Every moment is my favorite moment. And as “new-agey” or zen-like as that sounds, it is just one of the many lessons that I learned that from my dog.
Being out of the loop, I missed the following email that made the rounds a few years ago. Thanks to a dear client who also appreciates what we might learn from out pets, he passed it on to me. I am including it in its entirety because, even if you have read it before, redundancy is a good thing. And from my perspective the “dog’s diary” reminds me to be in the moment, and love it for all it is.
Pet Diary Excerpts
The Dog’s Diary
8:00 am – Breakfast! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:15 am – Back in the car for a ride! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing! Read more
One of my dear friends calls me a dog. In a good way. I take it as a compliment.
And I’ve had a good teacher. My old buddy, my happy dog, Beau (yes, that’s him as a younger pup in the picture) has taught me more than a few life lessons in the past ten years. Beau teaches by example and everyday he reminds me to keep things in perspective.
1. Grab every opportunity to fully engage in life…always say yes to a walk (or a car ride, for that matter), no matter what the time of day or the weather…you never know what grand adventure lies ahead.
2. When given a choice between playing fetch, eating or hanging out on the couch – play fetch!
3. High self-esteem and humility go hand in hand. Read more
I have the luxury of working from home, enjoying a flexible schedule, taking off for yoga mid-morning if I so choose. Nice, I know. Yet nearly 60% of American workers have jobs that require them to sit in a cubicle for 8+ hours a day, staring into a computer screen 12 to 18 inches away. Even with a lunch “hour” and other required breaks, many workers remain seated at their stations, even bringing their lunches back to their cubicles. Ergonomic chairs or work stations, notwithstanding, these folks are still sedentary, alternately engaged in constantly moving a computer mouse back and forth and typing on a keyboard. Read more
Dear Jess, I just can’t seem find time to stop at the gym after work. Do you have any suggestions for a home workout? Thanks, JS
There is quite a bit you can do at home with just a minimal amount of equipment. Without knowing more about your personal fitness goals and current exercise routine, let me just throw out a handful of ideas:
Dear Jess, I work in an office setting and several of my co-workers always seem to be coming down with colds and other illnesses. Do you have any suggestions for boosting my immune system to avoid getting sick? Thanks much, BA
The immune system is one of the most amazing systems in the body incorporating several of the body’s most complex mechanisms. This entire system works to protect your from foreign invaders like viruses, bacteria, fungi and other micro-organisms. It is also the immune system’s job to scout out and destroy cancer cells. While most of us are familiar with the consequences of an under-active immune system (frequent colds and infections, increased cancer risk), there is also the other end of the spectrum – over-activity of the immune system - that sets the stage for the body to attack itself and is manifested in diseases like allergies, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Both are important to address.
It is a paradox – a robust immune system supports your good health and, conversely, your good health is essential to supporting your immune system. Read more
Napa Valley was, of course, wonderful. A perfect place to attend a conference on healthy eating. We had a bit of time to tour some of the nearby wineries and taste some wonderful wines.
But more to the point. One of the primary objectives of this conference was to review what we know about opportunities to optimize our health through diet, exercise and mindfulness, based on the latest research. Much of the current research confirms what we already know: there is much we can do to reduce our risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other chronic degenerative diseases. This is good news. By taking small, measurable steps towards enjoying healthier food choices and being more physically active you can dramatically improve your health and well-being.
My Top 10 Take-Away Messages: Read more
Safety first! Stay within your limits. At the beginning level, start slowly and increase weight gradually. The first month of weight training should focus on light (as in not heavy) lifting exercises. Lifting light weights allows for two very important things:
-It allows you to perfect your technique (and technique is everything, remember?). If you can’t do it right with a light weight, if will only get worse (read: less effective and more dangerous!) with a heavier weight. If you can’t maintain proper technique reduce the weight and continue, or stop and rest.
-Starting out with minimal resistance allows your tendons, ligaments and joints to adequately adapt to more intense workloads. Don’t underestimate the importance of allowing time for connective tissue to adjust to your new workload.
Muscular strength and endurance are two of the primary components of “fitness”. Today let’s focus on the benefits of resistance training and important introductory information. In upcoming posts, I will discuss basic guidelines of resistance training, designing a beginning resistance training program, and modifying your program.
These guidelines are intended for those of you who have never tried resistance training. For those of you who have some experience lifting weights, you may find the following guidelines helpful…they may remind you of a few important things you have forgotten along the way. If this information is stuff you already know, well, redundancy is a good thing.
