Intuitive lifestyle

Hi there,

This week I'd like to share with you some general self-care practices that you can begin to incorporate into your life. With the exception of the first recommendation, which should be done immediately, some of these can take weeks or months to fully implement, but once you do they will become involuntary habits of your general lifestyle and well-being.

• Get rid of your microwave! If you use one, the best thing you can do with it is throw it away and replace it with a toaster oven. I promise it's just as quick and convenient to use and it heats the food much more evenly. If you don't have time to read the article in the link I'll sum it up for you: microwave radiation decays the food and not only deprives it of 60-90% of its' nutrient content but it deforms the molecular structure of the food and creates a toxic byproduct that your body cannot absorb. These harmful byproducts are carcinogens and the radiation tunes your body into other harmful frequencies that affect your mood, energy, and behavior. If there's only one thing on this list that you follow, let it be this one!

• Get restful sleep. Getting adequate restful sleep allows your body to repair itself and re-energize you for the next day. It is also good for your brain to store information into long-term memory. Limit drinking liquids for 2 hours before going to bed so that your bladder does not wake you up before your alarm clock does. Experiment with the amount of sleep your body needs to feel refreshed and optimally energized the next day, is it 7 hours or 8? Do you feel groggy if you get too much sleep? Try to go to sleep around the same time each night and do calm activities before bed with the lights low to send your body the signal that it is time to start winding down.
• Listen to your body. Your body is always communicating with you and telling you what it needs. Do you have frequent headaches? Do you sometimes have gas after eating certain foods or food combinations? Frequent aches and pains in a particular area? Don't ignore those signals, try to investigate them. Take note of when you have indigestion and think about what you recently ate, perhaps the next time you eat that food you get indigestion again and realize this is a pattern and could indicate a food sensitivity. If you have an ache or tension in some part of your body, perhaps from sitting in front of your computer for a long time or falling asleep in a weird position, then stop and stretch it out, walk around for a few minutes, rub your hands together vigorously to produce energy and heat and then massage the tense area. Be receptive to what your body is trying to tell you, it knows much more than your brain.
• Keep plants. I'm sure you're well aware that plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, they not only clean the air that comes out of your lungs and the new york city streets, but also the off-gassing toxic fumes emitted from carpets, paint, and furniture within your home (for this reason you should also always have a window open even in the winter as much as possible to allow fresh air to come in and stale air to go out). Plants are also shown to benefit your mood and stress level. There is something soothing about them and this is because they are peaceful natural living beings. I would recommend a philodendron, due to their being extremely easy to care for (thrive without any sunlight at all, just water once or twice a week, and they grow droopy vines that you can cut, place in water, and have pretty floating baby plants that will grow roots). Having plants in your home and office would benefit your health greatly, but I would suggest liming the amount you keep in the bedroom since plants have a cyclical rhythm of inhalation and exhalation just like our lungs (large forests are considered the lungs of the earth), so they release carbon dioxide at night. Having them in the living room or kitchen would be ideal.

As you begin to incorporate some of these suggestions into your life I would also like to add a creative element to this transformation. I know that writing has been a creative outlet for you in the past, and whether this has been something you've kept up with from time to time or you haven't had time to give it any serious consideration lately, this would be a great time to renew your focus on this hobby. Get yourself a pretty journal and start fresh, or type it up on the computer if you feel more comfortable with that, you can create a virtual journal! (just google 'writers community' and you'll see tons of great sites where you can post for people to read what you have to say if you want to share).

Set an intention for your writing. Do you enjoy writing your thoughts? Or perhaps you like to compose poetry, or have had an idea for a short (or long) fictional story. Before you write the first word, set an intention for this writing practice and consider how you want it to serve you and what you hope to obtain. Be concrete - something like 'I am going to start a journal where I contemplate the humor of reality' or 'I am going to write a sci-fi young adult story about...' - this way you have a real focus, a goal, even if it's just to write down random thoughts, your goal could be to release those thoughts from your mind and put them out into the universe.

But before you do any of that, the very first thing I want you to write about are your goals as you visualized them during the meditation over the phone with me. I want you to put your vision for your future down on paper. Be as specific as possible, describe every little detail that you can think of and write this in the present tense. If all your important goals in life are fulfilled within the next five years, what will your present be like? Who are you? Who are you with? Where do you live? What do you do every day? Write it down and see it in your mind's eye as you're doing so, allowing yourself to feel the emotion of joy and fulfillment as you do this, how does this happiness feel in your body? Ask yourself these questions and write it all down.

Foodwise

• Continue eating your red leaf lettuce (and that means not iceberg or romaine lettuce, but specifically red leaf and if possible, organic) salads on the side of whatever you're having for dinner every day (even if you already had a salad for lunch) and encourage Jay to do the same but don't push him if he's not interested, just make it for yourself and always offer it to him also.
• Next time you go food shopping maybe also get another vegetable you like, like cucumber, tomato, or pepper. Use your eyes and nose to choose whatever looks freshest. If you're in the mood for cucumbers but the cucumbers look all wilted and unsavory then look around for whatever looks like it was most recently delivered to the produce section because intuitively you are looking for the food that looks the most alive.
• Continue eating your apples, next time you're at the store maybe you can pick up some grapes or blueberries too. You can give them a quick rinse at night and put them in tupperware to take as a work snack for the next day. But it's better to eat fruit by itself, not as a dessert after a meal, because that is how your body will be able to most efficiently extract the nutrients when it is not distracted by digesting other foods that are lacking in enzymes.
• When you go food shopping this weekend, spend a little more time in the produce section and really look around, smell and touch whatever appeals to you and purchase what looks like it could have grown in the our current climate but commit yourself to eating everything that you buy before it goes bad. This means don't overbuy out of your newfound enthusiasm for health, be realistic and don't get anything that you don't find tasty.

I hope you're having a great week!