Wellness Wednsdays

Stop, drop and roll is a simple safety technique most of us were taught as children.  This method was taught to help you extinguish fire from your clothes or hair if you were in a fire situation.  Most of us, luckily, have not caught on fire!  However, many of us have fires in our lives.  Overbooked schedules, difficult relationships, or financial struggles may be just a few of your fires. Good news. Putting out fires in your life can be simple. The timeless safety technique stop, drop and roll still applies!

Here’s how:

Stop.  Slow down.  Unplug.  Take a break.  Get a fresh perspective on your situation.

Drop.  Let go of what is not serving you.  Simplify and relieve your overwhelm now.

Roll. Go with the flow. Move forward with what is most important. You will know what to do!

As Socrates says, “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”  Make your moments matter.

About the Author:: Alison Miller is a mind-body wellness expert and Hawaii-based healer who strategically coaches and consults individuals to create the health, relationships and career to which they aspire.  Check out Alison’s blog, Live Inspired(http://alisonimiller.com/), to receive the best information about holistic wellness. To schedule an office, phone or Skype session visit Alison Miller Consulting & Coaching(http://alisonimiller.com/holistic-life-coaching/).

About the Author:: Alison Miller is a mind-body wellness expert and Hawaii-based healer who strategically coaches and consults individuals to create the health, relationships and career to which they aspire.  Check out Alison’s blog, Live Inspired(http://alisonimiller.com/), to receive the best information about holistic wellness. To schedule an office, phone or Skype session visit Alison Miller Consulting & Coaching(http://alisonimiller.com/holistic-life-coaching/).

It does not matter what exercise you love to do, but it should be an enjoyable activity that you look  forward to doing.   For me, this is yoga.

Why?

It Feels Good:  Engaging in movement, such as yoga, helps deliver oxygen and nutrients to our tissues.  Regular exercise boosts our cardiovascular system to be more efficient.  This means more blood through our blood vessels and our heart for more energy, better stamina, and feeling good!
It Makes Me Happy: Exercise is a mood enhancer and a great way to relieve stress and calm our selves.  Regular exercise has been said to boost self-esteem and self- confidence.
Disease Prevention:  Exercise helps manage a variety of conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Controls the Jiggly Parts:  Yoga not only feels good, but it helps burn up excess calories.  It is great for balance, muscle tone, flexibility, and strength.
Better Sleep:  Physical activity will help us have an easier time falling asleep faster, and into a deeper sleep.  What a great help for catching up on beauty sleep!  Just be carful not to exercise too close to bedtime or this may be counterproductive!

About the Author:: Summer Peters is the Director of Bliss at our SwellWomen retreats. She is also the owner of Summer’s Green Smoothies, A Lifestyle System for Healthy Living.  For more recipes or to join in on the next seasonal cleanse, visit here.

Wellness is easily within your reach.  Here is a wonderful nursery rhyme to help remind how easy it can be…

The Best Six Doctors

The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they’ll ease
Your will they’ll mend
And charge you not a shilling.

~Nursery rhyme quoted by Wayne Fields, What the River Knows, 1990

Remember to visit the doctor this week and bring a friend!

About the Author:: Alison Miller is a mind-body wellness expert and Hawaii-based healer who strategically coaches and consults individuals to create the health, relationships and career to which they aspire.  Check out Alison’s blog, Live Inspired(http://alisonimiller.com/), to receive the best information about holistic wellness. To schedule an office, phone or Skype session visit Alison Miller Consulting & Coaching(http://alisonimiller.com/holistic-life-coaching/).

Plan:  Take only things you like!  Think about what healthy things you do like to eat and plan accordingly for when you go grocery shopping.  This way you can pre prep for snacks such as trail mix, veggie sticks, fruit slices, hummus, smoothies, and soups.

Travel Containers:  Pick out a variety of sizes of reusable container, mason jars, and a thermos for packing your snacks, dressings, nut milks, and other goodies.  Also, get some cutlery you can leave at work and just wash it before you leave each day.

Night Time is the Key:  Go ahead and prep your lunch for the next day while you are already in the kitchen washing, chopping, and cooking for dinner.  In the morning, all you have to do is grab and go!

My Favorite Things to Make in Bulk:

Salad Dressings: These can be made in advanced and stored in your fridge ready to use.

Soup:  Take a few hours over the weekend once a month to prepare a few different types of soups. Store in mason jars and freeze.  Defrost and reheat when ready to use!

A Sweet Treat: Bake and freeze healthy muffins and banana bread so they are ready to enjoy when you want a treat!

About the Author:: Summer Peters is the Director of Bliss at our SwellWomen retreats. She is also the owner of Summer’s Green Smoothies, A Lifestyle System for Healthy Living.  For more recipes or to join in on the next seasonal cleanse, visit here.

Practicing Non-judgment: A Simple Five-Step Practice
Judging creates fear and separation. To practice non-judgment is to create a space for connection and love.

