Health & Vitality - My Ongoing Search

I learned a new word today from my Merriam-Webster word of the day email.  The word is raddled, which means being in a state of confusion;  lacking composure.  It seemed an appropriate title for my topic of exploration today. Yesterday was designated as a "Let's Talk" about mental health day here.  A national telecommunications company sponsors this and donates five cents to mental health initiatives for every viewing of a ten second video they create to bring awareness to this important issue.  That's all well and good.  Many people were sharing on Facebook or Messenger and there was a profile picture frame you could add (which I did). Then, today I read an article which stated that the donations from the company really don't add much to existing services and, that while it is a good public awareness initiative, it's mostly free advertising for the phone company. Also in the past couple days, I was reading an article in the Reader's Digest about an ...

I've been reading and listening to presentations incorporating the concept of compassion recently.  The definition of compassion is sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. Tied into the notion of having compassion is being non-judgmental.  When I have no judgment, I see everyone with kindness.  When compassion feels difficult or impossible it is usually because there is judgment present.  Judgment comes from our mind and ego.  It can be a habitual way of thinking which reinforces our negative beliefs about people and things. I can certainly relate to this, and perhaps you can too.  We live in a society which has trained us to constantly be comparing ourselves to others and to judge either ourselves or others as better or worse.  This creates feelings of separation. The presentations I have been listening to, come at this notion of compassion and judgment from different directions.  One approach s...

Where I live, it is bitterly cold this week.  Yesterday we had a big snowstorm.  Thankfully, today the sun is shining to brighten the mood, or at least it was for a few hours.  Do I wish I was relaxing in a tropical location?  I sure do!  But, it's not happening for me this winter. Actually, our winter has not been at all bad in terms of snow accumulation.  But we have had a lot of cloudy days and alternating weeks of mild to freezing weather which just chills you to the bone and puts you in a glum mood. The good news is, in a few days we will officially be at the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox.  Yes, spring is coming and our hours of daylight are increasing. It's near this halfway point of winter that so many people take off for warmer climates, either by pre-planning or on impulse.  I envy the snowbirds who have budgeted and planned to be able to live in a warmer location for several weeks or even for most of the ...

Complain:  to say something that expresses annoyance or unhappiness. A newsletter I get recently challenged its readers to try a complaint free day.  It was an interesting article and an idea I decided to save as a topic for my own blog.  I chose to write about it today because Monday seems to be a day of the week that a lot of people complain about, especially if they are returning to work for the start of their week. As I've gone through my morning so far, I've been challenging myself on this topic too.  It's a really interesting self-observation to make.  If you try it for yourself, you may be surprised at how many complaining thoughts you have, even if you do not express them aloud. How often do you find as well, that as soon as people are gathered together in a group, someone complains about something?  Just one person starting can get the ball rolling for a litany of complaints.  We might not mind hearing or making the occasional spoken com...

Okay, definitely an 'outside the box' post today. This fall, it will be forty years ago that it happened.  I was 30 weeks pregnant and had recently been hospitalized after being diagnosed with what was commonly called toxemia or pregnancy induced hypertension, which led to pre-eclampsia, which becomes a very high risk scenario with excessively high blood pressure. I had been admitted to hospital that day to be on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy, which turned out to end that day.  A few hours after I was admitted, my blood pressure was found to be in a dangerous zone.  Consultation between the residents on duty and my obstetrician resulted in a decision to do an emergency C-Section. Our son was whisked off to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he stayed for the next eight weeks, continuing his maturation to be able to live in the big world.  (He is fine, a healthy, thriving adult.) When I woke up from my general anesthesia, I was in a lot of pa...

This week I have been having conversations with friends about meeting our needs for adequate vision in different circumstances.  In some ways, it seems something that I should not feel so frustrated about, but I do.  However, it seems I am not alone.  My situation is more of a first world type of problem than that of someone who truly cannot see well enough to function in their daily activities. My dilemma of trying to decide what glasses to keep where, for what purpose, is relatively recent.  Until a couple of years ago, I wore glasses all the time, since first grade of elementary school.  Over the years my prescription changed from single vision to bifocal.  But, the one constant was, that I put my glasses on first thing in the morning and took them off before I went to bed.  Having permanent dents in the bridge of my nose was a given. Then, a couple of years ago I had cataract surgery, first one eye, then six months later the other.  I rece...

