Survive and Thrive Bloghop

Hosted by Stephen Tremp, Michael Di Gesu, Diane Wolfe, and Alex J Cavanaugh 

The blogfest is meant to bring awareness of disease prevention and early detection regarding medical conditions that may be averted or treated if caught in the early stages. Our desire is to motivate people to go in for early screening, and if a condition is caught early and treated, then our world just became a little better place to live. 
The topics are wide open. You can post about a particular cause you support. Or you can share a personal or family experience that is near to your heart. What’s great about this Blogfest is you can inspire people to take care of themselves and their loved ones early enough to make a difference in their lives. 

As usual I’m late on posting this!  But that’s okay because part of what I’m talking about today for the Survive and Thrive Bloghop is to always strive for excellence, but don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go exactly as planned.  

We live in a stressful world where everything is competing for our attention and we feel we never have the time to do what we want to get done.  There aren’t too many days where I go to sleep before total exhaustion yet still not completing everything on my list, but that’s okay because I did my best for the day!

Through the years as a figure skater and coach, I’ve learned that to do your best it helps if you are mindful of your own body.  Push yourself to the limits of what you thought possible, but be aware of how your body reacts to different things. Everyone is different.  Know your own limits and try to slowly increase your boundaries but always compete with only yourself.  Comparing yourself to others does no one any good.  Be aware of what your whole body is doing at all times.  It’s amazing how many people don’t realize what their arms are doing when they’re focused on their feet!  

I think if we are really aware of our bodies we can take care of them much better.  When we understand how our bodies react to different situations we can change the things that don’t agree with them and be healthier and happier. When you know your body, you also have a better sense of when things are not right and need to see a doctor, or when one doctor's diagnosis doesn't seem to fit and you need a qualified second opinion. Be your own health advocate by knowing your own body.

This is an exercise I used to do to train myself in bodily mindfulness (it might seem a little weird but it really works!).  Sit or lay in a comfortable position.  Visualize a ball of energy in your belly.  With your mind, visualize moving that ball slowly through every muscle of your body and “feel” the heat and energy moving through your muscles as if you were moving them, "feel" the muscle tense and relax. It may take a few times trying it to get good at it but it’s amazing how much it helps you understand and control your body.   Try it, it only takes a few minutes and you feel great afterwards!

Have a healthy and happy week!

Kathy :)