Upbeat Living: A Real Day Off

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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!

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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

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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 Acidosis to Beat Illness and Feel Great!

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Acidosis, beating fatigue, breath, Eating, Eating right, energy, exhaustion, fatigue, Feeling energized, Health, pH balance, stress, Stress Management, tired, UpBeat Living

© 2014  Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Microsoft

The Upbeat Living philosophy is to encourage people to switch little habits that will lead to big results, to feel our best and enjoy life the most. And little changes often can help you have a lot more energy, plus feeling and looking younger!  Would you consider making one or two easy changes in your daily habits, if you could feel much better as a result?

Here are some points to ponder regarding a condition affecting many people and causing silently deteriorating health, yet which you can easily and inexpensively control. It’s called acidosis, meaning excess acid in the body’s fluids.  Stress, eating habits, lack of exercise, and too little sleep all contribute to this condition.  And dealing with stress, changing your eating habits, exercising, and sleeping more—these can all help correct the condition.

Relative acidity is measured on the pH, or potential hydrogen, scale that indicates hydrogen  ion concentration. The pH scale goes from 1 (extremely acidic) to 14 (extremely basic, or alkaline). The body operates best when its acid balance, or pH, is between 7.35 and 7.45, ideally at 7.4. Yet diet and stress tend to acidify the body’s fluids. More biochemical waste in the body can also lower pH, making the body more acidic.  To see some beautiful graphics of the pH scale, put “pH scale” in your search bar and enjoy.

While the condition is simple, the symptoms are many. A person with acidosis may experience frequent fatigue, allergies, bronchitis, colds and flu, foot fungus, acne, boils, eczema, age spots, arthritis, diarrhea and/or constipation. Effects less easy for the individual to see are serious internal processes, such as the inflammation of veins, arteries, and the muscle tissue of the heart. This creates cardiac system issues that result in elevated blood pressure, which in turn increases heart deterioration.

Fotolia

Acidosis also leads to premature aging via accelerating free-radical damage to cells. Cells are actually poisoned by inefficiently eliminated cell waste. An acidic pH prevents the proper storage and release of cellular energy, meaning that the body cannot respond fully to stress or infection.  This means you’re tired! Red blood cells clump together, which limits their oxygen-carrying capacity and leads to fatigue and weakness. Cancer cells thrive in lower-oxygen  (acidic) environments such as acidosis can create. Other mechanisms caused by acidosis may lead to pancreatic dysfunction, diabetes, weight gain, and osteoporosis.

The body has natural mechanisms for monitoring and controlling its acid-base balance. When plasma is too acidic, the respiratory system speeds breathing, and the kidneys can produce substances that turn the pH around. The body also uses intracellular absorption of hydrogen atoms by molecules of protein, phosphate, and carbonate in bone, thus raising the pH to less acidity.

So what can you do to help yourself beat acidosis? First, get litmus paper from your pharmacy and test your saliva. The litmus paper will turn color to show the acidity of your saliva. If your saliva’s pH is too low/acidic, re-assess your current stress, exercise (or lack thereof), sleep, and diet. Consider these dietary changes:

1. Stop drinking any sodas or sugared drinks, or any artificially sweetened products. Switch to juices or filtered water.
2. Stop eating sugared desserts and foods made mainly with white flour and yeast, such as pizza and bagels.
3. Eat dark-green leafy salads, other green vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, celery, parsley), and root vegetables (carrots, yams, daikon radish).
4. Eat fruits, especially fresh fruits, such as apples, apricots, bananas, cantaloupe, dates, figs, grapefruit, peaches, and grapes. For dried fruit, try raisins.
5. Eat rice and buckwheat, almonds, dairy products, and eggs.

Try changing your diet for a week, and add exercise and sleep more. Check your pH again. Notice if these changes make you more relaxed, clear-minded, and vital. If so, you are making a major investment in your long-term health. Why not feel your best, starting now?  That’s Upbeat Living!

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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.

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UpBeat Living: Instant Energy With Invisible Yoga

Tags

Discover The Secret Energized You, Energizing, energy, fatigue, instant energy, Instant Yoga, invisible yoga, Kebba Buckley Button, namaste, tired, trading stress for energy, UpBeat Living, Yoga

© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button.   World Rights Reserved.

© vadymvdrobot – Fotolia

Hands up, anyone who feels tired right now!  Oh yes.  Hands up, anyone who is routinely more tired than they want to be!  Oh yes.  By the way, you look like you’re tired.  Just kidding.  Some of you are wearing makeup, and it keeps you from looking so tired.   Not having the energy you want is a pervasive condition many have been plagued with.  There are many causes. We have fatigue from sleep disorders, including from breathing errors during sleep.  We have fatigue from stress overload or from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), overlapping with fatigue due to bad dreams.  We have fatigue from eating too much sugar, fatigue from eating foods containing microtoxins, fatigue from air pollution, and fatigue from drinking too little water.  We have Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome (CFIDS).  Substituting coffee for sleep can work for a while, then make us deeply fatigued.  There are many more causes for being too tired.   Tired people may have trouble concentrating, may ache all over, and may be cranky.  Their reflexes are impaired, slowing down their thinking and actions.  They may make be unproductive and make mistakes that result in losses at work.  They may cause accidents while driving and hurt relationships at home.  They get sick more easily.

