Welcome to the last post of this Health and Wellbeing Boot Camp.

The very first quote I offered in the opening post of this Health and Wellbeing Boot Camp Blog was from Ariane de Bonvoisin, and in this last post I am returning to her Principles, specifically number 8:

“People who successfully navigate change are not alone; they surround themselves with people who can help, who have the right beliefs and skills. And they create an environment that supports their change. One of our biggest flaws as human beings is that we keep thinking we are alone. Whatever the situation, there is always, always someone who can help.”

I know that to be true, whether the ‘someone’ is a person in your life, the author of a book, or maybe even the writer of a blog!

Ariane’s Principles about ‘change’ are very inspiring and encouragingly simply to apply. You will find all nine on one of the downloads I’m adding to the Resources page to accompany you after the ‘Boot Camp’ part of the Blog has finished.

You’ll find the download here.

I have also included a special download for you called ‘Golden Rules for Healthy Living’ which will give you easy and accessible steps to incorporate into your daily routine and further enhance your healthy lifestyle.

Plan Ahead

Across the whole Health and Wellbeing Boot Camp Blog, I hope I have managed to convey the message that being awake and conscious is the key to a happy and successful life.

When you are awake, you understand the possibilities available to you; you can plan your future, and visualise your goals. Your plan need not be fixed in stone, nor constrain or bind you – make it a flexible and supportive framework that moves you ever in the direction that you, with your conscious, and awakened mind, body and soul, choose to move in.

As everybody’s journey is different, there is no fixed plan ‘template’ that will suit everyone – one size fits just the one! However, every post in this Blog has offered something that can contribute to help you map your individual way forward. The best way to stay on track is to continually ask yourself key questions, and pay attention to what resonates – take notice of your ‘self’ for you know the answers.

I found this exercise from Brian Tracy, which gives you some great key questions to ask. In fact keep them handy for ongoing use!

Task – Sharpen your Focus

“Here are several additional questions that you should ask and answer regularly as part of your personal strategic planning:

• If you could wave a magic wand and have whatever you wished for in any part of your life, what would it be?
• If you could design your perfect lifestyle… what would it look like?
• How would you change your life if you received $1 million cash, tax free, today? What is the first thing you would do?
• What parts of your work do you enjoy the most and do the best? Where do you excel? What sorts of activities make you the happiest?
• What would you do, how would you spend your time, if you learned today that you had only six months left to live?
• What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail? If you were absolutely guaranteed success in any one goal, small or large, short term or long term, what would it be?”
Brian Tracy – Focal Point

Use your Journal, a diary or a notebook to build your ‘plan’. Include all the tools that have worked for you in Boot Camp Blog, and keep asking yourself those key questions.

Change for Life

However much, or however little of the Blog you have read, you have opened a door – you have taken at least a step in the direction of being the best version of yourself. By reading this Blog you have demonstrated that you are open-minded and inquiring, and that you are not afraid to look in the mirror – well done you! I really mean that too – many people talk the talk, how many people walk the walk?

As another wise old Greek philosopher once said:

“No person ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and they’re not the same person.” Heraclitus

Life, like water, flows on, and you do continue grow and change. I first read that quote when someone used it to illustrate why they felt it was valuable to keep reading good books and good inspirations over and over again – you get different results, better results, each time because your experience changes each time.

If you go back and work through the Boot Camp Blog again in the light of what you have discovered up until now, your journey will be different every time, and almost certainly richer for it!

Even though this is called the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ Boot Camp Blog, the ‘wellbeing’ part is about so much more – it’s key to every life scenario – whether it’s to lose weight, quit smoking, leave an unhealthy relationship, change jobs – whatever your ‘it’ is, it’s about your wellbeing. All of the tools supplied to you in this Boot Camp Blog can be applied to anything you need them for. Just as a carpenter has his toolbox, these are some of the best tools of life – so use them to support yourself. We make it so hard for ourselves when we blindly fight through something. Now, you can make better and more informed choices in your thoughts and actions, and achieve successful outcomes. It doesn’t get better than that!

Thank you so much for participating in this Health and Wellbeing Boot Camp Blog – I’ve so enjoyed researching and pulling together the information and the quotes from all those inspiring, and frankly, amazing people, and sharing them with you.

Some of the material I’ve quoted was brought to my attention by the fantastic ‘Philosophers Notes’ which is run by Brian Johnson – he has read and summarised 100 amazing books. I highly recommend ‘Philosophers Notes’ as it’s quick, easy, and inspirational wisdom from 100 authors in audio and PDF format. Check out the link, which you’ll find in the right hand column on this page.

Although the ‘Boot Camp’ part of the Blog is now finished, the site is going to remain up, with all the posts available for some time, and I’ll be returning every week or so with fresh inspirations, ideas and experiences to share. There may even be the odd extra download – so please stay subscribed and keep checking back.

Meanwhile, I will be sending you a short questionnaire next week as your feedback is really valuable. It’s your feedback that can help me to improve this Boot Camp Blog. Plus I genuinely would love to know how you’ve got on.

Lastly, I want to share with you one final quote, whether you believe in God, Source, a vibrational Universe or just in yourself, I hope this speaks to your heart as powerfully as it does mine!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most.
We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us.
And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson – Return to Love

With love, light and the best of wishes

Dawn xx

Way back in the fourth post of the Health and Wellbeing Blog, I introduced Steven Covey and his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. His first habit is ‘be proactive’ and his seventh gives us the title for today’s post – he advises us to ‘sharpen the saw’.

He explains what he means by saying “effective people constantly renew themselves, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually”.

In other words – effective people keep themselves conscious and aware, moving, loving, thinking, learning and appreciating.

