Follow these Steps below to get an instant boost!

Step 1: Make a complete list of everything that is running around in your head taunting you with, “you’ll never get to me, you’ll never get to me.”

You know, things like that plant that needs repotting, or the thank you note that should have been written weeks ago, or that pile of papers that must be filed before something gets lost.

Now at least it is on paper and out of your head!

Step 2: Apply the Bag, Barter, Better It plan (from Martha Beck’s book, The Joy Diet) to each item.

Bag It—simply cross off anything that in the grand scheme of things is unimportant.

Barter It—find someone to do it for you.

Better It—do the task ASAP and reward yourself during or after for getting it done.

Here’s the plan in action. Bag repotting the plant because if it needs replanting it is obviously growing and thriving just fine in its current pot. Barter the filing or pay your son to do it during his free time over the Thanksgiving holiday. Better the writing of the thank you note by doing it while enjoying your favorite cup of tea, listening to your favorite song, sitting in your favorite chair and writing on your favorite and most beautiful stationary.

Step 3: Take a deep breath and enjoy the surge of energy you feel because you just tackled at least 3 things on your list.

Step 4: Keep a notebook with you and when more To Dos pop into your mind, write them down. Again this keeps them from taking up your mental space and clear mental space always equals more energy.

Still have questions about how to boost your energy sans caffeine? Ask away. Leave a comment or question below…

This youtube video was sent to me recently by a friend. Just had to share it because it poetically expresses the way I feel as I approach an empty nest. Katrina Kenison sure got it right with this one. Brilliant writing.

Enjoy,

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Yesterday, my neighbor dropped dead of a heart attack. He was not an old man or a sick man, but rather a middle aged, vibrant man that I had just seen the day before walking around the block, then stopping in front of my house to pick up his mail. At 7:00 PM last evening, he was fine. At 7:05, he was gone. That fast.

We all know death comes in an instant, but seeing it happen before your eyes, drives the point home in a new way. I’ll never forget the image of his lifeless body being wheeled out on the stretcher, while his wife sat in the front seat of the ambulance—waiting.

He and I have had but a few interactions over the years and most revolved around his distain for an eyesore of a bike park that my son built in the backyard. In fact my neighbor’s last words to me, delivered in my living room, were something to the effect of “I don’t think I’ll be able to speak to you or wave to you, if I have to look at ‘that thing’ for the next three years.” That was two years ago.

Why three years? Because my son was 16 at the time of the offensive construction project and I promised the neighbors that it would be removed once my son went away to college.

For obvious reasons I am so sad that my neighbor is gone, and I’m sad he didn’t live to see the removal of the structure that upset him so. But I also wonder, if he had known then, what I know now, would it all have mattered so much?

That question keeps ringing in my ear. You see just last week, I spent way too much time in an upset and angry mood about just about everything. Happens to me sometimes and I’ve come up with a mantra for the feeling…”I’m pissed off about nothing in particular and everything in general.” But unwittingly my neighbor has provided me with a wake up call, which I now share with you.

Death comes in an instant, make sure all the moments before are good ones.

After all, most of the things we spend our time fretting about, don’t really matter, do they?

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Santa is not the only one who needs to make a list and check it twice. That is something I am currently doing myself. And it’s not in relation to buying Christmas gifts. This year, as I have been involved in taking my business to the next level, I have arrived at a place I’m not sure I wanted to be…The Land of Overwhelm. I’m one of those people who LOVES most ideas in the moment I hear them and signs up immediately, only to wake up the next day asking, “What was I thinking?”

Have you had this experience? Do you say yes to too many things at once and then curse all the project details as you run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off trying to actually accomplish all the items you’ve stuffed onto your To Do list?

Maybe I’m the only one with this habit, but I think probably not. So here’s what I’m doing to remedy my current state of overscheduled delirium. I’m getting quiet—really quiet. I’m getting back to the practice of taking a DEEP breath, tuning into my body and getting my answers from my inner guidance system, rather than from my head, which seems to have no off switch lately!

It may seem counter intuitive to stop doing just when you have many more things to do, but that is precisely the point. When doing stops working, it is time to BE. Actually it is always most helpful to BE first, then you won’t get into a state of over-DOING.

So join me, won’t you?

Stop, breathe, and make a new list. This time only include the items that are in alignment with your body’s wisdom, which takes cues directly from your soul. As one of my mentors, Life Coach Michelle Woodward told me yesterday, give To Do list items the 24-hour test. When you hear the “next big idea,” put off deciding about it for 24-hours.

Giving yourself a break between hearing and committing, allows time to check in with your body compass.

When you check with your body, does the idea of saying yes to this or that project feel burdensome or freeing? Let that be your guide. From that centeredness, everything will fall into place, EXACTLY as is best.

