10 Steps to Inner Fitness and a Life That Unsticks Itself.
We’ve all got a lot on our plates these days. All of us.
We’re at a point where it’s time to return to normal.
The question is this: What is normal anyway?
Certainly it’s not what we had before. It’s time to make way for a better life..
Whether we’re interested or not, our spiritual centers need encouragement, support, and protection. Inner fitness smoothes out the bumps in our travels through life.
I don’t know if I speak for everyone, or even anyone, but I find myself embracing this new normal while experiencing grief.
With a grounded inner core, a new normal is easier to find and recognize. Essential requirements for inner fitness include encouragement, support, safety, and self-confidence.
There are things you can do:
Think Positively.
Positive thoughts are essential – even before you get out of bed. When you wake, ask yourself “How can I be happy today?”
Happiness is the great equalizer. You are never too young or too old for happiness. Happiness doesn’t need education. Happiness doesn’t need good health. Happiness is the only thing I know that is available to everyone.
All happiness needs is for you to “be happy.”
Listen to Your Body.
When you listen, your body will talk to you. It will never lie to you as healing begins. Inner fitness is real.
Are you trying to adjust to your new reality? Do you want to change your life? Is something wrong, and are you trying to find out what?
Tune in to your body several times a day. Do you have pain anywhere? Is your spine aligned? What is your energy level? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired? Joyful?
Good Health is a Priority.
When you value your good health, you become a valuable person. You love yourself. When you expect excellent health, your thinking changes. Life unsticks itself.
Claim your wellness!
Respect Your Emotional Self
Your feelings are opportunities to grow. Emotions are messages from your body which will help set you free. Your emotions can help you understand pain, extra weight, sorrow, fear.
When you remove these feelings, you make way for joyful health, peace, grounding.
A better life emerges.
Connect with Your Community.
Get a part time job.
Or a full time job.
Read a newspaper.
Use your library.
Volunteer at a food pantry.
Join your local church or synagogue.
Teach someone to read.
Include Exercise Every Day
In 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The Fountain of Youth still exists and keeps people everywhere healthy. There is at least one branch of it in your neighborhood, located on a sidewalk or roadside where you can walk every day.
If that’s not convenient for you, another nearby branch is in your local fitness center. You’ll be healthier when you visit it regularly.
Take a Grounding Break
Try meditation, walking your dog, giving your cat a massage, or staring out the window into nothingness.
The activity isn’t so important. What’s important is that, when you complete this small task, you’ll have given yourself a refreshing, grounding break.
You’ll continue with your day feeling more positive, relaxed. Your fresh new take on the day will ripple out to those around you.
Review Your Situation
Now might be a good time to write about important moments in your life. You don’t have to focus on what happened in your life. Focus, instead, on what you did about what happened to you.
Write short stories, essays, poems, or keep a journal.
Whatever you choose, if you need help, you may find it at your library.
Reflexology and Reiki
Do not overlook a weekly session. Both these modalities bring homeostasis which is crucial these days. Both these modalities are adaptable to many different situations.
Do you practice Reiki? No? Find a teacher. If you do…have you thought about a Reiki circle for your area?
We all need more Reiki. We all need more reflexology.
When I think about Reiki and reflexology, my heart sings!
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Thurman Greco
5 Physical Self-Care Boosts for Your Diet – and Your Life
There comes a time in everyone’s diet routine when it’s time to get physical. You’re doing good things to lose weight but you need something else to offer a boost.
But what?
Move those muscles, that’s what!
But there’s a secret to this success. It’s called planning.
If you don’t plan to schedule exercise, it won’t be a part of your life.
First: Start off super simple. Plan to meet a friend for a workout session of something…a brisk walk, a tennis game, a swim at your local Y.
Make it a weekly event.
What’s important is that you get out your calendar and schedule regular sessions with friends. When you schedule regular dates with friends, they’ll probably happen.
There are only a few details you need to work out:
Where will you exercise? Home, Park, Gym?
What will you do: Walk? Aerobics? Feldenkrais? Pilates? Golf?
When will you meet? Before work? Lunch hour? Weekends? After work?
