Your Well Being Tip of the Day



This classic shoulder shrug releases tension held in your neck and back and boosts your sense of wellbeing.

Slowly and deliberately raise your shoulders as close to your ears as you can while breathing in deeply; then slowly push them back and down in a rolling motion, breathing out. Repeat four times.
 

 

Healthy and Delicious Food!

Sweet Potato Ginger Soup

In my books, there’s nothing like hot, nurturing soup to boost my sense of wellbeing through the winter. Yum. I eat soup pretty much every day and this is definitely one of my favorites.

1 teaspoon ghee or olive oil
1 pinch red chili flakes
1 cup chopped leaks or onions
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (or 1 tsp powdered ginger)
2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari (most health food stores carry this)
5 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
6 cups vegetable stock
¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a soup pot over med-high heat. Add the red chili flakes, leeks, ginger and aminos. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and sauté until they are well coated and begin to brown slightly. Add the coriander and garam masala. Sauté another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the vegetable stock to cover the sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender. Blend with a hand blender or food processor into a smooth consistency, adding more stock as necessary. Reheat before serving and garnish with the chopped cilantro.

From: The Chopra Center Cookbook
(Deepak Chopra, David Simon and Leanne Backer).
 

Calming Chocolate Tonic

This precious little recipe comes from one of my treasured cookbooks chock full of delicious and healthy recipes. Here is what the author has to say about it …

"This rich, creamy, hot chocolate "tonic" pays homage to the Aztecs who first consumed cacao as a beverage. I love the idea of this warm delicious drink as a "therapeutic" beverage. Certainly it warms the heart as well as the body, especially if you sip it with someone you adore."

 … Victoria Laine, Health by Chocolate, 2008.

 

Makes 2-4 servings

15 oz can (425 ml) coconut milk
2 tbsp (30 ml) cocoa powder (organic, dark if you can get it)
¼ cup (60 ml) pure maple syrup or pure honey
Pinch of salt

Optional ingredients
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
4 slices fresh ginger root
½ tsp ground cinnamon or cinnamon stick
½ tsp ground cardamom

Whisk together the coconut milk, cocoa, salt and sweetener and any optional ingredients, in a small pan over medium heat until steaming. Pour into your favourite mug and sip slowly and mindfully, enjoying every mouthful of pure pleasure. Remove ginger root, vanilla or cinnamon stick before serving.

Note: Other nut milks or soymilk can replace all or some coconut milk, but coconut is the smoothest and richest if that’s what you’re aiming for.

From: Health by Chocolate by Victoria Laine

 

2010: An Opportunity to Re-Think "No Time"

Is there something you really want to do in 2010? It might even be the same thing you wanted to do in 2009 but just couldn’t find the time for. Do you want to exercise more, have more fun, make a healthy change in your diet, start a small business, give more, take regular time out for a passion or hobby, spend more quality time with family or friends... or simply feel more awake to the beauty and joy around you? Recently I asked a new coaching client what she wanted most and she said "I want to know how to take the time to stop and smell the roses". Sound familiar?

Whatever your desire, if you've told yourself "I don’t have the time for that", I invite and challenge you to re-think it. 99% of the time, the thing that stops us is not a lack of time. The truth is that we all have the same 24 hours each day and we all get to choose how we use the time we have; we all choose how to spend our 1,440 minutes a day, 168 hours a week, and 365 days each year. We all set priorities and if we’re not doing something, it's because we haven't made it a priority.

In the words of Michael Neill, "the most important choice you make is what you make important". If you notice yourself thinking "I don’t have time for that", ask yourself "Is this a priority right now?" Maybe it's not a top priority right now, and that’s just fine. I've discovered that I could easily fill 3-4 full days for every 1 that I have, all with things I'd truly like to do. So, to live my best life (and bust the big stress that would come with trying to actually do all that!), I consistently ask myself, "What's most important in my life right now?" This is the only thing that helps me come back to my center, to my sense of peace and wellbeing. And believe me, I've made it into a bit of a daily prayer or mantra to help keep me on track. Without it, I can easily go overboard and lose that sense of wellbeing

And if something does feel like a top priority to you and you still think you don’t have the time, consider asking yourself "The Million Dollar Question": If you would be given a million dollars for the successful achievement of whatever it is you say you want in your life, what would you do differently to go about getting it? For example, if you knew you’d be paid a million dollars (or whatever would be inspirational for you) to find the time for a daily 30 minute dose of pure pleasure or fun, what would you do differently to make it happen? Would you say no to something? Maybe you'd delegate more. There are a lot of ideas and it's amazing how creative we can be when the stakes are high.

Maybe you need help to figure out how to make this a priority. Go for it – ask for help. It's a common thing to feel stuck and out of answers at some point in our lives and, as I say time and time again, if you're alive, you need help. We all need help to live our best lives. And we all deserve it. We really are designed to help each other.

You might ask a good friend to brainstorm possible solutions with you, to encourage you and hold you accountable. It could be fun to do this for each other. Or get radical and hire a life coach – research shows that you're 80% more likely to make the shift you want to, and make it stick. It's pretty powerful teamwork indeed.

The bottom line is if you want to "move out of stuck and into possibility in 2010", make it a priority to tune into your priorities. You'll be so very grateful you did! In the words of Mary Oliver... "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

 

Simple Ways to Add Steps to Your Day

• Walk to deliver messages instead of e-mailing co-workers

• Skip half an hour of your usual TV time and take a walk

• Replace one car trip with one walk each day

• Meet friends for an activity such as visiting an art gallery or window shopping instead of going out for dinner or coffee to talk

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator

• Park further away from your destination

• Move around by walking with a cordless head set during long phone calls.

• Set a kitchen timer near your computer to go off every 45 minutes, then get up and laugh and twirl or do a couple of feel good stretches - maybe walk to get a glass of water or tea.

 

The Right to Play!

Who would you be today without the opportunity you had to play? Give the gift of play and feel like a million dollars.