Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Writer’s Block

Ok! I’ll admit it. My brain has overloaded or shorted out or my mind is backed up on the server but the network is down. Whatever you want to call it, I have writer’s block. :) So I’m in need of ideas or inspirations or questions or whatever! What are you curious about? What do you want to know more about? What would you like to hear (read) my opinions on? :) Chime in & let me know! I can’t wait to learn what my audience is curious about and get more ideas on health topics for Wine & Wellness Wednesdays. Cheers!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Health Benefits of Herbs & Spices

It may have already become obvious but just in case, here’s a thing about me: I love to cook. I love playing with recipes, and I love preparing (and eating) good food. Even better is when that good food is good for us!

I started writing #winewellnesswednesday posts about the health benefits of some of my favorite ingredients, such as ginger and colorful bell peppers. I then thought I’d do some research on health benefits of herbs & spices, because I enjoy using those in my cooking as well. I found something of an overwhelming amount of information! For this week I’m going to narrow it down to herbs & spices that are believed to combat inflammation, because it is something that many of us deal with regularly, and reducing it will help improve health in multiple ways.

Cinnamon contains antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation. Turmeric contains curcumin, another antioxidant. Ginger can reduce inflammation as well. Cloves, rosemary, sage, and oregano are more spices and herbs that can be beneficial in fighting against inflammation.

So what can you do? Fortunately, whether you love to cook or don’t, it’s easy to add herbs & spices to your menu! Add cinnamon and clove to oatmeal; add oregano to pasta sauces (and it’s probably already in those recipes); toss some ginger in when making a stir fry out of colorful veggies! Cheers! :) Here's to your health...

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Red Bell Peppers

Not long ago, I did a #winewellnesswednesday post about the benefits of ginger, one of my favorite ingredients. :) I’ve been making a lot of recipes recently with red bell peppers, so I thought (of course) about the health benefits! :)

Bell peppers, whether green, red, yellow, orange, or purple, have multiple benefits. They’re low in calories (and delicious!) and fabulous fresh or cooked. They’re also loaded with vitamins A & C, as well as antioxidants that science says are good for you. Even though bell peppers are sweet, not hot, they still contain capsaicin, which has anti-inflammatory properties (among others).

So the next time you’re throwing together a chili, or spaghetti sauce, or a stir fry, or a salad, consider adding some red bell peppers into the mix.

Cheers! Your health will thank you!

For example, here’s a quick recipe from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. Bell pepper spaghetti: 1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips; 1 (or more!) clove garlic, minced; 1 T olive oil; 1 t dry or 1 T fresh thyme; cooked (gluten-free!) pasta; freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. Saute the pepper, thyme, and garlic in olive oil until the peppers are cooked to your liking. Toss with cooked pasta and top with the Parmesan. Enjoy!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Time & Patience

Sometimes the most important thing we can do for ourselves is to just give ourselves time and patience.

Time to make changes.

Time (and patience) to heal.

Time to backslide after improving.

Patience. Time.

It’s hard. It’s incredibly hard. If you’ve been ill for any reason, that recovery period seems endless and frustrating. The moments when you think you’re completely back to normal and then more symptoms appear again, or you get so incredibly tired that you can’t imagine staying awake for one more moment, never mind trying to go to work or even do the dishes or take a shower.

Be patient.

Take the time.

After it’s over, your physical and mental health will get back to normal. Hopefully. Eventually.

Cheers! Here’s to your health. :)

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: I Am My Own Client

So about two weeks ago I had the usual annual physical, weight, height, BP, what hurts, is everything normal, and so on, and so forth, and the expected needle stick for a blood draw, which left me sporting a colorful, misshapen bruise in my elbow for a week.

One of the things I’ve been grateful for has been that in spite of being overweight (although not as much as I was!) my numbers have been pretty good.

Until now.

In spite of my scale and the doctor’s scale agreeing that I’ve lost weight… (Yay!)

In spite of giving up fast food almost entirely and most junk food almost entirely…

In spite of exercising daily…

LDL and glucose are up.

Ok…now what…

I grumbled and growled about it for a couple of days and then I started thinking. I looked back at the past year and I could see where things might have happened that would contribute to those two numbers being out of whack.

