NOURISHING TIPS

Welcome to our Nourishing Tips blog page. The articles in this section reveal, amongst other things, what Susan, The HealthShrink, does for her own personal wellness benefits. This is therefore not necessarily an advice page written from a nutrition coaching perspective. It rather speaks to Susan's own habits/activities done for her health and body comfort. The purpose of writing the material below is to share this same health information with you for your own health and body reshaping opportunities.

While Susan writes about health habits both old and new, it's absolutely understood that for the vast majority of us creating new wellness rituals, (or any kind of habit actually), takes approximately 21 days. (At least 3 weeks, and frequently more time as well.) So breathe and relax. Some of these articles may resonate with you and others not. The important thing always is to take what you want and to leave the rest behind. Honestly, gaining health and reshaping our body shouldn't be about forcing ourselves. Rather, being loving, kind, and patient always helps for nourishing changes.

In short, the focus of this page is not about diet coaching. Rather, it's about giving and receiving pertinent information that can hopefully bring goodness and health into all of our lives. At this point, simply click on the Nourishing Tip article below you would like to access and feel free to leave your comments.

Enjoy!    

Healthier Snacking

Truism: It's generally better for our health to eat generally better.

One important concept I support though is, "never say never". Here and there, it's fine to eat your favorite foods no matter what. This includes snacking. Ice cream, potato chips, cake, cookies and so on are all long-time favorites. It's important to enjoy what you eat and to not feel deprived. Deprivation ultimately leads to cravings, binging, regret and frustration.

Having said that, for the more-often-than-not times when you want to snack but still "eat generally better", the options abound! Healthier snacking does involve ahead of time preparation, creativity, insight and openness.

First things first, consider your current snacking habits. What do you eat? Some folks love the creamy, fatty texture and sweetness of ice cream. Others love salt and crunch and derive great pleasure munching on chips, pretzels, etc.  And who could deny the happy moments chocolate and candy bring to children and adults of all ages?

A Special Day

While vacationing recently at Pine Lake Manor in the Catskill Mountains with my extended family, this day stood out among the others with its wide variety of highs/healings, and lows/depletions. It represents the ups and downs of life, while supporting mindful efforts to seek out healing, inner-peace, fun, resilience, and love. Take a look.

Tuesday, July 19th

• 9:30am – Outdoor, Lawn Yoga with Samantha Jo – It was a stunningly beautiful morning. The temperature was in the 70s, humidity was low. There was peace and quiet in the air with only the soft rustling of the leaves in the background. There were about 10 of us cousins spread out on the green grass. Shade was nearby.

I’d taken some, but not many, yoga sessions in the past. I stopped when I injured my groin muscle in a class. Today, several years later, I felt like giving yoga another go. So, I did. Samantha, our leader, was absolutely wonderful. She was gentle in direction, respectful of people’s body limitations, and helpful in cueing us into position. There was no sense of rush. Possibly the best part for me was Samantha’s spiritual presence using words to guide and move us towards internal freedom, body opening, trust, loosening, healing, and empowerment.

Pill-Free Heart Burn Relief, N=1

Fairly recently and unknowingly, I had severe symptoms of acid reflux or GERD, (gastroesophageal reflux disease). My original symptom was sudden and severe chest pains that brought me to my local hospital's ER. After hours of testing, the doctors ascertained I had not suffered a heart-attack. Great news! They did not however provide any alternative explanations as to why I had pain so severe it hurt to breathe. I also didn’t pursue with them what else could have been behind that attack. While not necessarily the best move on my part, it was 4am, I had been up all night, the pain had subsided, and I was just happy to be discharged and going home.

Over the course of the next 2 weeks, while the heart-attack like chest pains didn't return, I became aware of a burning sensation and tightness in my upper chest area. I also had a sore throat, some difficulty swallowing, and a sensation of food being stuck in my esophagus. Finally, when I experienced the less than pleasant symptom of regurgitation of sour liquid, my eyes became wide opened and I connected the acid reflux dots.

Get Your Swish On: Oil Pulling

I have a certain routine and order of things I do to start off my day. I’m guessing most of us do. I always try to include a healing habit into my morning ritual to support my body for the upcoming day. At times the habit falls to the wayside and at other times it sticks. Here’s 1 habit though that has stuck and I thought I’d share with you.

Oil Pulling – What is it and Why?

Fruit-ful Discussion

I'm a member of multiple Facebook groups. Many, if not most, have to do with health - specifically eating and food. The various group slants include paleo eating and living, ketogenic living, low-carb high-fat eating, grain-free eating, gluten-free meals, Elimination Diet, auto-immune eating protocol, and many others. Back in the day prior to becoming a Certified Eating Psychology Coach, I took the messages preached in these groups to heart. I wanted to eat absolutely perfectly!

Body Wisdom: A Healing Compass

The following is an actual excerpt from a recent session with a client. Certain details have been altered to protect my client’s confidentiality. I’m sharing this moment to illustrate how our very love for a food/beverage can cause us to have a blind eye to body wisdom even when our body provides strong, loud messages including pain and discomfort. And, mind you, this particular client is one who prides herself on being in tuned with her body. 

Good Vibrations!

I've been looking on and off at whole body vibration (WBV) machines for a good 1+ year. I find them intriguing with regard to their alleged varying health benefits through gravity resistance training (GRT). They even seem kind of fun! Depending upon the actual WBV machine, I've read and heard one can achieve improved balance, bone density, hormonal profile, as well as increased muscle strength, circulation, and flexibility. As if that weren't enough, just 10-20 minutes sessions, 4 or so days weekly provide cellulite reduction, lower back pain relief, joint protection, reduced swelling, neurological stimulation, fat reduction, and more! Wow! All this from rapid GRT vibration. Could it be?

It's a Mystery, It's a Date! It's..."Mystery Date"!

My spouse, Janet and I recently had fun on one of our "mystery dates". Known affectionately as "mystery", we started doing this many years ago as long-weekend get-a-ways. We actually visited a number of cities/areas we never would have, had it not been for "mystery". But, then life became a bit more hectic and "mystery vacation" stopped. Recently, "mystery" was resurrected and went from long week-end to daytime or evening date.

 But, what is "mystery" and why have one?