I've written a little about fasting in a previous post, but, I want to delve a bit more into it today.  This is primarily as a reminder and motivator for me.  Perhaps you will learn some interesting information too. The kind of fasting with which most of us are familiar, is that done for religious reasons.  It may involve just abstaining from particular foods, like the Catholic tradition of eating fish rather than meat on Fridays.  Or, it could be abstaining from food for certain hours of the day for periods of time, like the Islamic tradition during Ramadan of not eating from sunrise to sunset. It turns out that there are many health benefits to fasting, in addition to spiritual ones.  However, fasting can feel punitive or very depriving.  Lots of people, for example, try to give up something like sweets during Lent, and find it hard to maintain for forty days. Some people choose to start a weight loss program with fasting.  It's a way to reset ...

I actually don't mind cleaning.  It's one of those concrete, productive tasks that show immediate results and give me satisfaction.  However, I do have criteria for my ideal cleaning scenario.  I prefer to do it when I'm home alone, and with no interruptions. As pre-teens, we three younger girls in my family were assigned housecleaning duties.  Growing up in a large family, and in a house that was not all that big, there was always cleaning to be done.  I don't remember now whether we had a method for determining our individual jobs.  Regardless, I was initiated early and developed a liking for seeing surfaces tidy, shiny and clean, if even only for a short time. I grew up in the 60's, when so many newly manufactured products came onto the market, including various modern forms of cleaners like furniture polish in spray cans, Spic and Span, Comet Cleanser and the like.  That made cleaning more interesting, feeling like you were testing out somethin...

Since the number of this post is 111, it reminded me of numerology and meanings of recurring numbers.  So, I decided to look that up.   An interesting fact, which I had not known, is that the father of modern numerology, as in what is typically used in the Western world, was developed by the Greek mathematician Pythagoras. There are other schools of numerology as well, such as Chinese and Kabballah. The recurring 1 number which is so often noticed and remarked upon is 11:11, which is asking you to be more aware, follow your intuition, raise your consciousness and call on Divine guidance in your life. For my purpose today, I'll note meanings I discovered for recurring 1's, such as in my 111.  Here is a list: -  Create a new beginning;  new beginnings are coming;  start something new -  Leave the past behind;  be courageous and strong;  be independent -  Break away from the pack;  embrace your individuality -  Put your c...

The inspiration for today's post is courtesy of a Deepak Chopra meditation I listened to.  The mantra for the meditation was "I let go when I rest in silent awareness."  Prior to the silent meditation period, where we repeat the mantra in our mind, he gives a teaching for a few minutes. Chopra explained that we are blocked from our ideal life with regrets and wounds of the past and worries about the future.  To be renewed, we need to respond to the present moment.  Letting go is hard for the ego-mind because it likes to hold onto expectations.  However, our true self, which is always present in the background, knows it is not dependent on those transitory thoughts and feelings.  When we know our true self, we naturally let go of our struggles. When I was thinking about examples of living in the present moment, two things came to mind.  Firstly, our little grandson, whose daily antics we are blessed to see via online calendar posts.  Secondly, ...

This is going to be an astrology related post about one of the lunar eclipse aspects from last night.  If your eyes are already rolling back in your head, feel free to pass over this one. The main thing I want to refer to today, is something called the lunar nodes.  These are not physical entities.  They refer to  the points where the orbit of the moon crosses the ecliptic of the earth orbit.  The north node of the Moon is above the earth ecliptic.  The south node of the Moon is below the ecliptic. If you look in your astrological birth chart, each of these nodes will appear in a house of the zodiac, in direct opposition to each other.  If you don't have or want to look at your birth chart (which you can get for free online), you can also find a chart online to determine where your nodes are.  Their location is dependent on the month and year that you were born. The astrological meaning of the nodes is in reference to your previous incarnati...

In the last couple of weeks I have made what I would consider as failed recipes, for food I was preparing.  This has become a more common occurrence in recent years, as I've been trying new recipes frequently.  Something can look so good online, or almost make my mouth water as I read the recipe ingredients.  But, it does not turn out as expected. I don't like wasting food, so unless the taste of something I make is simply weird or awful, I will eat it anyway.  Sometimes my husband has to bear with a less than desirable dish, because that's what I've made for dinner, but I'll finish the leftovers for lunches myself on other days to avoid waste. One of the things I have discovered, by trying recipes from a variety of sources, is, that how the preparation instructions are written makes a big difference to the outcome.  I'm realizing that my favorites are the ones that have reliable instructions and expected results.  Of course, I cannot predict this on a ...

