Upbeat Living: A Real Day Off

Tags

A real day off, DHEA, energy, Kebba Buckley Button, let go, stress, Take a break, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved. http://www.kebba.com

If you feel stressed and tired, and you can’t remember the last time you didn’t feel that way, maybe you need a real day off.  In my natural healing practice, I often work with clients whose stress is unceasing.  Couple that with the heavy world news and the overburden of politichatter—the inevitable election cycle events and conversation—whatever family issues you have, any career decisions on the horizon, and the electrochemistry and noise of the urban environment… well, maybe you need to take a break!

Maybe you’re thinking, no way!  The cost, the time off work, the yard growing out of control and ruining my neighborhood reputation… A two-week vacation was a standard, decades ago.  Then professionals decided those caused more stress than they cured.  So people shifted to taking long weekends.  This trend was so strong that the Federal Government moved most of the federal holidays to Mondays.  That Monday Holiday Law, passed in 1968, was meant to “bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation.”  Wow!

But then everyone was driving out of town at the end of the week and returning Monday night.  More stress.  Now many are discovering the joys of midweek 2-day timeouts or even a single midweek overnight-plus-one-day timeout.  The key is to really take a break, a genuinely refreshing change day. Or two.  Just 24 hours can give you a re-set.  And you need it!

Your thoughts and attitude can get stale without change.  Your brain can actually get channels worn in it, from reviewing the same worries all the time. So change your channel, change your scene. Find a place to go to where there is a low level of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF); possibly a cabin or bed and breakfast in a small town.  Use your computer as little as possible.  This will refresh your nervous system.  Pick a place with natural beauty where you would be very tempted to go walking.  This will repump your DHEA, the master hormone.  If you can go to a beach, that’s the highest natural-energy environment, and you will absorb a lot of energy there.  Turn off your phone and don’t think about your usual concerns.  When you think of something that you ought to do, put it on a list in the Memo section of your phone; then forget it until you’re back at your desk.  Let go of all the Usual.

Eat dark green leafy salad and have very little sugar.  This will bring your vital life force energy up very fast.  Try to get berries for breakfast.  Those will raise your antioxidant levels quickly and refresh your attitudes. Move around.  Do yoga in your room or go for walks.  Go swimming, if you have found a place with a beach or pool.  A business owner I knew used to go to a small motel in Yuma, Arizona, where no one would recognize her.  It was inexpensive, there was no traffic noise, and no one could call her.  She ate produce (her business ), walked and swam and closed out all business thoughts for 2 days at a time.  She said it was like Heaven, a real day off and then another.  She totally relaxed.

Come up with your own formula.  Give yourself the elements you need to have a real day off, to really take a break.  Savor every moment.  Then let me know what worked for you.  And that’s Upbeat Living^sm!

 ——————————————–

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and award-winning author.  She also is an ordained minister and has a natural healing practice. Among her books are:Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br),and Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  That book and Peace Within are available through her office.  Just email books@kebba.com or call the office at 480-250-1177.
• For an appointment or to book Rev. Kebba to speak for your group, email calendar@kebba.com

Upbeat Living: 8 Easy Steps to Clear the Energy of Your Home or Office

Tags

Clear the energy of your home, Effective living, Energy of your home, Feeling energized, Feng Shui, Kebba Buckley Button, peace within, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.  

In Upbeat Living^sm, we want our lifestyle to be energized and joyful.  To feel our best, we should regularly check on and tune up the energy of our spaces.  So today’s topic is the energy of your home or office.  By now, you’ve probably heard of the idea of Feng Shui, the art of placing objects in your home, office, or other space, to optimize the energy in the space and in your life.  Maybe you’ve even dabbled in adding certain colors or objects to your space.  If so, you already believe in subtle energy fields, the circulating energy patterns that you can’t see.

