A Fit Nurse: mental health

Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Friday, December 4, 2015 / No comments / emotional health , girlboss , happiness , healthy , healthy choices , healthy habits , healthy life , healthy lifestyle , healthy living , live well , living healthy , mental health , physical health

Choose a Healthy Lifestyle, Not a Diet

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8BmrrNgx_JiiftqMKmlcF1xyn2G6dYVgWLgsHId2C7WF9iAWOoqs6sdoSBdW0XGED1hXMtdA2gxYC51RVbCerq0hpSbR_MJ71J1ERwJidBzSKVPdQv9STVQbTx5mj5fDmPqpjgj419BL/s1600/bigstock-Happy-cheering-celebrating-suc-84730193.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Choose a Healthy Lifestyle, Not a Diet" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8BmrrNgx_JiiftqMKmlcF1xyn2G6dYVgWLgsHId2C7WF9iAWOoqs6sdoSBdW0XGED1hXMtdA2gxYC51RVbCerq0hpSbR_MJ71J1ERwJidBzSKVPdQv9STVQbTx5mj5fDmPqpjgj419BL/s1600/bigstock-Happy-cheering-celebrating-suc-84730193.jpg" title="Choose a Healthy Lifestyle, Not a Diet" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A healthy lifestyle is something everyone wants. Smarter lifestyle choices can help promote improved mental, emotional, physical, and social health. Leading a healthy lifestyle is not solely about the physical appearance; it’s about treating your body well and living a full, rich life in every way! Making smart choices for your well-being is not a diet. If you’re looking for a happier, healthier life, don’t diet to lose weight. Refine your lifestyle. Live a healthy one.</span></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are many benefits to choosing a healthy lifestyle rather than a diet. Here’s a list to motivate you to make that lifestyle change and take care of yourself for the long term.</span><br />
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</b> <b style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mental Clarity</b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the first things you’ll notice when you start to make healthier choices is your mental clarity. Treat yourself to nutrient dense food and regular exercise, and your brain will show you the benefits. You will be calmer, yet mentally energized to handle tasks and daily responsibilities. A poorly-executed diet doesn’t do that. In fact, many diets can harm your mental clarity. Too often, diets are about cutting calories. They don’t consider the nutritional benefits of a proper amount of healthy food. Drastically cutting calories can make the body feel sluggish and make the brain slow in response. </span></span></div><b style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</b> <b style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nutritious Food</b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When working toward a healthy lifestyle, the hardest part for most people is easing the cravings of junk food. While getting rid of junk food is challenging, it does get easier with time. Your body craves sugar when it is consistently rewarded with it. Once you can cut out unhealthy habits, you will have less physical cravings for those unhealthy foods. </span></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">A short-term diet can cause greater weight fluctuation because people are more likely to binge eat after reaching the end of their diet. This forms bad habits again and makes it harder to make healthier choices in the future.</span><br />
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</b> <b style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Energy, Mood, Confidence</b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A healthy lifestyle will improve your energy levels, your mood, and your confidence. Once the toxic, sugary food leaves your system, you will feel like a new person! Feeding your body the nutrients it needs through nutritious and fresh food will lead to naturally healthier choices because your body won’t crave junk food. Without these cravings, your moods will be more stable, and by implementing exercise a few times each week, you will have naturally higher levels of serotonin, which is a mood booster! </span></span></div><b style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</b> <b style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Longer Life</b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Taking care of your body will help you live a longer, healthier, happier life. Live life fully with a healthy lifestyle. Find adventures, endeavours, and do everything you want to do with good health on your side! </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For inspiration, advice, and the motivation to live a healthy lifestyle, </span><a href="http://www.afitnurse.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">contact me</span></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! I’d love to support you on your journey. For inspirational quotes, follow me on </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/alyssaschomaker/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instagram!</span></a></div>

emotional health, girlboss, happiness, healthy, healthy choices, healthy habits, healthy life, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, live well, living healthy, mental health, physical health

Choose a Healthy Lifestyle, Not a Diet

A healthy lifestyle is something everyone wants. Smarter lifestyle choices can help promote improved mental, emotional, physical, and socia...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Wednesday, November 25, 2015 / No comments / general health , get healthy , healthier life , healthy breathing , healthy lifestyle , healthy living , living healthy , mental health

Do You Have Healthy Breathing Habits?

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsy75RQigVwStiQQHyNAHP1D7nkJ5b3FGk-qWUGXGu1CASjp6-1nXiST_J-RuYQW7k0jKMV35BLcHw3_uA65QMyKmon1wgs_b7QzEPkp9z-weQd4Un0wkm6648DqYsCyCYZmagzWGt-g-1/s1600/bigstock-Profile-Of-A-Beautiful-Arab-Wo-52634335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="woman practicing healthy breathing" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsy75RQigVwStiQQHyNAHP1D7nkJ5b3FGk-qWUGXGu1CASjp6-1nXiST_J-RuYQW7k0jKMV35BLcHw3_uA65QMyKmon1wgs_b7QzEPkp9z-weQd4Un0wkm6648DqYsCyCYZmagzWGt-g-1/s1600/bigstock-Profile-Of-A-Beautiful-Arab-Wo-52634335.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Healthy breathing impacts your daily life. Breathing incorrectly can make it difficult to manage stress, to fight off common viruses, and maintain energy throughout the day. If you think about it, we never really learned how to breathe; it’s something that we do naturally. There is no training for breathing like there is for walking and talking. After forming our breathing habits as children, it is hard to modify them as adults. Hopefully, you already have healthy breathing habits! If not, you are not alone. Many people are unaware that they are suffering from unhealthy breathing habits. How can you check?</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-68bd0d5d-3b63-0a14-d164-753b16baf5f5" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are a few suggestions on what a healthy breathing experience should feel like:</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">People should take approximately 14-16 breaths per minute in a normal state. To check this, set a timer for one minute. While going about your day, breathing regularly, count how many breaths you take within that minute. If you’re within 14-16 breaths per minute, you’re doing well!</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The next way to check healthy breathing is to feel how you breathe and where you breathe from. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach. Breathe in through your nose, slowly. Notice how your hands move. If you hand on stomach moved up while the hand your chest stayed mostly in the same place, that is a healthy breathing habit!</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the next test, leave you hands where there are. This time, take note of where your hands move when you breath out slowly through pursed lips. If the hand on your stomach lowered, this is good. </span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The most important healthy breathing habit is breathing through your nose. Our noses are amazing. They have a filtration system that helps protect us from viruses and bacterium. Our nose is our first defense against illness. </span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The best way to concentrate on healthy breathing habits is to take some time each day to relax and focus on your breathing. Spend a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the evening to do some deep breathing exercises, focusing on the motion of your hands on your stomach and chest. You will find with consistent breathing exercises that you feel calmer, yet more energized. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.afitnurse.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Contact me</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for more information about living a full, healthy life that focuses on all aspects of a person’s well-being. I’d love to help motivate and inspire you on your journey to health, happiness, and success.</span></span></div>

general health, get healthy, healthier life, healthy breathing, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, living healthy, mental health

Do You Have Healthy Breathing Habits?

