Physical Health and Body Archives - Page 3 of 29

Kapha Body Type Obvious Signs

Kapha body type is found in those with hearts… yes, that’s all of us, but not all of us are natural Kapha bodies. Gaining Kapha obvious signs and awareness-knowledge helps us in our daily lives.

Raspberries are good for heart health and even mimic heart shapes 🫀These whole wheat raspberry pop tarts celebrate heart health month. 💗

Whether you’re a natural Kapha body type or or another ayurvedic body type (that you’ll learn more about in this article), you can have a Kapha imbalance as all of us have some Kapha in us.

Kapha dosha is the earth and water 🌎 in us (that sometimes carries mud and creates sluggish seasons in our lives!). The other elements are wind, fire, and air to complete the five elements.

Pittas are fire and water and Vatas are wind and air (or space). So as you can see with the water commonality, Pittas have more in common with the Kapha constitution than a Vata dosha body.

One area that’s a common distinction is that to naturally balance Kapha, this usually involves weight loss while Vata balancing is on the other end of the spectrum.

It doesn’t take a lot to find someone close to you that you can determine is a natural Kapha. You may have friends and relationships with many Kaphas who in-balance make great friends, but outta balance can rub off in not-so-great ways you’ll learn more about below.

…But for the most part, Kaphas are loving people at heart so we can lean toward those positive traits. 💕

Backing up just a ‘lil, you may not be so familiar with the Kapha body type description because it’s part of our newer age and Ayurveda today is a common approach among eastern way cultures where it started.

Thousands of miles away in America where I grew up and live, it’s catching on, but not everyone is aware. There, we learned about pear and apple body shapes as descriptors.

And endomorphs (Kapha) 🍐, mesomorphs (Pitta) 🍏, and ectomorphs (Vata) ⏳ body types… sound familiar? Body types were often illustrated with doodle images in magazines.

Today, a sturdy planted elm or a full fruit blossomed tree can be another Kapha body type description if you want to take it outside for nature descriptors or into your Ayurveda Tree yoga pose that has caught on like wildfire in the Western hemisphere.

And, of the three dosha ayurvedic body types (Kapha, Pitta, and Vata), Kaphas can usually withstand and endure tougher conditions like palm trees, that you can mimic in Swaying Palm Tree pose.

A Kapha body type is more like a palm tree that can endure and thrive in an ecosystem where they're planted.

Kaphas are like palms 🌴 that are enduring in nature.

Or, you can show off your Kapha body soul with firmly planted feet in a majestic Mountain Pose if balance poses a challenge in your Ayurvedic moves. ⛰️

Other obvious Kapha body type characteristics:

Kapha body type can be described as solid and larger frame (compared to the Pitta and Vata body types).

But there are other natural characteristics, like: dewey skin (moist) and a colder internal body thermostat. They share cooler body temps in common with Vatas.

That’s why it’s good to have a thick, comfy hoodie or warm blanket close by that comforts especially on wintery nights, wet days, and dreary weather outside.

Often, Kapha lazy sides rule. Hibernation during the colder months warm the soul, along with deep sleeping.

A Kapha body type can carry a daily sinus life and a regular cough-as Kapha. Sleeping with breathing difficulties is also common, along with waking up with sinus or chest to head congestion since the body was laying flat.

And these are other noticeable common signs (tell-tale even amongst strangers):

A Kapha body type gains weight easily. Kaphas tend to have larger frames. And most noticeable on the outside to a Kapha body, is the tendency to add weight and fit in larger clothing. They also tend to digest slowly and store more fat easily as another sign.

Kaphas tend to walk slowly. Others (Pittas and Vatas) walk faster ahead. It’s easy to chalk this up to longer legs, but the Kapha slower pace is not just body-part related. It’s also Kapha mind connected to the way each likes to do lifein their Kapha body type if Kapha dominant overall, and taking life in stride. Think of the relaxed coastal lifestyle vs. fast city dweller life.

Which btw, a natural Vata mind and Kapha body is more anxious and a Pitta mind in a Kapha body takes life faster.

How these traits complement good Kapha body type sides:

As already mentioned, Kaphas prefer to embrace a relaxed, slower paced life that’s healthy and less stress to the body. So that can lead to a longer life if other health and wellness areas are self-care maintained.

