Maintaining Your Good Health – Inner Fitness for Life
We each have an inner core, a spiritual center needing encouragement, support and protection. Your inner core lets you travel through life with minimal bumps. When encouragement, support, and protection are deficient in some way, you run a risk of developing a lack of self-confidence. There are ways to give yourself a boost. Life is easier with a strong inner core.
THINK POSITIVELY
Put yourself in a positive frame of mind before you even get out of bed. Ask yourself: “What can I be happy about? What makes me happy?”
CONNECT WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
Volunteer someplace. Get a job. Read a local paper. Use your library. Get into your community.
INCLUDE EXERCISE OF SOME KIND…EVERY DAY
In 1513, Juan 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 the sidewalk or roadside where you can walk every day. If that’s not a good option for you, the other nearby branch is in your local fitness center. You’ll be healthier and your body will thank you if you visit one of these branches every day.
CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
De-cluttering is a bit of a fad and it’s okay with me. This grounding and uplifting exercise has become part of my daily schedule. I spend fifteen minutes every day clearing out clutter in a room. There are books written about it. Reading one is a good idea if you need a starter boost. Whether or not you read a book about de-cluttering, your inner self will be more fit when you adopt this habit.
REVIEW YOUR SITUATION
Now might be a good time to journal about important events in your life. Or short stories. Or poems. Or anything that seems appropriate for you. You don’t necessarily need to focus on what happened to you. The important thing is what you did with what happened to you.
SUPPORT YOURSELF
Do something nice for yourself. Think nice thoughts about yourself. Your nice thoughts about yourself are a treat, a gift you give you give to yourself. You deserve it.
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Thurman Greco
Five Things You Can Do For Your Good Health
Good health is not that hard to achieve. Really. When it comes down to a bottom line, five things are essential to establishing and maintaining your good health.
NOT SMOKING IS ESSENTIAL.
Do you smoke? Reduce your habit to five cigarettes a day. When you are down to five, you can get to zero with little effort.
Join a smokers’ support group.
Hypnotherapy and Biofeedback both offer successful results for many smokers.
The bottom line is this: Do whatever you have to do to give up this habit.
MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT.
This is a high priority. Losing or gaining weight to reach your ideal weight for your good health gets harder with every passing year so the younger you are when you work on your weight, the easier it will be.
Weight Watchers is a good support group.
An interested nutritionist can help you reach your desired goal and include specific foods contributing to your continued good health at the same time. You’ll get twice the bang for your buck with a nutritionist.
An example of this: If you need to gain or lose weight and you have heart health issues, a nutritionist can work on the weight issues along with your heart issues. I don’t know about you, but I love to be able to do a couple of things together. I get all involved in the different aspects of synchronicity.
EAT MANY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
Many wellness gurus teach five servings of fruits and vegetables are a minimum number for a well nourished person to eat daily. This five serving recommendation is easy for me to pass on. And, it’s also easy to have fun with.
I like the concept of thinking about which five fruits and vegetables will be on my plate today. Planning ahead for each day’s selection gives them focus and importance.
I also like the idea that advance planning gives me a chance to play and experiment a bit. You can do this too. It’s easier than you think. All you have to do is choose one new vegetable or fruit each week.
Take it home and learn what it’s called. What countries is it commonly grown in? Learn how to cook it, store it, combine it with other foods, and finally how to eat it.
If you learn about one new fruit or vegetable each week, your dietary skills will be vastly different in a year. Adventure!
EXERCISE REGULARLY.
This can be a drudgery or it can be fun. Your good health options are open here. Participate in one or more activities regularly. The point is to keep yourself active daily as you go throughout your life.
You can put in as much time or money as you want here.
You can also combine exercise with other daily habits. I wear an exercise watch which beeps when I’m not moving enough. It also congratulates me when I’ve gone beyond my daily goal.
I went out and got a second job which requires that I stay off my seat and on my feet. So, I’m making money while exercising. I enjoy this a lot.
AVOID STRESSORS.
