a solipsistic self-care approach could strain your existing support networks. You could also wind up judging your success by your partner's emotional health. This may result in overcompensating for that individual and dismissing real interpersonal concerns. Finally, trying to self-treat depression and anxiety without professional health may prolong psychological distress. You Must Advocate for Your Needs For parents of special needs children, self-care is vital. Creating a positive home environment is an important step. Seeking support and making space for your own needs are also crucial. As you advocate for your child, advocating for yourself is integral to your wellbeing, though you must balance self-care needs with caregiving, interpersonal relationships, and other responsibilities. This article is submitted by Jennifer McGregor of the Public Health Library. Brought to you by The Joy of Being Well, promoting energy healing to allow your body and soul to be heard. For more information, please contact us today!  How dare Covid ask anything of us!! Right? It's taken so much from us already - lives, health, security....
But why won't is go away? If you believe that everything is energy, and that we, as powerful creators, are molding that energy into the life we desire; then why do we have something as horrible as covid? Well, when I ask this question, I get that we still have not learned the main lesson of covid. That lesson is 'PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY'. For some time now we have been called to step more completely into our power; however, from the beginning of the human race, we have turned to others to 'lead' us and basically tell us what to do. When we elected or certified others to step into those roles of leadership - be it medicine, govenment, or finance, we then turned all of our power to make decisions about health, laws and money to those 'leaders'. Let's focus on health. You might say, "but I don't have time to learn everything that a doctor knows so I have to trust what he/she tells me to do." Agreed, they do become the experts, but no one knows your body as well as you do. Furthermore, you alone are RESPONSIBLE for keeping your body healthy. It is not your doctor's job. He/she is the person who can give you measurements, readings, and advice, but it is up to you to learn what your beautiful body requires and then make the choice to supply that. We have gotten lazy. We ignore all the many signals our body is constantly sending us - preferring to continue in our oblivious ways until we get sick. Then we reach for a medicine or find a doctor to tell us what to do. So we again looked for an easy way out when covid appeared. We created a vaccine. 'Get the shot and then no more worries." Well covid replied, "Not so fast. You aren't getting the message here." What is the message of covid? Why did we create it? We all knew, on a subconscious or higher conscious level, that it was time for us to become RESPONSIBLE for our lives and the lives of every living being on the planet and for the planet itself. There was no way to deny this truth, yet many refused to look at it. Many of us turned away hoping the RESPONSIBLE energy would just disappear and let us get on with our oblivious lives. Why should we have to think about what our bodies want when we pay doctors to do that for us? Now many who did get the vaccine are getting covid. Why? Because they still did not get the message that we need to change the way we live. We need to be thoughtful about the food we eat, water we drink, sleep we get and how we move our bodies. We need to do the work. We need to pay attention to our bodies, our emotions, our thoughts and actions. It's well past time to take RESPONSIBILITY for our own well being. Rely on your doctors, coaches, and other wellness providers to GUIDE you, but it is not their job to fix you. Only you can truly know your body and give it what it needs. We created covid to help us learn this lesson. We are powerful creators of our life, and we need to take that RESPONSIBILITY seriously.  I believe that any virus is actually more easy to catch when you carry the energy of fear.