And then I thought to myself, “What would I say to a client?” I answered myself, “Figure out the first thing you can do, and start there.” And I’m looking at it as an intriguing challenge, because one of the biggest factors I can change is my diet, and that is also going to be a lot of fun in a lot of ways. Why? I LOVE to cook. I LOVE trying new recipes! So figuring out different proteins and ways to incorporate more colorful veggies into my menus? Changing the fats I use for cooking? Absolutely! I’m all over it! Changing up and increasing exercise? Totally! (Although…the 4+ miles I walked at work recently is probably also helpful!) Planning on the numbers being lower and not needing medication the next time I get blood drawn? Absolutely.

Being a health coach doesn’t mean I have all the answers. It means I have the tools to find the answers and hold myself accountable (in a positive way) to figuring it out and making positive, sustainable changes. I also have a support network, and that’s huge. :)

So here I go into new territory! Who’s coming along for the ride?

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Music!

Music on my mind! As we have lots of good music to look forward to soon (Stacey Kent in Minneapolis and a new Cheshire Moon CD, just to name a few), I have music on my mind. :) So I dug up an old post from 2016...enjoy!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday 01/13/16: Music

It’s #winewellnesswednesday, and this week as we’ve recently discovered some wonderful new music (thank you, Rhiannon Giddens), I thought about looking into how music impacts health. (There are very few things a glass of wine and some kickin’ music won’t fix!)

I think it’s a pretty good bet that at one point or another, that perfect song has popped up on the radio, or in an iTunes playlist, or made an appearance out of nowhere as an earworm, and you’ve found your mood improving, your toes tapping, and the corners of your mouth lifting up in a smile.

Go on, admit it. You dance when no one’s looking, and you don’t want to admit it’s to <insert goofy song name here.> ;)

Did you know?? Here’s some fantastic news for you: music is GOOD FOR YOU. (It’s also calorie-free! How’s that for a great deal?)

Music helps me concentrate. It helps me calm down or get revved up, depending on the day/time/mood/circumstances. It can get me moving, which gets my pulse going, which gets the juices flowing, which can end up as great mental or physical exercise. Alternately, I have also noticed on occasion that my blood pressure drops and my pulse goes back to a calmer pace, depending on the music.

That has to be a good thing, right? Right! (Check the comments for some links with additional info.)

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Ginger

I was thinking recently about the healthy properties of some of my favorite foodstuffs. (Yes, you guess correctly that future Wine & Wellness Wednesday topics will include some of those foodstuffs!) Ginger has long been one of my favorite flavors, and I’ve known for a long time that it can also be good for me. (Ginger ale for an upset stomach, anyone?) Ginger is rumored to be good for indigestion, IBS, pain relief, toothaches, and even for treating burns.

Also? It’s delicious, whether in ginger ale, or sliced into oatmeal when cooking, or candied and covered in dark chocolate, or used as an ingredient in spiced apple cider or any of dozens of recipes. :) 

Whether you’re cooking with it or carefully ingesting it in powdered form as a capsule, enjoy ginger and its benefits!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Get Good Sleep!

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post about celebrating World Sleep Day. :) Today I was reminded just how very, very important it is to get a good night's sleep, not only for the reasons listed below but also because it helps prevent me from snacking too much and for all the wrong reasons. Monday night I didn't sleep enough and I didn't sleep at all well. Tuesday was awful; I snacked too much, and I snacked badly (M&Ms and mini Rolos). Tuesday night I slept earlier and much, much better, and today's snacking was greatly reduced from the previous day. Not only did I realize it midway through the day, even though the same snack options were available, I was much less inclined to succumb to the temptation.

Get a good night's sleep...for lots of reasons!!

Cheers! Here's to your health!

(Original post: 3/16/16)

Sleep! Yes! There’s a day to celebrate everything, or so it seems, and so of course there’s World Sleep Day. (Although if you ask our dogs I’m sure they’d say every day should be World Sleep Day!) And thank you to my husband for pointing World Sleep Day out to me! :) This year’s World Sleep Day is this Friday. You can even take a pledge to go to sleep 30 minutes earlier than normal! (As a side note, I didn’t have a Wine & Wellness Wednesday last week as we were on vacation…and yes, lots of sleeping made for a great vacation!)

Sleep! It’s important for your health. (It’s super frustrating to suffer from insomnia, on top of the health issues that can result.) Getting the right amount of sleep helps with focus, learning, weight loss, and safety (particularly behind the wheel), just to name a few benefits.

