Broaden Your Focus

Sometimes it's hard, in the thick of the fray, to maintain a positive focus. On those occasions, it may be time to step back and look the situation over from a distance. Viewed from the right vantage point, opportunities become visible in ways that might otherwise be unimaginable. So do yourself a favor and unplug from the daily grind. Step back to the 10,000 foot level. Appreciate your strategic advantages. Then, once your mood has improved, reengage with the zest that comes from a positive outlook. Today's Provision shows you how.

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Fueling Positivity & Creativity

I was very moved this past week by a story in the Washington Post titled "Running For My Life" by Daniele Seiss. It details her lifelong struggles with depression as well as her experience with running as the most effective and health-promoting anti-depressant of all. Although I have never struggled with depression, her story spoke to my own experience regarding the many benefits of running. I especially appreciated these paragraphs:

"I had once been warned that the type and severity of my depression made it very likely I'd relapse after going off medication, that it was just a matter of time. So I had somewhat expected the crash. But going back on medication didn't help. And finally I recognized what I should have seen all along, that running had saved me, and so I hit the streets again. At first it was three to five miles at a time, three days a week. My mood improved quickly. But it wasn't until I started running long distances -- 30, then up to 50 miles a week, regularly -- that I began to really experience its full benefits for health and happiness.

Now, if I am feeling down, I go for a run. I usually start feeling better almost as I head out the door -- in part, I believe, because I am taking charge and doing something. But by mile four, I can actually feel my thinking beginning to change, from negative to positive, as if four miles, or about 30 minutes, is some kind of threshold. On longer runs, by about mile 13 or 14, I start to feel a mild euphoria. If I run faster, I'll notice it earlier. If I'm doing an easier, slower run, it takes a bit longer.

On really long runs, of 18 to 20 miles or more, the nature of my thoughts go beyond just positive to creative. I start having brainstorms, one after the other, and I begin to feel "one with things," for lack of a better way to describe it. It's like deep meditation in which your personal boundaries open up and you no longer notice where you end and everything else begins.

I have figured out that if I run at least four miles, I feel relaxed, positive and clearheaded, feelings that can last from hours to days. And if I do so consistently, I won't fall into a really dark state."

Now you know the answer to that frequently asked question, "Where do all those Provisions come from?" Running! I often go from positive to creative, with incredible bursts of brainstorming on a wide variety of topics, on my longer runs. And it's not just running. Any extended endurance activity will do much the same. So if you want to benefit your brain, it's time to go for a run.

Coaching Inquiries: What stimulates positivity and creativity in your life? How could you get more of those things? What place does endurance activities play in your life? How might you incorporate some? Who might be interested in doing them with you?

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Careful With NSAIDs

Today I was on a relay team, running the half-marathon leg of the Patriots Half Triathlon. One person swam 1.2 miles in the brackish water of the James River. Then, a second person rode his bike for 56 miles through woods, farmlands, and lakes on mostly flat terrain. Finally, I ran a half marathon -- 13.1 miles -- on a course that was delightfully shaded. Given that I was running at noon, on a hot and sunny day, I was very appreciative of the shade.

My time was an acceptable one hour, fifty minutes. I went in thinking it might be possible to average 8:45 a mile or better. I ended up averaging 8:27 a mile. That's better! It's time for me to think seriously about qualifying for the Boston marathon again (I've done that twice in the past 10 years, each time as I entered a new age bracket). 2010 would be the next time for me to do that. We'll see.

One thing is clear, however: I will not be using ibuprofen or other Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory painkillers (or NSAIDs) prophylactically. In other words, I will not be taking ibuprofen before, during, or after races to ward off pain or to prevent pain from developing. I never have taken many NSAIDs period, and now I have new reason to avoid them: a report in the New York Times makes clear the health hazards of such practices. To quote the article:

"Those runners who'd popped over-the-counter ibuprofen pills before and during the race displayed significantly more inflammation and other markers of high immune system response afterward than the runners who hadn’t taken anti-inflammatories. The ibuprofen users also showed signs of mild kidney impairment and, both before and after the race, of low-level endotoxemia, a condition in which bacteria leak from the colon into the bloodstream."

Yikes! The article concludes that NSAIDs are appropriate only when a person suffers inflammation and pain from acute injury. Some would even dispute that, at least as a first resort, preferring instead the age old recommendation of RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Whereas NSAIDs reduce pain, natural practices such as RICE give a body the relief it needs to heal.

Right now I am running injury free -- always a cause for celebration, appreciation, and gratitude. But if and when discomforts begin, I will not be trying to mask or run through the pain with ibuprofen in my system. The risks are just too great. I hope you will do the same.

Coaching Inquiries: What's your pattern when it comes to NSAIDs? What natural approaches do you try first? How can you be more attentive to and respectful of your body? How you can you push your body to the limit without going over the top? How can you find a rhythm of work and rest that will keep you going for life?

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

Write a Gratitude Letter

Last week I encouraged you to speak out loud or to write down the things you are grateful. Big things. Little things. Lots of things. A few things. Daily. Weekly. Whenever. The more we can acknowledge and celebrate the good stuff, the better off we are.