Try this simple five-step practice.
1. Think of a specific situation where you have judged something about yourself or another person.
2. Notice how you describe this situation to yourself or others. For example, that was good or bad, right or wrong, he/she should have or should not have.
3. Now see yourself becoming an observer of the situation.  As an observer release judgment of the situation being good or bad. Experience the situation as it simply is.
4. Affirm to yourself I release judgment from this situation.
5. Open your heart and mind to experience of new viewpoint of curiosity, learning, and expansiveness.  Ask yourself how can you learn from this person or situation, mistake or experience?

About the Author:: Alison Miller is a mind-body wellness expert and Hawaii-based healer who strategically coaches and consults individuals to create the health, relationships and career to which they aspire.  Check out Alison’s blog, Live Inspired(http://alisonimiller.com/), to receive the best information about holistic wellness. To schedule an office, phone or Skype session visit Alison Miller Consulting & Coaching(http://alisonimiller.com/holistic-life-coaching/).

Benefits of Coconut Water

After a surf or yoga session, I like to enjoy a nice cool coconut!  Coconut water is one of the nature’s most refreshing drinks consumed worldwide for it’s nutritious and health benefiting properties. The juice is packed with simple sugar, electrolytes, and minerals to replenish hydration levels in the body.

Health benefits of coconut water

• Coconut water is a very refreshing drink to beat tropical summer thirst.

• Coconut water is composed of many naturally occurring bioactive enzymes, which aid in digestion and metabolism.

• Despite very light consistency, its water has much better composition of minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc than some of fruits like oranges.

• Coconut water is also a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and folates. These vitamins are essential because the body requires them from external sources.

• Coconut water contains a very good amount of electrolyte potassium. 100 ml of water has 250 mg of potassium and 105 mg of sodium. Together, these electrolytes help replenish electrolytes especially after a great surf and/or yoga session.

• In addition, fresh coconut water has small amount of vitamin-C (ascorbic acid); provides about 2.4 mcg or 4% of RDA. Vitamin C is a water-soluble ant-oxidant.

About the Author:: Summer Peters is the Director of Bliss at our SwellWomen retreats. She is also the owner of Summer’s Green Smoothies, A Lifestyle System for Healthy Living.  For more recipes or to join in on the next seasonal cleanse, visit here.

Chaos to Calm in 3 Steps

Anxiety can get the best of us.  Take yourself from chaos to calm by following the three tips listed below and relieve your anxiety now.

1. Stop – Take three deep sighs. As you release your sigh make an audible “AHHHHH” sound.   The conscious use of sound creation creates wellness in your body.  Release anger and frustration through this simple vocalization and get the chaos out of your body.

2. Breathe – Take a deep breath.  Fill your belly like a balloon when you breathe in.  Exhale and deflate your belly pulling it flat against your spine. Breathe at a slow steady pace.  Strengthen your exhale, making it longer than your inhale.  Repeat until your breathing is steady, slow, quiet, and regular. Practice for 5 minutes.

3. Surrender – Let go of control. Allow life to flow. For a moment, forget your plans. Replace rigidity with flexibility.  Anticipate things going better than you expected. Affirm your life is unfolding for the highest possible good.

About the Author:: Alison Miller is a mind-body wellness expert and Hawaii-based healer who strategically coaches and consults individuals to create the health, relationships and career to which they aspire.  Check out Alison’s blog, Live Inspired(http://alisonimiller.com/), to receive the best information about holistic wellness. To schedule an office, phone or Skype session visit Alison Miller Consulting & Coaching(http://alisonimiller.com/holistic-life-coaching/).

Surfing, which originated here in Hawaii, is popular among people of all ages and abilities.  It promotes cardiovascular fitness as well as strength in the core, back, shoulders, and legs.  These days people surf all over the world for health and well-being.

Not only did we focus our surf sessions this week on water safety, learning to read the ocean, correct paddling technique, and surfing etiquette, but this week s retreat set an intention on having fun, being present, and surfing for the soul!

Here are a few photos of the ladies enjoying their surf lesson.

My Top Ten Reasons I Love Surfing

There are a lot of reasons why surfers love to be in the water, breathing fresh air, enjoying the sunshine, playing in the waves, and laughing with their friends!  It is almost impossible to put into words the beautiful connection one feels once they are on their board and in the water.  I have taken my top ten reasons I love to surf, and put them in this list!

1.    Surfing helps reconnect to the inner child.
2.    Surfing helps me develop my balance, both on my surfboard and in my life.
3.    Surfing is a great work out that is always fun!
4.    Surfing lets me tap into my own unique style!
5.    Surfing connects me to a tribe. Surf buddies are friends forever.
6.    Surfing teaches patience.
7.    Out in the water I can let my everyday worries float aside.
8.    Since I can’t take every wave, surfing teaches me to share!
9.    Sunshine provides healthy vitamins to maintain a youthful glow!
10.   Surfing is empowering!!

About the Author:: Summer Peters lives on Maui and offers services in Yoga, Massage, Surf Lessons, and Nutrition.  For information visit Summer’s Green Smoothies.  Also, follow Summer’s blog as she travels, hosts seasonal cleanses and shares healthy vitality recipes.

These links are…..www.summersgreensmoothies.com
and the blog is….http://surfyogamaui.wordpress.com