How Improved Physical Well-Being Can Help You Live Better Longer

By Linda Ostbye

Our bodies are certainly a mystical, magical machine. It is totally amazing how inter-related all the functions of our body are. The best analogy I can think of, that most of us can relate to, is a car. My husband has always cautioned me to check the oil and water in the car every time I fill it up with gas. When we neglect to do so the condition of any other system in the car doesn't matter. It won't run.

The same is true with our body. You could say that our heart is the motor of our body. When we don't do what is necessary to take care of our heart, we don't run, or walk, or crawl. We don't exist anymore.

Heart disease is the #1 killer in the United States today.

Your heart is just like any other muscle in your body. If you don't use it you lose it. You have heard time and time again. All it takes is 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 to 4 times a week to keep your heart happy. In the Gallup Management Journal it is stated that when 400,000 Americans were surveyed, 27% stated they get 30 minutes or more exercise 5 days a week. Not a good percentage.

Aerobic exercise does not mean marathon running. It does not mean fitness club fees. You could drastically reduce your risk of heart attack and heart disease simply by taking a brisk walk around your neighborhood 3 or 4 times a week. If you don't currently get much exercise you should start slowly and work yourself up to walking a mile and a half in 30 to 35 minutes. Of course you want to check with your Dr. before making any changes to your fitness program. You have your car checked for road worthy before any long trip, don't you? So to live better longer, increase your heart rate three to four times a week.

Dr. Mitch Berg tells us that diet and exercise have been shown to have a positive affect on people with breast, prostate and colon cancer. It also plays a role in how well people do during cancer treatment and in the following years.

We want to keep our entire body moving, from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet.

We increase the quality of our life by keeping our heart conditioned. Even though our heart is beating that does not mean we are living a better life longer. It simply means we are living longer.

Our heart is the most important muscle in our body but is by far not the only consideration to healthy physical well-being.

Besides keeping ourselves fit with physical exercise there are other components affecting our physical well-being. Some of these include:

Diet - It is no secret that we need to feed our body properly to fuel it for the exercise that is vital to balanced physical well-being.

Sleep - It has long been known that the average requirement of sleep per night is 7 to 8 hours. Today, unfortunately the average sleep per night has been reported as 6.7 hours on week-days. Lack of sleep not only causes us to feel all around cruddy moving slower and showing visible signs of sleepiness. We become forgetful, can't concentrate, make bad decisions and are more irritable.

Alcohol - heavy and regular alcohol consumption has been proven to have negative affect on the brain, liver, pancreas and heart. Some reports show that moderate consumption can have a positive affect on the heart. Moderate consumption is identified as 1 drink for women and 2 for men on a daily basis. Greater consumption for a longer period of time can cause brain shrinkage, decreased muscle coordination, learning and memory impairment, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and pancreatitis. Mouth and throat cancer have also been associated with heavy, regular alcohol consumption.

Smoking - today, everyone knows that smoking can cause lung cancer and possibly even death. It is written on all the cigarette packs. It is taught in schools. Pamphlets can be found in every Drs.office. To live better longer we need to be aware of other negative affect that smoking has on our body like:

Less benefit from physical training

Less muscle strength and flexibility

Disturbed sleep patterns

Shortness of breath (3 times that of non-smokers)

The bad new continues. Affect that smoking has on our bones and joints can increase the risk of osteoporosis, hip fracture, rheumatoid arthritis, low back pain as well as exercise related injury like bursitis, tendonitis sprains and fractures.

Because I want to live to see my grandchildren and be able to enjoy activities with them, I use Herbalife products to live better longer. In particular I use the multivitamin and the formula 1 meal replacement to keep me nutritionally balanced. I use the Niteworks to help me get better sleep and feel refreshed in the morning with a happy heart. For more information on this go to http://www.healthandnutritiontraining.comand look at the Herbalife page.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Ostbye

Bridging Loneliness and Belonging

"Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend."
~Wallace Stegner (1909-1993)

Disparities in the world come amidst First World and Third World problems as they are juxtaposed. How can the rich Wall Street guy readily identify with a homeless person, and, not so much by way of material affluence, but by way of a sense of belonging in the world? How can even I, a working-to-middle-class male caucasian, even relate with that sense of overall abandonment?

Much more valuable than material affluence is a sense of place, a fit in the world, and an identity that is real and pungent with purpose and meaning. Belonging provides these.

Belonging is not just about connection with people.

It's about how our world cares for us. Those who are not cared for by the world - think, refugees - will presumably have an abandoned and lonely sense for belonging. They more than just about anyone else will know the importance of home.

Those who miss out comprehend more than those who don't. This is about belonging, or, in this case, not belonging.

WHEN BELONGING MEANS WELL-BEING

Belonging, in the present context, is a holistic concept. We know by the way we feel whether we belong or not. Even if others think we belong we may still feel we don't. Belonging is a very personal idea. It's often a feeling that's been informed by unconscious thought borne of our attributions of whether we fit or not.

This gets to the very heart of our situations of well-being.

When we have well-being we honestly believe we belong. A tranquil mind is paired with a contented heart and there is peace in the soul. But how rare is that state?

Rare, perhaps, indeed.

