Random Thoughts XXIII: The Biggest Loser Season 8

I love Reality TV. I really do...to a fault. I have my cable Reality TV shows that I like (VH1 is a vice y'all) but I really dig a couple of Reality TV shows on the major channels. My favorite "Reality TV" show: The Biggest Loser.

I knew it was going to be a great show. I had no idea how great it would be. As I was watching the show from the beginning, I wanted to blog about it. Something in me held back. Even as I saw Shay weigh in at 476 lbs. I wanted to blog, but something held me back. When Shay seemingly quit, I thanked the heavens I didn't blog but then the urges came back as I saw the contestants in a battle with themselves.

And still, I held back from blogging. You KNOW I wanted to blog when the contestants went to the doctors and performed all of those tests! Wowwwweee! Yet still, I paused.

When the contestants had to weigh in and I saw great numbers, I wanted to post but something held me back still. I could imagine myself clicking on a new tab, loading this up and playing commentator to the sport of weight loss but I didn't do it. I couldn't. I didn't care why.

Once I saw the end, I knew it was time for me to blog. Alexandra, not even on the ranch for 1 week, ended up losing 60 lbs so far! Amazing!!

The Biggest Loser is not only my favorite Reality TV show (even ANTM comes in a distant second), it's my favorite TV show hands down (yes, it beat out Law & Order - all of them! )! Why? Because this show inspires me in so many different ways. The emotions that I feel for these contestants are not pity nor compassion. The emotions I feel - down to the tears I shed - is admiration, respect, and love. Because finally, they are on a path to admire, respect and love themselves.

You see, we are all victims of self-neglect, whether we are obese or not. There are a lot of people like the Youth Pastor who did not realize he has Type 2 Diabetes. How many people live their lives, not realizing what aliments ravage their bodies and they live their lives for everyone else....but themselves.

I, too, am a victim of self-neglect. It may not last as long as someone that is not aware of the state of their health but it does happen. Stress is the ultimate sign of self-neglect because stress can lead to an array of dis-eases - big and small.

When I watch this show, I want to make my life better. I want to get up and take all the anger and frustration and the stress and just clean my house or go for a run or do an hour of Yoga in my home.

All it takes is one small step.

The number 8 is a very powerful number. It is my favorite number and it represents infinity - to build and destroy...which are infinite and needed for balance and growth. So Season 8 of The Biggest Loser should be a season of power. The motivation to destroy what you were so that you can build anew.

The most ironic thing about this show (and life in general) is that in order to lose weight or be able to heal, you have to make a choice. The only tool that is needed and is most important is your mind.

I can't wait to see what Episode 2 has to offer. I can't wait to finally update this blog like I'm supposed to. Maybe that will be my accomplishment for this Season 8 of The Biggest Loser. I'll finally catchup to all the things that I need to in regards to this blog and my other one, Healthy Junk.

You ready? I am.
Until next time...stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XXII: SEBASTIAN'S VOODOO

This video has been submitted for the National Film Board of Canada in association with Cannes Short Film Corner. I hope you like it as much as I do. :D

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Random Thoughts XXI: Vibrations of Life

Vibrations are very powerful because energy is directly affected. One vibration may cause pain, one may locate it, and another may end it. What kind of vibrations are you bringing into your energy field?

Vibrations are heard and felt. For humans, speech and other forms of sound create vibrations within and around us. The Bible speaks of The Word Being God and God Is (the) Word. With this "word," all creation, including our reality, was formed.

In Yoga, this "word" is OM. It is pronounced AUM. Your mouth starts with the A shape and sound, leads into the U and ends with the hum that is produced with the sound of the M. In Yoga, OM is the universal sound vibration that creates a peaceful feeling and connects all matter within a certain space or environment.

from krishnaculture.com

Sanskrit is a very powerful language because the letters and words create a certain vibration within the spirit. The English language can affect the mind (in so many ways ), however, when words are spoken in Sanksrit, such as "Hari Om" or "Om Shanti," a certain vibration is created that leaves a lasting and peaceful feeling - not only in the mind and body but in the spirit as well.

