Stacy Harmer is a Certified Holistic Health Coach and a graduate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. She is a Raw Food Chef and Emotional Release Facilitator. She has her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Brigham Young University in Family Science and Education. She is a wife and mother of 7 children. She is passionate about helping others find joy and live vibrant lives. She works with individuals and groups alike in her Health Coaching Practice. She has online weight loss programs and teaches a variety of classes and workshops on health and healing. She is the CEO and Founder of the Vibrant Living Academy – A Community of Like-Minded Women, where she has gathered women to help empower and mentor each other on a variety of subjects focusing on healing bodies, hearts, minds, souls, relationships and finances. She loves spending time with her family, traveling, being in nature, reading great books, playing the piano and doing anything creative. She loves to connect with the hearts and souls of others. Her path of healing has changed her life, and she loves to help others transform their lives by implementing the tools and techniques shared in this book.
External url: http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Vibrant-Living-Deserve-Find-ebook/dp/B00UZOW8ME/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1451318941&sr=1-9&keywords=steps
Tags: Life, Sorrow, Healing, Vibrant, Emotions, energy, happiness, mind, Soul, body, Heart
One of the best tools we have is our own inner guidance. As we become more self aware, we can always find answers within to any given problem.
On a separate piece of paper, create two columns. Title the left column, “STUMBLING BLOCKS.” Title the right column, “STEPPING STONES.” In the left column, list 3 stumbling blocks you have in your life right now. If you could master them, your life would go more smoothly. Now, in the right column, turn those stumbling blocks into stepping-stones. Make a list of 3 things you could do to turn each stumbling block into a stepping-stone.
Take a look at the Five Ripple Areas in your life and evaluate how you are doing in each of these areas. Are they aligned? Do they match with your values?
If not, create some action items in each area to give them proper attention and alignment. Remember the Ripple Effect. Each area represents a ripple, and in order to have further outreach, we must have our inner areas and circles in order.
Source
Self
Spouse
Children
Community and World
Evaluate how you are doing in the following 7 areas in your life. Rate yourself from 1-10. In order to make changes in our lives, it is important to know where we are starting. Be honest with yourself. This will be a good starting place as you read the rest of the book. Each area presented below will be discussed in detail in book along with a number of tools and activities in plan to help you reach a 10 in each area of your life.
Body - Healthy eating, exercise, sleep, etc. 1-10:
Heart - Positive feelings of peace, love, joy, forgiveness and gratitude, giving and serving in your life. 1-10:
Mind - Reading uplifting and inspiring materials, having positive thoughts, affirmations, focus, intention, etc. 1-10:
Soul - Connecting to your Divine Source through prayer, studying scriptures, journaling, meditation, walking in nature, etc. 1-10:
Systems and Structure - Having clear systems and routines in your daily life to help your life run more smoothly. 1-10:
Discovering Your Purpose and Passion - Knowing what your strengths, abilities, talents, and passions are. 1-10:
Sharing Your Gifts - Actively sharing your gifts and talents with family, friends or community to bless the lives of others and make a positive impact in the world. 1-10:
We all need food and nourishment to survive, but as we properly take care of our bodies, then we can also thrive in our personal lives. It is important to get cellular nutrition. We can get antioxidants in our fruits and vegetables, but given the amount of toxicity in our environments, food and lives, that alone isn’t enough. For optimal health, we need to supplement our diets with high quality products. It is important that you use pharmaceutical grade supplements and the best quality to ensure that you are actually getting what the label says you are getting in the appropriate amounts for your body. It is worth doing your research on the quality of supplements you are using. Remember, you have just one body!
Our bodies need carbohydrates for the glucose they provide for fuel. The glycemic index is a numerical system that rates how fast carbohydrates break down into glucose and enter the blood stream. Low glycemic foods are slowly digested and absorbed, and there is only a gentle rise in blood sugar and insulin levels. Lowering insulin levels is not only a key factor in weight loss but the secret to long-term health.
Eat Whole Foods
It is a food that is in its natural state. You are getting the food intact with all of the vitamins, minerals and fiber to boot. There are so many health benefits to eating a whole-foods diet. Many studies suggest that individuals whose diets are primarily whole foods - vegetables, fruits and whole grains - also have lower risks of cardiovascular disease, some types of cancer and Type 2 Diabetes. It not only affects the health of the body, but it affects the mental, emotional and spiritual state of an individual as well.
Eat Raw Foods
You don’t need to give up on flavor, variety and texture when you eat raw, but you are opening up your world to so many more possibilities. Also, you will feel so great with increased energy and vitality. When we eat clean, natural and raw foods, we have more energy and feel more alive and vibrant.
For benefits that raw food brings please refer to “Additional Details” section of this course.
Find an exercise that you love!! If you enjoy doing it, then you will be more likely to follow through. It is important to get cardiovascular, flexibility and weight training exercise in for optimal physical well being. Some of exercises are Yoga, Zumba, biking and walking. A morning nature walk with a friend is good too because that is a great way to build friendships as well as allow an emotional release as you converse and provide a listening ear for each other.
