Stress Less! – Alternative and Natural Approaches

One of the unhealthiest things we can do is over-stress. There is almost no part of our bodies that goes unaffected when we don’t get necessary rest and recuperation. In today’s busy world, stress isn’t reserved for workaholics alone. Are you experiencing stress? What are some of the symptoms of stress? What can you do to alleviate stress naturally and effectively?

Life: It’s a Gift! – 25 Motivational Quotes

What makes some more motivated than others?  Why do some succeed where others fail?  How can we keep working toward our goals when all odds are against us?

Life is a gift, but let’s face it. Sometimes it can be tough and we need a little motivation to achieve our goals or just simply make it through a tough day. Here are our top 25 motivational quotes to inspire and uplift you:

1. Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it. -Margaret Thatcher, Former British Prime Minister
2. Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. -Dan Stanford
3. Anyone can do something when they WANT to do it. Really successful people do things when they don’t want to do it.-Dr. Phil
4. There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.-Dr. Denis Waitley
5. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.  -Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari Computer
6. The best way to predict the future is to create it. -Unknown
7. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. -George Carlin
8. Fear is the result of a lack of confidence. A lack of confidence is the result of not knowing what you can do. A lack of knowing what you can do is caused by a lack of experience. A lack of experience is caused by a lack of doing something new. -Dale Carnegie
9. Try not to become a man of success but a man of value. -Albert Einstein
10. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. -Henry David Thoreau
11. Inspiration and genius–one and the same. -Victor Hugo
12. To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: “Leave no stone unturned.” -Edward Bulwer Lytton
13. Try to be happy in this present moment, and put not off being so to a time to come,—as though that time should be of another make from this which has already come and is ours. –Thomas Fuller
14. Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness. -George Santayana
15. Time is the coin of life. Only you can determine how it will be spent.  -Carl Sandburg
16. I get knocked down. But I get up again. You’re never going to keep me down.  -Chumbawamba
17. Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time. –Elbert Green Hubbard
18. When it’s time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived. -Henry David Thoreau
19. Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose– a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” – Mary Shelley
20. There is no such thing as failure. There are only results. –Tony Robbins
21. To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
22. It’s great to be great, but its greater to be human. –Will Rogers
23. Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking
24. There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. -Albert Einstein
25. First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win. -Mahatma Gandhi

__________________________________

This article is written by Jean Voice Dart,  M.S. Special Education from Illinois State University. Jean is a published author and has written hundreds of health articles as well as hosting a local television program, “Making Miracles Happen.”  She is a Registered Music Therapist, Sound Therapist, and Master Level Energetic Teacher, and is the Executive Director, founder and Health and Wellness Educator of the Monterey Bay Holistic Alliance.  The Monterey Bay Holistic Alliance is a registered 501 (c) 3  nonprofit health and wellness education organization.  For more information about  the Monterey Bay Holistic Alliance contact us or visit our website at www.montereybayholistic.com.

Disclaimer: The Monterey Bay Holistic Alliance is a charitable, independent registered nonprofit 501(c)3 organization and does not endorse any particular products or practices. We exist as an educational organization dedicated to providing free access to health education resources, products and services. Claims and statements herein are for informational purposes only and have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The statements about organizations, practitioners, methods of treatment, and products listed on this website are not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information is intended for educational purposes only. The MBHA strongly recommends that you seek out your trusted medical doctor or practitioner for diagnosis and treatment of any existing health condition.

We Can Do It! Keeping Physically Fit

Greetings MBHA friends!

Today is a great day to focus on persistence, pushing through barriers, and seize the day. Let’s start tackling those fitness goals! It’s a little foggy and chilly here on the Monterey Bay Central California coast. The faint sound of seagulls can be heard on top of the splashing of the waves against the shore, and it’s not unusual to see a turkey vulture in the sky with it’s effortless, smooth and gentle flight.  SO after a belly full of Thanksgiving holiday food, and a weekend of chilly weather, it’s TEMPTING to put off those nasty exercises that make us achy and sore.  BUT let’s wake up and seize the day with a little inspiration from Rosie the Riveter!

We can do it!

Click and copy to share with friends. The “We Can Do It” poster was created in 1943 to boost worker morale during World War II. Today we fight another war. It’s the war of keeping healthy and fit! We can do it.

The American wartime propaganda poster “We Can Do It!”  inspires all of us here at MBHA to get up, get moving, and be disciplined with our physical exercises. Just look at that face! This muscular woman is speaking to ALL out there who feel frustration and hopeless when life seems challenging and bleak.

The poster was originally produced by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for Westinghouse Electric is as an inspirational image to boost female wartime worker morale. The poster is believed to be created from  a black-and-white wire service photograph taken of Geraldine Hoff, a Michigan factory worker.

It was actually seen very little during World War II, but was brought out again to the public  in the early 1980’s and widely distributed during the “Women’s Rights” era of that time. It inspired women to keep up the fight and never give up hope.   The poster girl became known as “Rosie the Riveter”  and it made the cover of the Smithsonian magazine in 1994 and in 1999 was a US first-class mail stamp.

Today we fight war of another kind.

Today we are fighting a war within OURSELVES: the war of the mind, body and spirit, that prevents us from choosing to keep physically fit. This is a VERY serious war.  Rosie, with her bulging muscles, and determined, fearless, gaze, depicts the inspirational spirit of someone who is not about to give up!

Health challenges can be a lonely battle. Employers are more often not providing in health care benefits and insurance companies are no longer covering outrageous expenses.  Many men and women are unemployed or working for low wages and feeling hopeless from the stresses of the failing economy. They, in turn, have stopped the healthy disciplines of good nutrition, daily physical exercises, and getting plenty of sleep, fresh air, rest and relaxation.  People with chronic illnesses, sometimes give up the fight in despair, surrendering to a life of suffering and eventually death.  Many people choose to sit in their rooms, hopelessly surrendering to a life of despair, sometimes clinging to watching television or chatting online with cyber-friends, looking for an escape from the all too painful piles of bills, and the pain and suffering of the physical, emotional, and mental body.

Less than 25% of the people today meet the guidelines for aerobic and muscle strengthening.

Recent statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that less than 25% of adults 18 years of age and over who met the Physical Activity Guidelines for both aerobic and  muscle-strengthening physical activity.   Cardiovascular disease is the cause of death for more than 1/4 of people this past year and is the leading cause of death for both men and women.

Looking at our past is a healthy way to inspire us to move forward in the future.

Rosie the Riveter has been there for 70 years to say, “We Can Do It!” and keep people from choosing the “VICTIM” consciousness. She’s inspired people through many lifetime struggles and challenges, and she can inspire US NOW during these challenging times.  Sure, times are tough, but it’s up to us to make a difference.  So we start by getting up off of the couch and doing some exercises, or maybe just going for a walk  after supper. We eat right, get plenty of sleep, look to a higher wisdom, and see the blessings and lessons in every moment.  Soon we begin to heal ourselves, and then we can begin to heal the world. We do this one day at a time.

We invite YOU to share your inspirational stories and the ways in which you have broken through barriers and pushed past your fears to face life’s biggest challenges. YOU are our biggest inspiration.

With gratitude and love to you,
Your health and wellness friends,
The MBHA Staff and Volunteers