Second: Use your watch to track your steps. My first fitness watch was a Garmin. My second, a FitBit. My third love is a Samsung. Each of these watches overperformed. My Samsung even takes phone calls.
But, don’t get distracted by all the wonderful things this wrist jewelry does. Use the treats which attract you. For me, it’s the magic number I check throughout the day which tells me how many steps I’ve taken.
Your fitness watch is a step counter. Mine tracks my steps throughout the day. My goal is 10,000 steps a day. I don’t worry about whether the intensity is low, moderate, or high. I’m concerned with the total. My goal is to enjoy myself when I know I’ve reached the magic number: 10,000.
Whether you have a Garmin, a Fitbit, a Samsung, or a simple pedometer, when you count your steps, you have a constant coach who travels with you and supports you in your health goals.
Third: While you’re at it, go for some strength training. This is not the same thing as exercising with a friend.
Strength training happens when you work all your muscles under the direction of a trainer. Whether you call it resistance training, weight training, or muscle training, you’re giving your body a bonus class once a week. Strength training is not painful.
The idea is to improve your bone density, firm and trim your body, lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, increase your self-esteem, and prevent falls. WOW
Find a qualified teacher and schedule a weekly class on a different day from exercising with a buddy. This is the training where you’ll start slow and set no upper limits for yourself. The sky is the limit.
Remember: strong is healthy.
Fourth: Join a yoga class. Yoga is therapeutic. It’s uplifting. It’s fun. It’s also an exercise where you compete only with yourself. There are many, many kinds of yoga and every teacher is different. Shop around.
I, personally, prefer restorative yoga. My current teacher, Carolyn Abedor, teaches Iyengar yoga. I love every minute I’m in her class. When you join the right yoga class for you, you’ll feel the same way about your teacher.
Fifth: Give yourself the gift of a regular reflexology session. Your feet are the command center of your body. A reflexology session honors you – physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Each reflexology session brings homeostasis to your whole body. Go for it!
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Thurman greco
www.thurmangreco.com
Spirit is a Change Agent: 5 Ways to See. 6 Questions. 3 Lists.
Sometimes, when spirit reaches out, we rejoice.
Spirit speaks, whether or not we are interested. The message may be loud or soft, depending on your self-care situation.
Lately, I’ve been hearing from people, each of whom is in dialogue with spirit. One thing, spirit brings change. I think about change this way:
When I choose change, the words in my life are different:
I can love myself more.
I release resentment so forgiveness can become part of my life.
I move from the old to the new.
I express love in more ways.
Today’s article focuses on one prompt instead of the usual list of 5-7 self-care suggestions I’ve been offering. I’m interrupting the series with this one focus because it needs attention.
Do you feel resentment when a client, a relative, a neighbor, a manager, a stranger asks something of you?
Do you want to spend more time with someone but cannot?
The tendency is to swallow your feelings and press on. Whatever the message, spirit speaks truth. However spirit reaches you, the message is an opportunity. Eventually, when spirit bubbles your feelings up, you cannot pretend you don’t feel the tug. Spirit is a change agent.
How does spirit speak to you? Do you feel anger, depression, fear? Do you feel love, calm, excitement? Do you smell roses?
Do thoughts enter your head? “I really don’t want to do this job, see this person again, drive this commute, feel this stress, stay in this apartment, live in this town, put up with this pandemic stress even one minute more.”
Do you see answers in clouds, on pages of books you find open?
Eventually, spirit convinces you to honor your situation and yourself. It’s time to honor change.
A good next step is a list. After all, “if it’s not on the list, it doesn’t exist.” Right?
For starters, I propose two lists. A heart list comes first. This is an ongoing document you create while traveling on your life path.
I first found the Heart list in a book, “Fireflies” by Coleen Murtagh Paratore – a successful and spiritual writer:
Take a piece of paper and draw a large heart on it. What words make you happy? What words make you smile? Put those words in the heart you just drew.
Set this heart list aside for the moment while you create your Change list.
On a second piece of paper, list things to change in your life. You are creating your Change list.
Now, ask yourself:
How can I turn the Change list entries into action?