This does that mean that English does not carry that potency. It has the potential to do that as does any language that beings use to communicate. With the languages of today, especially English, you have to be specific in your speech and especially in your intention and awareness. You have to give a clear and specific signal to the "universe" - in heart, mind and soul - in order for "the universe" to properly provide.

I'm talking about this because I spoke to one of my oldest and dearest friends today. She told me that someone did some kind of bowl thing on her. The person put the bowl on her head and made a noise with it. The end result was that she was supposed to feel better.

She had pains in her back before this occurred but she was able to deal with it through arnica. After the bowl treatment, the pain is back. Her mother did it too and now feels a lot of pain in her hands.

I explained to my friend that this is not a bad thing. I figured that the bowl technique created a vibration that let you know what channels and passages are blocked. The vibration may not immediately treat that blockage but on first try, it certainly let them know what areas they have to work in.

The trick for them is to find out why they have this pain and then figure out how to treat it. Let me say that my friend is NOT a fan of pills and doctors. She had to deal with them on many occassions and had "not so great" encounters with them.

I told her that she should go to the doctor (especially in her mom's case) TO FIND OUT WHAT IS WRONG. Then, go to whichever practictioners she feels comfortable with to treat the case.

As for my friend, I know that she is very devotional to God. She is an Orthodox Christian and goes to church regularly. She is an Ethiopian Orthodox so in church, they speak Amharic. I remembered that in church (I used to go a lot myself), we used to chant in praise of the Lord.

Amharic is not as old as Sanskrit, however since it is considered an ancient language and used for devotional purposes, I knew that it would be a good thing to use as therapy.

So as I was talking to her about chanting in Amharic, Sanskrit, or English, she began to understand the power of vibration. She opened up and told me that Yoga was something she wasn't really into doing because of the chanting and the whole "religious" aspect of it.

From an Integral Yoga point of view, I explained to her that Yoga does not take ones faith away but adds to it. You don't have to say "Hari Om" or "Om Hrim" to be a Yogi. A Bhakti Yogi is someone who is devotional to God, the form of God you choose is inconsequential. If you go to church and do everything in service of God (or at least have that intent ) then you are a Bhakti Yogi, no matter what faith or religion you are bound to.

If you're in a class and you don't want to say OM...that's cool. Say "AMEN" to yourself. AMEN, AMEEN, and SHALOM are all derivates of OM.

I asked my friend to chant every morning and every night. She is going to use one of her church chants. I told her that she must say the same chant at these times and then whenever she feels pain, she should chant again, thinking and breathing into that area of her back that is giving her pain. She agreed and I think she also felt a lot better about Yoga, especially in regards to opening her mind to the healing possibilites that Yogic reasoning provides.

This does NOT mean that chanting will cure her ailment. What this will do is facilitate the vibrations in her body to heal. She got the first vibration that pinpointed where she needs to work on. These new vibrations should enable her to relax her mind enough to realize what she needs to do in order to treat and heal her backache.

In a nutshell, I'm hoping the chanting will make her realize that she has to slow down. In the meantime, she'll try this out and take arnica pills (instead of the cream), starting at 200cc and gradually going to 30cc, if necessary.

For YOU, be mindful of the many vibrations that you take in and give out. Notice your speech. How does it affect others? How does their speech affect you? Notice your methods of communication. Think about how a different method (for you and them) would change the dynamic of your relationships. Even if you try a different form of communication and it doesn't work out, learn the lesson from it and then you can move forward in your journey towards holistic health.

Another way to be aware of your vibrations and how you can enable them to empower you is by taking away that speech for a while. For one week, sit in silence (which is called Mauna). If you can't sit down and be still (like in meditation), do your tasks but say nothing and try to think nothing else but what you are focusing on at the moment. You can do it for 5 minutes or for days on end.

Nada Yoga is the Yoga of sound. Notice if you keep still, the sounds you hear. Sooner than later, you will be able to hear the hum in even the most inanimate of objects. Sooner than later, you will hear the hmmmm (OM) within yourself.

