With all the hysteria going on in the world, I want to add a little bit of calmness to your day. 2020 added a lot of confusion into the health and wellness industry with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, the overwhelm and stress was crippling. And that stress may have exacerbated the situation. My effort is not to add to any confusion but help you navigate through any stressful situation to find health. Back in 2011, I was in New Jersey and got a violent stomach bug. Fortunately, the bug only lasted a day. Unfortunately, my friend got the same illness around the same time; her bug lingered for almost an entire week. What was the key to my quick recovery? It was and is my intentional effort to make sure I have a good and strong immune system. And I want to help you do the same! When you purposely boost your immune system and steward your health, you can maintain your health all year long. And you won’t have to worry about things like COVID-19 (or anything else like colds, the flu, viruses, and things like that) coming around because your immune system is going to take care of those things for you. COVID-19 is not the first serious illness that we’ve seen. And it surely won’t be the last! So my goal today is to help you see the light at the end of the tunnel – and that starts with your immune system.
How To Reduce Your Stress to Strengthen Your Immune System
Are you ready to stop worrying about things like COVID coming around into our environment? It’s time to step up and start taking care of your body. Here’s how to reduce your stress to strengthen your immune system.
Include Whole Foods Into Diet
Health starts with what you put in your body. And that starts in the kitchen! Health starts with a good diet. I spent many years, pounding down the sugar to feed my sweet tooth. All of those processed foods were destroying my immune system. Maybe you’re in the same situation I was in? Many of my clients wake up every single day saying these things:
“I can’t give up my cereal for breakfast.”
“There’s no way I can give up my favorite foods.”
The problem is that we’re so used to these convenience (and processes) foods. And while you don’t have to cut out everything, you do need to include more whole foods into your diet. In fact, whole foods should make up the bulk of your diet. You need the nutrients to build your immune system.
Take Supplements That Support Immunity
I also support my immune system by taking supplement vitamins and minerals every day. Biotics Research highlights that “During times of stress, your body is doing its best to maintain homeostasis or balance. It is trying to work efficiently, while attempting to reduce the effects of stress. This means it uses greater quantities of specific nutrients to stay in balance.” So why take supplements? Our foods are void of a lot of nutrients we need to be healthy. There are several types of supplements I use for myself or recommend for my clients to use.
Multivitamin
Although I don’t take a multivitamin regularly, I do like having an all-in-one, everything-you-need pill. Metagenics makes PhytoMulti® , a multivitamin that has phytonutrients that support your overall wellness. Just remember that when it comes to supplementation, you can’t out supplement a bad diet. So you’ll still want to include good, nutritious foods in your diet!
Rather watch an 11 minute video with the same information….
Medical Foods
I also recommend medical foods to support weak areas in your body. These supplements offer whole food nutrition to support specific processes in the body to prevent illness or heal disease. While I won’t go into a whole lot of detail in this blog, medical foods really help boost your immune system. You will want to work with a practitioner in the functional medicine field to determine the one’s right for you.
Herbs and Botanicals
Supplementing with herbs and botanicals (or adaptogenic herbs) counteract the impact of stress on our bodies. So while we are constantly bombarded with stress, this may be a good solution for you.
Ganoderma
One adaptogen I use and recommend is Ganoderma. It’s also called Reishi Mushroom. My favorite company produces the highest quality Gandoderma in the form of coffee and teas – making it really easy for you to consume it daily.
Use Essential Oils
I love to use essential oils to intentionally strengthen the immune system. There are many different types of essential oils you can use for all different purposes – add to your shampoo, facial cleanser, cleaning products, etc. These oils are filled with anti-microbial properties and help boost your immune system instead of tearing it down. If you’re using regular countertop cleaners and cleaning detergents, you lower your immune system every time you’re spraying those chemicals. If you clean your home with essential oils and natural cleaners, you can actually boost your immune system. Plus, you get that beautiful smell and clean environment all at the same time!