Healthy breathing impacts your daily life. Breathing incorrectly can make it difficult to manage stress, to fight off common viruses, a...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Wednesday, November 11, 2015 / No comments / exercise and fitness , Fitness motivation , health , health and fitness , health matters , healthy family , healthy lifestyle , mental health , strength

Your Health Matters

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45eY8_Dpq7iXW4oucXHEQB83NARiQA_6Vwwfswz7YFyRBu7-Pss6lcLN4CJBpYmvjWygo2JVc7aOQy7qRsvGJlH26xo7RksoUyYPVBRQBZa3V50KVGgtt5UHTJAcXeODA-DBShu488pJ_/s1600/woman-570883_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Your Health Matters" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45eY8_Dpq7iXW4oucXHEQB83NARiQA_6Vwwfswz7YFyRBu7-Pss6lcLN4CJBpYmvjWygo2JVc7aOQy7qRsvGJlH26xo7RksoUyYPVBRQBZa3V50KVGgtt5UHTJAcXeODA-DBShu488pJ_/s1600/woman-570883_1920.jpg" title="Your Health Matters" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our health matters. We know that it does, but too often our emotional and physical well-being are not prioritized among our other responsibilities. We get lost in the routine of extracurriculars, work, social events, household chores, and the lives of our peers. Health matters because it greatly impacts every aspect of our lives. If we aren’t taking care of ourselves, we aren’t living to our fullest potential and highest quality of life. </span></span></div><b id="docs-internal-guid-6c2a7848-f7f4-77f2-0f1a-53bd71ad5db0" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b> <br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Your health matters because it affects your family, improves interpersonal relationships, and gives you energy and motivation to live happily and fully. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b> <br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mental Clarity & Mental Health</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Health matters because your overall health can impact your mental and emotional well-being. A sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition can lead to a brain in slow motion. Emotions that greatly fluctuate and a brain that has trouble focusing can be the result of a bad diet. Health matters because you want to be able to enjoy each day with a clear mental state and make smart choices with confidence. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b> <br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Your Family</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Your health matters because it is important to your family and your loved ones! If you aren’t feeling well or if your energy levels are low due to poor nutrition or inactivity, you won’t be able to enjoy the time spent with your family as much. You might find yourself feeling quickly exhausted or irritable. Create quality memories with your family by remembering that your health matters and that your family’s health matters too!</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b> <br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you take your health matters seriously, your children and spouse will hopefully realize the benefit of being healthy themselves! Creating a positive and exciting feeling around health will make healthy choices for your family easy and routine. Make memories outside of the house by going on family hikes or kicking around the soccer ball, rather than having “family time” in front of the TV. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b> <br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fully Experience Life</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lastly, your health matters when you want to fully experience life with energy, optimism, and enjoyment. You want to have the energy to create new memories and new experiences with those you love. Be grateful for a strong, healthy body and treat it well. Ensuring proper nutrition and regular exercise will keep you feeling energized, mentally clear, and ready to tackle the day. </span></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want to create memories each day, prioritize your well-being and remember that your health matters, I’d love to help you find your motivation. Feel free to </span><a href="http://www.afitnurse.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">contact me</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for inspiration and advice on how to kickstart your healthy lifestyle.</span></span>

exercise and fitness, Fitness motivation, health, health and fitness, health matters, healthy family, healthy lifestyle, mental health, strength

Your Health Matters

Our health matters. We know that it does, but too often our emotional and physical well-being are not prioritized among our other responsib...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Saturday, April 25, 2015 / No comments / Alyssa schomaker , beachbody , BeachBody Business , fitness , health , health and fitness , mental and physical health , mental health , nutrition , physical health

The Connection of Mental and Physical Health

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvcc0A34t68ad0QT2HhT3-rqrBLtp706hYvFogJA_bwaCMiCRxHoSXbp7wTBDoxOwf-Wf1NK_rL6js5q_LFS9QYi6sipCw6y1RYoxTpypUJWtlRu9oqTB7lf01zpPT9FMniG7Oo_CG_bu1/s1600/Mental_Physical_Health.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mental and physical health pictured with an image of a brain and a heart." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvcc0A34t68ad0QT2HhT3-rqrBLtp706hYvFogJA_bwaCMiCRxHoSXbp7wTBDoxOwf-Wf1NK_rL6js5q_LFS9QYi6sipCw6y1RYoxTpypUJWtlRu9oqTB7lf01zpPT9FMniG7Oo_CG_bu1/s1600/Mental_Physical_Health.png" title="" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the reasons I love committing my life to fitness and nutrition is the mental and physical health benefits. Being part of the Beachbody team can be a super rewarding path physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. It’s pretty clear how exercise and nutrition can affect physical health, but they also have an impact on mental health. Mental health is important for the ability to enjoy life, and establish and maintain meaningful relationships with people around you. Commit to exercise and nutrition, and you can benefit your mental and physical health as a result!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mental and Physical Health Through Exercise and Nutrition</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Exercise</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Endorphins. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, a natural chemical that causes the body to feel good. These endorphins improve your mood and produce positive mental and physical health. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Strength. Your heart, lungs, and muscles are strengthened with exercise. The result is increased energy as you continue to get physically stronger. With more energy, you are more equipped to enjoy life and the mental and physical health benefits as a result.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Relief. One of the greatest ways to relieve stress and anxiety is through a good workout. If you are ever feeling sad, depressed, or angry, try pushing yourself in fitness to work off the stress.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Team. When you have a team like Beachbody, mental and physical health can be improved. Not only are you getting all the great benefits of exercise, but you also have the support of an entire team. They are there to comfort you, encourage you, and push you when you need it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nutrition</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Energy. When you eat the right types of food, you build sustained energy throughout your day. When you have more energy, you can complete tasks with ease and positivity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clear mind. A balanced diet prevents mood swings that are caused by an excessive amount of sugar and caffeine. Without mood swings, your mind is clearer to operate without being clouded by irrational thoughts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Health. When you are committed to foods with nutritional value, you are less likely to get sick. Your physical and mental health can be much improved without the strain of frequent sickness.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mental and physical health are truly related! Improving your physical health can have a positive impact on your mental health. I’m so blessed to be able to commit my personal and professional life to physical and nutritional health, and I’d love to help you do the same! </span><a href="http://www.afitnurse.com/p/schedule-appointment-to-chat-with-me.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Contact me</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> if you would like to learn more about helping yourself and others with mental and physical health through fitness and nutrition. </span></span>

