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Regular physical activity can  help with both weight loss and lowering cholesterol. Exercise  increases HDL , the good cholesterol while lowering your LDL -the bad cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week.If you are new to exercise or haven’t been active in awhile, start slowly and increase your workout time and intensity as you get stronger. A good starting point is 20 minutes of aerobic activity, 3 times per week. Examples include walking, swimming and biking. The best activities to do are the ones you enjoy and will stick with. Eventually, the goal is to work up to 45-60 minutes, 5 times per week. It is also important to let your body warm up and cool down gradually during each exercise session (5-10 minutes each).

Always talk to your doctor before beginning an exercise program. Underlying health conditions, such as uncontrolled blood pressure, can make certain types of exercise unsafe.

A few healthy dietary habits can help lower the cholesterol level in your blood: (continue reading…)

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Most moms today are living the lives of stressed-out superheroes, always on the go. It’s hard to turn everything off at the end of the day and truly relax when there are so many details to remember, but it’s vital to long-term well-being. The following group of yoga poses are specifically designed to help calm the mind and help you relax.

Before you begin, take a few moments to create an environment where it is possible to relax. Notify your family that you need some quiet time and close the door. Turn off any ringers or machines, light some candles, and wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely. You will also need a yoga block or bolster or a stack of pillows to use as props. (continue reading…)

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Humans were not created to sit for long periods of time, and yet many of us do each day, and our bodies pay the price. Pain or tension in the shoulders, neck and hips are often the result, but taking mini yoga breaks throughout the day can help alleviate many of these symptoms. The following poses are meant to address the key areas that suffer the most stress from sitting, and it’s also a good idea to get up and walk around a bit.

Each of the poses will be the most effective when paired with deep, slow, steady breathing. Keep some of your focus on the breath at all times, working to let the lungs fill completely, and then completing each exhale by gently pulling the abdominal muscles back towards the spine. As you breathe you are pulling oxygen and prana, or energy, into the body. Imagine that energy filling in and releasing any areas that feel tight. (continue reading…)

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If you’ve ever wanted to reach inner peace or freedom, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself helps. Writer Michael A. Singer strives to provide readers with a method toward a better understanding of their inner self as well as relationship with their surroundings.

He writes that, “To attain true inner freedom, you must be able to objectively watch your problems instead of being lost in them. No solution can possibly exist while you’re lost in the energy of a problem.” Start the journey at the beginning by looking within yourself. No one knows you like you know yourself.

Readers can relate to his points as well as his writing style allowing a simple approach to help them reach their goal. Singer explains you and your thoughts are always together and are difficult to shut off sometimes. He points out, “There are two distinct aspects of your inner being. The first is you, the awareness, the witness, the center of your willful intentions; and the other is that which you watch. The problem is the part that you watch never shuts up. If you could get rid of that part, even for a moment, the peace and serenity would be the nicest vacation you’ve ever had.” (continue reading…)

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Over the past decade I have been working and refining a five step program to reduce my clients stressors.  I use the acronym of ‘BASIC’ for the five steps because it represents what I feel our society is missing out on: not letting life be the simple, basic way it’s supposed to be.  We fill our minds and lives with so much unnecessary garbage and make everything so complicated we forget about simplicity.  This is the very root of life!

The following takes you through the BASIC process.     (continue reading…)

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In Part 1, I wrote about stress as a motivator and reviewing your schedule.  I hope the information was helpful.  The following is a continuation of ideas to reduce your stress on your own.  I’ll cover journaling, meditation/thought and breathing.

Journaling

If you tend to be more of an introvert, then journaling about your stress could be a wonderful outlet. There are a couple different ways to journal.  A daily writing at the end of the day to get thoughts out of your head is great.  This can be done in a fast write (no stopping for punctuation, capitalization, periods or using uniform lines) to writing in a more structured way such as a list of thoughts or events of the day.  Either way will help get the weight of the day on paper and out of your head which is the goal.  This is a daily way of disconnecting with what occurred that day.  After reviewing your journal it may reveal some stress you weren’t aware of. (continue reading…)

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Stress can lead us astray and put our priorities on the back burner. The negative impact it can have on our life is tremendous, it dominoes through most situations leaving a trail of wreckage. I believe life does not have to be this way! In my next few articles I’m going to write about stress as a motivator as well as some ways to reduce your daily stress.There are simple ways to reduce stress so stress does not control you. Not all of these approaches are for everyone but, maybe this series will introduce you to something new or remind you of something that has worked for you before.

Stress is one of the things that is mostly looked at negatively, but on the flip side, it can be extremely positive. Stress can be one of the best motivators in life. As soon as you see the impact it’s having on you it could prompt change very quickly. It could catapult you into a different way of looking at your surroundings and shed some wonderful new light on current stressful situations. Do you feel bombarded with all the stressors in your life? This leads to an out of control feeling, that something else has control of your life. Turn this around and count all the blessings that need your attention. The situations themselves aren’t stressful; it’s how you are interpreting them. Life’s journey does not have to be a negative experience for you or anyone in your life. (continue reading…)