Get Outside in Nature
I highly recommend boosting your immune system all year round by getting outside in nature. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve really been focused on getting out in nature to get sunlight on my skin. It’s amazing the healing properties that nature has. Walking in the forest actually boosts your immune system for up to 30 days. If you can’t go out on long nature walks or have a park nearby, all you have to do is to walk around your backyard. Try walking barefoot in the grass. Not only does that connect you with the earth, but it introduces you to ions that help you get rid of some toxins. Another benefit of getting outside is the fact that you are moving your body. Exercise boosts your immune system as well.
Practice Your Breathing
This is one you may not think about or take seriously, but practicing focused breathing can really strengthen your immune system. This can take place before or during calming practices like yoga, prayer, meditation, or a variety of other things. When I first start working with a new client, one of the first things we do is practice simple breathwork. There are multiple techniques that actually calm the nervous system down. Try to introduce slow or rhythmic breathing into your daily schedule or in moments of stress. When we’re in stressful situations, we begin to breathe fast and into our chests. But when we breathe into our bellies, there’s a physiological response that calms our nervous system, lowers our stress levels, and boosts our immune system. So when you’re in those heightened moments, breathe in deep, hold it, and release it while pulling your belly button into your spine. You’ll feel the shift within a few minutes.
Work On Your Mindset
Last but definitely not least is to work on your mindset. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns all the time. So we have a decision to make. We either focus on our fear, or we focus on keeping a positive attitude. For me, I stick with the latter. This season of quarantine and uncertainty is just that… A season. It will not last. There will be plenty of seasons like that. So make the best of it with the right mindset!
Prepare & Strengthen Your Body’s Immune System
At the end of the day, we can continue to live in fear or we can go out there and conquer the day. We do not have to let sickness rule our lives. How? By building and strengthening our immune system every single day. If you have any further questions or want a customized action plan, reach out to me for a free discovery call. Here to help!
Many people live with pain for so long that it seems like there’s no relief. It doesn’t have to be! There’s hope to overcome your emotional pain and physical suffering by focusing on wellness within.
What if you could overcome pain and suffering?
What could you accomplish with that kind of freedom?
I want to talk to you about some ways to help you overcome pain and suffering so you can live a less limited life. If you’re ready to get started, then I have a question for you…
Have you ever considered how your emotions impact your physical health?
Many times, we get stuck in painful patterns. Emotional patterns can cause us to store pain in our body.
For this reason, I often ask my clients about their stress levels. Many of their stressors revolve around similar emotional themes – fear, worry, and anxiety. People experience…
Job-related stress
Worry for their children
Financial anxieties
Overwhelming anxiety with little things going wrong
Relationship stress
Do any of these resonate with you?
While many of us experience strong emotions around these aspects of our life, these emotions don’t have to cause stress. In fact, you can avoid stress by managing your emotional health.
Choose to Change Your Energy
Your body is vibrating energy, whether it’s your glow, passion, knowledge, or skills. It is an expression of your inner experience. The energy from within is invisible and constantly changes form.
Since our bodies are designed this way, it means our pain isn’t permanent! Everything is energy, and energy can change form.
And you can change your energy to overcome pain and suffering.
How to Overcome Your Emotional Pain and Physical Suffering
Very few people understand that our character traits can be hidden causes of stress. We are often the ones that perpetuate our painful patterns. Let’s talk about a few common patterns that you may be experiencing and how to overcome them.
Rather watch a video with the same information….
What would you accomplish if you weren't overwhelmed with STRESS 🤯 PAIN 😫 ANXIETY 😟…?Unconventional advice to to help you release it 💜
One of the biggest sources of pain and suffering I see with my clients is resistance.
It’s common to resist things you don’t like or want to stop. If something is causing you pain, it’s instinctual to resist it. But when you resist pain, you’re unable to release it or relieve it.
We often have a false understanding that certain emotions are “bad,” so we have a tendency to push them down to avoid feeling them. The truth is, emotions aren’t good or bad. We are the ones that attach meaning to them.
