Quite often during 2011, I received requests in my inbox with offers for guest posts and links to other sites and writer’s material.   I usually go and check out their requested site and try to understand the topic and style to assess whether or not it will fit with what Patricias Wisdom is trying to do.   I like to give a hand up whenever I can and call attention to some new efforts and endeavors.

Kirstin Offiler is one of those folks who sent me an email.   I went to her site and found some very good writing and interesting material that was pertinent to the goals here at PW.  It took us some juggling of dates but here we go – I would like to share Kirstin’s guest post with you now.  Hope you will enjoy her offerings:

What is your purpose?

Your purpose is not necessarily what you do for a living, but it’s just as important. We all have a calling in this life, but we don’t always acknowledge it, honor it, and pursue it. Why? Because for some, it feels frivolous to follow a dream when there’s much more practical work to be done, like laundry, work, walking the dog, running errands, spending time with family.

Your calling is your way of serving the greater good of the world. It’s how each of us gets to our core and satisfies our pull towards that which inspires us. And like I said—your job may not be your calling. That’s ok. But here are some ways you can incorporate your purpose into your life.

1. Define your calling. Doesn’t it seem like some people are born with a pen or paintbrush in their hand? They understand their calling from the get-go and never waver. For others, their calling may be a tiny kernel inside that is acknowledged every so often, but never given the chance to grow. To build your life around what feels most natural and right to you, you first need to define what your calling is. Are you a writer? An advocate for the homeless? A photographer? A knitter? A fantastic listener? Ask yourself what makes you feel most like yourself. When are you the happiest? That’s your calling. That’s what you should aim for in your life.
2. Take small steps to incorporate it into your life. Your calling is how you leave a mark on the world, no matter how large or small. But begin by doing small-scale things to make your calling more present in your life. If you feel that writing is your path, write for 10 minutes a day until it becomes habit. If you believe you’ll be of best service teaching yoga, tutoring students, photographing weddings, building websites, or whatever—start small and let your purpose organically weave its way into your life. Trying to make drastic changes all at once can lead to burn out or just plain boredom.
3.  Share your purpose. Tell friends and family what you hope to do with your life. Set goals for where you hope to be with your calling in a year, five years, and ten years and share it. Accountability makes it easier to stay on a path that’s true to our calling. Blog about it. Tell your coworkers. Share it—your purpose is what makes you unique, and it should be shared with the world.

Here are some affirmations you can repeat when it becomes hard to believe in your purpose or calling or when you doubt your own abilities:

• I feel most like myself when I am doing __________. This is my calling and I honor it.
• The easy path is ignoring my purpose. The hard path is focusing on my purpose. But the hard path yields happiness, peace, and fulfillment, so I choose that path.
• My calling in life is how I am most useful to the world. I am of service when I focus on what makes me happiest.
• It’s not frivolous to focus on my passion. By focusing on what lights me up, I bring more light into the world and will help others do the same.
• My calling is what comes easiest and most naturally to me. I trust my gut instinct about my purpose in this world.
• My job or career may be different from my calling, but both are important parts of who I am as a complete person and both deserve my passion and attention.

In short, your calling is that thing you’ve always felt you wanted to do or try. When you’re in your element and you feel like you’re doing exactly what you were made for—that’s your purpose. Tap into it. Live in that space. Share it with others because the world needs what you have to give. Your purpose is your wisdom.

Author bio: Kristin Offiler is a freelance writer in Rhode Island who writes for a site that helps students find the right psychology degree.

Related Reading:
Pain Relief the Zip Method
Stress Reduction with Yoga
For Such Beauty is Mine
Willpower 

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

What is your purpose?

Sometimes delight just comes right into the inbox, and such is the case of my guest writer for today.

Lisa Shoreland was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan and is fluent in English and Japanese.  She came to the USA to attend St. Andrews Presbyterian College and studied creative writing, history, politics and humanities.  She is a contributor to the gocollege blog which is set up to assist students and parents in the transition to and during college.  Lisa included several pieces of her writing which were presented on other blogs and I enjoyed what she had to say and her good writing style.    I also asked her to write for Biking Architect during the month of April – so you will be able to find more of her good words and ideas about Greening Up Your Closet  there.