Alyssa schomaker, beachbody, BeachBody Business, fitness, health, health and fitness, mental and physical health, mental health, nutrition, physical health

The Connection of Mental and Physical Health

One of the reasons I love committing my life to fitness and nutrition is the mental and physical health benefits. Being part of the Bea...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Tuesday, August 19, 2014 / 1 Comment / fitness goals , goal setting , good advice , health and fitness , lifestyle , mental health , mental toughness , visualize

How To Use Visualization To Get What You Want

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<a href="http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14660/20-ways-to-get-in-touch-with-your-body.html?utm_campaign=recommendation&utm_medium=interfeaturetop&utm_source=feature" style="color: #5ac7e1; font-family: Asap; line-height: 1.3em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img class="perspective-img" src="http://res.mindbodygreen.com/img/crp/WomanDancingOnTheBeachWithArmsUp-70x70.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 8px 3px 0px; max-width: 70px; vertical-align: middle;" /></a><a href="http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14660/20-ways-to-get-in-touch-with-your-body.html?utm_campaign=recommendation&utm_medium=interfeaturetop&utm_source=feature" style="color: #5ac7e1; font-family: Asap; line-height: 1.3em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">20 Ways To Get In Touch With Your Body</a></div>
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Getting in touch with our bodies can be challenging sometimes, especially if we have spent years being out of touch with them, and are now leading a stressful life that is dominated by competition  <span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14660/20-ways-to-get-in-touch-with-your-body.html?utm_campaign=recommendation&utm_medium=interfeaturetop&utm_source=feature" style="color: #5ac7e1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Read <span class="icon-double-angle-right" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; display: inline; font-family: FontAwesome; height: auto; line-height: normal; margin-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"></span></a></span></div>
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We have two minds — the conscious and the subconscious. According to <a href="https://www.brucelipton.com/store/the-biology-of-belief" style="color: #5ac7e1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dr. Bruce Lipton</a><span style="line-height: 1.5rem;">, a former professor of medicine at Stanford University, "the subconscious mind operates at 40 million bits of data per second, whereas the conscious mind processes at only 40 bits per second."</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5rem;">Without our even knowing, our subconscious mind is processing things at an astronomical rate. So how can we harness this power and use it to our advantage?</span></div>
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Well, the subconscious mind <em>thinks</em> in images and feelings. This could mean that if you set a goal of earning a certain amount of money or finding your soul mate, you are much more likely to obtain these future goals if you try focusing on the images and feelings associated with them.</div>
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It’s important to visualize your goals with images that trigger you in the most physical way possible. You can tell when you’ve found a great image, because you'll feel the sensation of that excitement in your body.</div>
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Whether it's a tingling feeling like champagne bubbles in your stomach, or the hairs on your arms stand up a bit —  try taking notice of how different images trigger you physiologically when you visualize your goals.</div>
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For example, my business partner and I want to write a best-selling book. So I tried to visualize our book at the top of <em>The New York Times</em> bestseller list, but that image didn't seem quite right. I didn't feel any sensations of excitement in my body.</div>
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Instead, I started to imagine that I already had a best-selling book. I visualized the situations that could come with this scenario that made me feel excited.</div>
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This was the scenario that came to my mind:</div>
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<em>I’m walking through the airport, traveling for business. I’m running a bit late (as I often do), frantically looking up at the monitor and searching for my gate, when out of the corner of my eye, I see my own face looking back at me from the airport bookstore. It’s very surreal, completely unexpected and a bit unsettling. Then I realize it’s my bestselling book and a huge smile spreads across my face!</em></div>
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As bizarre as it may sound to you, it was this series of images that created a happy, tingling and excited feeling in my body.</div>
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Another woman I know from my MBA program experienced similar success through her own visualizations. She was single, and wanted to find her soul mate. She said that she could picture clearly, the toasts at her wedding — tears would fill her eyes. And just less than three months later, she met this wonderful man! They just decided to move in together and while she isn’t engaged yet, she’s incredibly happy and feels confident that the relationship is here to stay.</div>
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Think of one of your goals right now. Close your eyes and try to imagine different scenarios that could occur if this goal were a reality. Find the images that most excite you in your body and focus on those. If you’re feeling stuck, a great way to get started is to <a href="http://akoyapower.com/resources/goal-board/" style="color: #5ac7e1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">create a Goal Board</a>.</div>
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Skeptical? Well, if you’re looking for scientific evidence before giving this visualization stuff a try, research shows that adding a visual element to our written goals may bring even stronger results.</div>
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In one <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-leaders-code/201401/why-picture-is-worth-1000-words-lessons-goal-setting" style="color: #5ac7e1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">1996 study at Michigan State University</a>, over 200 emergency room patients were given instructions on how to care for their wounds at home before being discharged. Half of the patients received text-only instructions. The rest received the same text accompanied with images.</div>
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The research team followed up with the patients three days later to see which individuals were more successful in following their home-care plan.</div>
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The results were intriguing:</div>
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<em>While almost half (46%) of the people who received the images along with the instructions were able to answer each of the wound-care questions correctly, only 6% of the text-only group did so successfully. And, those in the image group were less than half (43%) better in terms of their adherence to the instructions than the text-only crowd.</em></div>
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So what does this mean for you?</div>
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Adding pictures that represent what you want to come to fruition in your life can make attaining those goals easier than just writing them down. You can make a Goal board or even give hypnotherapy a try, by adding the element of guided relaxation to help tune in to your subconscious mind. I find that it helps to try visualizing your ideal life five years from now.</div>
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Once you’ve gotten clear on the images that excite you and represent your goals, it’s important to visualize them often in your mind's eye, to continuously trigger the power of your subconscious.</div>
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Every night when you go to sleep, spend about two minutes picturing the images of your future success. If you made a Goal Board, look at it right before bed and again first thing in the morning.</div>
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According to <a href="http://www.drwaynedyer.com/blog/how-do-you-sleep" style="color: #5ac7e1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dr. Wayne Dyer</a>, the last two minutes before fall asleep at night stay in your subconscious mind for up to four hours while you’re sleeping! So this is the best time to do your visualization.</div>
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When you imagine your future success, your subconscious mind will draw in people and opportunities to make that future success a reality. So give visualization a try and create the future of your dreams!</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">shared from mindbodygreen.com BY VANESSA LODER </span></div>
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fitness goals, goal setting, good advice, health and fitness, lifestyle, mental health, mental toughness, visualize

