Exercise. Better Than Death.

Words to live by... Have you Cybercised today?

Life Portfolio

Hopefully, you began your gratitude practice today. Easy enough to do, remember, you can express gratitude for others or start a list for yourself. If you've begun your list today, you are already feeling a bit happier. Come on now... you can admit it. You're here among friends.

Not being one to stop with one good idea, here is another wee thing to consider. Create your Life Portfolio. A Life Portfolio is a collection of the greatest moments in your life. The Life Portfolio is best designed as a scrap book and is best done in the moment. The idea is to have a place to collect and remember those moments in your life when you say "I'll never forget this" or "This is the best day of my life." I suspect, while we have the best intentions of remembering such things, as the days and years go by, we can forget the thoughts, emotions and feelings associated with the greatest moments in our life.

What are the greatest moments in your life? I think it differs for each of us. Some obvious choices are college graduation, your wedding day, your child's birth, a great promotion or quitting a job that didn't fulfill you, dropping your first born at college. I contend there are more subtle choices as well (and the subtle choices can result from your gratitude list). A particularly beautiful sunset. A moment when you felt utterly and completely content. The first time in a new country. Receiving flowers just because. Or sending them.

Why would you devote time and energy to creating a Life Portfolio? Mostly because life is ever so sweet and even more short. And before you know it, the days have gone by and it will be your time to go. Collect and record the best moments of your life so you have something to read while sitting in the rocking chair on the porch. You'll really appreciate it then. And, the best reason of all? Something to leave to your loved ones. Some small piece of you to share with those who will live on after you've gone.

Health comes in all forms. Exercise and eating well are two ingredients. Enjoying each day and being grateful as we live them... that is the real secret.

A Steady Diet of Gratitude

Yesterday we talked about getting rid of any anger you may have stored up inside and dispersing any new anger coming your way. Remember --- growl and spew! I'm assuming each of you, dear readers, has followed said sage advice and has gotten rid of any residual anger. And now? Now you are hungry! All of the space inside previously full of anger is now empty and you may not be quite certain what to do.

Do not fear, there is an answer. And a good one! Gratitude. If you feel any space or void inside fill it with gratitude, I promise your days will become brighter. It is very easy and something you can do for yourself or express to others.

Some ideas.... look the cashier in the eye and say "Thanks for your help" when buying your groceries. When your barista puts your cup of coffee on the counter, give them a smile and say "You've made my day!" Give your partner/kid/pet a hug in the morning and say "I'm glad you're in my life." When you see a spring robin hopping about the yard, give him a little whistle.

To practice internal gratitude, start a list. This is not a test and not something you need to do all at once. If you have a journal, devote a page to Gratitude. Start making a list of all the things you are grateful for. Family, friends, work, sunshine, rain, pets, your favorite cozy sweater... you get the idea. Be as specific as possible. And keep adding to the list. For a great life practice, take a moment each day and add something to your gratitude list. Simple things, big things, shared things, secret things. It is your list. When you're feeling blue, read your list. When you're feeling happy, add lots of things. There are millions and millions of things to be grateful for. Fill yourself up with them.

Pretty soon, you'll feel more happy! When you feel more happy, your health will improve. Really, truly. It is simple and easy. Give it a go!

Don't Eat Anger

Most likely, we've all had the experience of feeling our own anger or having someone else's anger directed at us. Neither situation feels particularly good. And, neither situation is particularly good for our health. Experiencing anger, either inwardly or outwardly, increases negativity around us and our body doesn't discriminate if it is our anger or someone else's. To the body, anger is anger and it sets off a whole series of biochemical reactions which can negatively impact our health.

It is also unhealthy to feel anger and eat it. Some of us (hello women!) want to be seen as the "good girl" so we don't express our anger, we simply swallow it. Now we are not only experiencing anger but we are consuming it and keeping it inside us where it can fester and continue to negatively impact our health. I've heard some people theorize cancers are caused by eaten anger that, over time, begins to eat away at our bodies. Interesting, eh?

The point of this writing is not to depress you or cause you to begin to spew anger at those nearby (unfortunately, we often direct our anger at those closest to us and are incredibly sweet to strangers). The point of this writing is to give you a productive and, dare I say funny, way to get rid of any anger you may have stored up and a way to disperse any anger you feel in the future. This is a very simple process and one which can be used anywhere (granted some people may think you a bit odd if you do so in public). I give credit for this exercise to Joshua Rosenthal, founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Step 1: Growl.

Growl aloud. Use your claws, if you are so inclined. Growl big. Growl loud. Growl and use your best lion or bear or panther or coyote voice.

Step 2: Spew.
Raise your voice and, in only made up words, argue. No real words (in any language) should be used. Use your hands, get your face muscles involved and spew. You can think all of the real words you wish, though I contend you'll be laughing in about 10 seconds and will completely forget any real words of anger you may have felt. The idea is akin to the Far Side

cartoon about what a dog hears. "Blah, blah, blah." But when you're spewing your made up words use all of the passion you feel in your anger.

I practiced this exercise with my classmates. And, we were all laughing in seconds. The exercise is brilliant because it gets your energy moving and moves the anger outside of your body. And, you start to laugh and realize how very silly most actual arguing sounds. Life is simply too short to have anger and is really too short to hold on to it.

So next time you feel angry, either at yourself, your partner, your kids, your co-workers, your boss, or traffic remember two simple things... growl and spew. Enjoy!

30 Days of Not

In a previous blog we talked about what you could accomplish in 30 days. Unlike other monthly projects, the idea of the 30 day numberless calendar is you can start at any point and will make progress if you merely commit to doing a task for 30 days in a row.

I think the idea is also valuable to use as 30 days of not. There are hundreds of examples:

• 30 days of not consuming sugar
• 30 days of not smoking
• 30 days of not watching TV

You get the idea... Mostly, we like the concept of using the 30 day numberless calendar to make small, steady steps toward a goal. After all, life is lived in each and every moment, one at at time.

Dinosaurs and Yogurt

Recent attention have begun to question the impact of food marketing on American children. We have a significant issue with the health of our children. Our children are now obese and getting more so by year. The incidence of Type II Diabetes in American children has grown significantly during the last 10 years. This is a problem.

Why? What happened? It would be too simplistic of a view to pinpoint the issue on any one cultural change. More than likely it is a combination of more two-parent working families, the costs of fast food (cheap due to farm food subsidies), and the increase in the video game generation distracting kids from the age old pursuit of going outside to play.

And, dinosaurs. Yes, Tony the Tiger and the Trix Rabbit seemed rather harmless at the time. Watch children’s television on Saturday morning and you’ll see yogurt being hawked by dinosaurs, TV dinners recommended by fluffy stuffed characters, and snacks by cheetahs. Is this good for our children? I happen to think we should be teaching our children about vegetables and fruits for their own sake, not because of an attractive fun character jumping around on a television screen.

What is it not?

A friend recently shared a phenomenon. The US is the only place in the world that has food labels which describe what is not contained within the package. In the rest of the world, the labels tell you what you are about to eat, not what you are not going to eat. Seems to make sense. When did the food labeling system in the US make this transition?

Now, as with many things, we have made the task of buying food more complex. Not only do our labels say what is not within (no trans fat, no MSG) we also have a system of what things we are adding to food to make it more “healthful.” Please recognize the insanity of this.

I contend we should not buy or consume any food that requires labels of what it is and what it is not. Food labels should really only be their own peels and skins. Seems much easier to follow.