Positive psychologists have been researching the effect of all this, and it's demonstrable. If you want to improve your life, starting by framing the positive. Another way to do that is to write a gratitude letter. We don't have to wait until someone dies to think of how they have contributed to our well being. We can do it right now, and we can write a letter of thanks.

Assuming the person that comes to mind is still alive, we can write that letter and deliver it to them either personally or by mail. The more personal the better when it comes to the letter's impact. A gratitude visit, with no intention other than to frame the positive, is a powerful experience.

A hand-written letter can also be very touching. In this day and age, when everything is becoming electronic, a hand-written gets more rather than less attention. I've been on both the receiving and the giving side of these letters, and I know what a difference they make. When one comes in the mail, they brighten up my entire day. When I send one, I also feel good.

Framing the positive is like that. It benefits both the giver the receiver. There really is no better way to live.

Coaching Inquiries: Who has made a positive difference in your life? How could you frame that difference in appreciative ways? How could you share that difference with them, through memory and action? What steps would you like to take right now?

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Keep a Gratitude Journal

We don't do it every night, in fact, we go through spurts where we don't do it at all, but we do it often enough to qualify as one of our habits: my wife and I keep a gratitude journal. At the end of day, as we lie in bed, before we go to sleep, we each say out loud three things we appreciate about our day. As we say them, we record them in a dated journal. From time to time, we review and read past entries out loud in order to celebrate our life journey.

That was easy to do this past week, since we just celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. We saw a romantic movie, "The Time Traveler's Wife," after which I broke with the Optimum Wellness Prototype to enjoy my favorite dairy product: a banana malt. What fun! Even in ordinary times, however -- when I'm staying on my diet -- as well as in hard times -- when I'm facing life's challenges -- the practice of speaking and writing down our appreciations makes a difference.

That's because the practice focuses the mind and enhances the experience. We are not just going mindlessly through life. We are, rather, appreciating life as a gift. That is, indeed, why it's called the present. The more appreciation we cultivate the more reality shifts in that direction. It seems to be how life works. Some even call it a "spiritual law." What we appreciate, appreciates. So find things to celebrate that you would like to develop further in your life. The more you notice and appreciate them, the more they will grow.

Coaching Inquiries: What three things can you celebrate right now in your life and work? What's stopping you from writing them down? How might you develop appreciation routines on a day-to-day basis? Who could you do those with?

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Organic Dry Egg Whites

Many of you know that I like to start my day with a fruit smoothie that includes protein, healthy fat, and enough fiber to have my recipe gain the nickname of a Fruit Chewy.

You can access that recipe, including all my suppliers, as well as six other recipes by going to the recipe section of our website: www.LifeTrekCoaching.com/recipes. Recently it was time for me to reorder my egg white protein, and the shipment came with an information sheet that I would like to pass along. First, a word about the nutritional value of egg white protein powder. As a whole food, there is no more nutritionally complete protein powder on the market. Egg white protein powder has no fat, virtually no carbohydrates, and a full spectrum of amino acids, including L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine, L-Lysine, L-Methionine, L-Phenylalanine, L-Threonine, L-Alanine, L-Arginine, L-Aspartic Acid, L-Glutamic Acid, L-Glycine, L-Histidine, L-Proline, and L-Serine. 1/4 cup (20 gm, 60 CC) contains about 75 calories, 16 grams of protein, no cholesterol, and more than 25% of the recommended daily value of Riboflavin (B2).

Dry egg whites are a perfect way for vegetarians (but not vegans) to meet their nutritional requirements. Indeed, egg whites contain over 40 different proteins, making it one of the highest-quality proteins on the market. Better than whey, soy, rice, and other vegetable powders. The trick, then, is to find the best quality product on the market with no additives from happy, organic, free-range chickens. It took me many years to find such a supplier, but I eventually located Farmer's Organic Foods International (FOF) in Blair, Wisconsin.

How's this for a naturally simple process: after collecting the eggs they separate the yolks from the egg whites and then they spray the egg whites in a fine mist into a heat-controlled room. When the mist hits the warm air it turns to a powder and falls to the floor where it is sifted through a mesh screen to generate a uniformly small particle size. That's it. There's no more processing, unless you include scooping it up and packaging it. I purchase the 1-pound sample packs, although it can also be purchased in 50-pound cartons. The product is stable up to two years when stored at room temperatures below 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).

In addition to putting this protein in my morning fruit smoothies, I also make up my own sports drink, combining the egg white protein powder with HEED, a high-energy electrolyte carbohydrate powder from Hammer Nutrition, in a 1:4 ratio. That 1:4 ratio is proven to enhance endurance over pure carbohydrate drinks, gels, and chews. In case you want to try this yourself, you mix 1 pound of the egg white powder together with 2 large bottles (4 pounds) of HEED. I prefer the Lemon-Lime flavor, although they also have Strawberry, Melon, and Mandarin Orange.

Want to learn more or want to order the FOF egg white powder for yourself? Go to www.organiceggproducts.com for information, and to the Specialty Product area for ordering. You can also email them or call them in the USA at (608) 989-2500. It's a great way to start your day.