Renewing yourself in all the ways Covey describes can only serve to improve and increase your wellbeing – one of the major aims of the Boot Camp Blog!

Effective people are guided by their own missions and manage their lives according to principles. Ineffective people follow other people’s agendas and manage their lives around pressing matters. Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey’s Habits are such effective tools – they have been summarised on this special quick reference download.

Reviewing your Weight Loss and Wellbeing Boot Camp Blog

With your Journal in hand, together with any extra sheets or notes you’ve complied over the course of this Boot Camp Blog, revisit the posts to refresh your memory about the content.

• Look back at your answers to the questions in the first post. Has your response to any of those questions changed in any way?

• Are you deliberately listening for negative internal dialogue and replacing it with positive beliefs? (Post 2)

• Read your Statement of Definite Purpose – is it still the right Definite Purpose for you? Is your ladder leaning against the right wall? If your purpose has changed, rewrite your statement – if it is still the same, reaffirm it! (Post 4)

• Have you built ‘strategic alliances’ with friends, family or colleagues? (Post 4)

• Are your goals ‘growing’ well? Have you already achieved any of them? Or are you in the process of acheivement? (Post 7)

• Are you fitting in exercise and movement? How are you breathing – don’t forget now! (Posts 6 and 12)

• Do you focus on your visualisations and affirmations to reinforce your new beliefs? (Posts 8 and 11)

• Have you developed ‘positive rituals’ to create new habits? (Post 9)

• How’s your energy and time management? (Post 9)

• Is your Wheel of Wellbeing balancing out? (Post 13)

• How’s your motivation? Is it the carrot or the stick that motivates you? Are you using your ‘signature strengths’ to keep moving even when you’re halfway between discomfort and pleasure? (Post 17)

• Are you eating consciously and healthily? (Posts 5 and 16)

• Are you finding support and inspiration (or better still – in-spirit-ation) in books, blogs, articles, videos and people – are you ‘feeding your soul’? (Post 19)

By revisiting your Journal you will be able to measure how you have been progressing. Your entries will help you to notice the ‘immeasurable’ – such as greater confidence, peace, happiness, positivity, and vibrancy. They are sure indicators of a positive vibration which will most certainly be attracting positive outcomes!

TASK

Spend some time considering which areas of the Health and Wellbeing Boot Camp Blog have been valuable to you, and that you can build upon.

• Have they become ingrained ‘healthy habits and beliefs’? Or are you still consciously integrating them into your daily routine?

• How is ‘change’ for you now, easier than you thought? Or are there resistances around change?

• How are you going to sustain your ongoing success?

I gave you this quote in the second post, way back in the first week – it’s so profound, that it’s worth repeating.

“Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” Aristotle

Happiness is what it’s all about after all – the ultimate end result we are all aiming for!

Gratitude with Attitude

I am now going to pass on to you a massive secret. The secret to happiness and success, and it’s so simple you may even groan…

The answer is gratitude, or appreciation. There is hardly a higher vibration than a ‘thank you’ from the heart. You know how it feels when you have a bought a really great present for someone you care about, and you’re really excited about giving it to them – in fact you are more excited than they are? It feels really good to be giving that gift doesn’t it? That’s what a true thank you does every time – and that’s just to you! Imagine how the person that you are saying it to feels.

Watch a face light up when you look in someone’s eyes and say ‘thank you’ from the heart.

It is the same for everything in life. When the sun shines on me, I always say thank you – it feels so good basking in the sunlight, the only way I can appreciate that is by appreciating it – consciously, deliberately. When I run water into glass, I say thank you, with every plate of delicious food I give to myself and my family, I say thank you.

Now you are in the lovely habit of Journaling, slip in a Gratitude Log. What in your life do you appreciate? Who do you appreciate? How can you appreciate even more in your life? The more you open your heart in this way; you will attract even more of it into your life. Energy begets energy.

See someone who is slimmer and healthier than you – that’s a big thank you to them. Feeling resentful or jealous creates bad feeling and energy, and nothing good can come from that. Bless everyone who has what you want – thank them for having it, because in them you see an aspect of yourself that you want to manifest.

This can be applied to everything, and it works. Better still, it’s the best gift you can give anyone – including yourself.

Thank you for being here!

Dawn

This is the last week of our regular posts, which means it’s time to consolidate what you have discovered and learnt during this Health and Wellbeing Blog. Perhaps most importantly, it’s an opportunity to make preparations to continue creating and maintaining healthy habits and self development into the future.

If you’ve been working with your goals for the past few weeks, you may want to adjust or review some of them, and make them even more powerful by creating a picture of the journey and the outcome of your goals – a physical visualisation of what you are striving for. It’s sometimes called a ‘vision board’.

How are your earlier goals growing? Are there short term goals that you’ve already reached, or that you will achieve shortly? Are the milestones for the longer term goals within sight? Remember that it’s important to see your movement towards your goals as a series of sprints rather than a marathon – it doesn’t have to be a long, hard slog, it can be a pleasurable journey – if you design it that way!

It’s those attainable steps towards your goal that will keep you moving forwards and motivated to achieve it.

TASK

The physical realisation – drawing a picture of your goals – is a step on from the mental visualisation you’ve been practicing. Use a large piece of paper, or you can buy the ‘Grow Your Goals’ download.

Please don’t be put off by thoughts that you can’t draw, because that’s not important. In fact you can sketch or doodle your goals, or create a collage with pictures from magazines or newspapers, perhaps a mixture of the two – any image that closely represents what you wish to achieve is perfect. If written words work for you, make them bold and colourful, and use them with your pictures, as your subconscious mind works with pictures.

