After surgery or finding out you have heart disease, you may wake up one morning and say to yourself, “Enough already. I can’t take this anymore.” At this point, you may finally decide that it’s time to take matters into your own hands and DO SOMETHING to improve your life.That SOMETHING may take various forms. You might decide to walk every day; ride your bicycle; eat differently; meditate; or engage in other stress reducing activities such as Qi-gong, Tai-Chi, or yoga. Whatever that SOMETHING is, you have to establish a daily practice if you really want the change to be permanent.You can’t say to yourself, “Okay, I’m going on a diet until I reach 140 pounds.” If your eating habits have including high fat, high sugar or salt, and low fiber foods, you can hope that dieting until you reach a certain weight will solve all your problems - and they may in the short run when you’re eating more fruits and vegetables, and less french fries and burgers. But in the long run, you’ll need to change your thinking about what you’re putting into your mouth. You need to relearn healthy eating habits.The same hold true for stress reduction. You can’t say, “Okay, I’m going to attend yoga class twice a week.” Again, twice a week is better than nothing, but when you get out of your yoga class, stop for a minute and really feel your body. Is it relaxed, less stressed? How soon after your class does it take for you to get angry and tense? Do you feel the cortisol and adrenaline coursing through your veins the moment you walk into the front door of your home and your children are fighting and the television is blaring?I attended yoga classes twice a week six months before I had a heart attack - six months before I even had a clue that I had heart disease. Yes, I felt relaxed and less stressed after my classes, but I couldn’t sustain that peace and calm for long. Maybe I’d get a good night’s sleep after an evening yoga class, but the next morning, all the external pressures of my life seemed to close in on me and I’d be drowning in an overwhelming sensation of fear and anxiety.Once I began my Lifestyle Change Program, I felt better, but the twelve-week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 3 hour ritual still wasn’t enough for me to sustain a peaceful existence. During my rehab, I supplemented my program by changing what I did outside of rehab. Here are just a few of the additional things I did: read spiritual books; attended 2-3 additional yoga classes a week; stopped eating beef and pork; ate more fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish; walked around the neighborhood; journaled my thoughts; practiced calming visualizations; meditated every night before bed; and listened to calming music. I supplemented my rehab by doing several of these activities each and every day.I’ve read that it takes time to establish a change in your life, and I’ll be the first to admit I was changing several aspects of my life at the same time. After the twelve week rehab program, there was a short period of time that I felt a void in my life. For three months I’d been spending about twelve hours a week, including travel time, with a group of other like-minded individuals. Now, I was on my own. This was the test to see if I could sustain the changes I’d worked so hard to establish.I did manage to stay on my new path, but I had to make a few more minor adjustments in my daily schedule. I began attending Women Heart support group meetings. This allowed me the opportunity to stay connected with women who were managing their life without the support of a rehab program. I arranged to meet with some of the new friends I’d met during my rehab program. A group of us now meets for a potluck dinner once a month. It’s the perfect way to exchange new healthy recipes and catch up with everyone. In addition to surrounding myself with others who have heart disease, my life also started taking other directions. I renewed my interest in creating stained glass, and I intensified my yoga by developing a daily home practice.What does a daily home practice look like? It can be simple or complex, depending on the amount of time you have. I started my home practice by setting aside thirty minutes each morning, as soon as I wake up – before my shower, before my husband wakes up. This is a very quiet time in the house. I spend about fifteen minutes repeating a mantra and saying a prayer of gratitude for all that I have in my life. I found that focusing on the positive rather than negative aspects of my life made me happier. Then I spend about fifteen minutes in both static and flowing yoga poses. This helps stretch, lengthen and twist my spine so that I can move about my day without back pain. I keep it simple. If I set a goal to do much more than that, I’d get discouraged as soon as I’d miss a day of practice.So if you are looking to make a permanent change in your lifestyle, whatever that change might be, consider developing a daily practice. Embrace the change with your heart. Stick with it. Don’t give up. It may not happen as quickly as you’d like, but with perseverance, fortitude and faith in yourself, it will happen.What would you like to change in your life? Write it down and start today.

Posted: July 16th, 2007 under exercise, healthy eating, yoga.
Comments: none

I read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell some time ago, but his message still resonates with me. The premise of the book is that little changes can produce big effects once it reaches a certain point.I can relate to The Tipping Point when it comes to sliding back into my old habit of doing too much. Before my heart attack, I would fill my day with work, family responsibilities, and lots of other things. I know I’m not alone in doing too much. Otherwise, Anne Wilson Schaef’s book Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much, and dozens of other books on addictive behaviors wouldn’t be so popular. I’ve spent the last year, changing my lifestyle to reduce my stress and to find peace. I think I’ve been pretty successful, but there are times that I wonder.What is the tipping point of doing too much? The point where we lose track of our new way of living and slide back into our old habits. Is it when we schedule so much in our day that we couldn’t possibly complete everything in a 24 hour period? Is it when we wake up early to exercise and try to exist on less sleep than we need? Or maybe it’s when we try to juggle other family responsibilities and push taking care of ourselves down to the bottom of the to do list?I know that there is a point in everyone’s life that puts him or her over the edge. Is it when your partner asks you to take the car in for service because he has an early morning meeting and the rattle under the hood is getting worse? Is it when you’ve finished your own errands and you finally have fifteen minutes of quiet time for a cup of tea and the doctor calls you to discuss the results of your recent tests? Stress is a part of our lives. Some of it can be good stress to help motivate you to get things done during the day, but the bad stress is what we need to watch. When we move away from being centered and peaceful, that’s when we need to pull ourselves back from the brink of no return.But in a society that prides itself on getting things done, how is one person going to make a difference? That’s where we go back to The Tipping Point. When we start behaving differently, then those around us start changing too. Can we actually cause our society to slow down?I’ve noticed some interesting changes in my own life. Once I started following a mostly vegetarian diet, exercising, and practicing yoga, I noticed my husband and friends doing the same.But even when we focus on a healthier lifestyle, we can still fall back into the old pattern of doing too much. Here’s a good example: I’ve slowed down the pace of my life by spending more time at home reading, writing and creating stained glass. The phone rings. A friend asks me to meet her for coffee. I agree because I haven’t seen her in a while and it would be nice to catch up. At least I’m sitting down. I get home, put my feet up, and get another call, this time from another friend who wants to go for a walk. I think, well I need to exercise, so I agree to meet her instead of listening to my body. I overdo the exercise and start gasping for breath up the hill. Pain starts radiating down my arm and into my chest. I’m back in the emergency room.The key to not doing too much is finding the right balance. The right amount of activities and the right amount of rest. And, there is only one way to find balance. Be aware of every moment of the day. Be present to what is happening. Know when to say no. Only then can we accomplish what we need to do in life without reaching the tipping point of doing too much.Have you reached your tipping point today?

Posted: July 9th, 2007 under healthy eating, heart disease, present moment.
Comments: 2

Have you ever thought about the habits in your life? Each of us have a number of habits – some bad, some good - that we do each day. We might have a habit of smoking or eating junk food. We might swear when something goes wrong or blame others for problems in our life.I was thinking about the habits I have in my life and how they have changed since my heart attack. Some of them are simple, like thinking kindly of others, while others are more dramatic. It’s becoming aware of our current habits, committing to change, and sustaining those new practices that brings us to a better place in our lives. Here are some examples of how I transformed some of my bad habits into a more peaceful life.I remember getting together with my friends and spending the entire time complaining about all our problems. My mother is driving me crazy, my husband doesn’t understand me, the toilet overflowed today and made such a mess I had to call the plumber who charged me $200. On and on we complained, until we exhausted one another. It’s the little problems each day that pile on our stress until we just can’t take it anymore. When I used to reach that point, I would start yelling at everyone, then I’d slam the door to my bedroom and cry or sulk for awhile until I managed to get my emotions under control.Now, if I have a problem that I truly don’t know how to fix, I might ask a friend for some advice, but I try to focus on the positive aspects of my life instead of the negative. I try to accept the people in my life as they are instead of wishing they were different or trying to change their behaviors. I try to take a step back from a problem and see if the solution lies within my control. If it is, then I come up with possible solutions. If the problem is beyond my control, I try to remain calm, accept the situation, and deal with it as best I can.Eating habits can be a real challenge. I used to snack a lot, mostly in the evenings. My favorites were chocolate, ice cream, and cookies, but the snacking didn’t stop with sweets. I’d munch on potato chips, corn chips, popcorn, and salty nuts too. I didn’t entirely break the nighttime snacking habit. I genuinely get the munchies before bed. But now I eat healthier food like a small bowl of cheerios or a warm glass of milk. Did I cut out all the fatty and salty foods from my diet? To be honest, I’ll occasionally have a scoop of ice cream or a small piece of chocolate, but I found that I was able to train my taste buds to enjoy less fattening and less salty foods. It wasn’t easy, but it was doable. Now, I don’t miss the junk food.Exercise is another challenge many of us face. It is much easier to come up with an excuse about why we didn’t exercise than to actually get out there and walk, jog, or bike. I used to complain about being too tired to exercise. I never wanted to exercise by myself, so I’d blame my lack of exercise on other people: My husband didn’t have time to walk with me or my friend called to cancel our walk.Now, I do my exercise first thing in the morning. Sometimes my friends or husband join me, but if they don’t, I do it anyway. By exercising first thing in the morning, I can go about my day and not feel guilty about not doing what’s best to keep my heart and body strong.Spirituality. I always equated spirituality with religion, but I’ve come to realize they are two different things. If you follow a particular religion, you have a set of rules to follow. Religion always conjures up for me good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. I gave up practicing any formal religion when I was in my twenties. I grew up Catholic, but when my first marriage failed, the church seemed to fail me too.Spirituality, on the other hand, is an inner knowing. It’s a quality that every human possesses that connects the mind, body, & spirit. For me, spirituality is following my heart in whatever I do. It’s living my life with meaning and purpose, and being grateful for everything in my life.Have you taken a look at your own habits? The secret to changing your lifestyle is making small changes. Don’t look at your life and say, there are too many things I need to change. This will only get your frustrated. Think about just one habit you’d like to change, then take small steps each day to transform a bad habit into a good habit. Write down what you’d like to change. Put the paper some place where you see it every day. It takes time. It’s not easy. But, with an awareness and daily commitment, you can do it.Are you ready to make a change in your life?

