What a stunning woman...oh, that's me!

Here is a story of a woman who regained her life and health! She did it the same way I did!

If you want more info on how you can regain your life and/or reorient your life toward health - contact my health coach for a free consultation - ks.4life@comcast.net

Blessings and a healthy new year to you!

Bodysoul connect #2

 

In the midst of all the "preparations" for Christmas, the ones besides preparing room in my heart for Him, I am far too easily overwhelmed, sidetracked and find myself slipping down into a subtle malaise. While busily preparing for Christmas, I am missing the whole point of it...and certainly the joy of it. If I unjoyfully decorate, wrap gifts and am frustrated with the joyful and attentive, but dreadfully slow, checkout clerk then something's not quite right.


I'm saddened by how easily this happens - how much more I long to be meaningfully and joyfully present to each moment of my day. To treasure the moments...to practice what I preach.

So yesterday, I caught myself spinning down, down, downward ... and this was especially so after coming home from a multi-day media free retreat and being slammed by emails, unpaid bills, and Christmas planning.

I started sinking...until...

I put on some music and just started dancing!

That's right - not even Christmas music! There was a little Chris Tomlin, Bruce Hornsby and Gungor. And guess what...

Joy returned.
Joy spilled over!
Joy in my soul seemed to be released as I moved my body!

So today, take five minutes. Put on your favorite "feel good" music and move! Invite the whole family to frolic together...to let loose...and see if just maybe moving your body will release a deep joy in your soul.

Maybe intend to start each day between now and Christmas with a little dance...see if that makes any difference in your day. Let me know what happens!


Joy to the world...and heaven and nature sing...and dance...and frolic...

www.mysoulrefresh.com
www.mysoulrefresh.blogspot.com

Movement...a pondering about couch potato-ing in church

You and I were conceived in movement...
Even the sperm delightedly raced
to be one with the egg.
The victory dance began life...
In the womb, we frolicked and squiggled,
our bodies formed and began to explore these dark confines
these strange appendages.
We delighted to imprint our feet on our mother's bloated belly...
and each time we kicked,
we'd feel a warm hand, sometimes two,
come to marvel, delight
receive.
When we came out of the womb we wriggled...
expressing our discomfort, our shock, our exposure
and vulnerability.
We suckled, waggled, learned to smile, cry,
and wave our hands in joyful delight
as some ridiculous human tried to entertain us with cooing and
tickling and unintelligible sounds.
We learned to crawl - sometimes just backwards at first.
We learned to pull ourselves up,
take some steps,
fall,
pull ourselves up,
and before long we were being chased by mom and dad
as we toddled in discovery of our new world.
Within our first five years we delightedly ran,
did cherry drops,
climbed, swung
hop, skipped and jumped our way
on the playground
while pretending to be monkeys, pirates
and Spiderman.
Loud frolic - laughter, breathing, panting...
imagination,
full joy in the present moment.
Nothing much else mattered.

Movement gave us life...and enjoyment of participating in our world
movement gave us life...the ability to express our discomforts
or dreams.

Then we grew up...
and went to church.
And sat
in pews...
sometimes padded, sometimes stiff, archaic benches
seemingly designed for discomfort.
Still and with attentive decorum...
like an incommodious couch potato
observing without necessarily participating...
Unless of course you went to a liturgical church with
standing, kneeling, sitting, kneeling, standing, genuflecting, opening
a hymnal, a prayer book, another hymnal
kneeling, bowing
All in drole unison.
Boredom...for lack of movement...
lack of invitation to discover, laugh, cry
imagine.
Quintessential couch potatoes...
(now if only we had a remote control to fast forward
through
the preacher's homily.)
We sat ...trying not to squirm or swing our legs that
did not yet reach the floor so as not to
incur the wrath
of a disappointed brow.
We dared not giggle at the soloist's mis-pitched high note.
Instead we endured.
Until mom and dad went up for communion,
then Scotty and I would blow up my mom's gloves -
and giggle with a hushed glee
That's what I remember from church...


At church
We are nice...
proper...
orderly
still.

We are conceived in movement,
discover our world and bodies with movement,
are released to play and frolic and get out our energy...
in appropriate places...

I'm confused...when did worshiping the One
Who created us to move
become so staid...
so blandly potato-ish?


mybodyreFresh is a sister blog to www.mysoulrefresh.blogspot.com

The most important meal of the day...

well, all of them for sure. But if you're interested in weight loss, then don't skip breakfast!

Elisabetta Politi, RD, MPH, nutrition manager for the Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical School says that eating breakfast helps jump-stars your metabolism: "When you don't eat breakfast, you're actually fasting for 15 to 20 hours, so you're not producing the enzymes needed to metabolize fat to lose weight."

This isn't a license to go eat a 1000 calorie, high fat breakfast. 100-200 calories will do:

• scrambled eggs with 1 cup of veggies and an orange. A dash of tabasco will give it some nice zing and boost your metabolism.
• 1/2 whole wheat english muffin, poached egg, 1/2 cup berries.
• Sugar free muesli, 1/2 C skim milk, 1 cup berries or fruit.
• Oatmeal with added nuts and fruit.

In a study (by the National Weight Control Registry) of over 3000 adults who lost over 60 pounds and kept it off for over 5 years, eating breakfast was one of four common success factors, no matter which weight loss method was employed. (Wanna know the other 3 - email me at mybody4life@mysoulrefresh.com)

If you currently don't eat breakfast, is it because of lack of time? You'd rather sleep longer then eat breakfast? How about going to bed a bit earlier so you can get a good start to a good day? And yes, you might even want to call your mother and tell her she was right...breakfast IS the most important meal of the day!

mybodyrefresh is a sisterblog to www.mysoulrefresh.blogspot.com

bodysoul connect #1

Hand washing. We do it every day, multiple times a day. We learn this hygienic responsibility early on as a basic healthy habit. There are signs in almost every public restroom (in the United States that is) and during flu and cold season we're warned that one of our best defenses against catching and spreading colds is to wash our hands frequently.

I'm all for it!

I don't always wash "properly" though - in the habituation of something so familiar, I can mechanically go through the motions without paying attention to the invisible germs that will still be on my hands after I've rushed to move onto the next thing.

But this week, what would it be like to consciously pay attention to what might usually be a rote, mindless behavior. Each time you wash your hands, hold your hands under the running water and pay attention to how the water feels. Is it cold? Is it hot? Is it soothing? If you're stuck at one of those automatic faucets that doesn't like to stay on, pay attention to how you react to it shutting off on you. You might even listen in for a moment and ask God, "God, what is the deeper frustration within me?"

Try to let the water run over your hands for a minute or more...paying attention to how it feels. Take a few deep breaths (unless of course you're in a stinky facility...then skip that part!) And perhaps as you are lathering soap, you might ask God to reveal to you what things on the inside could use a little reFreshing cascade of water and a little scrub? Is there someone you need to forgive? Have you been neglectful of your own health and well-being? What needs cleansing and healing within you?

Maybe you can connect a prayer to your handwashing: "Lord, as the deer pants for water, so my soul thirsts for you..." (ps 42.1) 

You're sure to get a few looks if you're in public while lingering in the lavatory...but try and use what is a frequent daily activity to connect the actions of your body to the needs and condition of your soul.

Let me know what you discover!

mybodyreFresh is a sister blog to www.mysoulreFresh.blogspot.com and www.mysoulrefresh.com

What do Advent, New Year's and diets have in common?

Any guesses?

One thing that Advent, New Years and Weight Loss often have in common, is the desire for change.

There's something about the Advent season - a desire to focus in on the "true" meaning of Christmas and not get lost in the bustle of commercialism that kindles in our heart as we enter this season. And at New Years - many often think about resolutions of changes they want to make in their lives. Changes financially, physically with diet and exercise, and perhaps spiritually to deepen in connection with the innermost parts of our souls. With any weight loss program, obviously the desire to change health, eating and exercise is also there.

What is also often in common is an unnerving sense of regret....anyone else ever say things like:

• "This year I was going to 'do' Advent well and not get caught up in all the distractions." 
• "This year, I was really going to work out 5x a week...now I'm paying $50/month for a gym membership that I don't use...ugh..."
• "This year, I really wanted to lose the 3lbs a year I've gained since college...I lost the first half, but have gained it all back."

Why is this? Why is it so difficult to move toward transformation of the things we most want?

I'm sure some people have written volumes on this - or I'm sure you could find any number of motivational books and speakers and seminars and conferences to help you along your way toward lasting change. Maybe you've read some...I'd love to hear what has helped you.

For me...it has included some of the following elements:

1. My motivation has to be internal - not external. In other words, this desire to lose 60 pounds is not so I look better, and is not so much to avoid serious health issues that I was pre-disposed for (heart, diabetes etc). The motivation has to be more for a respect for God giving me breath...and the desire for me wanting to honor Him and me with being healthy - which, in phase I, includes losing weight. (As I transition to Phase II, it will involve developing more and more lifestyle habits of health.)
2. It requires an honest inventory of my current reality. Step 4 of any 12 step program is taking an honest moral inventory. It requires honestly looking in the mirror at who you've become, how you feel about it, and paying attention to what you wish was different. When I started Take Shape for Life, I took a health inventory that revealed I wasn't healthy, I was merely non-sick. How is your health? (Click here to take an online "How Healthy are You quiz?"
3. It requires me being in touch with what I want more than a temporary indulgence. When I started this Take Shape for Life journey, I merely wanted to lose weight. But with the help of my free health coach (anyone who does Take Shape for Life gets a free certified health coach to journey with them) I was challenged to dream of positive results I would have as a result of saying "Yes" to this program of health. Walking in the woods when I'm 80 - the ability to have the stamina and energy to be fully present in all of life - to live actively, thriving without the need for meds, Lord willing, to help me live life to the fullest. In moments of temptation (like at a recent trip to a winery) I could say "no" because I wanted something more. Over Thanksgiving I lost 2 pounds and didn't have that exhausted Turkey and fixin's hangover...because I identified what I want more!

• What do you want?
• What is your current reality?
• What do you want more than regret over an Advent that is rushed, a New Year's resolution that is failed or improved health that is sabotaged?

 I'd love to "dialogue" about the journey. Or if you are ready for true and lasting change, please don't hesitate to contact my health coach Kathryn for a free consultation!

Here's to health!

Please feel free to visit our sisterblog site: www.mysoulrefresh.com

Welcome to mybodyreFresh!

Welcome to the mybody-reFresh blog - a sisterblog of mysoulreFresh and unhurryUp!™

Our souls and bodies are deeply interconnected and though I have spent much of my life considering improving and deepening my inner and spiritual life, I have rather neglected my physical life. But there is something deeper, and very important - perhaps even lifesaving - to be discovered in seeing how body and soul relate! As I've investigated the web for more information about how the body and soul are connected, most of the info comes from what has typically been described as "Eastern" practices and religions. Why is it that the original middle Eastern relational wisdom of the One True God and pinnacle of His creation, humankind, is so neglectful in this area? Why are pastors some of the most obese professions in the United States? Something is wrong with this picture!

I am on a new journey...some of which has involved much needed weight loss (53 pounds in 5+ months) - I am very happy to report that I am no longer just "not sick" but I am healthy. And that feels amazing! And looks amazing! I'm still introducing the new me to me. But this journey is not just about losing the pounds. There is a deeper work going on as well - a so much more I need to discover about how important caring for my body (the declared "temple" of the Living God) is to my faith, my ministry, my family.

I dare not lead where I have not been - and I know I have much to learn. So I invite you on a journey of discovery - hopefully this little blog will help provide for you practical information and inspiration and encouragement as you seek to live unified in body, soul and spirit.

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions:
mybody4life@mysoulrefresh.com

and if you want to consider having a free health coach help guide your pathway to greater health, don't hesitate to contact my coach, Kathryn ks.4life@comcast.net


May you sense His Presence within you this day!

www.mysoulrefresh.com