Certainly the beginning of belonging is relational; how we get on and are accepted amongst our peer group, and, better still, amongst our supervisors - and, whether either of these groups, or their members, cares about us or not.

But wherever there is a disconnect between our true heart's desire - our purpose in life - and our hope to get there, there is a disparity of belonging. Peace will be a difficult thing. More of us are disconnected in these ways than there are those who do feel connected to both their purpose and peer group.

SHOW ME THE SIGNIFICANCE IN THIS!

Meeting strangers or even long lost friends can be an uncomfortable experience, until we realise there is almost without doubt a disconnect within them we can have empathy for. If a person has suffered (and how few haven't!) we expect there is some sense for spiritual abandonment.

The beauty is, these disconnects, once found, are the very points of connection we make in creating meaning for belonging.

We only feel disconnected to other people when we observe them as something perfect. As soon as we see the homeless person in the Wall Street guy we notice his vulnerability, his hard shell melted, and our hard shells melt, also.

Weakness is alluring. We can feel comfortable around the imperfect.

***

Our points for connection in creating belonging come down to sharing our vulnerabilities. When we open our weaknesses up to each other, and we see how dysfunctional we each are, we relax, and we become real people again. Belonging is about being ourselves in the company of our world. Then loneliness fades.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.

Steve Wickham is a Registered Safety Practitioner and holds Degrees in Science, Divinity, and Counselling. Steve writes at: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com.au/ and http://tribework.blogspot.com.au/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Wickham

Stress and How It Can Affect Our Health and Wellbeing

Stress is a fact of modern-day life. Most of us appreciate how stressful it is trying to juggle all the different areas of our lives and keep everyone happy. Trying to have it all, a business, family and personal life demands a lot of time and organisation. If one of those areas starts to become especially problematical, through relationship difficulties, health issues, pressures at work, then the stress levels can become overwhelming and impact on our general health and wellbeing.

Let's look at stress and how it can affect our health and wellbeing:

- Balance is an important component in achieving a healthy quality of life. When people talk about work/life balance it is appreciated that sometimes life can become out of balance. Urgent deadlines, family responsibilities, conflicting demands on our time all generate additional stress. Finding ways to think clearly at these times, keep some semblance of control, assess what is going on and determine the best way forward allows stress to be managed even if it cannot be eradicated. Hypnotherapy can help to manage stress, become more assertive and maintain clearer thinking.

- Sleep is often affected by stress. A stressed person can become distracted, constantly replaying scenarios in their mind, trying to find solutions to problems or berating themselves over things they should have done differently. Try to remedy this by finding ways to clear the mind before bed and learn to support a good night's sleep. Introduce lists as a way of managing stress; they can provide mental discipline and the reassurance that important matters are not going to be forgotten.

Waking up in the morning after a disturbed night's sleep can start the new day already feeling tired, preoccupied, unwell. Introduce a regular hour to relax before bed and allow your mind to calm and settle, to prepare for a healthy night's sleep. Hypnotherapy can also be a way to support your commitment to relaxing and sleeping well.

- Food can become an issue when a person is stressed, feeling too busy to shop or eat properly, going for long periods without eating, surviving on coffee or snacks and junk food. They may not find the time to cook properly, living instead on pre-chilled supermarket meals or takeaways. But when a person is living in a stressful environment food and nutrition are especially important.

Taking time to shop for healthy food and spending a little time batch cooking at the weekends can ensure that the freezer has healthy, nutritious meals readily available to cook in the evening. A supply of fresh fruit can provide healthy portable snacks that maintain blood sugar levels and improve concentration and focus.

- Regular breaks are an effective way of managing stress and minimising how it can affect our health and wellbeing. Human beings tend to work in ninety minutes bursts of concentration. After that we may notice that our concentration wanes, we become distracted, irritable, tired. Taking a ten minute break to go for a drink of water, some fruit or a breath of fresh air can be enough to recharge the batteries and enable us to return with renewed energy, focus and clearer thinking.

- Mental and physical effort are equally important to provide balance of our health and wellbeing. If we are going through a time of intense mental strain or emotional distress, physical exercise can provide a valuable way to manage the stress and generate good feelings through endorphins. Conversely if tough physical effort is required following it with mental exercise can be an effective stress management technique and help reinstate balance.

Appreciating that we need to be responsible and take care of ourselves, of our health and wellbeing is especially important during times of intense stress. Ensuring that we plan, consider our needs, take care to eat well, exercise regularly, sleep, have time for friends, family and fun are all ways to support ourselves through especially stressful periods. Hypnotherapy can also provide valuable support at these times.

Susan Leigh is a Counsellor and Hypnotherapist who works with stressed individuals to promote confidence and self belief, with couples in crisis to improve communications and understanding and with business clients to support the health and motivation levels of individuals and teams.

Further help, advice and free articles are available.

For more information email, telephone, or visit http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Leigh

Forget Work Life Balance - The New Paradigm Is Work Life Integration

Meet the average business executive today and within minutes the conversation turns to the work life balance debate, especially if these people happen to be working mums. As our world continues to accelerate at a ridiculous pace this issue will only get stronger prompting tough questions for each of us. Companies have responded to this issue by investing millions in flexible working, on site gyms and counselling services, but, is this enough and is the attainment of work life balance really possible?

