Author: Wendy Sill

Exercise is a powerful personal tool for taking control of both your health and your emotions.  One of the best ways to deal with feeling down, especially if you feel down a lot, with this is to flood your system with energetic healthy endorphins produced by exercise. This not only helps to get rid of feelings of sadness and frustration, your body will also reward you with positive feelings like pride and confidence when you’re physically healthy. Even getting a little healthier than you are right now can feel surprisingly good.

The change in sensation may be strange and even difficult at firstand you might even feel like quitting before you’ve even worked up a sweat but it’s important to push through. Pretty soon your muscles will get used to working out, and your emotions will get used to the sensation of feeling good and you’ll start feeling better when you’re not exercising, too. Ready to get in motion? With just a few daily exercises, you can get healthier and feel amazing every day.

1) Jumping Jacks

Perhaps the least exotic exercise we could start with, but not to be underestimated. The humble jumping jack works out much of your entire body including your calves, thighs, glutes (butt), core (tummy) and of course your shoulders and arms. While we’re sure you know the general way to do a jumping jack, for best results keep your elbows mostly straight and bring your arms up straight above your head. Keep your head looking straight out without turning your neck or looking down. Start with ten per set and try to do at least five sets before resting. Then, each day work on doing either more sets or five to ten more per set.

2) Kicks

Kicks are a great exercise to do while cooling off from intense arm exercises like pushups and can be done in a variety of ways. You can stand in the middle of the floor kicking up to your waistline while using your other muscles to stabilize or you can hold onto something like a chair or wall. You can also lie down and kick one leg at a time as high as you can. Kicks are relatively easy so start with ten to fifteen per set and ten sets per session. Just make sure to do the same number of kicks of approximately the same quality with both legs to keep things even.

3) Jazzercise

There’s nothing quite like dancing your heart out to your favorite energetic music to get your blood pumping and your mood lifting. You don’t have to join an official jazzercise program or even prefer jazz to get all the benefit of a good rockout. Whether you do normal exercises to music or really cut loose and bust a few moves, as long as you work up a sweat the exercise is doing it’s job. We would like to advise you (from experience) to be careful about things like socks on hard floors remind you to clear furniture out of your dance space before getting started.

4) Crunches

Crunches focus primarily on your core muscles and take very little space to set up because you won’t be throwing your limbs around like many other exercises. All you need is a towel and a wall. Set the towel up lengthwise away from the wall so one end touches the baseboard and you can lay on it. Position yourself so that your rear is almost touching the wall and criss-cross your legs propped up against the wall. Now place your hand behind your head and curl upward as far as you are comfortable. Try starting with sets of ten at ten sets per session.

5) Bicycles

Bicycling is wonderful exercise but not everyone has a bike or elliptical machine at home and that’s okay. Instead, you can ‘do bicycles’ which are a great floor exercise. To bicycle comfortably, lie on your back with your feet in the air and brace your tail-bone with a folded towel. Now pedal the air like mad, using your hands for balance or braced behind your head.

6) Calf Lifts

Calf lifts work out your calves, the back of your thighs, and your glutes all at once and can be done anywhere, even the office, with people hardly aware that you are working out. Simply grasp the back of a chair or stabilize yourself on a table or wall and lift up on your toes then set yourself gently back down. Do this as many times as you can stand until your calves are very tense and hot, then walk it off so you don’t stiffen up. While it may seem trivial, this will get you calves and buns of steel if done frequently for several months.

Feeling good and being healthy are often synonymous as the body rewards you for treating it right. By remembering to do even a few of these simple exercises each day you will start feeling better about yourself and the world around you.

Do other people think you’re slightly crazy when you talk to yourself? Do you find it odd when your own thoughts move from your mind to your mouth as you organize and categorize them?

The truth is that whether you say the words out loud or they remain as inner dialogue, everyone talks to themselves. And these monologues are not a sign that the crazy train has made a stop at our house; it’s actually a sign of intelligence. Talking to yourself organizes your thoughts, boosts brain power, trains memory and modulates our emotions.

Inner dialogue, consisting of your personal thoughts within your mind, those in a paper journal or list and in the digital age, those recorded on your smart device, are the daily reminder to take notes for your life. Your plans, hopes, dreams, goals and expectations develop detail and direction based your collective contemplation. There is a need to be aware of both positive and negative influences of that dialogue, and how to change our inner conversation to reflect better on our outer selves.