When we constantly meditate on how to get rid of our pain, we resist our emotions. This keeps us stuck in a cycle. We must acknowledge it and allow it to come up in order to heal.
2. Let Go of the Emotions You’re Holding Onto
Once you’ve acknowledged your pain, it’s time to let the attached emotions go.
Another common reason people get stuck in painful patterns is because they are unable to let go of certain emotions like:
Fear
Anger
Sadness
Resentment
Guilt
Shame
These feelings come up when we judge our pain instead of letting it go. If you find that you’re holding onto emotions, I encourage you to ask yourself why that might be. For example, many of us were taught to quickly forgive and move on. But sometimes we rush this process because that’s what is “expected”. It’s not always easy to forgive if we are still hurting!
Allow Yourself To Let Go
If you find yourself holding onto emotions, it might be because you haven’t allowed yourself to fully work through those painful emotions. Give yourself a break, and show yourself some compassion.
It’s important to forgive and let go. Allow yourself to feel your emotions first so you can truly let go.
3. Be Honest With Your Emotional Dishonesty
Emotional dishonesty is another area that keeps us stuck in a cycle of pain. This happens when we are not true to ourselves. In other words, we say or do things misaligned with our true feelings.
Are you saying “yes” when you really mean “no”?
Are you following your inner guidance?
Doing things out of guilt or obligation leads to frustration. This can tie into the patterns of pain we already discussed.
Patterns of pain can also be reinforced when we misinterpret what other people say or do. This is one area I’ve struggled with personally, and many of my clients face too.
When people say things to us or look at us a certain way, we may take it completely out of context and give it a meaning it doesn’t deserve.
For example, imagine you walk into a meeting and someone has an unkind look on their face or someone cancels your meeting at the last minute.
Sometimes the first thing that crosses our mind is the most negative possible reason for the behavior… What did I do? Did I say something wrong?
Avoid Taking Others’ Actions To Heart
If you have negative thoughts about yourself around others’ behavior, I want you to remember this: another person’s actions often have nothing to do with you. They usually have everything to do with a conflict that person is experiencing in their own life, unrelated to you.
Don’t take what others say and do personally. When we do, it causes us a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering in the long run.
The following are a few common painful patterns, but it is not a complete list. This is only a small piece of the work I do with my clients. We go through several different items like these to see what may be underlying some of the pain they are experiencing in their life.
Get To The Root Of Physical Pain
Patterns of pain aren’t the same for everyone. Most people have one or even a few problems that cause them to get stuck. Many times the root of our physical pain stems from our inability to handle emotions appropriately.
Take Authority Over Your Emotions
Before the age of eight, we are conditioned to think, believe, and behave in certain ways based on the things we’ve learned. The problem is that while we’re absorbing all this information that teaches us to respond in a certain way, we become more likely to respond automatically rather than thoughtfully.
Are your responses based on the responses of other people instead of your own inner guidance?
Before you respond to an emotional situation, pause. Remind yourself that you have authority over your emotions, and you are in the driver’s seat.
Inter-Generational Negativity
Many of the character traits we’ve developed in response to problems we face are passed on from generation to generation.
Personally, I’ve had to work through breaking this cycle in my own life by boundary-setting on a regular basis. I look back at my parents and grandparents and I see the same character traits in them that I carry. I looked at it as a curse for a long time. But one day, I realized that I could do something about it.
If I can, you can too! It’s your choice to break the cycle that is causing you pain and suffering in your life.
The best way I found to overcome pain and suffering, is through activities that help release some of these negative patterns. Anyone can do this with a professional like myself who understands the appropriate techniques.
I’m grateful for my personal experience walking through this type of work. And it’s some of the most rewarding work I currently do with my clients outside of their physical healing.
Without the emotional healing work, physical pain will often manifest itself again. That’s why I take a holistic approach to health.
