Fatigue Stress Secret: Jazz Up Your Joy Juice

Tags

DHEA, fatigue, Fatigue Stress, Feeling energized, In-joy-meant, Kebba Buckley Button, meditation, stress, Stress Management, Trade stress for energy, UpBeat Living

© 2015  Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

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A lot of people have Fatigue Stress: their fatigue is keeping them from doing what they want or as much as they want.  This is the biggest challenge my clients deal with.  I teach a system of re-energizing, helping people develop Upbeat Living, for increasingly responding differently  to stress and actually building a whole new level of energy.

Today I’m focusing on the biggest secret to fighting fatigue: you can pump up your own master hormone, dehydroepiandrosterone, usually known simply as DHEA.  If you have heard that you can buy DHEA as a sports supplement, STOP!  Unless your doctor has prescribed it, taking DHEA as a supplement will cause your body to stop making it!  So the supplement as shortcut gives you no benefit.  Here’s why you want more DHEA and how to get it.

Why you want more DHEA.  This is the master hormone, the precursor to estrogen, androgens, and basically all the hormone-related production in your body.  It’s in your bloodstream and can be measured in nanograms per decaliter.  But you don’t need to measure it to get your body to make more.  DHEA gives you more strength, more vitality, less sensitivity to pain (weaker people are more sensitive to pain), more zeal, and basically more pzazz.  You’ll be able to golf more holes and take longer hikes, even spend more and better tango time with your beloved.  DHEA optimizes everything in your physical body!

How to get more DHEA free and fast.  Again, nix the supplement route!  DHEA is naturally made by your body, quickly, when you are in contact with nature and when you do things that feel great and pull up your passion.  Could it be this easy?  Yes!  Let’s just call it your Joy Juice.  Your DHEA zooms in 20 minutes when you:

• Do things outside.
• Walk barefoot on natural surfaces. Concrete counts, being chopped pressed stone.
• Exercise.
• Meditate.
• Pray or participate in a religious service, if you are a spiritual person.
• Sing.
• Make love with your beloved.
• Laugh.
• Do anything that thrills you or gives you joy, even watching comedy performances.

 

We are truly in-joy-meant!  So get out there and enjoy your life!  Sing in the shower, dance like no one is watching, and spend a lot of time with your honey.  Notice your zip and zeal zooming, and everything getting easier and more enjoyable. Soon you’ll beat your Fatigue Stress for good, by trading in your stress for energy.  Now that’s Upbeat Living!

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Energy – Peace – Meditation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to know more?  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.  Both Sacred Meditation and Peace Within are available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com.  

 

Got Gloom Stress? How to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Tags

Gloom stress, Kebba Buckley Button, SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, stress, Stress Management, UpBeat Living

© tonda55 – Fotolia

© 2015 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM. World Rights Reserved.

 

 

Hands up, anyone who feels slower, more down, or more blah during the winter! Or on gray days? Have you been feeling gloomy when the weather is, well, gloomy?  You have Gloom Stress!  And maybe you are one of the estimated 10 million people who have Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. People with SAD report symptoms typically in the winter, when days are shorter. These symptoms include feeling sluggish, feeling “down”, lacking energy, and craving carbohydrates. People who eat for energy while affected by SAD may, sadly, gain weight. A side effect of feeling sluggish may be the tendency to exercise less, leading to a decrease in metabolic efficiency and therefore a further decrease in mood and vitality.

 

Depression is when your engine isn’t powering up. It might take a few pushes, an oil change, or you may have to take yourself to a loving engineer to fix you right up. If all does not work, getting a new engine isn’t always a bad idea. It’s a fresh start on your continuing journey.

~ Unknown

 

If you’re taking antidepressants, consider waiting until the days are longer, before concluding your depression needs a stronger prescription. Coordinate with your doctor. And do check out some of the other options, while the days are shorter.

 

Certainly, feeling bluesy slows you down and CAUSES stress.  How can you ever get your Stuff done?  How can you respond to conversations, phone calls, and emails?  So how does this disorder work? In the brain, the hypothalamus is supposed to start the body’s clock each day, and it responds to strong light. With less light, you don’t get a great clock startup. However, light therapy has been used successfully to treat this disorder.

