Whether you are sitting in front of your computer looking for a job like me, or sitting in front of your computer doing your job, read on for some much needed stress relief.  I’m in Vermont and I just had to turn the heat on.  My mouse hand was freezing.  Whatever you are doing right now, thanks for taking the time to read my latest blog. 

All of us are under some sort of stress.  We can’t know peace without chaos.  Let’s start with a deep breath.  Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth letting out a big sigh.  One more time and let your shoulders drop away from your ears.  Press your sit bones (the sharp bones that hurt when you ride your bike too much) into your chair and lengthen up through your spine and the top of your head.  Tuck your tailbone down and under while doing this.  Squeeze your shoulder blades and draw them together and down your back.  Keep breathing. 

Draw your arms out in front of you, circle your wrists in both directions.  Slow circles.  Interlace your fingers and turn your hands outward and stretch your arms and drop your shoulders.  On the inhale, bring your arms up over your head.  On the exhale, release your hands and drop your arms to your side.  One more time.  As you exhale, let out a long sigh. 

Sit at the edge of your chair.  Hold the arms and on the inhale, open your heart and slowly arch your back, lifting your head and lengthening your throat.  On the exhale, tuck your tailbone, start to round your back and tuck your chin into your chest and lengthen the back of your neck.  Two more times and don’t forget to sigh on the exhale.  Go ahead, no one is watching you.

While still holding your chair, start to twist your torso to the right, allowing your gaze to follow your body.  Take your eyes even further than your torso.  Hold and breathe.  Go to the other side slowly, breathe and hold.

Back to face the front and open your eyes wide.  Move them clockwise and then counterclockwise.  Rub your hands briskly until you feel heat.  Place your palms on your eyes and breathe.  OK?  Take the time at least once an hour to do one or more of these relaxation and stretching techniques.  And don’t forget to breathe.

On to the emotional side of our life that has such a huge impact on our physical health.  Some things we believe about ourselves or our situations are just old childhood patterns.  Just as the things we chose to eat as a child may no longer “nourish” us, so are some of the thoughts we had as children no longer serving us.  Take a moment to actually “hear” what you are thinking about.  Each moment is a new beginning.  Each thought is shaping your life right now.

It’s the perfect day to start to take better care of ourselves, emotionally and physically.  Yoga, meditation, eating healthier, having healthy thoughts; all ways to start your transformation. 

Here’s to all of you who are SURVIVORS of the economy.  This following is from Louise Hay:

“I am totally open and receptive to a wonderful new position, one that uses all my talents and abilities, and allows me to express creatively in ways that are fulfilling to me.  I work with and for people whom I love, and who love me and respect me, in a wonderful location and earning good money.”

I’m putting that one up on my computer!

Yesterday I was in the shoe store trying very hard to buy a new pair of hiking shoes.  My arches are low and so are my ankles.  It makes it very difficult to purchase shoes.  What I realize each time I go to the shoe store, finally, is that growing up I never felt like I “deserved” a new pair of shoes.  That’s my own self-esteem issues.  So each trip to the shoe store for me as a child was emotional, if I even went!   I kept saying, “No, Mom.  These shoes fit fine.”  NOW, I say….I deserve a pair of shoes that fit!  Why am I bringing this up?  Two reasons….I overheard a woman in the store state the following to the sales person, “I need a running shoe with more padding because it hurts my knee and foot to run now.”  What?  Your body is telling you it hurts to do what you are doing, so you’re going to buy something to mask that feeling?  What is she missing?  The second reason is self-esteem, self-worth.  What do you deserve in your life?  And how can you get it?  What feelings are you missing, hiding and masking yourself? 

Have you ever said to yourself, “It gives me a stomach ache to eat this, so I better take an antacid before I eat it.”  Why are you eating it?  What part of you is saying you don’t deserve to feel good?  Do you believe you are limited?  I’m all about feeling the feeling.  Too many times, growing up, most of us were all told at some time, to not feel that, to stop crying and just grow up, to eat this cookie so you will stop feeling sad.  How are you substituting “feeling” today?  Eating, drinking, smoking, picking your skin, sex?  Time to utilize new resources and allow the good to come to you.  You may have to feel some feelings first though. You must first love yourself.  The outer world is a reflection of the inner world. How can I help?  Below are some ideas for you to try.  If you’ve tried some of them, try something else or try again. Best of all they are all things you can do at home and without spending any money.  

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques):  Tapping (EFT) removes negative feelings and beliefs.  It combines Mind Body medicine with Acupuncture without needles, you tap on the meridian points.  And you do it on yourself!  I’ve just discovered this one.  This technique is done in response to an uncomfortable feeling.  While stating your belief or feeling, you tap on certain points. You stop at the moment, when resistance comes up, and notice the feeling and release it through tapping.  If you can’t figure something out, tap on it.  I did this yesterday when I was struggling over how to tell someone something that was uncomfortable for me.  That night, I came up with the perfect way to do it.  If you are feeling anxious, tap on it.  If you can’t find the answer, tap on it.  I’ve used it in the last two days for the following things: I wanted to eat and I wasn’t hungry, I was feeling stressed about work, an email from a friend hurt me.  Here are some sites to do your own research: http://www.emofree.com/newcomer.htm

http://www.tapping.com/

http://www.tryitoneverything.com/

Meditation and Yoga:  I can’t say enough about yoga.  To me, everything is a meditation, every opportunity can be a time for a stretch.  Brushing my teeth, driving the car, sitting and just staring out the window.  Slowing down the thoughts in your mind.  Doing only one thing at a time.  Staying in the present moment.  And when the resistance shows up, ’cause it will, stop and just breathe.  Notice what feelings come up.  Do some tapping.  Write your feelings down.  Talk to someone you trust. Yoga is meant to release imbedded thoughts, patterns, pain and feeling.  Sometimes that comes up as a physical symptom, sometimes an emotional release.  I don’t mean the fast moving yoga.  Try Hatha, Kripalu, Yin, or Restorative yoga. 

Walking in Nature (or something that brings you joy):  Are you missing time to yourself?  The more you can do something that you enjoy, the more you will attract and build on this sense of joy and well-being.  Put the intention out there that you want to feel joy. You deserve to feel good. It is everyone’s birthright.

Stopping the behavior:  When you want to understand a behavior, stop doing it.  How cool is that?  I’ve used this phrase many times.  For example; If you are using food as your escape mechanism, try a one day fast.  Just one day.  A day when you can be home or someplace safe.  Your thoughts are just thoughts.  You are deserving.  Find out what you are missing.

How about being grateful?  Are you missing that?  Take the time to acknowledge what is happening.  Sit with the feeling of gratefulness for all that you do have. Tap on the ones you are not feeling grateful for.

Here’s to your emotional and physical health.

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle

These statements should not take the place of your primary care physician.

I talked a little in my last blog about how we absorb toxins through the skin, the largest organ in the body.  Anything you put on your skin, will get into your body.  A general rule would be…if you can’t eat it, don’t put it on your body.  The FDA warns you of chemicals that are for external use only.  So yes, I wouldn’t eat it, but even if we put these toxins on our skin, they will enter our bloodstream.  A Swiss study concluded that five of the most common chemicals in sunscreen cause cancer.  Several other studies actually show that appropriate sun exposure may prevent skin cancer.  That’s another blog….back to how toxins can get in your body.

The nose.  What are you inhaling in your work and home environment?   Air fresheners, smoke, cleaning chemicals, mold, dust, pollens, and the fumes that come out of the carpeting.  Air fresheners only mask the odor. They are filled with deadly, poisonous chemicals.  For many years I inhaled a common cleaning chemical (I have a cleaning business).  When I started a wheatgrass routine, I expelled mucous the color and smell of this chemical!  Anything that you can smell, is going into your body.  Today we are inhaling toxins on a daily basis.  Get yourself out into nature where the only thing you inhale is the air, the smell of trees and grass.  Reducing the toxins you inhale can have a dramatic effect on your health, helping you with depression, anxiety, irritability, appetite, digestion and sleep.

The eyes.  Through the eyes, solar energy penetrates the body.  The sun is not a toxin.  Lack of sun creates deficiencies and leads to imbalance and disease.  Images entering the eyes are toxic.  Violence from all forms of the media can create bad emotions, causing the body to become acidic.  Remember, we want our bodies to be more alkaline.

The ears.  Things that you put in your ears as well as sound that enter your ears can be toxic.  Sounds are vibration and frequency.  My brother has done tests on growing wheatgrass.  Classical music had a positive effect on the growth of wheatgrass.  Certain music has been know to cause plants to wither and die.  Repetitive sound can cause stress.  Certain frequencies can enter through the ear and cause every cell to be stressed.  This in turn causing dis-ease in the body.  Toxic words from someone, can also enter your body.  Stress and the body?  We already know that’s a bad idea.  Walk in nature and listen to all the sounds.  How about chirping birds and insects, running water and the sound of the wind for stress relief?

Okay, so toxins are out there.  And not just in the air or at the local nuclear power plant.  Consider not only the carbs, calories and fats that are in your food, but the chemicals in processed foods that also enter your bloodstream and organs.  Address the toxins in your life today.  What are you eating? What are you breathing?  What and who are you listening to?   

Unnatural electromagnetic energy is attacking our bodies every day.  Satellites, radar, cell phones, cell phone towers, high tension power lines, electric wiring, computers, microwave ovens and even people emit electromagnetic energy.  Negatively charged ions have a positive effect on the body.  These life-enhancing ions are in the running water of the stream, waterfalls or the ocean.  Wind blowing through the trees also emit these ions.

What are you going to do today to feel good?  Go outside and find some fresh air.  Breathe deeply.  Eliminate the amount of television, computer, and microwave use as much as you can.  Speak positively.  Meditate.  Eat slowly.  Love life.

If you are a teeth clincher or a grinder, listen up.  If you don’t have some sort of jaw problem like TMJ (temporomandibular joint syndrome)yet, great.  Hopefully some of these ideas will stop you from wearing away tooth enamel, increasing your teeth’s sensitivity, causing loose teeth, morning headaches, sore jaw muscles and painful chewing.  My experience? I’ve had it all.  When I was in my teens, my jaw started popping and clicking.  Eventually I was evaluated by a dentist and I started wearing a night guard. I’m sure it protected my teeth, but it also made me clench harder.  Eliminating or avoiding stress? Impossible, stress is a part of our life.  Managing stress?  Absolutely possible.

The jaw muscles are very strong.  Hard to tell whether you have tight facial muscles until you start massaging your face.  I’m going to start there.  Even if you don’t clench or grind, these massage techniques are easy to do while sitting watching TV or at your desk.  Grab under your bottom lip with your thumb and the side of your forefinger, starting at one side and moving to the other.  Pinch gently and pull out until you feel a little sensation.  Hold for a count of five and release.  Do this 3-5 times.  Also pull on your ear.  Grab the back of your ear with your thumb and the front of your ear with your forefinger.  Pull away from the head.  Walk your fingers up and down your ear.   There’s also eye yoga!  Move the eyes up, to the side, down and to the other side.  Rolling the eyes and moving them around the face of a clock. Notice any tension in the eye socket.  During the day, shrug your shoulders up and down, drop the head to both sides and twist the neck, turning the head to the right and left.  Most of us have overstressed muscles especially on the right side of the face.  Notice if you only chew on the right side.  Does chewing on the left make your jaw sore?  It could just be under developed muscles on the left. 

What to do while you sleep?  Sleeping on your back avoids pressure to the neck and face.  Use a thin pillow, keeping the head in line with your back.  Before you fall asleep, take some deep breaths and on the exhale, release your head into the pillow. Try this a few times until you actually feel the sensation of sinking into the pillow.  Lips together and teeth parted, allow your tongue to rest gently in the mouth.  Set your intentions to sleep peacefully and not clench or grind your teeth.  If there is someone by your side, ask them to make you aware of any grinding that you do at night.  I had to retrain myself.  I never sleep on my stomach anymore.  I mostly sleep on my back.  If I do sleep on my side, I sleep on both sides equally during the night, using a pillow that won’t lift my head higher than my top shoulder.  Again, while I was suffering a lot of grinding, I set intentions for my new sleep habits.  

Try also cutting back on caffeine and refined sugars and white flour products.  Many doctors believe grinding is a nutritional problem.  B-complex and vitamin C supplements with zinc also, may help reduce stress reactions.  Also linked to tooth grinding, a deficiency of calcium, which is effective for treating involuntary movement of muscles, and pantothenic acid, important for proper motor coordination.  You can check doses of these supplements in the book, Prescription For Nutritional Healing, by James Balch, M.D.

What does Louise Hay say about the jaw? And I’m listening to this one.  Anger. Resentment.  Desire for revenge.  Your mantra….I am willing to change the patterns in me that created this condition.  I love and approve of myself.  I am safe.  

Relax, breathe, surrender…….

If jaw pain last longer than a few weeks, consult your doctor.

Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep?  These problems could be short term, lasting for less than 3 weeks, or a chronic condition.  Insomnia could be due to anxiety, mental stress, nutritional deficiencies, poor sleep habits, physical disorders like sleep apnea (a breathing problem), or a reaction to medications.  A good night’s sleep consists of four or five 60-90 minute cycles, REM (rapid eye movement) and four stages of light-to-deep non-REM sleep, in order to achieve physical and mental well-being.

Here’s something I didn’t know, minimum daily requirements for sleep are genetically determined.  Your sleep pattern will stabilize in early adulthood and vary from 4 to more than 10 hours in a 24 hour period.  I am a 8-10 hour sleeper.  My daughter is a 10-12 hour sleeper.  She started that when she was a baby and continued through her teens, although college life has drastically changed that pattern!  Before I started yoga, I was experiencing levels of insomnia, waking up at night and obsessing over what was coming up the next day or analyzing what happened yesterday.  It seemed I had fallen out of my habit of being a good sleeper.  And that was exactly what happened.  I was under high emotional stress and getting up at night and going downstairs to eat something had become my new pattern.  I had to retrain my brain and body.  Yoga helped with that.  It calmed down my “monkey mind” and reminded me that I could get back in control of my sleep pattern.  I started rituals before sleep.  Going through the day and being grateful for all that happened and setting an intention to have a good night’s sleep before I closed my eyes.  Turning my clock to face away from me was another way I stopped obsessing.  I no longer looked at the clock when I woke up in the middle of the night.  So many people tell me they wake up at a certain time every night.  I ask them, “How do you know what time it is?”

I believe the best sleep is achieved between the hours of 10 and 2 am.  Avoiding caffeine, heavy meals, and strenuous exercise for 3-5 hours before bedtime can help you fall asleep.  Limit mildly stimulating factors like alcohol and nicotine.  James Balch, from his book, Prescription For Nutritional Healing, says…”Foods like cheese, chocolate, sauerkraut, bacon, ham, sausage, eggplant, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes contain tyramine, which increases the release of norepinephrine, a brain chemical stimulant, causing insomnia”. Try relaxing with a warm bath or shower, soothing music or reading.  Get up at the same time every morning, if you have to nap, limit them to one hour and go to bed one hour later.  Increasing foods that contain iron and copper may improve your sleep.  Dried beans and fruits, red meat, nuts, tofu, also may help you maintain sleep. For nervous tension that creates sleep problems, try carrot juice combined with apple, grape pear or pineapple.

Want to try a supplement?  Thinking there’s something else missing?  Try B complex, Vitamin C, or some natural alternatives like herbal teas containing chamomile, hops, passion flower, peppermint, rosemary and valerian root.  I lived on the homeopathic remedy of Nux Vomica for a long time.  And there is that one ingredient, which by now should be in your cupboard and is called the Vermont remedy, 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar with honey and water.  Massage?  Pinch just above the bridge of the nose, and inch behind each earlobe, the center of the nape of the neck or massage the sole, heel, sides, ankle and the tops of your feet.  Here’s the best remedy…deep breathing!  Slow, deep breathing….full belly breathing.  Set your intentions for the night and do some slow counting backwards from 100.

And here’s Louise Hay’s take on insomnia..Fear, not trusting the process of life.  Guilt.  Your mantras for the evening?  I lovingly release the day and slip into peaceful sleep, knowing tomorrow will take care of itself.

Wishing you sweet dreams.

If your symptoms persist, please visit your doctor. The information written here should not take the place of your primary care doctor.

The saying “Less is more” means that when something is understated or done in a low-key manner it is much more effective.  Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, furniture designer and architect, is often associated with the phrase and a proponent of simplicity and clarity leading to good design.   Let’s first get out of the way when less is definitely NOT more….like love, kindness and gratitude.

Seven years ago I was just about half way into a month long yoga teacher training.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner consisted of a wonderful buffet line of healthy food options.  I was practicing yoga about 5 hours a day and participating in experiential workshops the rest of the day. So why was I feeling bloated and most certainly not healthy? Not to mention, my physical body was saying “stop working me so hard”!  I made an appointment with a wonderful body healer and his words to me were “Stop eating so much”.  What? Don’t I have to eat three meals a day?  “Try this”, he said, “Instead of a tray, two plates, and fork, knife and spoon, just take a small bowl and one utensil”.  So I believe I put people in front of me that I’m meant to learn from and I took his advice.  And yes, you guessed it, it worked.  I felt 100% better in no time.  My first experience with “less is more”.  The less I ate, the more my body could use its energy to help me get through this very long month of yoga and learning.  I not only ate less, I ate slower, allowing my body to digest, assimilate and eliminate to its optimum efficiency.