Exercise improves your state of mind. Exercise helps control your weight. Exercise helps regulate hormones. Exercise decreases the risk of disease and other health conditions. Exercise promotes energy.
Water is the key to life on this planet, and our bodies are in desperate need of it. Adequate water improves metabolism, decreases blood pressure, and keeps a good flow going within our bodies. Inadequate hydration can impair the immune system and causes sluggish mental processing. The average adult human body is made up of approximately 60% water.
A quick way to figure how much to you need to drink daily is to take half your body weight in pounds, then drink that much in ounces (140 lbs; 70 ounces).
It is imperative to our health that we get adequate rest. This is the time our body needs to rejuvenate and repair. It is recommended that adults get 7-8 hours of sleep a day. When we don’t get the rest our bodies need, we become tired, irritable, have problems with concentration and memory and are unable to tolerate stress well.
On a separate piece of paper, make two columns. In the left column, make a list of 3 things can you eliminate from your diet to be healthier. In the right hand column, make a list of 3 things can you add to your diet to be healthier.
Write out your feelings and put them down on paper. Just write and write until those negative emotions are discharged. It is okay and even desirable to experience the charged emotions as you are writing because this allows you to discharge and release it. It doesn’t matter what you write, but just the act of writing gets the emotion out of your body and onto paper.
Once you’ve written until you no longer feel the negative charge of the emotion, then simply crumple up the paper and throw it away or even burn it. As you do this step, say to yourself, “I release all of these negative emotions, and I replace them with love, forgiveness, joy and peace.” You may say a prayer to accompany the release. It is important to replace with the positive, otherwise you’ve just opened up a space within you that may leave you vulnerable to having other negative experiences come in, versus consciously choosing to fill it with the positive.
EFT combines the physical benefits of acupuncture with the cognitive benefits of talk therapy for a much faster and more complete treatment of emotional issues.
Although related to acupuncture, EFT does not use needles. Instead it is done by focusing in on specific issues and using the fingertips to tap certain meridian points on the body. EFT appears to balance blocks in the meridian system and can be effective in a relatively short amount of time, even minutes. The nice thing about EFT is that it can be done anywhere at any time and can provide impressive do-it-yourself results. You can look EFT up on YouTube and receive step-by-step instruction on how to use it.
Working with Children
you can use EFT for young children ages 5 and 7, if they have an emotional meltdown or get upset. Do some tapping on them while having them repeat some words of release and replace (for example, “I release all of my anger, frustration, sadness or worry and replace it with peace, happiness and joy.”) Usually this process results in a giggle fest and within a matter of a couple of minutes, the emotional upset is gone.
Another technique you may use on children to help release negative emotions is to draw a large heart on a piece of paper and talk to them about how their heart is feeling. Make them color out their emotions in the heart. They can scribble and just let out any negative emotions while they are coloring and you keep talking them through it.
You end by again drawing another heart and letting them decorate it to show how much better they are feeling. The two hearts would look very different. The later one is usually decorated and colored in lighter and prettier colors and they’ll put scallops on the happy heart or draw flowers. They can tell that after this little mini process, they do feel better.
“Let It Go” is what we must do to put down the extra emotional baggage that we are carrying around. Try any of following:
Forgive the Ones you have Grudge onto
When we hold on to any resentment, we are only hurting ourselves. It keeps us in a negative state and vibration, and we tend to attract more of that into our lives. Just to be able to accept “what is” is very liberating and allows us to let go and live in the present.
Put out Positive Emotions
We don’t necessarily attract what we want in our lives, but we attract what we are. For example, if you are constantly and continually giving out love, then you are going to be receiving love. If you are putting out negative vibes towards others then you’ll also get that back into your life. So, it seems obvious that we want to put out as much positive into the world as we can.
Send Out Love
Try an experiment today. Go throughout your day and think, say and do as many loving things as you can. Then check in to see how you feel and where your emotions are. It is a sure way to raise your energy vibration, lift those around you and just give you an overall warm and cozy feeling inside. When love flows in our lives, it opens up our hearts.
When we withhold our love, our hearts begin to shrivel and close. It is a form of protection from the harshness of life. It is easy to slip into that pattern. Start the experiment and witness the happiness of those you touch and watch the love flow right back to you.
When you are in the pit and darkest hour, you wouldn't believe anything positive about yourself. So, if you decide to recreate your life, then you would need to borrow from the admirable traits of other people that you looked up to. Think of people that had made an impact in your life and the traits that you admired about them. List two traits for each person. These are your affirmations. Once you have written them down, began to memorize them so you could recall them at a moment’s notice. Now you have a tool to use when your thoughts would begin taking you to a bad place. You could just rattle off your affirmations. You need to rewire your brain with new and good thoughts and beliefs. By repeatedly saying them and focusing on them, you could ingrain them into your subconscious brain which would then help you become that person again.
On a separate piece of paper, make two columns. Title the left column, “Negative Self Talk.” Title the right column, “POWER DECLARATIONS.” In the left column, write out any negative statements that pop into your mind about yourself. In the right column, counteract them by making your POWER DECLARATIONS. These are the exact opposite statements written in present tense. For example, “I am not good enough,” and directly across from that statement, write the TRUTH IN PRESENT TENSE – “I am strong, capable, and am deserving of all good things in my life.”