Posted: July 7th, 2007 under exercise, healthy eating, present moment, yoga.
Comments: none

Many people with heart disease do. You don’t need a major illness to have a sleeping problem. The drug companies know this and are making millions on American’s these days.Why?Because we live in a society that prides itself on accomplishments. We tend to live in a constant state of stress. We strive to work harder and fit more into our days. Women, especially tend to get less sleep. We’ve taken on multiple roles in the family: wife, mother, bread winner, and more. We chauffeur our children around to their over scheduled activities, rush home to make dinner, wash the dishes, do the laundry, clean the bathrooms, tidy the house – all before going to bed.Whew. I felt the adrenaline blast through my system just writing that sentence.If you are one of these people and you find yourself wide awake, tossing and turning in bed for an hour or more, what do you do? You roll over for the umpteenth time. The clock reminds you the alarm will ring at six a.m., so you drag yourself to the medicine cabinet and swallow one of the dozens of over-the-counter or prescription medications for sleep. You do this day after day until you’re walking around like a zombie, sleep deprived, cranky, and dangerous behind the wheel of a car.After my heart attack, I tossed and turned a lot. In addition to my everyday stress, my mind would filled with worry. Would I have more artery spasms in the middle of the night? Would I end up in Urgent Care strapped to a heart monitor with medical professionals hovering around me, drawing blood, and ordering EKGs.I’m always been very cautious when it comes to taking medication. I like to look around for alternative, more natural solutions – especially when it comes to my sleep. So, here’s a recipe I received during a workshop on Ayurveda. (For those unfamiliar with the term, Ayurveda is a science of healing that was used in India thousands of years ago and is still used today. There is a lot of overlap between Ayurveda and yoga, but that is a topic for another day.) Before I give you the recipe, I have to say that Indian food and spices were never high on my list of nourishment in the past, but after being coaxed by my husband to try a few dishes, I’ve become quite an enthusiast.Ojas Rasayana (my translation: warm milk with spices to calm the mind and sleep.)Ingredients:1 – 1 1/2 cups milkghee (clarified butter) to taste1 Tbs. crushed almonds2 whole dates (mashed-remove pits first)Shake in the following spices to taste:cardamomcrushed black peppercornscumintumericI’ve modified the recipe slightly for myself: I use vanilla soy milk (It doesn’t upset my stomach) instead of cow’s milk and skip the ghee (I’ve cut all butter from my diet).Pour milk into a small pot. Put in the rest of the ingredients and heat milk until it starts to boil. Transfer the milk mixture to a blender and mix thoroughly before drinking. The milk is warm and foamy, just like the lattes at Starbucks. Yum.Happy sleeping everyone.

Posted: June 23rd, 2007 under healthy eating, recipes.
Comments: none