This morning I woke up with a case of the Mondays. I went to sleep feeling anxious and woke up feeling the same way. Even though I had a jam packed day ahead and was tempted to get into the office and get to work, I kept to my promise of daily meditation and centering.
I enjoy YouTube; but over the last 3 weeks, it's turned into a full blown fling. Each day I spend time searching for and finding videos to incorporate into my meditation practice. Waking up half way on the wrong side of the bed this morning, I searched for "creating a great day" meditations. The first one I found, the woman's voice was irritating. Definitely not what I wanted to kick start my morning with. The second and perfect piece for peace was Positive Meditation Uplift Your Emotions by David McGraw. it was very good and definitely moved me from crank to cool as a cucumber.
Despite the chaos of today with constant meetings and clients (all good!!!!) I also kept another commitment to myself to try running this week. After a month and a half of not running and it my first high impact activity post injury, Gidget and I ventured out for a spin. It was a little rough, but in a good way. An I know my body is working awesome way! Here's our route that's kick starting my new fitness challenge!
Although some days may be more taxing than others (hah! It's April 15th get it?!?) the moral of today is: make time to honor your commitments to yourself. Even if (nay! Especially If!) you have a case of the Mondays. 7-14 minutes WILL make a positive change in your day and turn it around!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Giving it my gall!
For the past 18 years I have relied on physical activity to
help me work through life. Be it stress, anxiety, worry, anger, fear, being
upset, feeling “off”….And, not just for giving me a boost when I’m not feeling
at my best…but also to SUPERCHARGE myself! When I’m feeling good it feels
awesome to burn energy! To run, to play, to dance, to test my strength and my
limits! To grow! So, needless to say, the last month has been a challenge. Not
that I’ve not ever been taken out of being active before. In 2010, I fractured
my sacrum after falling off a horse; and was limited in my activity. But, I
grew through that.
But, this year, on March 1, I subluxed my shoulder and tore
my labrum and joint capsule (In simple speak, it means my shoulder came out of
its joint and went back in on its own accord). It hurt like HELL! I was talking
with a girlfriend who subluxed her shoulder playing softball. She likened the pain to childbirth. She’s had
two kids. She’s a PT. The girl knows what she’s talking about. So, with a bum
shoulder, I was limited in my activity; and while definitely disappointed and
frustrated, I kept my spirits high by repeating to myself, “Do what you can,
with where you’re at, with what you have.” I was able to dance, speed walk,
ride the bike! Lots of things! So…my physical outlet was at least being
addressed.
Then came March 20th where I had to have my gall
bladder removed. Seriously, March came
in AND left like a lion! I went through
laproscopic surgery and it’s now been 3.5 weeks post surgery and day by day I’m
progressing marvelously! I’m going to
start slowly jogging this week. But, the first couple of weeks were rough. For
anybody who tells you that laproscopic surgery is a piece of cake and they’re back
into action the next day…that’s awesome for them! But, that wasn’t the case for
me. I know that surgery is physically
and emotionally impactful. And, having a few friends reiterate that, and
purposefully check in on me to see how things are going, and specifically
asking “how are you doing emotionally?” really does speak to that universality.
It also speaks to the fact that I have awesome friends!
Anywho, having the gall bladder surgery on top of the
shoulder injury felt like adding salt to the wound. With being further laid up,
I was really bummed. Nothing puts you down a peg or two than realizing that it’s
a challenge and painful to get in and out of bed and doing anything that requires any amount of bending.
I did however, have positive news in that I don’t have to
have shoulder surgery (always get a
second opinion)! So, my spirits were uplifted in knowing that my thoughts and
being receptive of and knowing that others were sending healing thoughts to me
were working!
And, this gets to the whole point of this post. I’m a huge
believer in the Law of Attraction. That’s not to say that being a Pollyanna is
easy or that I’m not prone to focusing on the negative sometimes. But, what this whole last month of restricted
physical activity has taught me is that I need to work on my mental well-being
as much as my physical well-being. I’m a believer in the health and well-being
of us in the whole sense: mind, body, spirit. And, I thought I was doing a
pretty good job, in that over the course of late January through March, I’d
gotten back into a routine of meditating and writing in my gratitude
journal. Both things that in the last
few years, have made a tremendous positive impact in my life.
Our minds are powerful. We tell ourselves SO many things
throughout the day. I read somewhere
that we have about 30,000 thoughts per day; and that for most of us, 50% of
those are negative! Are you satisfied with that?! I’m not! I want to bend that
trend and train myself with positive expectation! Here’s something really fun and mindboggling
to think about. Our minds don’t know the
difference between actually doing something and if we just believe and think we
are doing something! What we say to
ourselves manifests. How many times are you thinking in “no’s. I can’ts, should,
I’ll try’s, maybes?”
I love working with my clients on reframing; on using
positive affirmations; on helping them
to feel empowered and believe in themselves. Because SO much of behavior change
lies within our own minds! I’m always pairing workouts with You Can! You Are!
It is! And, not letting the small things derail us from our overall goals. Whether we think we can or we can’t; we’re
right. Our self-talk matters. That’s
worth repeating. Our self-talk matters!
Turns out this coach needed a booster shot in practicing
what I preach.
So, for the last three weeks, I’ve used all of the time that
I would usually take to work out to do mental calisthenics. I’ve not only meditated
2x/day; logged daily gratitude
journaling sessions; but I’m also working on identifying and busting through my
own mental limitations. Working on letting ME shine through. Working on
focusing on the positive! Working on always believing that something wonderful
is about to happen! Believing and feeling that everything good is coming my
way! Coming into alignment with my true being.
Not to say that I was being an Eeyore before. But,
sometimes, we get stuck in mental ruts, where we lose faith in our abilities. Where
we start to doubt; or get focused on the thing that isn’t going right instead
of looking at and appreciating what’s going wonderful! Where we forget that we’re here to have fun,
to shine, to be amazingingly us and enjoy life!
And, just like working out physically, working on our mental
and emotional strength takes the same type of dedication and commitment. I consider myself agnostic; but to put it
simply, it’s about praying when things are going good, just as much as we pray
for things when they’re going bad. It’s about making our thoughts and our
mindset our priorities. It’s about retraining our minds to look for the good.
It’s about disciplining ourselves to meditate, to turn inwards, and stretch and
strengthen our minds. Just like working out, it feels better the longer we do
it! It feels awesome and we start to crave it! It makes a tangible difference! As
the spring is upon us, I LOVE this analogy: What we think about grows. Are you
planting seeds or are you planting weeds? I definitely want to be planting
seeds of flowers and awesomeness!
So, as my body is doing a spectacular job of healing itself.
I’m making it my own personal health and wellness goal to commit just as much
time to my mental strength and creating positive thoughts and an abundant
mindset as I do my physical strength and endurance.
I was inspired last night by a speaker to “Live Life Out
Loud!” – So, as I’m starting my next Body By Vi 90 Fitness Challenge; I’m going to be incorporating the mental
aspect; and sharing with you my plans, thoughts, resources, and really
everything that comes into play building the best me I can be!
I hope you’ll join me: train your body! Train your brain!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Shake it Up and Party!
Do you want to boost your weight loss, activity, or
fitness goals at the start of the new year?
Join me on the Visalus 90-Day Challenge with the shake
that tastes like cake! I'll be hosting tasting parties January 9th and 10th.
Come over and try out shake samples and learn more about how you can make 2013
your lucky year! http://eepurl.com/tvcKb
Two lucky winners will be drawn for personal training
sessions!
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