Cut the CRAP

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Laurie Buchanan

Last Nov/Dec I had a miserable four-week bout of bronchitis. It was hard enough to breathe, let alone eat. So, not on purpose, but entirely by default, I inadvertently cut the CRAP:

Caffeine
Refined sugar
Alcohol
Processed foods (except pasta)

Because I was miserable (and couldn’t enjoy it anyway), the CRAP was easy to forego. And though I didn’t need to lose weight, when I stood on the scale, I discovered that I’d lost 8 pounds.

As it turns out, I don’t miss not having caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol, or processed foods (except pasta), so I’m continuing to cut the CRAP. I feel fantastic!

I wish I were the one who’d coined the phrase “Cut the Crap,” but I’m not. It was established by James Duigan, a wellness warrior extraordinaire. If you’re interested, here’s a LINK where you can learn more about his philosophy.

On purpose or by default, have you removed anything from your lifestyle?

Pucker Up!

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Laurie Buchanan

On watermelon’s heels, grapefruit is my second favorite fruit. In our house, we eat it, drink the juice (unsweetened), and use it as aromatherapy by diffusing grapefruit essential oil in a diffuser. It has a refreshing, citrusy aroma.

According to MEDICAL DAILY, eating grapefruit or drinking its juice, strengthens the immune system, boosts metabolism, reduces kidney stone risk, fights gum disease, protects against cancer, and reduces stress.

According to DOCTORS HEALTH PRESS, when using grapefruit essential oil in the form of aromatherapy, the vapors from grapefruit oil reduce stress, improve mood, reduce inflammation and reduce sugar cravings. It can also help reduce systolic blood pressure.

Not everyone is a fan of this slightly bitter/sour fruit. But even if you do like it, not everyone should have it because it may interact with blood pressure medications and antidepressants. As always, it’s best to consult with your physician.

What’s your favorite fruit or essential oil?

The Choice Is Ours

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

As a holistic health practitioner, I work with people who struggle with anxiety, PTSD, depression and other conditions that make it challenging to find joy (which I define as inexplicable peace).

I’m sure you’ve heard the adage, “Happiness is a choice.” Much like Lori Deschene, the founder of Tiny Buddha, I believe that “Happiness takes a lot of choices that are sometimes hard to make,” is more realistic.

I love the happy paint job on this bicycle!

Each day we’re presented with countless choices. They include the decision to:

Accept ourselves and our struggles. Or not.
Take responsibility for getting help. Or not.
Do things that promote personal wellbeing. Or not.

Even when—especially when—we feel like giving up.

What’s your most recent choice for happiness?

Losing Your Marbles

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

I have an out-of-state friend who sent me an email telling me she’s losing her marbles! She attached the following photo and explained that she’s working hard to lose excess weight by observing portion control, eating nutritionally dense food, and burning more calories than she consumes through consistent exercise.

After calculating the number of pounds she wants to lose, she put that number of marbles in a Mason jar and labeled it POUNDS TO GO—the ones that have to leave her body; the pounds she’s evicting.

She has another Mason jar labeled POUNDS LOST.

Every time she loses a pound, she takes a marble from the POUNDS TO GO jar and puts it in the POUNDS LOST jar. For her, it serves as fun motivation and a visual way to track her weight loss.

I told her I think she’s brilliant! She said she’d love to take credit for the idea, but apparently, it’s been around forever. She knows teachers who use erasers instead of marbles; surfers who use seashells, and so on.

When was the last time you lost your marbles?

Integratron

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

While at the New Ways of Knowing: Writing and Meditation Retreat, we took an excursion. Trust me; this was not your grandmother’s field trip!

We visited Integratron and experienced a sound bath. I’ve been bathed in the vibration from giant gongs before, but never had I encountered the resonance of this many—and this size—quartz crystal singing bowls.

There were roughly thirty people in attendance. Each of us lying on our backs on a comfortable mat, looking up at the domed ceiling. Once it began, many of us closed our eyes; some fell asleep.

After listening to a brief introduction, we were asked to turn off our cell phones, please not make any noise, and refrain from taking photos until the session was finished. From their website, this is a description of what takes place during the experience:

Where have you been recently?

Take Care

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

I can’t begin to express the excitement I felt when Certified Professional Coach, Sarah Jordan, invited me to be her guest to launch Season 4 of her wildly popular podcast series. This season’s focus is TAKE CARE.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on inside the head of a transformational life coach…
If you’ve ever wondered what a coaching session might be like…
If you’ve ever wondered about the business of forgiveness…

…this podcast is for you.

In the first six minutes and forty-five seconds of this podcast, Sarah takes care of some necessary housekeeping with her regular listeners; then I jump in. She’s amazing, and I hope you’ll become part her tribe at sarahjordancpc.com.

Here’s a LINK to the podcast. Enjoy!

Do you believe that forgiving is condoning?

Unabashedly Optimistic

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Laurie Buchanan

My days feel much like this antelope that we passed while driving in Montana—On Top of the World! Unlike Pollyanna who was blindly optimistic, I’m unabashedly optimistic—not embarrassed to build a net before I leap.

And lest you ask… no, I don’t gargle with bong water, and yes, my balloon does land.

The difference between optimists and pessimists is not simple cheerfulness: it’s how we cope with stress. Psychology Professor Michael Scheier of Carnegie Mellon University explains that optimists consistently outlive pessimists because optimists cope better with adversity. Optimists deal with stress and take action to handle it, while pessimists often deny problems or disengage.

These coping mechanisms affect people on a cellular level. Optimists not only live longer, but they also live better, having better mobility, circulation, and cognitive faculties into old age.

Optimist or pessimist—which side of the coin do you fall on?

Gratitude – It Does a Body Good

Posted on November 21, 2017 by Laurie Buchanan

I’m incredibly grateful. Not only the part of the globe we live on—the Pacific Northwest in the United States—but for our specific town, Boise, Idaho. It’s quite possibly one of the friendliest places on earth.

Boise is quite possibly one of the friendliest places on earth

The words “gratitude” and “grace” share a common origin: the Latin word gratus, meaning “pleasing” or “thankful.” The Association for Humanistic Psychology defines gratitude as “Orientation towards noticing and appreciating the positive in the world.”

University of California Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons’ research revealed that grateful people tend to be more optimistic, a characteristic that literally boosts the immune system—a clear PHYSICAL benefit.

Boise offers free smells (good ones) too

Dr. Alex Wood, a postgraduate researcher in the Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, said that “Gratitude is an integral part of well-being”—a distinct benefit to our MENTAL and EMOTIONAL faculties.

Gratitude helps to open the heart, the seat of compassion. It helps us to see the good in our experience. It enhances trust and helps us to forgive—a benefit to our SPIRITUAL aspect.

How do you weave gratitude into the tapestry of your life?

A Heavy Load

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Laurie Buchanan

For Note to Self book events, it’s important to find a commonality that levels the playing field and places all of us on the same page. That’s why I typically talk about non-forgiveness. It’s one of the heaviest loads (emotional baggage) we can carry or drag with us. I usually start by saying:

fullsizeoutput_3f98 — Hint #4 — There’s no commuter train service in my sabbatical location.

Every single person in this room, without exception, will need to extend forgiveness to someone at some point in their life for something the other person did or failed to do.

Likewise, every single person in this room, without exception, will need to receive forgiveness from someone at some point in our lives for something we did or failed to do.

Then I read a passage from Note to Self that begins on page 116. If you have a copy, you may want to check it out.

Has extending forgiveness, or the lack thereof, played a role in your health and wellness?

Reminder, the caveat of the Looking for Laurie game stipulates: “The first person to type the accurate city and state of my sabbatical location into the comments section of the Mar 28 post will receive a personalized copy of Note to Self: A Seven-Step Path to Gratitude and Growth for themselves or as a gift to someone else.”

Breathe

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Laurie Buchanan

Boatloads of exciting behind-the-scenes things are taking place as we—publisher, publicist, and author—ramp up for the November 1 release of Note to Self: A Seven-Step Path for Gratitude and Growth. It’s exhilarating. One might even say, breathless.

With this in mind, Crystal—my publicist at BookSparks—sent me a visible reminder to breathe. In turn, I’m sharing a breathing exercise from Note to Self that has never failed to produce calm for me:

4-7-8 BREATHING

Place a hand on your lower belly to ensure that you’re breathing past your chest.
Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose while mentally counting to 4.
Hold that breath for a mental count of 7.
Exhale slowly through your mouth while mentally counting to 8. Notice that the exhalation is twice as long as the inhalation.
Pause briefly, without inhaling, and then start another round. This natural pause is therapeutic and relaxing.
Once you’ve established a rhythm, identify a replacement attitude. Imagine that with each inhalation, you’re breathing in the color orange and the feeling of that new attitude—increasing joy.
When you exhale, imagine that you’re releasing the toxins associated with the unwanted emotion—offloading baggage.
Repeat for several minutes, drawing the orange breath and replacement feeling down into your lower belly to anchor the new feeling.

When was the last time you focused on your breath?

Tuesdays with Laurie

"Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing." —Laurie Buchanan

Category Archives: Health and Wellness