Remember ~ Remind ~ Rekindle

Sometimes as we are working on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, we need a little reminding of what we did to get to a healthier place, and we might need to re-evaluate how things are going. Maybe we get off track as we become distracted by little life events that take time away from focusing on our health. Or big life events like super storms that really throw us for a loop.

So we become unmindful and begin to think and behave in ways that don't express our truest vision of who we really are. It might be time to revisit, rewind, remember, and refocus on the higher, clearer vision of yourself. Re-evaluate. Remind. Revisit. Rekindle. Repair. Recall. Reignite. Re-energize!

Remember what your goals are...reinforce the good habits. Eat breakfast. Get the exercise you know you need. Get out into nature. Clean out your closets and cupboards. Bring a healthy lunch to work. Tell someone how much you love them. Hug someone.

Be good to yourself :)

Find YOUR Fit!

Finding YOUR Fit...what being "fit" means to you...and how do you get there? It is so different for everyone. Just recently, I'm trying yet another exercise studio... and I've tried alot throughout the years! I've experienced Personal Trainers (which I really enjoyed and were pretty expensive) but I thought paying all that money would really get me to the gym. It worked for awhile. I've tried numerous inexpensive gyms where I paid the yearly membership fee upfront thinking that would really get me to the gym! It did for awhile but my enthusiasm faded until I just couldn't muster the energy to go anymore.  I tried my own workout programs that included walking, running, doing videos at home, playing tennis, kayaking, hiking, and snowshoeing... pretty much just trying to move and have fun while doing so. I still continue that for the love of it, not just for the exercise. And now, I am trying a new fitness studio in town called KOKO FIT, and I am pleased to say I am actually going! What I enjoy about it is the convenience of location, and the automated program that I selected to follow.
I can just put in my headphones for a cardio workout on either the eliptical or the treadmill and there is a voice telling me exatly what to do! When I do my strength workout, there is a predetermined program to follow and I am done with a full body workout in 30 minutes (45 when you include the 15 minutes of cardio)! Concentrating on following the instructions takes my mind off the fact that I would rather be playing tennis or reading at the beach! I like going...I'm feeling good about it...I think I'll try it for awhile!

My point is....find whatever it takes to get you moving...try differnt things until you find your fit!

What is an Integrative Health Coach?

What is an Integrative Health Coach?

An Integrative Health Coach partners with you to create a personalized health plan that is responsive to your current health needs as it is adaptable to your future health.  In my coaching, I begin with the Wheel of Health as a framework of our planning. I do not prescribe or recommend specific treatment options. I do provide resources for your consideration such as those contained in Duke Integrative Medicine’s Personalized Health Plan Manual.

What is The Wheel of Health Model?

The Wheel of Health is based on two important premises: 

• The human mind and body have essential capacities for self repair that can be supported and enhanced by our life choices as well as appropriate therapies and medical interventions.
• Optimal Health is a journey, a process, and it requires frequent reassessing and rebalancing.

There are seven dimensions of Self-Care on The Wheel of Health that will help guide you along your journey to optimal health and wellness: 

Movement, exercise, and rest

Nutrition

Physical Environment

Relationships and communication

Spirituality

Personal and Professional Development

Mind Body Connection

You: Discovering your health goals

The roadmap to your optimal health rests within you. The first and most critical step is to know what you want from your health -- and why. Combining and coordinating all the dimensions that you are will help you  to understand what your health goals are. It is not always easy or straightforward, but it can be fun!  As a health coach, I will use simple tools to help guide you. Our work together will give you time for deep, personal reflection and introspection that will help you understand where you are and where you want to be!

When you are ready....

Contact me at joyceaevans@gmail.com or 203.216.2171

If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.


~ Ivan Turgenev

The Dragonfly

For the last few years I have been drawn to the dragonfly. I have no idea why, especially since as a child I was extremely frightened by them. We used to call them "sewing needles" and I feared they would start to sew me up like a needle and thread through my skin. So I became surprised and intrigued when I noticed I was curious about them. I learned that they don't sting, and if I could relax about them, I would be able to actually appreciate their beauty. I'M NOT AFRAID OF THEM ANYMORE! So now I collect little dragonfly figurines and I  see them as a symbol of overcoming fear. I was even more thrilled when I read about the symbolisms of the dragonfly: maturity and a depth of character for one. In many parts of the world it symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; and the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.  Its ability to scurry along water represents an act of going beyond what's on the surface and looking into the deeper aspects of life. It symbolizes power and poise. It can fly at 45 miles and hour and move in six different directions as well as hover like a helicopter and fly backwards like a hummingbird!
The dragonfly has an iridescence about it. It shows itself in different colors depending on how light falls on it. This property is believed as the end of one's self created illusions and a clearer vision of the realities of life. It doesn't have a long life span so it symbolizes the virtue of living in the moment and living life to the fullest.The eyes of a dragonfly can see 360 degress around it which symbolizes uninhibited vision of the mind and the ability to see beyond limitations of the self.