Four reasons why the way you address yourself matters:

• The decision to change: Going from “I should” or “I would” to “I can” or “I no longer…” takes daily practice. Many people are unwilling to have the tough conversation with themselves, admitting that the words “should” and “would” are the decision equivalent of sitting in the middle of the seesaw; you’re not going anywhere or gaining any advantage stuck in the middle. It’s comfortable not making a move, but you don’t learn and grow as a person without taking chances.
• Thoughts matched to actions: How you think reflects in your actions. If you tell yourself you’re incapable of running five kilometers, climbing a mountain, finishing the day’s office paperwork or driving long-distance to see Grandma, you’ll likely succeed in talking yourself out of those actions. Motivational inner dialogue works both ways:
• The brain believes what it’s told: We admit out loud that we are bad at certain things: arriving on time, quitting smoking, losing weight, finding our car keys. We say these things over and over, laugh and roll our eyes and acquiesce to the inevitable: that we cannot change. Said often enough, these self-truth statements become the only truths to our brain, and we don’t change because we don’t believe there is a way towards change.
• One rough patch, and it never gets better: We all run into tough times and deal with difficult situations where we find ourselves lacking control, out of our intellectual depth or just not feeling like a good fit. We tell ourselves that if it happened once, the problem is permanent. The contextual self-truth takes over: every time we find ourselves in this context, we remind ourselves how uncool we are forever and how we don’t belong in this place, ever.

How to really use your inside voice

Speak out loud to yourself, record it and play back: Listen to how you sound talking to yourself. Do you sound assertive, confident and decisive? Or are you scared, angry and uncertain? Do you sound like a leader of your own desires and destiny, or someone willing to float along until whatever might look promising pops up? Do you sound mean and petty when you address yourself, as if your own opinions don’t count, or do you consider your thoughts part of the perfect process you are?

Focus abilities, not limitations: Our liabilities and limitations are not the center of who we are. We make a lot of “If only…” statements, wishing we could change things, thinking if we could fix just one thing about ourselves, everything in our lives would be better. Often the one thing we would fix has been either a lifelong constant (“I wish I were thinner”) or completely abstract ideal (I wish I was funny”), so it’s unlikely to go anywhere. Ignore those aspects of yourself, and focus on what you can change.

Motivate yourself towards action, not away from it: Scientific studies show that along with training, motivation with inner affirmation goes a long way towards greater performance. The positive words and phrases are usually short, personal and repeated often, as a reminder than win, lose or draw, the goal is to keep moving forward and achieving positive results.

It is far too easy for us to look at ourselves with disdain. Maybe we have heard disparaging comments made by others about our personality or our body. Or maybe we just look in the mirror every morning and allow the negative thoughts to start piling up. Either way, we become uncomfortable with who we are. We begin to tell ourselves lies about our value. And the more we dislike ourselves, the more we try to hide from the world around us. But Open Eye Wellness has good news. You don’t have to live like that! It is time to get comfortable in your own skin.

1. Stop trying to become other people. You are a unique individual. There is nobody in the entire world quite like you! Many times, when we aren’t satisfied with who we are, we try to turn ourselves into somebody else. Not only does this subconsciously tell you that you aren’t good enough, it also deprives the world of a beautiful person! Obviously, we all have role models that we look up to and try to emulate in some ways. But it’s time to quit wasting time wishing you were exactly like this or that person. You need to be you!

2. Assess yourself in light of your situations. Often,  we feel out of place, and attribute it to our personality or looks. But we have to realize that perhaps we feel uncomfortable or inadequate is because we are trying to do something that we were not made to do. It’s time to be realistic. Are you putting yourself in situations that you really want to be in? How close is the job you work now to your dream job? Is your major in college what you really want to be doing with your life? Perhaps you would feel completely at ease in a different situation. If you feel uncomfortable, it might not be about you at all.