The important thing is that you create an image that truly means something to you. And remember to feel the emotions you will experience as you achieve these goals you are creating – feel fantastic!

This task expands on the idea of your goals starting as ‘planted seeds’ from which your results arise – ‘from little acorns, mighty oaks do grow’ as they say. From small beginnings, great things can be achieved, and from the beginnings you have made I am confident that you can go on to grow the biggest and strongest oaks in the forest.

Look over your goals and select the one that is most important to you.

• On the download, write your goal, boldly, in the ‘MY GOAL’ box at the bottom of the page. Spread it out to form the solid base of your tree.

• The ‘Step’ boxes are where you put illustrate the steps or milestones that lead towards you goal.

What milestones you have put in for your goal? Can you illustrate your milestones in some way? For instance, healthy eating could be represented by a photo of fruit and veg, whatever indicates good health to you. Or if you want to learn something, take a course maybe, a picture of someone studying or even graduating – cut to the chase and see yourself achieving the degree, diploma etc.

• Populate your branches with the steps you need to take, and let them lead you up into the top of the tree. Don’t worry about ‘staying between the lines’ on the download – burst out of the boxes by all means, there’s no restrictions here, let yourself go!

• Find images or draw pictures that represent your completed goal and all the things that arise from it, and draw or place these at the top of the tree, or in and around the outcome boxes.
Material objects are easier to illustrate, obviously! But if yours is a more abstract result then enjoy using your imagination to visualise all the outcomes of achieving your aim.

For instance, if your goal is ‘good health’ find pictures that show your idea of what a healthy life means to you – walking or running on the beach, playing with the children, working well, and if learning something new is towards a career change, then remember that the end result is the new job you want – what does that look like? What will that new job bring you? If your goal is to look stunning on your wedding day, where’s the picture of the dress? Yep, you stick that on your board. Create on your vision board everything you will do, feel, and have at the result of your goal.

• Once all your steps and all your goal representations are in place, step back and take a look. You have a strong visual idea of where your goal starts, how to get there, what to expect once you’ve achieved it, and what that feels like.

Put your finished vision board somewhere you’ll see it every day – having your goals in front of you is a great means of focussing on achieving them. Out of sight can mean out of mind.

This is a task that where you could really pick up the ball and run with it. You may find it’s appropriate for you to create a vision board that shows a number of your goals at once, with several outcomes together – this is a great opportunity to get really creative, you are in control, let your imagination run wild!

Having clear objectives in mind – goals, intentions and desires – is integral to creating and maintaining real change in your life.

The final two posts of the Blog will build on this clear vision and help you to create a plan – until then enjoy your vision board, it’ll help you to grow your goals and design your life!

- Get the picture! ;0)

Dawn

An important part of life-long wellbeing, particularly when you are changing your habits, is being prepared for all situations. Real life can sometimes ambush you, and you don’t necessarily want to have to plan your way through life to the point where you can’t possibly do anything spontaneous!

If a friend asks you meet them for lunch, or your partner wants to whisk you off to a restaurant, there’s no need to stress about what it’s going to do to your diet. Going out for a meal with family or friends is usually a time of celebration and and can be treated as such.
Regular restaurant visits however will mean that you have to be much more careful and conscious, making informed and deliberate choices from the menu.

Here are a few really helpful guidelines to ‘eating out consciously’:

Eating Out Guidelines

• When you arrive at the restaurant, ask for a glass of water straight away. Still water – no ice and twenty minutes before you eat is perfect, as you will not be flushing away your precious digestive enzymes.

• Don’t starve yourself beforehand – either to make room for more or to make up for eating out. Either way is not your healthiest option! Remember that it is not about gorging as much as possible, even if it’s a tempting ‘eat-all-you-can’ buffet!

• Enjoy the whole process; remember to choose the food that feels good, the food that offers vibrancy and life-force. After enjoying your selection process, then appreciate the colours and textures of your food. Then simply enjoy each mouthful – savouring it, chewing it slowly to maximize on your nutritional absorption.

• A trip to a restaurant does not need to translate into mass over-consumption of alcohol and fizzy drinks. Instead order water or herb teas. I always have a pot of green tea if I go to a Chinese restaurant. If I do want wine, I choose organic as it is cleaner, with fewer chemicals – or as a real treat, champagne. The process that Champagne goes through is different to wine and therefore it is not ‘yeasty’ – which is something many people react to.

• Don’t be swayed by what other people are ordering – make your choice(s) for you and stick with them.

• Vegetable and light soups are great for filling up on, but avoid the cream-based ones. The same is true of pasta dishes – tomato-based sauces would normally be free from cream, and even better with a squeeze of lemon juice to break up the acidity!

• Ask the waiter how the food is cooked. Don’t be afraid to check whether the dish you fancy can be cooked without butter, and ask them to serve it without the dressing – request olive oil and lemon juice instead. If I eat Chinese food, I always ask that they do NOT use monosodium glutamate –a flavour enhancing chemical it’s in all junk food. Instead they can use a good quality tamari / shoyu / soya sauce for a fuller flavour, or extra garlic or ginger. There are always alternatives.

• Remember that you are the customer, and you are paying for the food, and it is perfectly ok for you to make appropriate enquiries about the food you want to eat. Any chef will tell you that they want their customers to truly enjoy their food, and by ensuring that it fits with your dietary needs – it’s a win win.

• If the menu seems to be limited in selection, check out the starters and side dishes for healthier options. You can usually order a selection of starters and side dishes as a substitute for the actual main course. (You know, sometimes that’s the best route to take, I’ve enjoyed some great food by ordering from those sections – streamed veg with a side salad, hummous and olives, hmmm!)