I help people go from chaos to freedom so they can live in peace and make a bigger impact in the world. I’ve helped many busy professionals overcome pain and suffering by guiding them in…
Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day… Days that are surrounded by more food and drink than you would usually indulge in on any given day. In addition, there’s the stress of meeting expectations, falling short, and running around… And we haven’t even touched on the pressure we put on ourselves to keep our, sometimes outrageous, New Year’s resolutions (or intentions).
It’s time to cleanse ourselves of all that stress and sugar.
Before we get into what to do about that stress, why do we need to reduce it in the first place?
What Stress Does to Your Body
Stress does a number on your body. And especially when it goes unchecked, it can cause a number of health implications such as…
Insomnia resulting a never-ending cycle of exhaustion
If you do not manage your stress and regularly unwind when your body is stressed, your body will begin to break down. High stress is not sustainable.
6 Simple Tips to Unwind When Your Body is Stressed
You may find that yours are a little bit different than mine, but I think we could all use a few ideas to help us think outside the box a little. Here are some of my favorite tips to unwind when your body is stressed.
Rather watch a 9 minute video with the same information?
1. Practice Yoga or Stretch Your Muscles
Yoga not only helps the physical body, but it can also improve mental health as well. Studies have shown that yoga may be effective in treating depression and anxiety. According to American Family Physician, “yoga is a therapeutic option for depression, and it also has positive effects on anxiety disorders.”
When you practice yoga or stretch your muscles, it promotes relaxation, improves your mood, and reduces your stress response – allowing you to be more productive and effective in all areas of your life.
2. Get Moving
There’s also great evidence that exercise has been linked to greater self-esteem and a sense of well-being. This happens because it actually causes a chemical change to take place in the brain. The best part is it doesn’t require us to spend hours in the gym. You can do some sort of exercise for even 15 to 30 minutes per day and see improvement.
What is the best exercise? Well, it’s the one you actually are going to enjoy doing. My suggestion is just to get moving by:
Riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes
Setting an alarm every hour to take 5 minutes to do deep squats, lunges, and even push ups
Creating more opportunities to walk longer distances (i.e. parking far away from the doors, taking the longer route to get to a destination, etc.)
3. Connect With Other Humans
When was the last time you really connected with another human without technology present? We live in a technologically advanced world that sometimes requires us to have our phones in hand and our eyeballs staring into a computer screen all day. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do much for human connection. Did you know that the more you give, the happier you feel? Think about things you can do to give back to and serve the community around you.
Don’t have time to get involved? Then grab a cup of coffee with a friend.
You could also combine this tip with the previous tip and invite a friend to take a walk with you in your favorite park.
Even the smallest act of kindness can count. Something as simple as smiling or saying thank you goes a long way in our disconnected world.
In March, I’m starting my popular Seasonal Cleanse Challenge where my community starts implementing these tips to live a happy-healthy-whole life. Learn how to start here.
4. Catch Up On Your Z’s
Sleep is so underrated these days. I hear many people (especially entrepreneurs and business owners) say, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” or “sleep is very overrated”.
Many people feel like sleep is an inconvenience.
But the truth is, when we have disrupted sleep patterns or we are not nurturing ourselves when it comes to sleep, it leads to illness.
Sleep is a time when our bodies actively recover.
While the average person sleeps less than 7 hours a night, it’s critical that you give your body the best opportunity it has to recover. Try to be in bed by 10pm and sleep until at least 4am – 6 hours at the minimum.
The goal is to have enough sleep, but also to make sure you have quality sleep. With all my clients, we work to create a bedtime routine that helps facilitate quality sleep. I wrote a little more about what that looks like here.
5. Laugh a Little More
Laughter truly is a good medicine. One of my other tips to unwind when your body is stressed is to laugh a little more.
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
– Proverbs 17:22
And not only is it biblical to be cheerful, joyful, and able to laugh, but there is science behind why laughing is so good for us. Research has actually shown that humor not only lowers our stress, improves our hormones, but it also improves our memory and can protect us against the damaging effects of stress. Good enough reasons to start laughing a little more!
