And so we forge on, seeking out ways to implement change in a toxic environment.
Fitness, gardens and home interior are the language I speak; in all of these things I have looked for creative solutions
to bring balance. How do we convince 128 women who are consistently bored, piqued only by drama, that true power and joy come from living a healthy balance lifestyle?
When trying to help someone change their eating habits, I know you have to make small trade outs:
chips for nuts or popcorn
afternoon coffee- to decaf
fake sugar for honey or agave
sodas to herbal tea ( unless your at Aliceville )
processed sugar for fruit
potatoes for veggies
you get the idea, small little trades that later will equate to a real change in eating habits. Diets fail, but a slow transition to healthier habits will lead to true transformation.
Influence is key- having people close to you who are eating crazy stuff that smells really great, but are counterproductive to your goals, is a self sabotaging move. Instead, find a partner or group who you can set fitness goals with.
Keep a journal of your water intake, calorie count, fitness goals for the day, include workouts and measurement.
This is not only a really great formula for reaching your goals but it is also a beautiful way to build powerful, meaningful relationships with the women around you. For extra fun, make challenges, i.e…, do 10 burpees, but set a goal to do 2 more each workout until you get to where you can easily do 100.
I have found that these basic fitness/ nutritional methods easily translate to other habit changes; replacing negative habits with healthy habits: small trade outs of time or consumption, influence and journaling.
This morning in the garden, I had an organic moment with the young lady who calls me SENSAI ( I like CessieSensai )
In this season, I am pruning and cutting away the over heated, played-out parts of the garden: brown shoots from the day lilies, dead heads of the roses, once delicate and lovely but now crispy blooms on the hydrangea. As I am showing my little protege how to proceed, I see an opportunity to explain to her that we can follow the seasons of the garden and see this as a time to cut away the debris of our lives; “weed out our hearts”, if you will. I like to pluck from my heartstrings things that I can sit with in meditation, look at them in the light and smile as I toss them aside. One of the best books I ever read on the subject is called, FEELINGS BURIED ALIVE NEVER DIE. The author give a diagram of what happens when we bury feelings in our hearts and then later, a situation comes along and we suddenly ,”feel some type of way”- to put it in modern times.
The power comes from not dumbing it down but to truly identify how we feel, and honor it, learn and grow from it- not to allow it to spark some specific emotional breakdown. Naturally, we cannot help that we once buried feeling but what we can do it try to work it out now and deal with things as they come about.
Methods like this flow into our lives naturally when we are living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Exercising regularly keeps our hormones in such a beautiful state, the natural high the endorphins trigger in a good hard workout, the satisfaction of helping your community, the beautiful moments that come from reading something that challenges your mind- unlocking ideas, having relationships that are filled with serendipitous moments that bring joy and productivity, these are the things that fill a day where the 8 DIMENSIONS ARE HONORED.
OUR PROGRAM IS LIVE, the PEER SUCCESS TEAM is finally a reality and I am so eternally grateful. No matter where you are, even if you find yourself in a space that is meant to warehouse you, you can find creative ways to live a life of purpose.