…And this leads to a Kapha body type who lives more calm ☺️ than anxious Vata types 😦 or competitive Pitta Type-A’s. 😠

Mind you, none of the body types are better than the other per se, but being overall healthy is the best of all dosha worlds.

Kaphas also have a higher tendency to forgive other people as being sympathetic. And they have good memories (…a memory like an elephant 🐘), so they can make good reminders. Other types like Vatas, not so much as more forgetful.

And these help to support the idea that Kaphas often make great friends because they’re nice at heart, supportive, loving, and likable.

Kaphas are common among us and are often our funny, light-hearted entertaining friends we like to have fun and laugh with.

We love our balanced Kapha friends because in those moments they let things roll off their back and not bother them. They don’t take life too seriously like score-counting Pitta counterparts or worry wart Vatas.

Other body types wish they could be like the Kapha body type. They can get their superpower things done in ease. They don’t sweat the small things.

Now, these are the downsides that an imbalanced Kapha body type can exude:

Kapha people can be clingy in relationships where too much of a good thing can be cloying and smothering.

And as mentioned they tend to metabolize slowly, and accumulate pounds easily (“look at food and gain weight”).

Accumulation can also carry into their lives as hoarding, clutter, or disorganization. When someone has too much Kapha (or imbalanced Kapha), these are typical signs.

A Kapha body type can also tend to hold in feelings and not express sad or other hurtful feelings that eat on the inside. This can stay as trauma to the body and mind in the mind-body connection. They can be more sensitive to criticism than Vatas and Pittas.

But the great news is an imbalanced Kapha from an accumulated seasonal situation (and not a health triggered one) can be restored with specific lifestyle tweaks using the 5-senses.

Our human bodies are intuitive and have built-in natural preferences. To optimize our lives, we can learn the internal body language and uncover what those are to restore ourselves and our lives. You can do this better when you know whether you have a Kapha (Pitta or Vata) body imbalance or a combination, and know what to do when imbalanced for each for starters.

You can also complement Ayurvedic lifestyle tweaks with hormonal or aging health imbalances. Solutions (such as healthy foods) are both headed in the healthy direction, so there are overlaps in natural prescriptions.

Taking small action in those healthy guided directions help turn the tide sooner to get back to the happy-go-lucky and calm temperament that is natural to a Kapha body type and the sides everyone around you loves…

And by taking care and nipping-in-the-bud accumulating imbalances that accrue easily in our busy Western and comparing cultures, you can avoid unnecessary potential depression, infections, and obesity. ❣

Awareness, daily restoration, and prevention can change the trajectory toward better healthy outcomes, daily life enjoyment, and longevity.

Since the body communicates with us through feeling-good and healthy vs uncomfortable (or body symptoms), we can use those clues to gather more information from our bodies.

Here are some habit examples that can restore the 3 most common Kapha imbalances:

Clear sinus problems, nasal congestion, or excess phlegm. Mucus is actually a way for your body to protect you from foreign body invaders like allergens (and sometimes over protect with daily allergies).

One natural symptom remedy is: you can breathe in ACV steam like our older and grandmother generations taught. If you feel the sting in your passages, then it’s working.

Shower steam is also good. You can also use and sniff essential oils like peppermint and eucalyptus that will help open up the passages.

A neti pot is also a good way habit that cleans out your passages naturally. You may want to do this regularly during heavy pollen season or year-round weekly (or bi-weekly). Use warm water and sea salt for best cleansing effect. You can prevent nasty sinus infections from this one cleansing move if you keep up with it!

Prevent weight gain and maintain a consistent healthy weight. When it’s colder, warm comfort foods are desired. Use healthy ingredients and consider making your own homemade soups and stews. Balance with plant-based foods such as beans, alliums, and indole veggies. And start the day with fiber like asparagus, bananas, oats, and whole grains.

You can have cook prepared veggies and salads ready-to-go on the side. You can also decide to have something “green” at every major meal.

And still focus on healthy proteins as the star of your meal that’ll keep you feeling full longer so you don’t feel the need to snack all day.

🌱 If healthy intermittent fasting is something you would like to learn more about, get the free comprehensive guide to start and sustain your IF or fasting lifestyle that works for all body types in bio-individuality.