6. Take a Little Journey into the Outdoors
If you ask me what my favorite stress reliever is, it has to get outside in nature. I believe we were created for nature. It is where creativity comes alive, where freedom lives, and where we can connect with the world on a deeper level. It reminds me that I’m a part of this great big universe, and it feels so good to be surrounded by life. There is something so powerful and freeing about that to me.
Next time you have an opportunity, take it outdoors. You could:
Drink your coffee outside on a patio
Eat your lunch in an outdoor eating area
Take walking meetings outside the office – break down barriers between manager and subordinate, remove distractions, and be more productive in the meeting
Play with your kids outside
Let me know what some of your favorite ways to de-stress are in the comments below.
Join My Next Cleanse Challenge
When was the last time you cleaned yourself out? I mean… Really cleaned? We’re not talking about spring cleaning here.
We’re talking about cleaning up what’s inside.
Only twice per year, I launch my popular Cleanse Challenge to help individuals like you:
Increase your energy naturally without needing caffeine
Lose weight and get rid of belly bloat for good
Reduce or get rid of allergy symptoms
Boost your immune system to protect yourself against infection
Get rid of your aches and pains by reducing inflammation
You can learn more about how to cleanse by joining the waitlist here. It’ll be the best investment you can make for yourself this season.
Thomas Edison – the inventor of the light bulb and – once said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will educate his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
Edison had a good point – prevention is the best medicine. But there’s an issue with his statement. Many don’t think anything is wrong with them until they feel unwell. As a health and wellness practitioner, I see more people that are feeling less than their best and less people who want to prevent disease. When they come to me, they are too far in their disease to bypass some sort of preventive medicine or natural intervention.
It’s time to tune in to your body’s signals.
As someone who believes that God provided everything on this earth for our wellness, my methods include course correction and working with natural substances (or supplements), which in my experience, gives individuals a whole new life.
Prefer to watch a 9 minute video with the same information…
https://youtu.be/3i539RRL92c
Using Medicine for Healing
I desire to see others thriving and well – not just managing their symptoms. When I was studying to become a nurse, I never realized I would learn so much about what I didn’t like about conventional medicine. Let’s take a look at how to use conventional medicine and God’s medicine for healing.
Conventional Medicine
I realized my patients were just like me – suffering with no end in sight without some medication to mask the symptoms, surgery to explore a little further, or remove an organ that had failed.
I knew from the very beginning this type of treatment didn’t resonate with me.
What I didn’t realize at the beginning is that I had a choice, and so do you.
It was when I became sick that I started looking for treatments outside of conventional medicine.
Before I go any further, please hear me loud and clear… I believe there is a time and place for conventional medicine. But I also believe that the “pill for the ill” world we live in has us in a heap of trouble.
Did you know (at the time of this writing) the 3rd leading cause of death is medical error? That’s shocking to say the least!
God’s Medicine
Why do we continue to trust in man’s medicine over God’s medicine? Everything we need to heal our bodies has been placed on this earth in nature. The medicines we need are found on the earth, and their leaves are to be used for healing (Ezekiel 47:12).
“And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
I see this type of medicine work every day of my life.
I watch people with chronic illness transform before my very eyes – people who have been on prescription medications for 20 years suddenly heal their bodies naturally. Plus, they don’t need their prescriptions anymore.
I’ve watched countless clients be released from their doctors care, not because I told them to, but because the numbers on their lab tests literally reversed after implementing natural healing methodologies.
What a miracle!
If you want to kickstart your 2020 goals, I’m starting a free 5-day challenge that focuses on the area many have problems losing – the spare tire. Over those 5 days, we’ll also look at the communication signals that drive inflammation and disease your body
Think of your body as a very intelligent machine. There are many times we should simply allow it to do its job – so tune in to your body’s signals. It’s telling you everything you need to know.