But you don’t need to understand the complex details of the discipline of Feng Shui, to clear or otherwise adjust your home or office energy.  Especially if you are feeling stuck in any way, there are quick and simple things you can do to raise the energy, the feeling, of your space. At this writing, we are at the end of Summer and almost at the beginning of Fall.  This is a natural time of transition and evaluation. The other natural time of home energy transition is in the Spring, when people launch into Spring cleaning.  That is at time when people in cold areas open their doors and windows for the first time in months.  They “air out” their homes, and they clean and freshen all the surfaces and contents.  Perhaps they take a fresh look at what they own and what they would like to donate or replace.  Perhaps they add some bright seasonal décor. In hot areas like Phoenix, this naturally happens at the end of Summer.

When outside temperatures finally descend to below 80 degrees, people may suddenly open their front doors and find the air is cooler outside than inside—a pleasant, refreshing shock.  At that point, the home or office energy has been stale for a half year, and it’s time for a re-set.  Junk energy has been accumulating all during the closed-window season.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said,

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.

Shadow energy builds up when we don’t air out or tune up our space.  Now that the weather is mild, all the energy of stress, illness, fatigue, and discouragement can be aired out and cleansed away.  This is simple. It can take about 10 minutes of your time, plus an hour to continue letting the space air out!  Just follow these 8 easy steps.

1. Set your intention to clear and lighten up the energy of your space.
2. Open all the doors and windows. Leave the screen doors closed.
3. Light an incense stick or sage bundle. You’ll carry it around over a pan that catches the ash.  Any incense will do, coupled with your intention.  My favorite is Nag Champa.
4. Declare your intention and/or say a prayer. Try this traditional one, or write your own: “Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this dwelling, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy.  Let Thy holy Angels dwell herein, to preserve us in peace. And let Thy blessing be upon us forever.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.”
5. Go around your space repeating phrases about release, such as: “I bless and release all tired, ill, old, or stale energy.  I bless and release all pain, all emotional sludge, all discouragement, all stuck/ness, all unclarity, all brain fog, all distraction, and all outdated ideas of life and who I should be”.  Picture stale energy leaving through the open windows and doors.
6. Go around again, still holding the pan with burning incense or sage, and repeat phrases like this: “I refill this space with new, fresh, upbeat, encouraged, optimistic, can-do energy.  I declare this to be a space filled with radiance and wellness, vitality, fresh ideas, easy concentration, right action, inspiration, and best relationships.  I declare that this space draws the ideal friends, (clients, if applicable,) loved ones, energy, and income.  This is a place of peace, joy, and balance!”
7. Thank God/the Universe/Jesus/the Angels. According to your belief system, express great gratitude that these things are so.
8. Give the space an hour to air out, or more if climate and schedule permit.

Now simply repeat as desired.  You’ll notice the space feels lighter, and everything you do is easier.  And that’s Upbeat  Living!

——————————————–

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and award-winning author.  She also is an ordained minister and has a natural healing practice. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br),and Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com.  
• For an appointment or to book Rev. Kebba to speak for your group, email calendar@kebba.com

 

Upbeat Living: Lighten Up With Forgiveness

Tags

Feeling energized, Forgiveness, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

In Upbeat Living^sm, we take the heaviness out of life and accentuate ways to move forward with a light heart.  That gives us the most energy, optimism, and vitality, for living the life we want.  The secret?  The top tool for lightening up is forgiveness.

Why forgive?  Think of the people who deliberately hurt you.  Feel your body tighten up?  Now think of the people who ripped you off or treated you unfairly, from whatever period of your life.  Feel yourself becoming tight and dense, even heavy?  Now think of your ex or of people you dated who behaved outrageously.  Perhaps they embarrassed you, were mean or unfair.  Got the picture?  Holding onto hurt feels bad!  And the more committed you are to holding onto hurt and resentment, the more deeply that will embody and turn into illness and other physical ills.

