Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership

Below is a great article from the Happily Retired blog on how to find healthy ways to cope with stress, and when to call the doctor. Get educated, know what your body and mind are doing and when:

For example:

* Eat a well-balanced, healthy diet. Don’t overeat.
* Get enough sleep.
* Exercise regularly.
* Limit caffeine and alcohol.
* Don’t use nicotine, cocaine, or other recreational drugs.
* Learn and practice relaxation techniques like guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, tai chi, or meditation. Try biofeedback, using a certified professional to get you started.
* Take breaks from work. Make sure to balance fun activities with your responsibilities. Spend time with people you enjoy.

Call your health care provider if:

Your doctor can help you determine if your anxiety would be best evaluated and treated by a mental health care professional.

Call 911 if:

* You have crushing chest pain, especially with shortness of breath, dizziness, or sweating. A heart attack can cause feelings of anxiety.
* You have thoughts of suicide.
* You have dizziness, rapid breathing, or racing heartbeat for the first time or it is worse than usual.

Call your health care provider if:

* You are unable to work or function properly at home because of anxiety.
* You do not know the source or cause of your anxiety.
* You have a sudden feeling of panic.
* You have an uncontrollable fear — for example, of getting infected and sick if you are out, or a fear of heights.
* You repeat an action over and over again, like constantly washing your hands.
* You have an intolerance to heat, weight loss despite a good appetite, lump or swelling in the front of your neck, or protruding eyes. Your thyroid may be overactive.
* Your anxiety is elicited by the memory of a traumatic event.
* You have tried self care for several weeks without success or you feel that your anxiety will not resolve without professional help.

Read the rest of this excellent, high-quality article at the Happily Retired Blog.

Do you Yoga? Yin Yoga and power sessions of Vinyasa Flow keep me unstressed and working in the top level of my capabilities most days. I don’t get colds anymore - I credit yoga among other self-care methods with keeping me healthy.  And it helps us ladies of a certain age to keep limber, prevent joint and back pain and keep the body fit and flexible

And others in business have found yoga to be their secret stress-busting weapon. Just listen to these professionals:

_“If you asked him a couple years ago whether he’d be doing yoga, Eddy Kelly would have called you crazy.

"My thing, for exercise, was to lift weights, go for a run, maybe play hockey in the fall and winter - but no thoughts of yoga," the 36-year-old said.

To the untrained eye, yoga looks more like the stretching you do before exercising than the actual exercise itself. It’s the warmup, not the muscle burner.

"I won’t say I thought of it as feminine at the time, but certainly not the type of workout where I would get in shape - not that strenuous thing I look to do twice a week," Kelly said. "But my opinion’s changed.

"It looks like you are stretching, but 10 minutes in, you are sweating."

"(Yoga) balances your day," Brenda Brown said. An executive assistant at a Bayers Lake-based company, she came up with the idea of holding the class. Yoga was offered at her previous job, and when she moved to Halifax, she made it her mission to introduce yoga at work.

"You have stressful things going on outside the office, inside the office, and if you just take an hour of your day, it really is productive. You can go back to your desk and tackle what you have to," she said.

Every Tuesday, about a dozen - mostly women - of the more than 100 employees get together in the cafeteria, push back tables, and roll out their yoga mats._”

Read the whole article here.

Okay, so the Autumnal Equinox was a week ago, but you can still have yourself a merry litle spa break at this time of the year when the energies are changing like mad, crazy swirls of leaves caught up in a merry dance with the North Wind. Blow some clean air through your hair - open all the windows even if it’s cold  and let your home and office air out completely from morning to night. And…

Try this five minute complete System Recharge to jump up your energy a bit at a time when the earth’s energies are winding down, going deeper, pulsing slower. This practice, which invokes the basic elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, purifies the subtle energy system and invigorates all of your sensate organs. Spend but a minute or two on each of the four areas:

Earth: Facing North, look down at the ground and feel gravity, pulling your body downward. Palms facing the ground, breathe both in and out through your nose while feeling the soles of your feet as they touch the earth. Breathe in through your soles of your feet and the palms of your hands.

Water: Turning to face the West, lean your neck backward looking upward and allow your lips to part. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Imagine that you are standing in a shallow mountain stream with water raining down upon you. Water rolls off of your body, drips down into the stream and flows away, taking all that doesn’t belong in or on you, with it.

Fire: Facing South, stand erect with your elbows bent and hands raised to shoulder level, facing the front of your body. Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose. As you breathe in, feel the breath stoking your internal fire or "dan tien" in your solar plexus. As you breathe out imagine you are sending the light of that fire outward, into a protective and energizing sphere which surrounds you.

Air: Facing East, allow your entire body to relax and soften. Feel yourself becoming less solid and more permeable. Your arms hang loosely with the palms facing to the front of you. As you breathe in and out through your mouth, feel the air flowing into and out of your body through the very pores in your skin.

Old circle-junkies among the reading audience might notice this goes in a counter-clockwise (or counter-sunwise if you will) circle. Yes. At this time of the year, the energies of the natural environment that surround us are moving more in these counter-sunwise spirals as the light of the sun itself grows less intense and weaker. This is one way to make a counter-sunwise spiral work for you, to energize and purify. Enjoy!

Here is my darling kitty Anoushka (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). You can click "more" to play with her using the fishing line or feed her a can of food. She loves being skritched and will purr enchantingly if you give her a rub with the cursor. Enjoy!

adopt your own virtual pet!

Cheryl Richardson’s newsletter is an ongoing source of inspiration. In speaking of the events of 9/11/2001, she offers these questions, which I in turn offer to you.

"That day showed me the true, universal priorities we all need to keep at the forefront of our minds — how connected we are to our own soul, to each other, and to a power greater than ourselves.  Realizing this truth in such an earth-shattering way gave me the courage to make tough, sometimes unpopular, choices to insure that my life was reflecting what mattered most.  I decided to travel less and be home more.  I gave up some goals that were more important to my head than my heart.  I made my spiritual life more of a priority.  And, I started the ritual of answering the following questions each year on September 11th that I share with you today."

"…Take some time to think about these questions.  Then, write the answers in a journal or notebook.  You might even print them out and discuss them during dinner with family or friends.  Please don’t wait for a crisis to take your life seriously.  Do it now . . ."

• Am I pleased with how I’m spending my precious time on earth?
• Am I spending enough quality time with the people who matter most?
• Am I doing my best to listen to the voice of my soul so I make real, honest choices based on what I most want?
• If today were my last day on earth, would I feel good about what I’m leaving behind?
•  
• Am I sharing (or working toward sharing) my God-given gifts and talents with others?
• Are there any petty disagreements or differences that I need to let go of once and for all?
• Is there someone I need to forgive?

---

Well said, Cheryl. A spiritual life for me is integral, but has come to mean something far, far different than ever it did before. We evolve and grow spiritually, sometimes away from one form and closer to a different form and at some point, to the formless. Spiritual connection ebbs and flows as is natural. Seek out sources of abundance and inspiration near you. If you are of no particular spiritual focus, you can begin to deepen in spirit by listening to the patterns of your breath and your own heartbeat, and finding that which your heart finds congruence with. For more information on heart congruence, seek out www.heartmath.org

For more information on Cheryl Richardson and to subscribe to her newsletter, go to www.cherylrichardson.com

Try my buddy Rob Schultz’s new and beautiful movie on breaking through periods of difficulty where the clouds may seem to obscure the light. A must for Law of Attraction junkies as well. Rob did this solely for love and in service to his dream, and to You. Keep a link to this one in your favorites…

Inspiration for Tough Times