How To Use Visualization To Get What You Want

You May Also Enjoy 20 Ways To Get In Touch With Your Body Getting in touch with our bodies can be challenging sometimes, especia...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Wednesday, August 6, 2014 / No comments / good advice , good habits , health and fitness , healthy lifestyle , mental health , relaxation

10 Simple Ways to Relax Everyday

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The pace of our culture is increasing at an astonishing rate. While this speed certainly has its benefits and conveniences for our outer lives, they come at a great cost to our inner world.</div>
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For as all of the wisdom traditions teach, well-being can only be cultivated when you take time every day to slow down and turn inward. So as fabulous as it is to click a few buttons on your phone and receive a package at your doorstep two days later, the momentary thrill is quickly tempered by the undercurrent of anxiety and emptiness that pervades most people's lives.</div>
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When I talk about slowing down with my clients, many of them draw a blank. They're so addicted to the fast pace of our modern world that they believe they've lost the capacity to develop<a href="http://conscious-transitions.com/the-well-of-being/" style="color: #5ac7e1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> the inner life so necessary to well-being</a>. I'm not talking about giving up all worldly possessions and retreating to a cave on the top of a mountain; no, I'm talking about making a commitment to yourself to slow down and turn inward each day while still remaining connected to a full and active life.</div>
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If you need a jump start reminder for how to do that, experiment with the following simple suggestions.</div>
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<strong>1. Light a candle.</strong></div>
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There's something about the flicker of the flame in a dark room that naturally inspires us to slow turn and inward. Perhaps it's a primal reminder of an earlier time in human history when the lack of electricity required that we follow the natural rhythm of day and night. We can find thousands of ways of skirting time; lighting a candle hearkens back to a time when we lived more organically and less technologically.</div>
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<strong>2. Sit in nature.</strong></div>
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Similarly, one of the beauties of nature is that it's completely unaffected by technology. The seasons still follow the same rhythm that has informed their cycle of shedding and renewal for thousands of years. The leaves of the trees die and reborn at their same pace; animals hibernate and migrate at the same rhythm. When you sit in nature — and I do mean sit, as opposed to hike, run, bike, or drive — you absorb via osmosis the pace of nature and your internal clock is reset to organic time.</div>
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<strong>3. Read poetry out loud.</strong></div>
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Poetry is an aural art and, as such, is meant to be read out loud. When you read it out loud, your voice is more likely to meet the pace of the words as they were written, to savor each symbol, and to allow the imagery to wash over your soul and fill you up. It's like standing barefoot in the grass and allowing the waters of the earth rise up through the bottom of your feet, through the channels of your legs, and into the chambers of your heart.</div>
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<strong>4. Listen to inspiring speakers and teachers</strong></div>
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One of the blessings of technology is that it allows us to access some of the world's greatest thinkers with the click of a button. If your mind is an overactive place and, despite trying to meditate you can't seem to quiet those incessantly loud and often mean voices, try replacing them with kinder ones by listening to inspiring audiobooks and lectures.</div>
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<strong>5. Read an actual book.</strong></div>
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Kindles and iPads are convenient, and for some people they may even be easier on the eyes, but when you only take in information through technology, you're much more likely to jump onto the Internet or quickly check your email instead of staying focused on the book. There's a certain romance to reading an actual paper book that is lost when the information is presented technologically.Curling up with the iPad just doesn't feel quite the same as curling up with a good book.</div>
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<strong>6. Write an actual letter.</strong></div>
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The act of putting pen to paper naturally slows us down. While it's convenient to let your fingers fly across the keyboard and click send, when you take the time to choose stationary, write an actual letter in your own hand, fold it up, address it and stamp it, and put it in the mailbox, you're hearkening another era where time moved at a slower pace, and you will move at that pace as well.</div>
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<strong>7. Meditate.</strong></div>
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Meditating creates spaciousness and is now widely acknowledged as one of the most effective ways to slow down and turn inward. Thirty to forty minutes several days a week is ideal, but even just ten minutes of sitting down and getting to know your mind will help you fill your inner well.</div>
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<strong>8. Journal.</strong></div>
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Journaling is a free and accessible way to enter your inner world. When you take time to reflect on the contents of your thoughts, feelings, and actions, you develop a capacity to make choices regarding how you treat yourself. In other words, if you're operating on a running commentary that says, "I'm not good enough," journaling helps to bring that subtext into the forefront of consciousness where you can then choose either to believe it or seek to replace it with a commentary that's more loving and kind.</div>
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<strong>9. Take a nap.</strong></div>
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When's the last time you took a nap? When's the last time, instead of getting something done, you lay down on the bed or your office floor and just closed your eyes? In our culture that values doing over being, it's hard to set aside the voice that cracks down with the cackling whip of "you're lazy" and remember that in many other cultures, a <em>siesta</em> or rest time is built into the fabric of the day and seen as an essential component to well-being.</div>
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<strong>10. Pet an animal.</strong></div>
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If you're wondering how to cultivate more being and less doing, study your pet, as Eckhart Tolle writes in his beautiful little book, <em>Guardians of Being: Spiritual Teachings from our Dogs and Cats.</em></div>
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There are many other ways, of course. When you orient your compass toward <a href="http://conscious-transitions.com/filling-the-well/" style="color: #5ac7e1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">filling the well of Self</a>, you'll discover the ways that are most nourishing for you.</div>
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good advice, good habits, health and fitness, healthy lifestyle, mental health, relaxation