Without further ado, I will let Lisa share her ideas and wisdom.

6 Relaxing Yoga Poses

Some people practice Yoga to rehabilitate an injury or to get an intense workout, but many people also practice Yoga because it is extremely effective in relaxing both the mind and the body.

With hundreds of Yoga poses to choose from, it is important to remember that each Yoga pose has its own purpose and meaning. Some poses in Yoga are specifically designed to help you relax by stretching out any tensions in your body, and could even teach you how to properly deal with stress, anger, sadness, or other types of negative emotions.

If you’re the type of person who becomes overwhelmed very easily, then practicing yoga can be a very rewarding and relaxing experience if done correctly. Here are some of the many examples of the different yoga poses you can try to help relax your mind, body and spirit:

1.    Tadasana (Mountain pose)

This pose is great for improving your posture and balance, and can help bring more awareness to your body and breathing as well. It is also effective in increasing the flexibility of your hips and knees, stretching your spine, tightening your gluteal muscles and releasing any abdominal tension. This pose also comes highly recommended for people who suffer from arthritis or rheumatism.

•    Put your feet a hip-width apart and stand with your hands at your side
•    Tilt your pubic bone slightly forward, and raise your chest up and out
•    On your next inhale, slowly raise your arms over your head and hold for several breaths
•    Lower your arms on an exhale
•    (Repeat six times)

Mountainpose

2.    Savasana (Corpse pose)

This Yoga pose is considered the “ultimate final pose” during Yoga classes because it is extremely effective in helping to calm both your body and mind after a strenuous workout.

This pose is called the “corpse” pose for a reason because all you do is simply lie down and focus on your breathing. However, it’s important to remember that this pose isn’t for sleeping, but forcing you to get into a more relaxed frame of mind and calm down your heart rate.

•    Lie on your back with your feet a hip-width apart
•    Place your arms next to your sides and turn your palms facing upwards
•    Roll your shoulders down and back to lengthen your neck
•    Relax your body so it feels heavy, and then slowly inhale and exhale three times from your abdomen, focusing on the movement of your chest and body while you breathe
•    Hold this pose for several minutes
•    After you’re finished, bring your knees into your chest and roll over to one side, and slowly bring yourself back into a sitting position.

Corpsepose

3.    Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)

This yoga pose will help calm down your brain and can also relieve a stomach ache, migraine, or high blood pressure. It is also effective in stimulating the liver, spleen and kidneys, and helps stretch your hamstrings, calves and hips while strengthening your thighs and knees.

•    Stand with your feet together and your hands next to your sides
•    Bend your knees only slightly, and make sure your weight is distributed evenly between your heels and forefeet
•    Pull in your abdomen and bend forward only using your hips and waist, and pull your upper body and arms towards the floor
•    Exhale (hold this position for 30 to 120 seconds)

standing-forword_bend

4.    Balasana (Child’s pose)

Not only is this yoga pose effective in helping you relax before bedtime, it also helps stretch out your knees, muscle tendons, and ligaments as well.

•    Kneel on the floor (or your yoga mat if you happen to have one) and make sure the tops of your feet are lying flat on the floor
•    Sit back on your heels
•    Slowly lean forward and rest your chest on your legs while placing your forehead on the floor
•    Keep your arms by your sides so your palms are facing up
•    (Repeat six times)

Childspose

5.    Sukhasana (Easy pose)

This pose is most commonly used for meditation, and it helps bring more awareness to your breathing, and also helps strengthen your lower back as well. The pose can also help open up your hips, and lengthens your spine while forcing you to become more balanced and calm.

