The term wellness introduces the concept that health and well-being is impacted by the fact that we as humans are social, emotional, physical, and intellectual beings. Environmental Wellness refers to our working and physical environments. When our physical and even working environments are not in balance, we struggle with our personal wellness.

Environmental wellness can be thought of as having access to clean water, shelter, access to health care, and healthy and safe food to name a few.  Many of these things are basic human rights, but when contamination to the environment builds, these rights and resources become harder to preserve.

We live in the year 2010 and global warming became a public term and concept in the last few years with Al Gores publicity of an Inconvenient Truth.  We  can feel the ramifications of  global warming and realize that it is not just a warning, but a reality.   In the last few months we have become very aware of the precious existence of our oceans and marine life, and access to safe seafood with the BP oil spill in the Gulf.   We can take the oil spill as a sign that our need for more is getting in the way of living more simply, hence our non-dependence on oil.

There is more and more awareness growing about the human impact on the environment and I  encourage you to take an interest.  These next two talks are inspiring and motivating, I hope you will listen to them.

In the talk “Let’s talk Trash”, Chris Moore points out that we use 2 million plastic bottles every 5 minutes in the US.  To listen to this talk please click here- http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/470.

Chris Jordan who depicts many photos of modern America life shares statistics that in the US we use 4 million plastic cups a day on airline flights and we use 40 million paper cups for hot beverage consumption everyday.  To listen to this talk please click here- http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats.html

In the US, we have a reputation as consumers, but this consumption is impacting our personal and environmental wellness.  We can take the messages that are threatening our environmental wellness as a sign to change behaviors or we can remain the same, but not without consequences.  Change takes time, but each of us has the ability to make an impact in what we consume and what products we choose to buy.  Gandhi’s very popular quote, ” Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

We can all choose to have more integrity and ask ourselves how do we want to change?

Here is what you can do:

• STOP drinking bottled water. Get a large bottle delivered to you work or home place instead of buying 24 packs.
• USE a refillable water bottle. Refill it with tap or filtered water.  Remember that plastic bottles contain chemicals that leach into your water if contained in plastic.
• STOP using plastic shopping bags. Do your grocery shopping with large reusable bags instead of using a dozen plastic bags each time. Most stores sell you reusable bags for under a $.
• Recycle the extra bags/ bottles etc. that somehow cling to you form somewhere
• STOP getting your coffee/ soda in plastic disposable cups. Keep your coffee mug in your car, work, etc.
• STOP getting your lunch in disposable boxes, especially at work where you can keep a lunch box/ container and ask the restaurant to pack your food in it.

“When you are living in contentment, you automatically start to have a lighter footprint, a lighter use of resources.  You don’t have to keep adding more and more to your life.  In fact, it feels really good to want what you have, to take care of it, and to be aware that everything you’re using is a representation of energy.” ~Catherine Ingram

Thank you for your kind attention.  If this information was meaningful to you please pass it on and/or encourage others to make these changes too.

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Managing workplace stress is an on-going challenge for any busy professional or small business owner.  More and more wellness programs are being offered as incentives for employees to help mitigate stress levels and improve well-being in the workplace.  Buck Consulting put out a global survey of 600 organizations in 25 countries conducted last year found that workplace wellness programs are growing globally and doubling what was implemented last year, particularly in North America.  In another study conducted by investigators at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) it was found that nearly two out of three American adults say they don’t engage in routine exercise, “possibly because of demands of work and family.” Despite the benefits of regular exercise, it’s easy to not put our self care and well-being as the priority.

While it’s wonderful that the benefits of wellness programs and services are on the rise in this country, many work-sites don’t have access to these programs and services.  Therefore, here are some helpful tips you can implement into your work day to help put your health and wellness at the top of the list.

1. Manage your Time

Many  of us will start the day off by going right to the computer or blackberry before really setting our intention of what would be best for us that day.  We spend so much time on our computers everyday and often don’t give ourselves time to write down or organize what has priority.  Allow yourself to center in on your breath and then take 5 minutes writing out what would feel really good to get accomplished this day.

2.  Relax

Our eyes are open most of the day at work focusing on some work task, but our eyes often need a rest.  Take your hands together and rub them together generating heat.  Then invite the eyes to close and place your cupped hands over your eyes.  While your eyes are closed, take 10 deep breaths in and out and allow your body to relax.  You can do this practice as much as you need to throughout the day.

3.  Focus on the Present

In times like these when the impermanence our of our world feels quite pressing we can slow down and just breathe.  In our country,  we are battling job losses and now hoping for the best with an extreme oil spill that will affect many peoples quality of life and occupations.  These types of events can often have us spin into worrying about the future.  However, if we can remember to breathe even in these times of instability, we can find solace in our breath.  The breath is a connection to ourselves, our bodies, and the strength we can derive by being grounded in what is.   If we are to make healthy decisions and actions about our future, we first need to be grounded in what is and react from a conscious place of intention.

In addition, to using our breath to help us balance our minds we can also cultivate a gratitude practice.  When life is hard, we may not think there is anything to feel grateful for, but often in that same moment if we look a little further we can often find just as many things that we do appreciate.

Intuitive Wellness offers an integrative model of health and wellness solutions for the for individuals, small groups, and organizations.  For more information on services to aid in your or your organizations health and well-being, please visit us at www.intuitivelywell.com.

Let’s get ready for summer! Many people always ask me, how they can keep up their exercise and healthy routines even while on vacation.  Well, I am going to teach you how.  I have just returned from one week in Costa Rica and thought I would share with you what I did to keep up my health and exercise routines.

Here are 8 tips to help you stay successful while on vacation.

1. Stay active.  Bring your workout clothes and running or walking shoes and find and plan ways to be active.  For me, I woke up and  practiced yoga every morning, found a nearby beach to walk and ran  or hiked most days. For strength training, I did push ups, dips, crunches, squats and lunges a few days during the week.

2. Eat smaller meals throughout the day and don’t skip breakfast.

3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. When I was in Costa Rica, I was able to try a lot of fresh fruit such as mango, papaya, pineapple, and get salads.  I tried to stay away from too much juice and fruit punch since it has more sugar and calories. However, fresh fruit is a great choice.

4. Eat healthy snacks. Start before you even get on the plane, by  bringing some healthy snacks for the plane ride.  You can also bring healthy snacks for your trip  or pick up healthy snacks once you get to your local destination.  When I got to Costa Rica, we frequented the local supermarket and bought some light yogurts, dried fruit, almonds, and apples as staples for the week.  The 5-7 servings a day rule is always a good goal to aim for.

5. Eat when you’re hungry. A good guideline whether you are on vacation or not is to match your food intake with your activity expenditure,.  You will find that you will usually be hungrier if you do more activity and less hungry if you do less activity.  You might ask yourself, “Am I really hungry?”

6. Exercise portion and indulgence control. Just because you are in a place that offers exquisite desserts, special cuisines, or alcohol doesn’t mean you have to partake in it all everyday.  You are on vacation, but you are still exercising good decisions around your health and meals.  A great practice might be too choose a few days that you will indulge a little more and really enjoy it and then eat healthily the rest of the days.

7. Rest and Relaxation. Sometimes when we go on vacation we can often feel like we need a vacation from our vacation. One way to schedule some R&R is to book a massage during your trip.  A way that I did this was to book my massage the last night before my trip home.  It was such a wonderful way to end the trip and made sure my muscles would be well rested before the long plane ride home.

8. Gratitude. Often our vacations can feel like they are going by so fast.  One way to prolong our enjoyment is to practice gratitude.  For me, my practice was waking up every morning and taking time to relish my natural surroundings.  For the last 10 years, I have begun my day with a short yoga practice.  While in Costa Rica, I brought my attention in this practice to the beauty around me, I was thankful for the quiet and spaciousness, and appreciative of the new adventures that I would get to experience that day.

To help get yourself in shape for summer and your next healthy vacation, check out IW’s outdoor fitness classes, starting up again this April.  For more information click here: http://www.intuitivelywell.com/body.html#outdoor

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When I speak to people about health and wellness, I always here this striving for work life balance.

The desire for balance is healthy and natural.  Our bodies perform best when we have a sense of homeostasis and equilbrium.  Just as our bodies enjoy balance so do we in our external environments.  We perform best and feel most satisfied when there is a sense of work, personal life, and family/community balance.  What this work life balance looks like is unique to each of us.  One of the ways, that we can create more of this balance is by giving ourselves more time and peace.

There are ways that we can do this while at work and out of work.  Sometimes these simple moments where we confidently open to difficult circumstances rather than feel rushed, inconvenienced, or anxious— can make all the difference in the world.

At work, there are many distasteful experiences that we tend to resist.   But the art of sitting still teaches us that when we resist—when we hold on and tense up and hold in—we only make matters worse.  We do have a choice in how we react and sometimes that choice is just opening up and letting go.  Letting go and opening to our workplace, with all its rewards, difficulties, and challenges, is the sane and confident thing to do.  By opening to our experience and even looking for what we can appreciate in that moment—we can create a more joyful workplace.

At home, your practice might be as simple as turning off the radio, the phone, the computer, and/or the TV; sit comfortably in a quiet place, relaxing the body and mind; mindfully breathe in, mindfully breathe out. As you do this successfully for several moments in a row, you will find the mind gradually becoming more tranquil, more focused, more clear, and more powerful. The Buddha might have said: “I know of no single thing healthier than doing one thing at a time.”
The openness and confidence we cultivate in meditation allows us to be available in our work and home life.  We don’t rush through firing someone because we are uncomfortable; we don’t throw a tantrum because our BlackBerry is on the fritz and won’t display our favorite icons. We don’t ignore inconvenient business facts so that we can recklessly present an upbeat public relations picture or feel overburdened by the needs of families or friends.  By taking more time for ourselves and grounding ourselves in meditation, we can react to many aspects of our lives with more calmness and openness.  We can be realistic about our lives— receptive to anything and everything that occurs.

Some ways we can create a deeper awareness and balance in our lives is to engage in mindfulness based classes, personal practice, sangha, or find a mindfulness based coach who can teach you how to create mindfulness strategies that work for your  everyday life.

Intuitive Wellness offers walking meditation for groups, mindful weight management, and mindfulness based coaching to support you in your desire for more work life balance.

www.intuitivelywell.com