So the reason to forgive is to release those feelings—for yourself!  Yes, YOU are the reason to forgive.   An old expression says, “Forgive and forget!”  But that’s half the picture.  It’s important not to forget that some people are dedicated takers and some are dedicated to hurting whoever they can.   However, while forgiveness doesn’t change the past, it changes the future!

Do your best now to remember the facts but release the feelings. You deserve to live the best life you can.  Lighten up with forgiveness! And now you’re in Upbeat Living.

———————————————————–

• If you enjoy this post, please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column! You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma! Due to a recent FB change, our “likes” look low.  Thanks for your help!

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

Upbeat Living: Chocolate for Your Health!

Tags

chocolate, Dark chocolate, Feeling energized, Health, Kebba Buckley Button, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved. In Upbeat Living^sm, we emphasize the positive in all possible ways; today, we celebrate the health benefits of chocolate!  Yes, it’s true.  When you think of chocolate, you can think of it—dark chocolate, anyway—as a health food.  Remember, the Inca Indians discovered it and drank it hot, without sweetening, hundreds of years ago.

A number of medical studies have shown that modern people can use it for health.  Without being too technical, here are some of the great ways dark chocolate serves the body:

• Provides antioxidant power, which fights free radicals, thus reducing risk of heart disease. Note that milk may interfere with the absorption of the antioxidants.
• Lowers mild high blood pressure.
• Is associated with drastically lower occurrence of major diseases, when consumed as natural hot cocoa. These diseases include: stroke, heart failure, cancer, and diabetes.  Natural cocoa has a very high level of epicatchin, a type of antioxidant that some believe should be classified as a vitamin.  Epicatachin is also found in some teas, wine, and some fruits and vegetables.
• Can strengthen tissue and help build muscle, due to the epicatachin.

You people who love white chocolate or milk chocolate can keep eating it as a treat.  Dark chocolate lovers, this is your time!  Snack on dark chocolate bars and put dark chocolate chips in those cookies.  Stir natural cocoa powder into your smoothies, and make your own low-fat snack bars.  Enjoy your increased vitality!  Are you feeling energized now?  That feeling is part of  Upbeat Living!

———————————————————–

• If you enjoy this post, please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column! You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma! Due to a recent FB change, our “likes” look low.  Thanks for your help!

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

 

Upbeat Living: Worry Less About Your Health

Tags

DHEA, Feeling energized, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, The life you want, UpBeat Living, worry, worry stress

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

With the virtual tsunami of health advice splashing into our email, magazines, and TV news, people have started feeling overwhelmed by information and advice:  even as a holistic stress/energy expert, I say, “Worry less about your health!”  There is a lot of conflicting information out there.  There are also a lot of early results from unqualified studies, which doesn’t make those results valid.  And many results are reported as if they apply to everyone, not the specific group the study was testing (i.e., forgetful diabetics with freckles and psoriasis).

So yes!  Maybe it’s time we lightened up a bit.  What if we  took generally good care of ourselves and laughed more?  That would put us firmly in the range of Upbeat Living^sm. 

And how do we get there?  Let’s look at stress differently.  A general effect of stress is the lowered production of DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone, the master hormone.  That makes you tired and flat-brained.  However, your own body makes DHEA whenever you are in a bliss state.  Then you feel less stressed!  I have previously written about how you can increase your own DHEA (http://wp.me/pw4HM-oc ).  One of those ways is lightening up and even laughing.

Advice from an unknown author, often quoted in emails is:

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘WOO-HOO, what a ride!!’

 

That writer is talking about ramping up your joyful, adventuring side, which will net you very high serum (in your blood, measured with a blood test) DHEA!

Now here is an amusing piece that circulates the Internet.  It’s funny, it’s thought-provoking, and I’ll give you the correct information after you quit laughing:

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans…

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:  Eat and drink what you like.  Speaking English is apparently what kills you!

 

Wasn’t that fun?  Now here are the actual rankings of those countries, in coronary heart disease deaths per 100,000:  China 99, Mexico 80, US 77, Germany 63, Italy 48, Japan 30, France 30.

