Relieve Stress at Work with Audrey Sutton
The most inspired yoga teacher and soul-seeker I know, Audrey Sutton of Your Blissful Soul , has shared a video on chair yoga poses you can do at work, on a plane or anywhere you're sitting down! It sounds totally old lady you guys (think Sit and Be Fit) but it's so awesome, and is an easy and practical way to move your body, reduce head to toe tension, and relieve stress in your every day life.
© Blissful Soul
Most of my clients are busy people. They are raising families, working full-time, starting businesses, and caring for family members. One thing they all have in common though, is the desire to improve their health and thrive (rather than juts survive) this one little life.
That's why I need to give them tips and tricks on how to incorporate small, gradual shifts into their everyday lives for to set them up for success. Often times people think it's "all or nothing." That you have to be eating strictly Paleo and slogging it out at the gym every day to be "healthy" or "perfect."
Really though, sustainable change is made when when stick to small but powerful daily practices. I swear! This can be simply drinking more water, eating more greens, remembering to breathe, and going on a lunch time walk.
Sure, it would be great to all quit our jobs and move to Bali and subsist on fresh coconut and smoothie bowls and do yoga every day but for right, now, that's not everyone's reality. SO, we do what we can to create space in our bodies and minds especially if we sit for a living.
The most inspired yoga teacher and soul-seeker I know, Audrey Sutton of Your Blissful Soul , has shared a video on chair yoga poses you can do at work, on a plane or anywhere you're sitting down. It sounds totally old lady (think Sit and Be Fit but way more hip) but it's so awesome, and is an easy and practical way to move your body, reduce head to toe tension, and relieve stress in your every day life.
Let us know if you try it out at work by leaving a comment or emailing! Also, I love Audrey's Saturday morning class at Bala Yoga in Seattle, see ya there?
Audrey Sutton is a Bliss Coach and author who writes about how to be whole, passionate, free, and live the life of your dreams. She teaches Power Vinyasa, Yin and Meditation classes, and she has created and hosted a wide range of workshops, retreats, yoga teacher trainings, and online videos that help people live more fulfilled, blissful and abundant lives. As a yoga teacher and bliss coach, she helps her students release the Kung-fu grip of their inner critic, connect to their True Self, discover their Dharma, and create their personal legacy.
Why Diets Suck
Ok, come clean. What wierdo, fad diets have you tried in the name of weight loss... The Pineapple Diet? The Bacon Diet? The Baby Food Diet? The Cigarette Diet? The Clay Diet (it’s a thing, Google it) The Air Diet? I’ve heard a lot, and I’ve tried a lot. And I’m here to tell you once and for all that diets. Don’t. Work. And here is why.
Ok, come clean. What wierdo, fad diets have you tried in the name of weight loss... The Pineapple Diet? The Bacon Diet? The Baby Food Diet? The Cigarette Diet? The Clay Diet (it’s a thing, Google it) The Air Diet? I’ve heard a lot, and I’ve tried a lot. And I’m here to tell you once and for all that diets. Don’t. Work. And here is why.
Maybe in the past you’ve summoned up the willpower to start a diet where you restrict your calories for a period of time. You are miserable throughout the day trying to deny primal signs of hunger as you munch on your carrot sticks. But you do it and you notice the weight dropping off. Success! This lasts for a period of time and you feel pretty good. You keep the weight off as long as you are restricting your calories, but as you become a bit more lax and the novelty wears off, somehow that weight begins to slowly creep back up again. Does this sound familiar? It’s a cycle of weight loss and gain that we refer to as “yo-yo” dieting and it’s a trap SO many people fall into.
Research shows us that in up to 80% of cases where weight loss was initially successful when engaged in a calorie restricted diet, reduced weight is not maintained and is actually followed by recurrent weight gain [1]
Why does this happen? And what can we do to break the cycle?
Often times we end up blaming ourselves for not being able to stick to these rigid diets. We think we are weak or worthless, and we end up with a huge amount of guilt. But friends, I’m here to tell you that it’s not your fault. It’s not. Your. Fault. It’s the way we have been taught to view food, calories and dieting and it’s time to throw it all away for something better: food freedom.
When embarking on calorie counting diets we often times focus on the quantity rather than the quality of the food we put into our bodies. We expect ourselves to be mathematical geniuses to get the exact ratio for weight loss correct. Instead of focusing on the quantity (read: calories) in the food we consume we should aim to focus on the quality.
Food is not just calories going in us, but rather it’s information. Food gets broken down and absorbed into our bloodstream and affects every cell in our body. By focusing on healthy, nutrient-dense foods we nourish our bodies and give them what they need to come back into balance. Foods like vegetables, fruits, protein, good fats, and whole grains are essential to every process in our body and to keep it functioning optimally for prevention of disease and maintenance of ideal body weight.
Recent research has shed new light onto the importance that the microbiome (bacteria living in our gut) plays in the role of weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight [2]. By balancing the good and bad bacteria in the gut we optimize the entire digestive process and our body is able to process and store food more effectively. The first step in maximizing our gut health is to move away from processed foods and move towards real, whole foods. Get some food inspiration here >>
If you want to learn more about how to heal your gut and never, ever, ever diet again I’d love to start you on your journey away from stupid diets towards FOOD FREEDOM!
Click the button below to book a free 30-minute Discovery Session with me so you can do this once and for all. I've got your back!
With Love,
Christina Tidwell, MN, RN, CHC
[1] Anastasiou, C., Karfopoulou, E. & Yannakoulia, M. (2015). Weight regaining: from statistics and behaviors to physiology and metabolism. Metabolism 64, 1395-1407.
[2] Thaiss, C et al. (2016). Persistent microbiome alterations modulate the rate of post-dieting weight regain. Nature 540, 544-551.
Eat Local with Steel Wheel Farm
At the grocery store you can find fruits and veggies from literally all over the globe that have somehow made it to your produce section. It seems great, that we can have all the variety we want at anytime during the year, right? But sourcing produce from all over does have it's drawbacks and eating fruits and veggies grown locally has loads of benefits.
© 2017 Steel Wheel Farm
At the grocery store you can find fruits and veggies from literally all over the globe that have somehow made it to your produce section. It seems great, that we can have all the variety we want at anytime during the year, right? But sourcing produce from all over does have its drawbacks, and eating fruits and veggies grown locally has loads of benefits.
Local foods are fresher and taste better. Fruits and vegetables begin to lose nutrients as soon as they are picked, so buying local produce cuts down travel time. Not only will the food taste better, but less travel time means less packaging, shipping and transportation and is much gentler on the environment. Buying local makes us eat with the seasons meaning we eat only what is naturally growing at that time. Eating seasonally results in the most delicious and nutrient-dense produce so you get way more bang for your buck!
One awesome way to eat locally is to get involved in a CSA which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Community Supported Agriculture is a program that allows people to purchase local, seasonal food straight from the farmer.
I get my fruits and veggies from an amazing CSA in Fall City, WA called Steel Wheel Farm and the farmers Kim and Ryan are here to tell you more about it. I seriously look forward to my veggie box every week and get so excited to see what beauties these guys included. It's expanded my veggie horizons in a way I never thought possible!
© 2017 Steel Wheel Farm
Hello! We are Steel Wheel Farm, a husband and wife farming duo who are hard at work cultivating the flood plain in Fall City, WA.
Although we each have different paths which propelled us into the agriculture landscape, our love of fragrant, beautiful, nutrient-dense food is identical. For Ryan, farming has been as much of a love story as it has been career path. From the moment he met his first Tractor, “Olive,” he was drawn to the soil and all that he can grow from it. For Kim, a picky eater most of her life, farming was revolutionary. Instead of hiding veggies under napkins, she now craves the first zucchini and roasting mounds of Brussel sprouts.
More than anything we both believe that quality food begins at the source—with the farmer. That is why it is our mission to produce the highest-quality and environmentally-friendly food we can muster, so that others who don’t farm can indulge, enjoy and appreciate the land and its bounty as much as we do.
© 2017 Steel Wheel Farm
Our favorite crop last season: Black Krim Heirloom Tomatoes
Start spring veggie/CSA season off with this recipe: Ginger Sesame Choi
Use up the last of your winter root crops with this recipe: Roasted Cardamom Roots
Looking forward to: Magic Garlic (a new crop for this year!) and yellow watermelons
Why join a CSA?
All of our members enjoy:
1. 20+ weeks of healthy, local, fresh, seasonal produce
2. Hand-grown, chemical-free food
3. Supporting the local economy and hard-working farmers
4. Farm updates, newsletters and recipes
5. Weekly , bi-weekly deliveries
6. Cooking and eating your favorite produce, as well as exploring new foods
7. Knowing where your food comes from and the farmers!
Sign up for our 2017 CSA: Here! Summer session begins Tue, June 6
© 2017 Steel Wheel Farm
When 'Forgive & Forget' Does Not Apply
Sometimes I think many of us missed the day in class where they taught us how to set healthy, appropriate boundaries with the people in our lives. Or the day they told us it was even okay to do so. The good news is, it's never too late to define, for yourself, the things you will or will not tolerate in relationship with others. So figure out what you need, what you will no longer accept, and lay it all on the table.
Somewhere along the way popular culture adopted the mantra "Forgive and Forget." I see it all the time in the bad TV I watch after a long day at work (see: self-care). There's a conflict, terrible things are said, there's yelling/screaming/fighting, feelings are hurt, and everyone goes home. The next day/week/month the two parties come together hoping for resolution and reciting one of the following mantras:
1. We have to forgive and forget.
2. We need to move forward/ move on.
3. The past is the past.
Okay, that's all well and good -- but what if this apology is part of a much larger relational pattern? Namely: Cause harm, apologize, ask forgiveness, repeat. This simplified version of conflict resolution -- that we must forgive and forget-- has the potential to trap us in unhealthy, toxic relationships far beyond their expiration date. It forgoes a deeper exploration of the issue in favor of a speedy, surface level resolution. By 'moving forward' and 'leaving the past in the past' we stay stuck. Instead of looking inward and assessing whether the relationship in question still meets our needs, or taking time to examine the ways our own behavior contributes to the dysfunction -- we avoid introspection and grind on.
I would offer that it is not forgive and forget -- it's dig in. It's look inward. It's examine toxic relational patterns. For anyone who finds themselves in a high conflict friendship or romantic relationship, a more appropriate approach might look something like this:
Look Inward; Set boundaries; Reassess the relationship
Look Inward: Check in with yourself and ask the tough questions. Is this relationship meeting your needs? If not, what's missing? What change do you wish to see? How can you move toward that change? What's stopping you?
Set Boundaries: Sometimes I think many of us missed the day in class where they taught us how to set healthy, appropriate boundaries with the people in our lives. Or the day they told us it was even okay to do so. The good news is, it's never too late to define, for yourself, the things you will or will not tolerate in relationship with others. So figure out what you need, what you will no longer accept, and lay it all on the table.
Reassess the Relationship: If, after expressing your needs and setting boundaries the other party cannot abide by this 'new world order' it might be time to reassess the relationship altogether. Are they willing to respect your needs and request for boundaries? If the answer is no it may be time to consider parting ways. Everyone deserves respect and if a relationship is no longer serving you it's okay to let go.
Let's all take better care of ourselves by loosening the grip of this 'forgive and forget' mindset because sometimes it just doesn't cut it.
When is it something more?
If you are worried about your personal safety, physical or emotional, then this might not be something you can negotiate on your own. There are many agencies and mental health professionals who specialize in helping victims of domestic violence and the impact of emotional and/or physical abuse. If you are wondering whether you may fall into this category, this is excellent resource for better understanding what constitutes domestic violence, abuse, and when/how to seek help:
Are you in an Abusive Relationship?
If this is an emergency and you need someone to talk to now please contact:
National Domestic Violence Hotline, www.thehotline.org, 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Warmly,
Kaitlyn Overman
MAEd, LMHCA, NCC
More From Kaitlyn Overman
Kaitlyn Overman is a Mental Health Therapist in Seattle, WA specializing in work with adolescents and young adults dealing with issues related to grief and loss, social anxiety, life transitions, identity development, depression, anxiety, and the impacts of trauma and abuse.