10 Simple Ways to Relax Everyday

The pace of our culture is increasing at an astonishing rate. While this speed certainly has its benefits and conveniences for our outer...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Monday, July 28, 2014 / No comments / good advice , good habits , health and fitness , lifestyle , mental health , Motivation

5 Apps That Keep Me Happy, Fit & Healthy

good advice, good habits, health and fitness, lifestyle, mental health, Motivation

5 Apps That Keep Me Happy, Fit & Healthy

Losing weight isn’t all about exercising more and eating less. I know this to be true because I’m one of a very small percentage of peop...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Tuesday, July 22, 2014 / No comments / compassion , Determination , fitness goals , good advice , good habits , health and fitness , mental health , mental toughness , positive thinking

Mistakes, Losses & Disappointments

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Mistakes, losses, disappointments, setbacks and failures. I really don’t like any of those words and don’t use them much at all.</div>
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Here’s why.</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 0.05em; word-wrap: break-word;">Many people think about losses or failures as very negative events, and that can be very damaging to self-confidence.</span></li>
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But, when you view these experiences as valuable, helpful and necessary to your growth…then they don’t seem so damaging after all.</div>
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I love this quote</div>
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“I have not failed seven hundred times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those seven hundred ways will not work. When I have eliminated all the ways that will not work, I will find that way that will work.” -Thomas Edison</div>
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You can make every experience work for you in a positive way.</div>
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Here’s how</div>
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1. After a loss, mistake or setback, think about reframing that event as a “stepping stone” to get you to where you want to go. You need that experience to make you better.</div>
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2. Write down at least 2 things you can learn from that experience that you can help you improve for next time.</div>

compassion, Determination, fitness goals, good advice, good habits, health and fitness, mental health, mental toughness, positive thinking

Mistakes, Losses & Disappointments

Mistakes, losses, disappointments, setbacks and failures. I really don’t like any of those words and don’t use them much at all. Here’s...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Wednesday, July 16, 2014 / No comments / attitude , compassion , good habits , health and fitness , how to lose weight , lifestyle , mental health , self-care , Weight loss

Compassion – A powerful resource to transform your life

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“Be Kind to Yourself: It’s Better for Your <a class="pt-basics-link" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/diet" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="Psychology Today looks at Diet">Diet</a>,” a 2011 <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thin-within/201104/be-kind-yourself-youll-eat-better-really" style="color: #236fb5; text-decoration: none;">article</a> told us — summarizing new work on self-compassion and weight loss. The idea that beating yourself up after overeating doesn’t help had gained attention. It turns out that being nicer to yourself, no matter how “good” or “bad” your eating, works better.</div>
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These ideas have spread via <a class="pt-basics-link" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/social-networking" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;" title="Psychology Today looks at Social Networking">Twitter</a>, women’s magazines and other channels. However, many an overeater still fears that greater self-compassion breeds less <a class="pt-basics-link" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/self-control" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;" title="Psychology Today looks at Self-Control">self-control</a>. Also, habits of mind — such as thinking in terms of “good” and “bad” eating in the first place — are hard to dislodge, even when you agree they’ve outlived their usefulness. They’re reinforced, too, by media promoting the idea that you can change your eating habits in a day, or lose 30 pounds in a monthBeing kinder to yourself leads more surely to habit change for several reasons.<br />
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Habit change comes easier when you’re more relaxed. Helpful <a class="pt-basics-link" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/motivation" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;" title="Psychology Today looks at Motivation">motivation</a> and enthusiasm grow when you’re feeling <b><i>worthy and deserving</i></b>, not when you’re down on yourself. Also, change paradoxically happens more readily from a place of self-acceptance, as certain types of resistance quiet down. (This last idea has long guided Buddhist psychology, and it continues to prove helpful in all kinds of settings.)<br />
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So perhaps you can see the sense in all this, yet you still hook into self-recrimination after an extra brownie or those fries you didn’t need. And now maybe you’re beating yourself up because you can’t even get this self-compassion thing right! Stop, and remind yourself that this habit, too, like those eating habits, will take time to grow and strengthen. Here are four key ideas for building the be-nicer-to-yourself stance.<br />
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1.) <b>Progress, Not Perfection.</b> This idea, long promoted by 12-step groups, says it all. You’re not going to break old behaviors, thinking habits, or emotional reactions overnight. Remember that even noticing what you’re doing, or trying to think differently, is a change in the right direction, even if the whole pattern hasn’t budged much. When you find yourself being harsh, remind yourself that it’s a process, not an all-at-once event.<br />
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2.) <b>Watch Your Words.</b> Here, again, are pieces of the pattern that won’t change all at once. These pieces comprise all the words and phrases that keep self-criticism in place. Try to catch yourself using terms like “I cheated” or “I’m a pig” — any negative terms that you wouldn’t use with a friend or with a child you were trying to support in making changes. Try to not say these words out loud. Notice when you think them. In time try to replace them with more supportive terms, like those you’d say to that friend or child — “maybe that wasn’t a great choice … but this is a hard thing … I’ll figure this out … I’ll keep going …”<br />
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3.) <b>What Happened?</b> Give yourself permission to see each lapse (episode when you do what you want to stop doing) as a place to examine “what happened.” What thoughts or emotions or situations or physical states made you vulnerable to doing something impulsive or self-sabotaging? What might have helped prevent it? What can you do to help protect or bolster yourself in the future? Approach this examination with as much neutrality as you can — again, as you would for a friend or child.<br />
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4.) <b>Small Choices Add Up.</b> Remember — and remind yourself often — that every choice you make in the new direction helps your body and <a class="pt-basics-link" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/neuroscience" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;" title="Psychology Today looks at Neuroscience">brain</a> to assimilate a new habit. You don’t necessarily have to change everything for positive change to be happening.<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px;">shared from psychologytoday.com published on June 20, 2014 by </span><a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/terese-weinstein-katz-phd" style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: none;" title="View Bio">Terese Weinstein Katz, Ph.D.</a><span style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px;"> in </span><a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thin-within" style="color: #666666; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: none;">Thin from Within</a></div>
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attitude, compassion, good habits, health and fitness, how to lose weight, lifestyle, mental health, self-care, Weight loss

Compassion – A powerful resource to transform your life

“Be Kind to Yourself: It’s Better for Your Diet ,” a 2011 article told us — summarizing new work on self-compassion and weight loss...