What interferes with getting a good night’s sleep? I’m going to differ somewhat from most references and say it is different for everyone. Some people may be able to drink a caffeinated beverage right before bed and sleep really well; some people may have caffeine at 2:00 p.m. and not sleep until 3 a.m.  You may be one of those who can’t eat anything too late in the day or you won’t sleep well, or you may be able to eat and fall asleep immediately. One thing that helps me sleep better is trying to cut back on screen time near bedtime, particularly using the iPhone or iPad. Although for me, it may also be wise to cut back on TV time as well. Sometimes I have the craziest, most realistic dreams inspired by whatever we watched before bedtime! And when I remember my dreams very clearly, I haven’t always slept well. Where I will agree with most references is that it’s important to have a routine, and have the same routine on weekends and weekdays. Try to get to sleep at the same time every day. Find a relaxing activity to help your brain wind down. If you find yourself awake and thinking about work, get up and write everything down; dumping it on a piece of paper and getting it out of your brain can help clear your mind and let you relax into sleep. Figure out what works for you. Your health depends on it!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Gardening!

Gardening. It’s good for you.

What’s that? You don’t want to become a master gardener, or a landscaper, or whatever? You’re intimidated by the thought of tilling the soil and toiling over the beans? No problem!

Start small. Recently, I talked about building healthy habits. Some of you know I work part-time for a garden center, and this is the season of preparing the greenhouse for spring. So we’ve been filling pots, and planting, and planting, and planting some more. It’s fabulous, particularly because I love getting dirt under my fingernails and seeing the potential in those tiny, tiny plants, knowing they’ll grow up into beautiful things. It’s also relaxing for me, and encourages me to start thinking creatively about my own garden and what I want to do this season.

All of this, naturally, started me thinking about whether gardening could be good for overall health, not just as exercise. Yes!! Relaxation, creative thinking, exercise, and, if you’re growing vegetables, better food! (If someone in your household doesn’t love vegetables, gardening at home may even give you ways to encourage picky eaters to try something they’ve grown themselves!)

Start small. Get a small flowerpot with drainage holes and a tray to catch any excess water. Get some good potting soil. Several plants that are relatively easy to start from seed are green beans or sunflowers. Follow the instructions on the seed packet. Set the pot in a sunny spot and watch magic happen. (Don’t forget to water it occasionally!) Depending on what you planted, when the danger of frost is over and if you have yard space, take it outside and transplant it! It’s that simple. And it can be very rewarding.

Get your hands dirty with gardening this summer. :) It’s good for you!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Laughter with Friends

Today's Wine & Wellness Wednesday was going to be an entirely different topic.

Then dinner happened. And laughter happened. And even though I'm coughing through the laughter (dratted weird weather and a winter-spring cold), happiness happened.

We had a simply marvelous evening having dinner (pizza!) with friends, and playing a game, and laughing, and laughing, and laughing some more.

Laughter really is the best medicine, in so many ways.

So go find friends (or family!) you haven't spent time with for a while, and take an easy meal, and a game, and laugh. It's good for you!

Cheers! Here's to your health. ;)

 

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Habits

A few days ago, for various reasons, I missed meditating. I didn’t meditate in the morning as is my usual routine, and I didn’t mediate in the evening as I often do if I miss the morning.

Oh, my how I missed it.

It started me thinking about healthy habits, how easy they can be to build, and how critical they can become to our daily routine. Yes, I also realize that once you’re out of routine it can be difficult to get those habits back! That’s why, even though I’m out of routine thanks to slipping on ice and whacking both knees on the concrete, I’m trying to maintain modified versions of my morning routine so it’s easier to get all of it back once my knees heal.

Let’s say, for example, that you would like to start running. Maybe the long-term goal is to run a half marathon, then a marathon.

How reasonable is it to think you can get up the first day and run 5 or 10 miles on your way to that half marathon? Give yourself a break! Unless you’re already a runner, this isn’t a reasonable start. If you don’t get that first five-mile run done on day one, maybe you’ll be discouraged and not keep going. So maybe day one is running around your block, or for a quarter mile, or… Do you see where I’m going here? Run it until it’s easy, and then add to it. Build it up. Sooner than later, you’ll not only be adding time, you’ll be enjoying it. (For the record, even thinking about this today makes my already sore knees hurt, but I like the idea!)

