The Great Outdoors, It’s Good for You!

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work and writing. We had some warm days last week which I am grateful for, but I’m ready for more. I’m ready for summer. Those consistently hot days when all I want to do is read in the shade while listening to the waves rolling in and crashing on the shore.

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This summer, I plan to get out into nature more. I’m going to make a concerted effort to get to the lakeshore and see more sunsets and walk along the beach. I’m also planning on doing more hiking.

Getting outside is good for our mind and body. Hiking in the woods is a great way to relieve stress after a busy day at work. It’s good for our immune system, too. The trees release phytoncides. These compounds are anti-fungal microbes that defend the trees from fungus, bacteria, and even animals. By breathing them in they help our immune system as well by telling worn out cells it’s time to go. No wonder I always feel better after a hike through the woods.

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Walking by the water is also beneficial. Something about the calming sound of the waves against the shore seems to unravel the tension inside of me. Walking in the sand barefoot has two benefits. It’s a great source of exercise for your leg muscles, and it’s a form of earthing or grounding.

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Grounding is a way of transferring the earth’s electrons to our bodies. It’s accomplished by walking barefoot on the earth or by digging around in the soil. For example, planting a garden or flowers.  This transfer of energy is an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant according to experts. Inflammation is a common denominator in many life-threatening diseases. Just think by grounding twenty minutes a day, you reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer.

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Let’s not forget the sun. We get vitamin D from the sun. This vitamin is essential for strong bones. It helps them absorb calcium which makes them stronger. Are you seeing a theme here?

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Do you remember when you were a kid, and you’d spend the whole day outside riding your bike and playing near the water? We were doing more for our health than we realized. I plan on spending more time outdoors this summer. I hope you can, too. What are some of the outdoor activities you enjoy? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Stress Relief in A Chaotic World

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a busy week of working, writing, and kids. I’m making progress on the changes I wanted to make in my story, and I’m excited about that.

But enough about that, today I’d like to talk about relieving the stress of every day life. I’ve written about it before, but it bares repeating because we humans need to be reminded. Life can be too much sometimes with all these train derailments and mass shootings. These events whether or not they’re close or far away, cause stress. So, stress relief and self-care are more important than ever.

So, here’s a short list of my go-to stress relievers. I hope they help you, like they’ve helped me.

1. Hiking. I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m in the woods the stress just melts away. I love hiking. The Japanese call this Forest-bathing, and there is scientific proof that the trees in the forest release phytoncides which boosts our immune system. So not only is hiking through the woods good for you mentally, it’s good for you physically, too.

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• Reading. Reading fiction is also an excellent way to reduce stress. Did you know if you read for only fifteen minutes a day, it’ll reduce your stress level by 68%? I love that. I love the idea that I can escape my problems for a little while, and when I focus on them again. They’re not quite as big.

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• Exercise.  Another great way to relieve stress other than hiking is doing some form of exercise. I run and let me tell you the Runner’s high is real. I feel so good after a run and the stress I’m dealing with at the moment melts away.

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• Yoga. Yoga is another way to destress. It calms the mind while increasing your flexibility and stability. I love yoga, when I’m done, I’m totally relaxed, but more aware. It’s an awesome feeling.

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• Going to the Beach. Did you know, just being by the water releases stress? I know I always feel better after a walk along the beach. I love watching the sun set over the water. I recommend walking barefoot. This is called Grounding, and there is evidence to support that grounding is good for your health. It has been found to reduce inflammation, pain, and stress. It also improves blood flow, energy, and sleep. You can ground anywhere, too. It doesn’t have to be at the beach. Just kick off your shoes and go!

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So, there you have it, five ways to destress in this stressful world we live in. How do you relieve your stress? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Earthing: It’s good for you

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. It has been a busy week of working, writing, and running. I’m starting to feel like my old self again. Running always clears my mind of cobwebs.

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Summer is finally here. I plan on hiking as much as I can this season. I find it healing. Whether I’m hiking on the beach or through the woods, it calms my inner angst and I work out plot issues when I do this. Something about being out in nature clears the static in my head.