 

Whole light tubes for desk lamps, and light masks for a person to wear, were early attempts to help people get metabolize more light and feel better in short order. Today, you can buy therapy lamps, light boxes, and even “dawn simulators”. One style of lamp comes on with a low light that gradually increases to the brightness of daylight. However, a new light therapy is showing promise. Dr. Dan Oren, a psychiatrist at Yale University, has created a “light band”, which straps onto the back of the affected person’s knee. The light band is plugged in to recharge overnight, then unplugged and worn by the person, in the morning, for an hour. Dr. Oren hopes this particular green light will be proven to actually absorb into the bloodstream, through the skin.

 

Make sure you have relatively bright light in your home and office. Drink warm beverages, which raise your metabolic rate. Hold the mug in your hands and feel the warmth. Wear cheerful colors and use rich, joyful colors in your home.  Experiment with colors to find the ones that uplift you most.  Many find yellow is the most uplifting.

 

Want that antidepressant effect? Want your brain back in alignment with your sleep/wake cycle? Then try some of these self-helps.  Look at the latest light therapy options, and talk with your doctor. You’ll soon beat gloom stress and be back in Upbeat Living, for all year round.

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• 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 .

 

Six Super Secrets to Defeat Your Cold NOW!

Tags

bioflavonoids, Energy therapy, heal, Health, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Kebba Buckley Button, Reiki, soak, stress

© 2015 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM. World Rights Reserved.

 

iStockPhoto

Colds feel bad and stress you out.  Colds keep you from doing the things you would rather do.  But take heart!  Today, there are more ways than ever to help yourself beat a cold—inexpensively. I recommend using ways that strengthen your system, allowing you to rise out of the illness, sometimes stronger than before. A cold is a virus and won’t respond to an antibiotic. So don’t think about using an antibiotic, unless your doctor says you have a secondary bacterial infection.

 

Secret #1: Make sure you don’t have the flu. Severe muscle aches say flu (influenza), probably not a cold. Call your doctor now. New antiviral prescriptions that may help you. Also, if you have special medical conditions and should call your doctor in case of cold/flu symptoms, do that immediately. Every doctor’s office has 24-hour paging or emergency numbers. If you are sure you have the flu, and you prefer a homeopathic remedy, you may want to try Oscillococcinum from your health food store (under $15). Dissolved under the tongue, this is very effective for many.

 

Secret #2: Support your body with rest, fluids, and soaking. Get extra rest. Drink lots of water and soup–alcohol is generally not helpful for a cold. Take a hot bath, at the “ahhhhh” temperature for you, which may be about 103 degrees F. Add 2 cups, or a one-pound box, of Epsom salts and set a timer so you stay in for at least 20 minutes. If you are concerned about your tub’s jets being hurt by the Epsom salts, dissolve them before adding to the tub, or buy your Epsom salts in liquid form. Most drug stores and grocery stores have both forms.

 

Secret #3: Treat a sore throat with natural gargle. If your throat hurts, mix salt and baking soda in equal proportions in a small storage jar; use a teaspoon of mix in a glass of pleasantly hot water, and gargle thoroughly. Making deep tones while you gargle will help the liquid reach further into the back of the throat.

 

Secret #4: Try a homeopathic remedy. A popular one for colds is Coldcalm, made by the same company as Oscillococcinum for flu. Just follow the package directions.

 

Being ill is one of the greatest pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and not obliged to work until one is better.

~ Samuel Butler

 

Secret #5: Bolster yourself with nutritional helps. These are cheap and can strengthen your immune system to beat the cold virus quickly.