Should I keep you posted? Let me know what you think. Leave a comment here or send me an email at drea@dorightforyourself.org

Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XVIII: Wordle for my blog

I created a wordle for my blog...I hope you like it.

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Random Thoughts XVI: A little something for Yoga Teachers in Training.

I wrote this on my Twitwall today, for a couple of YTT (Yoga Teacher Trainers) this morning. I liked it so much that I decided to share it with all of you. Just a little something for people to understand what goes on when you learn how to teach Yoga. You will realize that unlike other schools of learning, when you learn how to teach Yoga, you will come to realize that you are the teacher and the student at the same time. Enjoy this amazing phenomenon. (and besides...I feel really bad not being able to post anything this week...2 jobs will do that to you )


When I was in Yoga Teacher Training, I learned about all these new and wonderous things that amazed me and terrified me at the same time: chakra, kundalini, tantra, etc.

My teachers would talk about these things, especially in relation to the Yoga Sutras. Before going any further, they would always say, "this is NOT for your future students." I would look at them like, "why not? this is great for anyone to learn!" Going deeper into my Teacher Training, I understood why.

Learning about chakras, etc. is for your use because you are no longer at a Beginner Level when you do teacher training. However, unless you're doing a 500 hr. TT, your "demographic" is going to be true beginners - people who don't even want to do asana, much less learn about chakras and kundalini. I guarantee you that if you introduce chakras to someone who knows nothing about Tadasana, they will leave faster than they came in, before you can finish the last "a" in the word chakra.

Then why learn about them then? This was one of the many smart mouth questions that my ego asked inside but my heart knew not to speak out loud.

When you teach, you are providing a service, whether you get paid or not. You are sharing a part of yourself with your students. Teaching classes (even teaching one class) a day can take a lot out of you mentally and emotionally (physically too, if you're teaching more challenging Hatha Yoga styles). Everytime you teach, a bit of prana leaves you and permeates throughout the class, into their bodies.

Learning about chakras, kundalini and the like is a way for you to replenish your prana and conserve it for these times when it is released. You can share and share and share but what happens when you're drained or burned out and you have no more to share? You can't teach nor learn anything.

So it's great to learn new things but at this point in time, you have to separate yourself. You are now the teacher and the student. You are the beginner and the intermediate. You must remember that you are going to teach those who may know nothing. As you teach, you also have to remember that you are a student too (because you learn about your students from each class).

Balance is the key and so is pranayama. Teach a student pranayama properly and their knowledge of the chakras, kundalini, tantra and whatever else will come with ease. Soon, you won't have to tell them anything. They will come to you, asking feverishly for the knowledge you can't wait to impart.

Jai TTs! Om Shanti.

Until next time...stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XIV: Homeopathy. Baloney or Testimony?

Working as a Vitamin Associate at an Apothecary, I get asked a lot of questions on what works and what doesn't. I get a lot of questions on Homeopathy. The thing is that the questions mostly come from within.

People that request homeopathy in our store know what they're getting into. They have already tried it and it works for them. They may even have their own homeopathy person that guides them and tells them what they should take and why.

Sometimes, I get a newbie. They want to know what is the best thing for them but they're on certain medications that would restrict the usual pathways to get over their ailment. Based on the recommendations of others, I would offer them a homeopathic remedy. You have bruises or muscle pain? Let's give you some arnica. Got a cold or flu. Alpha CF or some oscillo....(it's a really long word). Most of the newbies, take my word for it and go forth. They usually come back and give me feedback (mostly positive). Every once in a while, a newbie would ask me how does this stuff work? It's funny...because I've been asking myself the same thing for the past 5 months.

I started my quest to find out about homeopathy. What exactly is it? Does it really help? What do these numbers mean and where in the heezy do they come up with these names? When I first started on my quest, I got some answers but since I wasn't present and in the moment (more on that throughout my blog), I didn't pay much attention. I just knew that 30cc is probably stronger than 200cc but we still give a person 200cc when they have acute pain (this is in regards to arnica. When I explain more, come back to this sentence and see if you can understand it better).

