Stop and Enjoy the Flowers

Recently a desperate mom called me about her 7-year old son.  His behavior was off the charts and he was terrorizing kids at school and siblings at home.  She was desperate! 

I made one suggestion for her, she tried it and she sent me a message on Facebook – “This worked wonders on my son. He calmed down, went to bed, slept all night which he never does, and was pleasant the next morning. With me, I felt more in control of my emotions and everything else!”

What could work so effectively, easily and inexpensively?

Dr. Edward Bach (1886-1936), was an MD and a classically trained homeopath in England.  By 1913, his successful medical career had led him to being a Casualty Medical Officer at the University College Hospital in London.  

While working as a pathologist, he became curious as to how the flower portion of an herb might impact the brain, specifically the limbic system (the site of our emotions).  The more he researched and tested his theories, the more excited he became.  In 1930 he closed his practice and pursued the development of flower essence therapy – - herbal tinctures made from the flower portion of herbs.

Dr. Bach went on to create 38 different remedies that are now used around the world.  Bach Flower Remedies were officially recognized in the U.S. as over-the-counter homeopathic remedies in 1981.  I have found them to be invaluable personally, in my family and with patients from around the world.

Flower remedies are tinctures (liquids) you take orally.  The normal dose is a dropper-full several times/day, however during stress, you can take them up to every 15 minutes.  You can find a Emotional Questionnaire on our website (www.lifestyleforhealth.com/test) to determine a specific Bach remedy that could help you.

However, with our 7-year old, that would have been too much work for him and his mom.  I simply suggested “Fields of Flowers” which contains all of the 38 remedies.  Clearly it gets results for kids and parents!  Fields of Flowers can be ordered by calling 719-487-3717.

Here are some situations that can benefit from Fields of Flowers:

• fear
• home sickness
• grief
• jealousy
• handling life transition
• balancing mood swings
• calming anger and hostility
• absentmindedness
• overwhelm
• over-protective

Is it time for you to enjoy the Flowers along with others in your life?

Breaking Addictions

Stress can overwhelm us cause to seek a ‘fix’ to comfort us. We might look to cigarettes, alcohol, food, sugar or even drugs to calm our bodies. Over time that approach can become an addition. In the clinic, I found that sugar and smoking were two of the most challenging addictions to break.

Recently, we were with friends and I heard a story that fascinated me. A woman who had struggled to address her smoking addiction had had a breakthrough in just 10 days! One of the products we use to help obese and overweight people address food and sugar cravings (Vi-Trim) worked for her!

When someone is overweight, their body can become ‘anxious.’ leading to the consumption of the wrong foods for weight loss. Will power alone is rarely enough to address that strong type of addiction. Using our Vi-Trim, we have seen people be able to calm the body and more easily make better food choices.

This woman decided to try the Vi Trim and see what happened to her. In 10 days she had no desire for a cigarette. Of course, every single person is different and her experience might not be yours.

When she shared her story, my ‘trouble-shooting’ mind went to work. How could that be? Why would that happen? “Of course!”, I thought. Smokers are like those with food/sugar addictions. Their body gets hyper and they need something to calm them down.

Our bodies know that being hyper or agitated is not good, so we crave something to calm us down. Over time, we create ‘calming habits’ that seem to work . . . . until we look at the costs! We all know the cost of cigarettes – not just financially but also with our health.

thanks to Christine Marsh

What if something could easily calm your body and help you to make different choices? I knew that could happen with food cravings, now it seems it can help smokers.

ViTrim is a powder that can be added to any liquid (even soup). It contains chromium to help balance blood sugar and cholesterol, plant extracts to suppress appetite and other natural ingredients.

My favorite way is to add it to our delicious protein Vi Shake and give the person a great meal or snack. You can order the Vi-Trim by going to www.lifestyleforhealth.com/vitrim or by calling our office at 719-487-3171.

Sleep On It!

One of the biggest surprises in our clinic was the epidemic of sleeplessness. Many people struggle to get to sleep, stay asleep and then wake refreshed. Stress, age, diet and blood sugar imbalances can impact this issue, but simple actions can change it in a short period of time.