• Eat slowly. Chat between mouthfuls, and put your cutlery down between each mouthful too. Don’t be swayed if everyone else is eating faster than you. Eat in manner that you know will serve you best. Remember, the more you chew your food, the more nutrition you get from it! Observe that those who wolf their food down suffer with wind and digestion problems.

• Desserts in most restaurants are normally far too big and rich. You could always share desserts among your guest(s), sharing gives you a chance to taste and sample a couple of different desserts, and if it’s a cosy meal for two you’re enjoying, it can be quite a bonding experience! Again though, don’t invest heavily in the creamy desserts – you may suffer with a dairy mucus hangover the next day!

Bearing those points in mind will mean that eating out need not be a problem when you’re eating more healthily – preparation and consciousness is the key!

A pleasurable meal spent with special people in your life is a joyful occasion. Your carefully-honed conscious appreciation of that meal will absolutely add to it.

Most importantly – in-joy it!

Happy dining!

Dawn

Although this Blog offers much more than just food and diet information, how we fuel ourselves is still fundamentally important.

Our biological machines – our bodies – need certain elements from food to undertake all the amazing functions, chemical reactions and biological transformations that go on inside us all day, every day.
If we under-fuel ourselves, our performance suffers, and worse still, if we fill up instead on junk – sugary, fatty, artificial – and totally devoid of nutritional value, we can actually damage our bodies. There’s an obesity epidemic happening right now for exactly that reason.

In the post entitled ‘Fundamental Fuel – Food for Thought’ (post 16) I was asking you to get in touch with a more deep-seated appreciation of food and to examine how you select it.
The very best way to receive a high level of nutrition from what you eat is to select foods that are packed with vital elements, dense in vitamins, minerals and enzymes, and which truly are ‘fuel’ for your body! And that’s where Superfoods come in…

What is Superfood?

Natural foods that contain a high range of important nutrients such as enzymes, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, and antioxidants are often called ‘superfoods’. Basically they are foods that are superior sources of essential nutrients – the nutrients our body needs, but which we cannot make ourselves without food.

Most of the recommended superfoods are straightforward items we are all familiar with – nuts and seeds, berries and common veg, garlic and fruit. The less familiar items, like wheatgrass, barleygrass, and spirulina and other algae, quinoa, aloe vera etc may seem more exotic, but are now quite easy to get hold of, with many appearing in the local supermarket.
Here’s a quick list of common Superfoods:
(When buying these products, be aware of their origins, buy organic wherever you can, and eat them while they are as fresh as possible.)
• Whole Grains
• Sunflower Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Flaxseeds
• Apples
• Avocados
• Beetroot
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Cranberries
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Olive / Hemp / Flax Oil
• Onions
• Oranges
• Dark Leafy Cabbage
• Tomatoes
• Sprouted Seeds & Beans – Alfalfa, Mung, Aduki, Quinoa etc

Whilst we may quite easily add more fruits, salads and vegetables into our diets by changing how we shop in the supermarket, there is growing awareness of concerns about the quality of those mass-produced foods. Many are grown on mineral depleted soils, or preserved using gasses and air-freighted from foreign countries.
All this concern and controversy makes properly cultivated superfoods a popular addition to the diet of anyone who is looking to really take care with what they are eating.
Many superfoods are available in powder or granular form, which makes it really easy to incorporate them into recipes, blend into smoothies, or sprinkle over our regular meals.
Including superfoods in your daily diet can help you to provide your body with all the nutrients, antioxidants and other fuels it needs to get you through the day happily, energetically, fantastically!

Introducing super Superfoods!

Throughout the Boot Camp Blog, you have been encouraged to refine your thoughts, your energy, goals and choices. The introduction of Superfoods into your diet accelerates wellbeing, weight loss, detoxification, and raises your vibration.
So without further ado please let me introduce you to the famous five amazing extra-Superfoods which are delicious, easy-to-use nutritional powerhouses! I use them every day.

The fabulous five are:
Maca Powder which is an excellent source of protein, iron and calcium
Barleygrass is packed with antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and minerals
Goji Berries – fantastic for B vitamins and Beta Carotene
Cacao Powder is a nutritional powerhouse and an excellent source of sulphur and magnesium
Bee Pollen is loaded with B Vitamins and an excellent energy source

The two major blocks to people using Superfoods are that they don’t know where to get them and they’re not sure how to use them when they do find them! I’ve provided a download in the free resources section that deals with both of those issues.

Collect your Free Superfoods Download Here.

As well as describing the foods, and explaining to you what they are and where they are from, the download gives you ideas for using them and fitting them into your everyday diet.

TASK

• Download the Superfoods Guide from the free resources page and have a read through the information.
• Did you know anything about any of these foods before?
• If you want to try out any of these, and other Superfoods, zip over to Nutri-Health where there is a good variety of superfoods to chose from, including the Nutri-Health Superfoods Starter Pack which includes all five of the superfoods mentioned above.
• If you’re not ready to buy powered and granulated superfoods, look at the list at the top of the post again – draw up a shopping list that contains loads of them!

So, there we have it.
I am happy to let the descriptions of the amazing foods in the download do the talking – they even ‘feel’ good from here. I genuinely do use the ingredients every day; I incorporate them in my daily routine, just as I clean my teeth morning and night.
Each morning I have Barleygrass in water – probably about 2 teaspoons in a glass. I also use it as a sprinkle over salads, steamed vegetables or with apple juice in a Green Smoothie.
My quick weekday breakfast is a water, banana, Raw Cacao, Maca and Bee Pollen Smoothie.
During the day I nibble on Gojis as they are, or put them in my home-made raw chocolate bars, or soak them for desserts, smoothies, and sprinkle them into salads.
I am not going to try to persuade you to make better feeling food choices, as I know that it’s in the eating of them for yourself that you’ll know you’ve picked the right option.
Have a super day on your Superfoods.