Coaching Inquiries: How do you start your day when it comes to nutrition? What are your sources of protein? What do you do for energy when you are exercising for extended periods of time? How could egg white protein become a regular part of your routine? Who else could you tell about these helpful products?

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The End of Overeating

I enjoyed the book review of Dr. Kessler's recent book, The End of Overeating, in the New York Times titled "How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains" by Tara Parker-Pope. If you don't have time to read the book, I encourage you to read the article. Here's a few snippets for those who don't even have time to do that:

In "The End of Overeating," Dr. Kessler finds some similarities between the tobacco industry and the food industry, which has combined and created foods in a way that taps into our brain circuitry and stimulates our desire for more.

Dr. Kessler isn’t convinced that food makers fully understand the neuroscience of the forces they have unleashed, but food companies certainly understand human behavior, taste preferences and desire. In fact, he offers descriptions of how restaurants and food makers manipulate ingredients to reach the aptly named "bliss point." Foods that contain too little or too much sugar, fat or salt are either bland or overwhelming. But food scientists work hard to reach the precise point at which we derive the greatest pleasure from fat, sugar and salt.

Foods rich in sugar and fat are relatively recent arrivals on the food landscape, Dr. Kessler noted. But today, foods are more than just a combination of ingredients. They are highly complex creations, loaded up with layer upon layer of stimulating tastes that result in a multisensory experience for the brain. Food companies "design food for irresistibility," Dr. Kessler noted. "It’s been part of their business plans."

One of his main messages is that overeating is not due to an absence of willpower, but a biological challenge made more difficult by the overstimulating food environment that surrounds us. "Conditioned hypereating" is a chronic problem that is made worse by dieting and needs to be managed rather than cured, he said. And while lapses are inevitable, Dr. Kessler outlines several strategies that address the behavioral, cognitive and nutritional factors that fuel overeating.

You'll have to read the book to get Kessler's prescription, but it's not a quick fix and not for the faint of heart. It takes a strong desire to be well and then a clear plan for getting the necessary nutrition and exercise our bodies need. The LifeTrek Optimal Wellness Prototype is one way to do that, and I encourage you to give it a try.

Coaching Inquiries: How many processed foods do you eat? How many raw and whole food do you eat? How could you structure your routines and your environments to eat better? Who do you know who might be interest in joining you on the question? Why not give them a call, right now?

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Voice Dialogue

Hal and Sidra Stone first developed the voice dialogue process in 1972. It has continued to evolve ever since, and their website includes an abundant set of resources and training opportunities. Building on the line from Walt Whitman's poem, "I am large, I contain multitudes", the Stones include the following paragraph on their website describing their goals and process:

"Each of us 'contains multitudes'. We are made up of many selves, identifying with some and rejecting others. This over-identification with some selves and the loss of wholeness that comes from the rejection of others, can create imbalances and blind spots. This work is about embracing all the selves. This dance of the selves is an amazing process and we see the dynamics of the world around us shift as our internal world changes."

In addition to a live "dream room", their website includes many articles and resources. Some of the titles includes: "The Basic Elements of Voice Dialogue, Relationship and the Psychology of Selves their Origins and Development, The Dance of the Selves in Relationship, The Inner Critic, A Professional Point of View -- the Psychology of Selves, Voice Dialogue -- Discovering Our Selves, Judgment and What to Do with It, and Partnering: A New Kind of Relationship."

I encourage you to check out the website and see what it has to offer.

Coaching Inquiries: What do you have to learn from your many selves? How can you come into a more positive relationship with your many selves? How can the conversation lead to an authentic sense of wholeness? Who can you talk with to get started on the dialogue?

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

Focusing

What is going on with you? What is your body-mind trying to tell you? How might you get in touch with these messages as a way of healing and relieving stress? One method developed in the 1960s by Eugene Gendlin, at the University of Chicago, is called Focusing. Here is a Focusing process defined by two of Gendlin's students, Peter Campbell and Edwin McMahon. There's no way to get all the nuances or to practice it effectively from this outline, but it will give you a sense of how the process works:

1. Get quiet inside.
2. Ask yourself, "What feels like it most needs listening to inside me right now?" Take time to notice what that is. Notice where you feel it and how it feels in your body.
3. Ask yourself, "Is it OK to be with this right now?" If the answer is YES, continue with 4 and 5. If the answer is NO, ask yourself, "Can I be with my feeling of not wanting to be with this?" If that is still not acceptable, then ask yourself, "What can I be with?"
4. If the issue is one that doesn't feel good, sense whether you can give it some caring-presence. Notice how it feels to be with it this way. Then, ask yourself:
5. "Can I let myself feel the whole thing in an open, gentle way, waiting for something to come -- a word, a feeling, an image, a memory -- that fits the way it feels?" If the answer is YES, go to 6. If the answer is NO, ask yourself, "Is it OK to be with the feeling of not wanting to get near it?"
6. If something comes, notice how this feels in your body (don't just try to figure it out with your head). If it's OK to continue, stay with the body-feel of whatever came, allowing your inner story to unfold until it feels right to stop.
7. If nothing comes, or you have to stop before finishing, always promise this unfinished place that you will come back to listen again. If it helps, ask whatever feels incomplete inside: "How do you need me to be with you until you are ready to tell me your story?"
8. If something has unfolded, take time to notice the difference in how it feels now as contrasted with how it felt when you started. Allow time to savor and especially note the body-feel of that change. Finally, you might want to linger in gratitude with the feel of this gifted movement before stopping.

