Stop the Road Rage: Quick and Easy Way to Significantly Reduce Stress Levels

From Samantha Lazaris @SamLaz12, Program Intern

In today’s non-stop busy world, the levels of stress continue to sky rocket. Not only is stress not fun, it is also the leading cause to many health issues such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Now, although there is no magic cure to relieving stress, this may be one of the quickest ways to drastically decrease those moments of panic!

Introducing: 5 minutes of alone time!
Many people “claim” they do not have time but when we allow ourselves time to “unwind”, studies show that not only do we function more efficiently but we are also more positive and happy human beings all around.  This can be a minimum of 5 minutes dedicated to ‘you’— no interruptions allowed! Whether it is when you are showering in the morning or on your walk after dinner, find some time within your day to clear your head!

The only way to be successful at making time for you is to actually write it on your schedule and stick to the plan. The easiest way to do this is by focusing on your breathing and engaging your senses to embrace more sounds, smells and feelings. If you have trouble clearing your head, think about all the things you take for granted and express gratitude for them. Just give it a try for one week and see the unbelievable difference within your mood and road rage :-)

The Problem with Inspiration

Beware: this blog is going to start with me whining.

I don’t want to write a blog. I’m uninspired. Why do I have to do this? I don’t have time to come up with pearls of wisdom in between lectures, lecture development, consults and consult follow-ups. What am I, Andy Rooney? Blah, Blah, Blah. (Mr. Moore, if you are reading this, please read a little further before deciding whether or not to fire me).

The key word in my whine-fest above is uninspired. Being uninspired is a frequent fact of life. That is why the Tony Robbins and Dale Carnegies of this world have made such a good living. People will happily pay for inspiration and motivation. In fact, if there were a pill I could take that would keep me inspired or motivated, I wouldn’t hesitate to fill that prescription (even if the side effects included an eye twitch and skin irritation).

Since there is no such pill, I put my “big girl panties on” and pulled out some familiar tools that help ignite my inspiration. One of my favorite tools is the simplest of all – reading. I have a plethora of inspirational books on topics ranging from fear, spiritual enlightenment, gratitude, parenting, and emotional insight, just to name a few. They sit by my bed, pile up at my office and sometimes travel with me in the car (not to worry, I rarely drive and read at the same time). I don’t judge myself for not reading them all at once, or all the way through. I have found that just when I decide to pick one up, even if it’s for the briefest of reads, I always hear something that I was meant to hear. In this case – the case of the uninspired bellyaching, I picked up a book about imagining your life without fear.  BINGO –inspiration!

My heart started racing as words jumped from the pages, entering my bloodstream with all the stimulation of a cup of espresso followed by a Red Bull. Being Fearless is exactly what I needed to hear. But alas, the very definition of a blog is a “brief diary-like entry on the internet.” I’ve moved way past brief, so my enlightenment about fear will have to wait until my next blog. (A cliff-hanger of sorts).

The point of all this? Inspiration doesn’t just descend on you when needed. It’s not like the proverbial “light bulb going off.”  There’s not one switch that turns it on. Inspiration takes work. It takes effort. However, the payoff is amazing. It ignites passion, creates forward movement, and feeds the body, mind and spirit all at once. YUM!

What are your tools for inspiration? Make a list right now of strategies and tools that you use for inspiration to workout, eat right, and stay emotionally healthy.  Do they include reading inspiring articles and books? Journaling or connecting with like-minded, goal oriented individuals? How about surfing the internet for new information on your passion (have you discovered Ted.com yet)? Do you collect a list of favorite mantras or moving quotes?  Do you keep a list of your achievements readily available as a reminder of how far you’ve travelled on this fantastic journey?

What will you do to stay inspired today? Just waking up doesn’t count. Just going into work doesn’t count. Just working out doesn’t count. Go deeper. Go bolder. Make the effort -- Because finding inspiration makes the journey much more interesting and worthwhile.

P.S. Mr. Moore, thank you for making me write this blog. I am grateful to have a career where cultivating inspiration is part of my job description.

Surprise and Delight

[caption id="attachment_6797" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Baby Gianna"][/caption]

This past week, the newest member of our H3 family was born!  Gianna Heather Colella arrived Friday afternoon, 11/11/11, healthy and beautiful.  Saving the surprise for the moment of birth, Stacie and her husband discovered they’ve been blessed with a new baby girl!  They even saved the surprise for Stacie’s mom, letting her unwrap the baby at the hospital to find out she had her first Granddaughter.

Creating anticipations and surprises in our lives can be very healthy.  It can add excitement, expand our imagination, heighten senses and feelings, and even create motivation.  On the flip side, anticipations and surprises can sometimes also cause grief, stress, fear and roadblocks to progress.  For example, consider a “surprise” bill that comes in the mail, or an accident or the fear of anticipating the loss of a job. 

Creating goals, challenges and tackling obstacles toward positive change helps train us to handle negative challenges and barriers that present themselves.  Just as our bodies needs training, so does our minds.  The anticipation of a new baby or even your first 5K can really create some positive energy and motivation to prepare yourself for the change.  What are you anticipating or looking forward to in the coming months?  Years?  Use it to your advantage and build on that energy that naturally arises from thinking about that event!  We’d love to hear from you – what are you energized about??

Self-Care and Love

SELF. This is one of our foundational components here at Hilton Head Health. It stands for:  Stress management, Longevity, Empowerment, Fulfillment.

Think SELF-esteem, SELF-care, SELF-love… and remember that none of these things equate to selfish.  Loving and caring for yourself allows you to better care for and love those around you.  The investment in SELF insures that we are offering our best selves to the world. It means being able to show up for your life in a better way.

Wellcoaches defines self-care as a way of living that incorporates behaviors that enable one to maintain personal health and balance, replenish energy and motivation, and grow as a person.

This is an important and often overlooked component to living a healthy, balanced life. Our culture teaches us that we are successful only if we are always busy and on the move. Those seen as successful are often times the ones you look at and wonder when/if they ever sleep.

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

This is a great quote by businessman Herman Cain, but it can be applied beyond the realm of work and our lives. We will be successful if we have love and positivity around us, and invest in our health. It changes our mood as well as how we react to the world and events in our life. All of this comes down to how we take care of ourselves. Know that you are worth the care. So go ahead and follow the steps below for setting up a self-care plan and set yourself up for success by being at your best.

Creating a self-care plan

The best way to start a self-care plan is to take an inventory of those actions or things we can do to bring peace and harmony to our lives. Take a few minutes to sit down and write out your ideal day. If you could take one full day to yourself to do the things you enjoy doing or know are good for you, what would you do? Make a list. Below you will find an outline of your day. Fill in self-care options for each time.

Some examples of self-care activities include: organizing your space, taking a bath, watching the sunrise/sunset, listening to music, drinking sparkling water, practicing 10 minutes of yoga, quiet time, getting a pedicure, reading a book for pleasure, exercising, journaling, eating a healthy meal, getting a massage, going for a walk or reading the newspaper. This is the fun part, you get to list all the things that you enjoy and build you up.

• Wake up time


• Morning self-care activities


• Breakfast


• Early afternoon self-care activities


• Lunch


• Late afternoon self-care activities


• Dinner


• Evening self-care activities


• Bedtime


• Anything additional *

Keep this list close by your computer, next to your bed or on the fridge. Whenever you have a few moments to yourself or are having a difficult day, turn to this list. Pick one of the activities that you have time for. There are always options; taking just a few moments to put yourself in a better place can have a huge impact on your day!

*Adapted from article by Jenny Sansouci

Focus on the Positives - Not the Setback

I recently received very disappointing news about a dog that I rescued two years ago from a kill shelter. Dakota was adopted 1 1/2 years ago and was living the good life with her new family until last week when she apparently threatened to fight with her canine sibling. She was taking steroids, which can trigger aggressive behavior in some dogs, at the time. The adopter wanted to have Dakota put to sleep because of this one episode of aggression, which didn’t even turn into an attack. Dakota’s family discounted the fact that she got along well with their other dog for 18 months. Luckily the adopter agreed to return Dakota to the boarding-kennel-based rescue group, where she will have another chance to find a loving home.

I’ve been thinking about how quickly Dakota’s family gave up on her without making any effort to evaluate the situation and/or solve the problem. I realized that many people who struggle with their weight are also tempted to give up when they experience a setback. They may decide to throw in the towel after a binge, even if that single episode followed weeks (or months) of healthy eating. We tend to focus on the negative and ignore or downplay the positive.