This shows us a few things, primarily that we shouldn’t get our health care information from cute emails circulating the Internet.  You have a right to the best life you can put together.  So laugh, read the article on DHEA, and pump up your pzazz with laughter and bliss.  And worry less about your health!  And that’s Upbeat Living!

———————————————————–

• If you enjoy this post, please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column. You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma! Due to a recent FB change, our “likes” look low.  Thanks for your help!

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: bookings@kebba.com .

Upbeat Living: Beating Renovation Stress—Keeping Your Cool in the Heat of Renovations

Tags

Feeling energized, Feng Shui Garden, Kebba Buckley Button, Renovation stress, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2016  Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Here are top tips for beating Renovation Stress!  Yes, you’ll be keeping your cool in the heat of renovations!  Your goal will be feeling energized and feeling good and being pleasant, while the shape and order of your home is going gaga.  Take it from me:  we just had most of the carpet in our home replaced.  What an adventure!  We learned a lot.  Anything you normally reach for will not be where it normally is.  It’s noisy, stinky, and messy.  So try these top tips to stay sane:

1. Plan an R&R spot where you can sit/rest/sip/munch/make calls/check email. This will be out of the noise/dust/bustle of the renovation project.  It also gets your sweet little feet off the new carpet or tile, if that’s what you’re having done.  Defend this spot, since you definitely will need rest breaks.  The photo above shows Hunky Husband reclining in his own recliner, but outside in the Feng Shui Garden.
2. Have a supply of cold water, in the refrigerator or in our RRS. Have enough to share with any workers or volunteers.  Drink plenty of water.
3. Have healthy, tasty snacks pre-made. Don’t count on having the time and motivation to run out to get lunch to go.  Or knowing where your car keys are.   See #4.
4. Have a box or tote in which you toss your favorite electronics—phone, iPad, laptop—and their chargers, your checkbook, your purse, your keys, and the bills you need to pay today. Also put your primary calendar in this box.
5. Get clean flatpack bankers’ boxes from your nearby office supplies store. We used 35 of them to pack for a flooring job for half our house.  This style stacks well and invites labeling.  Mark each one with your code for the room they came from, i.e., LR for Living Room and BR for Bedroom. The boxes slide easily along your floor, if you decide you want the stack in a different place. You can also easily fill them with things to toss or donate, as you unpack.
6. Box any delicate items, such as wineglasses and trophies, carefully. Use your hand towel collection and remember, a décor basket counts as a box.
7. After the carpet/tile/paint is installed, start unpacking. Notice how you love the spare look of each clean room with no Stuff in it!?  How much less Stuff would you like to own—30%?  Then discard/recycle/shred/put in donation boxes about a third of everything you would be unpacking
8. Enjoy your improved, clean and cleared space!

Notice how happy you are now?  And how much more energy you have?  And how much less allergy you have?  And how free you feel?  Now that’s Upbeat Living^sm!

__________________________________________________________

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

 

Upbeat Living: Create Change and Release Energy!

Tags

Create change, energy, Feeling energized, Kebba Buckley Button, Release energy, stress, The life you want, UpBeat Living

 © 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M., World Rights Reserved.

Sometimes we ache for a shift in some area of life, and when we finally create change, we release energy into our lifestyle.  Sometimes it comes in with a burst. Then it feels great to have released that aching need, and we have a fresh smile and a bounce in our step.  So why don’t we just jump into change and reap those benefits right away?  There are several reasons.

I’ll share a personal example about flooring.  Sounds mundane, doesn’t it?  But The Great Flooring Project became a metaphor for projects that release energy to us at  powerful level.  When I bought my home, I had new carpeting put in, underlain by padding.  It had a 7-year warranty.  By the 9th year, it had developed wrinkles and no longer looked really clean after a shampooing.  It was so embarrassing looking, so out of character for me and my husband,  that we no longer felt we could entertain, with that tatty looking carpet.  Now I have owned the home for 12 years.