Immunity

People who get less than 7 hours of sleep/ night are 300% more likely to catch colds (JAMA study). Sleep boosts your immunity and lack of sleep lowers it. Your body will get rest one way or the other!

Weight Loss

People who get good rest (uninterrupted 7-9 hours) have, on average, a smaller BMI (height/weight ratio) than people who don’t get good sleep. Too little sleep impacts the hormones that regulate appetite and thus weight, especially in the mid-section.

Blood Pressure & Diabetes

Lack of sleep is associated with higher levels of stress hormones that can increase blood pressure and affect glucose metabolism. Research has shown that people who sleep less than 5 hours/night are 500% more likely to have elevated blood pressure than those who get more than 6 hours/night. The same people getting 5 hours/night of sleep are 300% more likely to have diabetes. Clearly sleep is important!

Tips to Improved Sleep

1. Go to bed earlier – - the hours before midnight are twice as valuable as the hours after midnight.
2. Have an evening routine. Children who have ‘bedtime routines’ sleep better and so do adults. Begin to relax an hour before your bedtime to let your body know it is time to sleep.
3. Consider a protein shake before bed. I often had my clients take a shake in the evening. This can help balance blood sugar which can allow the body to sleep uninterrupted (check out my recommendations for shakes at www.lifestyleforhealth.com)
4. Avoid sugar after 4:00 p.m. Sugar often impacts body temperature (i.e., hot flashes) which can disrupt sleep.
5. R&R Pose. Lie on the floor with your feet elevated on a chair or footstool, arms at your side. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and just relax with no stimulation (no reading, talking, music, TV, etc). Lying in that position for 15 minutes is equivalent to 4 hours of rest. Don’t do it twice and think you can skip sleeping! This is designed to help you catch up on rest!

Night Night – Enjoy your sleep tonight!

What Threatens You?

The human body is an amazing creation. We are programmed with a ‘protective program’ to any perceived threat. It doesn’t matter if the threat is real or imagined. It could be –

• Physical (poor diet, sedentary job, etc.)
• Emotional (abusive relationship, tight finances, loss of job, etc.)
• Structural (whip lash from a car accident, etc.)

Once the body perceives a threat, the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism (adrenaline) kicks in. This mechanism is ‘hard wired’ into your body to protect you. It serves a real purpose and you can’t change it! When you are in real danger, you want your body on ‘red alert’ status.

However, when “red alert” (stress) becomes your normal lifestyle, you use very expensive fuel (adrenaline) to survive. The first signs of overusing that expensive fuel are fatigue, brain fog, and poor sleep!

You can’t change the protective program (it is hard-wired into you) – - you can change your perception. Let me illustrate how the process works:

• Draw 2 horizontal, parallel lines about 3 inches apart.
• Between the 2 lines, write COMFORT ZONE and put some dots randomly inside the space.
• Now place a dot somewhere above the top line.

The dot represents anything that feels threatening or stressful to you. The more you focus on the dot, the bigger it gets (more fight or flight) and the smaller your comfort zone becomes. Some of the other dots are now outside your comfort zone. As your comfort zone shrinks more things bother you. Sound like your life?

What’s the Option? Change how you perceive the situation!

Exercise could be a dot that lies outside your comfort zone (or select your own example). Here are some steps to change your perception of the dot:

1. Identify something that interests you. I don’t really like the treadmill but I love to dance.
2. Identify your desired outcome. I want a body that can move easily.
3. Identify an easy step to reach that desired outcome that is of interest to you!

I enjoy dancing – I could take a class on Wednesdays, or go to a dance party on Saturday night. Now your brain is focused on what you “CAN DO instead of “fight or flight!”

This process allow you to bypass the protective program and enlarge your comfort zone. You are eliminating the aging, harmful effects of stress . . . you are Living!

For more health tips, visit us at www.lifesytyleforhealth.com.

Being Happy is a Choice!