• Drink black or green tea, with minimally processed honey in it. The tea contains heart-healthy compounds and the honey contains many enzymes and other energizing nutritional components. Get organic tea, loose or in non-paper bags. The chlorine in the paper may give some people joint pain.
• Eat yang foods. In Chinese medicine, a cold is a “yin” condition, so adding “yang” foods to your body will make you feel much better and literally make you more vital, right away. Keep warm (yang) and drink your tea or soup warm. Stir a little ginger powder into that tea or chicken soup. You probably have ginger powder in your spice rack. Or use ginger extract drops from your health food store.
• Try Vitamin C with bioflavonoids. One highly absorbable form is the widely available “Emergen-C”, available in most grocery stores and drugstores in many flavors; the small packets contain ascorbate compounds of Vitamin C, B complex, and minerals. Related popular products include “Cold-Eeze” and “Airborne”. Try different formulas to find the one/s you like best. Most pharmacies now carry these.
• Soluble B-12 with folic acid and B-6 is also widely available now.
• Eat fresh fruit, not frozen or canned if possible, due to the loss of nutrition and vital life force energy in processing. The colors represent the natural bioflavonoids. Add fresh lemon to your tea.
• Herbal drops are widely available for strengthening the immune functions. Separately or in combined drops, these may include: astragalus, echinacea, goldenseal, shitake or reishi mushroom, fresh red root, licorice root, and suma root.

 

Secret #6: Get some energy therapy. Jin Shin Jyutsu and Reiki can be very powerful for harmonizing your system right out of a cold. You’ll finish this cold and come out on a higher vitality level than you went into it with. Then let me know what worked best for you!

 

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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: Your Mind’s Eye

Tags

blood pressure, energy, Ernest Holmes, exhaustion, fatigue, heat, Kebba Buckley Button, mind-body, Negativity, nervous system, positive thoughts, positivity, stress, Summer, UpBeat Living

© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

iStockPhoto.com

Whatever your belief system, it is crucial to hold the most positive thoughts and images in your mind.  Ernest Holmes (1887-1960), the founder of Science of Mind, described “The Law of Mental Equivalents.”  He said, basically, that what you hold in consciousness is what you will get in your reality.  This has been proven true in a number of fields, as the brain and body take instruction from the thoughts.

 

Do you ever wonder why some people always cheerfully achieve success, while others are down in mood and fail at many doorsteps of opportunity?  Success is very much in your mind.  Your thoughts are acted out by your nervous system.

 

Try this experiment.  Find a 10-pound object or a gallon bottle of liquid, and lift it before and after you say these phrases.  Ready?  Lift the object.  Notice how heavy or light it is for you at this moment.  Say 10 times, at any speed, “I am a weak and unworthy person.”  Your nervous system will take this literally.  Now pick up the object again.  Notice how much heavier it is?  Now reverse the effect.  Say 10 times, at any speed, “I am a vital, strong, valuable person.”  Pick up the object again.  Notice it has become lighter.

 

Affirm: I am a vital, strong, valuable person.

~ Kebba Buckley Button

 

Always remember that your brain and nervous system are listening to everything you say.  Consider the phenomenon that your brain and nervous system do not know the difference between a real situation of terrible conflict, like a nasty fight or an assault, and a portrayed situation, as in a TV show or movie.  When you are in a good mood, go to a movie theater and see any of the currently popular end-of-the human-race movies.  You know:  Machines are arising or attacking from space, and the situation is impossible.  Although not currently in theaters, Independence Day is a great example of this genre.

 

If you have a blood pressure monitor, take your blood pressure before and after you see this movie.  At the end of this movie, you will feel very stressed, your adrenaline will be rushing, and your blood pressure will be up.  You may feel hyped up or exhausted, fearful or cranky, and easily startled.  Leaving the venue, you may be driving “with a heavy foot.”

 

Your brain and nervous system thought they were in a real war.  If you really want to take in movies like this, but you want less of a stressful effect on yourself, try this.  Rent or download them, show them at home, and when you feel your stress building up, look at other objects in the room and think of puppies and babies.  Notice your whole body-mind system shifting when you shift your attention.

 

Do not get sucked into anyone’s negativity, on any subject! 

You will pay for it with fatigue and an unclear mind.

~ Kebba Buckley Button

 

Truly, you choose what stress and negativity you feed your mind and body.  Consider an apparently mundane example.  Today may be a really hot, humid summer day where you are.  It may be so hot that you would prefer to not to be out in that weather.  Your passion might be to zip efficiently from your air-conditioned home to your air-conditioned car to your air-conditioned office.  That’s a healthy strategy!  However, we all know people who, on this kind of day, must chant out loud, “Boy is it hot!  It is so sticky!  Aren’t you hot?  How can you wear that?  Aren’t you miserable?  It’s just miserable!