Dawn

Welcome to today’s post.

“The mind, with its emotions, is composed of ideas and impressions, and it is healthy and vital when it is continually replenished with inspiration, confidence, hope, wisdom, and understanding. No man lives long without food of the spirit.” Ervin Seale – Take Off From Within

We eat every day, and wouldn’t live long without food. We’d quickly become lethargic and fatigued, our energy would seep away, our bodies weaken – we would starve.

It’s not just your physical body that requires nourishment. So does your mind – and your soul – the essence of who you are; your spirit, intuition, intelligence, connectedness, thoughts, memories and the seat of all your feelings and emotions. The soul is the intangible part of a human being that science cannot ‘classify’ or explain, yet which is undoubtedly there.

Just like the physical body, if the spirit is not fed, it too will become weak. Thankfully, the soul doesn’t die from starvation, so no matter what state it reaches, it can be nurtured back to full strength!

How?

By immersing yourself in inspiration or ‘in-spirit-ation’ as I like to call it. People receive inspiration from many different sources. For some it is drawn from time spent reading book, articles – or blogs like this. Creative writing, journaling and meditating work for others, whilst time spent with loved ones, being outside in touch with nature and simply soaking in the miracle that is your life with a sense of love and gratitude can all serve to inspire and feed your heart, mind and soul.

“The possession of material riches, without inner peace, is like dying of thirst while bathing in a lake.” Yogananda

TASK

• What do you do to feed your soul?
• What is it that inspires and enlivens you?
• What makes you happy?
• What makes you feel creative?
• When are you at your happiest and most emotionally and spiritually fulfilled?

Make notes in your Journal, and over the next few weeks, look out for moments, people and things that inspire you – things that could lead you to create something new in your life, or simply prompt a moment of satisfying thought and reflection.

…And Food for the Mind.

“An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind, a mind that is watching, learning, studying.” Krishnamurti

Continual learning is good development, keeping us moving towards our goals and desires. Whilst it is important to smell the flowers along the way, when you are actively changing old habits for new, momentum is essential.

It’s a sad fact that our linear, target-driven education system puts some people off of the idea of learning as it carries memories of being taught by rote and facing the wrath of the teacher if they ‘fail’! Please, if any old ‘school’ nightmares rear up for you when you think about ‘learning’ it’s important that you know that there is no testing, no exam, no failure. It’s just you, seeking out information that touch, moves, and inspires you, as well as increasing your understanding and knowledge.

“Good habits are hard to develop but easy to live with; bad habits are easy to develop but hard to live with. The habits you have and the habits that have you will determine almost everything you achieve or fail to achieve.” Brian Tracy

By taking part in this Blog, you are opening your mind to new ideas and perhaps allowing new concepts of thought – that is ‘personal development’. We strengthen our body muscles with food and exercise, and we can do the same with our mind by nurturing it with healthy information and thoughts.

“You are a dynamic whole greater than the sum of your parts. By integrating your body, mind, and emotions through training, you reshape your life.” Dan Millman – Body Mind Mastery

If any of the Boot Camp quotes have resonated with you, look up the name of the person on the internet – what books, cd’s or downloads are available? There is plenty of wonderful, material available, much of it for free, on the internet – try iTunes for audio podcasts, and YouTube has some fantastic resources. You will see that where I have taken a theme or a great quote from a particular author, I have included the name of the book that the inspiration came from and a link to where you can buy the book if the quotes really speak to you!

If you have limited time for reading, look out for audio sources. One of my favourite personal / spiritual development times is when I am driving – I plug in the iPod, or put on a CD and away I go! It’s a fantastic time for listening and learning, it makes traffic jams and queues a joy!

“Just as iron rusts from disuse, and stagnant water putrefies, or when cold turns to ice, so our intellect wastes unless it is kept in use.” Leonardo da Vinci

Some material is great in book form – by using a brightly coloured pen you can highlight phrases, sentences and quotes that inspire you. This is also a great creative time where you can really get into the subject and begin visualising how, where, what, who etc., you want to be. It can be a very peaceful and fulfilling activity to complement your increasingly healthy lifestyle!

If you have children in your family, it’s a fantastic way of leading by example. There are many children’s ‘holistic’ developmental materials out there too; one good example is ‘Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul’ by Jack Clanfield, well-known author of ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’.

“Great minds ask great questions. The questions that ‘engage our thought’ on a daily basis reflect our life purpose and influence the quality of our lives. By cultivating a Da Vinci-like open, questing frame of mind, we broaden our universe and improve our ability to travel through it.” Michael Gelb – How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

TASK

• Spend some time exploring what and who appeals to you in the personal / spiritual development arena.
• Consider how and when you will fit it into your daily routine.
• Find something that appeals to you to either read and/or listen to, and stretch your imagination and understanding – your learning.

And remember – libraries are free! It’s always worth asking the local library if they can get hold of a copy of a book or cd you’re interested in.

“Man can either buy his wisdom or borrow it. By buying it, he pays full price in personal time and treasure. But by borrowing it, he capitalizes on the lessons learned from the failures of others.” Benjamin Franklin

Wishing you an abundance of in-spirit-ation

Dawn

Welcome! It’s the end of the sixth week of the Boot Camp Blog, and three weeks ago you began to record how you spend your time – and your energy.
Whether you used the Energy Management sheets or made notes in your journal, today’s post is about looking over your notes and analysing the results.
If, by any chance, you’ve been ‘too busy’ to make notes about how you are spending your time… well, there’s a clue right there! Seriously, if that is the case, take the chance over the next couple of days to make a note of where your time and energy is spent, and how you feel (physically and emotionally), then come back to the post.