Posted by Alyssa Schomaker / Thursday, July 10, 2014 / No comments / Determination , exercise and fitness , fitness goals , Fitness motivation , health , mental health , Motivation , workouts

It's All in Their Heads: The Mental Edge of Athletes Who Win

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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“When the going gets tough, the tough get going” is one way to say it. Or, as one sports psychologist put it,</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.thesportinmind.com/articles/mental-toughness/" sl-processed="1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">mental toughness</a><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">is “the ability to consistently perform toward the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of competitive circumstances.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In other words, being mentally tough means that no matter how brutal the circumstances—whether it’s your 14th hour running through a desert in temperatures well over 100F or you’re halfway through a 400-rep workout that includes pull-ups and single-leg squats—you’re able to withstand the pain and suffering and perform to the best of your skills and talents, with a good time, high place, or even a win.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As psychologists debate the roles of genetics, environment, and learned skills in determining mental toughness, they do agree (along with athletes and coaches) that high levels of mental toughness <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20391082" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">are associated with athletic prowess and success</a>. In fact, mental toughness (or “grit”) may be the defining factor between finishing at the front of the pack and not finishing at all.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To better understand how mental toughness can help someone run through a desert for seven days straight, complete 400 grueling reps in a mere 25 minutes, or win a half-Ironman triathlon with a broken foot (yes, really), we spoke to some of the toughest athletes on the planet and asked them to reflect on how they conceptualize, cultivate, and strategize for their mental game. Here's how they manage to withstand the most grueling circumstances—and win.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Andy Scott, Ultra-Endurance Mountain Biker and Ski Mountaineer</span><img class="" height="128" src="http://greatist.com/sites/default/files/AS_Stats_0.png" style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; height: auto !important; width: 100% !important;" width="200" /></div>
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Though Andy Scott is not a professional athlete (no big deal; endurance mountain bike racing and ski mountaineering are hobbies for the California-based businessman), he's competed in the <a href="http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/mtb/leadvilletrail100mtb/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Leadville Trail MTB 100</a>—a high-altitude, 100-mile race that takes mountain bikers through the Colorado Rockies across extremely technical terrain. Despite being <a href="http://marcpro-strava.com/blog/2011/08/16/leadville-100-race-report-thank-god-for-magic-pixie-dust-2/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">crashed</a> into by another rider during the race and getting thrown off his bike and into a rock garden, Scott finished in eight hours and 24 minutes, (32nd in his division and fast enough with a earn him a gold trophy <a href="http://www.fatcyclist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_3308_2.jpg" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">belt buckle</a> for the prestigious sub-nine hour finish.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As a ski mountaineer, he’s climbed up and skied down some of the largest, most remote, and challenging mountains in the western United States (like the time he climbed California’s 14,000-foot Mt. Tyndall just after a snowstorm that brought with it high-speed winds and an intimidating wind chill).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Mental toughness is…</span></b><br /><span style="color: #999999;">…when you, your body, the competition, nature, or the environment has the best of you so that you’re physically tapped out and need to figure out how to pull something out of yourself… not in a robotic way—in a way that’s mentally aware and engaged. It’s not just the ability to keep moving but to keep doing it in a way that’s engaged and competitive in the environment you’re in, whether that’s competing against the clock or other human beings. It’s easy when you feel good physically. It’s when that physicality leaves you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Why you're stronger than you think you are</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">What you’re physically capable of in an endurance environment is more determined by your mental strength than your physical capabilities… your body can go beyond what your physical perceptions of tiredness or fatigue are. Your brain will be telling you “You’re tired. Stop.” It’s trying to stop you from killing yourself. The mental limitations kick in before the physical limitations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">On training for mental toughness</span></b><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Visualization is a piece of the training that is incredibly important. You don’t have to do anything physically—you can be meditating or walking, anything where you’re in your mind, playing it out in advance. You’re imagining the start, the route, the competition, those points that your body is saying, ”stop,” or that you’re suffering. You’re mentally training yourself to push through those barriers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The most challenging thing for me… was the solo climb and ski of Mount Tyndall. There was a storm; the conditions just became overwhelming. Something about the winds at high altitude is just intimidating and mentally draining. The second piece of that is that I was alone; there are no external sources of support. I realized, “Whoa, there are no people cheering.” There’s a degree of self-sufficiency required. And then there’s the remoteness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">How he got through it</span></b><br /><span style="color: #999999;">It’s probably cliché, but it comes back to core faith, and for me, that’s my family and the people that are closest to me. They are actually sitting in my head, and that’s helping bring a degree of mental clarity to the situation to ensure I don’t do anything stupid. The second thing is my training and experience. I mean, in many ways the training is harder than the event itself in terms of the hours you’re putting in. No one is cheering for you. You’re mentally training for those moments and that’s giving you the reserve to be able to say, “I’ve seen this. I’ve done this; I know I can do it because I’ve been there before.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>On Leadville MTB 100</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">This event is about redlining yourself over the course of eight hours. I started out physically and mentally fresh but I had mechanical problems with my bike, and crash mishaps and those things gradually took some physical and mental strength out of me. By the last couple of hours, you’re basically spanked, running on physical and mental empty. What that then results in—you climb inside of yourself. Endurance athletes have this term: “the pain cave.” You have to get comfortable in the pain cave. It’s a place of prolonged suffering. You know you’re going to experience it but you find a way to know that it’s not going to last forever.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Samantha Gash, Ultra-Endurance Runner</span><img alt="Athletes and Mental Toughness: Samantha Gash" class="media-element file-default" height="388" src="http://greatist.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-content-732/public/SG_Stats_V2.png?itok=ETvpmu5U" style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; height: auto !important; width: 100% !important;" title="" typeof="foaf:Image" width="604" /></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2010, when she was 25 years old and had one marathon under her belt, Australia native Samantha Gash took a semester off from law school to race 155 miles through the Chilean desert in the <a href="http://www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Atacama Crossing</a>—a self-supported race in which participants carry between 15 and 30 pounds of supplies—whatever they’ll need over the course of the seven-day event—on their backs. She then went on to complete in multi-day ultra-marathons across three other deserts, making her the first woman—and youngest person ever—to complete a <a href="http://www.4deserts.com/4_deserts_grand_slam" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Four Desert Grand Slam</a>. In other words, she completed self-supported multi-day ultra-marathons through deserts in China, Chile, Egypt, and Antarctica in one calendar year.