Most people (especially women) are looking to relationships for their sense of happiness. The most important relationship – - the one with themselves – - is overlooked. You can’t have a healthy, happy relationship with anyone until you can enjoy YOU!   Even the scriptures say this – - -“love your neighbor as yourself.” How you treat YOU determines how you treat others. If you are critical of you, it is highly likely you will be critical of others.   Here are a few tips to begin enjoying YOU! -         Make a Bliss List of the things that let you feel bliss. Then do at least one a week. -         Laugh at least once a day. -         Forgive yourself for not being perfect. -         Appreciate all that you have every day – - no matter how short your list starts! -         Share what you appreciate about family members on a daily basis. -         Interrupt your ‘fear thoughts’ with an “I can . . .” response   Join Dr. Cheryl on Facebook and the Lifestyle for Health fan page. She regularly posts how much she appreciates her life . . it just might inspire you!

 

Find the “Easy” Way

What Threatens You?

The human body is an amazing creation. We are ALL programmed to respond with a ‘protective program’ to any threat. It doesn’t matter if the threat is real or imagined. It could be any of the following – -         physical (earthquake, fire, etc), -         emotional (abusive relationship, tight finances, loss of job, etc) -         structural (whip lash from car accident, fall, etc.)   Once the body perceives a threat, the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism kicks in. This mechanism is run by the autonomic nervous system and it is ‘hard wired’ into your body to protect you. It serves a real purpose and you can’t change it! When you are in real danger, you want your body on ‘red alert’ status.   However, when that becomes your normal lifestyle, you are using very expensive fuel (adrenaline) to survive. The first signs of overusing that expensive fuel are fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep and a small comfort zone! Those symptoms are signs your ‘fight or flight’ mechanism has been working overtime for too long.   You can’t change the protective program (it is hard-wired into you) – - you can change your perception. Let me illustrate how the process works: ·         Draw 2 horizontal, parallel lines about 3 inches apart. ·        Between the 2 lines, write COMFORT ZONE and put some dots randomly inside the space. ·        Now place a dot somewhere above the top line.   The dot represents anything that feels threatening or stressful to you. The more you focus on the dot, the bigger it gets (more fight or flight) and the smaller your comfort zone becomes. Some of the other dots are now outside your comfort zone. As your comfort zone shrinks more things bother you. Sound like your life?   So, what is this EASY way out?   Change how you perceive the situation!   Let’s consider exercise. It looks too hard to do (you can use your own example here). Exercise is the dot that lies outside your comfort zone. Here are some steps to change your perception of the dot: 1.      Identify something that interests you. I don’t really like the treadmill but I love to dance.  2.      Identify your desired outcome.   I want a body that can move easily. 3.      Identify an easy step to reach that desired outcome that is of interest to you! I enjoy dancing – I could take a class on Wednesdays, or go to a dance party on Saturday night. I could rent some dance videos. Now your brain is focused on what you “CAN DO” that is of interest to you.   This process allow you to bypass the protective program, enlarge your comfort zone and actually allow you to learn. Now your body is working for you towards a desired outcome. Doesn’t that look easier? Fighting the “shoulds” of exercise only further imprint the fight or flight mechanism – it is too hard and thus a threat! Switch gears, apply the 3-step shift and the threat fades away and you grow in a new area. Now you are LIVING!

Giving From the Heart

Early in our marriage, Forest and I went through a fairly big challenge with our finances. We lost our home, business, car and went through bankruptcy. Not a fun time. However, we were incredibly blessed with the support of friends and our church. 

As the holidays drew near, I wanted to thank the many people who had blessed us. I counted up over 300 people – - Forest couldn’t figure out how that happened as he didn’t think we knew that many people. Well, we did know a lot of people and most of them were married and had kids. I just didn’t want to leave anyone out.

 

We had no extra money, but I figured God would help me be creative. He did! He gave me the idea of making gift bags out of grocery bags (watch our special holiday gift giving video) and then fill them with homemade goodies. That little gift bag has been the feature of many television shows and now you can make them yourself. They are easy, inexpensive and can be decorated with a little imagination.

 

The biggest lesson I learned that Christmas was that giving isn’t based on having a big bank account or credit cards (we had neither). Giving is a reflection of the heart. If you truly have a desire to give, lots of options will open up and actually create memories that will last a lifetime. 

Each person who got a gift that year loved what they got. There were no ‘returns’, no wrong sizes . . . just food, love and appreciation. 

Many people are cutting back on expenses this holiday season. How about asking God to help you find your ‘giving spirit’ and let it help you give out of your heart instead of your wallet? 

It just may be the best Christmas you have ever had!