One of the most effective ways to use our thoughts is to create our positive intentions. We do this by stating our goals, ideas, wants, desires and choices in the affirmative. Get detailed about a specific intention. Write it down; visualize it; focus on it; imagine it happening. Then get busy doing what needs to be done. Something powerful begins pulling all the energy in the universe to bring about your specific desire.
Creating a dream or vision board is a fun and powerful way to create the life you desire. It is a visual representation of what you want your life to be. You take pictures and words that represent your desires and place them on a board. Then you look and focus on it morning and night for a few minutes at a time. As you do, imagine in your mind these things actually coming to pass. Feel the anticipation and excitement when they do.
When we tie our emotion into our thoughts, our intentions become even more powerful. Also, simply repeatedly focusing on the images imprints them into our subconscious, which is the powerhouse of our brains. It becomes a combination of the power of the subconscious, the law of attraction and simple reminders for the action steps we need to take to bring about the results we desire.
Your board should include all areas of your life that you want to improve. It may include health and fitness, relationships, spirituality, personal development, travel, career, goals, dreams, etc. Have fun dreaming, discovering, cutting, and creating your Dream Board and manifesting your desires!!
Another fun tool is to write a movie script for your life five years down the road. You write out a very detailed day of what your ideal life looks like. Be specific about where you are, who you are with, what you are doing and the impact you are having. When we get the negative thinking and emotions out of the way, anything is possible!!
It is important that we clear our mind, continually. Otherwise, we are mixing and compounding our old problems with new problems.
One way you can do this is to be completely still. So, remember a time in your life that brought you great joy. Just try to hold on to that thought for a period of time, especially if your mind starts taking you to a negative place. You need to stop it in its tracks. This is really the first step of meditation, that ability to slow down your mind, breathe deeply and come to a place of peace.
Another essential tool for clearing your mind is to accept the past and what is. Once you do this, you will become empowered to move forward and create whatever life you desire.
When we hold onto regret, guilt, sadness, anger or despair, it is impossible to move forward and rebuild our lives. We all make mistakes, and we must be loving and forgiving of ourselves. There is no point in worrying about the past or mistakes we may have made. By simply accepting what is and finding your happy place, you’ll have much more peace and contentment.
It is essential to our happiness that we remove any negative thoughts about others or ourselves. It does us no good at all. In fact, it is harmful. David Shaw, in his groundbreaking book, The Bug Free Mind, states that the more negativity one has, the bigger the ego. Our goal is to remove our ego and surrender. That is when and where you’ll find your true peace and power from within.
The best way you can do meditation is to go to a quiet place. Lie down, empty out all of your thoughts, and breathe deeply. It will teach you in a very personal way how important it is to quiet our minds and deeply connect with the Divine. It truly is transforming your life and understanding.
I would highly encourage you to begin keeping a record or journal of inspiration and spiritual experiences you have. It is as if it is opening up a continual door of revelation.
This is a state that you are in where you are not quite in deep sleep but you aren’t fully awake either. It is a place between the unconscious and consciousness. It is a state where you can be taught great and marvelous things if you go to bed with a desire and question in your mind. When you pray and ask these questions, you will be shown and taught things may be in dreams. There are many different type of spiritual gifts, and dreams is one of them.
How do you come closer to God and put Him first in your life? I say that you start by putting Him first in your days. The early morning hours are considered sacred. It is during this quite time that you can connect best with your Higher Power. Your head would be much more clear and the busyness of the day hasn’t begun.
Other ways you may connect with the Divine include listening to uplifting music, walking in nature and simply having a prayer in your heart throughout the day. I treat Him as my constant companion, and I know that by partnering with Him, I can do all things through Him.
Fill your heart with gratitude for what you already have in your life. Answer the questions below. Get into a habit of either recording daily a few things you are grateful for or simply say them during your quiet meditation time.
Three great things you love about your physical body are:
Three people that have had a profound impact on your life are:
Three things you love about where you live are:
Three gifts or talents you’ve been given are:
Three ways you’ve been lucky in your life are:
Three ways that your life is abundant and prosperous:
Marie Forleo, a mentor and founder of the popular online Business School says to schedule everything on your calendar. If it is not written down and scheduled, it is not real. I have found it very helpful to use both my iPhone calendar and a paper calendar to keep my schedule. I like my iPhone because it will send me reminder notices on my phone before a scheduled event. Since I am very visual, I also like to be able to see a paper calendar with everything scheduled to help me see the bigger picture.
CPR stands for Categorize, Purge and Rearrange. Moving is a good excuse to really go through your things and reorganize, but most of us don’t move every year. The reorganization is helpful, but the key really is the purging. Every item we have in our home should bring us some type of joy and happiness. If we are holding on to things that have no meaning or purpose and don’t necessarily add joy to our lives, appreciate the item for the use you’ve had of it over the years and allow it to bless someone else’s life who could use it more than you. This is an incredibly liberating process. Just sit back and watch: as you create more flow and space in your home, your life will change for the better.
