Just BE Wellness

It’s one month into the new year.  Are you already feeling disconnected from your health routine? Get reconnected to your purpose, and see the results.

Healthy Living…I Give Up; Find the Motivation for Your Health Goals

Coming back from our honeymoon, I was not expecting my first visit to be with the doctor.  But our (mis)adventure in Nicaragua included CPR & chemical burns that begged a lil’ more attention when we returned to the US.  What does this have to do with you & your health?  Read on…

Have you ever had the experience where you’re mid-activity, wondering ‘Why the heck am I doing this?!’ (Sometimes I get into a cooking rut, where I think, ughh, why don’t I just make frozen pizza or get take-out instead.)  We often get so caught up in the routine of things that we forget the point.  Asking this question is a great way to bring mindfulness into your life, so that you’re not doing things just to do them, but are connected to your purpose.   When you’re connected to your purpose you can move from a place of passion & authenticity, rather than regret and annoyance. (When I get into a habit of eating too much bread or sweets, I can feel it and realize pretty quickly why I make the effort to eat well in the first place.  Then choosing healthy foods actually feels good, not like a chore.)   If we can step back and ask ourselves the question “why am I doing this?” it may save us a lot of anxiety…because otherwise, it can take a set-back to make you realize why you do the things you habitually do.

Enter honeymoon story in brief: enjoying our final days of an adventurous tour around Nicaragua, we found ourselves on the Corn Islands in the Caribbean. A usual boat trip from one island to the other quickly became…rather unusual.  Rough seas, a young driver, too many people & perhaps just bad luck all added up to a capsized boat and all 18 passengers treading in open seas.  Shocking, scary, a moment where you ask “Is this really happening?” And a great moment to pray & practice your yogic breath & mentality!

The sliver lining to it all…my husband’s true colors shined as he performed CPR in the water, saving a life. (Yes, really).  And, I got to see first hand, what the point is of my efforts to living a healthy lifestyle.  As we waited to be rescued, I was marinating in the gasoline/oil mixture which I could feel slowly burning my skin.  The US doc assured me the 1st degree chemical burns wouldn’t leave any scarring, but might take 1 year to heal.  Sigh of relief, but also a sigh of disbelief… 1 whole year?!

Well POW! take that doc!  Within 2 weeks, the burns were hardly noticeable.   Yes! I knew I loved good food for a reason.  Your body needs all the nutrients all the time…and you never know when you’re gonna need them most! So building up your bank, is the best insurance you can give yourself.  You might not feel like you need these these things now; pizza once a week, a little bit of sugar everyday, what’s the big deal right?  Well the big deal is that the little things all add up to something big.   And if life throws a curve ball your way, having a strong foundation is critical.

So truly, you can see how making healthy choices is an investment in your life! The initial stages with chemical burns was not that fun…and I can assure you, that having healed, the quality of my life has skyrocketed.  So consider how do you want to insure the quality of your life? And could little changes help to build the foundation?

(Also let’s not forget the monetary value here…  rather than refilling  prescription creams  for a full year, I opted for natural coconut and olive oil and had to use them for only 2 weeks.   How’s that for incentive?)

Settling into the new year, and back  into my SF life has felt great – with a renewed perspective and motivation to keep doing what I’m doing.  Making healthy choices isn’t always easy, but in the end it always feels good. (And tastes good too!)

So how are you insuring the quality of your life? Take baby steps…what’s your vice?  See if you can go 1 day? 1 week? without any refined sugar/or chips or pizza….   But rather than focusing on the ‘taking away’, focus on what you’re replacing it with.  There’s lots of healthy options. BE inspired by images on my facebook page, or BE in touch for more ideas.