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What are you thankful for? How many times have you heard that question and heard people tell of the wonders of keeping a gratitude journal? I agree this is a wonderful and transformative practice, but I’d like to see you (and me) take it up a notch.

It can be easy to rattle off 10 things you’re grateful for and after all, “Tis the Season.” With next week ushering in the big day, I thought I’d encourage you to take it a step further (maybe deeper is a better descriptive).

During this season of Thanksgiving, instead of making a simple list or stating a few platitudes, “I’m so grateful for blah, blah, blah,” why not express that gratitude from the deeper core of you?

How, you ask? Well it all starts with getting in touch with the feeling.

Start right now. Close your eyes (unless you’re driving, of course, or otherwise operating heavy machinery) and call up a memory of an event, person or place that floods you with the feeling of gratitude. Maybe you’ll be transported back to a sunset from your beach vacation, to the birth of a healthy child, to the day you got a test result that came back negative, or to the soft touch of your loved ones hand on your face. Revel in the deliciousness of how overpowering it is to feel truly grateful for these moments in your life.

Let it fill your heart, mind, body and soul, as you drink in every last detail of this emotion.

Now opening your eyes, carry that feeling with you throughout the day, and through the rest of this week, and into the next. And out of that feeling, take action.

What action? The simple act of expression.

Before you say thanks off handedly to the waitperson that tops off your coffee, or the cashier who rings you out at the grocery store, transport yourself back to that memory from the exercise above and bring up that deep feeling of gratefulness. Then from that place, express your thanks. The power of your words and the feeling shared with the other person from this energy place will be much greater. And each time you call up that energy of gratitude, you’ll take the simple act of saying thank you to a whole new level, not only for someone else, but also for yourself.

And from that place I’d like to close with a sincere thank you to you for reading, commenting and sharing these posts with others. May your hearts be filled with gratitude and love during this season of Thanksgiving.

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I know many of you are way too young to remember where that slogan came from, but that is neither here nor there. I bring it up because recently, a friend from childhood said it to me (minus the “Baby” part) in reference to how much I have changed, from the girl I used to be growing up in the rural South.

Don’t misunderstand; there’s nothing wrong with growing up in the rural South. In fact, I have many fine memories of childhood there. But it has been the mission of my adult life to expand, to learn, and to grow beyond the boundaries of my youth.

Every childhood, no matter how privileged or impoverished, has its confines. All of us are taught a set of beliefs or behaviors that we live by and all too often never question. One of my favorite quotes is by Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” And this, I truly believe.

How can you know who you really are, or set about creating a life you love, if you never examine the box that your early experiences (substitute your corporate culture, your social standing, your friends and neighbors, your spouse) built for you?

So in reflecting on this comment made by my friend from the past, I was delighted. There are many ways to take such a statement, but I took it as a very high compliment, an achievement to be proud of, and a true measure of success.

So I’m curious to know, how about you?

How have you changed from the person you were in childhood, 10 years ago, last month? Are you more loving, less jealous of the accomplishments of your friends, in better health, gentler toward yourself and others, more well read, less stingy, more grounded, less judgmental, better able to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes?

Or are you stuck in the same old habits of thought that keep you playing small?

Open up your life to all that is possible for you. Step out of your box and bring forth the gifts only you can share.

The world is waiting.

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Growing up as the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister, I learned early on the meaning of the phrase, “Don’t talk back!” Well, maybe not as early on as my dad would have liked, but after hearing it for the umpteenth time it did finally sink in…a little. And now that I have a child of my own, I have had several full circle moments of hearing myself utter those very same words. Words that, of course, I swore I’d never say.

But you’re not my teenager and I’m not your parent, so that changes the dynamic quite a bit.

In the relationship I have with you, my blog reader, I very much want to hear a little back talk—make that feedback, so here’s what I’m asking for today.

Let me hear from you. Tell me about your greatest concern or biggest question when it comes to your own personal level of wellness.

How are you…really?

• Are you doing great physically, but struggling to find meaning in your life?
• Is your body acting strangely, but refusing your best efforts to heal it?
• Do you constantly doubt your abilities while watching your friends succeed all around you?
• How well are you coping with the chicken-little-sky-is-falling fears that creep in every time you watch the evening news?

As a Life Coach it’s my job to help, to guide, to teach effective tools that you can put into your tool belt and pull out when needed to make any necessary repairs in your daily life. But how can I help, if I don’t really know you’re struggles?

So please, tell me. What are the pressing wellness questions on your mind?

And one last thing…thanks for sharing. I mean it.

P.S. If you prefer to share privately, send an e-mail to yvette@y-wellness.com

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Welcome and so glad you’ve joined me on this journey toward holistic wellness.
I look forward to sharing ideas with you to help you bring greater balance, energy, peace, joy and health into your life. So here we go…

photo: justinmarantz.com

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