Healthy Living DIY

It's a new year and, like most everyone, you probably appreciate the fresh start. I know I do.

Isn't it just the grandest feeling to say -- metaphorically at least --

Yeah, baby! And guess what -- that's exactly what your new goal does.

Yet ... enthusiasm alone will rarely carry the day. You and I both know that even though you may have fallen short on a few things in the past, you were doing your best at the time. Being your best "you," and making the best choices you could with the information you had available. Don't we always?

Considering that, it's probably occurred to you that in order to take the shortest path to your heart's desire, accessing new resources might be wise. For many of us, one of the first resources we think of is a book. A self-help book! As the author of several self-help books, of course, I'm thrilled.

Yet I'll be willing to bet that you haven't gotten this far without cracking a self-help book or two already. And here you are. Still moving toward that goal and not quite there yet. While even a poorly-written book can open your mind to a wealth of new ideas, the very cream of the self-help crop is still going to have its limitations. Let's see why.

In case you missed yesterday's announcement, you can sign up now for the Word Cures coaching group that begins January 15th.

Top 10 Reasons to join the Word Cures coaching group:

1. You're feeling the stress in your life ... from "something" that nags in the back of your mind. Like you "could" be putting action behind it, yet it never seems to get done. For example:

2. You want to get in shape. This is the #1 most popular reason people get involved. One of my favorite revelations among participants with this goal is that ... sometimes ... it's not about the food. In fact, one person created a project plan to include more fun in her life and ended up "losing" 17 pounds. (Ok, that was in the plan, too.)

Sign up here.

3. To tweak your home environment. Our #2 most popular project plan has got to be cleaning up the house. Some people de-clutter and others re-cecorate. My favorite story here is the woman who told her sister she was going to re-do the whole house in just 3 months. "Right," her sister said, rolling her eyes. According to this participant, the look on her sister's face was priceless when she saw they'd (she and her husband worked as a team) actually pulled it off!

Do you Squidoo?

I just posted my very first Squidoo lens. (Sound like a proud beginner?) Check it out and get 4 Tips for accessing your inner wisdom now:

http://www.squidoo.com/intuitivebrainstorming

(Why? To answer your own deepest questions and create a more meaningful, satisfying life!)

If you've ever had one stressed-out day too many (and who hasn't?), you know what it feels like to crave a break.

No worries. That break might be just what the doctor ordered. Better yet, you could bring home a life-changing insight.

We've got all the ammo you need to convince your boss (or yourself) that your vacation plans are absolutely brilliant! Check out my new Travel Insights lens on Squidoo.

Symptoms, symptoms everywhere! But what do they mean? Lately, this topic has come up a lot with some of the people I've been talking with. How about you? Got any puzzling symptoms in your life? What do you make of them?

I usually figure it this way. A symptom shows up in your life. It could be anything you don't like: pain, illness, relationship concerns, financial issues, etc. Often, that symptom is a signal to stop and assess. To look back a step or two and see what the set-up was. What environment produced that symptom. So as to effect a deeper "cure."

Pretty easy to follow this far, isn't it? But unfortunately, here's where things get tricky.

Often, your symptom is like a "road closed" sign. It's as though there's a bridge out ahead and you have a choice to make. Do you stop dead in your tracks, get out of the car, and manually re-build the bridge to take your same familiar route for the next leg of this journey? Or do you divert and take a different road?

Resolve Stress: my next Squidoo page.

http://www.squidoo.com/resolvestress

You've probably noticed by now that I'm not so big on "stress management." Might as well take care of the problem and be done with it, I always say. So here's where I go into that a bit deeper. Complete with tips!

The Resolve Stress lens has some cool interactive modules. Check it out and play around!

One thing that looks really interesting to me is the book list, where you can move your personal favorites up or down on the list. See, if a bunch of people start doing that, we'll come up with a "community favorite" list. Won't that be fun? So come on, check it out!

http://www.squidoo.com/resolvestress

It's been a flurry of writing and editing around here this week. I've just today posted a new article on the main Word Cures website. It discusses healthy living, Word Cures style.

You see, I've realized I use that phrase a lot. But so do lots of other people. And I'm not altogether sure we mean the same things.

Healthy Living, Word Cures style, isn't so much about factors like food choices and exercise habits as it is inclusive of them. In a nutshell, it means consistently making everyday choices that serve your best interests.

Discover a couple of common pitfalls and some options to resolve them. Read the full article here: What is healthy living?

At the end of the article, you'll also find a handy Quick Link list to some other cool healthy living stuff you can get involved with on the web.

The psoas muscle.

• If you've ever had back pain,
• if (as a therapist) you've ever treated anyone with back pain,
• if you've ever had that little "ooh, maybe I've been sitting too long" thought as you attempted to raise up from a seated position,
• if you've ever been in the marching band or used a stair-climber at the gym...

Well, the other day I happened to run across the most complete set of information on the psoas muscle I've ever found in one single place! Information, pictures, videos, the whole enchilada. It was so cool I thought I'd tell you about it. Check it out here:

http://www.squidoo.com/psoas

By the way, the reason I ran across this gem of a page is I've posted a few things on the same website. If you happen to be interested in ...

• The underlying "cause" behind your favorite symptom ... then check out the Intuitive Brainstorming page.
• How to get extra value out of your next "break" from work (complete with tips to help sell your boss on your great vacation plans) ... then check out the Travel Insights page.
• How to look at stress as a source of personal empowerment instead of endlessly "managing" it ... then check out the Resolve Stress page.

New to Squidoo? It's cool to participate when you get there! Vote in a poll, leave a comment, or give a "lens" you really like some of those very pretty stars.

Manifesting Abundance. Strange topic for a healthy living article? Not the way I see it.

Abundance can occur in any area of your life: abundant health, abundant relationships, abundant finances (the area most people probably thought of first), or abundant ... well, you name it! So the way I see it, abundance is good for health.

Imagine my delight, then, to have found a web page that explores -- in quite a bit of detail -- the "scientific logic" behind the process of manifesting abundance. I hope you'll find it as interesting as I did.