Unfortunately, the more I tried to make sense of it all, the more questions I had. The more frustrated I became, the more I strayed away from homeopathy. I got the "itching for this scratch" again because I realized that I'm offering people these products and I STILL don't know why! I don't even know what half of the ingredients in these things are.

I love Inspector Gadget. He was bungling and sometimes an idiot but he certainly had a gadget for everything. Today, I am not bungling and certainly not an idiot, but I have this gadget that helped me immensly with finding a solution: Twitter.

So I got on twitter and asked about homeopathy. Out of all the responses, I got two that really caught my attention. One response was in support of Homeopathy and the other was totally against it.

Here's some things that I learned from the supporter, Debby Bruck:

• Homeopathy is not "like treating like" (as I previously thought and was told). It's "similar treating like." So that means that if you have muscle spasms, homeopathy will look for a substance that will give a similar reaction in an otherwise normal person and give it to you. The theory is that the similar thing will help your body to increase its immune support to heal you. "Like treating Like" is actually called Isopathy.
  
• Homeopathy is a truly holistic approach. The homeopath will look at your physical, mental, and spiritual "fitness" (or lack thereof) before "prescribing" any holistic remedy.
  
• Unlike herbs and other supplements derived from herbs, homeopathic remedies are regulated by the FDA.

Right before I was going to ask her a barrage of questions (she motivated me to have an interest again), I got a reply from another Twitterer that homeopathy was garbage. I read his article and found it to be very informative. This twitterer is a Pharmacist from Canada named Scott Gavora. Being a former Pre-Pharmacy major in college and working in a hospital pharmacy in my teens, I was very interested in what he had to say. He basically made the correlation between homeopathic remedies and allopathic pharmaceutical drugs.

Before I provide you with links galore, let me give you my synopsis on both views:

• I was never a fan of pills. Once I started working at the Apothecary, I began to understand the nature of pills and began to appreciate them. Even more than my disdain for pills was my hatred for pharmaceutical drugs. Not the drugs themselves (since they actually do help people) but the side effects and the marketing for these drugs are too much for people to bear. The US is a country filled with "followers." You tell them this is "brand new" and will "cure you in 2 days" and Americans are all over it - even if they don't need the drugs. The worst part about it is that during these commercials, they will run down the side effects so quick, all you may hear is "fatal." However, most Americans don't care about the side effects because its "new" and "fast." With that said, I appreciate the pharmacist's honest and accuracy in talking about pharmaceutical drugs but I'm not buying it. I'd rather get placebo and pray to God that my faith will carry me through.
• I'm still a little fearful of homeopathy. So if I had the runs, I would take something that would give a similar reaction to the runs in an otherwise healthy human? Why can't I just drink water and eat apples? Get some more fiber in me or drink some herbal tea that will work that out? I'm a huge fan of the simple stuff.
  
• Even though I'm fearful to try homeopathy, I am still very intrigued with it and will continue to look into it. It's best for me to keep an open mind and still be mindful that allopathic medicine DOES have its place and is needed by thousands (or even millions) of people.
  
• Both views have allowed me to appreciate this quote from Sri Gurudev, Sri Swami Satchidananda - Truth is One, Paths are Many as well as the concept of "bio-individuality" from Joshua Rosenthal. What works for one person, may not work for another. One man's pleasure is another man's poison. You just have to be aware of which is which (for you).

For all of those people who are interested in homeopathy, I have one piece of advice:
If you are going to take the pills, do not drink coffee, peppermint tea, or eat chocolate 20 - 30 minutes before taking the remedy. These things constrict the blood vessels, making it more difficult for the pills (which are actually sublinguals, meaning they melt under the tongue - no need to chew or swallow anything) to be assimilated into the body.

Now it's time for you to Do Right For Yourself! and make your own decisions. Here are some articles and blogs for you to look at. Comment on what you think on this blog or send me an email or a tweet. I like the phrase "help me to help you."


Homeopathy FAQ
Homeopathy as a "pseudoscience"
More Homeopathy Q&A (I'm providing this link because they do talk about the "like treating like" concept)

I have a lot of things in my head that I want to talk about. I hope you like my Random Thought. Trust, more posts will come out very soon.

Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XIII: Check this out

Good Morning everyone!

I love to read articles on various topics. Some of them are not health related but most of them are. So today, I figure that I would share some of the sites that I go on with you and some of the articles I read that I think you would be interested in. Let me know what you think in a comment or in an email:

• 5 ways to reduce germs, viruses and bacteria without pesticides
• Basic Eye Health Care tips
• An interesting article on the "25 Random Things" phenomenon in Facebook
• Want Strong Bones? Eat More Greens!
• CLIF Bar Recall
• Deepak Chopra's Daily Devotion
  

While you check those out, I'm going to continue drafting new posts and researching different topics. Thanks for reading and allowing me to help you holistically.

Stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XII: What is Holistic Health?

Recently, someone asked me "what is holistic health?" and "is it right for everyone?" Of course, I gave her a general answer but I feel it's important for me to give an official and specific answer.

Let's look up the word "holistic" in the dictionary:

holistic

Main Entry:

ho·lis·tic

Pronunciation:

\hō-ˈlis-tik\

Function:

adjective

Date:

1926

1 : of or relating to holism
2 : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body> <holistic ecology views humans and the environment as a single system>

— ho·lis·ti·cal·ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

So "holistic health" would look at the complete system of the body rather than the analysis of the dissection of its parts. To holistically heal someone (or yourself), you will have to look at you ailment from the mental, physical and spiritual "systems" instead of just from one aspect (usually the physical).

Yoga is an example of a holistic way of healing. Yoga incorporates mental, physical, and spiritual health so that you can become a better human being by Self-Realization. Asana deals with the physical, meditation deals with the mental, and pranayama deals with the breath. When the breath is extended or controlled, the mind and the body are one. The mind is calm and the body is nourished with oxygen. This opens the door for spiritual healing.

You don't have to do Yoga to have holistic health. Holistic health only maintains that you treat the complete systems - the mind, body, and soul - to achieve and maintain health. It doesn't make sense that your dietary habits are on point but you're stressed out and feel like you have no true purpose in the world. Stress is the underlying reason for 85% of all dis-eases we are faced with today.

There are numerous ways to heal the physical body and various ways to treat and eliminate mental dis-stress. People choose a number of faiths to connect with their soul and the Divine spirit within. The unfortunate thing is that most people don't do these things at the same time. They may start to workout but because of that, it takes away time to go to church or spend time with family. They may eat right but neglect their mind by continuing to deal with negative energies and decisions that bring them down, mentally and spiritually.

Holistic health is a good choice for everyone. Wellness is being well. Completely and fully.

My job, as a health counselor and owner of this blog,  is to help you figure out which processes of healing is right for you. The end result is that you are bathing in the fountain of wellness.

It's time to enjoy being Whole.

Before I go, I'm going to mix up Matt Stokes' Health Tips a little bit. I'm going to add #5 to the Health Sidebar and #4 to this one. When you read it, I think you'll understand why :

#4

Primary Food

Food comes in two different forms.

-  Secondary Food is what we traditionally think of as food.

-  Primary Food is a combination of all of the other things that keep us going (healthy relationships, physical activity, desired career, spirituality, etc, etc,).

It is important to pay attention to both of these food groups. They are irrevocably linked.

If we are not balanced in one of them, we won’t be balanced in the other one. 

Next time you attempt to incorporate better eating habits, make sure you don’t forget to pay attention to the primary foods you are lacking as well.

 Courtesy of

Until next time...stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Movements XI: Quick Updates

1. I'm going to start scheduling my Yoga classes soon. I'm going to teach at the Integral Yoga Institute as a sub (for now) and then I'm going to have classes in Brooklyn and in the Bronx, alternatively. More information to come.
2. I'm also going to update a couple of my old posts with newer information. I'll let you know when that happens and give you the links when they are completed.
3. I'm going to update as much as I can. It will mainly be Random Thoughts, Movements, and Karma Yogi posts until I get my schedule fully in tact. I'm also going to update my website with the latest information. If you would like to take a look at my website now, please click on the "Do Right Website" link at the right side of the header.
   