3. Be open to constructive criticism. Nobody is perfect. And those who are most at peace with who they are are the ones who realize this and ask for help. Ask others to help identify which areas you could improve yourself in. This is not saying you should listen to snide comments that were meant to be insulting. This kind of feedback is most likely inspired from jealousy or pure rudeness and isn’t helpful. Instead, find a trusted friend who cares about you and let them speak into your life. Ask specifically, “Do I have any bad habits that I should break?” Take their answers to heart, knowing that you can do something about it.

4. Be diligent. Don’t be discouraged if you find things that you really want to change about yourself. Any good and healthy change will be attainable. You simply have to set your mind to it! Do you have a bad habit of complaining? Make a point to express gratitude to someone when you are feeling frustrated. Do you feel sedentary all the time and thus are not in shape? Set your alarm forty minutes earlier and take some time to work out before you begin your day. Remember, you don’t have to do this on your own. Get a close friend to keep you accountable.    

5. Identify and make use of your good qualities. We know that everyone has some flaws. But we have to realize that everyone has their strengths as well. And you have your fair share. Identify what you are good at and what you enjoy doing (they are often one and the same). You will be surprising and how many strengths you really have once you think about it. Then figure out ways you can put all that talent to good use! Find niches that you can fill and people that you can help.

The way you view yourself is important. Let your self-image be realistic, but also accepting. You are who you are, and you are a beautiful and gifted person!

The holidays are an exciting and wonderful time for families across the plant, especially if you’re going to visit distant relatives to spend this special season together. Of course, as fun as the holdiays are, they’re also one of the most stress-inducing events of the year and the month between Thanksgiving and New Years is always more than a little hectic. After a hectic couple of days wrapping presents, packing up the family, and traveling to your destination, most people are more than a little frazzled, but that’s now how you want to meet your relatives. One of the best ways to get rid of that stress, get your head together, and be calm for the family gatherings is simply to meditate. The key is to find just the right moments.

1) In the Airport and On the Plane

If you’re flying in during the holiday season to visit relatives or even just to take a special winter vacation, one of the most stressful and boring parts of the trip is waiting in the airport and then sitting quietly on the plane for the length of your journey whether it’s one hour or twenty. These times tend to be full of a combination of hassle and long stretches of nothing and therefore become the perfect time to meditate.

Once you’re settled and your bags are safe, sit back and close your eyes. Let your mind wander over your holiday worries and sort them out, one by one. This is a great opportunity to settle any lingering feelings about family members you’re going to see and to make an action plan to handle anything you’re worried about.

2) On Long Car Trips

Not every family flies to see distant relatives in the winter. If road trips are a family tradition or if your relatives only live a few cities away, a family car ride may well be in your future. When this happens, everyone is likely to get restless and anxious about the trip ahead. While listening to the radio or a favorite podcast has some reprieve from the stressful boredom, meditation is a great way to make the time go by if you’re not the driver.

If you have children, one great method to keep them quiet and help them stay calm during the trip is to lead a guided meditation session with them, painting a word-picture of a quiet journey through a meadow or a mountain pass for your children to visualize. You can then use this later to calm the kids down before bed or when they get cranky during visiting time.

3) In Your Hotel Room

When everyone gets to the hotel or the guest rooms with family, it’s time to unpack and unwind. Once everyone else is settled, take moment to explore the hotel room, then settle down for a few minutes of quiet meditation. Focus on the task at hand, what you need to do next, and how to get creative with what’s available. Spend some time listening to the sounds of your lodgings, smelling the smells, and feeling the movment of air. This will help you familiarize yourself with the new living space which will make it easier to feel like it’s yours and relax when you need to.

4) Before Meeting Family

Meeting family for the holidays is exciting and wonderful but not every relative is perfect. If you’re worried about encountering someone who maybe you have not always gotten along with, the best way to avoid an unpleasant encounter is to prepare yourself. Meditate before gathering with family to help keep your mind calm. If there’s someone that always annoys you, resolve to be peaceful and unable to be annoyed. If someone always picks fun at you, meditate on their insecurity and prepare to remain like a stone, impervious to their picking. If you remain serene, you might even find that troublesome relatives really aren’t that much trouble after all.