My husband and I both appreciate neat and harmonious living.  As a stress/energy expert, I do Feng Shui consulting.  Our home is Feng Shui balanced.  I also am artistic, with my paintings adorning the living room walls.  We love beauty and are jarred by what is messy, ugly, and dysfunctional.  So the carpet had to go!

By now, you’re thinking, “so replace the carpet already!”  Agreed!  But we were stuck:  what to replace it with?  This, I believe, is exactly the balance point on which so many are stuck:  WHAT is the next step?  In what direction?  In our case, we debated for several years :   how much of the floorspace to cover and with what?  Some materials wear out at convergence areas, and we have two major convergence areas that take a lot of punishment from foot traffic.  New materials have been coming on the market.  So we thought of the porcelain tiles that look like wood.  But we find hard materials jolting to walk on.  And real hardwood wears.  Matching material to patch it will never be found several years down the road.  Carpet collects more dirt than flat surfaces, but grout collects grime and requires maintenance.

At last, we were drawn to a flooring company that moves the furniture for you, an option I was unaware of previously.  Moving the furniture is no small thing, in terms of time and wear on one’s spine.  We liked the quality of materials they offered.  We liked the idea that carpet could be done in one day, whereas our porcelain idea,or any tile project,would take 3 days.  We are least-fuss people, and we do like the feel of carpet under our feet.  So we finally—FINALLY—launched The Great Floor Project with a carpet plan.  At last!

Now here’s the surprise fun:  in the five minutes after we landed on our plan, I felt an incredible release.  I felt so calm, so relieved.  My mind had instantly cleared.  Apparently, the drag from the Great Floor Project had created enough drag on my consciousness that I was having a low level of brain fog.

I sailed off to a meeting and was very centered, speaking powerfully and connecting with colleagues easily.  I was back in the Flow, having only made the firm PLAN for The Great Floor Project.  Two days later, with the lovely carpet installed, we are experiencing a huge rise in energy, in vitality and vibrancy.  It’s the release of the need to make a decision, the relief of having made it, and the enjoyment of the results.  Energy abounds!

What if we take this principle to the global level?  Actress Camryn Manheim has said:

Instead of hating, I have chosen to forgive and spend all of my positive energy on changing the world.

 

So what are you stuck on?  Large or small, what top issue do you need to move off the start mark?  Pick an issue or condition, get whatever information or help you need to make a decision, and get going.  Reap the rewards, and let me know what new energy you experience!  Create change and release energy.  And that’s Upbeat Living!

__________________________________________________________________

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. That and her newest book,  Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, are available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .
• Recent changes have made our Facebook likes look low.  Would you click “Like” in the right-hand column?  You’ll get our appreciation and a huge rise in your good karma!

UpBeat Living: Beat Stress With Laughing!

Tags

Feeling energized, Kebba Buckley Button, Laughing, Laughter, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Wondrously, you can literally beat stress with laughing.  Laughter generates endorphins that dissolve the biochemistry of negative stress. It isn’t your imagination!  So we should each be developing an arsenal of things that definitely make us laugh.  In the world of video, one of the funniest and most dear videos rippling around the Internet currently is an “instructional video” on how to get your toddler to clean the house (http://www.godvine.com/Dad-s-How-To-Get-Your-Toddler-To-Clean-The-House-Is-Hilarious-9347.html) . Your mouth won’t be sure whether it wants to laugh or keep saying, “awwwww”.

Totally funny videos of bulldogs and babies is found by simply searching for “bulldogs and babies videos”.  You world will change as you laugh through the images of bulldogs attempting to gently make friends with babies.  Of all the videos I have seen in recent months, I laughed the hardest at “Silent Monks Hallelujah Chorus”, in which cards are held up to encourage the audience to sing along.  Impish variations surprise and make you laugh.  While you’re locating these videos, ask yourself what videos or movies have recently been making you laugh?  Make a list.

