Category / Stress Relief

by tessbrennan

8 Tips to Avoid a Blue, Blue Christmas

As the holidays rapidly approach and the hustle and bustle that is the Christmas season rock into full speed craziness it is easy to become overwhelmed.

Things don’t always go the way we intend, people aren’t there to spend it with us, money may get tight, things seem out of control and our moods drop and sadness can take over. 

Here are a few tips to fight those blues and keep your mood more golden and happy.

Add Vitamin D: Go out and get some sun!  Vitamin D levels have been shown to affect our moods.  Mayo Clinic & Vitamin D Get out and absorb some D from the sun or look for a quality supplement to assist you in this task.

Get Moving: Harvard Health tells us in its compilation of previous studies that moving. It is easy to get trapped in that spiral of depression and sluggishness.  I fight this on a regular basis.  Feeling a bit low, so you lay on the couch, then after a while you begin hurting from a lack of exercise so you don’t want to move, then you feel even more bad about yourself because you’ve been a slug and haven’t moved.  Just get up and go for a walk.  (I continue to struggle with this one issue. It is a daily choice to find ways to move and stay active.)

Add Vitamin B Complex: The B Complex vitamins are ESSENTIAL for our mental well being.  When the levels get low (which is easy since we don’t store it or make it) our moods can follow.  Studies show that low levels of these essential vitamins can have a marked effect on our well being.

Don’t Over-Imbibe: When we drink alcohol it uses up the B Complex in our system as well as any Vitamin C.  So A) don’t drink so much and B) replace the vitamins you know are being depleted by your actions.

Be Conscious of your Sugar Intake: I KNOW you don’t want to hear this during the holiday season, BUT…  According to World of Psychology, “People who suffer from depression are especially vulnerable to sugar’s evil power.” Eat 7-9 servings of fruits and veggies a day, the fiber will help to counteract some of the damage being done by those sugars. Whole foods, minimally processed are the antidote to the damages being done by sugar consumption. See: Sugar, The Bitter Truth

Follow General Nutritional Suggestions: When your body is getting the fuel it needs to be keep running strong and healthy, it is better able to deal with stressors and set backs!

Drink Water: Stay Hydrated! PsychCentral and other sources tell us that dehydration is also related to depression, so keep drinking water and remember that “flavored” drinks, sodas, and coffee don’t count as your water intake.

Meditate: Whether you clear your mind of all thoughts, focus on a scripture, visualize yourself by a babbling brook or journal your thoughts – meditation is shown time and again to provide relief from depression and the blues. A local source to teach Mindful Based Stress Reduction is Madeline Ebilini.

Thank you, Kara Shufflebarger for the image that I turned blue! 🙂 

by tessbrennan

Healthy, quick tip of the day!!! Get Moving!

We are all busy, but when we take a moment to reflect on how one change can effect our healthy, it can be mind boggling!

In less than a minute I give quick tips you can choose to implement into your daily choices to improve your health!

Get MOVING… my friends! Smile

 

less than 60 seconds to improve your health!

Let me know how YOU are moving… Today, I’m going for a bike ride!

by tessbrennan

Personally, I am no longer fighting for a Cure!

I AM NO LONGER FOR ANY CURE!

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I am for each person giving a damn for their own health and the health of their children and families. I will still compete and support finding cures, but my personal focus is working to PREVENT THEM by working with others who have the same desire.

I am for less overall degenerative disease in our population, in our friends, our neighbors, our children and our own lives. (Less need for cures.)  We lose so many people because there isn’t a cure??? How about the fact that there are KNOWN WAYS  to prevent them!!!  Perhaps you are one of the 40, 50, or 60% who could prevent that disease?

I want, so badly for people to care and love themselves enough to stand up, put one foot in front of the other & choose just one healthier thing each day.

I understand we live in a busy, expensive world and that healthier looks different to different people. This is why I offer once a month support groups. I offer weekly team coaching and individual private coaching. I want people to be different.

DIFFERENT

I am thrilled to watch others succeed, it warms my heart to get messages saying, I like what I see in the mirror now… But what is more important to me, is to know that the person who told me this is in better health and is reducing her chances of developing any of the “nasties” so prevalent.

For more information on coaching or ways to begin giving a damn, contact me. Smile

by tessbrennan

Photo Blog of Guided Walk through Bonita Bay

Thank you to my friend, Chris Griffith of Life in Bonita Springs  for suggesting this location for walking.