What should I do to improve my situation?
What can I give away, move, rearrange?
Change is a gift. Is it time to allow gratitude into my life?
Can I get comfortable with change? Do I even want to get comfortable with change?
How long do I want to live with negativity in my life: Ten minutes? Ten days? Ten weeks? Ten Months? Ten years?
Put your two lists away. But, don’t hide your heart list. Place it where you can see it whenever you want. Add add words to your heart list often.
When tomorrow comes, look at your Change list. Your positive future may lie in this list. Seek ways to create what will work for you.
Find ways to graciously and generously reduce contact with stressful people, places, and situations.
Are there people and aspects in your life you want to draw closer? Do you want to spend more time with others? What places do you want to know better? Are there positive activities you want to include in your life?
What are the best ways to remove unwanted habits? Changes shift outcomes. Situations move and create a rejuvenating ripple effect in your life.
The third list, my Ben Franklin Change List, is important now. I’ve used this list for years when taking action becomes confusing. .
Sometimes I’m trying to decide what to do. My options have narrowed down to two or three and I’m still trying to decide. I haul out another piece of paper and draw two or three lines on it. I list everything that can happen if I move down path A, and then I list everything that can happen if I move down path B.
I include “the best thing that can happen if I…” in each option of my Ben Franklin list. I also include “the worst thing that can happen if I…”
After I’ve written down everything and anything, I examine the opportunities these lists created. One list will be longer than the other.
Listing all the options and then seeing them for what they are on the page clears my head and my heart. This information usually points me in a direction.
And, finally, if I’m at a yes/no point and have not reached a decision, I dowse for an answer. My trusty pendulum always helps.
If you don’t dowse, there are still things you can do:
Several years ago, I was in a real quandary. I felt I was going in circles. Confusion reigned.
Someone invited me to visit New York City for a weekend. On that visit, I wound up walking through Washington Square Park late on Sunday afternoon.
I’ve been there many times – there were always people enjoying themselves in this park. People sat around visiting with one another. People walked their dogs. Watching everyone was always fun.
On this afternoon, the place was deserted. Seated all by himself on a bench, sat a smallish, older man wearing an unusual hat.
I was drawn to him. How could I not be? The dogs, the college students, and the tourists were gone. Even the pianist playing songs for tips on his grand piano was gone. There was only the quaint little man and me. As I got closer, I saw a tarot deck next to him on the bench.
You know how this story ends.
I walked over to him and we chatted. He read my cards. His words coaxed my own intuition to pull what I needed from his message. His voice, his posture, his cards, were perfect for me at that moment.
– – – – – – – – – – –
My book, “Healer’s Handbook,” dealing with the spirituality of health, discusses change in several entries.
People get angry when they aren’t comfortable with change. Sometimes this anger surfaces as health issues or disease. Arthritis, boils, burns, carpel tunnel syndrome, cold sores, depression, diarrhea, kidney infections, laryngitis, menstrual problems, obesity, pink eye, sprains, and warts are just a few.
Sometimes, when contacted by spirit,, we see our souls hanging out in front of us. Messages we didn’t ask for show up at a time when we don’t want change in our lives.
When that happens to you, acknowledge the situation and move on. Maybe you’ll be up for change soon.
Take whatever steps you can when you are ready.
Consider this: You may be more ready than you think. After all, spirit is connecting with you and you are listening.
I’m reminded of the old children’s game: “Ready or not, here I come!”
Change is the journey we travel.
Change is opportunity in the face.
Change is a naturally occurring life event.
Change surrounds us all.
Change can create joy. Joy allows you to love yourself and everyone else.
Doing what you can, connect with however many things in your life bring joy.
Change can sometimes be ungrounding. That’s where reflexology comes in. Schedule a session. Grounding is something to appreciate during stressful times.
Reflexology sessions bring the change of homeostasis. With homeostasis, you can take responsibility for your health and find the person you are meant to be.
When working for change, I focus on the immune system and nervous system together for the first part of the reflexology session. This can be transformative.
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Please share it with your friends.
Thanks again.
Thurman Greco
