Karen Best Wright, B.S., M.A., Holistic Health & Wellness Coach

Springtime Wellness

Springtime can be a time that fills our lives with warmer weather, beautiful colors, and enthusiasm. Spring is a time for outside activities that lift the soul and strengthen our bodies. Walk fifteen to twenty minutes daily, and focus on the first signs of spring, such as the colorful flowers and the blossoming trees, to promote mindfulness and relieve stress. Spring brings the beginning of new life.

Spring can also fill the air with pollen and other allergens that trigger headaches and sinus issues. Allergies can ruin a beautiful spring day. Prepare ahead of time with either natural or medicinal remedies. Do not wait; prepare now.

To help springtime promote wellness, focus on eating fresh vegetables and fruits, staying hydrated with plenty of water, and avoiding heavy, greasy, processed foods. Incorporate clean air into your wellness plan. If the pollen is thick, with your car covered in yellow powder, have your air conditioner set to recycle the inside air, keeping the outside air outside your car. Room air cleaners can help clean the air inside the home. Make sure to change home air conditioner filters as needed.

Springtime brings life, so plant flowers and a small garden if possible. Even a few potted plants by the front door will be inviting. For those with allergies to coveted flowers and plants, wear long sleeves, long pants, and the dreaded face mask to help avoid rashes and sinus complaints. For those with no allergies to nature, enjoy.

What you think about can make or ruin a wonderful spring day. Whether walking or driving, daily notice the beauty of spring. Notice the colors, the variety, and the regular changes in nature. If you only notice the cracks in the roads and the mess of dogs left unattended, you will miss the beauty and feeling of renewal. Enjoy Spring 2023.

Karen Best Wright, B.S., M.A., Holistic Health & Wellness Coach

 Holistic Health & Wellness – Personal Goals for 2023

Every January, millions of Americans make promises to improve themselves - better health, improved organization, more money, better relationships, and more happiness. Most of these individuals will not stick to their resolutions. Why is that? One reason may be that New Year resolutions rarely consider how all six areas of wellness create balance and well-being, which improves the ability to achieve the desired goals.

Goals such as "losing 20 lbs.," quitting smoking," or "obtaining better employment" are worthy goals, but rarely are they accomplished without the influence of all areas of wellness. Holistic wellness includes physical health, emotional health, social health, intellectual health, spiritual health, and environmental health. These six areas of wellness factor into the success of accomplishing any important goal or resolution.

The three examples of losing weight, quitting smoking, or getting a better job are all influenced by physical health, emotional health, social health, and even intellectual well-being.

This process is called holistic health and wellness. All areas work together to create a synergistic well-balanced life. If a person wants to lose weight, she most likely will not thoroughly study all areas of wellness that could affect her success. However, it is possible to recognize the most apparent areas of wellness that will impact progress. In the example of losing weight, one's overall health is likely the first thing a person will consider. Emotional wellness is also vital because emotions often drive people to overeat or eat the wrong foods simply from habit. Social interactions often influence how and what a person eats. Intellectual wellness is also involved, as it allows a person to learn proper nutrition.

No matter which goals a person chooses to improve during 2023, they will all be influenced by other areas of wellness. When writing down goals for the New Year, note all areas that will impact your ability to accomplish these goals. Those who have become discouraged and don't want to make any resolutions could start with something relatively easy. It may be as simple as walking around the block three or four times a week. Whatever your situation, do something.

Karen Best Wright, BS, MA, Holistic Wellness Coach

Do you get stressed when looking for a lost item, knowing you just saw it but now cannot find it? Do you buy things you do not need and then shove them in a cabinet or the back of the closet? Do you keep too many things due to sentimental value? If this feels familiar, it is time to work on the four Rs. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Refuse: This means to stop getting things you do not need. Just because something is on sale or is "cute," does not mean it is necessary. However, that does not mean everything you get has to be necessary, but it does warrant thinking two or three times before adding it to your home or life.

