Mind Body Spirit – Page 11

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never Is, but always To be blest:The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come.”~ Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

Recently I was asked “how does one find hope?”. This is a really great question because for me hope is one of those things that comes and goes. There are days I’m hopeful and days I feel like giving up. Not everyone is hopeful all the time. In reflecting and meditating on the question to offer an intelligent answer I realized that hope is born from joy and present time. Hope is thinking positive and knowing you have options!

Hope is about Having Options!

Certainly there is no hope if you fear you have no options. There are always options! With your energy in the present you open doors and allow spirit to show you those options. If you have no hope or feel like you’ve lost all hope, what happened is at some point you gave up or gave in to your situation. Your attention and energy was on the challenge not the solution! If you choose to believe there is nothing more and you can’t move forward you have certainly prophesied your future. The energy of hope gives you the strength to open your mind, think outside of the box and try different things. If you have exhausted all options due to disease or chronic pain you still have the option to live your life to its fullest by finding things that bring joy to your heart and give you hope. The reason I mentioned there are always options is because in the world today new solutions to health issues are discovered and uncovered every day. Don’t ever give up hope that a new option might very well come your way!

Abandon Hope?

One of my spiritual teachers always used to say “abandon hope”. He always laughed when he said it. I always understood that to mean “give it up”. Not GIVE UP but give IT up. In other words let it go. Focusing solely on hope and not letting it go keeps you stuck in the hope and not open to receiving the answer by allowing it to come to you. What if hope is the means to actualize the answer? Hope can shift your energy from deep despair to hopeful optimism. Find just one little shred hope, shift your energy then open yourself up to receiving. You never know when the thing that’s right for you will find its way to you. It might be just around the corner so don’t ever give up!

Hope Springs Eternal in the Present

Hope flows within you like a clear, crisp mountain stream and all you need do is drink from its waters to revitalize yourself. Hope gives you the strength to move forward and do what you need to do. Without hope you lie stagnant, in despair and isolated in pain. When there is lack of hope you will notice your energy is caught up in past events or worrying about a future which may never come to pass. How many times have you been so caught up in past or future events that when you finally come to the present you have to ask “where did the time go?”. It’s interesting to note that when you wake up you notice how much energy you expended and where it felt like there was NO solution you find MANY solutions and options!

Allow hope to act like a free-flowing mountain stream. Giving up is building a dam to stop the waters. As in the picture on this post mountain waters flow around the rocks and those same rocks will eventually be smoothed out and worn down by the strong flow of water. Hope gives you strength in the present. Finding hope is not always easy but if your energy is in the present and you find just ONE thing that brings you joy, hope is ignited and the flame will burning brightly to light up many options which in turn bring you more hope! Here’s to a new day full of HOPE!~Shine Your Light Debbie

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“The mind’s first step to self-awareness must be through the body.”~George Sheehan

As spiritual beings having a human experience it’s important to take care of your body and listen to it. Your body gives you a lot of feedback and many times that feedback is ignored because of the latest diet or exercise trend or the ego mind gets in the way. When it comes to your body ‘one size fits all’ does not come into play nor does it mean that NOW you can do what you did in the past. Very simply, bodies and needs change over time. If you don’t feel good, by all means try something new but listen and pay attention to what your body is telling you to know if it’s the right thing for you.

I should probably call this post “Reflections of a Carbohydrate Addict” but in the interest of keeping in the spirit of this healing mind, body, & spirit blog the current title will suffice. I want to also be clear that if you are doing something that works for you and you’re feeling physically good (or better than you did) by eating a certain diet I not only applaud your choices but will support you in any way I can. The story I’m about to share is for you to shift your attention and have you check in with your own body to see what’s working and what’s not. Awareness and listening are powerful tools which help with your ability to create change. In other words; You can’t change what you aren’t aware of.

Every Body Tells a Story

First I’d like to confess that I am a carbohydrate addict! In my freezer there is a ‘bread for all reasons’. I eat a healthy, balanced diet. I’m a lifetime Weight Watcher member (I’m also a WW leader) having lost 86 lbs and still work the program. As I got older my body changed and I started to put on a sneaky little one pound a year. I wasn’t worried because after all it was only one pound and I’ll take it off tomorrow. Sound familiar? One pound added up to two, then to eight, then to 10. RED ALERT! I re-focused my efforts but a funny thing happens after 50. What was once relatively easy to do becomes a struggle. As your body and hormones change (for both men and women) you not only need to step up the exercise to balance out natural muscle loss but you really have to pay attention to the aging process and how it affects you personally.

After reading several articles and books in addition to hearing the success of several friends and listening to the ‘experts’ I decided to try a totally gluten-free diet. A gluten-free diet is said to reduce inflammation, even out sugar levels, get rid of excess bloat and belly fat among other things. I’m by no means a medical expert so do check with your doctor before making a dietary change for health purposes. Again if you eat a gluten-free diet and it’s working for you I think it’s GREAT! What I experienced was something quite different from what I anticipated based on all that I’ve heard, read or seen.

I cut out ALL the bread (and other items with gluten) and did not replace them with gluten-free foods. I figured that cutting out all processed carbs would be beneficial. I ate more protein as suggested (2-4 oz depending on the meal) in addition to 2-3 fruit servings, 2 tsp of olive oil, lots of veggies (which I already eat) and at least one serving of a gluten-free grain. I stayed within my daily WW Points Plus target and exercised as usual. After one week there was no noticeable difference in how I felt and much to my surprise I GAINED 4 POUNDS!

Maybe I should have stuck with it another week but 4 pounds sent me reeling! Since the only real difference I noticed was being hungry almost all the time despite all the healthy foods I was eating I realized that although gluten-free is necessary for some people (for health reasons) and great for others (who feel better doing it), it doesn’t work for ME. I’m happy to report that after going back to not worrying about the gluten and limiting carb intake instead of cutting it out completely I’ve taken off 3 of the 4 lbs this week. Oddly I feel better, I’m not hungry all the time and it did make a difference in showing me that one size does not fit all.

What’s Your Body’s Story?

Every BODY is different and what works for one person may not work for another. What is good for one may not be good for another. When you listen to your body for feedback you will know what’s working for you. You’ll know by your moods, your energy, your weight and how you feel over-all. The most important thing to remember is that your body is the only one you have this lifetime. If you are doing something that you can’t stick with for the rest of your life it might be time to consider trying something else.

Listen to your body. What’s it telling you? How’s it feeling these days? How is your energy level? Are you taking the time to love and nurture it? Are there changes your body is screaming at you to make? Do you need more rest and relaxation? Take a moment each day to check in with your body. Your spirit will love you for it!~Shine Your Light Debbie

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