Let's start with a simple explanation of what it is.

It's not about spending equal proportions of time at work and at home.

It is not a standardised concept for all as each individual will vary with how they strike the right balance in life.

It will vary over your life time period as your needs change.

It is the correct prioritisation of one's work and one's life which encompasses all aspects, health and well being, spirituality, relationships, personal growth and development.

So work life balance is based around personal choice which comes from our values and belief systems.

Life balance is exceptionally important if we want to have a healthy life force to achieve our goals and deepest desires. As humans it is within our nature to want to keep evolving and growing so we are always a work in progress. We each need challenges to stretch our capabilities and to bring depth and meaning to our lives. We are three dimensional with a body, mind and spirit each needing to be expressed and fulfilled.

Take a look at any person who is challenging themselves and developing as a result and you will witness happiness. This is energy in motion. Contrast that with falling out of balance and then you fall out of love with life, become stuck and start to tread water. 

When we become stressed through over work then typically we get tired, withdrawn and heavy, often paranoid with low concentration focus and poor memory. Our sleep patterns become erratic and we fall into bad habits with our diet and addictive practises to anesthetise ourselves from the discomfort and pain. In essence this is energy deletion affecting our mental, emotional and spiritual well being.

When we fall out of balance we're not able to sufficiently top up the energy tank so we're running on empty. Keep going in this direction then eventually we hit burnout or crisis point because the body has literally gone into survival mode. The chemicals are pumped around the body release tension, neurosis, dark moods often leading to severe depression and if ignored this dis-harmony will eventually show up in the body as dis-ease.

It is easy to fall out of balance in a world where the pace of change is accelerating and the information overload intensity appears to push us down the road of multi-tasking. The automatic response by the majority is extending the traditional working day and week. This is hardly realistic as a solution. In this environment it is hard to navigate our way through sensory overload and cultivate resilience, foster creativity and avoid procrastination so we can thrive and remain productive. Additionally, if we ignore our true natures and values and always put others first eventually this will drain us and cause ill feeling and resentment. We literally repress emotions and energy becomes blocked.

Whilst it is possible to practice work life balance for a period it is much harder to maintain for consistent lengths of time. We have a tendency to throw ourselves into one or two critical goals so we can master them. As a society we've become impatient and want instant results from wealth to health and relationship bliss. This in itself is unnatural and unrealistic. The pressure to be successful, beautiful, slim and healthy gives rise to constant comparisons and feelings that throw us off balance.

A minority of individuals are now choosing to move in a different direction to mainstream society. They are looking for a better way and have learned that less is more in every sense of the word.

When we slow down we can begin to reflect upon our true natures and desires and tap into our real purpose and unlimited potential. As we begin to discover what's important to us at a values level then we begin to adopt the right habits and become that change in action. Self understanding combined with purposeful passionate work brings the much needed clarity and creativity to break away from the insane practices of the majority aiding well being, personal growth, spiritual connection and mental alertness. We literally begin to acknowledge that success can be possible with greater ease and flow.

This is what work life integration is all about. Our work becomes an extension of all of who we are and we decide what we want based around deep seated values that drive behaviour and action. Our life goals of contribution and service as well as personal desires such as freedom, creative expression, play and fulfilment are fundamental to the work we decide upon. In this sense we're balanced and fully aligned, enabling our energy to work for us and attract what we need at the right time. We work smarter not harder and begin to appreciate we need other stimulus than work to come fully alive.

Having discovered work life integration you'll never want to go back to trying to balance work with life. We literally fall back in love with our lives and I can't think of a better reason than this to adopt it.

Kath Roberts is a life and business coach, blogger/rebel and coaches midlifers on how to turn misfortune into opportunity, find their voice and convert their experience, talents and passions into profit. She can help you work out how to change your life and is also on hand to provide marketing tips for starting an online business

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kath_Roberts

Five Pillars of Employee Well-Being

As employers around the world place a greater focus on employee well-being, many will need to figure out the best approach for their particular organization so as to get the most effective and efficient outcome. Some of the best ways of doing this is looking at how others have succeeded as well as looking at what has not worked in the past. By taking into consideration these main foundational areas, any well-being program will have a much better chance of succeeding on every level.

1. Defining Scope

One of the most important first steps in any employee well-being program is defining a framework, so as to bring clarity to what will or will not be included in such a program. The framework gives a chance for those establishing the program to set out well-defined parameters as well as goals and objectives around each expected outcome.

Some things to consider will have to do with the general culture of the organization, but also with what is expected in terms of results. Is the goal to increase provisions for those that are not well? Or is the focus more on preventive measures? Will the focus be on overall well-being or just health related initiatives? Will the approach be a program that fits all employees, or will there be some opportunity for customizing to individual needs? Maybe it's combination of all or some of these. The key is to look what has been proven successful in the past and what is possible to achieve in each particular situation.

The key is also to be clear about objectives. These will give the program direction as well as will help to prioritize resources and budgets. It might be better to have less objectives, but have the confidence that the few that have been approved can be implemented without having to pull back later because of lack of funding or resources.