Reduce: This simply means having fewer items of things you do need or want. Everyone needs dishes, but how many dishes? Everyone needs shoes. Again, how many pairs of shoes does one person need? Your space and how organized you are may determine how much stuff is too much.

Reuse: Finding creative ways to reuse items rather than buying everything new can be rewarding. Using cloth bags, rather than plastic, reduces toxic garbage. Buying concentrated dish soap with reusable dispensers reduces waste and saves money.

Recycle: Recycling means making something new out of something old. A creative craftsman can take something completely apart to make something different. However, recycling is often available at the commercial level. Take advantage of local recycling centers.

Simplifying life using the four R's can reduce stress. Reducing stress improves one's well-being. So before purchasing something or receiving someone else's unwanted items, determine if you need them and where you will store them, or else you may just add to more clutter and stress.

Don’t wait until you are sick to get well. What the heck does that mean? It basically means prevention. Many illnesses and diseases are long in coming and may not manifest until the later stages of the illness. We may have an imbalance in the body which leads to an illness.

Take a cold sore for example. The cold sore seems to pop out of nowhere. One minute we don’t feel. The next our lip is tingling, and we soon have a full-blown case of a nasty cold sore on our lip. Stress is often the cause that triggers a cold sore. Why wait until the painful sore appears to treat it? Why not prevent it in the first place? There is a prescription medication for a cold sore, but there are also natural remedies that work just as well for many people. When I feel a cold sore coming on, I immediately reach for my L-Lysine and tea tree oil to keep from having a major break-out. If I know I am going to face something very stressful, such as a trip (even a vacation can be stressful for me), any type of crisis, or even house guests, I can prevent the cold sore outbreak by being proactive with taking the L-Lysine and focusing on relieving the stress of the upcoming event – when possible. This is just one simple example of preventing an illness before it happens.

Many illnesses are silent such as diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and even cancer. They have a process that develops over time. Focusing on eating healthy foods and living a healthy lifestyle with the intention of preventing these diseases gives one a better chance of avoiding them. Prevention is a much better option than treating an existing disease with drugs, that will likely have side effects. If you have lived a healthy lifestyle and still get ill, you have a better chance of overcoming and surviving and maybe even reversing the disease. Maintaining a healthy body is the key to most illnesses.

Self-Empowerment: What does it mean?

It means being the person you want to be
and following the path you want to follow.

Self-empowerment is not about what you do.

Self-empowerment is about who you are.

When you feel helpless in your circumstances, you are not self-empowered. When you are dependent on others to make decisions for you and provide for your every need, you are not self-empowered.

Five Toxic Words NOT to Say

Should – Ought to – Need to - Have to - Must

These five words can be toxic, in that they do not create a sense of self-empowerment; rather they can produce feelings of guilt, resentment, and hopelessness.

Three ways to empower yourself

1. Be aware and pay attention to the words you say. Are you saying any toxic words to yourself or others?

2. When you catch yourself saying a toxic word, mentally throw the word into a fire and let it burn to ashes. Do this every time you hear yourself utter a toxic word.

3. Purposely and with awareness use the words could, choose, and want.

When you are aware that your behavior or circumstances are harmful to you or someone else, using these toxic words may or may not motivate you to change your behavior or circumstances. The goal is to change your behavior by becoming self-empowered and changing your situation from the inside out, not by being forced to by outside influences. When you let others have control over your emotions and actions, you give them your power.

Choose for yourself carefully. For example, if your current situation warrants a major change, telling yourself you should, ought to, need to, have to, or must do this or that, will likely cause you anxiety and produce little change. Instead, after considering all options for your current situation, write down the following:

1. Things you could do;

2. Things you choose to do;

3. Things you want to do, and

4. Things you will do.

By doing this you are becoming more self-empowered and developing the ability to create what you want to create in your life. Sometimes, however, you may want something; but you are not willing to choose the course of action to achieve your desire, but at least you are taking responsibility for your situation. The act of taking personal responsibility for yourself promotes personal growth, which is itself a sense of self-empowerment.