5) When Things Get Stressful

Finally, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to schedule a meditation break. You can take one whenever you like. If things start to get stressful over the holidays and you feel like you need some time to yourself, feel free to take it. Find a quiet place in your room, on the back porch, or even just a few moments in the bathroom if the house is packed to close your eyes and let your stress flow away from you and into the air or earth where it will harmlessly dissipate. If your children start to get overwhelmed or cranky, consider taking them on another guided meditation which will either lead to a nice mood recovery or a relaxing nap.

With a little stress-relieving meditation, you can shake off the holiday worries, ignore problematic relatives, and keep everything nice and calm while you and your family enjoy each other over a series of meals, gatherings, card games, and cups of hot cocoa. When you bring meditation to your holiday routine, this could become your least stressful family celebration yet.

Many of us feel that we can never reach our goals. We have a hard time dealing with performance anxiety or even social anxiety. We are intimidated by the success of others and by our own seeming inadequacies. And as a result, we become all too well acquainted with a feeling of defeat. The truth, however, is that the battle is often lost in our minds – long before we actually “fail” outwardly. This, believe it or not, is something that we can change.

Visualization is a very powerful tool in helping us reach our goals. Instead of setting yourself up for failure, gently guide yourself toward the biggest success story of your life by envisioning your success beforehand. Instead of filling your mind with negative thoughts that will only make you doubt yourself more, allow yourself some positive and healthy motivation. Below are five tips to help you learn the skill of visualization.

1. Identify exactly what you want your success to be. One of the greatest steps toward success is figuring out what success means to each of us. You can’t get what you want if you don’t know what you want. So you need to identify what would make you feel successful. What is it exactly that you are trying to attain? A stunning musical or theatrical performance? A strong, healthy body? A positive response to a job interview? You need to have a specific event in mind and a specific outcome that you want.

2. Envision what your success will look like. Now it is time to start actually writing the story. What would your life be like if you succeeded? This is the place where your imagination can go wild. Let yourself see those enormous muscles flexing. Let yourself hear the audience bursting into applause. Let yourself feel the joy and excitement that you will feel upon reaching your goal. Visualize how things will play out when you succeed.

3. Be specific. Don’t let your visualization stay on a general level. Instead, get into all the nitty-gritty details. It’s okay to imagine specific conversations, facial expressions, or even touches. Give your mind a particular context and a location in which to create your success. Take time to imagine every step of the way – the planning, the preparation, and the outcome.

4. Write down your success. Next comes the step that many people shy away from – but is absolutely crucial! It is time to get your success out of your mind and begin making it a part of reality. You can express your success in any way you feel most powerful. It is probably simplest just to write it down. But if you prefer to draw or even act it out, go for it. Either way, let your success become something tangible that you can read or see or feel.

5. Constantly focus your mind on the positive. You have laid a great foundation for actualizing your goal. Now you just need to keep your eye on the prize and press forward! Let the positive thoughts and feelings surround you as you visualize your success and motivate you as you work toward your goal. You need to be strict with your mind and leave no room for negative or demeaning thoughts. Instead, fill your mind with encouraging thoughts and never lose sight of how it looked and felt when you visualized your success.

Much of what we can or cannot do is based on what our minds tell us. If you mentally tear yourself down before any situation, you will be most likely to fail. However, by building a success story even before the event, you set yourself up for victory! And victory is what Open Eye Wellness is all about!

No one can eat fish like they do in Iceland. As an island culture, fish comes in an abundance of species including delicious cod, haddock, monkfish, herring, skate, and salmon. They prepare this bounty of fish in a large variety of ways, the most traditional being the saltfiskur (salt fish) while the most commonly seen are bags of dried fish-jerky. What may not have occured to anyone is that Icelandic people eat a lot more fish than people from landlocked and even coastal mainland regions. A recent study on this unique and beautiful island found that eating a large amount of fish in your youth can significantly decrease your chances of breast cancer, and a study before that suggested that prostate cancer is also much lower in frequent fish-eaters. This interesting revelation adds just one more reason why it’s great to live in Iceland, and why fish is good for you.