Beating tiredness. Start your day with water. Get caffeinated and enough sleep. Intake enough Vitamin D and sunshine especially during colder months that doesn’t do Kaphas any favors.

Lessen blue light at night from devices and wear blue light blocking glasses that our grandmother’s ages didn’t have. Listen to uplifting and get-you-moving music ring tones that can also be your wake-up alarm.

And if you want to optimize sleep and lose weight, intermittent fasting is one biohacking trick that helps in those areas and many other health longevity areas especially if you’re living and adjusting to your beyond 40s new normal body.

Fasting would’ve been frowned upon in our grandmothers’ eras where that would’ve been seen as starvation. But we’ve wised up to know our cultures are abundant in food and we’ve grown beyond the “exercise more and eat less” mantras.

Print Recipe

Here is a Whole Wheat Raspberry Pop Tart recipe to brighten up any tart days and sweet cravings. 💕

Easy Whole Wheat Raspberry Pop Tarts

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Ingredients

Raspberries
Whole wheat flour
1 tbsp or 1-2 pats of butter
Warm water (enough to make pastry workable enough to shape a disc that can be rolled out about 1/4" thick)
Homemade raspberry Jam or your favorite jam

Instructions

You decide how much you make.
Make the pastry dough and roll out to about 1/4" thick.
Cut out rectangles.
Add jam or fruit filling to bottom and cover with top rectangle like a sandwich.
Use a fork to crimp the edges together.
Bake on 325°F. For wheat flour, it's best to take a listen or tap to see if baked done as color stays consistent throughout baking process.
For jam: crush raspberry with bowl and spoon or mortar and pestle and add a small amount of water.

Self-Care Wheel for Kapha Imbalances

Self-care wheel with love, spiritual, sleep, and energy at the helm.

Self-care wheel balance is heck-yeah! needed in the colder months when our unleashed Kaphas are in full-force…

Wheels in motion take you to where you want to go. A wheel can go slowly or fast, but no matter what speed its default is to move forward (unless you purposefully choose to reverse). And, this article is about moving you forward and bettering your life this season. 🎡

If you understand the nature of Ayurveda as our natural healthy design, then you’ll be able to use that insight for better self-care and restore natural seasonal imbalances.

Like on the exterior, if you have super dry skin every winter along with a skinny frame, then you’re likely a natural Vata body (and not a Kapha body). If you tend to hold extra body weight and metabolize slowly, then Kapha is your natural way. Both feel the cold extremities as traits.

And as natural as having a Kapha body, some of us are more Kapha minded. Or we get imbalanced with tired Kapha moods.

That’s sometimes how I feel in the mornings (when Delta sleep is more like it!).

We can have a Vata body and a Kapha mind (and vice versa) as a simple example. And, there are 9 organized combinations if we want to keep it simple. Because you may be one born dominant in two body or mind ways (doshas). And mind and body connect in the daily mind-body connection to how you think, act, and feel.

The good news is you can positively impact and gradually change what you don’t like by your lifestyle choices. It’s nature vs. nurture where nurture is what you’re living today.

…You don’t have to settle for what you’re born with as lesser personality and traits you want to change.

Genetics is a tougher one to influence and turn the rudder on, but not impossible… and lifestyle tweaks and choice prevention can completely change a lesser situation or a higher probability likelihood.

And so, this article is meant to help you connect-the-dots and live your best life you can today with better lifestyle choices!

I’m focusing on Kapha here because all of us have a little of Kapha going on and that can be heavy in this seasonal time of year (where we hear more cough-as life). 😷

But here I share what I learned circa 2008 that has stuck with me, and what’s newer that I applied starting in 2023 to support healthy daily living intentions and prevention.

…And we know a healthy body translates to a better happy day where we get to do more and make more choices on our terms!

Letting in self-care influences give us more daily joy and balance. When you add better sleep, energy, spiritual, and love self-care into the equation, those move the needle forward. 🧭

A self-care wheel just like that can be the practical guide toward priorities tipping away from the heavy Kapha mind that makes it hard-to-get-going in the morning… or that makes you feel more depressed during colder seasons.

…Where growing up, we called this the SAD season (seasonal affective disorder). I went through this every February in my teens and early 20 years (when one that age should have had more energy). Lack of supplemental Vitamin D and sunshine affected the happy hormones we didn’t know much about back then. Winters were colder in the mid-Atlantic region where I grew up.