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Having run through some of the toughest conditions imaginable (race organizers describe the <a href="http://www.4deserts.com/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">deserts</a> as some of the “driest, hottest, coldest, and windiest places on earth,”) Gash has continued her endurance racing career in events that are physically and mentally grueling, like her 235-mile solo race across Australia’s Simpson Desert, for which she ran nonstop for three days, 14 hours, and 28 minutes. To learn more about Gash, check out <a href="http://buy.desertrunnersmovie.com/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Desert Runners</a>, the documentary that follows four runners (including Gash) as they compete in Racing the Planet’s 4 Desert Ultra-marathon Series. (Just use the code "GREATIST" for 10 percent off a digital download of the movie.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Mental toughness is…</span></b><br /><span style="color: #999999;">For me, mental toughness is acknowledging that very challenging moments can occur in all sports—and also in life in general—but having the capacity in a quick time frame to turn a negative experience into a positive one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The hardest thing she’s ever done physically</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">In 2012 I ran nonstop for 379 km (235 miles) across the Simpson Desert in Australia. I did take 30-minute stops to change into warm clothes, lay down, and eat dinner. That was so physically demanding that I was delirious. The last 40 km was the most painful place I’ve taken my body and mind to.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The most mentally grueling moment she's experienced while racing</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I think China (the </span><a href="http://www.4deserts.com/gobimarch/" sl-processed="1" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gobi March</a><span style="color: #999999;">, a 250-mile race through the Gobi Desert) was the most mentally grueling—that long stage I ran with </span><a href="http://www.lisatamati.co.nz/home/runner" sl-processed="1" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Lisa</a><span style="color: #999999;"> [Tamati, an ultra endurance athlete from New Zealand]. I felt so many things. The night was coming, we’d been going for 12 hours, it was really hot, and I was pretty injured. But I wanted to stick with Lisa so I was dragging myself and didn’t want to let go of Lisa.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I try to focus my mind on the positive of completing. When I’m in immense physical pain, I try to dull the pain as much as possible. Once the pain enters your head (as opposed to just your body), you start to legitimize ways of pulling out. I distract myself by thinking about why I’m doing it. My body and mind is stronger than I’d ever think.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mark Pattinson, Endurance Racing Cyclist</span><img src="http://greatist.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-content-732/public/MP_Stats.png?itok=ir230Dk1" style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; height: auto !important; width: 100% !important;" /></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mark Pattinson, 44, has been an endurance racing cyclist since 2006. He rides about 70 hours per week to stay in shape for events like <a href="http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Race Across America</a> (also known as “the World’s Toughest Bike Race”) during which he will ride from California to Maryland, covering 3,000 miles—which includes 170,000 feet of hill climbs—over the course of eight to 12 days, stopping only to sleep for about two hours per night. Pattinson has completed the race twice, earning second place in 2011 and 4th place in 2013, and will take it on again in June 2014.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mental toughness is…</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">It means being able to keep on performing whilst in extreme discomfort. It’s the ability to mentally overcome the brain, which is telling you to stop, and keep pushing yourself forward, even if things aren’t going well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">On training for mental toughness</span></b><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I prepare myself through my own experience—I’ve been in these positions before. I know that when things are bad, it will get better. It could take hours, it could take minutes, it could take days, but it will. It’s naturally in me. I’ve made it my mantra: “At times it’s so bad but it will get better.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>His strategy for getting through several days of competition</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I have a distinct strategy. I break the race up by the day. I know I’m going to get up, I’m going to ride my bike, and then I’m going to do it again. When I get off my bike and go to sleep for one-and-a-half or two hours, I get up the next day to do it again. I know I am going to sleep in the dark at nighttime. I think that really helps me break the event down into pieces instead of seeing it as one 3,000-mile race.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Stuff does go wrong—you can get a little lost or you might get a flat tire and it’s very easy to get down. But if you spend too much time being down about it, it can throw your race completely. I tell myself, “Get on with it. We’ll talk about that later. We’ll worry about that later.” There’s no point in worrying about things you can’t change. Every moment you’re not moving is time wasted. You just keep moving and talk it through with the crew. We’ve had lots of things go wrong. You have to keep yourself in a place that’s not a panic.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesse Thomas, Long Course Triathlete</span><img src="http://greatist.com/sites/default/files/JT_Stats_0.png" style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; height: auto !important; width: 100% !important;" /></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After an accomplished and successful college running career (he was an NCAA All-American in the 3000m <a href="http://greatist.com/fitness/15-things-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-about-olympic-steeplechase" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Steeplechase</a>, a unique event that combines running, hurdling, and long jumping), Jesse Thomas took a break from racing to start a tech company. Four years later, he returned to running to give triathlons a try—and he turned out to be pretty darn good at it, even winning the USA Triathlon National Championship title for his age group in 2007. Four years later, in his first full year as a professional athlete, Jesse won his third <a href="http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/WildFlower2014-main.htm" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wildflower Long Course</a>, making him the first male to win the event three years in a row. Thomas’ event is the triathlon long course, in which competitors complete a 1.2-mile swim followed by a 56-mile bike race, and finish with 13.1-mile run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mental toughness is…</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I think of mental toughness as your ability to deal with pain and to process it. It’s your body’s ability and your mind’s ability—mostly your mind’s. Mental toughness could be the ability to get out of your body what your body is capable of that day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The difference between “bonking” and hitting the wall mentally</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">You actually can hit the physical limits of what you can do, nutritionally and hydration-wise. But when you hit a nutritional or hydration wall, you bonk—you have to stop. Those physical things are kind of impossible to get through, to be honest. But I’ve hit mental walls where I’ve felt like my race is in the shit can and then somehow—through mantras, or if I pass somebody, maybe—I get this positive signal and I gain momentum, and it feels like it has some physical effect. Realistically, it’s probably a mental thing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On the mantras and mental tricks that give physical kicks<br />In a Half Ironman, I’m out there for four hours. I can have a bad 20 or 30 minutes, come out of it, and still have a pretty awesome race. I have go-to mantras. It’s really dorky. “You’re kicking ass!” “You’re killin’ it!” I say them out loud, almost yelling them. I’ve found that the more physical you can make them, [the better]—you’re not only saying them, you’re hearing them, too, which makes a difference. Also, a mental kick that always gives me a physical kick is interacting with the crowd in some way. When I say “Thank you!” [to someone cheering on the sidelines] or give someone a high five, I feel like I can literally feel tangible energy connecting from those people to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>On training for mental toughness</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I definitely visualize before every race. I try to divide it up into as many key points as I can. I set goals and trigger points and I try to tie as little of it to external factors as possible. So, I’ll say, “At halfway through I want to feel like </span><em style="color: #999999;">this</em><span style="color: #999999;"> and I want to make a move that increases my output by 10 percent.” Those kinds of things make me feel like I am on a race plan regardless of where I am in my overall goal.