Well Being Balance

Magnesium is a powerhouse! It helps with sleep, workout recovery, heart health, and blood pressure regulation, to name a few. Try to get some as part of your food intake each day. Personally, I like the dark chocolate option.

Fear can be a powerful un-motivator. How many times have we found excuses not to do something with fear based rationale? Having someone in your corner can help identify when fear is taking over and have your back when you step through it. I'm here for you.

Give yourself 5 minutes today!

Sit anywhere - eyes open or closed

Focus on your breathing, repeat a mantra, focus on a single object, or listen to an app (Insight Timer is my favorite)

Just know that thoughts will come rushing in once you are still - just guide yourself back to your focus without judgment

After 5 minutes, notice how good you feel and know that you have helped your body and brain stay healthy!!

Self-care today looks like:

✔️ A short workout in the morning
✔️ Healthy foods and healthy proportions
✔️ Plenty of water
✔️ Get outside in nature and walk
✔️ Some family time
✔️ Time with friends
✔️ A pedicure
✔️ Time away from social media

And a plan to get to unplug at least an hour before bed tonight.

How did you care for yourself today?

Tough times shape us into beautiful, compassionate people with a deeper understanding of the range of emotions and experiences possible in life.

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness! It is asking for perspective so you can learn from the situation and process it enabling you to forward in a healthy way.

Our stress response isn't just on the outside. It affects us on the inside too.

Stress changes our gut biome and releases excess cortisol in the bloodstream.

Eating to combat the internal effects of stress helps our bodies deal with it in a healthier way with fewer long-term effects.

Making big changes is difficult, painful, and riddled with anxiety. Remember your reasons for making the changes and acknowledge that it is hard. Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's the wrong choice. Transformation is painful, but beautiful in the end.

choices

Just keep taking steps, even if you're shaking in your shoes. I'm here rooting for you. You've got this!

My story of growing up in a violent home is out! I'm sharing it publicly for the first time.

This life experience, as awful as it was, has shaped me in ways that I am now grateful for.

It has given me a unique ability to understand and help people heal past wounds and move forward with peace and a better understanding of who they really are.

It does have an impact but it doesn't have to be a life sentence.

I healed. You can too!!

If my story speaks to you, please let me know in the comments or via DM.

Link to the podcast is below.

https://youtu.be/6RJUXqKWVH4

Got my walk in today. I've come to realize how important getting outside is for my energy and attitude!

What works for you?

Change = transformation. But that doesn't mean it's easy. Having support through change makes all the difference.

I had a great time recording a podcast today with talking about the effects of growing up in a dysfunctional home and the possibilities for healing.

This type of trauma can manifest in
- low self-esteem,
- indecisiveness,
- co-dependency (keeping everyone around you happy at your own expense),
- underlying sadness and/or anger,
- alcohol or drug use,
- angry outbursts,
- fear of really being 'seen',
- fear of rejection/abandonment,
- anxiety,
- depression,
- relationship issues, etc.

This can also have a profound impact on physical health with
- increased stress hormones,
- muscle tightness/holding,
- elevated blood pressure,
- headaches,
- low energy,
- digestive issues, etc.

The good news:
*we CAN heal, and
*we CAN move forward with good health and happiness

The podcast is not published yet - stay tuned. . .

The New Year is almost here! Let's do something different this year and find ways to honor our authentic selves, listen to what our body needs, and allow ourselves to feel so we can heal. That's how we move forward in life as the best version of ourselves. If you want some support and/or guidance on how to start or what that could look like for you, contact me. As a Health Coach, I can help.

Why do we start a new year, with promises to improve?
Who began this tradition of never-ending pressure?
I say, the end of a year, should be filled with congratulation, for all we survived.
And I say a new year should start with promises to be kinder to ourselves, to understand better just how much we bear, as humans on this exhausting treadmill of life.

And if we are to promise more, let’s pledge to rest, before our bodies force us.
Let’s pledge to stop, and drink in life as it happens.
Let’s pledge to strip away a layer of perfection to reveal the flawed and wondrous humanity we truly are inside.

Why start another year, gifted to us on this earth, with demands on our already over-strained humanity.
When we could be learning to accept, that we were always supposed to be imperfect.
And that is where the beauty lives, actually.
And if we can only find that beauty, we would also find peace.

I wish you peace in 2023.
Everything else is all just a part of it.
Let it be so.

Donna Ashworth

https://amzn.eu/d/9Y6E6kz

ART BY Demelsa Haughton Illustration

#2023

Getting through the holidays can be stressful. So much to do, and so little time!

The effects of stress are far reaching and take a toll on your body, mind and spirit.

Make this your year to stress less and take care of yourself despite all the demands on your time.