 

Chanting like that, the person will begin to feel hotter and hotter, because the brain is listening to every word they say.  And if you listen and/or repeat their comments, silently or to others, you will feel hotter also!  Do not dismiss this as “just psychological.”

 

The sensations are real, and you have a right to live the best and most comfortable life that you can construct for yourself.  That is the Upbeat Living philosophy.  So be ready with several cheerful replies to the heat-chanters, for when they start in.  The one I use most is (delivered in a light and cheery tone), “Yes!  You know, it’s almost like Phoenix in the summertime!”  Then I quickly leave the area so the chanter can’t argue.

 

Do not get sucked into anyone’s negativity, on any subject!  You will pay for the indulgence with fatigue and an unclear mind.  If you are a person of faith, remember God wants you to use your creativity to make the most of your life and your gifts.  God never wants you to be stalled out by negativity.

 

So do you want to live your best life now?  Great!  Then notice negative programming, make notes, and work toward creating the best brain, body, and lifestyle you can.  That’s real Upbeat Living, and it’s up to you to choose it!

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  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).  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!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed 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.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UpBeat Living: Cooling Foods and Drinks for Hot Days (Not Always What You Think)

Tags

Effective living, energy, energy foods, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, heat stress, stress, Stress Management, Summer stress

© 2014  Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

 

Old Mission San Juan Capistrano
© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M. World Rights Reserved.

Is it blazing hot and really dry where you live?  Yet life can be beautiful in these conditions.  I want you to thrive all the time.  In the Summer heat, that can be challenging.  But you’ll be up for it if you’ve read all 3 of my summer thriving articles.  This is the third.

 

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

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

 

In this article, I offer ideas on how to eat– and drink– cool to keep cool!  This is not always the cold foods you would think.  And it’s not always the sweet, icy, and alcoholic drinks you might think of, to cool you off.  Follow these three tips to switch what you swallow, to feel your best:

 

1.  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.

Water is the most hydrating liquid you can drink.  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 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 salt balance.

 

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

– Thomas A. Edison

 

 

2. Avoid sugary foods and drinks, and alcohol!  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.

 

3. 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.  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, cherries, berries, grapes, bananas, pineapple chunks, dates, peaches, nectarines, yogurts, roasted chicken (available at your grocery store), pan-broiled salmon (you made it last night and chilled it), hard-boiled eggs, boiled organic potato chunks, cans of organic beans or chick peas, and raw almonds or cashews.

You might call this collection, “the fastest slow food you can get”.  Your grocery store now has trays of veggies, trays of fruits, prepared chicken, and even heat-and-eat ribs.  There are salads ready-to-go and 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 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.

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!

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● 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 the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  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!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed 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.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

 

UpBeat Living: Tips for Hot Summer Thriving

Tags

Eating, Effective living, energy, energy foods, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, heat, heat stress, heat stress tips, hot days, Kebba, stress, summer stress tips, The life you want

© 2014  Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

Yikes!  It hit 110 degrees today in Phoenix!  Summer is our weather-stress season, like winter is in cooler areas.  In the Summer heat where you live, have you felt great today?  Or were you hot, tired, and fog-brained?  Maybe even a little sick?  So could you use some expert heat-stress tips?

Feeling good, being well, and being productive, can be challenging in weather like this.  But you can feel great and thrive during even our desert summers, if you take these tips to heart:

1.  Get out of the heat. Do get 15 minutes of sun on your hands and face each day, for your body to produce enough Vitamin D. But you can get that while driving to an errand. The rest of the time, get out of the sun or wear sunscreen and sleeves.  And don’t stop to think in the full sun!  Adjust that grocery list before you go out the front door!

If you love to be outside, you can now buy special sun-blocking clothes from travel companies. You can get shirts designed to provide SPF 50 or higher, plus broad-brimmed hats with mesh-side crowns for through-flow of air. More difficult to find is the safari hat with its own built-in fan, but they are great for hiking. Cooling neck scarves are now widely available. Soak them to activate the gel inside, and store them in the frij between wearings.  Water bottles, with a battery-operated personal fan attached, are amusing and do actually help you keep cooler.