Hear me closely… If you need to see a doctor, go see one. Don’t procrastinate. I’m not telling you to stay home and avoid conventional medicine. Emergencies happen!
What I am saying is that when we give the body what it needs and steward it well, then we can build an immune system that will fight for us.
Every sniffle does not require an antibiotic.
In this wired and connected world, we’ve become increasingly impatient. As a result, we no longer listen to our body.
When we have a symptom, our body is speaking to us. I encourage you to begin to listen to what your body is trying to tell you.
Steps To Tune In To Your Body’s Signals
So, how do you tune in to your body’s signals?
Follow these 5 steps:
1. Practice Deep Breathing or Meditation
If you are consuming foods that make you feel groggy and sleepy afterward, then begin to investigate the culprit. Maybe you’re choosing the wrong foods, or even the wrong combination of foods.
If you’ve been stressed recently (a divorce, a big move, an illness, or a loss), it can negatively impact your adrenal health. It’s time to slow down and rest a little to recuperate. Listen to your body. There are herbal mixtures that can bring healing to your adrenals and rescue you during those high stress times. One of my favorites is a simple amino acid called l-theanine.
3. Adjust Length of Workouts If You’re Exhausted
Exhausted after your workouts? Complete exhaustion after a workout is your body’s signal that you’re doing too much and pushing yourself too hard.
This is especially common in individuals workout out for over an hour a day. Adjust the lengths of your workouts to shorter increments until you feel more energized.
Not everyone is in a place physically that they should push to the max on a daily basis. Learn to rest when your body is telling you it’s exhausted.
When we declutter our lives, we declutter our minds.
4. Create a Bedtime Routine
If you feel wired before bed and feel like you can’t fall asleep easily, it’s time to pay attention to your bedtime routine.
We enforce bedtime wind-down with our children, but we quickly dismiss bedtime routines as adults. Turn off technology an hour before bed, take a warm bath, read a relaxing book, and prep a healthy lunch for work for the next day.
Do something to chill out.
5. Take a Breather
Stressed at work? Maybe you need to walk away and take a breather. Literally, walk away and do some deep breathing. I call this “box breathing.”
Breathe in 4 counts, hold 4 counts, breathe out 4 counts, hold 4 counts.
Repeat this for at least 1 minute and work your way up to longer periods over time.
Work to fill your belly, not your chest, with air. This will calm your nervous system. If you do this on a regular basis, you will find that you’re naturally more calm during stressful times.
These are a few ways you can tune in to your body to give it what it needs throughout the day.
Stress is a driver of disease.
As a nation, we are chronically stressed. Stress is not only emotional, but it is chemical, physical, and even goes on inside our bodies. It can be a fight with our partner, a bad work relationship, traffic jams on our commutes, eating inflammatory foods, and even illness in our bodies.
Think about the things you come in contact with on a daily basis that your body perceives as stress. I encourage you to slow down on a regular basis.
Helpful Tips To Prevent Disease And Reclaim Your Health
Many health and wellness blogs this time of year focus solely on food – how to avoid it and what to eat. We know food is a central part of this season. Families gather around the table for a full feast. We attend back-to-back Christmas parties which, of course, have tons of food. Then don’t get me started on all the sugar that’s around this time of year! But this year, I want to give you 7 tips on staying healthy during the holidays that aren’t about food.
7 Tips on Staying Healthy During the Holidays
This wouldn’t be a Chelsie Ward Wellness blog if we didn’t talk about looking at health from a holistic approach. These 7 tips on staying healthy during the holidays focus on the whole body – mind, body, and spirit. Our goal is to coach you to honor your body during this Christmas season.
1. Get a Good Night’s Sleep To Better Handle Stress
There’s no doubt that with all the Christmas parties, errands, and family gatherings that the holiday season is exhausting. To add to that exhaustion, you are exposed to unhealthy foods, family stressors, and eating too much sugar. All of that impacts your energy levels. If staying healthy during the holidays is a priority of yours, then you need to get a good night’s sleep to better handle the stress.
