Sometimes body injuries happen outside our control that come and go. And when you’re slightly injured, say with a common sprain, you can still do light work around home workouts being careful, and then gradually restoring back to regular exercising and good fit health routines.
For a light strain or sprain, you can be out for a few weeks before you’re back to regular activities. If you have a more serious injury, it can be a few months before you’re mobile, and that’s when you may want to come up with a different strategy so the rest of your healthy body doesn’t have to wait. It’s easy to get out of a regular workout routine with a good excuse!
…I want to encourage you to keep doing home exercises year-round no matter what (unless your doctor tells you not to or you’re sick), as your mental health and happiness improve — a fact we all know about the happy hormones and endorphins that release in working out.
As you get the blood circulating into your brain and body, you gain more energy from working out and that can help you sleep and eat healthier. If you have a foot sprain injury, for example, you could still do simple arm exercises to keep moving (a good body goal to maintain).
With common inflammation, you probably know it’s good to rest and ice your injury first, which can take a few days or weeks (everyone is different).
If you’re an athlete, you’re usually less fragile as your body is strong compared to someone who doesn’t work out as often.
In either case, when you’re back on the road to body recovery, you can think about strengthening other body parts. You don’t want to not do any exercise for weeks waiting for your sprain to heal completely if you can, so you can stay strong (and not get weak) both overall mentally and physically.
Physical therapy (exercises) exists, so you can rehabilitate your overall body and health back to your norm or stronger than before your injury.
If you think about it, when you do regular daily activities like brushing your teeth, cooking, or cleaning, you still need miracle muscle strength to do those common tasks. We underestimate the need for muscles unless we don’t have the ability to do what we need to do.
Even though our muscles are adaptable, we want to create progressive muscle growth, especially in our large muscle groups like our legs, buttocks, arms, and upper body so we can be independent to lift, walk, and pull or push even daily light weighted things.
Ok cool.. all makes sense so far, right?
Below I share a few of my favorite exercises, sprain injured or not, for staying toned and getting some cardio in even if you have light limitations, such as a common foot sprain.
We all have some personal fitness goals even if we don’t believe in writing resolutions. One of mine is staying the same consistent size, proportions, and weight. Since I’ve been the same size for years, measuring is not necessary but if I were trying to lose or gain weight, then measuring would be more accurate and a way to determine if what I was doing, was working.
Another goal is staying toned (or sculpted which sounds like a muscular statue). This is good no matter what your weight is… it’s obvious if you’re toned or not from a mirror, so you don’t have to step on a scale.
The tone goal is good for most women because if you’re serious about achieving good tone, you will naturally do the things in between or in the process to make that happen, like eat less and do more pushups.
Remember the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”? – the second habit is “begin with the end in mind,” which is good for any goal setting you do. (I’m having a déjà vu moment right now where I can picture Stephen Covey who wrote the 7 habits. I was in a class of his decades ago where he taught his principles… I digress)…
Bird of Paradise yoga pose I love and share with you why and how in this article.
It’s a mind challenge in a good way… and maybe you want to take the journey to discover more about you and your body!
Bird of Paradise yoga pose is a good metaphor for removing overwhelm thinking blocks through the pose. It’s like no other bird yoga pose because of the personal mindset growth component. It’s a mind challenging yoga pose.
Learn how in this article 👇
In celebration of today’s #InternationalYogaDay and yoga daily, I thought it would be great to highlight my favorite exotic yoga pose, the Bird of Paradise yoga pose.
This is a good pose for mind-body balance.
The Bird of Paradise yoga pose stretches your arms, legs, buttocks, and shoulders while standing on your yoga mat.
If you’re injured somewhere between your head and toes, this is not one you want to try until you’re confidently healed…
I mention that because I recently was injured, and I couldn’t do the pose. I had a left foot injury where I often had to stand on my right foot without a crutch. I must’ve looked like a flamingo with my one leg propped up behind me resembling the number “4.” 🦩
With injuries, the last thing on your mind can be working out. After you start getting on the body healing path, you can get back, restore, and be determined to find ways to work out parts that work normally in case you need the strength, as I needed. A good way to ease back into physical activity is with light yoga poses.
One of these can be The Bird of Paradise yoga pose that helps build strength in your legs when you need to lean on them the most.
TheBird of Paradise also helps with your balance, especially when you need to rely on one side of your body over another.
That’s why it’s good to maintain and build body strength as you never know when you will need the extra gusto — and flexibility and muscles in the right places come in handy (even if you’re a small framed person).
When all is running smoothly, there’s no better time than now to try the Bird of Paradise yoga pose, standing in place. You can do it where you are without a yoga mat.
The pose can sound more complicated than it is. Remember, it’s a mind challenging pose in a good way.
And it’s as easy as it looks, but getting into the pose for the first time, if you’re a newbie, can take a few steps like twisting dough into a pretzel form.
To get in the Bird of Paradise yoga pose on one side, let’s say your right side first…these are the steps:
👣While bending down at your torso, you weave or wrap your right arm under the same side/right leg and then grab behind you, your left hand.
Then without letting go, stand up and lift your right leg straight up. Either let that right bent leg rest on the back of your right arm or aim it up into the air at a pointed 45-degree angle (if you can and wanna show off ;-).
I know it can sound like a game of Twister with yourself, but it’s simpler than the instructions are once you get the hang of it!…
You’re basically hiking that shoulder behind the same side leg — so it can be done in two simple steps. Your leg in the air is more like a front, dangling handbag strap. 👜
I’m not sure what you’re thinking about this pose at this point… hopefully inspired to attempt (and not scary)?
You can do it even if you may have never heard of this Bird of Paradise yoga pose.
If it’s new to you, and a mind challenge yoga pose yoga isn’t quite your thing!, or you’re not a regular yoga class attendee, no need to be intimidated. We all try and then before we know it, we’re doing!
I first learned of the pose when they would teach this one in Hatha yoga classes I attended, or maybe I was just lucky to get a lot of various poses in my classes. Whichever way you first run across this pose (...maybe now?), it’s worth a go…
Besides the stretch benefits, the reason I like the Bird of Paradise yoga pose is it’s a good exercise in not taking yourself too seriously.
…And take off anyway!
When you’re first starting out, you can overthink the pose and not fully get off the floor. Or, you can wobble or fall out of the pose somewhere in the process.
Here’s how you can bypass overthinking the pose… 🧘🏻♀️
You start off standing. Then bending over and taking one arm and threading the same side shoulder underneath the same side knee. Then stand straight up with the entire leg and arm in one fell swoop.
You probably got that part the first time, but where people get hung up (and I know I did in the beginning) is focusing on the arm and leg and how it would finally look instead of just looking straight ahead and trusting all the parts are where they need to be.
…So guess what can happen in overwhelm? Nothing. In my case, I stayed bent over on the ground.
Until I attempted again the next day without giving the pose much thought and looking up slightly, and straight ahead. From there it became easy, breezy, and smooth sailing, as I know it will for you. ⛵️
If you stay in intentional mindfulness, the success rate to bloom is high for your lovely Bird of Paradise. 🦩That’s a good positive booster!
If you think of yourself as the flowering bird of paradise plant in life, 🪷 then you can aspire to achieve this advanced mind challenge yoga pose pose more eloquently and efficiently.
Not that getting in any yoga pose faster is better, as the words “quick” and “yoga” don’t mix, but you can stay focused on the pose and bypass confusion as your mind and body think and act in synchrony. Whew… that’s pretty heavy stuff for a yoga pose!
I’ve done the pose in office workplaces wearing stretchy leggings and riding boots and I’m not any superwoman, so I’m sure if you want to, this can be a winner for you too! 😊
Just a few final notes and words of encouragement before I close out here…
If you’re on the computer most of the day, the Bird of Paradise yoga pose is a great shoulder opener. Without awareness, most of us have a habit of leaning forward and caving our bodies inward that isn’t great for our bodies.
Especially by our old age when we need support to balance our bowling ball-like weighted heads (and our shoulders are part of the main muscle group that helps with that cause).
So to counteract or correct bad habit postures, to undo them, bend them in the opposite direction from time to time. That’s a good overall rule of thumb for stretching practices.
And, keep challenging and amusing yourself and others around you with your standing poses like Bird of Paradise, Tree, and Dancer Poses (another favorite pose of mine so you can expect a future post on this one).
Yoga poses (…mind challenge yoga pose or not) are a good reminder to lighten your load and light up your day.
If you are having seasonal internal-body symptoms that are preventing you from doing Bird of Paradise, be sure to check out the Body Balance Quiz to learn more about restoring imbalances.
Happy gratitude is easy to find when your senses are heightened like in a city like Paris that has beauty, scents, and sights.
That’s one souvenir that is priceless. Even more valuable than the Mona Lisa.
It’s also a good time to reflect in happy gratitude for the life you’ve already had.
For me, I’m thankful for the travel I did pre-2020 that are joyfully stamped in my memories.
For self-care, I find solo travel to be one of the best ways to be reflective and grateful. You can find a new place to explore without compromise, and to find yourself and happy self in the process.
In May 2012, I did just that. I explored and got lost around Paris, France for a week. I could breathe in a different culture, and see a glimpse of how big this world is and how small a piece we are.
What you take with you on travel and in your life is your mind, body, and spirit. And that’s the part that gets impacted the most in travel.
For me (and maybe you), international travel is exciting with new sights, sounds, tastes, culture, people, and history.
And a city like Paris is nothing short of joyful sensory overload… But there are more similarities to American cities than dissimilarities.
The language is the biggest difference that jumps out the most.
The highlights are walking down boulevards, visiting museums, purchasing a Parisian beret and scarf, experiencing scents and tastes from all the beautiful boulangerie breads and pastries, and then finally making it one day to the iconic Eiffel Tower (as a dramatic climax).
When I had first arrived, I was sleep-deprived from the 6-hour time difference. But — the first day is magical as my eyes pop out of my head in wonderment. The happy center of my mind is hungry for more. And is reinforced with the scent of fresh quiche everywhere.
Walking up a classic cobblestone pedestrian street like Rue du Mouffetard was a great way to start.
The joy effect does wear off after a few days, and it took a few cappuccinos and seeing many sights.
These are a few gratitude notes I took away:
Balance.
Paris is a city of balance. You can sit in a café and “be,” and no one will rush you. You can watch the world walk by.
You can stroll and sit along the Seine River, or relax in the garden parks (Jardin des Tuilleries).
Staying in the Latin Quarter area, I got away from the hustle and bustle tourist district and shopping-feel that the central Opera neighborhood has.
Beauty.
When you see peaceful Monet’s water lilies mural paintings at Musee de L’Orangerie, you get a new sense of appreciation… and then you just wanna lay on an outdoor chaise lounge so you can be mindful of your beautiful surroundings.
Beauty you can find in food elegance you can find in a bistro where everyday is brunch fare.
Life.
You can get your fill of vitality in the churches, as you visit the grand Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur.
You can hear church bells and see street performers playing accordions in between sites.
You also hear fluent French spoken with beautifully connected sounds. I appreciated my ability to speak broken French as my high school French teacher came to my conscious mind.
City of Lights.
In May, you realize that the Paris sun sets around 10 pm and that the global earth operates in different time zones.
With more daylight, you have a chance to experience and aspire to do more each day.
You realize how the world runs in different time zones and the Universe looks different from another perspective, but the lit sun stays constant.
Contentment.
I felt grateful (and content) for the gift of life and the uncertainty to get better answers than the ones I currently know with my limited knowledge.
I was grateful for the freedom and ability to travel by myself to build self-confidence.
I was thankful for the healthy intentions I have and the growth I had made up to the point. Nothing learned goes wasted.
I was thankful for the people I had met and who are a happy part of my life even if it was only for a season. Life is about the experiences, relationships, and becoming better people.
Then when it was time to go back home, I was looking forward to going back to the life I had that allowed me to take a week off to explore.
I journaled my experience in a scrapbook I created with warm and appreciative memories. I can re-live the thoughts and feelings I had at the time, any time in my mind.
With memorable trips like the one I took a decade ago, I realize I’m physically living in a different place, and in a different place in life now (as we’re constantly growing).
Since my Paris trip, I’ve opened my mind and world to seeing 9 additional countries.
There’s plenty of room for happy memories that’s a gift.
The happy gratitude part I cherish the most in every one of my travel adventures. And when in my return, it’s my turn in the airport line to pass through the American Immigration desk, and the man in the kiosk smiles and says, “Welcome Home.”
Vitamins can have a positive effect on your physical and mental health like sunscreen, where you’re better covered. For Vitamin A, it’s retinol for skin cell turnover and also a fat-soluble carotenoid that is needed for essential daily organ and body functions.
In appreciating our bodies, we can keep them nourished as nature intended. And we can make it fun with our eat from the rainbow food where we get nutrients like vitamins and minerals.
This rainbow grit pie recipe below 🌈
These days, deficiency in Vitamin D and iodine is common as we intake less cow’s milk and salt as we’re taught that they are harmful in large doses. Finding the right daily balance is not easy.
So then we learn the habits to cut out these foods and beverages.
And we end up with a deficiency that we can supplement. And it’s still complex to fine line balance as research findings are constantly evolving…
One day, one grocery item is on the good list. And the next, it has been replaced by another consumable item.
Vitamins Stay Constant
So then vitamins in powder, capsule, and gummies can be the supplement that fortifies and serve as a “just in case.” A multi-vitamin can be the catch all.
You may not think absorbed vitamins are helping as you don’t see immediate daily changes, but HOW I believe in them as a person that grew up with them, is as a backup to food nutrients that’s the primary source of vitamins.
I first learned about vitamin supplements when I was a child. We would take the generic brand Fred Flintstones candy vitamins that tasted like Pez candy. That’s similar to the gummy versions offered today.
Then when I was halfway through college, I took a semester off to learn more about high-absorption nutritional supplements through a health-conscious product company.
I volunteered for the American Cancer Society that was in my area backyard. “Eating Smart” promotional campaign posters were plastered around to get the word out about disease prevention.
Those experiences offered me the opportunity to learn deeper about health and free radicals (yeah, that was known for those interested in cutting-edge health trends and predictions)…
And so much so, I considered nutrition as a career major.
Back then the leading causes of death were heart disease and cancer (the same ones today). By taking antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E (ACE for short), you could prevent health issues down the road. Hey… not bad for pre-Millennial century knowledge.
Learning about the “good stuff” vitamins by default teaches you about placebo multivitamins having a low-to-no effect. They’re the inexpensive vitamins claiming A-Z still sitting on store shelves. They make us feel better about ourselves that improves mental health, but aren’t adding anything positive for our bodies.
So they are helping in some way no matter what.
You get to decide. And you are your best health advocate.
You get a sign you’ve taken a “placebo” vitamin if you have dark urine as an indicator that the pills weren’t absorbed by your body. So the quality of vitamins does make a difference. And liquid gel capsules are more absorbable than horse pill tablets.
Back then, I was drinking powdered supplement shakes before smoothies became a thing. We took a reusable plastic water bottle (yes, those existed!) with some water and shook the contents, which still works. Most of the shakes had a strong chalky taste, but they started a healthy breakfast drink movement.
Back then, the large Baby Boomer generations were the influencers like Millennials and Gen Z today. Predictions were found in books like Ken Dychtwald’s Age Wave.
Then the young to mid-adults helped to push the healthy eating movements today similar to fueling the healthy food shopping, plant-based, sustainable, and organic food movements. You can check out this page of 200 anti-inflammatory A-Z list of healthy foods.
Antioxidants were a known concept, but polyphenols today have made many live longer headlines. We drink more tea, coffee, and red wine for their polyphenols good health effects.
The fitness zeitgeist beliefs were precursors to cardio fitness and getting your heart rate up. Fitness teachers like Denise Austin taught through aerobic class tapes, a lot like how we create and watch YouTube videos today. Btw, she has been on interviews more recently and looks the exact same if not better!
These days, I would say you have to be more careful about what fitness channels you follow as anyone can teach a class. You can hurt yourself at any age, and even by doing simple stretching. Videos online don’t always show you the protective ways. And there’s not much discussion about post-workout regimens.
Cooling down and replenishing your body’s nutrients after a workout is important for recovery even if you’re only working out 10 minutes at a time.
You don’t hear much talk about minerals, but below I list a few that are vitally critical in a daily routine, and you may not be getting enough of in your life and diet…
Mental Health Awareness Month is in May. But every day is an opportunity for wellness and mental health awareness for everyday people.
Mental health disorders and anxiety run rampant for people in our lives. In keeping wellness up, we can only do our part and be supportive of others and ensuring our own mental health is in order.
Mental Health Awareness Month is one of the several recognized events throughout the year to keep a reminder going.
And we can all check in on how we’re doing these days.
And others have strayed away from natural growth and becoming better and healthier, into less productive habits that lead to their self-inflicted destructive behavior patterns.
In some cases, this has led to a growing anxiety medication epidemic crisis in America. Too many people are taking them willingly like popping candy without questioning their doctor’s recommendation, and for longer than prescribed.
In college when I didn’t know any better, I took OTC sleeping pills for a semester. When I got off of them, I felt like I was drowning.
That was the wake up call that was needed to get me up and out of looking for a med crutch, when there is a choice to self-medicate and seek inner peace.
We’re all here to evolve and get better, but that’s up to each of us.
And some of the best remedies any of us can apply in Mental Health Awareness Month is wellness practices.
This can be in yoga, meditation, nature walks, and all of the above. Wellness and self-care is the best mind-body answer.
You’re the only one who can choose and do your better life. So for Mental Health Awareness Month (with emphasis on awareness), these are some ideas that you can implement for your healthy wellness lifestyle changes:
Healthy Wellness Lifestyle Changes You Can Make (For Mental Health Awareness Month)
And in your practice, you can get to the root of discovering the healthy you!
Through mind-body connection, maintaining both mental and physical health plays a big role.
When you’re aware that the mind-body directly communicate with each other, you can make positive changes to your life.
Let’s look at mental health (mind) and physical health (body) that we can influence in our wellness.
For physical health changes:
Many recurring or chronic flare-ups don’t have to be a regular or seasonal occurrence when you know the source.
With many interruptive symptoms, you can avoid them with better lifestyle choices and making healthy changes like having less stress in your life or purging past memory baggage.
And removing post-trauma that can stay invisible to you today, and be a part of your everyday.
And general symptoms such as eczema, acne, acid reflux, other GI tract, IBS issues, or sinus infections are preventable.
If you make a simple lifestyle adjustment, you can live more enjoyably, and prevent bothersome symptoms that can otherwise leave you worried, stressed, or moody.
Let me show you how simple these lifestyle changes can be.
Eczema – too much sugar can trigger eczema and food allergies, so finding alternatives. When you don’t eat sugar over time, your cravings can disappear as your tastes change. So slowly removing refined sugar and eating plant-based including fruits is a solution.
Acid reflux – a diet such with highly acidic foods and beverages, and wrong combinations of food eaten together can exacerbate. Using ACV with “the mother” as a food as medicine ingredient in your daily or weekly plan could benefit you. And changing up your meals as most of us eat the same categories of food. Adding more alkaline foods can do you good. For example, if we eat cheese, we tend to eat more than we need. Or we lean into tomato sauces when we could alternate with a butternut squash or other healthy alternative.
Sinus infections – we can’t do anything about the air we breathe in around us, but we can use a neti pot to clean out our nasal passages regularly to prevent sinus infections.
The preventative neti pot me saved me, a person who had experienced back to back sinus infections from a work environment that had mold behind the modern-built walls.
And like a magic potion (there’s no magic!), the prevention prescription for these annoying symptoms can be natural. If we can prevent ailments and nip-them-in-the-bud before they grow, then we don’t have to take medicine that hurts our microbiome.
Some of these “grandmother” and “old world” ways that are Ayurvedic ways, come from generations before us where modern medicine didn’t exist and the people then were able to live longer than they would have because they found natural solutions, like these:
A low sugar and balanced diet, apple cider vinegar, and sinus cleansing (neti pot). Those are pretty easy healthy fixes compared to the physical symptoms.
These changes are all healthy and easy to implement with a desire to change small habits.
We can pick up habits easily and unaware we don’t notice what we’re consuming, doing, or not doing. Being sensitive to our body’s “calling out” through imbalanced body symptoms can wake up our awareness.
For happiness-sadness mood swings:
Taking supplements such as the correct amount of daily Vitamin D3 can change your daily happiness.
Had I known this back when I was a teenager and young adult, my SAD (seasonal affective disorder) mood that came up every February (when naturally Vitamin D sunlight was far less) could have been better or non-existent if I took the right amount of Vit D. Proper vitamin and mineral nutrients are essential where some are daily critical.
And getting enough tryptophan from foods helps with your serotonin “happy hormones” where 90% is produced in your gut.
And finally taking the right amount of magnesium that most people don’t usually get enough of absorbed into their system or in their diet, can be helpful to relax a stressed, anxious, or worried mind-body.
For mental health disorders:
Feeling anxious, severe Impostor Syndrome, or prolonged depression can often be naturally altered. For those who are born healthy, we learn behaviors that if kept unaware to us, can turn into mental health disorders that affect daily life.
Getting your heart rate up in exercise, taking a shower, or getting outside to take a walk and appreciating those moments where you can see nature can help you stop wanting what you can’t have right now.
Our brains can be our worst enemies or best friends. You choose. Exercise ignites happy chemicals in your brain.
Challenge your thoughts. They don’t always help so tell the ones that are not helpful, to take a hike! And you take your healthy hike outdoors. 😊
Walking away is better as there’s nothing more dangerous than an ego that’s unleashing thoughts affecting your counterproductive behavior. Catch your ego in the act in observation. And do the opposite. Find the loving and productive thoughts.
And one thought change at a time, changes your mind’s perspectives where you develop your happy, loving, and healthy mind for life.
If you have a situation or trial, find a positive to be gained. There is one if you look hard enough. On the other side of the rainbow, you will gain patience, resilience, self-control, and other traits that you couldn’t have learned otherwise or through other people’s lessons.
If you feel stuck in your current situation, you can try to come up with one step you could take today to change or start exploring a new direction?
In the beginning, a baby step is all it takes. Getting to the shower or your yoga mat even when you don’t feel like it. Do it anyway. And afterwards, you’ll feel much better.
And then you will have trained your mind to “just do it anyway” because it works! And the brain loves when it works, because that’s a sign of accomplishment and success.
Peace and wellness be with you.
A healthy wild cod with Vitamin D with a “3 Sisters” plant-based accompaniment is a good source of Vitamin A, K, protein, and fiber. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and the fat-soluble vitamins will absorb better.