Fear comes from believing that you do not have control. Fear diminishes your power. The truth is that only YOU have control over what you believe and how your body responds. My belief about covid is that my immune system is quite strong. I probably had a mild version of covid back in 2019 before it became an epidemic. I know that I have tools to balance my body if it is fighting something - Vit D, essential oils, Thyme tea, healthy food, etc. I got the vaccine because it was important for others to feel safe around me. I did a lot of research first and a lot of dowsing. Every time I tested the safety of the vaccine, I got a positive response. It would not hurt me, and it would create empowerment. It was also a way to be less of a covid carrier. Now I think we are all probably carriers so masking and hand washing are important again. I am limiting my contact with groups for now, so less chance of picking up anything that could be transmitted to people I care about. I take an OnGuard+ capsule when I am exposed to groups outside of my circle. I also swab my nose and ears with diluted Tea Tree oil on a cotton swab. I use the Tea Tree Touch from doTerra that is already diluted or you can add one drop Tea Tree to 5 drops of carrier oil. I don't eat animal products. Instead I eat lots of fresh produce, drink plenty of pure water and get enough sleep and daily movement. So don't be scared. Be confident that you are safe and protected. There are lots of angels around you.  [I must begin by saying, I am not a doctor. I am simply sharing some of the real science that is available for you if you want to do your own research. ]
Taking a deep dive into some of the science of essential oils here. I am sharing a scientific meta-analysis of some of the chemistry of various essential oils that we often use to help fight disease. Here is the article. I'm sharing this because there is chatter on the web about essential oils exacerbating covid by 'boosting' the immune system. The belief is that the oils could cause auto-immunity imbalance leading to 'long covid" symptoms. My understanding of essential oils is that they do not create more immune cells, but they assist your immune system by providing an addition means of attack on foreign bodies. (bacteria, viruses) As the attached article gets into a lot of chemical terms, I thought I'd translate some of those here first. Eugenol = Clove oil Carvacrol = Oregano oil Anethole = Anise, Star Anise and Fennel oils Cinnamaldehyde = Cinnamon Bark oil Thymol - Thyme oil Pulegone = Peppermint oil Farnasene = Apple skins and other fruit skins I hope you take the time to read the attached article and give it some thought. Share it with your friends. We have to be smart here and not let our fears overrun our highest knowing. All the best Mary Recently I was listening to a brilliant young man speaking about relationships. In his short career he has already coached tens of thousands of men and women on attracting and maintaining a strong relationship. So I was truly surprised when he said that he 'doesn't believe in that Law of Attraction nonsense'.
At first I was shocked, but then I realized that he likely does not understand what the Law of Attraction (LOA) really is. So here is what many people believe and what LOA is not: - LOA is not making a wish then sitting on the couch while you wait for the Universe to bring it to you. - LOA is not repeating happy phrases over and over to make magical things suddenly appear - LOA is not making sure that you never think a negative thought - LOA is not spending hours every day concentrating on the thing you want - LOA is not beating yourself up for blowing everything because you lost your temper - LOA is not meditating for hours every day I'm sure there is more, but you hopefully get the idea. So what is Law of Attraction? How does it really work? You must first understand that you are a vibrational being - meaning that you are pure energy, and the cells in your body are constantly vibrating. Your body and everything around you are affected by your vibration which can range from low and slow (depression, grief) to high and fast (joy, excitement). (article) The next thing you must understand is that you are an attractor like a giant magnet. However, unlike a magnet, you attract things/people/situations that match your vibration. When you are high on life, joyful, confident, etc. you attract other people who match that vibration. You might attract invitations to parties, speaking engagements, new jobs... We tend to seek out others who make us feel good about ourselves. So someone who is depressed or living in 'poor me' energy, would not want to hang out with someone who seems really happy. That would just make the depressed person feel worse. Wouldn't do much for the happy person either. Finally you must understand that only you are responsible for how you feel. Truly! You can not blame anyone else. You are a powerful being, and you always have choice. You choose how to respond to absolutely everything in your life. When things get tough, no one expects you to be dancing with joy. Emotions and feelings are natural and to be expected. There is no 'bad' emotion. It's how long you allow yourself to feel sad that is your choice. Bring yourself up little by little by focusing on something just a little better than where you are at that moment. "At least I can breathe... walk... feel safe... get outside..." Focus for just a minute or two on something that feels a little better. When you do that, you are changing your vibration, and you are allowing the Universe to show you something even better. You are attracting other things/people/situations/thoughts/feelings by the vibration that you are holding in your body. That is the Law of Attraction. It is a natural law of the Universe. You don't have to do anything to make it work. It is working all the time everywhere. So back to the young relationship expert - he was actually coaching his clients on how to use the Law of Attraction without even knowing it. When he had them be real, be open, be confident and easy in their conversations, actions, etc, he was coaching them on how to be in the best vibration to attract exactly what they wanted. And so it is. All the best ~ Mary  Are you done waiting for things to go back to 'normal'?