While this tip is a short-term solution for the holiday season, getting sufficient sleep directly correlates to your health in the long run. According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, insufficient sleep has links to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and decreased immune function.
2. Take a Walk Early In The Morning
Even if exercise is on the backburner during this season, your body still needs to move. Take a walk early in the morning before you travel or spend time with family. You’ll be less likely to indulge because your body has already been energized by the activity. You won’t be reaching for that extra piece of peppermint bark or the next cup of coffee to keep your energy levels high.
3. Focus On Low Intensity Exercise
If you want to continue your exercise regimen through the holidays, focus on low intensity exercise. High intensity exercise can actually add to the stress and cause more weight gain during the holidays.
4. Add Appropriate Supplements Into Your Diet
The holiday season can cause ruin on the body, especially with the average sugar intake spiking. We’re consuming foods that are causing imbalance in our gut. Supplement appropriately to suit your body’s needs.
There are a couple options to add appropriate supplements into your diet. First, you can take a full spore based probiotic and multi-vitamins to round out your diet and give your liver extra support for the toxic burden that holiday festivities may bring.
There’s no time to be sick! Boost your immune system by taking Ganoderma spores.
Deep breathing and meditation is often overlooked because mental health often isn’t valued as much as physical health. But this practice can help you destress, stop anger or rage from turning into something you’ll regret, and ultimately make you happier.
Let’s practice right now!
Breathe in 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Hold 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Breathe out 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Hold 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Do this for a couple minutes. Feel free to stop reading right now and set a timer.
Feel better? You can do this for a couple minutes at a time and then work your way up to longer periods of times. This practice will help shift your nervous system into a relaxed state.
When can you do this? Just about anytime. To start, I suggest you practice deep breathing when you wake up, feel stressed, and/or before meals to help digest your food.
6. Spend Your Valuable Time With Positive Relationships
There’s a direct correlation between relationships and your health. When we’re surrounded by toxic people, we start thinking toxic thoughts. Toxic thoughts become actual toxins and impact us physically. We resort to coping mechanisms such as emotional eating or avoidance of supporting people.
Pick a few people that energize you and give you joy. Stick close to those people, especially when you’re going to be around those toxic people. If you need to step away for a few moments to practice your breathing, do so.
7. Declutter as You’re Cleaning
Christmas is now over, and you’re taking down all the decorations. This is a perfect time to declutter as you’re cleaning and repacking those Christmas decorations. Throw out anything broken or not serving a purpose anymore. When putting back your living space to the way it was before, evaluate if the way you had before stressed you out or brought you peace and comfort. As you bring in the new and put away the old, Marie Kondo your home. Get rid of things that no longer serve you or give you joy.
When we declutter our lives, we declutter our minds.
It’s Your Choice To Be Healthy
In conclusion, you have a choice to make. Are you going to settle into old, unhealthy habits over this holiday season? Or are you going to work towards staying healthy? It’s your choice.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One of the most
powerful tools when it comes to breast cancer is PREVENTION. Two keys to
prevention are micronutrients, and open detoxification pathways. We can prevent
tumors by providing the body with appropriate micronutrients, and we can repair
cellular damage by daily detoxification.
You may have heard the term “estrogen dominance.”
It’s one of the common hormone imbalances people experience today. It’s a
common cause of PMS, fibroids, infertility, and symptoms of menopause that we
assume are a normal part of life. We also see problems with estrogen in men
that can lead to prostate cancer, weight gain, and low libido. Thousands are
struggling with this today and don’t even know it. There are many symptoms associated
with estrogen dominance, but breast cancer is one of those. It is often caused
by the body’s inability to detoxify estrogen appropriately.
Estrogen is essential in the body. It’s important for reproductive health, skin, bones, and even contributes to us psychologically. When it’s in the body in excess, it can be converted into dangerous metabolites that cause DNA damage or drive specific cancers in the body.