We are finally having what feels like a real winter day and more typical January weather.  Snow has been falling steadily all day with enough accumulation for shoveling.  Winter boots are actually needed for walking.  It's cold and the snow is the fluffy, powdery kind.  I expect skiers will be happy about getting some at last. Looking out at the blanket of white and walking in it for a bit this morning brought to mind memories of a children's book we used to own.  It was called Just A Snowy Day by Mercer Meyer.  It was a board book with various flaps, tabs and textures for the child to experience along with the Little Critter character who was the star of the story.  It was a favorite. I was also reminded of how much our boys used to enjoy going out and playing in snow like this, making snow forts, rolling around, and chasing one another. When they were old enough to go to a neighborhood park with a good hill, they would also go sledding. When they...

It seems like a good time to do an update or progress report on the insomnia situation.  As I mentioned in the Part One post sometime ago, I have a number of sleep hygiene practices in place.  They have given me success in easily falling asleep.  My ongoing or chronic issue has become waking too often in the night, having difficulty getting back to sleep or, waking too early in the morning.  All of those things result in just not getting in an adequate number of hours of sleep. I also mentioned in a previous post about the fall time change that, one of the strategies for improving sleep time is to stay up later and then gradually move your bedtime earlier once you have been successful in 'sleeping through' to your normal wake up time.  I still have not done this, other than at that time in the fall when I stayed up an hour later than usual to accommodate for the time change. Given that I've felt quite resistant to that strategy, I'm still undecided whether t...

Further to yesterday's post, why do we find changing our habits or making changes in life so hard?  One big factor is, that the way we think, and what we focus upon has a direct influence on our reality.  We spend a lot of time obsessing about our problems and what we don't want, instead of what we do want. I don't think it's too much of a stretch for us to realize that the way we think can shape our destiny.  We are much more than victims of our circumstances.  It's part of our evolution as humans to understand this.  This multi-layered brain we have has given us that capacity. The concepts I am sharing here are from the book I referred to in yesterday's post, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza. Our intentions, thoughts and feelings affect both our present and our future.  How we think and feel creates a state of being and, that in turn has effects on our external world.  Heart and mind working together produces a better re...

Today I attempted to mend a couple of small tears in a fitted bedsheet.  I was aware of one small tear last week, but thought it could wait until laundry day for fixing.  Of course it became bigger.  Then, when I took the sheet off the bed today I found another small one.  At first, I had thought these were due to catching on something in the washer or dryer, but after looking more closely I think it is just wear and tear (pun intended). In my sewing basket I rediscovered some iron-on mending tape and decided to use that.  It requires a hot, dry iron to set the adhesive.  In that process, I scorched the sheet!  Into the wash it went anyway, for the test of seeing if it could hold during a wash and dry cycle.  So far, so good.  We'll see how long it lasts, but it would probably be a good idea to start looking for a replacement sheet. What does all this nonsense have to do with changing habits?  Well, in the funny way that my brain som...

The January issue of the only women's magazine I still subscribe to, arrived awhile back, but I only started looking at it today.  The big cover theme is Fresh New Start.  The article themes in the header of the cover are:  Make easy (and healthier) dinners;  Tame your closet once and for all;  Focus your distracted mind;  and, Spend your money smarter.  All typically expected topics for a January edition of a magazine, right? But, the best articles in the magazine are not even mentioned on the cover.  There is one about opioid addiction and suicide, a heart wrenching story of a young woman whose husband died of an overdose.  The purpose of her writing it was to reduce stigma, in the hope that people could be more open to talking about and admitting their addiction struggles without so much shame, and hopefully seek help rather than hiding.  The other article, which I have not yet read, is about survivor led care in sexual exploitatio...

Like most people, I was raised to believe that doctors knew everything and that medical science has all the answers when it comes to your health.  Science and medicine were right, and everything else was considered to be quackery. And, also like many, I learned over time from my own experiences that this is not true. Sometime in my forties, I began having some bothersome symptoms, which I now suspect were due to the beginning of perimenopausal hormone changes.  I went to my family doctor, who could not find anything, and was then referred on to two specialists, who also found nothing.  After several weeks of hoping for an answer from a doctor, I was basically dismissed.  One of the specialists pretty much told me that it was mid-life distress and 'all in my head'. Basic lab tests and scans can often result in 'normal' findings.  The way our health care system operates, the criteria are set only to identify very abnormal readings as problematic.  This is...