•    Sit cross-legged with your hands on your knees and focus on your breath
•    Keep your spine straight and push your buttocks down into the floor and slowly lower your knees
•    Take five to ten slow, deep breaths
•    On the tenth exhale, raise your arms over your head
•    Exhale and bring your arms down slowly
•    (Repeat six times)

Easypose

6.    Bhujangasana (Cobra pose)

This Cobra pose is effective in helping to stretch out your spinal column, legs, knees, and ankles, and is recommended especially for pregnant women.

•    Lie down on your stomach and keep your legs together and your arms at your side
•    As you inhale, slowly raise your head and chest as high as they will go, and tighten your buttocks muscles to protect your lower back
•    Hold this position while inhaling and exhaling at least six times

Cobrapose

If you’re going to try doing these Yoga poses by yourself, it’s extremely important to do every move correctly so you don’t cause any harm or even more tension in your body. Try searching for these poses on Youtube or even check out the Yoga Today podcasts so a qualified instructor can provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to do these poses correctly.

Bio: Lisa Shoreland is currently a resident blogger at Go College, where recently she’s been researching fast student loans as well as doctoral grants programs. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing, practicing martial arts, and taking weekend trips.

Photo Credits:
All photos from WikiMedia Commons.

April 22, 2011 will be the drawing for a copy of the book THE LONG GOODBYE – all you need to do is be from the USA or Canada and leave a comment.

April 28, 2011 The author of the book THE PROCRASTINATION EQUATION is giving away a copy to the best procrastination story or anti-procrastination technique from the comments section.

Related Reading:
How Yoga Works
Eating My Carrot
The Wisdom To Know the Difference

Looking forward to you always delightful comments, your words are so appreciated.

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Stress Reduction with Yoga

Spring Crocus

I love to cook and I write a great deal about cooking.  I want to be the healthiest person I can be and so I write many words about health. What about those folks who do not cook and still want to be healthy?

My older brother falls into that category of being a very active senior, who is divorced and truly does not do much cooking.  When his doctor recently said he had a health problem, needed to lose a great deal of weight and definitely needed to add vegetables to his diet – in a big way.  I started to cast around for alternatives that might work for him to help him lose weight and eat to health.

My friend Janet is a coach and teacher and I asked her to send me a letter about her work to see if it might be away for me to set up a program and support for my brother at about the same price as he is currently spending for food.

I thought I would share with you her letter.  So here in her own words is Janet:

Dear Patricia,

When I was at The Evergreen State College, teaching about health and wellness in all aspects, I knew that one of the biggest issues for many people is around food, eating and weight. No matter what, it’s there. And weight has huge effects on all kinds of health issues, many of which are silent until deadly or, if noted, require medications. And because I had no tools to support people in helping them lose weight, or making it easy to eat six times a day as is best, I studiously avoided speaking in anything but generalities about weight loss issues and eating behaviors. I have now found a tool. And it’s a great one. And the company pays me to coach the behavioral changes that make both weight loss and eating styles permanent. Because this is such a huge issue in our society right now, and I know that every person I know knows someone who has this issue, I am getting the word out in every way possible. And working to partner with every coach, healer, counselor and body worker I know because they hear about these issues a lot.

Here are two sites to check out our program. I’d love it if you would look them over so you have a better sense of what it is and who you might know who could be helped.

This overview of the program, is completely user friendly, and not overwhelming in terms of information and facts. There are some case studies, and some general information. Plus the stories are cool!

This is the company’s site that is my gateway. You can check out products, and lots of information in the “Your Support Center” section under “Tools and Resources.” Anyone interested can get the great majority of information they would need to understand if this is for them or not. But what I always say is, “You’ll know in a week whether it’s for you or not. Doesn’t it make sense to try?”