4. I'm going to setup a page on Facebook. This is going to take time and will not be a top priority at the moment. I'm just putting it out into the universe so that I can get it started (and hopefully, you can keep me to it).

That's it for now. There are times when we all need to be short but sweet. I'm about 5'4" so I think I fulfill the first requirement pretty well.  I'm still working on the other one.

Stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XI: Yoga Day USA

Tomorrow, Jan. 24, is Yoga Day USA. On this day, people of all ages and fitness levels join together to get to know the body, mind, and soul through the practice of Yoga.

Most classes and workshops that participate in Yoga Day are free. This is to fulfill their Karma Yoga or selfless service. Yoga Day USA came from the Yoga Alliance, which registers Yoga Teachers (among other things).

It just so happens that I will be doing Yoga tomorrow. It is for a workshop and I paid for it but that doesn't matter. I would be more than happy to pay for this class, especially since I'm so excited about it (it's about work and astrology).

More more information on Yoga Day USA, click here.

Just remember that Yoga is more than Hatha Yoga (posture). There is Karma Yoga (selfless service), Bhakti Yoga (devotion and worship), Jnana Yoga (self-inquiry), Japa Yoga (using mantra/mala), and Raja Yoga (Yoga of the mind).

So if you volunteer, go to church, ask yourself who you truly are, use mantra in meditation or follow one of the 8 Limbs of Yoga, you are still doing your yogic duty.

Remember to also keep an open mind...especially if this is your first time!


Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Domestic Violence: See the Evil, Hear the Evil Speak (against) the Evil (Part I)

I just want to let you know that this is NOT a Random Thought. This has been in my mind for a long time but deep down, within the darkest recesses of my brain. Now that it has come to the forefront, I need you to know that this is my experience. It's not a matter of whether you agree or not. If you see or have seen this pattern, please do not be afraid to say so. If you have not seen this pattern or see a totally different one, speak on that as well. There are going to be many sides to this and I'm willing to be open so that I have a better understanding of what I need to do to make a difference for the those involved in Domestic Violence situations- men, women, and children.


There are a lot of people in my life that are affected by domestic violence. Either they are the perpetrators, the victims, or the products of this environment (or all three at once). Although past situations have left me in a state of shock, anger, or denial, I have now come to realize that I have to do something to help people get out of this. I cannot allow anymore children to be a product of domestic violence, like I was.

So to start this off, I would like to talk about the pattern that I usually see in men that leads to physical abuse. I will put this in order according to my experience. For many others, these things may happen but the order is different or the impact of the step is not as strong as others. For some, these "stages" may not occur at all.

One more disclaimer I would like to put out there is that I am not a doctor or psychologist. I'm not a psychoanalyst or anything like that. I am a holistic health counselor who has a lot of common sense and has seen too many of these situations NOT to know how it works, starting with my dad.

Let me know if you agree, disagree, or don't care:


affection

Every human being craves affection. I don't care how old or young you are. According to wikipedia, affection means:

a "disposition or state of mind or body"^[1] that is often associated with a feeling or type of love, amounting to more than goodwill or friendship. It has given rise to a number of branches of meaning concerning: emotion (popularly: love, devotion etc)...

Affection can be shown in various ways, depending on the person. Most women want affectionate men in their lives. They want a man who will hold their hand in public or send flowers to their job. Some women would settle for a man who picks them up from work everyday to come home to a nice meal, etc.

There is nothing wrong with a little bit of affection. However, always be mindful of too much affection. A man telling you that he loves you every second of the day. A man telling you that he can't live without you every second of the day. How about this man not only picking you up when you get off work but the same man going everywhere you go!

It seems nice at first. You're gushing to your girlfriends about how attentive he is to your needs. With time, when you're with an abuser, this will shift.

One day, you want to go out with your girlfriends. This automatically means that your man can't come. At first, he seems ok with it. So you go out and have a great time. You come home and your man seems happy but now those bubble baths you used to get everyday after work has decreased. Another example is one day, you have to work late so your man won't be able to pick you up at the usual time. He says nothing but makes you feel guilty when you go home.

