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Do You Give Yourself Grace?
Grace can be defined as a virtue coming from God, a merciful or compassionate nature, an act of kindness, courtesy or clemency, and an exemption. Let’s really think about these definitions…
The other day my girlfriend Chasity called me to share her disappointments in herself. She is a mom of 2 children less than 3 years old and a very big dog. She has a loving and supportive husband with a demanding job that allows him to be at home on the weekends. Chasity has a seasonal job too that currently has her working from 3pm to 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
She called to say she was disappointed in herself because she wasn’t losing more weight, she was late to exercise classes and that she wasn’t contributing more money to the family.
As I listened to her I just heard a woman beating herself up and not giving herself grace.
GRACE in the seasons of life
There are definitely seasons in our lives that we may need to give ourselves grace. Seasons when our family will require more attention than when they are older. Seasons after surgery or during an illness when we have to slow down and require less of ourselves. Seasons when we are attempting new things like going back to school after a long time that we will need more GRACE.
Because Chasity was born with some amazing gifts to get done in one day what most of us get done in a week, she still feels that she can accomplish those same things with 2 kids. Maybe she can…but it is important to give ourselves GRACE when we don’t meet our expectations.
GRACE to our bodies
Chasity doesn’t understand why she isn’t losing more weight but she is still nursing her baby. The body needs extra stored body fat when nursing. Although initially the “baby” weight will come off more quick for nursing moms, they will maintain about 10-15 pounds extra naturally.
When I work with obese women, many times they are very discouraged that they have not released any significant weight or that they have gained weight. We must give our bodies GRACE. The keys to releasing weight if you are obese can be found in our Total Wellness Slique Experience Virtual Coaching program. But in a nutshell, we address that women with a high percentage of body fat have a very low metabolism. They will need to spend 1 to 6 months re-training the body’s metabolism through healthy eating and exercise. This is also why many women plateau at 30 pounds or even 50 pounds.
We must give our bodies’ GRACE. This also includes when we start to exercise after a long break in real exercise. Give your body small steps towards physical fitness. This isn’t the Biggest Loser so let’s make sure we slowly build up. 5 minutes the first day, 10 minutes the next, and so on until we can maintain 40 minutes of continuous aerobic activity. The same thing applies when we start to strength train from no weights then light weights then heavier weights. I always recommend working with a professional to get you started exercising the right way.
Be kind with your words
Have you ever been with a friend who is always referring to himself or herself as large, overweight, or stupid? Think about it. Maybe you say those things. It’s true we can, without even thinking, be meaner to ourselves than we would ever think about saying to anyone else. We lack compassion and kindness towards ourselves. And ultimately, self love.
Start today even if you are not happy with yourself. Don’t speak it. Say positive words over yourself. Tell your body it is beautiful even if you don’t think it yet. The “Power of your Tongue” to actually bring things into being is amazing. You have the power to build yourself up or tear yourself down.
Grace to others
My husband is an expert gunsman (if that is a word). He received awards when in the Navy for his pistol and rifle shooting. As you can guess, he really likes gun shows. So the other night he was watching this show called Top Shot and I sat down to watch it with him.
It was the season finale and his favorite Southerner contestant Chris Reed was still in the running. We were on our seat with suspense when the arrogant young man, George, does something no one ever expected. He throws the competition so his now friend Chris Reed can compete for the final prize of 100,000 dollars. George gave up his chances at winning because his friend Chris needed the money. Chris had been in an awful motor vehicle accident that nearly took his life. Today with kids at home, he wanted to earn that money for his kids’ education as well as the recognition and achievement of being Top Shot. Chris went on to winning the Top Shot and the $100,000 and the tears rolled down my face. I didn’t expect to see such an example of GRACE on a reality TV show.
Everyday we have the opportunity to be a George and step down so someone else can step up. That is, to be kind and merciful towards others. To forgive someone, ourselves and just let go of the past.
How about you? Will you show yourself and someone else GRACE today?
If you want to share your story of Grace, comment below.
We publish newsletters and blogposts twice a week for our readers for general education purposes only. We cover topics that are related to achieving and maintaining total wellness which includes our emotional, physical, spiritual and financial health.
Bra… Friend or Foe
Bra… Friend or Foe
By: Pamela Howard, DC, CCT
Every morning, women get up and put on their bra; it’s part of our daily routine. Since breasts have become “fashion accessories”, we must make sure they take their rightful place. But what if your bra was harming your health, would you forsake it?
Syndy Ross Singer & Soma Grismaijer are two researchers bold enough to study the effects of bras on women’s health and wrote a book on it, Dressed to Kill; The link Between Breast Cancer and Bras and their follow up book, Get it Off! Understanding The Cause of … Breast Pain, Cysts and Cancer, despite threats with a lawsuit by the Intimate Apparel Council (trade association in the US for the multi-billion dollar bra industry). Singer & Grismaijer found it interesting that the cancer industry has never looked at bras and breast constriction as a possible cause of breast cancer. They concluded that with a medical industry that earns $10,000,000,000 annually on treatments for breast cancer, getting rid of bras would cost the medical industry billions.
Surrounding our breasts is the greatest number of lymph vessels and nodes. When the breast region is constricted by a bra, the lymph system cannot flow freely. This causes a buildup of fluid, less effective feeding and cleansing of the tissue, an increase in accumulated toxins and restriction of lymphocytes which destroy abnormal cells. In addition, the petrochemicals in bra materials can leach out of the fabric and into the skin, causing loss of breast skin color and dermatitis. Dr. Irmgard Keeler-Howard of Houghton College states that chemicals that comprise elastic may be cancer causing.
Consider Singer & Grismaijer’s findings:
o Women wearing bras 24 hours per day were 125 times more likely (3 out of 4 chance) to developing breast cancer
o Women wearing bras more than 12 hours per day, but not to bed, had a 1 out of 7 risk
o Women wearing bras less than 12 hours per day had a 1 out of 152 risk
o Women who rarely or never wore bras had a 1 out of 168 change of breast cancer
o Wearing a bra at least 14 hours a day tends to increase the hormone prolactin, which decreases circulation to the breast tissue.
o Professional women have higher than average BC incidence rates than rural women who wear their bras less often
o 80% of bra wearers who experience lumps, cysts, and tenderness saw their symptoms vanish, within a month of getting rid of their bra
o In 1997 Singer compared a group of women in Fiji – half of the women wore bras and the other half went without. The diet, environment and lifestyle of both groups were the same. Those who wore bras had the same rate of breast cancer as women in the US. Those who went braless experienced practically no breast cancer.
Bras are not the first item of clothing to be called on the carpet for potential health issues. Over the centuries, various items of clothing which chronically constricted a region of the body have come under fire.
Asian cultures bound women’s feet in the name of fashion, creating irreversible deformed and dysfunctional feet. Tightly laced corsets from the 1700-1900’s contributed to an enlarged left heart ventricle as well as congestion of the brain, liver and kidneys. Neckties have been linked with reduced blood circulation to the brain, shoes causing corns; Tight Pants Syndrome may be the cause of unexplained stomach cramps, and chest pain and heartburn.
In addition, tight belts restricting lymphatic flow to the groin region may be linked with increases in colon cancer. This, incidentally, occurs most frequently below the belt region in the sigmoid colon and rectum. Also, men’s tight briefs reducing sperm count, and repeated trauma from eye glasses have been linked with skin cancer on the bridge of the nose. I think you are getting the idea, constrictive clothing may not be the direct cause of our health issues but it certainly creates an environment conducive to ill health.
It’s time we consider health over fashion and demand new fashion trends featuring healthy breasts… au natural! Enhance lymph flow with gentle lymph massage, moving them from the nipple outwards, mostly toward the armpit. Stimulate lymph flow by dry brushing, rebounding on a mini trampoline or bouncing on a gym ball while moving the arms. If you must wear a bra, consider bras made from natural fabrics and avoid padded, push-up, sports, strapless, underwire and tight/ill fitting bras which contribute to breast compression as well as bras resembling body armor which may heat up breasts to unnatural temperatures.
Dr. Pamela Howard, DC, Certified Clinical Thermographer; founded Advanced Thermal Imaging in 2005 to provide a safe, non-invasive means of detecting health concerns utilizing Thermography throughout Central PA & Upstate NY. Visit her website to learn more at www.athermalimage.com
Would you like to learn about Young Living Essential oils that have been found to help breast health and even inhibit cancer growth? We are here to serve you so let us know if these topics are important to you.
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