I hope you are willing to tell others, or willing to try it yourself if you fall into any of the categories below  – all I can say is we have an extraordinarily high rate of success for not only losing weight, but keeping it off and going on to create optimum health. Further, a large percentage of our clients on medications get off well over half of them. Here are some clues as to what you might listen for:

1. Having weight issues – want to lose it, have tried everything, are morbidly obese or just can’t lose the stubborn 10-20 pounds, etc.
2. Heard they are borderline diabetic, and would like to not have to take insulin.
3. They are diabetic, and would love to support their health or get off medications.
4. They have high blood pressure.
5. They have high cholesterol.
6. They have arthritis.
7. They take a lot of medications.
8. They wish they had better quality “fast food” to eat to work with their busy lifestyle.

If you need anything else, please let me know! Thanks again for the support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it! I am on a mission to change the health of Americans everywhere. I am losing the 25 pounds that have crept on during my long illness and menopause.  I can’t wait to help others lose that stubborn 20, or the 100 pounds their doctors are begging them to lose (I’m working with a dear friend in that condition.) As a physiologist, I have thoroughly checked this program out. It works because it’s high quality and has extraordinary coaching to go along with it. It is not the whole of my coaching practice, but it is becoming the most rewarding. Once people start losing 5 pounds in the first week, and continue to lose consistently, they believe they can do anything!

Thanks for offering to share this with your brother and with your blog audience.

Warmly,

Jan

Janet F. Ott, Ph.D.

Transform Coaching and Consulting
360-943-7176
www.transformlifecoach.com
http://bit.ly/losewt

What do you think?   I think maybe an early intervention and some positive healthy results – having the food come to his door – would be a boon to his lifestyle and keep him coming on strong.
Would you do something like this?

Related reading:

Three Weeks With My Brother
The Kind Diet
Personal Health Records
Becoming Another Persons Advocate – First Thoughts
Becoming Another Persons Advocate – Second Post

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Another Alternative

Vitamin

I am similar to a canary in the mines when it comes to vitamins and supplements.  I have passed several kidney stones which are just straight unusable material such as IRON – remember when that was the big hype?

I am not an expert. My Mother was not either, she just spooned Cod Liver Oil into her children every day.

I have discovered that most people are either enthusiasts or totally against them and there is not much space in between.  Producing and rearing healthy, happy children was a primary concern for me and when we discovered our problems were related to diet, then Celiac Disease (gluten intolerance and cilia inflammation/lack of absorption, and the rise of industrial designed “foods”), I decided to learn everything that I could learn.

I thought I would share some of my discoveries so that you might make some choices for yourself.

-    Almost all vitamin supplements are designed to be absorbed in the intestines.  This means they must pass the stomach digestion process and get down to the main absorption facility of the body.  (Much medication is also designed for intestinal absorption.)   With CD and allergies this makes almost all vitamin supplements – worthless.
-    Almost all vitamins are only about 10% useable ingredients.  Many are pressed in milk powder or corn starch.   Many are coated in plastic.
-    Almost all vitamins in the USA are made in Utah.  They have specialized regulations and rules which means just about anything can be called a supplement/vitamin.
-    One needs to know whether or not your supplements are synthetic materials or real foods – plant and animal based.  The producer/manufacturer should show you that their product is being tested regularly in blind tests at a medical or research facility.  They should be informing the consumer of the exact test results.
-    Liquid vitamins are often rancid and are very volatile for shelf life.
-    Remember sugar pills make people feel good and have energy too.
-    Vitamin pills need a full glass of water when you take them to work properly, and they should be consumed with some kind of food.  If your vitamins make you feel bloated or nauseated – burping vitamin – they are not right for you.  Just about all vitamins, not accompanied by food will do some talking back to you – remember there is very strong coating materials on them to get past the stomach acid and all the way to your intestines.
-    The vitamin/supplement industry is just that and it makes billions of dollars per year.
-    Make sure your vitamins are from organic materials and are mercury free.
-    As a rule of thumb, I would say do not believe media Ads and the information they are spreading around.
-    I have found that most Doctors do not know enough about vitamin supplements and usually just recommend what they have been given as free samples.
-    As we age and figure in the worthlessness of much of the food on the market, many of us will need supplementation.  If we live in the Northern climes most of us will need some additional vitamin D.
-    All the research I have completed indicates to me that in most cases, exercise plus daily vitamin B complex and stress reduction exercises provide more relief than most anti-depressants.
-    The number two item sieved out of “port a potties” before they are allowed to dump the effluent is whole vitamin pills!   We are poisoning our fish and oceans. (I believe soda and beer containers still hold the #1 position)

The vitamins that I tested and have given my CD members of my family are 98% useable and they digest in the stomach.  They have completed blind testing in laboratories at several well known Medical Schools.  Even though they send me the quarterly statement of their modifications, I still have to call them and make sure that the modifications are not synthetic or problematic for CD folks.