Would you like to learn more? You can read their book: Bio-Spirituality: Focusing As A Way To Grow, read a description of the process at Focusing.org, or work directly with a Focusing Trainer.

Coaching Inquiries: When has your body spoken to you? What would assist you to get quiet enough to listen? Is there anything pressing that you want to focus on? Is there anything vague or subtle that may be stirring? How could you integrate these sensations into your personality and consciousness? What would assist you to move forward with joy?

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

Positive Psychology Tips

One of the most popular classes at Harvard University is a course called Positive Psychology, taught by Tal Ben-Shahar, which focuses on topics such as "happiness, self-esteem, empathy, friendship, love, achievement, creativity, music, spirituality, and humor". Last September I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Ben-Shahar at a conference where he summarized some of the current research on how to be happy. I wrote a Provision about that myself a couple of years ago that continues to be quite popular.

So what does current research recommend? Here's a quick summary as reported in the June 2009 issue of Consumer Reports on Health:

1. Count the positive. People who literally counted their blessings had a greater sense of well-being in several studies conducted by researchers at the University of Miami and the University of California, Davis.
   
2. Be thankful. People experience a better mood for up to a month after they gave a letter of gratitude to someone who had been kind to them.
   
3. Make friends. Chronic loneliness is associated with higher rates of high blood pressure, inactivity, smoking, and stress, according to several studies.
   
4. Volunteer. People who donated an average of four hours a week to good causes reported a greater sense of optimism, self-esteem, and sociability, a February 2009 Australian study found.
   
5. Focus on the present. Employees who participated in an eight-week meditation course based on mindfulness, or focusing on the here and now, reported less anxiety -- and brain scans showed greater activity in the region associated with happiness even four months after the course ended.
   
6. Follow your passion. Too often we "give up the things we enjoy and end up with a very thin life," says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., a psychology professor a Claremont on Graduate University in California. So identify what you love doing, or want to try, then do it.
   
7. Move. Exercise helps give you a sense of control and can ease depression as effectively as medication.
   
8. Laugh. That may reduce stress, help maintain a healthy immune system, and improve arterial blood flow.

Coaching Inquiries: How many of these eight are part of your life on a regular basis? Which ones would you like to pay more attention to? How could you develop some daily happiness habits? Who could you talk to clarify your thinking and make some commitments for moving forward?

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

Sleeping Positions

A recent article on sleeping positions in body + soul magazine identifies the three most common, troublesome sleeping styles:

1. Sleeping on your side with arm under your head. Negatively impacts neck, shoulders, arms, and fingers. Fixes: Do shoulder stretches when you first wake up. Look for a pillow that fills the space between your ear and the outer edge of your shoulder when you're lying on your side. Also, sleep with a small pillow between your knees.
   
2. Sleeping on your stomach. Negatively impacts low back, neck, and lungs. Fixes: Stop sleeping on your stomach; it's the worst position for your spine. Switch to side sleeping with a body pillow if you can't learn to sleep on your back. Do side stretches and bridge poses when you first wake up.
   
3. Sleeping on your back with a big pillow. Negatively impacts neck, throat, and chest. Fixes: Do neck releases and lie flat on a mat on the floor with a rolled up blanket or towel placed horizontally under your shoulder blades when you first wake up. If you must have a pillow, make it as thin as possible.

So what's the recommended sleeping position for restorative rest? Sleeping on your back with no pillow. That keeps your spine in alignment, letting your body heal while you sleep.

Coaching Inquiries: What positions do you tend to sleep in? How could you get in the habit of stretching when you first wake up? What's keeping you from sleeping in the recommended position? Why not try falling asleep in that position tonight?

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

Self-Compassion

There are many resources on the web regarding self-compassion. I like the website developed by Kristin Neff, Ph.D., an Associate Professor in the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Here is what Dr. Neff has to say about the three elements of self-compassion:

1. Self-kindness. Self-compassion entails being warm and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain or flagellating ourselves with self-criticism. Self-compassionate people recognize that being imperfect, failing, and experiencing life difficulties is inevitable, so they tend to be gentle with themselves when confronted with painful experiences rather than getting angry when life falls short of set ideals. People cannot always be or get exactly what they want. When this reality is denied or fought against suffering increases in the form of stress, frustration and self-criticism. When this reality is accepted with sympathy and kindness, greater emotional equanimity is experienced.
   
2. Common humanity. Frustration at not having things exactly as we want is often accompanied by an irrational but pervasive sense of isolation -- as if "I" were the only person suffering or making mistakes. All humans suffer, however. The very definition of being "human" means that one is mortal, vulnerable and imperfect. Therefore, self-compassion involves recognizing that suffering and personal inadequacy is part of the shared human experience -- something that we all go through rather than being something that happens to "me" alone. It also means recognizing that personal thoughts, feelings and actions are impacted by "external" factors such as parenting history, culture, genetic and environmental conditions, as well as the behavior and expectations of others. Thich Nhat Hahn calls the intricate web of reciprocal cause and effect in which we are all imbedded "interbeing." Recognizing our essential interbeing allows us to be less judgmental about our personal failings.
   