Estrogen dominance is a problem today because we’re exposed
to xenoestrogens and many other chemical estrogens in our environment. These
cause disruptions in our endocrine system which lead to excess hormones in the
body.
How
are we exposed to this toxic estrogen?
Cosmetics and personal care products
are a big source. Things like shampoo and conditioner, makeup, body lotions,
and perfumes have endocrine disruptors. This is not only true for estrogens,
but also progesterone. Many of those lip plumpers or wrinkle reducers have
hormone disruptors in them. I use an app called Think Dirty
and it allows me to scan my personal care products to get rid of the ones that
have known endocrine disruptors.
Household cleaning products, air
fresheners, candles, and other fragrances we use in our homes can also disrupt
our hormones. You can use the EWG app and begin to switch some of your toxic
cleaning products with non-toxic versions.
Plastics are another big source.
There was a big movement to remove plastics from our home that contain BPA. The
problem is that BPA is not the only plastic hardener out there that disrupts
our hormones. So be careful purchasing bpa-free products because that doesn’t
necessarily mean they’re safe. Many of these products have been replaced with
other plastic hardeners such as BPS, which is even more toxic than BPA. Work
toward removing plastics from your home and use glass drinking bottles and pyrex containers, especially when using them
to heat foods or beverages.
Xenoestrogens can also be found in
our food. The best way to avoid these endocrine disruptors is to eat organic
foods that are free from pesticides and herbicides. Also, purchase grass-fed or
pasture-raised meat that is not fed hormones or antibiotics. Consuming cleaner,
organic, and local foods increases your vitamins and nutrients, which is
another way to prevent cancer and other diseases.
Doing small things every day that help limit your exposure to hormone disruptors can make a huge difference in the prevention of cancer and disease. Another way you can keep estrogen metabolism working for you and your body is to make sure that you have key micronutrients on board. Things like magnesium, vitamin B6, vitamin B3, vitamin A, and cysteine are key nutrients for hormonal health. Lacking proper nutrition sets the stage for more serious illness like cancer to invade the body.
One of the tests I love to run is a micronutrient panel, which gives me guidance around whether or not I need to take steps to correct imbalance. Another great test for determining excess estrogen or an imbalance in hormones is the DUTCH test. This test can give insight into whether or not a person is estrogen dominant, or if a person is preferring a detox pathway that opens them up for DNA damage or a greater potential for cancer. These are great tests that allow us to take a peek inside the body and make corrections before a disease process begins.
Having
the right building blocks is a key component.
Every person is unique, inside and out. And there are many
things that affect our own personal nutritional needs, including age,
lifestyle, metabolism, prescription drug use, illnesses, and whether or not a
person is even absorbing nutrients. Cleaning up the body and repairing cellular
damage is a great way to prevent hormonal imbalance that can lead to things
like breast cancer and other disease processes.
Breast
cancer health is so much more than a mammogram.
Speaking of mammograms, thermography is actually a safer, painless, and more accurate alternative. Thermal imaging is a diagnostic technique that allows for early detection. While detection is an important part, the key is that we know how to reduce toxins from our environment that are contributing to breast cancer and other diseases.
We talked about some of the ways you can reduce your
exposure to cancer. These are great tools to help you reduce the risk factors
so you can decrease your chances of ever getting cancer.
Cancer doesn’t happen overnight. We talked about some of the
risk factors like heavy or painful periods, fibroids, weight gain, and
infertility. Other things to consider are, ovarian cysts, adult acne, chronic
fatigue, or autoimmune conditions. If you’re suffering from any of these things
or have a history of breast cancer in your family, or a history of a diet high
in processed foods, something like the DUTCH hormone test could be beneficial
when it comes to prevention.
The awesome thing is, even if you have a genetic
predisposition, you don’t have to be another statistic. You have a choice to
take your health into your own hands.
If you prefer video version, catch this 7 minute video with
the same information.
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