To recap an earlier point, building your energy reserves is important if you are to manage them well. I covered the subject in Post 3 but in summary, it shows that there are four main ways to nourish our physical energy:
• breathing deeply
• drinking more water
• eating more healthily
• getting plenty of sleep.
How is that going? These four foundations to good health are key to your wellbeing and success – if you are not already incorporating them into your life, then now is a good time to start!

Analysing your Energy Management notes

What you were looking out for firstly were the ways in which your time and energy were spent:
• on things you HAD to do
• on things you CHOSE to do
• or things you did because OTHER PEOPLE wanted you to.
This can be a great opportunity to have some fun with highlighters or colouring pencils – enjoy your tasks!

You then considered whether you could change your perspective on any of the tasks, particularly the ‘had to do’ list, and thereby change which group it fell into.
Ask yourself the following questions:
• “Do I have a ‘fresh perspective’ on any of my regular tasks?”
• “Have I created any ‘positive energy rituals’ to make routine tasks as automatic as possible?”
• “Am I balancing the use of my energy? Resting enough, and then getting things done?”
• “Do I pace my energy expenditure – am I a sprinter, or a marathon runner?”
• “Am I a procrastinator, or an action taker?”
• “Do I have a plan?”
If you need to, revisit the post on Energy Management (Post 9) and come back to these questions when you’ve read it.

Getting things done!

Napoleon Hill said “the secret of getting things done is: DO IT NOW!” and it’s a well known saying – “if you want something done, ask a busy person!”

Busy people are generally in the habit of getting things done because they don’t procrastinate. If taking action is a challenge for you, find some strategies that can help you to change that.

For instance, I have a friend who has taken to putting a timer on when she’s working on a task – if the garden needs weeding, the timer goes on for an hour, and she gets right on with the task at hand because there is a close and pressing deadline to meet. Another tells that when she watches TV, she refuses to completely waste her time and is often amazed by how much can be done during an ad break! You might even call this a ‘positive energy ritual’ – she is compelled to hop up when the ads come on and do something positive.

• Do you have, or can you think or any strategies or tools that could help you to take action faster?
If you do, please share them in the comments section below the post, as maybe other readers might find them useful too!
• Have you taken any steps to make sure that you fit in tasks that might otherwise slip – such as buddying up with a friend to go swimming, or to a fitness class perhaps?

Remove the Distractions!

Another way to create time for important actions is to remove, put away or restrict access to those things that divert you from your good intentions. Dan Millman has a great idea about that:

“Make any positive behavior as convenient as possible. To break my habit of snacking in the evenings, I keep dental floss and a toothbrush in the downstairs bathroom near the kitchen. Right after dinner I floss and brush. I’m far less likely to snack, because if I eat something, I have to floss and brush all over again.
Make any negative behavior as inconvenient as possible. To smoke less, keep only one pack of cigarettes at home, in a small locked safe under some luggage in the closet in the garage. You might also put the television in that same closet, so you take it out only for special events, and use your old TV time writing that book, painting that picture, or learning a new language. In this way you replace old negative routines with new behaviors, pouring new energy into a new you.”
Dan Millman – Everyday Enlightenment

• Look at your energy management notes again – is there anything on there that could count as a ‘bad’ habit, and might be broken by making it more difficult to indulge in?
• Is there anything that is a ‘positive’ habit that you could make easier to do, simpler to access, and that can stand up against a ‘bad’ habit and change it?

Creating a Plan

I quoted the wonderful Ariane de Bonvoisin in the original post about Energy Management, and I’m going to repeat the quote here:

“People who successfully navigate change take action. They have a plan and know how to take care of themselves. Actions come in many forms. Some are big and obvious; some are so small you may think they are irrelevant. But any good action you take is a choice to move forward.”

A plan is that much easier to implement when you have the time to draw it up and carry it out – work on your energy management, so that working on your plan is part of your routine.

One of the final posts of the Boot Camp Blog will be about drawing up a plan to help you to stay firmly on your chosen path to wellbeing and sustained weight loss. Until then, stay conscious of your energy management – it’s good to be on top of things!
Best wishes

Dawn

Several weeks into a ‘fresh start’ can be when it starts to slide…. your motivation that is!

I find it interesting to rediscover the origins of a word such as ‘motive’ as invariably the original meaning has a totally different dynamic – a generally more positive and empowering one! When I looked up ‘motivation’ on the internet, I found that the Latin origin was the word mōtīvus, which means ‘serving to move’, or ‘helping’ to move.

Motivation is closely linked to ‘movement’ – the key to ongoing success is to keep moving along your path, and as you go, keep your eye on what it is that serves to move you on. By reading this Blog, you are already primed to continually seek out that which is helping you to move from where you are now towards your desired outcome.

Almost everything we’ve covered in the Blog to date, starting with your Statement of Definite Purpose in the first week, through goal setting, visualisation and affirmation – all the tools we’ve discussed and used – will serve to move you along. You are now creating the space and providing the right environment to make your intention an actuality. To keep moving yourself towards your goal, despite all of the excuses, reasons and other stuff that comes up to waylay or distract – do everything you can to stay motivated – serve yourself as best you can!