Harry Ward Beecher said,

Mirth is God’s best medicine.

Laughter feels good!  It makes you relax, from your muscles to your skin to your attitude. Laughing very hard can cause you to clutch your spasming abdomen, gasp for breath, drool a bit, and wipe your teary eyes.  A good, hearty laugh can make you feel refreshed, even totally rested.  And there are medical benefits: improved immune function (fewer allergies and illnesses with regular laughter) and better blood vessel function, leading to better blood pressure than when you are stressed.

Researchers note laughter is both symptomatic of happy relationships and contagious, creating more social connection and happiness.  Women laugh about a quarter more than men.  Those who say they laugh a lot also tend to be in good health.  Laughter therapy is used for cancer patients, who find it helps their quality of life.  The endorphins that laughter causes to release are brain chemicals that can reduce pain and stiffness.  In a low-cost and fun way!

Proverbs 17:22 offers:

A merry heart doeth good like medicine. 

 

And sure enough, laughter is a part of our makeup.  Babies start laughing when they are as young as 10 weeks.  And adults are immediately drawn in, trying to see what they can do to get the baby to laugh again.  Watch a normally calm parent of a 3-month-old, making faces and tickling the baby, producing any noise or gesture that will make the little one laugh.  The urge to get a laugh is right up there with the urge to laugh.

What makes you laugh until you cry?  Do that more!  In fact, fill your life with as much laughter as you can. It’s your life, your health, and your relationships.  And that, friends, is Upbeat Living^sm.

______________________________________________________________

Energy – Peace – Meditation

 

 

• Kebba Buckley Button is an ordained minister whose passion is helping people find their Peace Within. She also a stress management expert and has a natural healing practice.  She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), and Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  Both that book and Peace Within are available through her office.  Just email books@kebba.com. 
• Would you like  an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group? Just email  calendar@kebba.com .

 

 

UpBeat Living: Best Cooling Drinks to Outsmart Heat Stress

Tags

Feeling energized, heat stress, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2016  Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

 

 

What cooling drinks do you reach for on a blazing hot day?  What will you drink to outsmart heat stress?  The best ones may not be the sweet, carbonated, icy, creamy, and alcoholic drinks you might think of, to cool you off.  The most important thing is to make sure you serve your health with what you drink.  If you want to feel good, or even great, on hot summer days, you’ll need to switch what you swallow.  That means following these two tips:

First, stay hydrated!  Drink filtered water, that is, water with the chlorine removed.  Do not pay for an expensive water-conversion system to alter the water molecules (which we’ll discuss in another article), without first removing the chlorine.  Chlorine is a poison to microorganisms (germs) which is the exact reason they put it in the public water supply.  Your body doesn’t need it, and it’s bad for you.

A simple table-top carbon-filter pitcher will filter out the chlorine, fluoride, and other bad-tasting elements of tap water.  You may find this water more refreshing if you keep it in the refrigerator.  You may also want to ask your local health food store about mineral drops to add to filtered water.  If your body is low on minerals, the drops added to your beverages will bring your stamina up the same day, or sooner.

Second, water is the most hydrating liquid you can drink, so drink it!  If you hate plain water, try adding a little cherry juice concentrate, which will also give you a few carbs, potassium, and anti-inflammatory compounds.  If you’re hiking or working outside, you may enjoy half water and half organic apple juice, which again will provide a few carbs calcium and a lot of potassium.

If you will be working or exercising outdoors a lot, do eat salty snacks!  They’ll make you thirsty and keep you from losing too much of your body’s moisture through sweat.  Check with your doctor about your ideal personal sodium-potassium-calcium balance.

