Healthy Living DIY

Thanks to everyone who has inquired about whether Max and I are in the path of this season's Red River flooding. While my best wishes go out to the people affected, the answer is, happily, no. We live 4-1/2 to 5 hours' drive to the northwest. Up here, it's still too cold for flooding. We've had a lot of snow, though. And a lot of it is still on the ground.

Just last week, we had a full-scale blizzard, which brought things to a hault for the better part of 3 days and necessitated some clean-up work. In that spirit, I offer "Lessons from the Snowblower."

Health and language -- nearly inseparable! At least that's my take on things. How you speak -- both in the privacy of your own mind and audibly in the outside world -- has an undeniable impact on health.

Here's the key piece of the puzzle for most of us. On an average day, most of us feel pretty good. A few aches and pains, perhaps. Maybe a little tired. The occasional cold. But we get by. We're not looking for anything 'extra' to do.

But that's not always true for everyone. Somebody somewhere is in a serious health crisis. Maybe it's a friend, a relative, someone you know from work. Maybe it's even you. In those moments, people are more receptive.

Sure, maintaining wellness is the ideal. But we get busy.

People start looking when something goes wrong. They're looking for new ideas. Fresh approaches they haven't considered before. Strategies that don't cost a lot and don't use a lot of energy to put into practice. Ideas they can implement themselves. Like language.

A few days ago, I posted two audio articles on health and language over on the WordCures.com home page. I hope you'll check them out!

Affirmation -- the process of making our desires and needs "firm" in the world -- through language. At the outset, it seems clear enough. You just identify what you want and create a statement that affirms it. Clear enough, that is, until you really sit down to figure out what you want. That's where things can get tricky. It's the place of the affirmation behind the affirmation.

Let's get right to the point. Do you want what you want for its own sake? Or because you expect it will get you something else?

Hand & wrist pain -- carpal tunnel syndrome. Maybe you've experienced some of these troubling symptoms yourself. They're more common than you might think, especially for people who type a lot, do other repetitive activities with their hands and arms, or have injured their necks. Sometimes the cause is simply "life."

If you're looking for information about how to help yourself with carpal tunnel syndrome or hand & wrist pain, check out "The Pain Relief Coach," Kathryn Merrow. Earlier this month, she interviewed me on her radio show. What fun!

You can listen here:

Affirmations are the words we use to make things "firm" in the world. Words have active creative power. They can be used intentionally to create positive change in the world -- including enhancing your state of health. In this article, we'll explore three challenges that interfere with health, along with sample affirmations to modify the challenges and enhance health.

Holistic health challenge #1: an inappropriate relationship with food. While specific food choices are based on an individual person's values and culture, there are some general themes that apply across the board. Difficulties may arise...

* When a person loses touch with the feeling of hunger and eats either substantially more or less than their body requires in order to be satisfied and nourished.
* When a person places convenience over health and begins to rely on processed convenience food products instead of whole, fresh foods.
* When a person takes their food source for granted, failing to appreciate the cycles of nature and human effort that makes their sustenance possible.

This stands to affect your health in several ways, including inadequate nutrition and weight challenges. Affirmations for a health-promoting relationship with food might go something like this. (Modify as desired to suit your own situation.)

* I listen to my body's messages of hunger and satisfaction, eating the perfect quantity of healthy foods.
* I enjoy eating the fresh whole foods that nourish my body, mind, and spirit.
* I am thankful for the foods that nourish and sustain me and my family.

Have you watched Susan Boyle yet? I just did. Four times. She is a talented performer and an inspiration.

Now this is not a story about vocal talent. Sure, Ms. Boyle has vocal talent. She could not have turned in that performance without it. But you know what? There are a lot of people out there with vocal talent. Having worked at a major regional opera company for ten years, I've seen and heard my share of talented singers.

Susan Boyle could not have turned in the performance that many of us have just watched without vocal talent. But she could not have turned it in either without something else. We can identify it, learn from it, and replicate it in our own lives. Today, Susan Boyle is our teacher.

"Oh if I could just have more patience with my kids," she sighed. "I hate it when I snap at them."

Sara was in for a Bach flower consultation. She said she wanted a remedy for impatience. There actually is such a remedy, so it would have been easy to give her exactly what she'd asked for. Except for one thing. As we continued to talk, it appeared that what she had asked for wasn't really what she needed.

Every once in a while, you see the story of a parent gone over the brink of his or her patience and it turns out poorly. At best, a mom who orders her kids out of the car and drives off, with an ultimate safe resolution followed by counseling. At worst, kids -- and sometimes entire families -- die.

Is lack of patience really the problem?