But, today we have more self-care knowledge and winters are warmer, and sometimes 70 degrees in some regions. So you can use the better products and circadian rhythm advice out there to your self-care wheel advantage.

…Plus, my healthy lessons learned (that btw get better with age 😉). Below is the skinny on what could help you get the self-care wheel balance you’re needing today.

✨ And these are some obvious Kapha Signs to look out for 👀that may be affecting you (and your self-care wheel):

Kapha Sign #1 (Sleep/energy):

Sleep and energy together because they are so closely knit together. 🧶

Do you find yourself needing more sleep in the cold weather seasons? Or maybe you’re consistently tired?

And that’s a bummer because less sleep means less time enjoying the day or being productive. Not enough sleep, you also lose free time and can lack energy as downsides.

Number of sleep hours are important, but better quality sleep is the better biohack way. And I share the best biohack routine I know and practice below. ⬇️

But for most days, when you get enough sleep, your body wakes up feeling energized. (Sleep + energy = 🤸🏻‍♂️)

You get better connected, cohesive thoughts. Because your body was able to fully recharge its batteries the night before.

Your daily energy ⚡️ is directly affected by how well you sleep. We all know that… and that’s why alarm clocks and caffeine are so popular in the morning.

…And getting less blue light in our eyes at night is up there too as newer healthy artificial habits.

We can also affect the energy systems inside us with better lifestyle choices, like: healthy food and drink choices, when we consume, and exercise.

Energy is not just physical and movement. Or calories.

…It’s also energy in the mind. Our minds can be slow and lethargic and that can be part of a Kapha imbalanced mind.

But there are other signs too… like, we’re not connecting energetically with others (who are energy).

We can have an invisible positive magnetic or negative repelling energy. That’s something visible in your life to consider that often gets missed in relationships and the community around us.

✅ Tips for daily sleep/energy ⚡️self-care wheel balance:

Give yourself more energy. You can listen to music that puts you in an energetic mood, get blood pumping through your veins doing your exercises, and doing a new activity that stimulates your mind. And give yourself daily healthy mind-body energy food.

Kapha Sign #2 (Spiritual):

When our Kaphas are off balance, there’s a domino effect, affecting: feelings, thoughts, and how much of our lit spiritual selves we let in. And these impact our daily actions.

The actions (or inactions) that accumulate pounds, things, emotions, and piles of things as examples are obvious exterior signs. They’re processed deeper in mind-thoughts that change our feelings and moods.

To change, it’s easier to look at the exterior signs (as mirrors and clues) to our inner going-ons that creates our world, so we can get more grounded and tap into our inner power.

If you find the clue that you’re accumulating in some way, the deeper source could be because you’re wanting to be alone and building up a wall from others. Or you’re just plain tired from picking up toys and piles, and cleaning up.

…The source isn’t as important as knowing that those are classic Kapha awareness imbalanced signs. And since we don’t want to exude growing unhealthy behavior that accumulates, we can change choices…

So, look around… have you accumulated things or have you stopped putting things away as much? Do you have unintentional messy piles, clothes, or toys left out for another day?

“Disorganized” and “clutter” (descriptions that can harshly rub like an abrasive scrubber as the elephant in the room) — usually go hand-in-hand because it’s the same mind feeding the non-serving abrasive message.

…And this can leave feelings of shame that can gradually turn into self-loathing if allowed. That’s sobering, but helpful because then we can be aware and fix what isn’t healthy.

✅ Tips for daily spiritual 🌟 self-care wheel balance:

Practice letting go. Ignore your heavy Kapha thoughts as this derails you from your this season’s purpose. This can sound challenging if you’ve never exercised this right to ignore any of your thoughts, but it’s so liberating!

Rewrite not-so-great thoughts if you never have (and do it over and over again if you have). Nip it in the bud when the thoughts arrive.

You can save time, money, and effort that your brain would otherwise send you to go spend on… like I’d be happier if I had ___ shopping item, ___ life, or ___ relationship.

Feeling content can do wonders for you if you can do that step.

Many years ago, I discovered that I didn’t have to accept my random thoughts that entered my mind. I could decisively ignore and even peacefully disagree. How was that the first time?… very weird.

…But when I practiced that habit, my life changed and I didn’t let the beaten down tracks play over and over again. The better track connect-the-dots and stops fictitious endings from forming.