Breast Cancer and Fish

Fish consumption in the US is prevalent, but it’s not overwhelming. Unless they have a favorite fish-dish, most people eat fish more like once or twice a month than several times a week. Breast cancer hits about 1 in 8 women according to BreastCancer.org. This comes out to about 12% of all women at some point over the course of their lifetimes, and can range from benign to life-taking. Still just within the bounds of the US, about forty thousand women are expected to die of breast cancer during 2017. Men aren’t safe either, though their risk is much lower at about one in a thousand. With odds like these, it’s no wonder that scientists around the world are looking for ways to lower the risk of the most common kind of cancer in women. When taking histories of women with and without breast cancer, a recent study in Iceland revealed that women who ate more fatty fish as teenagers had an overall lower chance of contracting breast cancer in their later years. This study looked at a similar topic and concluded that fish oil has an inverse association with breast cancer rates.

Prostate Cancer and Fish

Prostate cancer is like the mirror-cancer to women’s breast cancer, as it is the most common cancer type among men and also tends to strike later in life. It has a similar strike-rate, as according to Cancer.net about 12% of all men are diagnosed with it at some point in their lifetimes. Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in men, and it’s been estimated that 26,000 men will die in 2017. Cancer as a whole is a terrifying prospect and for men who want to increase their chance to stay out of that 12%, there are constant studies about how to decrease your exposure to carcinogens. This mostly creates a huge list of things not to eat or do, but what about fun things to eat that help you avoid cancer instead? While eating fatty fish as teenagers may help women dodge breast cancer, this study suggests that men who consume fish oil in their later years can seriously decrease their chances for prostate cancer.

Foods and Cancer in General

With cancer being such a big issue, there have been thousands of studies on what does and does not increase your chances of growing rebellious tumors. Unfortunately for everyone, most of the really good stuff is on the ‘bad’ list and we all choose when and where to take our chances. Carcinogenic (cancer-causing) foods and drinks include:

• Alcoholic Anything – The first bummer.
• Processed Meats – This includes bacon, sausage, hot dogs, pepperoni, beef jerky, and prosciutto. Really anything that’s been preserved, cured, or salted.
• Grilled Foods – That delicious char is made of cancer, sorry.
• Red Meats – All red meats, including lamb, horse, and goat.
• Hot Beverages – Anything even approaching body temperature.
• Coffee – Even if you drink it cold.

With all these amazing and delicious foods “off the table” for a cancer-free life, we begin to see a picture in which cancer is probably inevitable. After all, even Shaolin monks don’t drink their tea cold if they can help it. When it comes to reducing your cancer risks, you may be better off seeking foods that help you, rather than trying to avoid every food that’s been associated with cancer. Other than delicious fatty fish, these helpful foods include:

• Garlic – Can actually reduce tumor growth, better fresh than powdered.
• Broccoli – Better raw, but definitely don’t microwave.
• Brazil Nuts – High in selenium, and can also help after you have cancer
• Citrus – Good for anything it touches, from your skin to your stomach lining.
• Saurkraut – The fermentation process is the key.
• Mushrooms – Healthy in a lot of ways and especially for breast and prostate cancer.

Fortunately, these are only a few of your anti-cancer options. Some are strange, many are delicious, and almost all of them are healthy. The unwritten rule that a healthy lifestyle helps you fight cancer is true, but you should still do your homework because the way you prepare these foods also has a fairly large effect on their cancer-fighting effects and grilling them with char, for instance, makes the point moot by adding carcinogens to your anti-cancer meal.

Like most diets, the Icelandic selection of fishy dishes runs the gambit from healthy to carcinogenic. While their favorite saltfiskur falls under the ‘anything cured’ rule, there are dozens of other recipes which do not. Fresh fish boiled, grilled (but not charred), and even fried can be chock full of the fatty fish oils that help fight breast and prostate cancer, so remember whether you’re vacationing in Iceland or shopping at home, eat more fish. No doubt the clever Icelandic scientists who did the research are doing so.

The only way to overcome daily fear and anxiety is to prove your fears wrong. For most people who suffer from anxiety, it’s because they have an overcharged sense of danger when faced with everyday situations. The human mind is constantly running ‘risk vs reward’ assessments to decide what is worth doing and what is better left undone, but this is based on experience! When you’ve succeeded at something, you are more likely to see new opportunities for that activity as rewarding instead of risky. Therefore, if you want to conquer a fear of public speaking, you should start by telling your friends a few jokes There are dozens of ways to overcome your fear and anxiety, and you can start right away. Here are a few easy methods to build your confidence and help you leave that fear behind.