3. Mindfulness. Self-compassion also requires taking a balanced approach to our negative emotions so that feelings are neither suppressed nor exaggerated. This equilibrated stance stems from the process of relating personal experiences to those of others who are also suffering, thus putting our own situation into a larger perspective. It also stems from the willingness to observe our negative thoughts and emotions with openness and clarity, so that they are held in mindful awareness. Mindfulness is a non-judgmental, receptive mind state in which one observes thoughts and feelings as they are, without trying to suppress or deny them. We cannot ignore our pain and feel compassion for it at the same time. At the same time, mindfulness requires that we not be "over-identified" with thoughts and feelings, so that we are caught up and swept away by negative reactivity.

You can read a whole lot more, including 30 journal articles and book chapters, by visiting www.self-compassion.org.

Coaching Inquiries: What would assist you to be more self-compassionate? Who could you rely on as an empathy buddy? How could you more fully embrace the goodness life has to offer? How could you accept life from the posture of mindful awareness?

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

Stand By Me Video

Want to renew your energy right now? Then turn up the volume on your speakers and go to http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741.

The clip is a wonderful music video based on the classic song, "Stand By Me", originally released in 1955 by The Staple Singers and released again in 1961 by the Drifters.

The video is an amazing composite of different singers and musicians from different places around the world all singing the same song. The finished product is tremendous and, for me, it's made even more fun by the fact that I've seen the first artist, Roger Ridley, performing live on the Third Street Promenade of Santa Monica. How fun!

Coaching Inquiries: What songs renew your energy and zest for life? When was the last time that you sat back and enjoyed them? How could you get more of the music your love into your life?

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

Being In Flow

How do we know if we are in flow? In the March 24, 2009 edition of HEALTHbeat, a publication of Harvard Medical School, researchers identified the following five characteristics:

1. You lose awareness of time. You aren’t watching the clock, and hours can pass like minutes. As filmmaker George Lucas puts it, talent is “a combination of something you love a great deal and something you can lose yourself in -- something that you can start at 9 o’clock, look up from your work and it’s 10 o’clock at night....”
   
2. You aren’t thinking about yourself. You aren’t focused on your comfort, and you aren’t wondering how you look or how your actions will be perceived by others. Your awareness of yourself is only in relation to the activity itself, such as your fingers on a piano keyboard, or the way you position a knife to cut vegetables, or the balance of your body parts as you ski or surf.
   
3. You aren’t interrupted by extraneous thoughts. You aren’t thinking about such mundane matters as your shopping list or what to wear tomorrow.
   
4. You are active. Flow activities aren’t passive, and you have some control over what you are doing.
   
5. You work effortlessly. Flow activities require effort (usually more effort than involved in typical daily experience). Although you may be working harder than usual, at flow moments everything is “clicking” and feels almost effortless.

Coaching Inquiries: What activities get you into flow? How could you do them more often? How could you modify the activities you do right now to make flow more likely?

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

Understanding Exercise Benefits

Exertion and recovery figure prominently in my list of ten universal needs. Exercise, broadly understood, is not a strategy. It is a need. It is universal. It is something we require in order to be fully alive. So, too, with recovery. The magic lies in the rhythm of the two.

Last week I shared with you ten suggestions from the Mayo Clinic for overcoming exercise barriers. Today, I share their list of five benefits that accrue from regular exercise:

1. Helps prevent disease -- Regular exercise reduces your risk of developing illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancers of the colon, prostate, uterine lining (endometrium) and breast.
2. Helps maintain your independence -- Regular exercise improves your balance, which can reduce your chance of falling and help you retain your independence longer.
3. Increases life expectancy -- The more active you are, the longer you may live.
4. Boosts your immune system -- Researchers have found a link between regular exercise and improved immune function.
5. Gives you energy -- Lack of energy is largely a result of inactivity. Endurance exercises improve stamina and energy. After just a few weeks in a walking program, for example, most people find they have more energy.

The article notes that regular exercises can also enhance sleep, improve sexual health by increasing energy, help with weight loss, help maintain muscle tone, improve mental function, ease anxiety and depression, reduce stress, and improve mood and self-esteem.

What's not to like! Perhaps it's time to make the exertion-recovery spectrum a more active part of your everyday life.

Coaching Inquiries: On the continuum between exertion and recovery, where do you fall? Do you suffer more from overtraining or undertraining? How could achieve a better rhythm between the two? What strategies have worked for you in the past? How can you develop more successful strategies today?