I can still remember it clearly.  It was the summer before going to university and I needed a job.  A possibility to work as a waitress in a local pizza joint in my home town came up.  I had never done waitressing before, but somehow thought it should be straightforward.  Ha!  What a cosmic slap in the face it was for me! As a very good academic student, I had excellent recall of study material I had learned in my courses at school.  However, this did not translate to easy remembering or rapid note taking of customer orders in a restaurant.  I now understand better the different aspects of brain work involved in those entirely different situations, but, at the time I was baffled and humiliated.  Thankfully, an office job elsewhere soon became available and I quit waitressing. In general, I have a very good memory for detail, and am one of those people about whom friends will say 'Ask Joan, she'll remember', regarding events or situations....

If you were involved in fitness classes, especially aerobics, in the 80's, you would have heard the phrase 'no pain, no gain'.  It was popularized in the Jane Fonda aerobics video workouts, where she urged her students to 'feel the burn' to motivate them to work harder during class. I went to aerobics classes at the Y in the 80's and used to overexert myself, especially in one 90 minute class that I sometimes attended.  Those were the days when I probably could only get to one class a week, so it had to count. The other day, in our small Pilates class, one of my friends wanted to share about an interview she had heard on a science show on public radio.  The guest was explaining why our muscles feel sore the day after a workout.  It is due to microscopic tears in the muscle fibers.  In the body's way of healing those tears, the muscle bulk is increased and strengthened. So, the 'no pain, no gain' exhortation has some validity in terms of buildin...

When I woke in the dark of the early morning and looked out the window, there she was.  The planet Venus is a morning star now, and was rising brilliantly in the Eastern sky.  A couple of hours later the Sun started peeking over the horizon. There were some layers of cloud to contain and reflect beautiful colors.  Soft yellow, pink, turquoise, blue and purple were on display in a beautiful layer.  If I didn't know how cold it was outside, I might have believed I was closer to the tropics. I've written before about how I love the solitude and quiet of the early morning, and looking at the sky is part of that.  Given how many cloudy days we have been having this winter, it is becoming more of a gift to be able to see the morning stars and the sunrise.  I spent extra time this morning gazing upon both. Mind you, the sun rises late on these winter days, at a time when many are already on their way to work.  But, it's still a lovely start to the day, an...

There is nothing quite like seeing photos of yourself, when you were not quite two years old, to send you down the rabbit hole of memory lane.  Today, a cousin of mine sent me a half a dozen photos from a family visit to our paternal grandparents in 1956! My whole family is not in these photos.  The older boys were likely off somewhere, fishing or whatever as my grandparents lived near a river.  My sisters, including the eldest girl, ten years older than me, the next a year older, and me and my twin, are in these photos with our parents, aunt and uncle, cousin, and grandparents. The little girls are dressed up in their Sunday best, floral print dresses probably sewn by our mother, white ankle socks and black Mary Jane style shoes.  They were likely the clothes we were dressed in for church that morning and were told to keep clean before we made the under an hour drive to another town for the visit. We look so little, and like we are still discovering what livin...

Perhaps it is inevitable that, in this first full week of resuming 'normal' routines after the holidays, we might experience a feeling of disappointment or lack luster in our lives.  Maybe we have started out the shiny new year full of optimism and hopes for something brighter and shinier than last year.  We were enthusiastic about getting back on track, but now the drudgery of everyday routines has set in and well, it's same old, same old. This probably should not be surprising, given that it likely happens every January, but we do seem to forget.  For several weeks, we have been given permission to consume, indulge and party and now, we're supposed to shape up, both literally and figuratively. Maybe, instead of feeling annoyed with ourselves about this reaction, we could sit for a bit with just allowing a readjustment period.  We are in that gap or space after a hyped up period.  Our body, mind and emotions could use with some settling, and probably some r...

The year I turned 50 was when I chose to stop working in my clinical professional career as an occupational therapist.  I had explored other interests that I wanted to pursue.  Also, I was just very tired from many years of overworking, something I did not fully recognize until I stopped doing it.  Since that time, which is very young to 'retire', I have never done more than casual part-time work, for a LOT less pay than I had earned before, and never again in my clinical profession. I walked away with a fifty percent pension from my career, which I could start taking at 60, and my federal pension, which I could also start receiving at 60.  I am not destitute by any means, but I have not had significant annual income in a long time.  Fortunately, I am also financially supported by my husband, to provide us a very nice place to live and cover basic monthly expenses. At different times, I have sought out casual work, both for interest and for mental and social...