One of the most powerful tools is simply writing to get ideas and thoughts out of your brain and onto paper. This creates space in brains for more ideas to come as well. Make a list of everything you need or would like to do. Then set five year, one year, quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals. When you lay it out like this, you can see that you can have it all - just not all at the same time!
Once you get things written out and can see a bigger picture, everything becomes more doable. You can enjoy the journey, live in the present moment, and focus on one thing at a time. It is much more likely that you will accomplish something if it is written down. In fact, only around 3% of the population actually writes down goals. Once a goal is written down, it gets programmed into your subconscious brain, especially if you focus on it. You are then much more likely to accomplish it.
As you participate in this activity, you can pace yourself in a realistic way that works best for you. You don’t need to beat yourself up for not getting more accomplished but just understand that there is a perfect time to do everything.
Five, three and one-year goals help you to see the bigger picture and how to fit your desires and interests into your life. Quarterly goals give you three months to work on a larger project that you’ve been meaning to do but never find the time. Monthly goals are just smaller items that need a shorter time frame. You repeat the process for your weekly and daily goals.
Create SYSTEMS – Save Your Self Time, Energy and Money
On a separate piece of paper, make two columns. Label the left column, “AM” and the right column, “PM.” Create your AM and PM routines - Learn to book-end your days.
This is simply a checklist of items that you can do to begin and end your day. It creates structure and really helps get your days off to a good start. It also brings it around full circle as you end your days. Some of the things you may list for your AM routine are: meditation, visualization, affirmations, writing morning notes, personal prayer, exercise and nutritionals. On your PM routine, you may make a plan for the next day, have personal prayer, meditation, visualization and affirmations. You should be able to end your day filling your brain with the positive affirmations. It is a great way to relax and have a more peaceful sleep. It may not work out perfectly every single day but it is about progress, not perfection.
Today is Sunday and I have made my routine plan for next week starting from tomorrow. I hope I will follow it 100% and will share my findings.
There are so many things that need to be done in a week that when you divide up your tasks into specific days, it just feels more organized in your brain. Everything will get done, and it helps reduce stress. We all have many demands on our time, but there are certain things that need to be taken care of or our lives can begin to fall into chaos.
There is a lot of freedom here, and you won’t always follow it perfectly, but it is a framework for getting the things done that you need. When you put this type of structure to your weekly schedule, you will be able to keep up on your busy life as well as make sure the essential things are getting done and that you are spending the quality time you want with your family.
What are your strengths? Sometimes it is easier for others to help identify our strengths for us. What do people say that you are good at? If you don’t know, ask some family members or close friends to help identify what your strengths are and make a list.
What is it that you love to do more than anything? There are certain things that we feel passionate about and other things that are of absolutely no interest to us. People rarely excel at tasks they don’t enjoy doing or feel passionate about. One of the key indicators of this is level of enthusiasm. What do you do for sheer enjoyment? When we do what we are wired to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. If you don’t care about something, it is unlikely that you will excel at it.
Everyone is born with specific, natural gifts and abilities. When we use our natural gifts and abilities in our lives, we are using our God-given talents to bless others. It is important to recognize these gifts and tap into the power they have to bless and change lives.
We are each so unique! There are introverts and extroverts, people who love routine and those who love variety. There are thinkers and feelers. Some people like to work alone while others are energized by people. There are detailed oriented people and others who are visionaries. There is no right or wrong personality. Our personality will affect how and where we use our gifts and abilities.
Sometimes it's good to analyze ourselves. this gives an idea of where we are doing great and where we are making mistakes. According to author's description I am from people that are sensitive and feels quickly. I like to work in loneliness but love gathering to socialize. I think its good I make friends quickly.
Our life experiences really mold our character and us. Think of your family, educational, spiritual and even painful experiences. It is usually the most painful experiences that we go through that will direct us to our purpose. Aldous Huxley said, “Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.” What will you do with what you’ve been through? Don’t waste it. Use it to help others!
When we become clear on what we are meant to be doing in this world, life really becomes exciting. This is where the fun really kicks in, as time doesn’t seem to matter anymore. We do what we love and what we are good at. This is called living in your Zone of Genius.
Here is how Author Stacy Harmer shares her life experiences and learning in her own words in this book:
I believe we are meant to share the lessons we learn in life. If not, what is the purpose behind them? We may grow from our experiences, but how much greater is it if we can help and assist others to grow, as well? In sharing, we gain purpose and meaning to our experiences, trials, and challenges. We are meant to have a happy, healthy life. We are created to have joy. We are meant to be leaders and influence for good all that we touch or are involved with. Our lives are meant to have purpose and meaning. We are not meant to simply take up space but to fulfill all that we are meant to become.
“Human beings do not live forever. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity... I learned a long time ago, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant... A man must fill his life with meaning; meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one’s life with meaning... Merely to live, merely to exist – what sense is there to it? A fly also lives.”
It is inevitable that we’ll have challenges and stumbling blocks along the way, but the key is to be able to look at the stumbling blocks and turn them into stepping-stones. The quicker we can identify our blocks and be proactive in using them to continue moving forward, the quicker we are able to continue on our journey of progression.