With those positive step actions, I could walk away and then my better moods came back.

I could change my moody feelings and re-direct my perspectives. And you can too if that’s what you want…

Where and how are you on your mind and thought journey?

Here are the simple steps 👣

Recognize the thought: negative, unproductive thought (alert!)

The action: walk away

The walk away feeling: freedom vs. ego smothering protection and feeling bad about something, people, or myself

Repeat.

Kapha Sign #3 (Love):

Getting back or having healthy self-love is most important in matters of love and relationships. That’s how we also attract healthy relationships.

But, heavy imbalanced Kapha minds can have extremes: acting prickly toward people or relationships. Or acting needy and dependent to those who don’t reciprocate. These do the opposite of attracting (and sometimes wrongly attract opposites).

Smothering (or semi-mothering) can make others feel like a boundary is crossed, and can easily destroy a relationship.

When we expect others to make us happy, we set ourselves up for disappointment. So focusing on loving ourselves first allows us to energetically have an authentic overflow of love that pours out to others.

In self-care, we used to call this Me-Time that has become Me-Too as a form of love and healing.

✅ Tips for daily love ❤️ self-care wheel balance:

Be kind to yourself and your body, and tell your mind: “I am enough.”

Repeat saying to yourself: “I am loved” as a daily mantra.

******************************************

🧡 And FINALLY, from my newer lessons learned on the self-care wheel:

In 2023, I started intermittent fasting in my life for healthy gut reasons. But I found in my self-experiment (that I journaled about)… it also improved daily sleep, energy, and gave lighter mind-thoughts.

On those IF nights, sleep is better because the body doesn’t need to go to extra work to process food ontop of all its miracle daily resetting functions (…and why we need sleep in the first place!). And the liver doesn’t have to work hard to process beverages other than the mostly water clear kind. I like herbal teas.

So building in a weekly routine practice, I experienced not needing as much sleep and improved sleep quality.

👣 If you want to know how to optimize IF and Kapha metabolism for all the daily healthy benefits (and biohacking your body’s health), you can learn and read more about my journey.

Intermittent Fasting Guide (And My Journey)

Today, I wanted to let you in on my intermittent fasting journey (and provide an Intermittent Fasting Guide) as that may help yours if you’ve begun, or maybe you’re curious what it’s ALL ABOUT.

If either sounds like YOU, I created a FREE Intermittent Fasting Guide with you in mind that you can download. It’s called The Start and Sustain Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle Guide… and it also comes in handy when you start IF and then take a short break.

That’s exactly what I did in 2023 during the holiday season, and then realized what I was missing from the benefits I saw on and in my body earlier in the year. I took a quick selfie for comparison…

…Um, that’s a bit of skin showing there! 👙 Oh and believe me, I’m not someone who bares all skin in case you’re wondering why this photo doesn’t fit along with my food and other healthy lifestyle inspo ones.

But the photo really does hone in on my gut ab area (as deep as I can show) and is the healthy reason why I started intermittent fasting in the first place.

I was feeling discomfort in my gut in the upper stomach area where the esophagus meets the stomach (aka the lower esophageal sphincter).

Despite doing all the healthy tips regularly like sourdough, veggie fiber, and ACV, I could feel a dull feeling in the stomach gut area when the optimal feeling is no nagging ache (or even better, feel nothing in those areas). An uneventful inside body feeling day is a good day.

You’ve probably felt similar if you ever experienced heartburn, GERD or acid reflux. Last summer’s heat didn’t help either (hottest recorded in history). That kicks up the Pitta. And, not the kind of fire-in-the-belly you want! 🔥

Even though my stomach case was mild, it’s probably what most people feel who experience heartburn in daily busy and stressful work lives. 🙋🏻‍♀️

And as someone who once-upon-a-time lived a stressful corporate work life (and works on feeling good and better all the time), I don’t believe you should suffer more than a minute necessary. So, I had to figure it out!… I couldn’t just let it slide. And maybe that’s how you are too in your health areas…

But, lemme backup just a minute so you have some background info…

I started cooking and baking virtually all my meals after the pandemic. So, I knew which ingredients were put into each healthy dish or snack (that I ate 90% of the time). I often show some of the celebrational weekly meal tables, healthy bakes, and dishes weekly here in my blog articles.