As the small shifts occur and you dismiss them, you start to deny the larger shifts as well. When you walk down the street with your man, holding hands, his grip gets tighter everytime a man (or a pretty woman) passes by. If a man walks by and smiles at you, all of a sudden, your man is going crazy - yelling and having an attitude. You start talking to your girlfriend for too long on the phone and it's a problem.

This is where affection shifts to possessiveness. You are no longer his "woman" but his property and he can do no wrong in taking care of said property.

control

Now that you are this man's "property" and possessiveness has taken over, it's time for him to attempt control of every aspect of your life. From what you wear to who you speak to on the phone, you are now under constant surveillance. He tells you that he loves you and is looking out for your best interests. He tells you that he wants you to have the right people in your life.

Next thing you know, you are no longer speaking to your mother because you told him that your mom no longer approves. No more girlfriends for you either. It's a good thing you can still speak to co-workers (only because your man isn't around) but no hanging out after work for you.

Soon you are going to live in a prison. By the time you figure this out, you either can't get out or you don't want to. It's times like these that control gives love a bad name. It's not love that causes these men to imprison you. It's insecurity and fear - on maybe everything and anything, based on his environment, past experiences, or some deep seated secret he maybe hiding. Your man would never admit to this so here the cycle continues.

It is at this point when a woman first starts to feel that something is wrong. It is also usually at this point when the woman would start making excuses for her man, especially if the memories of affection are still fresh (although I do know that there are times when a woman would start making excuses for her man even before this stage occurs). She may say something to their boyfriend/spouse and he may calm down - for a short time. But then put on a nice dress that comes above the knee or let him find out that you've been texting your girlfriend that he doesn't want you to see. Then the real fun begins.

I'm going to leave it here...but only for a short time. Next time, I will talk about the last two stages - emotional/verbal abuse (mindgames) and domestic (physical) violence. Thank you for reading my blog. Please comment or send an email to drea@dorightforyourself.org if you have anything you wish to share.

Until next time...stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease! 

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Random Thoughts VII: Time Management for Health

Today, my co-worker was acting really frantic. He had to service a computer and only had a short amount of time to do it. Although he had plenty of time to work on it, my co-worker had it dead set in his mind that he had to get it done NOW or there would be dire consequences.

Mind you, my co-worker has high blood pressure. You can obviously see a peek as to why.

My co-worker is a slim person and looks pretty fit. You wouldn't think, off hand, that he has this kind of issue. His only short-term means for lowering his blood pressure is exercise. His "excuse" is that he has no time for it.

This started the wheels turning in my head. For the rest of the evening, my mind raced with ideas that appeared out of nowhere and did not disappear as soon as they came. They stayed in my brain and got stronger. I then spoke to one of my co-workers at my night job and he said something to me that confirmed what I had to do...write this blog.

I'll get to what he said to me in a minute...

An Idea is Born!

When it comes to health and getting healthy, a lot of people rely on time to deter them from reaching their goals. "I don't have enough time to do this or that. I have kids/job/parties/insert whatever here..." The list can go on, but it's basically all based on time. When I watched my first co-worker stress himself for no apparent reason, it occurred to me that people have a misconception about time when it comes to certain aspects of health.

In my experience with health, there are things that do not need to take a lot of time and there are things that need to take a lot of time.

The misconception is what should take a long period of time and what should not.

Exercise should NOT (and does not) need to take a long period of time.

Chewing your food SHOULD (and must) take a long period of time.

That's right. I said it.

Many people, on a quest to lose weight (or get fit or tone up or whatever you're calling it this week) will start by working out 3 hours every day that they work out. They will go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week. Don't go to the gym? That's fine. They'll run for over 2 hours or walk for the same duration (3 or 4 times a week). Within weeks, they lose some weight. Feeling good, they continue this plan for another....2 weeks. Then, they feel tired and don't go as consistently. They start to feel pain and then 6 months later..."I need to start working out again....I was doing this, that, and the third but then...I had to do (insert thing here) and didn't have anymore time."