If you get too much heat, you’ll generally know it. But if people tell you your face is bright red, this is not good.  If your skin is totally dry, or if you feel nauseated or are vomiting, or if you feel totally drained and confused, these are clues you have heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Get to a cool, dim place, put a cool, damp cloth on your forehead, and try to drink water (with the chlorine filtered out).  Remember:

Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.

~ Rudyard Kipling

2.  Protect your skin. If you don’t want to cover it, at least wear some sunscreen. There are new generations of sunscreen in clear or opaque forms, or colored to function as makeup foundation. Many moisturizers and makeup products contain SPF 15 or higher for day use. Powdered mineral-based foundation makeups provide non-chemical SPF 15. If you’re wild to have tan skin, and you weren’t born with it, check out spray tanning or tanning moisturizers. Be aware that these do not provide sun protection, however, and skin cancer is a concern.  And remember to drink water to hydrate your skin. Support your skin by also eating foods that can help it stay moist and young-looking: fresh fruits, avocados, and dark greens like kale and baby romaine.  Get the organic versions if you can, and you’ll have more energy.

3.  Use common sense. Rest if you need to. Plan extra time to get enough sleep every day.  Nap if you need to.  And focus on thriving, throughout the month.

Next time: Keeping your energy up when it’s over 100!

________________________________________________________________

● 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 the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  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!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed 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.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Your Perfect Breath

Tags

Acidosis, breath, exhale, pH balance, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Courtesy of Fotolia

How many times have you been asked to “take a deep breath now”?  I remember being asked to take a deep breath absolutely every time I have ever had a physical.  The doctors always have asked for a deep breath, to expand the lungs, so they can hear various sounds that may be good or not so good.  But wait!  I have different advice!

Hands up, everyone who is currently breathing!  Oh good.  You brought your breath with you.  Breath allows life.  And if you’ve ever held your breath too long, you know you don’t feel well or think well.

About 6 times per minute, we breathe in oxygen, which is distributed into little collectors in the lungs, where the air and the blood actually meet, across a respiratory membrane.  The oxygen, from the air you’ve inhaled, goes into the blood, and the carbon dioxide comes out of the blood, into the breath.  And we breathe out carbon dioxide.  Then it takes only seconds for the oxygen you’ve inhaled to start circulating to the brain and body, through the blood system.  The oxygen/carbon dioxide balance is crucial to your body chemistry. It maintains your acid/base balance.  So this matters WHY?

This matters because you can only inhale, and get that good oxygen, if there is room in your lungs.  So exhale first.   Here’s a way to get a perfect exhale:  sing “ha” on any note you choose, and keep going until you completely run out of breath.  At the end of your breath, you’ll naturally gasp, quickly taking in a wonderful gulp of new air.  Terrific!  And how much did you take in?  That full exhalation emptied the bottoms of your lungs, pushing out all that stale urban air and pollution you don’t usually get to, in normal breathing.  Now when you inhale, you are inhaling into much more space, and you’ll get much more oxygen.

In about 30 seconds after you force the exhale and allow the gasp, you’ll notice a rush up the back of your head.  This is oxygen!  The stranger it feels, the more stale air you know you were storing in your lungs.  And now your brain and body are working much better.  You can think more clearly now, and all systems are more vital. This trick is absolutely free and the equipment is always with you.  So don’t take the regular advice!  Exhale first, for your perfect breath and health.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is the author of the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition).   Keep this book with you constantly, to quickly recharge your Peace Within, with quotes, photos, and poems that take you directly there!  Kebba is a corporate stress management trainer, and she also has a holistic healing practice.

● Liked this blog?  Why not buy Kebba’s books?  Just click the links!

• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition)( http://perfectboundmarketing.gostorego.com/authors/kebba-buckley-button.html)
• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). ● Enjoyed 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.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: How to Use Color for Energy!