…That comes from the side of me that worked a decade in catering party planning, where food is love.

But most my eating ways were healthy (…with a lot less sugar for this former refined sugar addict!). And I was intentionally feeding healthy foods to help a happy gut as that’s where most of the happy hormones (serotonin) are produced.

But I could still feel the gut discomforts even though everything else was running smoothly. And after researching, listening to health interviews, and putting it all together… I came to the conclusion that it’s not the type of food that’s the problem, it’s the food itself.

Every food ingredient on the planet seems to be in question in some way these days. The only purer ones are the whole ones. And where there are edible food skin nutrients, that’s where the invisible poisons are too.

Even with good intentions to eat more healthy, our daily healthy foods are tainted.

The year prior, I was writing articles for wellness national publications on health and the Blue Zones, the oldest groups of people alive on the planet to date. So I was researching daily and comparing their food and healthy lifestyle ways with my own.

And I realized their B.Z. cheese is not our cheese process, and their bread is not our bread. Starting at the flour.

What we source and bring back home from grocery stores is processed, stripping out the gut valuable nutrients.

…So even with healthy and anti-inflammatory eating intentions, disappointingly we’re still off-setting so much food damage that’s out of our control.

From garden to grocery store, the good nutrients contain some harmful pesticide sprays and/or preservatives to make food shelf life last longer.

…And that means all of us have imperfect guts. And then we add plastic packaged food products, antibiotics, and daily stress into our lives… and that all compounds to the gut issues…

Or in some cases, leaky guts, bloating, IBS, etc. The list is long. And the gut stretches taller than you and me both. With over 15 feet, there’s all kinds of growing bug opportunities where we want to tip the scales to the good ones daily. Doing this impacts so much of our health and daily energy.

And long story short, all this is to say that’s why I started intermittent fasting regularly in 2023 for healthy preventative gut reasons and to help let the body naturally repair the gut.

It’s a great way to lose bad habits like snacking, sugar, overeating, drinking too late, drinking too much, etc. And a great opportunity to let your body detox reset, sleep more efficiently, and lose weight. If you want to discover more about the benefits and strategies, get the free guide.

Music Inspiration Daily For Slow Waiting Seasons

Music inspiration can be a saxophone that calms and is bright and cheery. — Music inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes!

Music inspiration can be therapy to your mind-body, like it is for mine. This article is all about building in some audio inspiration to your life, to get your mojo back or make it through your slow waiting seasons.

And a healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie 🍪 that can be prepared in 5 minutes (ready in 30) with 40 chocolate chips, a 4 oz. applesauce container (that is a good pantry stocking item to have on hand and you can buy in a 6-pack in the dried fruits and nuts grocery food aisle).

[Someone already took a bite out of this one 😊…]

healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

Because getting yourself daily happy is going to help you in tough seasons…

Where life can be unexciting and underwhelming and you wish would speed up and you could fast forward.

If you were to add up those days and years in your life, they would be most of life if you have lofty goals.

And they can feel heavy, like a hangover.

Those are the times when routines and ruts can run our lives. We can feel like we’re not growing as much because we’re not learning as much. Or we’re not running around feeling as light and bouncy.

And all that can show up as a mood funk and stress in the mind-body.

Bringing the calm and loving thoughts back in the moment helps bring our mind-body balance back despite life’s chaos.

We want to feel healthy good, and without this balance, we feel off and that slows down our productivity jam, creativity flow, and daily rhythm.

And, music inspiration is an easy way to snap our minds out of unrest, and gradually move us out of seasonal rut feelings day by day, and get our bodies to dance around a little.

I was feeling one of those weeks that felt imbalanced in moods.

There were storms outside that didn’t help to bring out the sunny feelings. And my body was off sleep schedule. I usually naturally wake up at the same time every morning within minutes.

Now I found myself setting the alarm again, that I hadn’t done as a routine since I worked for an employer.

Was it post-holiday blues?

That’s what I chalked it up to.

But I was determined to not let that settle into another day or the weekend.

So instead of my weekly routine, I did one easy test move. I turned on the television.

And this time of year is when ice skating competition shows are aired. I hadn’t seen one this year, so it took me into a new loop as I watched the triple toe loops manifest in front of my eyes. From the 20 minutes or so of watching, I had a new verve again.