Let’s say that you’ve read all sorts of articles online about meditation and its benefits and you want to start. You sit down, in a quiet room, in a comfortable chair or on a cushion on the floor, close your eyes, and…THOUGHTS THOUGHTS THOUGHTS. All of the thoughts of the day start whacking into your brain, interrupting your quiet, making you THINK. Yeah…I have news for you…meditating isn’t about turning off your brain. It’s about focused quiet and changing your energy. It also isn’t going to go well if you try for an hour immediately. How about a minute? And after a minute becomes easy, then two, then three, and so on. Do you see where I’m going here? :)

A healthy habit doesn’t have to be jumping in to massive changes all at once. In order to become a habit, something has to be practiced and practiced and practiced until it becomes routine. Necessary. Enjoyable, hopefully! Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Go for a Walk! (12/23/15)

This is actually a throwback post because the weather has been so unseasonably warm and lovely that going for walks has been a real treat!! Cheers! Here's to your health. :)

12/23/2015

I have my wine, it’s Wednesday, and it’s time for another #winewellnesswednesday! :) So far I’ve talked about wine & water; the alliteration will (temporarily) stop after today’s topic, which is walking!

Yesterday, I decided to take advantage of moderately nicer weather and no precipitation (although a very grey day, at least at lunch) and take our dogs for a quick walk around the block. Twenty minutes and two laps of the block later, the dogs acted as though they were worn out, and I felt invigorated and ready to tackle the rest of the day. I’m glad I didn’t wait to go walking until Wednesday, considering how wet, cold, wild, and generally icky today’s weather is! Maybe I should be having mulled wine instead!

Walking! It’s good exercise, and if you’re not accustomed to exercising on a regular basis, it’s a great introduction to getting moving. I am accustomed to exercising regularly, and I still really enjoy going for walks. :) Most of the time when we go places, we’ve started a new habit of parking a little farther away from the destination so we’ll get a little extra walking in when we run errands. Yes, I said most of the time. If it’s pouring down rain or if there’s a sub-zero windchill? Nope! I’m parking as close as I can get! Walking is also great for improving your mood and getting your energy revamped to dive into whatever comes next.

Call walking the gateway drug to more activity if you like; call it whatever you want if you get up & get going! Take headphones and listen to music or a podcast or a book. Take a friend and have a conversation. Take your dogs. Take a walk through a park, or around your neighborhood, or around the mall. Take a hike! (Walk on a treadmill if the weather is truly awful.) And take care of yourself by adding some movement to your day, or changing your routine to incorporate a little more walking.

 

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Listen to Your Body!

Do you listen to your body? What is it telling you?

I had a craving recently for an old fashioned glazed donut. 

I thought to myself, “Having one just this once can't hurt.” 

Then I thought about how I felt recently when I inadvertently had wheat in a meal. My gut was a mess. I ached all over. My mood tanked in a BIG way.

Not. Worth. It. 

(It’s even less worth it to go for the glazed donut, when Sweet Treat without Wheat makes AMAZING gluten-free donuts.)

It’s hard. It is so very, very hard to figure out what your body might be telling you. Everyone is different, so everyone’s reactions to foods are different.

Have you had an excess of…wheat, or dairy, or…? How do you feel? What is your mood? What is your body trying to tell you?

Here’s a challenge for you. Pay attention to what you eat, and how you feel, for three or four or five days. (One day isn’t much time, so doing it just once won’t give you great data.) Did you cut back on something? How did your body react? Did you eat a lot of something? How did your body react? Maybe that triple stack of pancakes three days a week is delicious, but it’s making your joints ache. Listen to your body; it knows what you really need.

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: What Feeds Your Soul?

What feeds your soul?

 

Do you do enough of whatever it is?

I had the opportunity this week to spend some time playing in the dirt. I was filling flower pots; having my hands in the potting soil, along with watching the pots fill up and take up space on the tables in the greenhouse, made me think spring and possibilities and growing and joy. Tiring? Yup! Sore from standing a lot? Yup! Deeply, extremely soul-happy? YUP!