What are you willing to do for the life you say you want?

~ Kebba Buckley Button

In contrast, we feel great when we have lots of energy.  Vitality is a magic ingredient that can completely turn around attitudes, productivity, and relationships.  There are many ways to trade in stress and fatigue for energized living.  In my book, Discover The Secret Energized You, there are hundreds of understandings, tips and tricks for literally trading in your stress for energy.  These are all part of the Upbeat Living system.   But what if you need some instant energy, you don’t have time to read, and you’ve had enough coffee for the day?  Some yoga, that doesn’t even look like yoga, can help.  I call this “invisible yoga”.  Everyone has seen regular yoga:  it looks like stretches and breath techniques.  However, here are 2 powerful techniques you can do in almost any situation, no one will notice, and you will increase your vitality within two minutes.  Do either Instant Yoga Energizer for just one minute, if that’s all you have before your meeting starts.

After all, life is your grand experiment!  What tools will you use?

How far will you go and how high will you rise?  It depends on you.

~ Kebba Buckley Button

Instant Yoga Energizer #1:  Find a spot where you can see a clock or your smartphone’s clock. Notice the time.  Now think of stretching as you roll your shoulders slowly, gently, “stretchingly” for 2 full minutes.  Roll them in the same direction and then in opposite directions.  Notice that your head seems to be down and forward compared to the refreshed shoulders.  Gently bring your head up and back, until it is centered over your shoulders.  Repeat.  Now notice the energy has reached your toes and the balls of your feet.  Notice the lightness in your head.  That is the improved circulation of blood and oxygen in and to your brain.  Now you can think clearly again.  Notice your vitality is up.  Enjoy!   Instant Yoga Energizer #2:  Seated, become aware of your fatigue and how your body is positioned.  Where is your fatigue?  If your shoulders are, for example, off to the left of your body’s center, gently glide them back to center.  If your head is down and forward, gently move it back to being upright and centered between your shoulders.  Now become aware of your breath.  How shallow or deep is it?  Begin to exhale out to the end of your breath.  Push the last bit of air out of your lungs and allow the reflexive inhale, or gasp.  The inhale will automatically fill your lungs completely, replacing the urban pollutant-filled air you just pushed out.  This is a complete breath, the exhale plus the inhale.  Do this twice more.  Notice the light sensation at the back of your head, plus the warming of your ankles and neck.   Congratulations!  You have just had your first Invisible Yoga Class.  Namaste!  Use these techniques often, and enjoy the effects.  After all, it’s your energy and your life.  Why be tired?

________________________________________________________

    ● 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: 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!

________________________________________________________________

● 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: How You Can Still Feel Great When the Summer Heat is Blazing

Tags

energy, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, heat, heat stress, heat stress tips, UpBeat Living, vitality

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

Desert Botanical Garden
Chihuly Glass Yucca Sculptures
(c) 2014 Kebba Buckley Button

 

Last time, I covered the defensive basics of protecting yourself from the hottest days of Summer:

• – Your body needs to get out of the heat
• – Your skin needs extra protection
• – You need to get enough sleep and general rest.

In Phoenix, our highs will be 105 degrees and up, for most of the next 8 weeks.  In Delaware, Denver, and Desert Hot Springs, it may only rise into the 90’s, but the humidity can be 30%.  It’s sticky.  You’re slimy. You can’t think or get motivated.  So how on Earth can you keep your energy and attitude up?

Here are easy strategies for staying upbeat and energized, thriving rather than just surviving, when the weather is searing.   You can do this!   Mall shopping is obvious, but what if you don’t want to shop?

1.  Use the cool hours to stoke your energy for the day. It’s coolest around 4 am, depending on how urban your area is.  The sun rises a bit after 5 in midsummer, so take advantage!  Run errands before 10 am and after dark.  Use 24-hour grocery stores. Play tennis at 5 am or 10 pm.  In Phoenix, visit the Desert Botanical Garden, open at 7 am, but for members, now open at 6 am Wednesday and Sunday.  The DBG is also now open until 8 at night, and the property is much cooler than the surrounding city. Phoenix City parks are open until 11 pm.  Try moonlight hikes, such as the Sierra Club’s monthly full moon hikes.

Schedule runs, workouts, picnics and hikes as close to daybreak as you can.  Even your dog would rather go out early. The air will be 30 degrees cooler than later in the day, and you can be active and even enjoy it.  Also, do your yard work or gardening at sunrise, while it’s cool.  Then plan other outdoor chores according to when your yard, or the activity area, will be in shadow; this may be after 4 pm.  Sun-sensitive walkers can use the hallways at malls as early as 7 am, and then stay for coffee.  And yes, you can use MeetUp to find a walking group, or form your own.  Stack your day like this, and you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel all summer.