I was inspired again. My mind had those happy hormones that felt like they kicked back into drive.

And all it took was a few minutes.

What just happened?

My mind went somewhere else. I saw something different, and it was exciting to my mind that drives the bus and matters most in changing moods.

And the subtle backdrop instrumental music put me in a new place mood.

Music is therapy and that’s why it’s called music therapy.

Changing our daily rhythm sounds is what we often need for simple imbalance changes based on our lifestyle choices (like food and drink, sleep patterns, etc.)… and doesn’t take that much effort to help change our moods.

You just turn it on and there it is.

And if you’re trying, that can be the slight switch you make in your day today that gives you a new pep in your step.

…as you’re counting on every new step that can turn your season around for change.

Finding the right daily music inspiration is an important part of having daily joy.

…Even if we woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or we were rattled with sad news. Or we’re in a nothing new season… music will help snap us out into a better mood because the effect it has on the mind.

And if that’s what you’re facing today, then know you’re one baby step away from making a change in your day… if you choose the right tunes to help change the mood tide.

The right music for the mind aren’t the same yummy bubble gum music or jams we hear daily on our stations, but ones that have moody sounds like snares and percussion instruments…you know, those odd looking small instruments like fun triangles and xylophones you had or probably played with in an elementary school music class.

I’ll never forget a Music Appreciation course I took in college where “Black Magic Woman” was one oldie song we analyzed.

Whether you listen to the Santana or Fleetwood Mac versions, you’re gonna hear some drama from the music…

You’ll notice when there’s a dramatic movie scene about to come on, they play suspenseful music to rope you in to add to the effects.

And the effects go straight to your head where your mind is. So in that small instant, you’re put in a different mood.

And if you can create your own momentary drama with music inspiration and musical instruments, that may dramatically wake up your dull mind up if that’s what you need. It’s the healthy way without creating real life drama, if ya know what I mean 🎭

And here are a few artists and songs to turn on for daily inspiration:

Al Green

B.B. King (or any Blues music)

And a few modern songs:

Magic (Coldplay)

Latch (Disclosure with Sam Smith)

Or have a home Christmas concert in July or anytime of year.

Seasonal Music Inspiration

Then there are times when you feel uninspired in general over a season. That’s when yo find new music 🎶 to gain your pep in your step.

And realize that’s an opportunity to recognize the need to welcome in a Life transition. Something great is going to come in. It could be a fresh start over.

Instead of adopting a why me attitude, turn on the why not me? And the why not me is about being chosen for your life mission and great activities ahead.

So recognize that seasonal blaise is meant to be a bridge or a transition.

Those seasonal feelings can overlap with the daily need for doses of inspiration. But they are not the same.

With those seasonal feelings, I know in my life that means it’s time to shift in another direction or do something different. It’s the Universe giving a clue to look up and out, instead of simply looking at what was.

And that can be how you approach your seasonal moods!

In growth preparation, finding inspiration (that can start with music inspiration) can get the wheels turning in the new direction.

And if music isn’t enough…

While listening to nostalgic music or getting music therapy, take a break and look at those daily photos, sports coverage, skating… or whatever gives you that temporary joy that snaps you outta your funk.

Try to find more appreciation or contentment to help your way through.

Transitioning is our life’s theme.

And of course, life never tells you or gives you a road map of where to transition shift to (…that would be waaayy too easy!). But if you listen to your inner guides, you have a better chance to figure out the next best step.

So it’s not always as much work as it sounds and if you cooperate with yourself.

Because in those tough moments, you know (or can believe!) that where you are will produce something GREAT on the other side.

And that’s how you can better embrace challenges and changes.

A belief, that’s fully in your control, improves your outlook and attitude.

And when we re-adjust those to help us get through and grow, then we’ve set ourselves up to more smoothly enter a new season with our good intentions.

And when you look back out next time, you’ll be in a different place because the moment has passed.

So what are you waiting for… turn on some good tune vibes 🎶 and ask yourself: what are you inspired about today?