2. Measurement of outcomes

There is a lot of risk with any program that does not have some type of link to outcomes. As with other successful activities in a company, employee well-being programs will be asked to demonstrate some type of impact on staff and the organization. While linking every initiative directly to the bottom line might not be realistic, it is recommended that Key Performance Measures (KPI's) be set just as with any other program.

Instead of making broad assumptions about how well-being initiatives help to increase employee engagement or productivity, it is well worth the time to look at pre and post measures - both quantitative and qualitative - that in the end will help build a strong thorough story. These metrics can also help in further adjustments to the program in the future, vs. taking a risk of having the program be eliminated or cut due to lack of data.

Some metrics to consider can include reduction in absenteeism, engagement, attrition and even more specific metrics around customer service. The key is to look at setting a benchmark before the program initiatives are put in place, and have a tracking mechanism that can help assess at any point and time.

3. Audience specific

Knowing your audience is the first step to any successful program or initiative. What this means is that before putting any program into place, it is critical to understand what is it that people really want and what are the nuances of the organization that will impact how the initiatives are developed and implemented.

In many cases when these types of programs are developed, employers assume they know what employees want and often end up implementing things that lack adoption or only apply to a very small group. The most sensible approach is to build a well-being program on insights and evidence about what is truly important to people and how they are currently less successful due to experiences that can be addressed through specific interventions as part of the program.

We know that a one size fits all does not work and will not deliver the types of results an organization will want. Employees that work in a real-estate company will come across different types of events and stress factors than for example call center employees or workers in a retail warehouse. Factors linked to absence in all cases will be different as well as factors that influence effectiveness in dealing with unhappy customers or elevated levels of stress due to the physical environment.

4. Cost implications

The ability to report out on costs and savings, or any financial impact of a well-being program, can give the initiative great momentum with senior management. By establishing the costs of ill health, absenteeism and low engagement to the organization, it will be that much easier to demonstrate the upside of the program over time once it is in place.

Work and Well-being Ltd. - an organization that specializes in the measurement of employee well-being - suggests that a legitimate budget line, at a minim, should include absence (for example, salary, national insurance, pension, benefits and bonus), attrition and presenteeism (estimated to be 1.5 times the costs of absence).

5. Effective evaluation

This foundational pillar is very much tied to all of the above. The reason why it's so important to measure and evaluate is that otherwise well-being programs will not be taken seriously, and even if they are, it will be difficult to show how effective they really are and build further on success.

The danger, like with any other programs that do not have metrics, is that these are the first ones that are cut when things get tough. Ironically, it is during these more difficult times when employees need more support with stress related issues that in the end can impact the organization as it tires to keep its head above water.

Evaluating the program at regular intervals with someone who understands how to put these metrics in place is critical. It can be what makes or breaks the success of the program. Regular assessments can help with refinements and can also help to increase those interventions or activities that are giving the best results. For me, there is no greater motivator for having an effective evaluation than being able to show senior management how employee well-being is a good thing for the organization and how it's a win win for both the employer and the employee.

To learn more about how to increase happiness both in your personal life and in the workplace check out "The Good Life Agenda" at http://www.thegoodlifeagenda.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Doris_Walczyk

Employee Well-Being

The idea of employee well-being has been steadily growing in popularity over time, however is employee well-being something new or just a re-labelling of traditional occupational health, absence management and good management practice?

Most businesses aim to be in a healthy state. It therefore makes sense that if their employees are in a good state of health and well-being, this must surely contribute to the company's successful performance as healthy and fit employees are essential to ensuring a company remains efficient and profitable. Employee well-being is steadily rising up the business agenda as more employers recognise the business benefits and contribution that can be made by introducing workplace health and employee well-being policies.

Occupational health has begun to develop as a discipline with a focus of helping organisations to care for their employees. Occupational health support has been more readily available in the larger organisations where services have been traditionally focused on seeing employees when they were already sick. This emphasis on prevention rather than cure is slowly shifting with the result that employee well-being is improving among all those of working age rather than just those employees that are already sick.

Employee well-being does not exist on its own or in the workplace but within a social context. Recent years have seen individuals' lives affected by social, lifestyle and employment changes but despite these shifts people still have the same basic physical and mental needs for social support, physical safety, health and a feeling they are able to cope with life. Increasingly, they are demanding that employers help them to achieve this, particularly as a large part of their lives are spent at work.

There are many varied definitions of employee well-being. The CIPD believes that employee well-being at work initiatives need to balance the needs of the employee with those of the organisation. They define it as:

Creating an environment to promote a state of contentment which allows an employee to flourish and achieve their full potential for the benefit of themselves and their organisation.

Employee well-being is more than an avoidance of becoming physically sick. It represents a broader bio-psycho-social construct that includes physical, mental and social health. Well employees are physically and mentally able, willing to contribute in the workplace and likely to be more engaged at work. Other CIPD research shows employee engagement influences a range of variables, including employee turnover and absence.

The achievement of personal well-being involves a number of positive decisions regarding lifestyle. This is very different to stress avoidance with the negative connotation of being unable to cope and falling ill prior to any action being taken. In their ideal form, well-being initiatives are proactive and work to enable employees to achieve their full potential - physical, mental, social, intellectual and spiritual.