 

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

– Thomas A. Edison

 

Avoid sugary foods and drinks, and alcohol! These dehydrate you!  These will make you more thirsty and tired after the initial refreshing sensation.  Avoid all artificial sweeteners (which we’ll discuss in a future article), going for fruit juices and concentrates as flavors.  Anything with sugar, alcohol, or caffeine will give you a little boost, then put the squeeze on your kidneys.  Alcohol is, for some purposes, a super sugar.  So limit that, plus all refined sugars and caffeine, when you’re hot.  The decaf coffee drinks still are loaded with antioxidants, so you still will get a boost, but a healthy one.

This is the fourth and last article in our Summer 2016 series on outsmarting Heat Stress. Try these strategies to feel your very best.  After all, it’s your life, and aren’t you worth it?  And that’s Upbeat Living!

________________________________________________________________

Energy – Peace – Meditation

 

• Kebba Buckley Button is an ordained minister whose passion is helping people find their Peace Within. She also a  stress management expert and has a natural healing practice.  She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), and Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  Both that book and Peace Within are available through her office.  Just email books@kebba.com. 
• Would you like  an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group? Just email  calendar@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Best Foods to Beat Heat Stress (Not Always What You Think)

Tags

Feeling energized, heat stress, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2016  Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

 

Is Summer blazing hot and really dry where you live?  Some only think of the heat stress. Yet, life can be beautiful in these conditions.  I want you to thrive all the time.  That’s Upbeat Living^sm.  And in the Summer heat, that goal can be challenging.  But you’ll soon be up for it if you’ve read all 4 of my summer thriving articles, and started following the tips.  This is the third of the 4 articles.

In the last 2 articles on dealing with the hottest Summer days, I covered :

• Protecting your body and skin
• Getting enough rest, and
• Strategizing to have the most energy you can

In this article, I offer ideas on how to eat cool to keep cool! [Yes, we’ll cover what to drink, next time.]  This is not always the cold foods you would think.  Follow these three tips to switch what you swallow, to feel your best:

1. Set your goal to get the most energy out of whatever you swallow. Think of it this way: part of the art of eating well and healthfully in the hottest times of summer is having quick food to grab—the right quick food.  Because you and your family will often come home tired on blasting hot days, you’ll be grateful to yourself for keeping healthy cool foods ready to eat.  Some of these could be:  celery sticks, jicama sticks, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, avocados, cherries, berries, grapes, bananas, pineapple chunks, dates, peaches, nectarines, yogurts with live cultures, sushi California rolls, roasted chicken (available at your grocery store), pan-broiled salmon (you made it last night and chilled it), tuna salad (you made it last night and chilled it), hard-boiled eggs, boiled organic potato chunks, cans of organic beans or chick peas, raw almonds or cashews, and a variety of olives.  You might call this collection, “the fastest slow food you can get”.
2. Buy it and bring it home. Your grocery store now has trays of veggies, trays of fruits, prepared chicken, and even heat-and-eat ribs. There are organic salads ready-to-go and organic salad kits in bags. Green salad is your friend, and as light greens go, Romaine lettuce is the most energizing.  It’s the lettuce in every “Caesar Salad”, prepared or in a kit.  As dark greens go, kale is the star of the nutritional show. Have a large dark green salad for dinner almost every night, with pieces of potato, avocado, and chicken.  Topped lightly with your favorite dressing, it’s a quick and restorative meal.  You’ll feel alert and clear-minded all evening, and then you’ll sleep well.
3. Order ahead and pick it up from a café. Many cafés and other restaurants have salad bars and other fresh menu options that match the criteria in Tip #1: if you’re going to eat it, it has to give you energy.  Put the phone numbers of your favorite restaurants in your phone.  Make it easy for yourself and your family to feel good and be healthy.

Can you have great days and wonderful relationships in the desert summer season?  Absolutely, you can.  Eat well for the weather, follow the other tips in this series, and you will sail triumphantly through the hot season!  And that’s Upbeat Living!

_________________________________________________________________

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus  Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition, and Sacred Meditation.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.
• Liked this article?  You can buy Kebba’s books:  just click the links or email books@kebba.com .           
• Would you like  an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group? Just email  calendar@kebba.com .