“Motivation is a force which moves us to action, and it springs from inside the individual.” Dr. Denis Waitley – The Psychology of Winning

Personally, it’s when I sense my driving force waning away, that I literally want to lay my hands on something tangible and solid, such as an inspiring book. I also receive a lot of comfort from using crystals and essences. A crystal that has jumped out at me in the shop is easy to hold or have under my pillow as a physical support towards my goals. For example, clear quartz brings strength and clarity, or for self esteem and self love pick rose quartz, both can work wonders! Energy Essences are small enough to carry around and are surprisingly powerful and effective during transitional periods.

The books mentioned thus far I tend to have within arms reach, and a randomly opened page can reveal a quick line or two of inspiration or a needed confirmation.

These tools and others work for me and have done for years – enjoy finding out what works for you – widen your repertoire!

Keep it fresh!

When you were setting goals, did you put in milestones that you could achieve comfortably, and were they milestones that would keep you moving towards your ultimate goal? Are your visualisations vivid enough, and do they really represent what you want? Never be afraid to reassess your goals – if you find something isn’t working for you, take another look at them. Don’t give up – nothing is too hard if you keep making moves towards your goals, just ensure you’re moving in the right direction, climbing the right ladder, a ladder that’s leaning against the right wall!

“You see, without a purpose in life, it’s easy to get sidetracked on your life’s journey. It’s easy to wander and drift, accomplishing little. But with a purpose, everything in life seems to fall into place. To be ‘on purpose’ means you’re doing what you love to do, doing what you’re good at and accomplishing what’s important to you. When you truly are on purpose, the people, resources, and opportunities you need naturally gravitate toward you. The world benefits, too, because when you act in alignment with your true life purpose, all of your actions automatically serve others.”   Jack Canfield – The Success Principles

The sheer act of working towards your desired outcome, which is for your betterment, can almost feel divinely assisted. I found that the more I stepped up to the mark, the more coincidence, synchronicity, tools and support came my way. Staying actively motivated is wonderfully rewarded as the Law of Attraction kicks in!

“The good life consists in deriving happiness by using your signature strengths every day in the main realms of living. The meaningful life adds one more component: using these same strengths to forward knowledge, power, or goodness. A life that does this is pregnant with meaning, and if God comes at the end, such a life is sacred.” Martin Seligman – Authentic Happiness

It can be helpful to understand the psychology behind motivation, as knowing why you behave and think the way you do can allow you to change it if it’s not serving you. Scientists will tell you that there are two things that motivate human beings – the first is the need to move away from pain or discomfort, the second is the desire to move towards pleasure. Classic carrot and stick!

The point to watch out for is midway – when the discomfort has faded and the pleasure is still a little way off it’s easy to lose motivation, to stand still. Find the tools that serve you best, your ‘signature strengths’ – and keep moving!

“I do not believe that you should devote overly much effort to correcting your weaknesses. Rather, I believe that the highest success in living and the deepest emotional satisfaction comes from building and using your signature strengths.” Martin Seligman – Authentic Happiness

TASK

To continue to serve yourself as best you can, and to keep moving, focus on your strengths.
• Use this link: Authentichappiness, and explore the amazing self-assessment tests which are offered for free!
• Start with the “signature strengths” test and enjoy getting to know yourself better.
• There are other scientifically validated tests to investigate, ranging from gratitude and meaning to optimism. Find out what your strengths are, and play to them!

“Unlike dieting, learned optimism is easy to maintain once you start. Once you get into the habit of disputing negative beliefs, your daily life will run much better, and you will feel much happier.” Martin Seligman – Learned Optimism

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle

Dawn

Looking good and feeling great is something we all aspire to, and it can be achieved by choosing the right nutritionally dense, high-vibrational food to eat.

Earlier in the Blog I talked about everything being energy vibration. Humans, as ‘energy beings,’ are composed of energy, some of which is visible – skin, hair, flesh and bone etc. There are also other aspects of our energy fields which vibrate much faster and cannot normally be seen with the naked eye. For instance, you may have heard of the energy lines that run through the body called ‘meridians’. Traditional Chinese medicine has been using specific points on the meridians for thousands of years to regulate the follow of energy, or ‘chi’, by means of acupuncture. Reiki, reflexology and a number of other alternative therapies are also based on this ancient and established view of the body.

Food too is energy, and has its vibration.

Consider for a moment and ask yourself these questions:
• What are your motivations and drivers when it comes to the food you choose to buy and eat?
• What foods attract you? How do they attract you? Why?
• What foods do you avoid and which repel you?
Think in terms of colour, smell and texture – what emotional sensations do you feel: happiness, comfort, fulfillment or suppression?
What, how and why we choose the food we do, how and where we buy it from, how we prepare, cook and finally eat it – are questions worth exploring.
The above investigation highlights your approach to food, and what you get from food.

Use your Journal to explore those questions and write down what comes up for you. You will find it quite revelatory.

Using your ‘extra sense’

Fruits, vegetables, pulses, seeds, meats and the like, all being energy, have their own particular vibration. That vibration may be one that you are attracted to, repelled by, or feel neutral about.

By learning how to tap into the energy vibration of food, you’ll simultaneously connect with your own vibrational sensory system – in effect, you’ll feel the food without needing to touch it. It’s a system that is easily drowned out if all you listen to are the messages from that small dominate tastebud on your tongue that sends out craving messages for sweet, salty, spicy, fatty, ‘tasty’ foods. It’s time to turn down the volume on the superficial selectors!

Everyone has a vibrational antenna, as we discussed before – you walk into a room and pick up that the people there have had an argument, or perhaps you meet someone for the first time and, without really knowing why, like them and develop a rapport. These invisible energy messages can be picked up easily, and it’s fascinating to see it in action once you’re aware of it.

