Get Healthy For The Summer

photo credit to Mystic Mermaid @ https://www.facebook.com/MysticMermaidCove/

The dark and dreary Winter months can cause many of us to lose some of our zest.  Summer’s approach has a way of reviving and warming us from the inside out. Instead of wanting to hibernate in a cozy blanket, we are looking for flip-flops & a reason to get outside!

These are tips that will get you in shape AND healthy from the inside out!  When you feel happy and confident it reflects to the outside world, and this is what can set you apart on the beach.😃

1st Tip

Start your day with JOY and a glass of water

You’ve gone the entire night without water so even if you don’t feel thirsty, you need to drink some water.

• Drinking water as soon as you get up brings a healthy glow to the skin, and it’s a good way to purify your internal system.

Your morning often sets the tone for the rest of your day.  Creating habits that bring you joy is important.  This will look different for everyone.

• If you are super rushed in the morning it might be moving mindfully through your routine instead of going through the motions.
• sitting with a cup of coffee in silence
• snuggling with the kiddos or hubby
• reading a Bible scripture.

Starting your morning with joy helps you begin the day with love flowing from the inside out.

2nd Tip

Eat whole foods with plenty of vegetables

Eating whole and nutrient dense foods is going to nourish and energize your body.

• When you are shopping stick to the perimeter of the grocery store.  This is where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are usually located.  The center aisles is generally where junk foods lurk.
• Eating vegetables helps the skin and body look and feel better.

A typical breakfast for me is usually a veggie omelette.  If I get bored with this I change-up the vegetables and herbs I use.  Read this blog for tips on sneaking in vegetables: https://healthyjustice.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/5-ways-to-sneak-greens-into-your-meals/

3rd Tip

Get some fresh air

Winter season or not, we spend a lot of time indoors.  Getting out in nature improves our health and overall wellbeing.  Whenever I’m upset about something it always helps me feel better when I go to the lake or to a park.

• If you live in an urban area, getting fresh air where there are lots of trees is especially beneficial.  Trees remove pollution from the air, making it healthier for us to take into our lungs.
• It might sound strange, but I’ve personally found walking barefoot is healing.  It reminds me of my essence and connection to my Creator.

This is one of my favorite places to go for a trek close to home:)

4th Tip

Do physical activities that you enjoy

• Do yourself a favor and DON’T commit to an exercise class or program if you know you won’t enjoy it.  This will save you from the frustration and tirade of negative self talk that will likely come when you stop.
• Give yourself permission to experiment and find out what will be fun for you.

5th Tip

Get plenty of sleep

• Sleep gives you a youthful and healthy glow. These days people boast about the lack of sleep, but this shows up on their faces with lackluster skin, dark circles and wrinkles just to name a few!  There really is something to the phrase ‘get your beauty sleep.’
• Sleep will help you lose weight.  When you sleep your body regulates the hunger suppressing hormone leptin as well as cortisol levels which helps your metabolism.

6th Tip

Drink more water

75% chronically Americans dehydrated!  A guide is to drink half your body weight in ounces.  If you are active drink an ounce of water for each pound you weigh.

Here are some ideas to make water more fun:

• juice some  lemons and put them in ice trays.  Take a few out and put them in your water after they have frozen.
• infuse your water with fruit.  Try lemons with mint and blueberries or any fruits you have on hand will work.
• I found this drink mix that I use occasionally that is sweetened with stevia and has no artificial ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7th Tip

Love yourself

What I’m discovering is that there IS an invincible summer inside, and for me this comes from self love.

• What helps me is to ask myself, ‘what do I want?’  This question has been helping me be more authentic and even assertive with my needs.
• Take time to do things you enjoy and be your own best friend. i.e. taking a bath, going to a coffee shop and reading, taking yourself out for breakfast or just chilling at home.

Invincible Summer says that when people turn against you and don’t like you, you are still too powerful to be defeated or overcome by their hate.  Keep shining like the Summer sun!

☀️Healthy Justice

 

 

Tip To Help Your Child Have Good Dreams

There is a story I heard years ago that continues to haunt me in a way that stirs my curiosity and wonder.

It’s a story about a three-year-old girl who was the only child in her family.  Her mom became pregnant again, and this three-year-old girl was very excited about being a big sister. The day came when the mother delivered a baby boy. The little girl was delighted and so excited when they brought him home.  

After a couple of hours of the baby being home, the little girl told her parents that she wanted to be with the baby in the his room, alone, with the door shut. She was absolutely insistent about the door being shut. It kind of gave her folks the willies.  They knew she was a good little girl, but they had heard about sibling rivalry, so they were a bit hesitant.  

But, they were able to put their worries aside when they remembered they had installed an intercom system in preparation for the arrival of the new baby.  They reasoned that it would be okay because if they heard the slightest weird thing happening, they could be there in a flash.

So they let their little girl go into the room. They closed the door behind her. Then they raced to the listening post. They heard her footsteps move across the room. They could tell she was standing over the baby’s crib, and then they hear her say to her two-day-old baby brother, “Tell me about God. I’ve almost forgotten.”

This story captures the sense that as we grow up, as we become more influenced by the world, we engage in a process of forgetting.  There is something about the process of growing up that wounds us all.  In spite of this we can still  renew our purity and connection to God.  Allowing ourselves to be fully in the moment with children and engaging in their world can be a help.

Children have a purity of heart that allows them to believe and love with ease.  It’s heartbreaking when the negative messages from our society seep into their hearts and cause them to fear and doubt themselves.  These influences can be revealed when our children have nightmares.

I want to do everything I can to protect the spirits of the children in my life, so when my fiance’s granddaughter continued to cry out at night because of bad dreams, I wanted to do something. Native American spirituality has always fascinated me, and I remembered their use of dream catchers for preventing nightmares.

I thought it would be a healing and fun craft project for us to make our own dream catchers.  She was all about it!  It was not only fun for her, but it was a relaxing way for her to talk about her dreams and fears.

You can make this with items you more than likely already have in your home.

Here is everything you will need:

*Yarn

*Plastic or paper plates

*Sticky gems & stickers

*Beads

*Feathers

*Tape

*Hole puncher

*Scissors

1. Your little one can help you punch holes in a paper plate.
2. Cut different colors of yarn and tape it to the back of the plate.  Let your little one thread the yarn through the loops.  (here is where you can thread in the beads onto some of the strings)
3. He or she can choose the feather colors and you can tie it on the string.
4. Put stickers or gems on the plate

 

 

“Dream catchers are one of the most fascinating traditions of Native Americans. The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect the sleeping individual from negative dreams, while letting positive dreams through. The positive dreams would slip through the hole in the center of the dream catcher, and glide down the feathers to the sleeping person below. The negative dreams would get caught up in the web, and expire when the first rays of the sun struck them.”  http://www.dream-catchers.org/

When we asked her the next morning if she had any bad dreams she said, “no.” 😇