Bonita Bay Walking Trail Map

We arrived at 9 AM and parked at the Bay Presbyterian Church which put us right at the sidewalk entrance to the community.

Trails were clearly marked, beautiful, easy to walk, and full of friendly people.  I enjoyed the beginner’s walk trail at 1.6 miles in length. (The Yellow Trail)

I will definitely be back to try the other paths for our intermediate and advanced walks.  If you would like to be kept in the loop for our future walking events, follow us at our Feel Good Fast Facebook page where we keep our events posted and updated.

For more information on Simple Steps to Feel Good Fast, contact me.  We have something for everyone!

by tessbrennan

A Walk in the Park… Three Oaks.

Sunday, try as fate may, I was determined to get a walk in.  My back muscles were tight and hurting, I was drained and tired, and didn’t feel like getting off my duff.

Personal experience, with my body has taught me that if I didn’t get up and go do something about the sore muscles I would feel worse on Monday and the pain and exhaustion would get worse.

So, off I went on my walk. My baby girl wasn’t feeling well so I didn’t want to get too far from home, but I did want to get 3-5 miles in.  I headed to Three Oaks Park, I hadn’t walked there in quite a while.

The improvements they have made to the walking trail are fabulous!  They have markings telling you how far you have gone, which direction to keep going so you know how far you are walking, and a loop that is a little more than 1.25 miles! 

20130203_174409Small arrows point you in the correct direction to keep on the measured route.  Very easy to see and very clearly marked.  Only one area had enough pine needles on the trail to make looking for the markings difficult.  VERY well marked path.

 

I dubbed my Sunday walk the “Day of the Squirrels” I must have seen a hundred of them, sometimes 3 at a time just sitting on the path looking at me until I was almost upon them, then they would scatter to the nearby trees. 

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What I really like about this park, besides the walking path, is that there are SO MANY different things for people to do.  Even saw a couple little girls playing in the sprinklers as the maintenance team was working on the system.

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A friend recently told me that the squirrel is a sign of big changes ahead.  After seeing so many of the little critters all at once causes me great excitement to see what is ahead!

If you would like more information on local walking locations, please, contact me.

Happy Walking!

by tessbrennan

I Have a Favor to Ask of You-Kindness to Yourself

When you have a favor to ask a friend, how do you approach them?

If you would like your friend or a stranger to do something for you, how do you ask?

(Even in the case of my closest friends) I, personally, am nice to them. I know that by treating someone with kindness, they are more likely to cooperate with me, to help me achieve my task. (That’s not to say it’s the only time I’m nice to them – Julie Hollingsworth) Smile

Why then? When we want our bodies, or our minds, to do something for ourselves do we insist on being mean, and rude, and hurtful?

arguing

Do we think that by calling ourselves stupid, ignorant, goofy, wrong, or other mean names that it will actually convince ourselves to maintain the behavior we are trying to attain?  Would it work if you were calling someone else those words?  (Probably not for long.)

I know many a person who has sabotaged their own success by such negative talk.

Try instead to use a kinder approach with yourself.  “I slipped up, yes, and now I will remember to do the way I want it done the next time.” It doesn’t matter if its weight loss, healthier eating, exercising, or changing careers.

My friends at Integrative Mindfulness and Shift and Wake Up do an excellent job and teaching others to be kind to themselves, and I have been amazed at myself and those around me in the things we have accomplished once we began being nicer to ourselves.

So, do me a favor. Be kind to yourself, be patient, and treat yourself as you would treat anyone else you would like to do you a favor.

by tessbrennan

4 Ways to Begin to Feel Good Fast

When you feel blue, out of energy, glued to the couch, and unable to move, stop for a moment. You aren’t dead yet and you have a choice.

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Take a deep breath, focus on that breath, as my friend from Integrative Mindfulness taught me.  Center yourself for a moment, then choose a different path.

Some ideas to begin down the new road…

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Move.  You don’t need to run the Boston Marathon, just begin to get some exercise.  Walk to your mailbox, park a couple spaces farther away from the store, do some leg lifts while you sit on the couch in the evening.  Just move.

