Reflections on Body, Mind & Spirit: Keep Walking, Keep it Simple, Balance Seasons of your Life
My February Reflection,
Consistently on my mind of late is the concept of "getting back to basics". The opposite of this? Scouring the interwebs looking for the next best exercise, the new diet, exciting pieces of fitness equipment. This FOMO (fear of missing out) is perpetuated by social media and the dopamine effect that our smart devices have. But if we can get beyond these distractions, beyond chasing air, we can actually get something done. I found validation to this back to basics concept from the renown fitness leader, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Spend more time on doing the obvious things rather than chasing magic pills...
There are a couple things that humans today need to be aware of; there are countless things (news, technology, phones, etc.) that will distract us from our mission focus and we often use those bombardments of distractions as excuses to do what we know we should be doing.
With that concept of "back to basics" in mind, let's take a look at what I've been doing for body, mind, and spirit.
Body- Keep on walking
Last month we looked at the benefits of walking. Guess what? I'm still walking! Another fitness leader (and former marathon runner), Mark Sisson, has even written a book about it, Born to Walk: The Broken Promises of the Running Boom, and How to Slow Down and Get Healthy--One Step at a Time.
"For the vast majority of enthusiasts, running--even slow-paced jogging--is far too physically, metabolically, and hormonally stressful to promote health, weight loss, or longevity."
He goes on to explain how it is possible for individuals to burn more fat walking instead of jogging, getting "junk miles".
It is a reminder that the most basic human movement is not shiny nor unique. It is what we can take for granted and at the same time be something that profoundly benefits our body, mind, and spirit.
Now that our below zero weather has lifted, I have been walking outside as well as on the treadmill. My daily minimum is one mile with getting in 3.25 miles at least once per week and will be increasing distance to twice that. This is not left to chance, I have my mindset firmly in place and my calendar blocked.
Challenge for you:
How is your new year going for you? Struggling with consistency? As Arnold reminds us, don’t chase the magic pill, spend more time on doing the obvious things…like walking. Even if it’s just a walk around the block. Set your daily minimum and go from there. You got this!
Mind - Keep it simple
I’ve got a couple of books and passages that I have been revisiting. Along with the basics of walking, I’m incorporating the basics of getting in enough water.
Two basic concepts from two different books that I’m revisiting:
Firstly, drink more water for fat loss. We’ve heard this numerous times but why? I found that understanding more how this works is helpful in “getting back to basics”.
Dr. William Li, a medical doctor and research aficionado, in his book, Eat to Beat Disease, explains it this way. By drinking water, it lowers your appetite. The water stretches out the receptors in your stomach - this stretch receptor in your stomach tells your brain you have food. Water also helps flush toxins.
Admittedly, I’ve struggled with getting water first thing in the morning (which you want to do!). UNTIL I now do this: the night before I set out a glass of water (we get Mountain Valley Spring water in a giant glass container delivered to our home).
This way it is there waiting for me as a reminder and secondly it’s room temperature which I find easier to consume. Before drinking I will squeeze some lemon juice into the glass. A great way to begin your day will help with hydration and valuable vitamin C. Yes, pretty basic but I wasn’t doing it consistently and now with this little system I am.
Secondly, drink more water to remove toxic bile. Health pioneer, PhD, CNS, Ann Louise Gittleman, discusses the importance of keeping our gallbladders healthy and removing the toxic bile. One way to do this is to drink water. "Drinking water has been shown to induce gallbladder contractions via vagal nerve stimulation, therefore causing the gallbladder to empty...Drinking a large glass of water first thing in the morning may help prevent gallstones."
A recent discussion with some friends led us to the discussion of gallbladders (fun, right?). I referenced a book I hadn’t touched in a while, Radical Metabolism, by the “First Lady” of nutrition, Ann Louise Gittleman. I picked up my dogged-eared and ink-filled pages to which I said aloud, “how have I forgotten about this?!”. Yes, back to basics. Gittleman is a treasure-trove of information and explanation of what our body needs. I highly recommend reading her books and listening to her podcasts. You can read a newsletter I wrote about her book here.
Challenge for you:
Keep things simple. Start your morning off with 8-ounces of room temperature water with a squeeze of lemon. Be sure to check out more works of Dr. William Li and Ann Louise Gittleman.
Spirit - Balance seasons of your life
An article about life balance I read recently caught my eye. Sahil Bloom argues that the “idea of ‘balance’ has been hijacked".
Essentially we have been led to believe that we should always feel balanced on a micro daily level when in reality, we might be better served with the understanding life is filled with challenging and painful trade offs and sacrifices.
Further, recognize that life is full of different “seasons” and we may be unbalanced at times but this is a necessary cost...And therein lies the rub; we will be unbalanced at certain points or seasons of our lives but balance can be on the other side of that. That brings me hope.
Challenge for you: Aristotle says: "Virtue lies in the balance between excess and deficiency. " Seek balance in one area of your life today.
Quote I”m pondering
"If you spend more time on doing the obvious things than chasing magic pills, then you stand a better chance of getting healthier."
~ Arnold Schwarzenegger
To your reflection and health,
Lisa Schaffer
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