When something is missing from your life, that gap has an impact that can make itself felt both overtly and covertly. You may feel restless and not know why, or you may even get sick and wonder what happened when everything has been generally ok. A few years back, I realized I hadn’t cross stitched for several weeks and I was feeling really, really stitchy. (Ok, fine, that might not have been the word I actually used.) Whether I’m working on a gift for someone else or a project for myself, cross stitching fills a creative and productive need. I set a goal to cross stitch every day at that point, and in the time since 05/20/14 I’ve missed stitching on only 16 days. That’s a pretty good streak, and it makes my soul happy.

It can be your calling, your hobby, your passion; whatever it is that feeds your soul, find a way to do some every day.

Self care and soul care. :) Cheers! It’s good for your health.

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Tea!

Since last week’s #winewellnesswednesday was about coffee, it seems only fair that I give equal time to another of my favorite beverages and talk about the health benefits of tea. If you go looking around about tea as a health food, it’s mostly about green tea. Luckily, I like green tea. :) I highly recommend it! (To be honest, I also like black tea and herbal tea, too, and studies show health benefits from black tea as well as green.)

Improved blood flow. Lower cholesterol. Stable blood sugar. (Granted, these benefits will be easier to realize if you don’t lace your tea with sugar! Try local honey instead.) Relaxation. Hydration. Fighting diabetes. Preventing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Look at all of the wonderful potential benefits of a cup of tea!

Seriously! Look just how virtuous you could be if you drank one cup of tea, be it black or green, every day. “Hey, honey, I just fought heart disease with my cup of jasmine dragon pearl tea. Don’t you want to be just like me???” (Who, me; sassy? Nah.)

One of the other things that I really enjoy about tea is the process and the ritual. In Des Moines, we have a lovely tea shop called Gong Fu. They have a wonderful wall of tea of many types and flavors, and if you can make the time for it, you can participate in a tea ceremony. It’s a very relaxing thing to do, along with having a delicious cup of tea. This morning, after I’d already had my coffee, I decided I wanted a cup of tea. I brewed some budding jasmine tea, and watching it unfurl in the hot water was both fascinating and relaxing.

Do you drink tea? (If you don’t, maybe it’s a good time to start!)

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Is Coffee Good for You?

Is coffee good for you?

I had this thought again today while I was out & about running errands in the snow. (I am SUPER happy to see snow again, by the way, in spite of it being messy and cold. We need the precipitation to have a nice green spring & summer!) All I could think about was I wanted to try an experiment, and make my own homemade version of a café au lait. It worked (decaf, orange chocolate coffee and hot milk), it was delicious, and it was an excellent thing to warm up with after time spent running around in the cold and snow.

Other than as a comforting hot beverage, I wondered if coffee is good for me. So of course I did some research… :)

Coffee might – note I said MIGHT – help prevent type 2 diabetes, counter some of the risk factors for heart attacks or strokes, and decrease the chances of developing Parkinson’s. Caffeine, it must be noted, does increase blood pressure, which is not always helpful, so decaf coffee might be best if you’re trying to drink the 7 or 8 cups per day that one of the studies showed decreased chances of diabetes. (Seven or eight?!)

And, of course, all of those delicious additions to your coffee will probably largely negate the health benefits. So maybe it’s time to skip the triple-shot, non-fat, no-whip, caramel macchiato, and stick to a lovely cup of black coffee. At least on a daily basis, that is! A caramel & coconut breve occasionally is a delightful treat!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Mindful Eating

Mindfulness has become, recently (ish), a big topic in both the world of self care and business. I say “ish” because for some people, it’s been a practice to be mindful for more than just a few years.

There are multiple definitions for mindfulness. For my purposes today, I’ll think of it as the process of paying attention to the present moment, without thinking about what is past, and without worrying about what is next.

At several recent mindfulness gatherings, we discussed the topic of mindful eating. In Thich Nhat Han’s HOW TO EAT, the author brings together multiple tips on paying attention to what we eat, slowing down, savoring the food, and eating without distraction.

When I think of mindful eating, I think about paying attention to the moment, and knowing what I’m eating, and being present with my meal instead of rushing through. And, naturally, in the fast-paced world we live in, that last bit is easier said than done. I started trying to focus on the taste and texture of what I am eating or drinking. (Honestly, it’s quite hard to do that with a sip of coffee!) It is possible, also, to go all the way into considering what went into that bite of food. Where and how was it grown? How did it get to you? Although, in reality, I’m not sure I’d go as far as the PORTLANDIA sketch when the diners wanted to know the name of the chicken they were served for dinner.