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Grab some WATER. Say you don’t like water?  Try adding some mint leaves, a dash of no sugar added fruit juice, slice of lemon, or sliced strawberries.  Dress it up, put it in a beautiful glass, and enjoy this life giving treat.

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Eat more veggies. I don’t want to hear, “I don’t like them”.  You’re a grown up, you can find ways to make veggies that you like to eat. Try new recipes.  I prefer http://AllRecipes.com they have a TON of recipes, lots of reviews and we rarely fail when we choose a recipe to try.  Don’t be afraid to doctor them up a bit to fit your tastes.

THERE. YOU. GO.

4 WAYS YOU CAN BEGIN TO START FEELING GOOD FAST.

For more information, or a personal consultation on getting yourself to feel good fast, just contact me.

A very special thank you, to my friend Chris Griffith of Life in Bonita Springs for the photos in my blog!

So, apparently I cannot count… here are 4 NOT 3 ways to begin to feel better.

by tessbrennan

Science mimics life–children with degenerative diseases.

I’m amazed and somewhat disheartened at the large number of children we see these days with degenerative diseases that, in days gone by, were only diseases of the aged.

Why the change? The change, I believe, is very multi-faceted.  I will attach some videos that explain a bit why I feel this way.

  1. Our Dietary choices – it is becoming common knowledge that the Standard American Diet (sad) is grossly lacking in nutrition and the sustenance our bodies need to continue building healthy cells and thus healthy bodies & babies.  An example of a study that showed very similar results in test animals was Pottinger’s Cats:
    Dr. Price & Pottenger’s Cats (6 minutes 46 seconds)

    This site also offers some excellent insight to what these studies and research mean to each of us.

  2. Our Body Care choices – In an effort to be the best looking, the youngest looking, the tannest, have the smoothest, most-manageable hair, yet we – many times – don’t take the time to stop and read ingredients and believe that because they are sold over the counter they must be safe.  However the industry regulates itself and writes its own rules… and if you use an average of 8 products a day under the “allowable toxic limit” of 1, say .80 then after you slather on your 8 products, you are now at a potential of 6.4x above the “safe level”.
    The Story of Cosmetics (8 minutes 18 seconds)

     

  3. The Cleaning Products we choose – We bring products into our homes that are advertised to “kill germs” to “clean without work” and such sound great in the advertising but can actually harm our families.  We bring in neurotoxins and other poisons with the intention of protecting our children.

    Toxic Brew Part one (9 minutes 23 seconds)

  4. Unclean/un-pure water – Finally, we no longer drink fresh, clean water.  We drink water from bottles that can leach toxins into the water when the bottles are transported and allowed to reach hot temperatures, our tap water contains Flouride and we aren’t given a choice in the matter. Antibiotics, hormones, and pharmaceuticals & chlorine are showing up in our tap water.  Fresh water is becoming more difficult to come by.

What do we do?

We stay calm, focus on each issue one at a time, and make a conscious choice to pay attention to prevention and protect our families, our children, our grandchildren and the other future generations.  We’ve voted to make the popular products available with our dollars for years.

As we begin redirecting our spending to healthier choices, 1 choice at a time we begin to see a difference in our own household, then those of our friends, and eventually our world.

The change begins with me.

For more information on ways to begin redirecting toward healthier choices or for a personal consultation and road map for you and your household, contact me.

Make it a GREAT day!

 

by tessbrennan

Sound Nutrition is the Best way to Build up your Resistance to Illness

How to build resistance

It sounds so easy, and it is when you begin working toward better nutritional choices for your body, one step at a time.

There are many factors that contribute to a compromised immune system. AKA: the reasons some people get sick much easier than others.

 

Here are 5 steps to help improve your immune system.  We will look closer at these 5 topics in the future.

  1. The nutritional content of the foods they eat – better nutrition=better cells in the body=stronger immunity
  2. The stress levels you allow to build up in your body – try a Mindfully Based Stress Reduction course, or the monthly massage to help melt some of those stresses away.
  3. Reduce the amount of poisons you are exposed to on a daily basis
    1. Cleaners in your home that you inhale or absorb through the skin
    2. Products you rub on your body & absorb through the skin
    3. Air fresheners that basically numb your sniffer.
  4. Exercise AT LEAST 10 minutes a day, 30-40 is preferred
  5. Keep a positive attitude

For more information on these 5 steps or other topics we discuss here, feel free to contact me.