Five Areas of Alignment / Ripples of Influence
In order to have a greater outreach for good and personal peace in our lives, I have found that it is crucial to keep our lives in alignment. It is easy to lose focus or get off on a tangent and then realize we have drifted far from our original course. It is important to stay aligned with our priorities if we are meant to have peace in our lives. I’ve developed an analogy in my life to keep myself constantly in check as I move down any particular path. I call it Ripples of Influence.
In our personal lives, if we can keep our lives in alignment with our Higher Power or Source, we will feel at peace and know that we are on the right course, which aligns with our values and priorities. Connecting with our Higher Power can be done in many ways. Some possibilities are prayer, meditation, journaling, reading scriptures, being in nature, etc.
This book basically describes how to meet our personal needs in order to grow beautifully and to be able to really produce fruit and make a difference in the lives of others. It boils down to nourishing our bodies, hearts, minds and souls on a daily basis. Nourishing our bodies has to do with getting proper nutrition, sleep, exercise, adequate hydration, etc. To nourish our heart means we focus on expanding and opening up our heart. We can do this not only by acts of service and kindness but also by releasing the negative emotions that we may be holding on to and replacing them with peace, joy, forgiveness, love and gratitude.
To nourish our mind means to learn, study and grow. It also means using our minds to create the lives we desire by focusing our thoughts, creating affirmations, and using a dream board among other things. Lastly, we need to nourish our spirits on a daily basis. This is connecting to your Higher Power in a meaningful way, which may include prayer, meditation, reading scriptures, journaling, being in nature and any other practice that brings you closer to your Higher Power.
We have high hopes and dreams when we marry our sweethearts, but with the demands of life, children, work, school or finances that begin to consume our lives, our spouses often get put on the back burner. This may work in the beginning, but eventually not keeping this in alignment will result in dissatisfaction and frustration. Sometimes we just don’t get it, and we have different love languages, and the love that we may desire to give just doesn’t get through to the other person. Simply having a conversation about things that would make each other feel loved is a wonderful resource.
The next ripple out is for the children in your family. Nurturing this relationship is so important in our families. It is easy to get caught up with the busyness and demands of life and not give this area the attention that it deserves. Time is fleeting, and our children grow up before we know it. We never know when something could happen where these precious children may be taken. One thing we’ve implemented in our home over the years is individual date nights with our children. With these relationships, it takes planning and calendaring, or they just don’t happen. Having a weekly family council has been a staple in our home. Simply to pull out our calendars for the week and schedule what is going on so everyone is on the same page is very helpful.
The next ripple is to influence our extended family, community and world. Our outreach can go out as far and wide as we are willing to put ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” He lived his life this way. Once we identify our gifts, talents and passions, then it really is incumbent upon us to share those with the people we love and spread it as far and wide as we desire. No matter how much good we do in this world, if our primary relationships are broken, we won’t be as effective as we could be or find the meaning and fulfillment that we desire.
The Healing Journey - Tree Analogy
Morning Notes are a way to declutter your mind and thoughts, and put them down on paper. Through this process of getting the whirling thoughts down on paper and clearing your head, you open up space to allow your creativity, insight and inspiration to flow.
The Tree Analogy
Roots
Four distinct roots emerged. We are multi-dimensional beings, and the four roots seemed to represent our body, heart, mind and soul. Just as a tree needs to get constant nourishment from the rich soil and water reaching its roots to sustain growth, we need to nourish our body, heart, mind and soul on a daily basis as well.
Trunk
The trunk of a tree represents form or the structure – holding things together and helping to sustain the growth. In our personal lives, we also need structure, forms or systems to keep our lives running smoothly. S.Y.S.T.E.M stands for Save Your Self Time Energy and Money. Once we identify the roles that we have in our lives and implement systems, we can feel more on top of our lives and can find greater balance to our demands as well as streamline many of the daily and weekly tasks we do.
Branches
The branches of the tree represent finding our Purpose and Passion. When we are living our purpose and passion, everything is brighter and more vibrant and we find joy in all that we do. We find our purpose by utilizing our strengths, abilities and talents.
Fruit
Finally, the fruit of the tree represents sharing our unique gifts with others. If we are not then sharing these gifts to fulfill our purpose and passion, those gifts and talents lie dormant and we begin making a mess in our own lives. It is only by giving and receiving that the flow of life occurs.
Roots: Nourishing the Body
Our body is the first root that we need to address. It is a gift that we must protect and care for the best way possible. We get one body to last our lifetime, and how we care for it or what we put into our bodies does make a huge difference in our quality of life. The foods we eat are meant to nourish our bodies physically, and we call them Secondary Foods. We get our primary fulfillment in other areas of our life such as Spirituality, Relationships, Physical Activity and Careers or Personal Mission. If there are holes in those areas of our lives, we are often likely to turn to food to fill those holes and may develop unhealthy habits.
the ENERGY and CLARITY that comes with feeding our bodies in healthy ways is fabulous! Have you ever felt the slow, sluggishness and mental confusion that comes with overeating refined sugars, flours and overly processed foods? It’s worth it to experiment to make a shift.