It's Monday.  My husband has returned to work after his holidays.  The weather outside is quite unpleasant, a blustery mix of freezing rain, snow and rain.  It's an excellent day to nest at home! Although I will be doing some household tasks today, including putting away Christmas decorations, I'm also slowing my pace and taking time for personal activities. This morning I decided to start a new journal for 2019 with a delayed New Moon oracle card reading.  I used a deck I'm preferring lately, of Spirit Animal cards.  The New Moon card spread is with seven cards, which represent different aspects of your life.  Since it's more time consuming than my usual daily one card selection, and also to allow for journaling time, I gave a block of time to this. The main themes and words that came up repeatedly in today's card reading were surrender, trust and following my intuition more.  Those fit well with my previous intention of being kinder to myself t...

Today, January 6, pretty much marks the end of the holiday season from both religious and secular perspectives.  It's the feast of the Epiphany which, in Christian tradition marks the visit of the Three Kings to the Child Jesus, recognizing him as the incarnated Savior. It is also Twelfth Night of Christmas.  In pagan traditions, it was a time marking the return of the winter goddesses to bring gifts of light and fertility to the world. Coincidentally, epiphany occurs this year at the New Moon in Capricorn and with a partial solar eclipse to add some extra cosmic power to the mix.  Capricorn is about work, responsibility, integrity and truth, purpose and intention.  The time of the New Moon is ideal for setting intentions.  Even if you were not interested in exploring resolutions for the New Year, this is a good time to think about what to focus upon as we move forward, even in a general way. The zodiac symbol for Capricorn is the mountain goat.  This s...

Sometime last year, I subscribed to the Merriam-Webster word of the day newsletter.  Each day I get in my email a word with it's definition, origins and examples of use.  I'm really enjoying it, and also pleased at how many words that I am already familiar with. Sometime in the last month or two, the two words in the title appeared, on different days. Rapporteur - a person who gives reports (as at a meeting of a learned society) Raconteur - a personal who excels in telling anecdotes I wanted to remember those words for a blog post, because my hope is that, eventually, my writing here will be a blend of those two things.  Given my theme of health and vitality, of course there is bound to be reporting of information, approaches and strategies.  But, unless it is a topic you are specifically interested in learning about, it can be rather dry. So, I also want to be including as much as possible little anecdotes about myself in relation to the topic of the day....

A little while ago, I read about the technique called Kaizen, which originated in Japan as a method for improving a business endeavor.  However, it can be applied to any kind of goal or desire.  Essentially, it involves taking very small baby steps towards a desired outcome to decrease resistance and fear around action. I think this will fit in quite well with my intention to be kinder towards myself this year, doing more of what feels good and enjoyable, rather than my previous nose to the grindstone approach.  It also seems like a good approach for pursuing more health and vitality. When we take on new goals, or even repetition of previously unsuccessful ones, getting to our desired outcome, although quite desirable, can be quite daunting. Before long, it becomes too challenging to stick with our plan and we find more reasons not to do it.  Essentially, we are resistant to the change or fearful about it in some way. A kaizen approach, of continuous very small...

This morning I was breakfasting and visiting with friends at the café, after our NIA dance class.  One of the things we were talking about is how much everyone feels the effects of taking a week or two off from regular exercise, as well as how our bodies complain when we are first getting back into it. Given that this was my third class this week, and also since I mentioned I was going for massage and chiropractic this afternoon, one friend said how I would really need an Epsom salts bath tonight or tomorrow. Now, that might sound like a mighty fine idea, in principle.  However, I do not like the shape of my standard apartment bath tub.  It is quite uncomfortable for soaking and feels more so as the years go by, which is obviously more a reflection of changes in my body since the tub of course has not changed. :) I mentioned that it's still on my bucket list to live in a place which has a nice soaker tub.  One of my friends has a lovely large one in her home, a...

For most, the holidays and vacation is finished.  It's time to get back in the saddle of our day to day routines.  For me today, that meant getting back to my fitness classes.  Our Pilates class resumed this morning.  After a break of a couple of weeks, my body surely feels the additional work it had to do to keep up with the instructions this morning.  But, it is always worthwhile and I really appreciate the ongoing benefits of what I have learned.  This evening I'll return to my Yoga Tune Up class and tomorrow morning to my NIA dance class. Part way through my Pilates class, as I struggled to get my body to cooperate with the exercise, it came to me that perhaps I could think differently about it.  Yes, Pilates is challenging work, but do I need to feel like I'm dominating my body's weak tendencies and habits?  This harkens back to my tiny tendency to want to be in control. :) Pondering more on this later, in relation to my mention in yester...