Contact me for more info on a free health coaching consultation.

http://wix.to/g6fWBr8

Wow - Walking at a BRISK pace has been shown to have positive effects on brain health according to a new study! Taking 113 steps/minute for 30 minutes is the recommendation. Walking has also been shown to be good for the joints, heart and maintaining a healthy weight. Walking club, anyone? Be sure to stretch too! 😉

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”

Jamie Anderson

Where do you feel grief, sadness, anger, frustration? If you pay close attention, you'll discover where all that unspent love gathers in your body. And that's the beginning of processing.

Sometimes we all need someone to hold space for us. This is part of what Yoga Therapy and Health Coaching are all about. What do you need or want to explore to make your life happier, more joyful, more expansive, or simply healthier? Contact me for more info and a free initial Health Coaching session.

“Will you... Hold my hand for a little while?
I don’t need you to save me
No need for you to fix anything
No need for you to hold my pain
But will you simply hold my hand?
I do not need your words
Your thoughts
Nor your shoulders to carry me
But will you sit here for a while with me?
Whilst my tears they stream
Whilst my heart it shatters
Whilst my mind plays tricks on me
Will you with your presence let me know that I am not alone, whilst I wander into my inner unknown?
For my darkness is mine to face
My pain is mine to feel
And my wounds are mine to heal
But will you sit with me here, while I courageously show up for it all my dear?
For I am bright because of my darkness
Beautiful because of my brokenness
And strong due to my tender heart
But will you take my hand lovingly, when I sometimes journey into the dark?
I don’t ask for you to take my darkness away
I don’t expect for you to brighten my day
And I don’t believe that you can mend my pain
But I would surely love if you could sit for a while and hold my hand, until I find my way out of my shadowland.
So will you... Hold my hand until I return again?”
— Zoe Johansen

Super Excited to share with you all that I am becoming a certified Health Coach!!

*Maybe you have health goals you are struggling to meet?

*Maybe you have health challenges you're overwhelmed by?

*Maybe you just want to feel better physically, emotionally, spiritually?

I can help!!
With the combination of my Yoga Therapy experience and the Health Coach training, I have so many tools to help you reach your goals, improve your overall health, and feel more energized.

NEW YOGA CLASS OFFERING!!!

In the Portland area and looking for a yoga class to get you started, re-started, or just get you out of the house for one night/week? Maybe you just want to do some gentle movement that will make you feel better in your body, have fewer aches and pains? Or maybe you just want some time that you can focus on yourself, be quiet, and gain some peace and clarity?

It's not about being good AT something - it's about being good to yourself!

Join us for a LIVE yoga class series through Portland Adult Education. Appropriate for all bodies and all fitness levels.
Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. beginning September 13, 2022 (but you can join in anytime)

More details at: https://portland.maineadulted.org/classes/categories/fitness-dance/

Fitness & Dance Fall Intervals Fitness (Hybrid) with Jessica Lockhart Sep 13 September 13th to December 20th, 2022 $4 More Info This interval training class offers three essential fitness components: cardio, strength training, and stretching to release tension. Participants will engage in interval training, essenti...

Yoga has so much more to offer than flexibility! It not only affects the nervous system, but also brain function according to neuroscience research. It's in the quiet spaces - the pause - where the magic happens. Try taking a pause while stretching. Just breathe and 'be' there. Your brain will thank you!

Exercise does way more for us than burn calories and fat. Moving your body daily keeps you feeling good physically and mentally and can even help with focus.

Challenge: find some type of movement(s) you enjoy and make it/them part of your daily routine for 30 days and then notice the difference!

Hint: You can mix it up. You don't have to do the same thing every day. Try walking, biking, swimming, yoga, HIIT workout, etc.

I can help you get your yoga in on Wednesdays - sign up at WellBeingBalance.net

https://beyondthebeautifulmind.com/the-truth-about-mental-health-and-fitness/?fbclid=IwAR2tjG-ElSuvFYl2ZxSWVXaPgb0MXRQ8HDvMI5pxL3fQY91TwxLgvG6uLMM

Be good to yourself!
Summer yoga series online starts June 22nd.
Register at WellBeingBalance.net

I'm excited to let you all know that I have published my website! It still has some minor kinks to work through, but check it out.

www.wellbeingbalance.net

Online Yoga Instructor | Well Being Yoga An online Wellness studio for finding physical comfort along with sense of peace and healing within yourself regardless of age or health status. Various offerings include gentle yoga, along with mindfulness and energy work in group or individual settings utilizing the ancient tools of Yoga.

"Trauma victims cannot recover until they become familiar with and befriend the sensations in their bodies."

~ Bessel van der Kolk