Now that's my kind of insect!!


What part of nature are you drawn to? Is there a particular animal or bird or plant or insect that just calls to you? If so, look up what it symbolizes! It just might connect with you more than you know!

Thriving or Surviving?

Thriving is all about feeling fully alive. A state of feeling wholeness, satisfaction, or a state of "rightness" and harmony. The power to create your life according to your values. It may be through meaningful work, fulfilling relationships with family and friends, a healthy and strong body, or a sense of connectedness to the universe. Or all of the above! Imagine living your life according to what you value most in life!

Surviving is all about hanging on. It's about barely dealing with life's challenges as they come along, and believing that if life could only be a certain way, then maybe you would be okay. It's a perspective that "someday in the future" my life will be good...but not today. Maybe never.

But you can start today to move from surviving to thriving. Think of the image of a wheel. Each spoke represents an area of your life. As you look at each area, rate your level of fulfillment on a scale of 1 to 10. Here are the spokes: Personal Growth and Spirituality, Mind-Body connection, Movement and Exercise, Nutrition, Physical Environment and finally Relationships. After you rate each area of your life, ask yourself "What would it take to be fulfilled?" Keep probing....try to get a glimpse of the future. It just might help you to figure out what it is you need to do to get there.

A Must Read

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life. 

Derek Walcott

Which way do I go?

At some point in your life, you will find yourself at a crossroad of sorts. There is perhaps a tugging at your heart. A nagging feeling pulling at you in different directions. You can't quite put your finger on it, and you can't seem to dismiss it. This feeling of not quite knowing where you are in your life, or where it is you want to go. Maybe you are experiencing a feeling of discontent in your relationships. Maybe your health is being affected in some way. Things are just not balanced in your life. You feel stuck and want to move forward, but have no idea where you want to go. Where do you begin? Which road do you take?

You are standing at the thresh hold of change. On the other side of the door is the person you have been looking for: YOU. The real YOU. The happy, healthy, living you life to the fullest YOU. It's a little scary reaching for the handle of this door in front of you and taking a peek inside. But at the same time exciting and invigorating!

With the support from a person who is willing and able to walk beside you through that door, you will discover the answers to your deepest questions about where you are in life, where you want to go, and how you will get there. Integrative Health Coaching is the one on one support and guidance to help you through the process of discovering yourself again, or for the very first time!

You will know when you are ready. And when you are, nothing can stop you! Are you ready to take the first step? Open The Door!!

Open The Door to Change

From the book Evolve your Brain by Joe Dispenza, D.C.~

  Scientific evidence shows that the brain is as changeable as the words we write in our word processing program. The irony of this is that the way out of the mess we've created requires us to use the same tools we used to get ourselves into it. We don't need a simple twist of fate to write a happy ending to our own life story; considering things from a slightly different perspective may be all that's required.....To change is to have a new mind in spite of the body and the environment, and to train the body to follow in that new direction. When the body has become trained by our repetitive actions and experiences to be the mind, it will take all of our conscious will to stop the body's conditioned mind from controlling us. To change is to break the physical and mental conditioning of being ourselves- that is, what we repeatedly think and do.

From a personal perspective, when I notice that I have a certain mindset about something, and that mindset, or belief that I have is obviously not working for me, I know it's time to investigate what my perspective is, how I came to that belief, and question whether or not if it is really true for me. So I look at my emotions. What exactly am I feeling? I look at how my body feels...wow, my stomach is in a knot! I look to my past and how that belief became one that I've held on to. Then I look to see if it is a belief that is still true for me now....is it still working for me? If not, I get to the work of changing my thoughts to align with who I truly am. I choose different thoughts that redirect those neural pathways of my brain that no longer serve me. And thus beginning the process of creating new ones that are in more alignment with who I am. 

This is just one of the many ways I open the door to my life. But what a joy it is to slowly peek into the other side of that closed door that leads to a new adventure! Sure, it's scary....but well worth it!