Well-being at work, therefore, is not merely about managing a physical and cultural environment with the limited aim of not causing harm to employees. It requires organisations to actively assist people to maximise their physical and mental health. The well-being approach also brings benefits for people at all levels inside and outside the workplace. It makes the workplace a more productive, attractive and responsible place to work.

Employee well-being runs the risk of being dismissed as a gimmick unless those involved in its introduction and promotion demonstrate the positive business benefits that it brings. To be effective, employee well-being needs to be part of a regular business dialogue and to be deeply embedded into an organisational culture. The well-being dialogue can be beneficial to employees' health by making employees feel valued and by giving them an opportunity to use their experiences to improve their working environment.

Many organisations are trying to create a balance between maximising productivity and the risk that their employees may burn out, making costly errors or resigning. An understanding of a holistic approach that underlies well-being, and development of initiatives coordinated with other HR policies can offer an approach to achieve that balance.

Perhaps the most important factor in employee well-being is the relationships employees have with their immediate manager. Where there are strong relationships between managers and staff, levels of employee well-being are enhanced. A good manager will recognise the strengths, likes and dislikes of their team members and will be able to recognise when the volume or complexity of the work is too much for a particular team member. The more capable that line managers are in identifying the personal interests and concerns of the individual, the more likely they will be able to create a team where employee well-being becomes an integral part of getting the job done.

Employee well-being involves:

Having a sense of purpose, feelings of fulfillment and meaning

Possessing an active mind that is alert, open to new experiences, curious and creative

Having a network of relationships that are supportive and nurturing

Maintaining a healthy body by making healthy choices about diet, exercise and leisure

Developing an attitude of mind that enables the employee to have self-confidence, self-respect and to be emotionally resilient

David Moore is the Managing Director of Five Minute Angels Ltd, a leading provider of tailor-made corporate massage solutions at offices and events across the U.K.

Website: http://www.5minuteangels.com/blog/

Get your free online quote today http://www.5minuteangels.com/forms/enquiryform.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_P_Moore

Self Care For Balanced Wellbeing - Mind, Body and Soul

Most of us have said it to ourselves at one point or another: "I have to take better care of myself." Unfortunately our commitment usually comes on the heels of illness, fatigue, or worse, some life altering event. We understand the importance of self care and yet we repeatedly put ourselves on the back burner. Interestingly enough, even people who are not motivated to take better care of themselves, find greater motivation once they begin. The key to getting started is just getting started. Once you begin, it's like your whole system follows. Our organism is geared toward maintaining balance.

Taking care of ourselves involves a lot more than taking our vitamins and hitting the gym. Our bodies are just one aspect of our total wellbeing. A balanced self care routine, involves the mind, body and soul. Often our emotional and mental wellbeing can have a significant impact on our physical wellbeing. Some of us take great care of our bodies, but pay little attention to our feelings, our stress level, or the negative self talk we engage in daily; all just as dangerous as the toxins found in our food and environment. Some of us, (raising my hand sheepishly) take great care of our mental and emotional wellbeing, reading books, listening to inspiring audios, attending seminars, meditating, being with and expressing our emotions in healthy ways but pay little attention to our bodies' signals and pleas for help.

As a life and spiritual coach and woman on her own journey, I am constantly looking for ways to create more balance in my own life and the lives of my clients. The following are what I consider essential parts of a balanced self care routine.

Know your needs and wants

What do I need and want in my life? What are my basic human needs and how am I doing at fulfilling them? Abraham Maslow's theory based on his observations of exemplary people, suggests that there is a hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self actualization. Knowing what you need, gives you direction and a sense of where you may need to set some goals and create experiences in your life to fulfill those needs and desires. If I am feeling fearful, how can I create more safety in my life? Journaling is an excellent tool for identifying your needs and wants. If you reread your journal entries, you will be able to see the common themes that continually come up. You can then brainstorm some ways you might be able to meet your need for love, safety, etc.

Be aware of your energy

We are beings of energy and as we experience challenges in our lives, we can become blocked or drained. It's important to identify what is life giving and what is not. What drains us vs. what infuses us with excitement and passion. Being aware of your energy throughout the day, can help you stay grounded, and proactive so that you don't suddenly find yourself exhausted and overwhelmed at the end of the day or week. There are many small ways you can manage your energy throughout the day through deep breathing and grounding techniques. There are also some amazing ways to keep your energies aligned, such as aura and chakra balancing, reiki, and sound healing, to name a few. The goal is to keep our energy/life force flowing freely.

Be with your emotions

Although it's seems easier to stuff them, numb them, eat them, brush them off, medicate them, we pay the price of avoidance eventually. Emotions are meant to be experienced, and let go. They are part of the human experience, but we have become very clever at building dams and erecting walls, to avoid them. A good question to ask several times a day is "how am I feeling"? Being with whatever is coming up simply means letting yourself experience the anger, sadness, frustration, breathing into it, and letting it pass through you and out. For those blocked emotions from past hurts and traumas, we may need a little extra help from therapy or coaching. I have found Gestalt therapy and Core Energetics to have a real impact in releasing blocked emotions.