Tags

Color, energy, Feeling energized, UpBeat Living, vitality

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo by Fotolia

Do you ever find yourself craving color?  Have you ever looked around your house and thought, “[G]ee, I’d like to add some color” or “[I]’d like to paint that wall” ?    How about your winter wardrobe?  Are you starting to crave the lighter, brighter, wider color pallet of Spring?  As you drive home, are you seeing colorful pots of Spring flowers decorating front doors and porches?  And are you thinking, “I want that!”  Sure enough, you’re craving color!

So how can we understand and feed our color cravings?  First, the Visible Light Spectrum is the series of wavelengths that your eyes can see as violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.  Light stimulates you brain through the eyes.  Is it easier to sleep in a dark room or a well-lit one?  Of course—we turn of the lights to sleep.

In traditional Chinese philosophy, there are five elements:  Earth, Air or Metal, Fire, Water, and Wood.  The colors of the elements are yellow, white/black/grey, red, blue, and green.  So if you consistently crave red décor, clothing, or cars, for example, you may be a Fire Type.  Make sense?

It’s free and easy to determine what color stimulus will fill your craving:  look around and take notes.  Then start bringing more of those colors into your wardrobe, your home, even your car.  For your wardrobe, watch makeover shows like TLC’sWhat Not to Wear, and see how they use colors to change a person’s whole look.  For your home and yard colors, turn your TV to a home improvement channel, or visit area hotel lobbies and grounds.  Also, stop in eclectic décor stores.  Now notice:  are you drawn to bright, warm colors in large expanses of walls and art?  Or do you feel drawn in to soft blues, greens and greys, calming you down and helping you feel centered and peaceful?    Perhaps deep jewel tones make you feel grounded, and neutral accessories lighten up the effect for you.  The key question is:  what feeds YOU?

Now get out there and get some flowers for your front door, a couple of colored pillows for your car, or some accessories for your back patio.  Paint a wall and, if you like, change to new colors for your bed linens.  In your living room, a slipcover for your couch and some different accessories will head you in the right direction.  Just adding yellow flowers to your patio table will probably give you a lift.  Start now!  Play with colors, and see how you feel.  After all, it’s your life, and you should feel your best.

 

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● 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.

 

● Kebba Buckley Button is a Master’s Degree scientist, a minister, and the award-winning author of  the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (http://tinyurl.com/abd47jr), and also Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br).  She also has a natural healing and stress management practice and is a celebrated public speaker.

 

● Your comments are welcome!

 

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Manage Your Energy, Not Your Stress

Tags

at choice, choices, Effective living, energy, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Health, living beyond, Negative stress, Positive stress, stress, Stress Management, trading stress for energy

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Paraglider over Rio
Photo by iStockPhoto

Many people think of stress as something of a climatic condition, a sort of heat. Picture a large thermometer labeled “How hot will you get today?”  Let’s call that The Stress-O-Meter (sm). In this model, people talk about “heating up” as they get stressed and “cooling off” as they unstress. They may say, “Boy, he really got hot under the collar at that meeting!” or “Yow, that’s a hot topic!” or “What a heated discussion we had at that board meeting!” People may tell a stressed-out person to “cool off” or “chill out” or even “calm down” meaning “come down in your stress/heat level.”

People ride up and down their personal Stress-O-Meter, the thermometer of stress, during their day. They heat up, then they cool off or chill out.   What happens when someone gets so stressed out that they hit the top of their Stress-O-Meter? They “explode” or “go over the top,” just as a thermometer explodes when overheated.

While this way of seeing stress is very popular, it doesn’t serve us.  In the Stress-O-Meter model, we have no real control of our stress.  How much more powerful is it to see stress as a matter of perception and focus, as we’ve been discussing, with each of us as the manager of our personal energy budget each day?

“Now you can become an energy manager!”

–Kebba Buckley Button

Now, you can become an energy manager!  Right now, try stretching your ideas about how to use your week. Imagine that your energy is measurable in Energy Dollars, instead of in hours and minutes. Imagine that, for each day of the week, you have a budget of 1440 Energy Dollars. That’s one Energy Dollar for every minute of the day. Now imagine that it’s up to you to invest your Energy Dollars wisely. You lose Energy Dollars when you invest them in people and activities that exhaust you. You multiply your Energy Dollars when you sleep really well or invest in people and activities that energize you.