This can be a biggie. Stress contributes to many health problems. Like the sleep suggestion a few pages back, you’ll find a chapter on stress later in this book. Things like meditation, walks, laughter, sharing, singing, nature bathing, journaling, drawing can help you avoid stress.
Stress relief is important – just as important as your diet and exercise.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Please refer it to your favorite media network.
Thurman Greco
When Healing Occurs
Healing is physical, symbolic, mythical, energetic and spiritual.
All at the same time.
The most obvious healing level is the physical one. This is where your body fights a disease or issue by overcoming symptoms, boosting your body systems, changing your DNA.
Chiropractors heal on the physical level when they make adjustments. Physical therapists work on the physical level when they move muscles on your body. Physicians work on the physical level when they set bones.
MYTHICAL HEALING
Mythical healing occurs at the soul level and is perceived through dreams and ceremony. Mythical level events inform reality and can include dream interpretation.
SYMBOLIC HEALING
When a client comes to me with pain, I engage that person in a dialogue which is symbolic healing in action. I ask a few questions:
How long have you had this pain?
Is it constant or intermittent?
What are your pain’s size and shape?
What color is your pain?
What does it look like?
What does it sound like?
What does this pain feel like?
What is its smell?
What makes it better and what makes it worse?
What other symptoms go with this pain?
When did it begin?
Where does it hurt?
Once you have identified your pain’s sound, I invite you to make a chant using this sound.
Symbolic healing works through your words. Talking about a health issue promotes healing. Talking with a psychiatrist or psychotherapist is symbolic healing. Speaking with a physical therapist about your shoulder pain is symbolic.
Guided meditation is symbolic healing.
ENERGETIC HEALING
Energetic healing uses no words. Examples of energetic healing include massage, reflexology, Reiki therapy, Chakra healing, and other types of bodywork.
BLENDING
Chiropractors, Physical therapists, and Physicians work on the symbolic level when they consult with patients verbally. Describing your heathl issues with a physician is symbolic healing.
Thank you for reading this article. Please refer it to your preferred social media network.
Thurman Greco
Eczema – a skin condition we all need to know more about
Spiritually, if you have eczema, you have a negative attitude toward unpleasant events in your life.
Eczema is a fairly common skin condition becoming more and more common. Your skin becomes inflamed as it reacts to soaps, detergents, household chemicals, food, house dust, and other irritants.
Itching, red, inflamed skin is the first step. It’s followed by flaking skin and a rash appearing on legs, hands, face, neck.
In children, eczema likes the inner knees and elbows.
If the condition doesn’t improve within a week, you need to see a medical professional.
Looking at the bigger picture, eczema is also a reaction to stresses in and around you. And, we can probably all agree that life is becoming more and more stressful.
The best way to treat eczema is to identify, remove, and avoid the allergens. Your goal is to control and relieve symptoms.
Looking beyond the emotional, mental, and spiritual stress, we are all more and more stressed by the chemicals we come in contact with daily. The soaps we clean with and the food we eat are becoming more and more laden with more and stronger chemicals as time goes by.
Eczema begins as itchy blotches on your skin. The redness begins later. The three culprits here are allergies, stress, and immune system overload.
These three situations respond positively to regular reflexology, Reiki therapy and chakra healing sessions.
An important first step in treating eczema beyond regular sessions is for you to identify the triggers which set off your bouts of eczema. These may be animal dander, anger, cleaning products, drugs, foods, fragrances, poor circulation, house dust, .
All is not lost. You’ll benefit from a little sun every day.
Because eczema is a situation resulting from immune system overload, a clean environment is critical. This includes your air, body, car, home, work place, water.
When toxins are cleaned out, your health will have a chance to improve. Then, your reflexology sessions will be able to more effectively manage eczema’s side effects.
Eczema responds to conventional medical treatments as well as mind-body therapies. In addition to reflexology, Reiki therapy, and chakra healing, meditation helps.
Although this may seem like a daunting task, cleaning up your body and the environment is easier than you might think. For starters, throw out all your cleaning supplies and cosmetics and replace them with non-toxic products which won’t exacerbate the problem.
A good next step is to clean up the diet by cooking and eating only the foods which have no artificial colors, flavors, additives.