I like to use acronyms to help me remember things. I tend to have lots of thoughts running through my brain, so if I can simplify to remember things, it is helpful. The acronym I came up with for nourishing our body is P.L.E.A.S.E. As you think of this word and the explanation I share below, you’ll be armed with accessible information to keep your body in tip top shape.
P.L.E.A.S.E. P - Proper Supplementation
Even with the best diet, it is difficult to obtain all that we need from foods in this day and age. It is important to get cellular nutrition. The medical literature is beginning to address what is at the root of over 70 chronic degenerative diseases. That is oxidative stress. That is when an oxygen-charged molecule produces a free radical. Free radicals damage cells, and anti-oxidants neutralize the free radical.
For optimal health, we need to supplement our diets with high quality products. The challenge is that you can’t always trust the labels on supplements because the nutritional industry is an unregulated industry. One great resource is Lyle MacWilliam’s Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements. This is an independent research company that compares over 1600 different nutritional supplements and gives each one of them a rating. You don’t want to be wasting your money on expensive urine, but you do want to be arming your cells with the best quality nutrients and protection you can.
P.L.E.A.S.E. L - Low Glycemic, Whole and Raw Foods
It is not only sugars such as sucrose, fructose and glucose that spike the blood sugar, but we have discovered now that any refined and highly processed foods have a high glycemic index and spike the blood sugar. For example, white bread and white flour spikes our blood sugar faster than eating spoonfuls of white sugar right out of the sugar bowl. There are several factors that influence the glycemic index. Some of these are: whole foods, fiber content, the type of sugar and how the foods are produced.
Whole Foods
Supermarkets are filled with boxes of overly processed and refined foods that have been stripped of their essential nutrients. The consumer has developed a taste for the processed foods that are filled with sugars, colors, flavors and preservatives, which can be very addicting.
Raw Foods
Well there are many benefits. Some of these are:
A raw diet is cleansing. Our bodies are constantly cleaning out toxins and repairing tissues, but when we overload our bodies with processed foods, toxins from our food and environment, our bodies can’t keep up. Toxins build up, we weaken our bodies and our health declines. Our bodies become sluggish and more vulnerable and susceptible to disease, we feel tired and our brain feels foggy, and we gain weight.
You’ll be more hydrated. Many people don’t drink adequate amounts of water and are dehydrated without even realizing it. Raw foods have more water content than cooked foods. Hydration helps our kidneys function better and improves our skin and mental focus.
You’ll have fewer cravings. When we are nutritionally deficient, we seem to constantly snack but never get the nutrients our body is craving. When we are eating nutrient-rich raw foods, our bodies are satisfied, we don’t have constant food cravings, and we feel satisfied.
Your immune system will be stronger. Raw foods have high amounts of vitamins and minerals that have strong antioxidant, immune-enhancing, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
You will lose weight. When eating a lower calorie, fiber-rich diet, it is inevitable that you will shed extra pounds. Adding more raw foods and eliminating the processed and empty-calorie foods will help you lose that unwanted weight much quicker than you thought possible!
You’ll slow the aging process. When we flood our bodies daily with nutrients that keep our organs running properly, we get more energy, mental clarity, hormonal balance, and fewer wrinkles. We’ve armed ourselves against high blood pressure, heart disease and high cholesterol.
P.L.E.A.S.E. E – Exercise
Some of the many health benefits of exercising are:
1. If you are looking for something to help with mood swings, depression or anxiety, then look no further! Exercise stimulates endorphins, which help in all these areas as well as help enhance that happy feeling!
2. You burn calories during exercise, which gives you the added boost in weight loss as well as getting the body you want and feeling great. A regular fitness routine will not only help you obtain the body you desire, but will also make you feel stronger and more confident.
3. By regularly exercising, you release unwanted toxins from your body. With a reduced toxic load, your hormones can work more efficiently which will result in fewer mood swings.
4. Exercise has been proven to improve cardiovascular health, boost circulation, reduce “bad” cholesterol and balance blood sugar, which results in decreased food cravings.
5. Exercise improves the quality of sleep. Studies show flooding your body with more oxygen and releasing toxicity as you sweat improves the quality of sleep.
6. Although you may feel tired after a good workout, regular exercise boosts your energy. You are delivering more oxygen to your tissues, which results in more energy as the oxygen flows through your veins. By increasing oxygen levels in your body, you also improve digestion and overall well being.
P.L.E.A.S.E. A - Adequate Hydration
There are many benefits to doing this, but a few are:
1. Aids in eliminating waste and toxins from your body. It improves bowel movement because of hydration and it also aids the kidneys in eliminating toxins through the urine. Also, adequate hydration aids in preventing kidney stones.
2. Makes skin look younger. Dehydration makes your skin look more wrinkled and dry, and your skin is improved by keeping it properly hydrated.
3. Maintains a balance of bodily fluids. In addition to keeping our bodies hydrated, there is some very compelling research about the effect that words have on water and how that may affect our bodies as well. There is a wonderful book, The Hidden Messages of Water, by Masaru Emoto. In amazing photographs, he demonstrates how different types of crystals formed in containers of water when different words were said to them. Negative words produced deformed and random crystals, while positive words produced beautifully formed crystals. It is more evidence of how our thoughts and words really do affect our health. Since our bodies are over 50% water, we should be very mindful of the words spoken and how they may affect the health of our bodies.