2.  Missed the early morning coolness?  Go to the air-conditioned comfort of entertainment.  Shopping malls, movie theaters, and indoor ice skating rinks are waiting for you.  Many malls now have indoor playgrounds for your kids, and you can sit with your iPad while your kids play safely. 

If you like water fun, remember the City parks systems have swimming pools.  Also, many resorts have “day use” for their pools complexes, with water slides and cabanas—a new generation of high-end water park, with towels provided.  There is even poolside food and beverage service.  Just remember your sunscreen and re-apply often!

 

If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?

~Steven Wright

3.  Try a change of location. Feeling the need for a re-set?  Go to a town or campsite at a higher elevation, to a lake or to a coast, and take a cool climate break for a day or three or longer.  This will give your metabolism, your brain, and your emotions a time-out.  You’ll get a fresh start on your return.

4.  Keep your attitude and activities fresh. The most damaging aspect of the desert heat, for some, is the tendency for the brain cells to bake until they don’t work well.  With heat stress, you can lose your concentration quickly, then your attitude, and then your enthusiasm for anything at all.  Filled with heat-blahs, you can make mistakes with people and actually damage relationships.  So resolve that you’ll stay as positive and perky as you possibly can.  Please, do not get sucked into conversations about how hot it is!  This will increase your sensation of being hot.  Ignore the comments or say something cheery like, “Yes, it’s almost like Phoenix in the summertime!”  Then talk about fun things you have been doing.

Novelty will help you stay alert and enthusiastic about life.  Do things differently.  Have you been to all your local art museums and galleries?   Round up friends to go try a new restaurant, or the dining room of a cooking school.  Go to summer concerts and plays in locales like Sedona and Laguna Beach.  Go to any ski town, ride the ski lift, and take photos. Visit Santa Fe on Labor Day weekend for the Arts Festival; you’ll need your down vest after sunset.  Got other ideas?  I would love to hear them.

Keep it cool and keep it fresh, and you’ll have your best summer ever, so far!

Next time:  how to eat to stay cool.

________________________________________________________________

● 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!

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● 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: Coffee, the Health Drink

Tags

antioxidants, Brain health, Coffee benefits, energy, Feeling energized, Green coffee extract, Health, stress

Fotolia

Good news, coffee lovers!  The case for coffee as a health drink has been building.  In my book, Discover The Secret Energized You, there is a section (p. 53, “Perk With Coffee”) on the health benefits of coffee.  In the several years since the book came out, everything it said about coffee has been further proven, and more medical benefits have come to light.  So don’t stress over your love of coffee, just read on while sipping!

Of course, this article is not medical advice.  Confer with your doctor before making any dietary changes.

Coffee is one beverage found delicious by people in many cultures for centuries.  And now it is known to have many health perks.  While many think the only ingredient in coffee is caffeine, coffee actually contains thousands of organic compounds.  The lift people get from drinking it may come from the antioxidant compounds, more than from the caffeine.  And, it contains only 6 calories per cup, if you don’t add the sugar, the syrups, the milks, or the whipped cream.  Or that muffin that looks so good, over there in the glass case.  Save yourself hundreds of calories per serving by drinking coffee black.  Another reason to drink coffee black is that a compound in dairy products, casein,can block the benefits of the  antioxidants.  Darn!  But this doesn’t apply to nondairy creamers, soy milk, almond milk,  or coconut milk.

Speaking of dieting, recent medical research has shown that green coffee beans can help you lose weight surprisingly fast.  Bottles of green coffee bean extract are flying off store shelves. But if you want  less caffeine and more beneficial compounds from your coffee, use dark roasts, even espresso, and keep the brewing time short.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), the antioxidants in coffee may reduce inflammation and thereby reduce the risk of potential disorders related to it. Cardiovascular disease is one of these. Phenols, volatile aroma compounds, and oxazoles in coffee contribute to its high antioxidant content. A typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries, and oranges, according to another study in the AJCN.  Antioxidants fight aging. and give you energy right now.  Would you like to age more slowly?

Want more good news?  Coffee drinking is now associated with lower risk of cancers of the kidney, liver, and prostate.  It’s also associated with lower risk of Type 2 diabetes (tends to lower blood glucose), with Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and dementia.  Short-term, coffee helps you feel more alert and improves concentration.

Possibly the most interesting research indication currently is that coffee seems to raise the activity of Bifidobacteria in the digestive tract. You may have noticed coffee , um, stimulating elimination.  Some people even use coffee for enemas.  But lactobacillus Bifidus is a primary digestive bacterium specific to the large intestine. So you could get more efficient digestion and possibly a flatter abdomen from drinking coffee. Or taking green coffee bean extract.

So do you love coffee? Do you feel good, feel alert, and function well with a cup or several per day? Then why not relax in a favorite chair, sip your favorite blend, and let the research roll in?

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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: 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 .