It has been said that health begins and ends in the colon. A colon cleanse followed by a liver cleanse is in order. When your environment is cleaned up and your body cleaned out, it will be easier to cope with stressful situations.
CHAKRAS:
Eczema is a fourth chakra issue.
REFLEXOLOGY SYSTEMS TO WORK:
immune system, nervous system, lymphatics, digestive system, circulatory system, liver, solar plexus
ESSENTIAL OILS:
bergamot, frankincense, geranium, helichrysum, juniper, lavender, myrrh, neroli, peppermint, sweet orange, tea tree, yarrow,
EFFECTIVE FIELDS OF HEALING: Conventional Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Herbalism
PREVENTATIVE MEASURES: Keep damaged skin moist using an oil-based cream. Apply emollients liberally and frequently.
TREATMENT GOAL: If you can avoid the itch-scratch-itch cycle and avoid potential infection, your situation will be much better.
Thank you for reading this article. Please refer it to your preferred social media network.
Thurman Greco
Woodstock, New York
Longevity Breathing – an Easy Step to Better Health
I often go through a good bit of my day without even thinking about how I’m breathing, forgetting completely that the easiest and most powerful way to stay healthy and promote good longevity is breathing right.
When we’re faced with traffic snarls, an unhappy coworker, a missed deadline at work, lack of exercise, or children with stuffy noses, automatic stress responses are all too common. Our breathing becomes shallow, rapid.
Heart rates speed up, neck muscles tighten, teeth grind, and on and on.
There is something you can do.
You can learn – and practice – proper longevity breathing techniques.
There are many different breathing techniques. I use one, in particular, a the moment I realize that stress is staring me in the face.
I always use it when I’m in a doctor’s office and I know I’m going to get my blood pressure checked. I don’t have White Coat Syndrome, but my blood pressure definitely rises when the cuff is put on my arm. Sometimes, my blood pressure even rises when I walk into the doctor’s office.
So, I just cut this increase off at the pass. I use this longevity breathing technique anytime I need to calm myself and control my emotions. Here is what I do. And, you can do it too.
I breathe in deeply through my nose while mentally telling myself it’s time to be calm and lower my blood pressure.
When you breathe in deeply through your nose, focus the origin of this inhale deep in your abdomen. Hold this deep breath for a few seconds.
Then, exhale slowly as you breathe out. Remind yourself that you are breathing out stress. Let your inner self know that you are lowering your blood pressure when you exhale this deep breath.
This deep inhale and exhale pattern works in traffic, in the doctor’s office, at work. It works anywhere you see stress running straight toward you.
Take about four inhale-exhales and mentally check in with your body. Observe how your body is calming itself.
Take about four more inhale-exhales if you need. The goal here is to be calm, grounded, solid, alert.
You can train these inhale-exhales to work for you. Practice them when you aren’t super stressed. Practice them several times daily at randomly selected moments. The goal is to become comfortable with the results of this breathing pattern.
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Thurman Greco
Woodstock, New York
Longevity and the Fountain of Youth
In 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered the fountain of youth in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. Fortunately for us all, the fountain of youth still exists and there is a branch of it in your neighborhood. It is the sidewalk where you can walk daily as you exercise. It can also be found at your nearest fitness class.
The truth is that the best thing you can do to assure that you live a long and healthy life is move, move, move. Exercise is where it’s at!
A good exercise class or activity is one that you enjoy, can practice at least three times a week, and is one which strikes the right balance between enthusiasm and safety. You are doing yourself no favors if you experience sports injuries. The fountain of youth is one where you move, move, and move.
Everybody has excuses to not be physically fit through regular exercise.
Teens are distracted from exercise by schoolwork and the powerful pull of a social life.
Young adults in their 20’s seem to be physically fit more by accident than anything else. After all, young people are busy with careers and social activities.
Careers and family relationships are the major pulls of adults in their 30’s and 40’s. People exercising in this age group are often motivated by vanity. For some, health and longevity concerns become important as muscle strength declines. Issues surface such as slower reaction time, shortening ligaments, loss of elasticity. People in their 30’s and 40’s need to use warm ups, stretching more often.
If a person in the 50-to-60 age category continues to ignore the fountain of youth, daily life becomes more difficult when the time comes to get out of a chair, lift and carry objects. The quality of life improves when people rely on regular exercise routines. Regular exercise improves the life of a retiree! Go Fountain of Youth!
Exercise which supports physical fitness makes the difference between independent living and an assisted living facility for a person in the 70-to-80 age group.
The good news is that we are never too old to enjoy the benefits of the fountain of youth. Exercise is always there for us – no matter what our age! It ‘s never too late to discover the fountain of youth for yourself.
Whatever your age category, get off the sofa and move for just 30 minutes a day.
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Thurman Greco
Woodstock, New York
10 Easy Ways to Live a Longer Life
Living a longer life is a commitment to a specific lifestyle which promotes good health. Your first step to living a longer life is making this commitment to long-term good health and longevity.
You begin this path to live a longer life and have long term good health when you realize and understand you can’t just blame your genes for your health. Your continued good health depends on developing habits and practicing useful things regularly that support your commitment.
Develop your plan for a longer life now. Plan how your life will be when you are in your 80’s, 90’s, or even 100. Will you be alert and active with friends? Will you be living alone? Will you be mentally alert?
Imagine yourself as a healthy person living a longer life. Focus on this goal. Be ready to make changes in your lifestyle to achieve the results you want.
Make regular reflexology sessions a part of your life.
For starters, review your diet. Are you consuming generous servings of vegetables and fruits? Do you eat lean protein every day? Do you eat whole grain foods, brown rice, nuts, and legumes? (I’ll cover the diet portion of a longevity lifestyle in future posts.)
Meanwhile…
Take care to prevent overeating. If you eat a proper diet in the proper amounts, you should have energy, you will slow the aging process, and you will postpone or prevent chronic diseases.
If you can prevent overeating, your body will be able to handle more types of stress, something that’s important if you are concerned about living a long life.
Develop a daily walking routine. Walking 10,000 steps each day will increase blood flow to the brain resulting in an improved memory. How can you do this? Walk more. Walk during your lunch hour. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Make it a goal to get off your seat and on your feet. Choose volunteer activities which require walking.
Take your vitamins! But, not just any vitamins. You don’t want to waste your money on nutrients you don’t need. Do some research. Make your knowledge current before you decide which vitamins to take. I’ll share more information about minerals and vitamins in future blog posts. For now, I suggest you look into vitamin D3. Find out for yourself if that’s a vitamin you need. When you take your vitamins, take them with food to promote absorption.
Take an aspirin a day…if your healthcare provider says it’s okay. I believe aspirin in moderation on a daily basis can help prevent diseases such as heart attack and some form of cancer. But, again, don’t take my word on this.
Hope you are enjoying this new series of posts on longevity! If so, please share them with your preferred social media network.
Thanks for reading!
Thurman Greco
10 Easy Wellness Tips to Improve Your Nutrition
A good way to lower your risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes is to eat a steady diet of vegetables, grains, legumes, fruit, and dairy products with occasional servings of beef, poultry, and fish. This is good nutrition.
Butter is better. Margarine often has hydrogenated fats which you don’t need. Margarine also has artificial flavors, colors, etc. It’s better to eat moderate to small amounts of butter than margarine.
Want to add iron to your diet? Prune juice is high in iron. As a bonus, it’s also high in potassium. Think of prune juice as good nutrition!
Want to eat nutritious foods? Check out broccoli! Broccoli is low in calories and high in nutrition.
Beans, lentils, and dried peas are good sources of edible fiber. This translates to foods that are good for you if you want to lower your cholesterol level. This translates to better nutrition.
Having a burger? Skip the cheese and the bacon. These two foods add about 250 calories to your burger and add a good deal more saturated fat and cholesterol.
Thinking about your heart health? Eat fish once or twice a week. as good nutrition.
On a diet? You can cut your calories by about half if you’ll eat your chicken without the skin. This will also cut your fat content by about two thirds.
Skip the fruit containing dry cereals. Most of them don’t have much fruit in the cereal. If you want to eat cereal with fruit, add fresh fruit yourself. Your cereal will taste better, look better, and be more nutritious.
Go for the popcorn. Popcorn has fewer calories and fat than potato chips which makes it more nutritious!
Thanks for reading this article! Hopefully you’ll find tips you can use for more nutritious eating.
Please refer this article to your favorite social media network.
Thanks Again
Thurman Greco
10 More Wellness Tips for Better Health
One of the most important wellness tips a person can use is the suggestion to take a few minutes out of every day to relax. A break every day for a few minutes will lower blood pressure, encourage good health and healing, and promote balance. Go Breaks!
Parsley is a popular garnish. Well, I eat the garnish! Parsley is both delicious and nutritious. So, I just can’t bear to throw it out. Join me in this habit.
Cut down on the salt. Add a few drops of lemon juice or substitute other herbs and spices. This can be one of your most important wellness tips!
Add avocado to your sandwiches and salads. Avocado is both delicious and nutritious. It’s high in nutrition and low in calories so that makes it a real bonus in your meal, and a practical wellness tip.
Read the Yogurt label because not all yogurts are created equal. If you want flavored yogurt, add your own. You’ll be eating fewer additives when you include fruits instead of purchasing the yogurt already filled with high sugary jams. Choose a yogurt with no artificial colors, artificial flavors, or no artificial anything.
Steam your veggies instead of boiling them. You’ll end up serving food which tastes better and has more vitamins and minerals.
Want to serve fruit with your cereal? Add your own! Many fruit containing cereals have little or no fruit in them. (This wellness tip is almost too easy!)
Avoid commercial dips. Your homemade dips will taste better and will have fewer additives. They will have fewer calories and fat, too.
Plain popcorn has fewer calories and fat than potato chips.
Drink water before, during, and after exercise.
Thank you for reading these wellness tips! Hopefully you’ll be able to use some or all of them. Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Thanks again for reading this article!
Thurman Greco
Woodstock, New York
10 Wellness Tips for Better Health
Wellness is something we should all be interested in. We can all increase our health awareness through wellness..
Following are ten easy things you can do to promote your wellness.
Not all muffins are created equal. Read the labels so you choose a muffin which is more nutrition and less junk. Look for a muffin which has less than 500 calories and at least contains whole wheat flour in addition to eggs, butter, and other healthy ingredients.
Like baked potatoes? To get the most nutrients from your favorite food, eat the skin too. Ounce for ounce, the skin is where you’ll get more fiber, iron, potassium and B vitamins. This is wellness in action!
Eat foods rich in vitamin C every day. Besides oranges, the best sources of vitamin C are asparagus, blackberries, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, cauliflower, grapefruit, kale, mustard greens, peppers, strawberries, and tomatoes. These foods help protect against cancer and other diseases.
While you’re at it, eat at least five other fruits and vegetables daily. Make sure these five servings are high in antioxidants.
If you’re concerned about urinary tract infections, drink ten ounces of cranberry juice cocktail daily. While this won’t substitute for medication, cranberry juice cocktail taken daily will help reduce infection rates over time.
Looking for low-fat cookies? Try fig bars. They’re both low in fat and high in fiber.
Like to bake cakes and brownies? You can reduce the fat in the recipe when you substitute applesauce or fruit puree for the oil, margarine, or butter in the recipe.
Low-fat milks are not created equal. If your concern is fat content, go for nonfat or 1 %.
Frozen fruits and vegetables are tasty, nutritious snacks. Frozen bananas, strawberries, strawberries are delicious!
Try a new fruit or vegetable every month. At the end of a year, you’ll know a lot more about food than you do now. And, the chances are that you’ll have new favorite foods!
Read labels on frozen breakfasts. Some are very high in fat. Others are also very high in calories. Go for the less fatty products.
So! Here you have ten suggestions with a bonus thrown in for good measure. I’ll be sending along other easy wellness tips along in coming blog posts. Hope you enjoy them all!
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Thanks again!
Thurman Greco