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

Overcoming Exercise Barriers

I went out this morning for a 15-mile run. When I mentioned to a friend what fun that was, she replied that that sure didn't sound like fun to her. There's that difference between needs and strategies again! (Exercise and a 15-Mile Run) If a 15-mile run doesn't sound like fun to you, then perhaps you will appreciate the following ten suggestions from the Mayo Clinic for overcoming exercise barriers:

1. Lack of time -- Break activity into shorter periods, such as 10-minute walks. Exercise while watching TV.
2. Boredom -- Do a variety of activities and change your routine occasionally.
3. Inconvenience -- Choose activities that require minimal facilities and equipment. Take the stairs at work or park further from your destination.
4. Weather -- Choose indoor activities or mall walking.
5. Lifestyle changes -- When going through major life changes or stressful times, consider a moderate program of physical activity.
6. Travel -- Check out fitness facilities at your destination. Walk around the airport terminal. Work out in your hotel room with exercises that don't require equipment.
7. Injury -- To prevent injury, warm up and cool down properly. Rest when need. If you are injured, ask your doctor what you can still do.
8. Illness -- You may be able to work out at a reduced intensity. Check with your health care provider if you are unsure.
9. Overtraining -- Vary your exercises, including their order and intensity. Increase the length and intensity of your workouts gradually. Include rest days in your schedule.
10. Lack of facilities -- Choose activities you can do with minimal equipment.

These are excellent ideas and excellent topics for a coaching conversation. Let us know if we can assist you to overcome your exercise barriers!

Coaching Inquiries: What does your routine look like when it comes to exercise and physical activity? What value do you see in becoming more active? What barriers seem to get in your way? How can you overcome those barriers? Who do you know who could serve as a role model, mentor, and friend?

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

Human Hair Fertilizer

For those eco-friendly souls concerned about chemical fertilizers, you may find the following story interesting as reported on the Discovery Channel:

A new study adds human hair to a growing list of waste products that can boost crop growth. The list already includes cow manure, sewage sludge, and sheep wool.

"We concluded that human hair can release a sufficient amount of nutrients to support crops," said agricultural scientist Valtcho Zeliazkov of Mississippi State University in Verona. "This is a waste material with clear benefits for producers and the environment."

The idea is not entirely new. In fact, hair-based fertilizer is already commercially available. A Florida-based company called SmartGrow, for one, sells hair-containing mats that gardeners place beneath or on top of their plants.

How's that for a creative and, for some, a little creepy way to use the hair that piles up on salon floors every day! You never know where green will go.

Coaching Inquiries: What level of consciousness do you bring to eco-friendly concerns? How can you participate more fully in the green revolution? Who can serve as a mentor, example, or coach for you? How can you make it so?

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What Motivates You?

Although it won't be released until January 27, 2009, Tamara Lowe's new book, Get Motivated!: Overcome Any Obstacle, Achieve Any Goal and Accelerate Your Success with Motivational DNA, was featured in the January-February 2009 issue of body + soul magazine. Based on an eight-year study of more than 10,000 participants, Lowe reports that her research team found that a combination of six factors motivates people, each to varying degrees: productivity, connection, stability, variety, and internal and external awards. Here is a brief description of each:

• Productivity: Classic "Type A" personalities. Driven to get things done. Extraordinary will-power and self-disciple. Bold, self-assured, decisive, and wired for leadership. Fast-paced and task-oriented. Mantra: "Get it done yesterday."
  
• Connection: Loyal, empathetic, and supportive. Driven to build relationships. Rather fit in than stand out. Responsive to the needs of others. Find happiness in making others happy. Fueled by quality time with family, friends, social work environments, and open-ended timeframes. Mantra: "Don't go it alone."
  
• Stability: Practical, careful, and consistent. Fulfilled by predictable and safe routines. Great with schedules, systems, and organization. Value accuracy and rely on logic. Mantra: "Slow and steady."
  
• Variety: Dynamic, upbeat, and creative. Fulfilled by novelty and imaginative adventures. Not flustered by rapid transitions or last-minute modifications. Able to shift gears and turn on a dime. Mantra: "It has to be fun."
  
• Internal: Focused on mission and meaning. Inspired by a sense of contribution. Psychological pay is of primary importance. Sets worthwhile goals and seeks private recognition / feedback. Mantra: "If it's for the greater good, then it's worth doing."
  
• External: Focused on hard work and tangible assets. Inspired by feats of strength and record-breaking wins. Compensation, perks, and privileges come with the territory. Mantra: "Work hard, play hard."

In the article, Lowe goes on to identify some of the demotivators for each type, as well as strategies to get their groove back. Coaches do many of these things naturally, in the course of our work with clients. But anyone can become aware of and learn to work more successfully with their motivators.

Coaching Inquiries: What motivates you? What types do you identify with most? What types do you identify with least? What strategies work for you when you are feeling unmotivated? Who assists you to get back on track?

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Quick Wins Paradox

In a recent edition of the Harvard Business Review, Mark E. Van Buren and Todd Safferstone wrote an intriguing article, The Quick Wins Paradox, on the keys to success for leaders transitioning into new roles. They identify five traps that new leaders tend to fall into:

1. Focusing too heavily on details.
2. Reacting negatively to criticism.
3. Intimidating others.
4. Jumping to conclusions.
5. Micromanaging.