P.L.E.A.S.E. S - Sleep
When we don’t get the rest our bodies need, we become tired, irritable, have problems with concentration and memory and are unable to tolerate stress well.
P.L.E.A.S.E. E - Energy
When you put these principles into practice, you’ll have ENERGY!
Remember: P L E A S E
P – Proper Supplementation
L – Low Glycemic, Whole and Raw Foods
E – Exercise
A – Adequate Hydration
S – Sleep
E – Equals ENERGY!!!!
Roots: Nourishing the Heart
Our hearts are beautiful and tender things! They are where our emotions are stored. They are meant to be soft and open. But depending on our life experiences, we tend to bandage up our hearts or create walls. We don’t consciously do this, but we may have been hurt deeply and want to protect our hearts, so we put up barriers. When we have an open and loving heart, we are able to connect deeply with others, which helps create meaningful and loving relationships.
The challenge is, we are all mortals and experience a wide degree of emotions - fear, frustration, anger, sadness, grief, jealousy, etc., but we don’t want to hold on to those emotions. When we stuff our emotions deep within our hearts, they are still alive and festering. One of my favorite books on this subject is Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol Truman.
The point is that if we don’t properly release and heal our emotions, eventually they will manifest in our lives in one form or another. Often it is in the form of an illness or disease - physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. We can come back to a place of peace, healing, forgiveness, joy and even gratitude for our experiences once we know how to properly release and replace these negative emotions.
Cleaning up our Personal Lives
When we don’t take the time in our lives to clean up and clear out the negative emotions and experiences we go through, but simply try to rebuild our lives on top of the pain and heartache, we are setting ourselves up for failure. And we wonder why we are continually stuck!
When people have negative emotions and experiences in their lives, they usually deal with them in one of three ways, none healthy. Often they stuff their feelings and hope that by not dealing with them or paying attention to them, they can eventually make them go away. What actually happens is when we suppress our feelings, they are still alive and begin to fester and cause all sorts of problems that we most likely have no idea are related to the unresolved issues. Suppressed feelings can easily cause anxiety, depression, tension and a host of stress-related problems.
The second way is to express the feeling or emotion. Often a person will lose their temper or blow up. This will relieve the pressure that has accumulated from the negative emotion, and it may even feel good to let it go, but it doesn’t get rid of the feeling. Also, there are definitely negative consequences to the individual and to relationships.
Another way to deal with the negative emotion is simply avoidance. People can use distraction to not deal with the issue. They may absorb themselves in work, watching television or turn to emotional eating, drinking or other harmful behaviors.
The most effective way to handle a negative emotion is by focusing on it, experiencing the emotion of it, releasing it, letting it go, and then replacing it with a positive emotion. Anytime we clear or release negative emotion, we must be sure to fill ourselves up with positive things, or we are leaving ourselves vulnerable for the negative to slip back in there.
It is empowering to have tools that we can use in our own lives to help us live happy, full and productive lives.
Tools
Writing - F.A.D.E.S.
One method is simply to write. I told you that I like to use acronyms, so in my releasing, I think of the word FADES. That stands for F- frustration, A- anger, D- disappointment, E- embarrassment and S- sadness. I ask myself in the morning if I’m feeling any of those emotions, and if I am, I typically will do some writing to release them.
Emotional Freedom Technique
Another tool to use is Emotion Freedom Technique, commonly called EFT. EFT borrows from the Chinese meridian system. While acupressure and acupuncture have been primarily focused on physical ailments, EFT focuses on emotional issues, which in turn aid the physical issues.
Letting Go and Accepting What Is
We may not even realize the emotional baggage we have stuffed in our lives that may be affecting our happiness and energy vibration.
Law of Attraction
In book, Power vs. Force by David Hawkins, Ph.D, he has calibrated the energetic level of a variety of emotions. The scale is from 0-1000, with zero being the lowest and 1000 reaching enlightenment. Negative emotions generally range between 0-200. Fear, frustration, shame, sadness, despair, etc. are very low vibrating emotions but as you walk up the scale you find peace, joy, forgiveness, gratitude, love and enlightenment. According to David Hawkins, love calibrates at 600 and enlightenment is 1000. So, related to the law of attraction, we obviously want to fill our hearts and lives with these positive emotions because that is what we are going to attract back to our lives.
Law of Reciprocity
There is evidence that when we raise our own level of love, we radiate that to positively affect our families, communities and ultimately the planet. As we give out love, we receive more of it back into our lives. It is the law of reciprocity. It is our natural state to be loving and vibrant. But often we go into our familiar state, which is more commonplace and habitual - dealing with our own pain and struggle.
Roots: Nourishing the Mind
One of the great challenges of this life is to be able to control the mind because it can really have a life of its own if we let it go uncontrolled. It takes personal control and discipline to be able to master our thoughts, but believe me, it is worth learning the tools and skills to do this. If you are feeling stuck or discouraged, this one principle will transform your life, if you can master it. What we are really talking about here is creation. We are creators, and we are using our minds to create our lives. Life really mirrors back to us what our beliefs are.