Taking care of your physical body

Taking care of our bodies, involves paying attention to signals as well as living a healthy lifestyle. Your symptoms are often signals of emotional issues you may not be dealing with. A great resource for mind body connections, is Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life. She lists illnesses and their possible emotional component.

A healthy diet and regular exercise are basic ways of taking care of your body. There is so much out there on superfoods, foods as cures, juicing, ways to exercise depending on your particular body issues and simple changes we can make to reduce the toxic load in our bodies. Know your body and its own particular needs and make a plan based on what you need and want for your body. Having a physical and a full set of lab work done on a yearly basis can give you essential information about your physical health, information you can then use to create your own unique plan for greater physical health.

Change Your Self Talk

The things we say to ourselves can be painful, toxic and a danger to our wellbeing. We all engage in negative self talk. We say: I can't, I'm not good enough, I'll never find someone. You name it we say it and we say it over and over, reaffirming what we don't want, thereby calling it forth into our lives. If we have the power to call forth what we don't want, we must also have the power to call forth what we do want. Affirmations and mantras are two great ways to change the way we talk to ourselves. There are also some thought stopping techniques, like mentally saying, STOP or DELETE, when we find ourselves engaging in negative self talk. Shifting our focus, distracting ourselves through doing, is also an effective way of getting out of our own heads. Meditating is a way of emptying out the mind. Gratitude works wonders since you can't hold a negative thought a thought of gratitude in your mind at the same time. Take time to feed your mind inspiring and positive images and words.

Creative Expression

Express yourself! Find ways to create. It doesn't matter if you are an artist, writer, accountant, restaurant owner, dry cleaner, there are always ways to express yourself creatively. We are meant to envision, imagine, produce, create. Find your way to express who you are and leave your unique imprint on your world. Nurturing your creative side keeps you active, excited and feeling alive and purposeful.

Setting Boundaries

Learning how to meet our own needs, means sometimes we will have to set up boundaries, such as saying no to the people in our lives. For some of us this can be extremely difficult. Asking for time to think about the request, gives you space to evaluate whether the request is something reasonable, within your value system, but more importantly whether it is something you even want to do. Checking with yourself and whether it will interfere with your needs is self care.

Developing healthy intimacy with ourselves is vital to setting healthy boundaries and having healthy relationships with others. We often try to create intimacy with another person, without having a healthy understanding of ourselves. We cannot be truly intimate with another if we are not intimate with ourselves. As within, so without.

Spiritual Practice

It doesn't matter what you believe in; a spiritual practice, whether it is spending time in nature, in prayer or meditation, yoga, or attending mass or the synagogue, can be a very special part of your self care process. Even atheists have what may be considered a spiritual practice in which they focus on nature and love rather than a deity. Find what resonates with you. Developing a spiritual practice allows you to get quiet, to experience the magnificence of your life, to answer questions you cannot answer with only your mind, to be in the now, to hold your life as a sacred.

Self care is about nurturing, feeding and caring for ourselves so that we can fully engage with life, love, be loved, and live happy and successful lives. First we do it for ourselves and then for those we love, for when we practice self care, we teach others how to treat us and how to truly live.

Stephanie Gagos is a Life and Spiritual coach, survivor advocate, writer and educator. She is currently working on her memoir, My Voice of Truth as well as a self help book. Visit her sites for information on coaching fees and free resources. http://www.myvoiceoftruthcoaching.com andhttp://www.myvoiceoftruth.com

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Well-Being: A New Paradigm or Just a Fad?

As someone with a long interest in language and how it is used, I am often fascinated by how changes of terminology take place. Suddenly people are using a new term, sometimes to refer to a new concept or approach, but sometimes the new term simply replaces an old one. Well-being is not a new term or even a new concept, but it is certainly being used much more these days, and in different ways too.

I am a great believer in the idea of 'confluence theory', the notion that significant changes happen when a number of forces or factors come together, sometimes for an underlying reason, sometimes just by chance. Well-being, for me, is one of those confluence phenomena, with different forces coming together. To reflect this confluence I developed the idea of 'Getting WISE about well-being', with WISE spelling out:

Workplace well-being ¦ Individual well-being ¦ Social well-being ¦ Environmental well-being

• Workplace well-being has grown out of the increasing recognition that poor work-life balance and other destructive workplace processes can be detrimental - catastrophic even - for not only the individual staff members concerned, but also for the organisation and potentially all its stakeholders.

• Individual well-being has two separate but related strands. One is the increasing emphasis on spirituality, based on the recognition that, whether religious or not, everyone has spiritual needs - needs that often go unmet in a highly materialistic and competitive world. The other is a focus on health promotion, recognising that there is more to being healthy than avoiding illness. Such important issues as diet, exercise and sleep are now being recognised as part of everyone's well-being and that we neglect them at a significant cost.

• Social well-being is partly about a greater emphasis on having a sense of community and 'connectedness', again perhaps a reaction against the competitive materialism of modern life, and partly about the need for a more inclusive society, with less poverty and inequality. This latter aspect is reflected in how social policy seems to be increasingly moving away from potentially stigmatising, dependency-creating notions of 'welfare' to more partnership-based, empowering notions of well-being.