To avoid these traps, the authors do not suggest that leaders stop focusing on quick wins. They rather suggest that leaders focus on "collective quick wins" -- accomplishments that make their teams look good. That's the key to great leadership. It's not showing off what you know, it's rather empowering those you know. The people skills of leaders make the difference between success and failure. Van Buren and Safferstone encourage leaders to:

1. Make people believers, not bystanders.
2. Understand uncertainty.
3. Show humility.
4. Learn about their teams.

I encourage you to read the entire article and to think about your own leadership, whatever the setting.

Coaching Inquiries: How much pressure do you feel to score a quick win in 2009? How can you make that win more about the team and less about you? Who could you brainstorm with to identify options and to set a course of action? How can you make sure everyone gets credit and on board?

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Health Revelations

Recently I received a list of "26 Health Revelations You Need To Know" from the doctors at Harvard Medical School. Here are a dozen that I found both interesting and useful, particularly at this time of year.

• The rumor that olive oil turns into "bad" trans fats when used in cooking just isn't true.
• Niacin (Vitamin B3) has been shown to lower "bad" LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and to increase "good" HDL cholesterol.
• Blood pressure pills are best taken first thing in the morning after getting up.
• Sudden and excessive sweating is a symptom of heart attack and the chief reason people seek help.
• Brisk walking (3-4 miles per hour) reduces heart disease in women as much as vigorous exercise.
• St. John's Wort was not shown to be effective for treating severe depression.
• Chronic hiccups can be associated with an underlying medical condition.
• Caffeine can linger in the body for up to 12 hours.
• Decaffeinating tea reduces the flavonoids content drastically.
• Sleeping on your stomach reduces snoring volume and frequency.
• Ibuprofen seems to cancel out aspirin's ability to protect the heart.
• The risk of obesity jumps almost 25% with each two-hour increase in daily television watching.

Given that healthy holidays = happy holidays, it behooves us all to know and to do what we can to get well, stay well, and be well.

Coaching Inquiries: On a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate your knowledge of the things that make for health and well being? How could you learn more? How could you be more proactive in taking care of yourself? What is one thing you could do right now to make it so?

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Happy Holidays

My friend and colleague from Wellcoaches Corporation, Margaret Moore (aka Coach Meg), recently published a piece on ten no-cost gifts that will elevate your happiness over the holidays. Her suggestions included:

• Express gratitude -- The simple act of thanking people can bring happiness and well-being. Saying thank you, as it turns out, is not just good manners; it's good for you, too. University of California Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons has found that grateful people tend to be more optimistic, a characteristic that boosts the immune system.
• Share precious time with others -- Your well-being is dependent on giving and sharing in ways that make a difference in the world. Your time is the most valuable thing you can share. Make someone her favorite home-cooked meal and don’t drop it at the door, savor it together.
• Give your time to see a movie, hike, walk, or visit a museum -- any fun outing together that is a simple pleasure and generates fond memories.
• Forgive -- Release negative emotions that follow you around like little rain clouds by forgiving those you love. You’ll both benefit.
• Memorialize it -- make an occasion to mark, share, and celebrate your forgiveness.
• Laugh -- Arrange times with people you care about to laugh by reminiscing about old times or enjoying favorite jokes. Watch a funny television show or movie. Laughter is infectious and safe to spread.
• Cherish family and friends -- Unconditional appreciation can make anyone feel like a million bucks. Be fully present and listen mindfully without a trace of judgment. Accept people you care about wholeheartedly as they are today. Often it is best to choose a close connection over being right.
• Say 'I love you' -- The ability to love and be loved is one of the character strengths that correlates most with happiness. Make the demonstration of your love unforgettable.
• Give a compliment -- You know how good you feel when someone gives you a compliment. Return the favor and feel good too.
• Pass along a family heirloom -- Give a sentimental gift to someone close, an old framed photo, a cherished book, a sweater, or trinket. The recipient will never forget a gift close to your heart.
• Give a "Freebie" certificate for an experience or service that would make a difference in someone’s life -- an exotic home-cooked meal, a cooking lesson, a hobby session, help organizing a closet, or babysitting duties.
• Create flow experiences -- Help friends and family engage in activities that bring them flow, a state of complete absorption in a challenging activity that uses one’s strengths and stretches one’s skills.

To read the whole article, go to Huliq News. To learn more about wellness coaching, go to CoachMeg.com.

Coaching Inquiries: On a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate your happiness quotient? What do you do that makes you smile? Which of Margaret's ideas would you like to adopt? Who could you call up and thank, right now?

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

Running Wisdom

I have long said that most running injuries are not running injuries at all, they are overweight injuries. Now I have support for that view from a report titled "Risk Factors and Mechanisms of Knee Injuries in Runners." Here's the abstract:

Injuries affect approximately 65% of all runners annually. Many of these injuries are considered overuse or chronic (e.g. plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis/strains, knee pain/injury, etc.). Interestingly, most of the information available on the factors responsible for injury is somewhat speculative since few studies have conclusively identified the mechanisms behind such injuries. In a recent study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers at Wake Forest University determined the relationship of some behavioral and physiological risk factors to knee joint stresses during running.

Twenty previously uninjured runners were assessed on numerous variables including quadriceps and hamstring flexibility, quadriceps or Q-angle, and height and weight. Researchers performed gait analysis to evaluate stride lengths and to determine tibio-femoral (knee) compressive loads, performed isokinetic strength testing on the knee extensors, and participants completed questionnaires.