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Connecting with nature is something we humans have forgotten we need. Did you know walking barefoot on the earth is good for you? It’s called Earthing. Walking barefoot allows you to connect with the earth and allows us to absorb electrons that provide a variety of benefits.

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One of those benefits is that it reduces inflammation. Inflammation is a key factor in many of our life-threatening diseases like cancer and heart disease. Wouldn’t it be something if all we needed to do is walk barefoot for an hour as a prevention to these diseases?

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There are many natural ways to heal our body. Ways we’ve forgotten as humans because we believe taking a pill is the best way to solve our problems. It’s quick and easy. Whereas earthing is a little time consuming. I mean it’s important to do it as long as you can, at least an hour. Sometimes we don’t have an hour to devote to this. I know. I’ve been there. We’re trying to parent, work, and for me I write as often as I can. Time is of the essence.

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But there’s a meme going around that hit me like a punch in the gut. It states: If you don’t make time for your wellness. You’ll be making time for your illness. I’ve never read a truer statement.

My point is you need to make your health a priority. Spending an hour walking barefoot through the woods (watch out for poison ivy) or even your yard is a great way to reduce inflammation and stress. Two key ingredients to life threatening diseases.

Here’s a quick list of the benefits of Earthing:

          Reduces inflammation: The extra neutrons from the earth help neutralize free radicals in our bodies. This reduces inflammation which is a common factor in diseases like cancer and heart disease.

          Reduces cortisol levels: Cortisol is the stress hormone created by our bodies when we’re under stress, and who’s life isn’t stressful right now? Increased levels of cortisol are responsible for accumulation of belly fat which is a factor in diabetes.

          Improves Sleep: We need to sleep. It’s our body’s way of repairing itself. Because of stress in our lives sometimes and our dependence on technology our sleep cycles get interrupted. Grounding or Earthing can help in keeping us on track with our sleep cycles by syncing our electrical system for us.

          Increased Energy: With better sleep you’ll have more energy. With all the things we want to accomplish more energy is a plus.

Now I’m not a doctor, but those benefits certainly sound good to me. I think it’s worth an hour of my time to do some Earthing especially if it helps me prevent those life-threatening diseases.

To learn more about Earthing, check out this article here. https://1md.org/article/earthing-grounding

How about you? How do you feel about Earthing? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Tropical Vacations on my Mind

 

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after finishing a couple of scenes in my story. It’s coming together and I’m excited to see the final product. I hope you are, too.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. What with the Super Blood Wolf Moon and the bitter cold weather, I’ve been staying inside, working on my story and dreaming of warmer weather.

Photo on VisualHunt.com

I can’t wait for summer and my days and nights hanging out by the beach and reading! I have so many books I on my TBR pile, I can’t think straight, but enough about that.

Photo on VisualHunt.com

Today as I hibernate against the bitter cold outside. It’s nineteen degrees, by the way, too cold for me that’s for sure. I daydream about a nice warm vacation that I’d like to go on. My kids want to go to the Bahamas. Right now, that sounds pretty good, I want to go anywhere warm.

 

Photo credit: pontla on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

I’ve googled a few places and found that it’s going to be expensive, so I’m going to start saving right now and maybe by this time next year, I’ll be sitting on the beach drinking a strawberry margarita.

A tropical vacation would be good for my soul. Can you imagine sleeping with the window open and listening to the waves lap the shore? I can. Did you know that walking barefoot on a beach or anywhere is good for you? It’s called Earthing or Grounding.

I could certainly do some earthing in the Bahamas. Just having direct contact with the earth helps stabilize daily cortisol rhythm and creates an internal bio-electrical environment. In other words, it’s good for your soul.

Photo credit: Kew on Flickr on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SA

There are also health benefits from being by the water. Did you know the salty air around the ocean helps support serotonin and melatonin production? Say good bye to the blues when you’re by the water.

Just researching these facts makes me think about returning to nature and simplifying my life so that I can do all the things I love to do. Maybe at retirement, I’ll live by the beach and read all the time, but for right now, I’ll just concentrate on a vacation.

How about you? When’s the last time you went on a vacation that was good for your soul? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!