I’ve recently started thinking, also, about how I feel when I eat something and how my body reacts. Mostly I think of this in relationship to mass-market junk food, and how the less of it I eat, the worse I feel when I do eat some. So mindful eating can also be paying attention to the impact what we eat has on us. (For example, knowing that after five years, McDonald’s fries have lost their appeal and I don’t like how I felt after I ate them.) I started paying attention to how I felt after eating anything with gluten, and the memory of how that felt helps me stay on a gluten-free path. (Well…that and a really good gluten-free pasta substitute made from black beans. And gluten-free brownies. And drinking lots of water.)

Mindful eating can also relate to mindful cooking. This evening while I made dinner, I thought about who I was cooking for (my husband and myself), where the food came from (and how much I didn’t know about some of my ingredients). At least two of my ingredients are from places I’ve visited, and one (the garlic) is grown by people I know. That was a good feeling to have as I worked on the meal. I thought about how it would taste when we sit down to dinner, and how much I enjoy sharing meals with my husband.

The next time you have a cup of coffee, or scrambled eggs, or a spinach salad, take some time to pay attention to the taste, and texture, and how everything feels. How does mindful eating impact your life?

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Occasional Indulgences

I bought a Coke a few days ago, and then didn’t get around to drinking it until yesterday. It was…just ok. And then it was gone, and I was ok with that too.

Every once in a while, an occasional indulgence in junk food can be fun. It’s just not something I’m planning to add back to my diet on a regular basis.

I have a confession to make. I haven’t eaten what is usually considered American fast food for years, with one exception, until today. Even before I figured out that I needed to give up wheat and I went gluten-free, I’d lost my taste for McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Taco John’s, and so on. The exception is Arby’s, and that’s only because it’s easy to dismantle the sandwiches and not eat the bread. I’m pretty sure that means I need to be better at planning road trip meals, since it’s on road trips that I’m susceptible to just running through the Arby’s drive-up. Years ago my husband and I agreed we’d been eating too much fast food and so we slowly (and then not-so-slowly) cut it out by cutting back to no more than one such meal a week before eliminating it completely.

I had no problem with giving up most of those options, because all I had to do was remind myself how awful I felt after eating them. Recently, though, any time I pass a McDonald’s all I can think about are those fries. I have tried and tried to distract myself from that craving by indulging in different junk food options. I even tried crunching carrots, and while the carrots satisfied the crunch craving, they didn’t do anything for the salt craving or the memory of how the fries taste. Since I’ve managed, mostly, to usually talk myself out of junk food except for recently, in response to the fries craving, I finally decided I’d just get them, eat them, and remind myself how lousy I feel afterwards. (Cravings are a completely different topic!)

Drumroll please…to me, at least, they weren’t as good as I remembered. So now I’m over the craving, and all I have to do is hold on to that memory. 

What is one of your occasional indulgences? What have you tried lately that wasn’t as good as you remembered? What are you completely ok with leaving out of your diet these days?

Cheers! Here’s to your health! :)

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Resting

In January of 2016, I wrote a #winewellnesswednesday post about going unplugged.

This seems to be becoming a trend for me this time of year, as today’s topic is about taking a day of rest.

I really enjoyed reading the article linked in the comments, and it reminded me how important it is not only to be unplugged occasionally, but to deliberately set aside time for resting.

Favorite tidbits from the article, in no particular order:

  • “And long talks prove to be far more effective in building community than short ones on the ride to the mall.”
  • “Just like resting physical muscles allows them opportunity to rejuvenate which leads to greater physical success, providing our minds with rest provides it opportunity to refocus and rejuvenate.”
  • “Concentrated rest allows us to take a step back, to evaluate our lives, to identify our values, and determine if our life is being lived for them.”

Resting doesn’t need to mean sitting on your sofa doing nothing. It means planning for a day of avoiding the hectic nature of the rest of our day-to-day lives. Reading. Maybe going for a walk in the park. Playing a board game with your family. Not reading email. Watching a movie together. Everyone is unique, so everyone can find something that suits him or her. For example, my husband and I chose to focus on being together and staying home, with a mix of being busy and relaxed, during the New Year’s weekend; this let us both regenerate after a hectic five weeks and avoid any NYE craziness. ;)

How do you define rest? What (other than sleep!) do you do in order to rest and recharge?

Cheers! Here’s to your health! :)