This is a picture of my son Bryan somewhere in Bolivia. My life is so much richer by knowing him!! He is a constant source of inspiration to me! 

I love living a healthy lifestyle. Health and wellness has been a personal focus and journey of mine for as long as I can remember.
Trying to be the person I am meant to be in this world ( just one of the ways to be healthy and thriving), has at times been challenging and difficult!

But I know the challenges and road blocks don't have to stop me from living an exciting and fulfilling life! It can be very scary yet very gratifying to look inside yourself (where all your answers are anyway) and excavate the answers to how you can live in this world as the person you are truly and authentically meant to be!

As an integrative health coach, I've worked with women who are looking to make a deeper connection with themselves to find the answers to the questions that have been trying to get their attention. How can I live a healthier lifestyle? How can my life be lived with more confidence and joy? How can I enjoy health in all areas of my life: physical, mental, emotional, financial, relationships, mindfulness, and personal growth and spirituality?

I believe that it is a balancing act in all these areas of life, and to create the balance it takes work. But the work is worth it, you are worth it. And the health and wellness you will find will help you to be a happier person in this world!

The first step is to say "yes" to the exploring....

Are you ready yet?

I know it might be just a tad early to be showing images of daisies right now, but it sure feels like spring is just around the corner...I just love how the days are getting longer and despite the still chilly temperatures, the sun feels strong enough to send just enough warmth to make going outside bearable.

As I imagine the daisy at this moment, it does not need to prepare for its future arrival in the spring! It will just happen.We however, need to go about creating the arrival of our future experiences in the present moment. 

 Right now is a perfect time to begin to visualize yourself in the months to come...what do you want to be experiencing with your time? As you gaze into the future, what do you imagine your days will be like? How do you describe what it feels like in your imagined future experience? What words (adjectives!) do you use to describe your imagined situation?

Now as you focus on those words, fine tune them. Use them to help identify what experiences you long to have. And in your mind, go there! Feel what it's like to be in that place that brings you joy! Write about it! Savor it! 

Let it bring you closer to your heart's desire. And then, call me. I'd like nothing more than to support you in making it a reality!   

Inertia

Inertia: A tendency to do nothing or to

remain unchanged.

Sometimes inertia is good. But I can tell when my inertia is beginning to bug me. I start to recognize a "nudging". Recently, I began having lots of thoughts about hiking. When I think about hiking, I just feel so moved to make it happen. I just know it will bring me joy. Now for some reason, I have these hiking thoughts alot in the winter. When it's cold and most people try to stay indoors, I begin to pass by books on hiking when I'm in a store. Or see backpacks and walking sticks that I want to buy! I just want to be outdoors! So I decided to pay attention to this nudging, and act on it.

 When my husband and I were going away for a weekend in Litchfield County to celebrate our 30th anniversary, I thought it would be a perfect time to find a hiking trail. There was plenty of material about things to do in the area on the coffee table  in the Bed and Breakfast. So much so, we had to make a choice as to where we wanted to go!

We settled on White Memorial Foundation & Conservation Center, off Rte. 202 near the Town of Litchfield. It is a 4,000 acre preserve with 35 miles of trails for hiking, x-country skiing, birdwatching, picnicing and camping. There is a Nature Museum with unique exhibits depicting the history and natural resources of the area as well as a Children's Room and Nature store. The warm and cozy museum was a nice place to warm up when the cold started to set in! 

I've decided to continue to act on this hiking call I am experiencing and find more places locally to get out and about. It is a really good feeling to pay attention to the "nudging" that your "self" is trying to tell you.....

 Go ahead! Take a chance!

Spirituality and Health

So, it's January and the beginning of a new year. As with everyone else, I usually find myself contemplating what changes I'd like to make for the new year. This new year refection is a little different. I found myself thinking more about my spirituality and how I am feeling about my own connectedness to that "something outside" myself, which is really that "something inside " myself which is my soul! I am still trying to know and understand my spirit as it relates to a greater spirit that I am a part of. So I find myself turning to yoga, meditation, journaling, nature, poetry and prayer (something I need to develop more of), as avenues of exploration that tap into a deeper sense of spirit. I know my health is a direct result of my spirituality and that I need to pay as much attention to it as I do exercise and nutrition. So I plan to give myself more time to reflect and get silent and still enough to hear or feel my connectedness to......whatever. What avenues might you choose that might give you a deeper sense of motivation and joy in your life? Just askin......!