We have talked about the power of positive stress vs. negative stress (https://kebbabutton.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/upbeat-living-the-upbeat-living-energy-equationsm/ ). Review it again now, and journal a few examples of ways you became tired or energized in the last week or two. Just for fun, try giving  your positive and negative energy investments Energy Dollar values. Do you see any patterns? Overall, are you gaining or losing energy during your week?

Stress can come from internal or external causes. We cannot fully control anything outside our own body or mind. We can, however, control our reactions (meaning “choose effective responses”) to internal or external causes. We are most likely to choose effective responses and strategies if we are selecting proper breathing techniques, proper diet and fluids, best posture, best exercise regime, good sleep, and satisfying recreation.

How would you like to start getting younger again?

–Kebba Buckley Button

Operating your life as though there is a giant Stress-O-Meter can only lead to an exhausting lifestyle, running on nervous energy. I call this the False Energy Range. In that range of energy, both fatigue and dis-ease, or “disease”, will accumulate. To escape the False Energy Range, you need excellent rest, correct refueling, breathing clear air, drinking high quality water, and beginning refreshing re-creation, or “recreation.” Escapees from the victimhood of exhaustion and negativity can then use LifeTools(sm) to convert stress to energy and respond more effectively to situations. This restructuring of thinking and responses then leads you into what I call the Real Energy Range. Now energy and productivity start climbing up, and each person starts to recharge, re-empower, revitalize, and actually rejuvenate.  How would you like to start getting younger again?

Next time:  Positives we can add, to lift our energy!

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Stress vs. Energy

Tags

energy, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, Negative stress, Positive stress, stress, Stress Management, vitality

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo by Microsoft

Do you want to enjoy your life more? Would you enjoy things more if you had more energy? Life today is filled with stress that most of us cannot avoid. Many people are very tired or sick from constant “stress,” and they know it. Others have stress they may not recognize but which is the beginning of high blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers, cancer, diabetes, and other expensive health problems. Energy, wellness, and stress are intimately connected. If you would like to start experiencing less stress and more energy and wellness, read on.

 

Here is a trick question: do you think you would get more out of life if you had less stress? Most would say yes. But not all stress is the same. There is negative stress and there is positive stress. Negative stress is sometimes known as distress, and positive stress has been called eustress. It’s the negative stress that steals your energy! Webster’s New World Dictionary says stress is “strain; specifically force that strains or deforms; mental or physical tension; urgency, pressure, etc., causing this.” Does that sound too familiar? It is the frustration, disappointment, and resistance that wear us down and help us feel bad: the too-long task list, the difficult people, the bad breaks, the information we get that is different than what we want. We call the latter “bad news.”

 

In contrast, positive stress gives you energy, good feelings, and health. Does positive stress sound like an oxymoron? It’s also known as “stimulus,” “fun,” “creativity,” “excitement,” and even “adventure.” This is the set of positive forces that work, or that we operate, in our lives to shape desired outcomes in ourselves, our days, our careers, our relationships.

 

Imagine comparing the winning Lotto numbers with the ticket in your hand and finding that the numbers match. Your heart rate picks up and races, just as in negative-stress reactions. Your underarms and hands may sweat. Maybe you feel lightheaded or your stomach feels strange. Guess what? These are the same symptoms as when you got that audit announcement with a $5000 tax bill from IRS! Only this time, with positive stress, you have endorphins, compounds your brain releases that reduce pain and make you feel wonderful. You have a jump in DHEA, the master hormone. Your sense of well-being goes up sharply. Now you have the chemistry of happiness supporting the factual good news. You have just experienced an extreme dose of positive stress.

 

Now here is the super news: you can deliberately add positive stress to your life to counter negative stress. Get vigorous exercise. Set up rewards for yourself for meeting goals. Join fun competitions like playing softball or board games or Nintendo. Each of these requires commitment and effort and therefore is a stressor, but a positive one with great rewards. Tired of fighting the monster called Stress? Take a break from the concept of monster fighting. Save that resistance effort and add positive stress to your day and your life. The negative stress will seem—and be—much less potent. You’ll have more energy, feel better, and have a new investment in wellness. Start now!

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .