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......!

I'm on Facebook!

I finally succumbed to the pressure and joined Facebook.  I'm excited to join like-minded professionals and health conscious individuals that are interested in health and well-being.  My goal is to develop a network of individuals that want to improve their own health or the health of others.  If you are interested in collaborating and sharing any ideas, please keep in touch!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-the-Door-Integrative-Health-Coaching-LLC/188171671279256

have you forgotten?

Leo Buscaglia (never heard of him? Look him up!) once wrote:

We are so ruled by what people tell us we must be that we have forgotten who we are.

As far as health and well-being is concerned, it is easy to be in a place where we are just following along a path of beliefs about living that were taught to follow...and blindly I might add. We've had our curiosity about things, ourselves included, pounded out of us by well meaning people.

Just think of how we have been conned into buying things we don't need, eating things that are not nutritious or providing any benefit to our bodies, seeing images that make us feel miserable and cause us to lose track of how beautiful and good life really is.


Now picture yourself alone, quiet, peaceful. Going inside yourself to remember who you really are. Listening to yourself to find out how it is best to take care of yourself. What do you like to do? What do you want experience? What does your body need to eat? How does your body want to move? How do you want to love?

Maybe this winter can be the time when you will sit and reflect on these questions...not to have your life ruled by others, but by you... remember?

I'm still here!

Wow...I guess I've been pretty negligent in posting regularly since August! One the one hand, I've been pretty busy with work, exercising and socializing. On the other hand, I'm able to post today because I'm home sick!

I want to share with you my recent experience with a 6 week weight loss program. Even health coaches need coaching at times too! I went to the first session and had my weight measured, my body fat measured, and my body water % measured. This analyzes my TMT or Total Metabolic Testing. Annette Alfieri, a local clinical nutritionist lead the group (small and intimate, about 6 people). Each week we focused on a different topic which educated us on what, how and when to eat. Now, I pretty much know what to eat....but what surprised me was how little I knew about when and how! Each week taught me something new, and I was held accountable by having to keep and hand in a food log which Annette graciously reviewed and added suggestions as what to keep and what to delete!

There was also a great list of snack and meal suggestions that included all the combinations of foods that provided the best combo of nutrients. I don't want to give away the details of every week, but if you are serious about getting healthier, I highly recommend Annettes "Lighten Up!" program. Her website is www.lightenup.biz and her phone number is 203.450.1064

A new life begins!

Today's blog is dedicated to Giada Noel Toscano, born at 8:50 am on August 14, 2011!

Congratulations to her parents Jennifer and Vinny Toscano!

The greatest wealth is health!! ~ Virgil

She is spectacular!