I was attempting to put the logo of the company on the site and run an ad, but the group that I use has an enrollment process that I both like and dislike.  30% of every dollar I spend with this company goes to research and development and that the vitamins have made a profound difference in our health are important factors to me.   I personally have to enroll you in the company to get paid to advertise for them – I do not care for the multi-level marketing aspect….even if it is good products and good research. It makes me uncomfortable.

Are you a vitamin person or not?   Do your vitamins work for you?  How did you choose them and what do you know about them?   Was any of this information helpful to you?

Related Reading:
Female Brain Gone Insane
10 Things I have Learned About Celiac Disease
Becoming Another Persons Advocate First Thoughts
Personal Health Records

Looking forward to your comments and ideas…

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Vitamins

I am not a scientist or a researcher on climate change.   I am a great observer and I love the little details of life and living.

I would like to share some of the lessons that my greatest teachers have shared with me. My greatest teachers have been my children and since they went to ecology elementary school, I choose to share their gems of wisdom today.

20 years ago when we moved into this old house, we heard about a meteor show that we could see right from our backyard.  So we all took out blankets and lay prone on the old deck to gaze skyward and see the falling stars.   A few minutes into this study, one of my children said, “You know if those frogs were not singing so loudly we probably could see the stars falling!”

I know that she probably thought the Peepers – or Chorus Frogs were frightening away the stars because they were so loud and dominant, but her comment grounded us in our local knowledge. We had a stake in those Peepers.

I don’t see no p’ints about that frog that’s any better’n any other frog.
~ Mark Twain

Another child was angry when she learned that the Pacific Northwest frogs were overwhelmingly deformed on the Sound and near the large farms, and the Petroleum Processors. She brought home the news from school that our seagulls were producing very few viable eggs and the vast majority of them were now in same-sex mating patterns.

It is no wonder to her that instead of tens of thousands of salmon coming home to spawn we can count the returnees on one hand.

Three years later there was hardly a peep – absolutely nothing even resembling a chorus, and 20 years later there has been silence for years. The bird population has made an observable change and the animal species that have moved in are coyotes which make a dreadful racket when mating in the spring and attack all the other critters in our neighborhood.

In the 1980s I was driving car pool and in the morning we went by the forest that proudly marked the start of the country-city limits.  Majestic Evergreens stood tall and robust and drank 500 gallons of water a day – each one.   On the afternoon carpool trip, we ventured past those trees to see that the whole area had been logged during the day.  There were 5 scraggly small firs marking a boundary remaining.  This action moved my oldest child to tears and a great sadness.  She experienced a profound grief for the loss of that grand forest right before her eyes and within a single day her life was changed.

The strip malls and large mall which have gone up on that forest land now must also have pumps to manage the water runoff and a whole park which becomes the holding reservoir for the thousands of gallons of rain that has nowhere to go except into the businesses, hundreds of apartments and homes adjoining.

The city hurries to plant hybrid street trees which are deciduous and create a whole other series of problems.   I wonder how well they clean the air and control the flooding?

Mount St. Helen’s eruption was a science lesson in our face.  One can still find piles of ash in the corners and furnace filters.  The largest change I can see is in Mt. Rainer and its glaciers.   60 years ago as a child I could describe the mountain as an  ice cream cone of smooth, deep white presentation with craggy lesser peaks of the Cascades – always having drips of snow in view.
Yesterday in October, there was no snow on any of the adjoining peaks and the purple –blue shadow places were far more dominant that the white pristine scoop.    This I can witness with my bare eye; my children have no problem claiming the changes and seeing with their clear vision.

They understand how polar bears might have to keep swimming for miles and miles to survive, when once the ice shelves were near enough.

I am not a scientist, rather an observer.   I can hear the difference, I can smell the difference, I can see the difference and I can feel the difference.

We do not need 27 words for rain for 3 or 4 will describe it now – primarily when it rains it pours.   As a child about every 7 years we had snow; we have had larger and larger amounts of snow every year for the past 7 years.   We have had a drought period every year.

The meteorologists now describes traditional patterns and current patterns and the Park Rangers talk about when the parkway will be underwater and how long it takes for vegetation to catch up with the receding glacier movement.   We just scratch our head and wonder how our garden will grow.

Our pure and lovely artisan well water is now pumped in and chemically treated before it arrives at our tap, which is outfitted with a filter to remove the chemicals denying us health. Everyone has fluoride treatment on their teeth now, and allergies and asthma….and plastic bottles fill up the landfills.

I have not charts and graphs and proof texting data – I have only my life to measure and my children’s future to gage.

In my heart, I believe in climate change and not just cyclical change.   I am pointing my finger at the human species for the rapid and dynamic changes that are occurring – right before my eyes.

I am not waiting for an expert’s expertise….I am acting now – how about you?

Other related posts:
Zero-Impact Homes
Making Exterior Sunshades
Learning More about Green Roofs
Relocalization
Highest Tide

What are your eyes telling you about climate change?

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Jeepers Peepers – Where Have You Guys Gone?

This is Patricia’s IT support. Those of you who find yourselves here frequently will realize that also makes me… her daughter, aka the student who lives in San Francisco.

Mum kindly offered up her post for today so that I could ask a Huge Favor! As part of my Masters work I am conducting a survey on visual art experiences. I am seeking survey respondents…

The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and is available over at my site www.mceown.net.

I know everyone’s schedules are busy and there is always a lot to do, but if you WONDERFUL, FANTASTIC, WITTY, AMAZING, AWESOME readers could take a moment to help me out it would be much appreciated!

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming…

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

This Blog Has Been Hijacked…

I wrote about my first thoughts about Kindle I here.

My first Kindle has moved on to another daughter who is in graduate school and the text books are so much less – I think kiddos who are going to college should all have one.

Happy Easter! The Easter Bunny brought me a Kindle II – Lucky ME!

Here are my 5 tops reasons for liking the Kindle II

I like change and I like how Kindle is changing the way books are published and read. This change is one that makes my life easier and better. I like how this format saves on paper. I still read lots of blogs every day, do research on the computer and I enjoy the magazine format of StumbleUpon.

What other tools have you discovered that you like and make your life easier?
Do you think you would like or not like a Kindle – why?
Did you know that lots of folks read blogs on their phones now? Way fun? Or Too Much?

Like this post feel free to Stumble it or put it on Twitter or Facebook

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Kindle 2 and 5 Things I Love About It!

Death and Taxes used to be just about all that folks felt were inevitable in the course of living life.  All though those two processes seem to be part of life for sure there is another variable that really is more prevalent in our lives that the first two listed and it is – Change.

We do not have many of the loose coins in our pocket anymore, but the amount of change a body must process through in a lifetime is coming at a rapid pace these days.

The folks who are avoiding change or avoiding making change in their lives seemed to be trapped into a hanging on which does not give them new tools for coping with the change.  Stress fueling their every waking moment.

A dear friend of mine is suffering with so many ailments and is in the throes of a hording syndrome that now includes rats in her home.  I thought this latest problem would allow her to find release and to make a change, which might open the door to more change.  Such has not been the case or the outcome.

I went back to my trusted authority on making change in one’s life which is the book .  I believe his name is what initially caught my attention in the bookstore.  How clever, a person named Bridges talking about transition and change. It made the concept simple and I refer to my tattered copy so many times during the year when I am problem-solving.

This is not a new book but it is the ground work for a number of other studies and it just makes sense in a slow moving cycle or a busy, fast paced season of change.

Bridges premise is that there are three distinct stages of change and recognizing which stage is taking up your time at the moment is key to understanding your situation and making progress to transition into your new stage.

The Three stages of change spelled out are Endings, The Neutral Zone, and The New Beginning.

I would like to focus on a traditionally happy ending – the wedding.  Yep! This is an ending, it is a time when you are ending your definition of yourself as being a single being.  You are publically stating that you are making a comment to a relationship with another individual.  People offer toasts, well wishes, advice and hopefully there is some skilled counseling involved before the big event.   An ending is the beginning of a change and it is not a final moment but it is the beginning of the transition.  We are on to something new.

The Neutral Zone is the next phase.  After a wedding we call this the honeymoon period, the honeymoon is not just the trip, rather it is a period of time when the couple is testing and problem-solving and bonding.  It is a time of reorientation; a time of testing the different pathways possible to this relationship.  Can this marriage withstand buying a house, how will you celebrate the holidays or an unplanned pregnancy, or that new partner never does the dishes?  There is lots of trial and error in the dance of conflict resolution and the newness of your relationship.

The New Beginning comes only at the end of the transition.  Sometimes it comes as an Ah Ha moment in hindsight, or when we become just determined to launch a new activity and find success.  It requires more than just perseverance, “it requires an understanding of external signs and inner signals that point the way to the future.”

In the wedding example of a transition, the new beginning might be that the couple just realizes they were truly working as a team in the negotiations over the purchase of the right house for their needs and wants to be met, and that they had truly listened and understood the other person’s needs and wants in the situation.  They are all set to move in – to a new transition phase of their marriage.

An unhappy example of an ending might be when one partner becomes seriously ill in a relationship or the relationship is terminated because of a sudden death.  The Neutral Zone is something which takes a long time of healing work and changes in expectations and plans. This cycle can be extremely uncomfortable as we disconnect from the past, the present is extremely emotionally traumatizing, and we need assistance and time to reorganize ourselves for the future – our new beginnings.

I most often return to this book to discover that I have not fully acknowledged an Ending and that I am wandering around in the Neutral Zone needing some assistance in reading the signs that direct me towards a new Beginning.  Being in the Neutral Zone has become uncomfortable; I am relieved to open my copy of this book and regain my focus and find a new understanding.

We all have different skills at making change in our lives; I have positive redirections to employ with the outline which Dr. Bridges builds his premise of change.

I have read a number of blogs that have shared about simplifying their holiday and not spending as much on gifts as they transition to the new economic circumstances in their lives.  I am wondering how that went and was it a transition in which you were successful?  How will it change your future celebrations?

What stages of transition do you find most difficult?  What transitions are you planning for and making preparations?

I look forward to your comments.

If you enjoyed reading this you would Stumbleupon this article or share it with your friends on Twitter?
Thank you

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Book Review: Transitions ~William Bridges

For a short period of time, I developed a program at our local hospital for obese teens and young adults. The dietician would come and talk to them about healthy eating habits and it is when we added this bit of information that we began to see the “lights” come on in many a young face.  So here I go:

Imagine your fat cell as a round ball, you can keep growing fat cells there is not a limited amount for your body type or balance.  Some people have a genetic ability to grow too many and some have a genetic marker to grow them sparsely, most people fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.

These round orbs would then get a series – maybe 5 – of smaller circles inside them.  These smaller circles inside, the dietician would use to represent the open doors to receive fat for storage.  The door is always open to receiving fat and left over adrenaline or stress hormones and even toxic items from the environment which have not been flushed out of the body – in it goes right into the fat cell.  The dietician would draw these open doors in green. Then the dietician would pick up a red pen and make one small circle more inside the orb.

The red circle was the OUT DOOR and it is closed and locked tight most of the time.  There is only one out door per cell but many in doors.  One must find the key to open the Out Door in order to lose weight.  It has a double lock on it – wouldn’t you know. It’s a survival thing.

The double lock is coded to open when there is enough OXYGEN and WATER present in the correct combination and diffusion to crack the code and open the door, releasing fat.  If you drink too much water and flood the system, the doors do not open; you may make yourself sick.  If there is too much oxygen you will pass it out – BURP – or even pass out.

One opens the door through exercise which produces the correct amount of each element, oxygen and water, to open the door.  Once the door is opened with exercise, it will stay open for several hours so your next meal will be more useable as fuel and not be turned into fat so quickly.
What you eat after exercise needs to be a good protein – a working fuel.

Every part of your body needs fuel.  Do you wish to use the proper fuel for your activity and wellness or do you wish to run on junk fuel?

All sorts of folks are busy attempting to create a synthetic key to unlock the fat cell door with greater ease.  Food manufacturers are developing all kinds of products that they hope will just slip right through and not make it into the open door.  So far, nothing has been developed that opens the outdoor except the correct combination of oxygen and water.

So was this information helpful to you?

Will it come to mind the next time your eat something?

What do you think you will need to do to find the right combination to open your fat door?

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Anatomy of a Fat Cell

I tried to jump on this band wagon right away when Vered of MOMGRIND, Cath Lawson of CATHLAWSON, and Barbara of BLOGGINGWITHOUTABLOG mentioned it on their blog sites. So I signed up right away and had an SU button put at the bottom of each of my articles on this blog. I took the “How to” lesson on the sign up page and thought I had now done my part.

Some of my best readers would push the SU button at the bottom of my posts but it was not increasing readers to my site and I was not able to figure out what was the next step for me to do to maximize its use for me – I was ready to give up.

Barbara, Cath, and Vered would not let me – they insisted I sign up for the free tutorial offered by Caroline Middlebrook called Traffic Rush – it’s free for the first lessons.  Wow has this adventure really excited me about StumbleUpon.

I learned first about my choosing categories about areas where I like to read and learn.  I picked poetry, art, psychology, vegetarian cooking, and famous quotes – there were so many to choose from I limited myself to 15.

Every day I started to push the StumbleUpon button on the top of my screen in the menu bar.  I could Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down or Send on to a friend and even just pass on the wonderful articles that were popping up on my screen.  It was as though 10 different magazines had arrived at my house and I was reading the articles that would have caught my attention to read first.

Unlike all those magazines, I did not have toxic ink or feel responsible about all the trees (52 million for Christmas Catalogs alone) that we cut down to mail out the magazine.  Already Green Dimes had made a huge difference in my mailbox getting rid of unwanted catalogs, and now I was cutting out magazines and still having the pleasure of reading new and updated articles that I wanted to read.  The first week I was hooked and wanted to tell everyone I knew about it.

I read everything the first few weeks, now I am more selective and more often use the pass buttons, or the Thumbs Down.  My time is more important to me as of late and I have never liked wasting time.

Yesterday, up popped 10 short videos of new stand up comedians, several I thumbs down for the “blue” language and they were just not funny , but most were amazing humor from some new folks that just made me laugh until my sides ached  – I got to push the replay button and enjoy them again – How amazing is that.

StumbleUpon is a great equalizer and has really opened my eyes to how interesting social media can become.  Not only has it brought more readers to several of my articles, which I thought were worth sharing and so did others, but it has opened up more “global thinking” on my level and improved my critical thinking skills.

I think this is the future right at my finger tips and I am hoping to entice more folks to SU’s possibilities. So as I keep learning about this from a business lesson, I would offer this up to my readers as a new experience that will transport you, inform you, and that I think you will enjoy.

If you liked what you read hear, feel free to comment, and click on the StumbleUpon button and share my ideas with a worldwide audience – power at your fingertips…go on give it a try!  You know you want to…

Stumble it!

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

StumbleUpon Another Great Discovery