• Environmental well-being is also, of course, appearing much higher up the political and cultural agendas. It is not that long ago that 'green' issues were seen as the preserve of environmentalists, those with a particular interest in ecology, but now environment well-being is clearly a mainstream issue all round.

But there is more to this confluence than the very term 'well-being' uniting people around four disparate themes. If we look closely we can see that they are inter-related. For example, the emphasis on healthy lifestyles is also part of the focus on workplace well-being (and spirituality in the workplace is also receiving greater attention). Likewise, the emphases on social well-being and environmental well-being have in common a concern with moving away from our resource-intensive consumerist lifestyles towards something more meaningful and less destructive (and thus linked with spiritual well-being).

Sadly well-being is often oversimplified. For example, I have come across so many documents and websites that have 'health and well-being' in their title, but then talk almost exclusively about health. Similarly, there is a tendency to confuse well-being with happiness. The latter is something episodic, whereas the former is something more stable and long lasting. What we need, then, is to continue to explore these complex issues so that we can develop a more sophisticated understanding of what is involved. That way we will be better equipped to make well-being in its various forms a more realistic goal to aim for.

Dr Neil Thompson is an independent author, educator and adviser. For more information about Neil and his work, visit http://www.neilthompson.info This article first appeared in the THE humansolutions BULLETIN. For details of this and other free resources, visit http://tinyurl.com/freeresourcesfromneil

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The Human Perception and Our Well-Being

Every human being finds part of their identity, personality, and essence of who they are from their upbringing as a child. Children with parents that act or do things a certain way will emulate their parents as they mature to adulthood, inheriting some similar traits that they picked up during childhood. Children are very impressionable, and easily influenced by older authority figures, so anything done around children will make a meaningful impact on them in their later adult lives. Sometimes, these inherited parental traits that people carry into adulthood are negative qualities. It's the unfortunate way of the world that often times children with abusive parents often grow up to becomes abusive parents themselves.

But it doesn't have to be that way from the very beginning. Many people brush off their negative inherited traits as something that can never change because it is part of "who they are" as a person. They are readily accepting these negative qualities, whether it be excessive anxiety or a bad temper, because they think they cannot change what has become part of them. They usually feel as if trying to change part of who they are is too difficult and drastic a change to implement, so they prefer to stay with bad qualities that actually negatively affect not only themselves but the people around them. But it is all due to the human perception. They believe they cannot change their identity because they perceive it to be that way. Once a person's perception changes, the rest of their mind, personality, and spirit follow suit. A perception of oneself, and one's own circumstances, drastically affects the outcome and situations. A good attitude and positive perception will reflect in one's own personality and even improve physical well-being. It has been said that physical healing must start in the mind, and it is completely true. A positive attitude affects day to day emotions, feelings, and thoughts.

Emotions strongly influence daily life. Harboring negative emotions such as hatred, or anger, will result in creating a "blockage" in your body (a blocked chakra point). This blockage will lead to further problems, and even physical pain or hurt. Often times, distractions are used to dull the pain, such as drinking, smoking, overeating, etc, but they only relieve the pain for a short time through distraction, and in the long run they worsen the pain. A way to release and get rid of all that negative energy and emotions is to change perception of life and identity. Adopting a hopeful outlook and changing the human perception will affect the mental, physical, and spiritual well-being for the better and ultimately lead to a healthier future.

Misty Woodard is a psychic teacher and spiritual counselor, and has been doing psychic healing, spirit channeling, and clairvoyance for over fifteen years. She has taught thousands of students worldwide on helping them to reach top-level spiritual and psychic potential. More quality information about becoming a psychic and entering the psychic realm can be found at her website Unlocking Mystic.

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Health and Well-Being in Your Relationship

When two people care deeply about themselves and each other, they strive to take care of their physical health. The reason is simple: They want to be around a long time to enjoy and share their life together. Relationship vitality is both a metaphorical expression and an actual goal for many.

In loving and positive relationships, each partner is often motivated and inspired to help the other maintain a healthy lifestyle. When you love someone very deeply there is a natural tendency to nurture and protect. We all take each day we live too much for granted. We expect to live forever; and to live without limits or restrictions. However, we all know that sometimes the harshness and unfairness of life can strike any one of us, or someone we love, at a moment's notice.

There is no greater sense of hopelessness and despair when we find out that a loved one is ill, perhaps terminally. Everything seems to stop and the once important events in life become unimportant. We hear stories that a husband will say he would give away everything he owned to make his wife better. The big house, the expensive car, and the promising career are now inconsequential. Take an inventory today, right now of what is truly important to you. If your spouse or significant other is at the top of your inventory list, ask yourself what you are doing to promote and ensure their health and well being.

Are you looking the other way with their eating choices? Do you ignore their excessive consumption of alcohol? Are you encouraging your partner to seek regular medical checkups? There is no question each one of us is the only one responsible for our own health. I'm not suggesting that you must bear the burden of taking care of all of the physical needs of your partner. After all, we are all responsible for the choices we make and for the outcome of our lives - but we all do have the responsibility in our intimate relationships to speak-up and voice our concerns and to model positive and productive lifestyle choices.