I’ll explain why this works.  Eating less allows your body to spend less energy digesting food and more energy healing.  It’s what your body wants to do…HEAL ITSELF!  Taking this one step further, digesting cooked food demands much more energy than the digestion of raw food.  Raw foods contain enzymes which aid in digestion, giving the body’s own enzymes a better chance to regulate the body’s metabolic processes.  Cooked foods deplete these enzymes, making digestion more difficult, which could lead to toxic build up in the body, obesity and chronic disease.   Raw food is not only good for physical body healing, but also for emotional body healing.  Having that extra energy gave me time and clarity to hear my own voice.   It wasn’t always a kind voice, that voice inside my head.  But at least now I could hear it and do something about it.

I’m a very bland raw foodist.  Simple and less is what’s best and what works for me.  I do eat some cooked food, but I don’t need or want as much as I used to.  And when I start to feel bad, physically or emotionally, the first thing I look at is what I’m eating.

Another lesson I learned at my month long training was the one of silence.  An extreme example in “less is more.”  At anytime you could choose to spend the day in silence.  There’s not enough space here to explain to you what happens when you do not speak.

I use “less is more” often during the course of my day.  I ask you to try it too the next time you are having a “discussion” with a loved one or with yourself.

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle

A good question right?  I’m not just talking about excercise or eating right.  I mean pampering yourself.  Gentle yoga, breathing, a great bubble bath, sitting in front of the fire, meditating, singing, dancing. How about we take a moment to just breathe?  Sit upright, plant both your feet on the earth, and place your hands, palms up, on your legs.  Close your eyes.  (C’mon, this will only take a moment…turn your phone off, take a five minute break from your busy life)  Bring your attention to your belly and how the belly rises and falls with each breath.  Relax your jaw, soften your eyes and allow your shoulders to drop away from your ears.  Start to bring your breath into your lungs.   Belly then lungs expand with the inhale and lungs then belly deflate with the exhale.  Do this a few times and just keep your awareness on your breath.  Try to keep a wave like motion with each breath.  Now you can start to lengthen your exhale and let out a sigh when you do.  Open your mouth and let out a long sigh.  AAAAAAAAAA.   That’s nice.  Now that you’ve read HOW to do this….go ahead and do it.  When you are done, notice how you feel.  Then go ahead and get back to whatever you were doing.  You took five minutes to pamper yourself.

We are human beings…not human doings.  How can we stop doing and start being? Well, obviously we have to continue doing things.  There’s our work, our children, our pets, the daily chores, to name a few.  In these days of upheaval and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to take care of yourself.  This could just mean doing the above breathing exercise a couple times a day.  Eventually this exercise becomes part of your daily life.  Breathing will open your heart and slow you down, putting you right into the present moment.

Slowing down……let’s start here.   Yoga was a good start for me.   My first few years of practice I was your “type A” yoga student.  Moving fast through what the instructor asked us to do and definitely NOT breathing.  In my quest to “do” everything right, I was actually hurting myself and was most certainly NOT in the present moment.  Only when I woke up one morning and couldn’t move my neck, did I realize something was wrong with my way of thinking regarding the well being of my physical body.  This took me on a long journey through many types of healing modalities from accupuncture to x-rays.  It eventually led me to some great body work and to the raw food lifestyle.  And to practicing a more gentle form of yoga.  Now my yoga practice is more about what my body wants and not what my mind or the instructor wants.

What can you do today to start pampering yourself?  How about these ideas:

Cooking your evening meal during the day in a crock pot saves time.  Instead of slaving in the kitchen at night, take a few moments to do your breathing.  This will give your body the time to let go of the day, which will give you a clearer mind when it comes to choosing what and how much your body needs to eat.

I have only a very small space in my house to lay out my yoga blanket.   But I do this as many mornings as I can.   I also do some yoga before I even get up.  Set your alarm for just 10 minutes earlier and stay under the covers.  Breathe, stretch….and don’t forget to make sound on your exhale.

At night, I love my heated neck warmer.  Relieves the tension of the day.  I just close my eyes and put on some great soothing music.

I live in the northeast, where winter brings many sunless days. On the days the sun is in the sky, I put myself right in its path. Sitting in my window or laying on the floor to absorb the rays.

What are you going to do today that’s just for you?  How are you going to slow down during this very busy time of the year?  I am sending you light and love…….

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle