Good morning! How are you feeling today?

• Refreshed from the weekend?
•  Grumpy that you’re back at work?
• Wishing you had a job?
•  Looking forward to the holidays?
• Dreading the holidays?
• Beating yourself up from a weekend binge?
• Practicing radical acceptance about said binge?
• Patting yourself on the back for a weekend of healthy eats and exercise?

It’s 3 degrees here in the Republic of Boulder, with about 6 inches of snow on the ground and a sky that looks like it’s going to start dumping any minute. This Monday morning I’m feeling super cosy. Typing by an (electric) fire, sipping some black tea and almond milk, and looking forward to my trip to Florida on Wednesday. Turquoise water and sunny skies will be a welcome change.

Ok, time to start your week off right. Ready for a breathing exercise?

Sit up straight in your chair, feet resting on the floor, palms resting face up on your thighs.

S L O W L Y begin to breathe in through your nose.

Pause, gently.

S L O W L Y breathe out through your mouth.

Pause, gently.

S L O W L Y begin to breathe in through your nose.

Pause, gently.

S L O W L Y breathe out through your mouth.

Pause, gently.

Repeat.

Again.

One more time.

Now, imagine a warm, cascading light starting at the top of your skull and oozing all the way down your body. Slowly. It relaxes every part it touches. Your skull relaxes and loosens. Your forehead smooths out. Your cheeks relax. Your jaw hangs. And so on. Flutter your eyes shut and spend a few minutes, S L O W L Y, imagining that light trickling down your neck, your arms, your trunk, through your pelvis, and down your legs. KEEP BREATHING.

Open your eyes, G E N T L Y.

Keep that feeling with you as you begin your Monday.

photo credit: leoniewise

What do these people have in common: J.K. Rowling, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Winston Churchill, Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, and Henry Ford? Besides being household names, these are only a handful of extremely successful people who credit FAILURE with making them achieve greatness.  Yep, failure.

So what, you may ask, does this have to do with health and weight loss? Simply this: The theories and practice of accepting failure can actually contain the seeds of success when it comes to transforming your health and body. This is because failure, scientists are learning, seems to be hardwired in the brain to equal learning–the more wrong we are, the quicker we learn. By utilizing this understanding, we can actually temper ourselves to setbacks and get the most out of them. Here are a few things that failure teaches us:

• Resiliency: Simply put, the more we fail, the more we understand that we are always a work in progress and nothing about our lives is fixed in stone–this includes our bodies, the way we eat, and the way we look. This gives us incredible freedom to change.  Instead of beating ourselves up every time we slip up with our diet or because we didn’t know something about what makes us healthy, we see it as a learning opportunity. And the more we learn about ourselves, the more we know in the future what will and won’t work for us.  For our brains, failure is all about making our thinking more efficient. So you will learn that eating every three hours doesn’t work for you and move on, each time getting closer to the real changes that will transform your health.

• Opportunity: Successful people are people who have put themselves out there and tried whatever they could get there hands on. They are not more talented, or smarter, or luckier than anybody else–they have simply tried more and different things until something worked. They aren’t afraid of failure, of falling down. They know how to get back up. Apply this to your own life–what would you try if you were not  afraid of failing?  Just take the example of exercise. We know that it is one of the most important lifestyle choices in being healthy, but it isn’t always easy to find the perfect sport or activity. For those of us who aren’t afraid of failing, trying everything is seen as an opportunity–so get out there and try it–run, bicycle, do aerobics, swim, yoga, rock climb and find what you are passionate about. It’s out there just waiting to transform your life.

• Perspective: Finally, becoming fearless in the face of failure gives us perspective, that is, where we are now is tempered by where we have been and that has the amazing ability of putting our fears, our cravings, and our emotions in their proper place. Perspective soothes our anxieties; it calms us. And when we are calm our emotions cease to rule us.  We know that if we slip up and eat junk food we are not bad people, we are simply having an off day and we can recommit ourselves the next day. If we go two weeks without exercising we don’t throw in the towel, we shrug, love ourselves, and get out there at the next opportunity. Perspective allows us to understand that our lives are made up of a million small moments, that we will always fall down, and that it is the getting up that is important, the constant getting back up that makes the difference between an average life and one that is extraordinary.

photo credit: genome4hire

When embracing your own ability and need to fail, think about how children learn. Take running, for example. We are not born with the ability to run, we learn it slowly. First we learn to roll over, then we learn to push ourselves up, then crawl, then stand, then walk, and finally run. Throughout this whole process, we fall down over and over again and over and over again we stand back up and we keep falling now and again throughout our whole lives.  So let’s keep the perseverence and innocence of children in everything we do and be willing to put ourselves out there because that is how we learn, always.

photo credit: Y0si

The nervous  system,  made up of cells, tissues, and organs that regulates the body’s response to internal and external stimuli, is extremely important for the high-maintenance functioning of the body.  In humans it consists of the brain, spinal cord, nerves, ganglia and receptors on/of  certain organs.  For years now, scientists have shown that the nervous system plays a  role in weight gain, one that may be genetically predisposed, but may also be tweaked by following certain habits. The neurotransmitter seratonin, familiar to most people because of the role it (or a lack of it) plays in clinical depression, also has something to do with the way fat is metabolized in the body and the way our bodies interpret hunger. The more seratonin in the body, the less appetite we have and the quicker fat is metabolized. The nervous system is also responsible for the creation of other hormones that affect our weight–such as adrenaline and cortisol. Some ways to soothe and support your nervous system:

Sleep. Getting a full night of sleep (7-9hours) is actually considered by many experts to be the number one change you can make to improve your health. Sleep removes waste products from your nervous system, particularly excess hormones that lead to weight gain.  A chronic lack of sleep has been proven to lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

If you have trouble sleeping, the herb valerian is your best bet–potent and gentle at the same time, it works wonders for fighting insomnia. If you are just too busy, try taking cat naps throughout the day–fifteen minutes to a half an hour really can add up. Whatever you do, however, don’t try to make up for sleep deprivation by sleeping all day on the weekends. This can actually make insomnia worse since it disrupts your sleep-wake cycle.

Chill out, man.  Meditation is a proven nervous system soother. It increases the levels of alpha brain waves, proven to relax the entire nervous system. It is also thought that meditation can help increase the seratonin in your brain, decreasing depression and weight gain. Meditation can take many forms–from simple Zazen sitting meditation, to walking meditation, running, or listening to soothing music.

Eat your Oats and Stuff.  Including nerve friendly food and herbs in our diet is another tried and true way of relaxing our nervous system and supporting it at the same time. Oats–in the form of oatmeal or oatstraw tea is considered a tremendous nervine tonic. In addition, the fiber in oatmeal is a great weight loss aid and helps lower cholesterol and lessens the risk for heart disease.

To increase seratonin in the brain try taking a supplement of St. John’s Wort, Siberian Ginseng, and/or licorice–all are proven natural anti-depressents that help with nervous system support and healthy eating and metabolic patterns.

photo credit: aussiegall

For the Navajo, as with many native cultures, the concepts of beauty and harmony are interlinked. Dis-ease comes when things are out of balance. This lack of balance can stem from universal forces such as elements and weather, problems within one’s community, or imbalance within one’s own self. The Navajo have a ceremony called “The Beauty Way” which heals an ill individual by restoring harmony.

photo credit: SuperFantastic

How many times have I spoken with a client or another interested individual about their own health concerns. “I’m overweight”, they say, or “I am exhausted”. It doesn’t take long before their pattern of imbalance is revealed. Our modern society is a recipe for disharmony. Long hours at work, fast food, fluorescent lighting, traffic, pollution…what we encounter on a daily basis sets us up for dis-ease. Western researchers are beginning to be able to quantify the effects of what they call “stress” but native people have understood this concept all along. Our bodies and spirits were build to rest in a balance. Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health will only thrive when we nourish each of these dimensions.

Attaining health is not about following some set, rigid prescription of rules. It’s not about eating only salads or meat to lose weight, or exercising 3 hours per day at the gym. It’s about being gentle with yourself and giving yourself what you need. Some days, finding balance means foregoing the exercise and relaxing on the couch.

What does walking in beauty mean to you? Our culture is so sped up that we tend to think of “feeling good” as “getting high” – on food, drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, gambling, or any other experience we can use to get a quick hit. But what touches your heart and makes it sing? What makes you feel peaceful and joyful? Here’s some of my best weight loss advice: I can talk to you till I’m blue in the face about protein at 5 hour intervals, but the best way to attain physical health is by taking a walk in the Beauty Way. How can you be gentle with yourself today?

And do not look outside yourself for the leader.”

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a good time!”

“There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.

“Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

“The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

photo credit: FreeWine

photo credit: omnos

Want to avoid getting sick this winter? The answer might lie in meditation. Researchers have found that people with an active meditation practice have been found to have higher amounts of antibodies in their bodies, leading to improved immune response and giving them the edge when it comes to fighting off seasonal colds and flu. Along with ramping up the immune system, meditation has been found to balance mood, lose weight, increase the ability to handle pain, and even protect the brain against ageing. Here is a quick introduction to different kinds of meditation:

Zen Meditation: Also known as Zazen, or sitting meditation, is perhaps the most well known of all meditations and is practiced by Zen monks. It involves sitting in a cross–legged position with the hands in a mudra, or prayer gesture and a very straight spine. You breathe deeply from the belly and focus on the the breathing. When thoughts arise you acknowledge them but don’t fixate on them. Let them go and return to the breath. If you wander off into your thoughts come back to the breath. Sometimes it is helpful to have a mantra or special word to repeat or count numbers to keep from thinking. This is one of the simplest kinds of meditation and can be done anywhere.

Walking Meditation: Easier for many people than sitting meditation, walking meditation is just as simple and has the added benefit of exercise. It can be done outdoors or inside. It can involve walking in a pattern–a square or circle, walking a labrynth shape (which is found in many churches and meditation centers), or just free walking outside. It involves keeping the eyes open, focusing on the breath and the body, feeling the ground beneath your feet, and releasing thoughts instead of grabbing them.

Kundalini Yoga: Kundalini Yoga is a physical and meditative discipline, comprising a set of techniques that use the mind, senses and body to create a communication between “mind” and “body”. Kundalini yoga focuses on psycho-spiritual growth and the body’s potential for maturation, giving special consideration to the role of the spine and the endocrine system.  It consists of kriyas, which are sets of exercises that help to balance the body and the mind, and different meditations that involve music, mantras, mudras, and visualization. These meditations range from ‘Meditation for Prosperity’ to ‘Meditations for Peace’. They can last anywhere from between 5 minutes to several hours and some have even been adopted by psychotherapists, after rigorous clinical trials, into the treatments of obsessive-compulsive disorder and chemical addictions. Here is a list of popular kriyas and meditations, though finding kundalini classes in your community is highly recommended.

Although these are tried and true ways of engaging in a healthy meditation program, don’t overlook other forms of meditation–running, singing, dancing, driving, even chopping vegetables–almost anything can be turned into a meditation practice if it involves attention, mindfullness, and paying attention to the breath and to disengaging our selves from our thoughts.

photo credit: geishaboy500