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February/March Newsletter Do you know you can realize your full potential, by envisioning and verbalizing your dreams and goals, while taking small steps one at a time, transforming your life towards a more vibrant, fulfilling future? |
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Tips you can apply to your life to get you through the next few months by LaVonne Dorsey. Five Ways to Create a Happy Winter by Posture: Why is it Important? by Karan Strange.  Career
Living the American Dream by Tina Kashlak. Get Welcome to Living Newsletter sent to you via e-mail quarterly. Subscribe now >>
Looking for the "PERFECT" gift? Take advantage of the coaching special. Give the gift of 4 coaching sessions and get the fifth for FREE! See the Specials page for details! |
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Look for useful tips to help you in your career or in your job search as well as healthy workout tips, information regarding nutrition. LIVING THE ABUNDANT LIFE HEALTH AND NUTRITION Five Ways to Create a Happy Winter Oh, February. It's mere 28 days can feel like 280, if you suffer from the Winter Blues. I'm looking out my window this early February afternoon, and the sky is solid gray. After days upon days of gray, it's not uncommon for your mood to match the sky. SELF IMAGE/SELF ESTEEM "A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind"
The truth of the above saying should be self evident. The way we walk through the world can be seen as a metaphor for the way we carry ourselves in our day to day lives. And the way we carry ourselves is a metaphor for the way we carry out our lives. |
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Now is the time with the "Winter Blues" set in. I love the simple tips by Dr. Lauren Oktay, naturopath, nutritionist and one of my yoga buddies. Read Dr. Oktay's Five Ways to Create a Happy Winter.
See what tips you can apply to your life to get you through the next few months. What are your best tips for lifting yourself out of the darkness of winter? Share them on my
www.welcometoliving.blogspot.com/
Sit up straight. Stand tall. Remember, hearing these words from your parents. Well, they were oh so right. Read the wonderful article from Karan Strange, Licensed Massage Practitioner and Fitness Professional tells how posture is importantly to overall health, body and mind.
Last but not least you will read the final article in the series on "reinventing yourself" by Tina Kashlak. Learn what it takes to be successful in this incredibly competitive and challenging job market. If you missed part 1 and or part to of this series, please contact me and I will forward them to you. This is series that you won't want to miss.
Warm regards,
LaVonne Dorsey Leadership, Career, Life Coach and Mentor |
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Five Ways to Create a Happy Winter Oh, February. It's mere 28 days can feel like 280, if you suffer from the Winter Blues. I'm looking out my window this early February afternoon, and the sky is solid gray. After days upon days of gray, it's not uncommon for your mood to match the sky. The symptoms of Winter Blues can range from mild cases of the blahs to full-blown doldrums of despair. Symptoms can include: sluggishness, fatigue, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating, and avoidance of social situations, cravings for sweets and carbs, and weight gain. (Ugh.) About 20% of Americans experience a milder form of the blues, and about a half million or more, suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). So, how to bring some brightness to your life in the dark days of winter? Whether you've got milder blah's or the full-blown blues, you can get some sweet relief with, you guessed it, light. But that's not all. Here are 5 ways to stave off the blues and invite in some energy and cheer. 1) Uplift with Light Therapy Light therapy works by stimulating our pineal gland, the small organ behind your forehead that produces the hormone melatonin. Melatonin helps synchronize our circadian clock which regulates sleep, appetite, and sex hormones. The pineal gland also affects the production of other hormones, including the mood-boosting, serotonin. You can get a light box at the Sun Shoppe in Seattle, and at specialty stores online (starting at about $150). I recommend you place the light-box at a 45 degree angle to your face, and start with a morning dose of light. I suggest 30 minutes, each morning, sometime between 6 and 8 a.m. (Glance at the light a couple of times every minute or two.) 2) Eat Good Food for a Good Mood 3) Balance with Supplements Vitamin D3: This is my current fave-vitamin. It has too many superpowers to list here! Do get your levels tested at your next visit with your doctor. In the meantime take 2,000 IU of this wonderful, immune & mood-boosting stuff per day. Omega-3 and DHA-rich fish oil: Fish oil is another proven mood booster. I suggest 1-2 grams per day. If you are vegetarian, substitute with 1- 2 TBSP of flax oil. Aromatherapy: This works for me, every time! I love the uplifting scents of citrus and, rosemary (peppermint is nice too). In the evening, I prefer the relaxing scents of wild rose or lavender. Add 5-10 drops of essential oil to your favorite body moisturizer. Aaaaah. 4) Clear blocks with Movement 5) Bliss out, Slow Down, and Connect I hope this article helps you kiss the winter blues goodbye, and invite in some lightness and joy! Dr. Lauren Oktay, has been studying the science of nutrition, mind/body health, positive psychology, and mindfulness practices, for over 15 years with the heartfelt purpose of helping people create nourishing, engaged and fulfilling lives. Lauren graduated from Bastyr University in 1999. She was awarded a clinical residency position at the Bastyr Natural Health Center. After completing her residency, Lauren joined the adjunct clinical faculty at Bastyr, where she cared for patients at the health center and taught in the psychology department.
Lauren's health coaching practice is informed by her passionate interest in natural medicine, positive psychology, Buddhist psychology, as well as the wisdom absorbed on the yoga mat. Her website is www.basicgoodnessonline.com. If you would like to receive updates from Dr. Oktay, please click on the image of the bud which says "subscribe for updates."
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| Self Image/Self Esteem
Posture: Why is it Important? Our posture tells the world all there is to know about us. Are we hurting, suspicious, happy, confident, trustworthy, feeling strong, weak? These normally hidden attributes are revealed by our Bio-mechanics. Posture and Mobility are two sides of the same coin. We move with the grace of the form that we learn. And since Humans have very little hard wired Biomechanical configuration, learning is the ongoing path to fluency in function. It is never too late to increase the level of function in one's body. Proper postural configuration leads to less physical stress as well as an awareness of the joy of movement. In my work, the key to Proper posture is conscientious joint balance. The process is one of practicing new awareness of the way muscles interact with joints to hold us in an active neutral state. A state that is ready to be engaged with minimal friction and resistance. Joint balance ensues when a combination of stability, mobility and strength are applied through awareness and with repetition this becomes a pattern. Pain can be caused by compensatory postural patterns which can lead to a greater decrease in function as we age. Body or Bio mechanics are the terms used to describe the ways we move. They include how we hold our bodies when we sit, stand, lift, carry, bend, and sleep. More specifically they refer to the bony relationships that make up our joints. When our joints are supported well and the interplay between bony levers is optimal, we thrive and are efficiently mobile. When we don't move correctly and safely, the spine and every other joint is subjected to abnormal stresses that over time can lead to degeneration. With an acute attentiveness I find the patterns in my clients that are less developed and add data points to those forms so they are enriched with new information. As the range of motion gets smarter and more practiced, we observe more skillful movement. Ultimately our increased formal skills lead to the experience of ease and higher performance. Karan Strange, has been a fitness professional for 26 years. She has run one of the most successful wellness programs in the United States and is a licensed Massage Practitioner as well. Her unique way of looking at the human body aids her in offering unique points of view with clients that alter the traditional work out into a revolution of body awareness. Workouts no longer are torture fests and become sessions of increased capability and performance.
E-mail Karan at: karan@mjsconsult.com or phone her at (425) 241.5880. Karan is offering a complementary initial consultation. |
| Career
Living the American Dream (Part 3 of a 3 part series) For many people, facing adversity head on means survival with minimum input. For others, facing adversity head on means survival with maximum input and asking the questions "where can this lead me?" "what else can I do" and so on. It is asking these questions and looking at possibilities that create new choices and even new careers. Three years after Johns career misfortune, he is now reaping the rewards of owning two small businesses; one full time while the other is seasonal. He earns more money than he did prior to losing his job during the poor economy and has balance in his life. John has paid off the mortgage on his home and is one year away from having his daughters college tuition money saved. He and his wife are enjoying spending more time together as he is no longer held captive to his corporate position. John is experiencing a new trend called Multiple Streams of Income (MSI). As you are reading this, you too may have multiple streams of income. I call it a trend but really, it is nothing new. It does give a bit of a boost with its fancy wording and potential of earning income. For years, it was the American dream for so many to get a college degree and have one job in a corporation moving steadily upward. It was a dream that my parents had and lived very successfully. In 2010, MSI as I call it is more prevalent than ever. More and more middle and even low six figure professionals are leading lives where MSI have become both a necessity as well as recreational. Just last week at the mall I met a woman who earns $125K by annually working as an accountant for a large organization, by night, she enjoys working at a local department store where she is benefiting by earning a discount on high end suits, shoes and accessories. When I asked her why she was working one night a week and one weekend day, she replied, "because I can and I absolutely LOVE working alongside people that are different than myself. It is an escape from the corporate pressures and I earn a little extra money not to mention a discount. Not only that, you never know when you will need to have a backup plan. I always wanted to work in fashion so I am now doing it!" At a recent home show at the convention center, I met a fellow by the name of Jeff. He was working as the DJ announcing the events of the day. As it turned out, Jeff owns a very successful pest control business and has his MBA. Jeff worked as a Sr. Director of Operations for Fortune 500 resort and hospitality chain for 13 years. He fast tracked his way to the executive level when he lost his job. Jeff realized that he no longer wanted to become bound by a corporation in which he had minimal control so he started his own pest control business to make ends meet. "I always had a fascination with insects as a kid so now I am able to put my interest into my career." Jeff chuckled, "I started my bug collection again as I see a wide variety of bugs here in Florida!" As more an more people lose their jobs, the challenges will grow that much greater unless you let go of what once was the traditional American dream. Today, we can have our dream and so much more. We have all of our skills within ourselves. We just need to tap into them and turn them into one, two or even three avenues to earn a living. The best part about it is we are learning that we can never stop learning and growing our careers. We will become more resilient and best of all, we can actually be employed doing work that we truly enjoy. Now THAT...is the American Dream! |