The other part of bringing health and well-being into your relationship is to keep an eye on what you are doing to stay healthy. I'm sure whoever you are sharing your life with does not what you take risks with your health. Smoking, not exercising, and ignoring sound medical advice is not only irresponsible, it is also selfish. Your partner is counting on you for so many things. Taking care of your health is fundamental to being around and to fulfill your commitments and promises to the person you love.

Alex Blackwell is the author of The Next 45 Years - a website dedicated to sharing and creating happiness, life balance and success for the rest of our lives. To read all five actions for a successful relationship, please visit: http://www.thenext45years.blogspot.com

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Top 10 Tips for Health & Well-Being

Tip 1: Drink 2 Litres of Water per day

• The cells in your body are made predominantly of water and they need to stay hydrated in order to function well.
• 2 Litres = approx 8 glasses
• If this is a lot more than you currently drink increase your intake by an extra glass every 2 days until you reach 8 glasses.
• Place a 1 litre bottle or jug on your desk to help you monitor intake. Sip slowly all day rather than gulp several glasses at a time.
• Drink before you feel thirsty. When your body feels thirsty it is already dehydrated.
• Tea, Coffee and Softdrink (Soda) do not count towards your 8 glasses. Minimise your intake.
• If you are exercising you need to drink extra water before, during and after your workout.

Tip 2: Exercise 3 times a week

• 30 minutes of exercise that gets your heart and lungs working is the minimum.
• Choose an activity that you enjoy - walking, dance class, tennis, gym, swimming etc
• 3 x 30 minutes is better for you than 1 x 90min
• Join a club, social group or find a buddy to help you stick to your plan.

Tip 3: Eat Breakfast

• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
• Your metabolism slows down while you sleep and does not increase until you eat something. Breakfast kick starts your metabolism for the day.
• If you are not a big breakfast eater start with something light such as fruit salad and yoghurt.
• Choose cereals that are low in sugars and high in grains.
• Choose Wholemeal or Multigrain bread rather than White bread. It will keep you full for longer and has more nutrients.

Tip 4: Eat more Greens

• Increase the amount of green vegetables on your dinner plate each night.
• Green Vegetables have lots of antioxidants and can decrease your chances of diseases such as cancer.
• There are so many green vegetable to choose from - you don't have to eat the ones you don't like.

Tip 5: All things in moderation

• Having a balanced diet does not mean you can never eat chocolate, a hamburger or a glass of wine. It means eat in moderation.
• Most of your diet should consist or fruit & vegetable, wholegrains/cereals, dairy, lean meat or protein and water.
• Minimise use of salt, saturated fats and sugars.
• Take responsibility for your eating choices. Nobody is force feeding you so choose wisely.

Tip 6: Have regular checkups

• Are you up to date with your health checkups? Dental, Eyes, Ears, Cholesterol etc
• Mark the due date in your diary or Outlook calendar so you don't forget - time flies!
• Make it a priority - health problems caught early can be dealt with.

Tip 7: Sleep & Relaxation

• Sleep and relaxation are essential for your body's rejuvenation and immune system.
• Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
• Create a habit of going to bed at the same time most nights and getting up at the same time each morning. Routine make sleeping easier.
• Relaxation during the day will help manage stress levels in your body.
• Yoga, mediation, reading, listening to music are all easy ways to relax.
• Put a journal by the bed. Write anything you are worried about or wanting to remember in the journal 30 minutes before bedtime. That way you can sleep knowing the thoughts will still be there for you in the morning.

Tip 8: Laugh Daily

• Have one really good belly laugh every day.
• Laughter assists the immune system
• Laughter is generates endorphins. Endorphins are nature's anti depressant.
• Children laugh 400 times a day; adults laugh about 15 times. Drs.Gael and Patrick Flangan. California Loma Linda University

Tip 9: Fresh Air

• Feeling sluggish late in the afternoon? Instead of making another cup of coffee take yourself outside for 10 minutes if fresh air.
• Go for a walk around the block or sit quietly under a tree and breathe deeply.
• Fresh air will help you feel more alert
• Fresh air will give more oxygen to your body helping it work better.

Tip 10: Listen to your Body

• LISTEN to your body .. it knows what you need. RESPECT your body ... it is the only one you've got!
• Your body will keep talking to you until you listen. If you don't hear the gentle message your body is forced to get nasty with you!
• Your body gives you messages about things like stress, fitness, what you are eating, and emotional health.
• If you need a day off work - take it. If you need to cancel a social engagement - cancel it. If you need to say "no" to a request - say it.
• "If anything is sacred the human body is sacred." Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Linda Anderson is a Certified Professional Coach working with Small Business Owners and Professionals in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Linda helps her clients lead bold and successful lives. In 2002 Linda and her partner sold all their belongings, hit "pause" on their respective careers, and spent 365 days traveling the world. Linda brings this passion for challenge, new experiences and adventure to her coaching. Visit Linda at: http://www.a2acoaching.com

What would you like to achieve? Receive a free chapter of best selling e-book "Don't Just Dream It ... Do It!" [http://www.a2acoaching.com/page/page/2849956.htm]

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