Through experimenting on this with my own life, I can see how people get stuck and struggle. Often they don’t know how to get out of their own pit. They focus on the negative things going on in their lives and try to “figure it out.” But, as long as we do this, we are giving energy, thought, worry and words to all the bad that is going on, which in turn, will only bring more bad into our lives.
Law of attraction
We have to believe it will happen! If deep down inside us we say, this would never work, then it probably won’t. It’s like it cancels out the order. The law of attraction is really the law of the harvest. We reap what we sow. Be careful with the words you use because whatever you say to yourself or others becomes your reality.
Roots: Nourishing the Soul
Nourishing your Spirit is the best way to aid in that personal transformation. When we can let go of our ego and strive to live in our true Essence, we begin to discover who we are and who we have always been. It may be rocky at times, and we will each go through trials that may test us beyond what we think we are capable of experiencing. Through this journey of mortality, hopefully we will learn the lessons we are meant to learn. In the end, I believe it will be about the lessons and understanding we have gained, and how fully we have learned to love.
Spiritual Awakening
Life never stands still and neither do our personal lives. We must have the ability to continually get our lives back on track when we make inevitable mistakes. That is part of the journey. The more mistakes we make, the more opportunities we have for success because at least we are trying. When we accept that this mortal experience is about learning and progression, we can be kinder to ourselves and appreciate that we learn with every action and mistake we make.
As we become spiritually awakened, our very natures change. Some signs of this are the following:
1. You feel love for no reason. It is easy to see the beauty of life all around you. Love is a verb, and you desire to be of service to others. You let go of judgment, and give others the benefit of the doubt. You show kindness and generosity to yourself and others.
2. You focus on the present moment. You’ve forgiven the past and accept what is. You aren’t overly concerned about the future and realize that the present moment is what counts.
3. You are happy. You can look past the negative and strive to be in a positive place. If you do feel negative feelings or get stressed, you have tools to get you out of that space and can turn it around quickly.
4. You desire deep, meaningful relationships and interactions. You won’t be satisfied with the superficial but desire to know and understand others at a deeper level.
5. You trust that things are working out for your highest good and will work out perfectly in your life. You don’t get overly stressed or anxious about things. If you do, you have tools to help you slow down, back up, breathe and become present.
6. You take accountability. You don’t blame others for your circumstances, and you feel capable of creating things for yourself. You feel gratitude for the lessons you’ve learned.
7. You see that the purpose of life is to learn lessons. You understand and accept that everyone is on his or her own path and will learn the lessons they are meant to learn on this journey.
As you embark on a journey to deepen your connection to the Divine, your life will never be the same. The fruits that come from this area in your life are truly amazing and life changing.
Trunk: Setting up Systems and Structures
The trunk of the tree symbolizes structure - setting up systems for the various roles that we have. When there is order and structure in our lives, everything seems to run more smoothly. Setting up systems streamlines our efforts in the many roles we have in our lives. S.Y.S.T.E.M. stands for Save Your Self Time Energy and Money. It really does do that. Although it takes mental energy to initially set them up, it frees up your mind and energy to not have to think about all the details repeatedly.
If we wait until something is perfectly set up, we will never make any progress and we’ll be stuck waiting. That is the trap many people find themselves in, so I suggest you start where you are. Give yourself some credit and simply start moving forward. I’ve heard it said that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. It is often through our mistakes that we figure out a better way to do things. We don’t want to become paralyzed because we are afraid something isn’t perfect.
It really is quite impossible to organize clutter, so the key is to simplify and clear the excess clutter from our lives, homes and mind. When we have physical clutter around us, the energy in our environments gets stuck, and because everything is a mirror, we feel personally stuck in our lives. When we have an excess of mind clutter, we may feel confused and overwhelmed and have a difficult time making decisions or seeing things very clearly.
Paralysis sets in and inhibits our ability to move forward In order to avoid this, breaking down our lives into bite-size chunks and setting up systems is the key to a calm, peaceful mind and life. Also, by taking on one task or thing at a time, we become more focused and successful and can get many more things accomplished in a quicker amount of time.
Branches: Discovering Your Purpose and Passion
The branches on the tree represent finding your purpose and passion. It is this step that really begins to be fun and make life exciting. Finding and living our purpose will not be easy. It takes motivation and hard work. You will be uncomfortable. But as long as you always choose growth over comfort, you are on the right path to finding your purpose.
Fruit: Sharing Your Gifts
Once fruit is being produced in our lives, it is our responsibility to share with others. Fruit on a tree that is not shared becomes ripe, then overripe and eventually drops to the ground. It is just a matter of time before the fruit will rot and make a mess. If we are not giving of our fruit, talents and gifts to others, we are limiting our positive influence, as well as probably making a mess in our own lives.
We are all meant to express ourselves. Our gifts and talents will vary a great deal. It may be a great work of art, a beautiful piece of music, or an ability to be a true friend and have a listening ear.
You are Meant to Succeed
It doesn’t matter how many times we fall. What matters is that we get up after each fall. Every experience teaches us a lesson, and individuals who have great success in life are often the ones who have the most failures but just refuse to quit.