Maybe the reason why you quit working out after a while is because your body got tired! It's not used to all that work! It took you how many months or years to reach whatever state you're in. The first misconception with time is to think that you can lose it properly within less than 1/16th of that time.

Properly means doing it in a manner consistent with respecting your body so that you are able to maintain health for a long period of time, possibly for the rest of your life.

With that being said, the misconception of exercise needing to be for long periods of time is based on the fact that people want their weight loss and "health" to come too soon. Typical OD factor that I spoke about last year.

So what do I do, Miss See?

Here's what you do. If you need to lose weight and haven't worked out in a while (I don't care how much you have to lose), start off with basic exercises for shorter periods of time, that can be done everyday. Include light and gentle stretching with whatever you do. If you are overweight, include some more cardio and leave the weights for later on, when you lose a couple of pounds off the cardio workouts.

All you really need is 15-30 minutes in the day.

If you include simple things, like taking a walk around the block after eating lunch (or right before you get lunch) , then every week, you will get an extra 15-20 minutes of exercise and you didn't even know it!!

Well, Miss See, it sounds easy. But what can I do for 30 minutes, other than walking?

Mix it up. If you decide to workout three times a week, then on one day, do a workout video or TV show (most of them last 30 minutes and they incorporate all aspects of exercise - stretching, warm up, focus, and cool down). The next day, do a routine out of a book you have in your possesion. On the third day, create a playlist and dance for 15 minutes! Sounds good to me!!

If you do go to a gym, you can mix it up too. Day One, Treadmill for 10 minutes. 2 minutes to active stretch/warm up before treadmill and 3 minutes to cool down/static stretch. Day Two, Elliptical for 10 minutes. Same time for warm up and cool down. Day Three, Bike for 10 minutes or Rowing Machine. As long as you don't mess with weights for the first month or two (I'll explain why in later blogs), you're good to go.

After a number of weeks or months, your body will get used to this and start to work with you. THEN you can add more time and incorporate more things.

Don't get me wrong, if you want to spend 3 hours in the gym, then do you. Have fun and enjoy. I truly don't have that kind of time. Three Rounds of Sun Salutations takes 3 minutes. If I can get that done in a day, then I'm a happy camper.

Chew Slow

Many people (including myself, at times) are on the go. We are hungry and the only time we have to eat our food is while we are walking or going on the train, etc. We're not really thinking about the food or digestion or health. We just need something and we know we gotta go. This is a case of the body sending the most primal message, while the mind is still not listening to the body and its needs.

The digestion process starts in the mouth. Chewing is of upmost importance because the more you can liquefy your food, the more it can be absorbed into your bloodstream, properly providing the nourishment your body needs - short term and long term! The slower you chew, the better your digestive system will work. That means less gas, etc. (unless you're eating a bunch of raw food or beans) The slower you chew your food, the more you appreciate it. The more you can taste it and savor the flavor.

Ok, I'm getting hungry just talking like this so let me get a sip of water and continue focused on the task at hand. 

The amount of time most people take to chew should be increased tenfold. It's a great start to getting healthy on the nutritious side of things and it's one of the easiest things to do.

In Macrobiotics, it's said that people should chew at least 50 times for every bite they take in. I'm not going to tell you how many times you should chew. All I will say is that once the food in your mouth is real close to being mush or liquid, then you have done enough chewing. I guarantee you whatever number that is, it's way longer than what you're doing right now!

And if this means that you have to take more time out of your busy day to eat food, then God Bless You...you have just figured out one of the many mysteries of Good Health!

Now that I am done with my Random Thought, let me go back to the beginning of this blog with what my other co-worker said to me. He told me that he works out three times a week and he only works out for about an hour. He includes swimming, stretching, warming up and maybe some treadmill or elliptical machine. He said, "I don't need all kinds of time to workout." To which I replied, I was wondering what to write a blog about in regards to exercise...and you're right! You don't need to take a lot of time to exercise, but you sure need to take more time out to chew!

Some headnods later...this is the result.

I hope you like my work.

Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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