Saturday, August 30, 2008

Believe In Me

I had no sooner written today's Provision than my daughter-in-law, a newly minted special education teacher in Washington, DC, sent me a link to the following video of Dalton Sherman, a fifth-grade boy addressing 20,000 educators in the Dallas Public School system as part of their back-to-school convocation. Dalton starts out his address by asking those 20,000 educators, "Do you believe in me? " He goes on to talk about how important it is to believe in yourself, to believe in your charges, and to believe in each other.

"Here's the deal, " he explains, "I can do anything, be anything, create anything, dream anything, become anything, because you believe in me. " It's natural learning, all over again. I encourage you to watch the 8-minute video, when you get the chance. You probably won't be surprised to learn that Dalton aspires to one day be President of the United States of America. "I want to be the next Obama " he told The Dallas Morning News. You go, Dalton!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMLOnSNwzA

Coaching Inquiries: Who believes in you? What difference does it make? Do you trust yourself enough to dream big and move forward?

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Yoga Decoder

I am no Yoga aficionado, to be sure, but I have dabbled in different types of yoga over the years and I especially appreciate the rhythm between aerobic exercise and stretching. Health and wellness demand that we pay attention to both.

A recent article by Kristin Appenbrink in Real Simple magazine summarized six types of yoga describing each type, its degree of difficulty, who it's best for, and what to keep in mind if you're trying to decide between them. Here's a summary of the six taken from the article, which I encourage you to read yourself.
  • Hatha is an umbrella term for all the poses involved in yoga, but in the United States, Hatha is associated with a slower-paced class that includes simple breathing and meditation exercises.
  • Ashtanga is one of the more physically challenging forms of yoga. Classes go through a sequence of as few as 25 poses (also called asanas) that include back bends, inversions (think headstands and handstands), balances, and twists.
  • Vinyasa (a.k.a. Flow Yoga) uses breathing as an integral part of movement and is close to Ashtanga in style. But whereas Ashtanga follows a set sequence, here the instructor selects the poses and pace.
  • Bikram (a.k.a. Hot Yoga) started becoming popular in America in the late 1970s. Classes are held in a room heated to about 105 degrees, which helps loosen muscles and joints. The 26-pose series is designed to stretch and strengthen your muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
  • Iyengar is known as the yoga of alignment, since the emphasis is on sustaining precise poses. Students use props, such as straps, blankets, wooden blocks, and chairs, to help them attain the ideal positions.
  • Prepare to chant with Kundalini yoga. A typical class starts with a series of breathing exercises and chants, then segues into practicing poses. The classes are designed to release a form of energy (called Kundalini) that is believed by practitioners to be stored at the base of the spine.
Coaching Inquiries: What's your experience of stretching, balance, and energy work? What would you like to develop further in your life? How could you get more engaged and active? How and where could you meet with others to practice your development?

If you would like to learn more about our Wellness Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary Wellness coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Run For Your Life

It's official -- running is good for your health. A new study, published in the August 11, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. The study reveals that regular running slows the effects of aging, including disabilities, activity limitations, and death.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, that running hurts your knees and contributes to other orthopedic injuries, the new study reveals no such association. In fact, runners' initial disability occurred, on average, a whopping 16 years later than non-runners. And the gap between runners' and non-runners' abilities only got bigger with time. Runners also evidenced fewer deaths due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurological disease, infections, and other causes.

You can read about the study at: http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2008/august/running.html

So what's the bottom line? Aerobic exercise promotes good health. I personally strive to run or cycle for at least 30 minutes, and usually 60 minutes or more, on a daily basis. But it wasn't always that way. Until I was 43 years old, I did not maintain a daily exercise regimen. As a result, my weight ballooned and my health suffered. It took the better part of a year to get in shape, lose the weight, and become an avid exerciser. This and other studies, combined with my own personal experience, makes me glad I took the plunge.

Coaching Inquiries: What's your pattern when it comes to aerobic exercise? On a scale of 0-10, how would you rate the importance of aerobic exercise in your life? What reasons do you give for not exercising? How could exercise become a more regular, health-promoting part of your life?

If you would like to learn more about our Wellness Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary Wellness coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Dialogue & Deliberate

Each week I write my Provision before finding any bonus material to include. You can imagine my delight, therefore, to have just written a Provision about the value of uncertainty and mindfulness when a newsletter arrived describing the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD). Here's how they describe their mission, vision, and values:
  • NCDD’s mission is to bring together and support people, organizations, and resources in ways that expand the power of discussion to benefit society.
  • NCDD envisions a future in which all people–regardless of income, position, background or education–are able to engage regularly in lively, thoughtful, and challenging conversations about what really matters to them, in ways that have a positive impact on their lives and their world. We envision a society in which systems and structures support and advance inclusive, constructive dialogue and deliberation.
  • NCDD embraces and demonstrates the following values and principles: collaboration and active participation, openness and transparency, inclusivity, balance, curiosity and commitment to learning, action, and service to others.
To learn more, visit http://www.thataway.org. To attend their next biennial conference, October 3-5, 2008, in Austin, Texas, visit http://www.thataway.org/events. Enjoy the practice!

Coaching Inquiries: How do dialogue and deliberation factor into your life? Who are dialogue buddies for you? How could you become more attentive to dialogue and less attached to outcomes?

If you would like to learn more about our Wellness Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary Wellness coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.