And while you’re needing a sweet break, you can enjoy a healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with exactly 40 chip morsels in case you need to give someone a small job. This is an easy recipe that you or your young ones can make.

heathy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie in one bowl

Easy Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie In One Bowl

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

4 oz applesauce (easy grocery plastic container size)
2/3 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp maple sugar, honey, or molasses
2 tbsp chocolate chips (or 40 chip morsels)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup almond milk or milk of choice

Instructions

Combine ingredients and pour onto baking pan forming a roundish shape.
Bake on 350°F for about 20-25 minutes until well baked.

Yoga Wheel Pose For Removing Mental Blocks

Some larger-than-us life wheels are metaphors for us to gain balance in the slow motion! 🎡

You can use Wheel Pose to learn how to gain confidence in your life. Too often we overthink and get inside our heads. Like in Bird of Paradise Pose that can also be challenging…

When our gut instinct and initial thought is often the one we should follow. This is different than a knee-jerk reaction which is based on removing immediate pain and often based in fear or insecurity.

You know the difference because knee-jerk usually causes some pain backlash.

Sometimes we react defensively because we’re hurt, we haven’t processed fully what is hurled our way, or we’re too busy to think through what aftermath our words and actions will cause.

Afterall, we’re busy and have many areas of life that we try to balance in our life wheel: work, relationships, family, health, fitness, spiritual, and finances.

All can be sources of joy when good. Or become a worrisome disturbance that can cause turmoil unbalance, tipping the scale toward what’s heaviest.

In those moments you can use Wheel Pose to be a metaphor for restoring your balance.

It won’t mend your problems, but getting in the yoga pose will give you some encouraging moments and feelings that bring back a smile and some confidence. And help you with mental blocks, being in the moment.

That’s how I feel when I’m making my whole healthy pizzas 🍕 with a whole lotta peace in the pieces.✌️There’s a hole in whole but not in this one!

Shrimp on the barbie with artichokes and homemade barbecue sauce for a new kind of pie

And whatever daily inspires you, here’s how to get in Wheel Pose…

We can find it difficult to get our body off the ground if we’re not used to the yoga pose. That can be a metaphor for anything we are hesitant to try because it’s challenging (and our wintery Kapha minds want us to do the easy and our Kapha bodies like the lazy pose 🧘🏻‍♀️).

And that can keep us away from moving forward or succeeding in our victories. But we don’t have to live that way!

We can cooperate with our Kapha mind-body tendencies. I get it… life is hard enough, our wheels grow, and everything needs a sliver piece on the balanced Wheel of Life.

So to give ourselves an instant helping hand, we can take a known alternate route where the easier path gets us halfway there without effort…

You will still reap great health benefits from Wheel Pose.

The first step is: start by sitting on your bum instead of laying on your back.

Lazy or not, then you’re almost halfway there.

In yoga, we’re often laying on our backs or fronts like on a massage table or when we try to catch a tan on the beach. We forget that seated is another starting position. It’s the one we’re in when we’re driving forward. 🛞

But this easier way starts in a relaxed seat position. Your legs bent with knees up help. You’ll still catch the rays of the Wheel Pose!

Hands on the mat beside you, then you position your fingers and wrists toward your feet (or the opposite direction they normally would face if you were lounging on a beach towel on the beach).

Then use your arm strength to lift yourself off the mat.

When you get comfortable and know how it feels to be in baby Wheel Pose, then you use that confidence of having been-there-done-that to challenge yourself to the full proper Wheel Pose where you peel your entire back and body off the mat when you’re ready.

Now we’re talking!… Then you’re in your merry-go-round feeling Wheel.

You’ll be stronger afterward and have forgotten about your real life at least for a few moments.

Remember to breathe in to take in the moments that feel slow motion in the process (like on a carousel).

Removing Mind Blocks

And in the slower moments, you find balance and can remind yourself that everything is possible, and you’re capable if you get out of your own way.

Often, we can’t get past our mind blocks until we can see glimpses of the other side to believe our way through.

So, round and round we go. Our ego blocks us from seeing what could be ours.

But, we can get off the repeating mind carousel and help ourselves by letting go of what was.

Then when you show and tell yourself you can do a new way from a healthy perspective, you overcome the block. You get a new breakthrough on the carousel that helps your life wheel balance.

And if that isn’t enough to push you over the almost-there hump (you’re so close!), look at others who have gone before you in those areas and defied the odds.

They’ve given Wheel Pose its name. And you can invent your Wheel of Life version.

Life is cheering you on. Give it a spin! 🤸🏻