Energy Healing, What is it?

Energy medicine is identified by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in the United States as one of five natural healing modalities. However, theories and approaches vary among practitioners. More mainstream medical specialists are giving credence to various forms of energy healing. This is a modality that needs to be researched and experienced by individuals in order to make the decision if it is a viable route of healing for them

No ethical energy healer would recommend ignoring medical advice and treatment when it is necessary. Energy healing is most often used as a complementary approach to healing, rather than as an alternative to medical care.

My First Experience with Healing

When I was about 27 years old and a mother of six young children, I had a kitchen fire that severely burned my foot. I was in the hospital for about ten days with a dangerous infection. I spent several months in pain with an itchy ugly thick scar covering the entire top of my right foot. A friend told me about her sister who was learning foot reflexology. I had never heard of foot reflexology, but as she was just learning it, she agreed to come to my home for a very small fee to practice on my feet.

She had to be extremely careful with my right foot since the top was still very tender and covered with a scar that was about an inch thick. After massaging my feet using the traditional Chinese technique for foot reflexology, she put her hands around my feet (without touching them) and proceeded to do something I had never experienced. She just held her hands circled around each foot. The foot with the recovering burn on it began to feel like someone was pulling on it, even though she was not touching it at all. The pulling feeling was so strong that my foot actually arched and pointed, reaching towards her. After finishing the session, I looked at my foot. I could hardly believe what I saw. I looked at her, looked at my foot again, and then said, "Do you see what I see?" She said, "Yes, I don't know what to think." Remember, she was a student and just learning about this herself. To simply explain what I saw, the thick ugly scar tissue was thin. The scar was still a bit discolored, but the thickness had actually disappeared right before my eyes.

Now being the scientific thinker that I am, I did not believe anything magical had happened. Whatever she had done,  divine energy, or God had done through her, had simply made the liquid in the scar dissipate back into my system. The amazing thing was that it never became thick again. The only time you can tell that my foot was burned is if I have been barefoot in the sun and I get a tan. The scarred part of the skin does not tan.

That was only the beginning of my learning about natural healing. I personally have had some amazing unexpected experiences. However, I am not claiming that it works for all situations and for all people.

On a very personal note, I attribute all healing to divine power, and my personal goal is to merely be a helper to assist in the healing process.

By Karen Best Wright

Published in Albemarle Tradewinds

AlbemarleTradewinds.com

What do you think of when you hear the term "holistic health & wellness?" Do you have a clue? Do you think of alternative medical care or alternative healing techniques? That may or may not be part of a holistic health & wellness program or holistic lifestyle.

The word "holistic" originates from the Greek word "holos," meaning whole, complete, or entire. Using this definition, holistic health refers to a person's “complete” health that includes six areas: physical, emotional, social, mental/intellectual, spiritual, and environmental health. Holistic health is an all-encompassing approach to health.

What do you think of when you hear the word "wellness?" Wellness focuses on the positive aspects of health, not illnesses. It focuses on prevention and creating positive outcomes in all six areas of life.

The first thing that often comes to mind regarding health or wellness is “physical” wellness or illness. However, that is only one component of one’s well-being. All six areas of wellness (physical, emotional, social, mental/intellectual, spiritual, and environmental) interact together. They create either a balanced, productive, and satisfying life or an unbalanced life resulting in stress, unhappiness, and even illness.

The key to creating a healthy holistic lifestyle is first to remember the six areas of wellness. Write them down through journaling or put the list on your refrigerator or mirror. These six areas are best committed to memory to ensure personal progress.

Second, examine any habits, problems, and even desires or goals you may have. Decide which wellness category matches these actions and thoughts. And finally, stay positive. Focus on your strengths to help overcome any weaknesses.

This approach to wellness can benefit children, teens, individual adults, couples, and families. Watch for future articles covering in-depth information on each area of wellness.