I think it's time we embrace a new normal and find joy, excitement and expansion right where we are. For example - I've often said that I dread the snow. I live in WI so that's pretty dumb, right? I would face the long winters as something to just 'get through' and would tell myself that they made the Spring that much better. Hmmm... So here is my new way of looking at Winter. We can apply the same philosophy to the pandemic. Look at your life, really look at it. What is one little thing that brings you JOY? OK, now what's one more thing that makes you smile? Keep going.... You know that what you focus on expands. WHAT YOU FOCUS ON EXPANDS! Make note throughout your day of what you are focusing on. Does it make you smile? Does it make you feel grateful or lucky? Does it bring you peace? If not, change your focus. You can start small, but I bet you'll find the list of good things in your life grows quickly when you change your focus. I'd love to hear what this creates for you. You are an AMAZING Creator so don't let anything hold you back. We can find joy in so much of what is around us. If you look, I know you'll find it. Wishing you tons of JOY, Mary The Joy of Being Well, LLC 608-245-9308  September 29, 2020 by Mekaila Oaks
Your home should be your safe haven — the place where you feel relaxed, happy, and at peace. But when bad energy is lingering around, your home can quickly become the complete opposite — a place of hostility and negativity. And when you have this negative energy in your home, it can affect every other aspect of your life. That’s why house cleansing can be an important part in your personal well-being. [read some great tips here]  Tips To Help You Reclaim Your Health (Without Disrupting Your Life)
We all have the capacity to live healthy, happy, and long lives. Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle of the world we live in, health often takes a backseat to pretty much everything else. But it should not, and it does not have to. With a tiny bit of restructuring, a few positive changes, and an open mind, you can change the way you live without losing out on the fundamentals that make you happy. Understanding Energy There is energy all around us. You can feel it when someone with a bad attitude walks into a room just as well is when you hear a baby giggle. And bad energy may be exactly what’s zapping the life right out of you. Start evaluating your space by looking at your home. If your house is cluttered, dirty, and hasn’t had fresh air breezing through the hallways in months, it may be time for a quick home overhaul. You can almost immediately change the ambience of your home by simply giving it a good cleaning. You might also try smudging with sage or other herbs and getting rid of heavy window treatments to allow more natural light to come in. These small steps may reduce tension at home while injecting some positivity into everyone’s day. Essential Oils Are More Than A Fad If you have never used essential oils, you should. Not only can these help with aromatherapy, but many can be used on your body and even in your food. The Joy Of Being Well recommends doTerra because of their high vibration and energy. People have been using fruit, bark, and root oil for centuries to heal the mind and body. One great example of how you can use essential oils in your own life is to simply add a fraction of a drop of peppermint oil to your daily tea. Peppermint is known for both its calming properties and its ability to exhilarate the mind and body. Getting Very Close To Vegetables If you paid any attention to the media the last few decades, you know that eating a plant-based diet is quickly becoming mainstream, and for good reasons. According to Vegetarian Times, eating a diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other plant-derived foods may help you live a longer life and reduce your risk of food-borne illnesses. If you are a woman, you may even experience fewer symptoms of menopause, and everyone will benefit from a boost of energy provided by antioxidants and other nutrients in whole foods. If you are not currently eating a plant-based diet, it does not take much to get started. There are plenty of vegan recipes online, and you can usually find a healthful variety of foods that will easily become your favorites. Other Health Tips Other ideas to help you remain at the top of your game are to:
Little steps, such as changing the way you eat, moving more, and clearing the clutter from your life won’t turn your world upside down. What these strategies will do, however, is help you make the most of this thing that we call life. Don’t wait, today is your day and there has never been a better time than now to live at your healthiest best. Guest author: Jennifer McGregor mcgregor_jennifer@publichealthlibrary.org PublicHealthLibrary.org |
Mary CrawfordOver the last 30+ years I've been gathering tips to help my family live a healthier life. I'll share some of those here with you and welcome your ideas as well. Archives
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