1. Wear Exciting Socks

If you’re afraid of looking silly at work, try wearing decorative and exciting socks. With most business attire, the socks are mostly invisible, but you’ll know they’re there. By daring yourself to this one act of of defying conformity, you have done critical damage to your wall of internal anxiety. During the first day of rebellious sock wearing, you may find yourself worrying if anyone will see and admonish the socks, but chances are the first person to notice will laugh and think it’s cool. Make exciting socks your thing and, if you want to, start adding to your unique look with other small business-acceptable details. A decorative belt buckle, cufflinks, or jewelry are also fun but understated ways to show a little flare. This may sound like sheer vanity, but when you spend time defining your style and people respond positively to it, it breaks down your anxiety about being accepted as yourself.

2. Change Your Hair

It doesn’t have to be much, you don’t have to cut it, but do something new with your hair. Depending on the length and your normal style, you can part it on the other side, pull it up or leave it down, gel it into a new shape or braid it in an unusual way. While doing this, think about the person you want to be. Like the Star Trek alter-ego goatee, turn the new hairstyle into a representation of your inner brave self, then go out into the world knowing that you’re trying something new today. Even if confidence feels a little unfamiliar, the only way to be confident is to take confident actions. People who don’t know you will have no idea that this style is new to you, and you can show them your best side, building positive feedback for your risk vs reward assessments. Depending on how subtle your change was, friends and family may ask you if there’s anything different about you today or exclaim with delight at your new style and this too will build your confidence further by providing positive reinforcement for your new bold approach.

3. Play a Game

Sometimes anxiety can come from obsessively thinking about what could go wrong in any situation. Especially for people with overactive and worry-prone thoughts, it can be useful to distract yourself while trying to do things that typically make you nervous. A great way to do this is to play a game with yourself during the day that will keep your mind a little bit occupied. Try deciding each morning to count all the things you see of a particular color, or a particular kind of object, like all yellow things or every pencil. Looking for these objects will take up the part of your brain that’s usually looking for things to worry about. If it helps, give yourself points for every item you see and try not to count the same item twice in a row.

4. Dare Yourself

It’s a well-known fact that some people are highly motivated by dares, and you could be one of them! Even if you normally struggle with fear and anxiety, you might still be susceptible to the double-dog dare. The next time you’re about to psych yourself out of doing something, dare yourself. Really sit yourself down (in your mind) and tell yourself not back down from things you really want. Whether it’s jumping into a pool in your clothes or just going out for dinner with a few co-workers after a shared shift, daring yourself can be a surprisingly effective tactic. Just hold yourself to your own standards of bravery and you’ll naturally find yourself being braver and leaving those anxious thoughts behind.

There’s no need to suffer one more day under the control of your fear and anxiety. Make the change today by choosing to do something daring. With one brave act at a time, you’ll soon find that you’ve stopped being fearful and have become the person you’ve always wanted to be: a confident you.

We all know that exercise in an important part of staying healthy and happy with our bodies but it’s hard to get started. There are dozens of forms of exercise to choose from and they will all be difficult at first. Some people play a sport, other people mimic workout tapes and a very large number of people choose to go running. If you don’t need a new friend group, don’t want to worry about membership fees, and enjoy spending time alone looking at the local scenery, running is the perfect exercise activity. You may have even always wanted to be a runner but it was always a little to hard to work it into your routine or condition yourself so that it isn’t a total pain. The good news is that it’s never too late to get started. Becoming a runner is a lot easier than you might think, all it requires is the willingness to commit and soon the joy of running will be your motivation.

If you’re ready to become one of those lanky, healthy people who runs every morning and could probably survive the zombie apocalypse, you don’t need a personal trainer. You don’t even need expensive equipment or an app that tells you when to run but it also won’t’ happen over night. Prepare for a few weeks of conditioning and slowly getting your run times up above a few minutes per stretch. Here’s how to get started:

Warm Up in the Mornings

The first step to a strong running habit is to wake up with the right mentality. Even if you don’t go running right away, warm up with more than just coffee and a shower. Do a few lunges and start getting your body ready for a lifestyle of activity. Stretch out in your jammies and jog in place for a few minutes to get your blood pumping. As you get into it, make sure to work up a bit of a sweat before your morning shower each day. This will not only make you more ready to work out, it will also get your brain functioning better for the day’s tasks ahead of you.

Condition with Long Walks

If you haven’t been running in the last few months, your body isn’t conditioned to long amounts of time spent moving you around on your legs and you shouldn’t expect it to be. Instead of simply taking off and finding yourself exhausted a few streets later, start with power walks to condition your body to long-term ambulation. Take long strides that stretch out your calves and try to walk an extra five to ten minutes every day until you get up to about an hour of fast walking. Don’t be surprised if at various stages your feet, hips, knees, or legs start to ache. Do your best to walk it out as this is a sign that your body is adapting to your new performance demands.

Start with Short, Easy Runs

Now that your legs know that you mean business, start to work running time into your schedule but don’t expect to go far on your first jaunt. Start with jogging or a slow, easy loping pace and expect to get out of breath fairly quickly. If you’re out for a while, give yourself plenty of walking breaks and don’t be afraid to go back inside when you’re tired. Runners don’t start being good at the 50-yard dash, they get that way through practice. Keep your first few runs short and lengthen them as you feel your strength and stamina growing. This way you are less likely to hurt yourself by over-stressing your legs before you’re conditioned for longer runs.

Build a Running Schedule

If you have trouble finding the time or motivation to go out and run, building yourself an actual running schedule is how a lot of the pros do it. If you have time in the morning, run between your warm-ups and your shower. If there’s a shower at your work, possibly in the gym, you might be able to grab a run to and from your favorite lunch spot. As for evening running, your best bet is either between work and dinner or an hour or two after dinner when your stomach has settled. By setting a schedule

Enjoy Stretching Everywhere

As you build new muscles in your legs and core from all that running, you may not realize but it’s important to stretch all day long. This will ensure that your muscles stay flexible and ready to run again soon. Stretching not only feels great, it also keeps you limber and thinking about running. At your desk, you can roll your chair back slightly and stretch your feet out, alternating between pointing and flexing your toes. You can do lunges in the break room and even in the middle of a conversation you can stand on your tip-toes slowly pushing up and dropping to work your calves during the day.

Running is a wonderful way to stay in shape, get your daily exercise, and transport yourself quickly from place to place.  Whether you’re aiming for marathons or just enjoy the feeling of wind in your face, it’s never too late to start running on a regular basis. Through scheduling, practice, and plenty of stretching you should be running circles around your friends in no time.

Getting healthy and staying healthy can be a struggle. Believe us, we know. It takes diligence, commitment, and downright hard work to maintain a routine that will keep us at an optimum level of wellness. And that’s not easy. There have been many times in our journey when we have just wanted throw everything down in despair and walk away. But here at Open Eye Wellness, there are no quitters! We know that the things we tell ourselves make a huge differences in our lives. We can either discourage ourselves or energize ourselves for what is coming next – the choice is ours! These five statements will help you get back in the game and keep on pushing, even when you are feeling down.

1. “Just start!” These two simple words can do more for us that we know. Far too often, our struggle is just starting to do what we know we need to do. You may want to identify a specific goal that you know you need to reach, but have been avoiding because it is not easy. And tell yourself that you have been sitting back and doing nothing for too long. It’s time to go out of your comfort zone and just start. In the end, you will find the positive results overwhelming!

2. “No grit, no pearl.” You are going through some tough stuff. But always remember, you are gaining something because of it. It is going to take some pain to get what you want, but in the end, it is completely worth it. Sure, you could sit back and do nothing – it seems like the easy way out. But eventually, you will have to look back and see that you have lost something important. And you will regret it forever. So grit your teeth and dig for the treasure! Quitters get nothing. But fighters get the gold.

3. “I can. And I will.” You are your own worst enemy and your own best friend. Instead of badmouthing yourself to yourself, let yourself know that you can do it. And what is more, you will do it. Who cares if there are obstacles in your way? They aren’t stronger than you are. You can overcome whatever lies in your path. It won’t be comfortable. But you know that if you push yourself, you can touch the sky. Get up, get going, and watch yourself triumph.

4. “I will learn from my mistakes.” Everyone hates making mistakes. They make us feel uncomfortable and bad about ourselves. But we view mistakes as one step in the process of success, not a setback. Each and every mistake shows us what we can do better. If we view mistakes correctly, they can help us and not hurt us. Prove that you are not a quitter by learning from your mistakes instead of despairing because of them.

5. “I will inspire other people.”  We don’t always remember that the people around us are fighting battles, too. Sometimes all they need is someone to tell them, “I know. I’ve been there. And I have proved that it’s possible to push through!” Our life experiences allow us to offer comfort and support to those around us. Who knows where they are in their journey, and what you have to say might be exactly what they need. Other people will be inspired by your victories and will look to you to as their role model.

Life is tough, but so are you! We know that you can do it!

For more information about Open Eye Wellness, make sure to contact us! We would love to hear about your journey toward happiness and wellness.

Depression strikes, and we are left with the aftermath of something not even totally understood by science. Sadness, feelings of defeat and loneliness are symptoms of depression – an illness that afflicts many millions of Americans. We know that a lot of people suffer with these feelings that drag us down. No matter how bad it gets, there is always hope; at rock bottom there is nowhere to go but up. Although you may have been through the ringer or are suffering in silence, remember to be gentle with yourself. Coax yourself up and out of that funk, and you will find there are many ways to combat depression. Here are four beat-the-blues basics to help shake depression.

Let’s get physical

Exercise, ugh! Maintaining an active lifestyle can be a challenge. Even if working out is the last thing we want to do, it’s important for our mental and physical health. Numerous studies link physical movement with improved mood, and feelings of happiness and inner peace. Try to exercise 30 minutes a day and see the difference. Exercise can be fun, you just have to find what is right for you. Professional boxers train extensively day after day, but if jumping rope and pugilism aren’t right for you, you can try more gentle exercise such as stretching, dance, or water aerobics. Literally anything that gets your body moving, even just walking, is good for you. Get off your butt and stomp out that depression!

Herbal Healing

Oatstraw infusions, St. John’s Wort, and Garden Sage are examples of herbs that help with depression. The wide offerings of Mother Nature have been used for thousands of years to cure illnesses and ailments, and science finds cures for diseases in green plants from the earth. When working with plants it is important to form a kinship with the spirit of the plant. It sounds silly; commune with the plant in your mind and ask its permission to use its healing power. You may find that decorating your home with plants will improve your mood as well, among other benefits. Make sure when taking a new herb or infusion that you properly research its properties and tendencies with your condition. Always make sure too that you are not combining medications that could react adversely with one another.

A Beautiful Mindfulness

Meditation, Tai Chi, or yoga all strive to reconnect ourselves with the energy within us and around us. Find a practice that stimulates your soul. The silence in these activities saturates your being with a certain magic – one free of stress and encumberment. If you have kids, you are sure to appreciate silence in addition to its spiritual meaning. Tai Chi and yoga combine physical movement with mindfulness. The mind is deeply connected to the body, and we see the benefits of mindful practices over time and exponentially so. Take time each day to quiet your mind or practice any tool that brings you back into your body, in the present moment, and enjoying being alive.

Let’s do lunch

Diet and nutrition play a vital role in health and our emotional state. Cutting out processed foods, soda pop, and excessive sugars can help your brain function better. Avocados are great for depression, as are nuts, fish, fruits and vegetables, and foods high in fiber. Whole grains, beans, seafood, and lean meats have also shown a correlation between consumption and improved depression. The food you eat fuels your body so it is important to cut out junk food whenever possible. There are many ways to prepare these foods to be totally delicious so don’t be afraid to branch out of your comfort zone. Feed your body with nutritious and healthy food to combat depression from the start.

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Educating ourselves on how to fight depression actually tops the list. Armed with knowledge and information you can go forward and make meaningful changes in your life. Diet and exercise, mindfulness, and herbal medicine are all helpful tips for beating the blues. Lady Day (Billie Holiday) sings the blues:

“I sit in my chair and filled with despair, there’s no one could be so sad. With gloom everywhere, I sit and I stare, I know that I’ll soon go mad.”  [(In my) Solitude, 1952]

We may feel desperate at times, like there is no hope. Keep your head up. Educate yourself and take baby steps. Try to shift your depression and transform negativity into positive thinking. You got this!