Of the variables tested, researchers reported that poor hamstring flexibility, increased body weight, higher weekly mileage and greater concentric muscle strength all contributed to greater knee stress. Although previous studies have linked higher Q-angles to knee injuries in runners, the results of this and other studies question that link.

In addition, previous studies have shown strength training reduces patello-femoral forces, but the results of this study indicate that concentric strength increases tibio-femoral compression. Further studies are necessary to determine the balance of strength factors necessary to optimize knee joint health in runners. Based on current research trends, it seems as though it would be wise for runners to improve hamstring flexibility and to achieve an ideal body weight prior to increasing weekly mileage.

That last sentence is an understatement! I know I, for one, see a direct correlation between my own ease and enjoyment of running, not to mention injury prevention, and both flexibility and body weight. Perhaps you have noticed the same.

Coaching Inquiries: What assists you to be active, strong, and well? How can you improve your flexibility and body weight? What dynamic stretches and mindfulness exercises could assist you to become more happily engaged with life?

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Peak Performance

One of my favorite authors is Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, Blink, and now Outliers: The Story of Success. I cannot recommend his books highly enough. You can read about Outliers and listen to an interview with Gladwell by going to NPR.org.

You will also enjoy watching Gladwell talk about his research and findings on extraordinary success. With story and humor Gladwell confirms what my quotes on leadership have already represented: leaders are not cut from a special genetic cloth, they are rather the product of culture, opportunity, initiative, and persistence. Gladwell debunks the myth of anyone being "self-made" and substitutes, instead, the age-old correlation between effort and reward. I hope you watch the videos:

• Video One (5:02): http://www.bnet.com/2422-13950_23-246894.html
• Video Two (4:36): http://www.bnet.com/2422-13950_23-246904.html

Coaching Inquiries: Where do you want to go today? What ignites your passion for the possible? How can you become more committed to developing your talents? Who might enjoy the journey with you? If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Stoke the Positive

One of the leading researchers into positive psychology, Barbara Fredrickson, has published an article in the Huffington Post called, "Keep Stoking the Positivity -- Our Future Depends On It." Here are a few paragraphs.

"We need positivity, the complex web of causes and consequences of positive emotions, now more than ever. Not just to sugarcoat bitter news or distract us from gloom. We need positivity because we're different people when we're under its influence.

Pleasant emotions like hope, inspiration, joy, and well-earned pride literally open us. As the blinders of negativity fall away, we take in more of what surrounds us. We see both the forest and the trees. We appreciate the oneness that binds us instead of the barriers that divide us. Even race becomes irrelevant.

But that's not the half of it. Positivity's mental openness fertilizes just the sort of creative and integrative thinking that hard-to-find solutions and compromises are made of. With the throng of problems facing our nation and our new president, we sorely need this expansive thinking. In addition, when we think broadly we discover and build new skills, new alliances, and new resilience - which make us better prepared to handle future adversity. Even mild positive emotions, experienced regularly, set people on discernable trajectories of growth, making them better off next season than they are today.

Science suggests that when we experience genuine, heartfelt positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative emotions, we cross a psychological tipping point on the other side of which we function at our very best."

I couldn't agree more. Given our global economic problems, stoking the positive generates the very energies our world requires. Read the whole article at the Huffington Post.Coaching Inquiries: What assists you to stoke the positive? How can you keep the embers burning? Who can be your appreciative buddy on the trek of life?

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

Dynamic Stretching

The importance of dynamic rather than static stretching has been in the news lately (see, for example, the New York Times). Having written about this myself for many years, I am pleased to see the practice getting the attention it deserves.

To quote a few paragraphs from the New York Times' article: "Researchers now believe that some of the more entrenched elements of many athletes’ warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but actually bad for you. The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds -- known as static stretching -- primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them."

"In a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent. Also, stretching one leg’s muscles can reduce strength in the other leg as well, probably because the central nervous system rebels against the movements."

So what's a person to do? My 2004 Wellness Pathway, Stretch Walking, fits right in line with current recommendations. "The right warm-up," according to professional kinesiologists, "should do two things: loosen muscles and tendons to increase the range of motion of various joints, and literally warm up the body. When you’re at rest, there’s less blood flow to muscles and tendons, and they stiffen. Increasing body heat and blood flow makes tissues and tendons more compliant. Warm muscles and dilated blood vessels pull oxygen from the bloodstream more efficiently and use stored muscle fuel more effectively. They also withstand loads better."

The key is to warm up slowly and dynamically. My 2006 Wellness Pathway, Dynamic Warm Up, invokes the routine created by Ron Jones as an example of what one might do to warm up before a workout. The key is to warm up and then to ramp up the intensity. The body loves to move; with a little attention to your warm up technique you'll find it easier than ever to enjoy an active lifestyle and to reach your fitness goals.

Coaching Inquiries: What's your routine when it comes warming up and working out? How often are dynamic stretches part of your day? What changes would you like to make in the way you move your body? Who could assist you to stay on track with activity and exercise?

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