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing I’ll say is that deep tissue massage has become my mental training. In order for it to be effective you can’t block it out or keep it from penetrating. You have to relax as much as possible and accept the pain. I tried the same thing with my track workouts—instead of pretending the pain wasn’t there, I’d accept as much of the pain as I could and make a conscious decision that my body can handle the pain. I can make my body hurt more than it hurts right now and that’s okay. That approach has made me a tougher athlete and [made me] capable of dealing with more pain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The most physically grueling event he's ever done</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">At </span><a href="http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/WildFlower2014-main.htm" sl-processed="1" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wildflower Triathlon</a><span style="color: #999999;"> last year, I broke my foot. It started to hurt three miles into the race. I’d won the last two years in a row and no one had won three in a row, so it was a big deal for me to be there. I was battling head-to-head for the win. As soon as I crossed the finish line I was limping and could barely walk. I definitely think the adrenaline helped. Endurance athletes will be able to do that. My job is to basically process and deal with pain and I’ve spent however many hours a day for however many years dealing with pain so your tolerance goes up like crazy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Lindsey Valenzuela, Elite CrossFit Athlete</span><img src="http://greatist.com/sites/default/files/LV_Stats.png" style="border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; height: auto !important; width: 100% !important;" /><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Photo by</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://instagram.com/hannahhayworth#" sl-processed="1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hannah Hayworth</a></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Though it’s not an endurance sport per se, elite <a href="http://greatist.com/fitness/look-inside-world-crossfit" sl-processed="1" style="line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CrossFit athletes</a> push their bodies and minds to extreme limits in order to qualify for and then compete in the <a href="http://greatist.com/fitness/crossfit-games-start-072413" sl-processed="1" style="line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CrossFit Games</a>, the sport’s annual competition in which the top 51 athletes from all over the world compete in a series of workouts that take place over three days. The two winners are named the Fittest Man and Woman on Earth.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lindsey Valenzuela has climbed to the top of the sport, finishing the Games in 34th place in 2011, ninth place in 2012, and second in 2013. This means that as CrossFit and the Games have grown in popularity—drawing athletes who are increasingly strong, fast, and tireless—and workouts have gotten more grueling each year, Valenzuela continues to not just keep up, but to improve, dominating competition in her region (southern California) as well as in the Games. CrossFit fans know her for embodying her one-word motto, “Believe,” and for her infectious and spirited</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://games.crossfit.com/media-gallery/detail/280/565" sl-processed="1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">whoops</a><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awTjHHwVPRQ" sl-processed="1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">war cries</a><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Mental toughness is…</span></b><br /><span style="color: #999999;">It basically means being able to overcome outside circumstances—negativity and whatever obstacles you have going on in your life at the moment—to focus on the task at hand. It’s easier said than done.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The toughest workout she's ever done</b></span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Physically, the </span><a href="http://games.crossfit.com/article/major-announcement-individuals" sl-processed="1" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Camp Pendleton</a><span style="color: #999999;"> workout at the 2012 CrossFit Games (700-meter ocean swim, an 8-km bike ride across technical terrain and soft sand, and an 11.3-km run up and down steep hills). I was in pretty good shape, but not as good as I’m in now. The workout felt never-ending.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Photo by</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://instagram.com/hannahhayworth#" sl-processed="1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hannah Hayworth</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>And the most mentally grueling workout...</b></span><br /><a href="http://games.crossfit.com/video/event-summary-womens-row-1-and-row-2" sl-processed="1" style="color: #999999; line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Row</a><span style="color: #999999;"> from last year’s CrossFit Games. [Athletes rowed a half-marathon—that’s right, 13.1 miles—on stationary erg machines. Valenzuela earned a 5th place finish in the event, after one-and-a-half hours of rowing]. I had tunnel vision. I took one water break and you know the game </span><a href="http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/performance-monitors/games" sl-processed="1" style="color: #999999; line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Fish</a><span style="color: #999999;">? I played that in my head and kept thinking “I’ve been through way worse.” I’d look at the screen [giant scoreboards showed each athlete’s progress as they rowed] to see how much I had done and I'd think, “I’ve already done this much, I can do this much more.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On completing SEALFIT <a href="http://www.sealfit.com/camps-academies/kokoro-camp/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kokoro Camp</a>, a three-day mental toughness training that simulates US Navy SEAL <a href="http://navyseals.com/nsw/hell-week-0/" sl-processed="1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hell Week</a><br />I tried to find the right mixture of what’s driving me—the “why.” It’s sometimes a struggle. I wanted to honor my grandfathers who were in the service, and most importantly, I wanted to prove myself wrong. I wanted to prove I was capable of more than I thought I was capable of. I wasn’t going to give up on it. I was going to keep going no matter how hard it got.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A part of what they wanted us to understand [at Kokoro Camp] is that we can do more than we think our bodies are willing to do. The body is going to be the first thing to go. At SEALFit, you’re going to hurt, your feet are going to be raw, you’re going to be tired and hungry, but if your mind can keep you going, you can do incredible things.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On her mantra, “Believe,” which is tattooed on her wrist<br />It just means: What is your goal? What do you want to accomplish? You have to earn it. You have to get it. I say that to myself. I say, “Feed your courage dog.” Don’t feed into your fears or worries or concerns. You have to feed into your positive thoughts—those are the ones that are going to get you through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>article shared from greatist.com by Sally Tamarkin</i></span></div>
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Determination, exercise and fitness, fitness goals, Fitness motivation, health, mental health, Motivation, workouts

It's All in Their Heads: The Mental Edge of Athletes Who Win

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It's All in Their Heads: The Mental Edge of Athletes Who Win

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