A food example might go something like this; when shopping for fruit, you will find yourself drawn to certain types and varieties, and will most likely pass off on the ones that looks bruised or rotten without consciously ‘deciding’ to do so. If you are buying broccoli for instance, you’ll go to one that looks a strong green colour and is robust and healthy. Your hands and eyes (sensory system) know exactly what to do without you thinking about it.

The goal now is for you to acknowledge, develop and strengthen your sensory process, going past the superficial use of your nose, eyes and fingers – stepping past the dictates of your tastebuds!. Experiment when you are next shopping. Before you shop, create a mental intention to select the food that is good for you and that you will enjoy, and that you ‘feel’ is what you need. The best and most effective place to start may be the fresh fruit and vegetables. Notice what appeals to you, be conscious of your selection process – what part do colour, smell and the feel of it play? How does it ‘appeal’ to you?

By comparison, if you see a very bruised or damaged item, pick it up, and explore how it feels to you.

“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food” – Hippocrates

What do you eat?

Eating is a meaningful act – it can even be regarded as a ‘sacred’ act.
We ingest ‘food’ into our body which will be broken down, absorbed and assimilated. It will affect the whole of us – for good or bad. By ‘the whole’ I mean literally all the physical matter that makes up your body: brain, skeleton, muscles, nerves, blood, organs, eyes, hair, teeth – and, by extension, your thoughts, emotions, moods, and energy.

All things considered, it would be fair to say that we have an incredibly ‘intimate’ relationship with our food. We more often equate intimacy with relationships – we carefully choose our partners, as not just anyone will do. Yet how do we choose our food?

Do you eat just anything? Do you consciously consider what it is, where it came from, and whether it has been altered or adulterated?

The denser, heavier, more processed and stripped of nutrition your food is, the more ‘toxic’ it becomes, and the more ‘toxic’ it is, the more it ‘sticks’. It’s harder it is to digest, and your digestive system struggles to move it around the intestines and colon. The resulting stagnation can only serve to create negativity in your energy, thoughts and moods.

Conversely, the lighter, fresher and more ‘alive’ the food that is eaten, the easier it is to digest. Your body receives excellent nourishment without having to battle for it – which provides abundant energy rather than depleting it! Eating fresher, lighter foods helps to create strength, clarity and receptivity.

Whilst we can all fall prey to cravings for foods which are effectively poisonous, there is also in each of us a deeper level of knowing. As we bring awareness to our food selection and eating, we can begin to feel what our true needs are, and therefore what truly nourishes us. With this greater awareness, we can begin to make choices from our bodies; what makes us feel good at the deepest level – what really is ‘good for us’. Over time we can cultivate the skill of recognising cravings and addictions, discard them and instead work from our deeper levels of guidance.

When we prepare our meals, our own personal energy at the time can have a fundamental effect on the food. It really makes a difference whether you create a meal with love and appreciation, or just hack it up with a bad attitude and a foul mood. You can even feel the difference in the words!

Prepare your food with love and appreciation, make your meal with love, eat it whilst consciously savouring the taste, smell, colour, texture and acknowledge how it gives you nourishment with which you can live life to the full.

Task

If you have purchased the downloads, you can make use of the Meal Planners and Food Diary sheets to help you with this task.

• Plan some healthy meals – thinking ahead will help you to avoid the temptation to just grab what’s easiest – and write yourself a shopping list.

• Consciously choose, buy, or gather your ingredients. Look at them and enjoy them: the colours, shape, and smell. Select them using your inner knowledge of what is truly good for you, rather than listening to superficial ‘wantings’.

• When you prepare the meal, do so with a conscious appreciation of the benefit you’ll gain from this meal, and ensure your energy is positive.

• Enjoy with gratitude the texture, aroma, colour and taste of the foods on your plate.

Has eating will ever been so rewarding?

Healthy Eating Golden Tips

It really is important to include as much locally grown and organic food in your diet as possible. In both cases the nutritional value, the ‘life force’, is more strongly preserved. It’s a well-know fact that the fresher the food, the richer the nutritional content – it begins to deteriorate as soon as the food is harvested. For that reason it is evidently central to a healthy diet to eat plenty of ‘fresh’ food.

The energy and nutrition in food is significantly damaged by excessive processing and chemical preservation, and any sort of cooking will reduce its nutritional value too. So cook your vegetables lightly – or better still – eat them raw! You can make them delicious by adding a drizzle of good hemp or olive oil, a dash of tamari, a sprinkle of hemp seeds and a squeeze of lemon or lime – yum!

Enjoyment of food is part of opening up to being fully nourished by what we eat. If we are happy when we eat and in our relationship with food, then the body will literally accept the food more effectively into the system.

• Prepare food with kindness, love, appreciation and a sense of fun.

• Serve and eat your food with the same appreciation and understanding of how fundamental it is for you and your family.

How do you eat?

The most important part of eating is what’s on your plate – but it’s not the whole of it:

• The digestion works best when we are focused on our enjoyment of the meal and not distracted or troubled. It is better to make mealtime a relaxed occasion when we are not trying to read, watch television, do business etc.

• It is helpful to take a little time to relax the posture too, perhaps take a few quiet breaths before eating. Crossing legs or sitting twisted or hunched will compress the digestive organs and hinder the passage of food through the body.

• Well chewed food lessens the work the digestive organs have to do and allows them to extract the nutrients more efficiently. Chewing also warms chilled food.

• If we overeat at any one meal, we create stagnation – a temporary queue of food waiting to be processed. As a result we feel tired while our energy is diverted and used to digest the excess food.

• When we eat late at night our system is naturally slowing down and the food sits around for longer in the digestive system. This also creates stagnation – and depletes energy.

Embrace a renewed, healthy and vital relationship with your food

“Food is in the air, I can feel it all around…”

Dawn