Thursday, January 3, 2008

Welcome to 2008! Eight Tips for a Healthier 2008.



May 2008 bring you all peace, love, truth, beauty and expand your limits in all the right ways! Maybe you won't be able to do a one finger handstand like the Shaolin monk shown above but you can certainly do something or things that you have never done before!

Now, coming from a long line of people who give advice whether it is asked for or not, I could claim it is in my genes, as my father suggested in his holiday newsletter this year, but environmental health promoter and ex-molecular geneticist that I am, I am sure that my lifestyle choices and the environments I have inhabited, all those good epigenetic influences, also play a significant role in my
unsolicited advice-giving behaviour.

Whatever the reason, let me regale you with my 8 Simple Tips for a Healthier 2008:

1) Breathe Deeply -- as often as you can. Fill your lungs with the breathe of life. Allow those tiny molecules of oxygen to connect your lungs with the elements of all life on earth.
http://www.healingdaily.com/exercise/breathing.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2005-mchi/2552.html

2) Eat Naturally -- eat fewer processed foods. Chow down on fruits and vegetables. Have a huge raw salad at least once a day. Drink more water. Choose seeds, nuts and sprouts as snacks. Whatever you eat becomes who you are.
http://www.mychoicesonline.com/sect_diet/colello_raw_article.php

3) Sleep Well -- Get lots of sleep. Go to bed before 9:30pm one day a week. Wind down before bedtime -- shut off the computer and the TV and give your brain time to relax. Keep a dream journal.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3410/01.html

4) Move your body often -- Take a 20 minute walk in nature every day. Take stretch breaks at work ... dance when no one is watching. Do yoga, tai chi, karate, aerobics, breakdancing, belly dancing,pilates, push ups, sit ups -- whatever it takes. Go running. Stretch your limits.
http://www.healthyactive.gov.au/internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/Content/getmoving
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1066943,00.html

5) Connect with Others and Create Community -- Smile at strangers on the street. Speak in elevators. Help old people cross the road. Talk to your neighbours. Hire a local kid to do a job that need to be done.
http://casparcommons.org/Library/HowToBuild.htm
http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/4193.html

6) Love the Earth -- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle more ... Conserve water and energy ... Choose green cleaners and personal care products... eat organic ... celebrate the seasons ... spend more time in nature.
http://www.monumentalmassage.com/articles/love_mother_earth.html

7) Have the Courage to Try Things that Seem Impossible -- do something you have never done before and thought you couldn't do. Take a new route when you go to work. Go somewhere different every week. Study something new for half and hour every day.
http://tow.charityfocus.org/?tid=410

8) Follow Your Dream!! -- Find your dream and pursue it! Now is the time! The world is changing. Be part of the solution. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Be positive and thankful for what you have and who you are.
http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/dreams.htm

Check out two inspiring videos that have been shared with me -- videos that remind us that the world indeed is changing and our choices make us a part of the solution, or a part of the problem .... http://theshiftmovie.com/index2.html

and NEVER forget the line from that 1949 Sigman and Russell song sung by Linda Rondstadt in 1983 -- Crazy He Calls Me -- 'the difficult I'll do right now; the impossible will take a little time' ... enjoy ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

Curious about epigenetics -- check out this video ....
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html

StayWell and Travel with Spirit, in Beauty and Truth, The SpiritTraveller