Mindful Meditation

My husband and I have recently tried to begin mindful meditation.

We had a wonderful conversation with a friend who incorporates this practice into her daily routine.

She told us that before meditation she was a yeller, a door slammer. She can feel the transformation she undergoes when meditating. It can be a topic that can sound hokey, or silly until you start to read all the information regarding the benefits of meditating.

I will admit to finding it difficult to find a quiet time in my day to sit and relax for the recommended ten minutes. It is not easy with three children and a dog clamoring for attention the majority of the day. But the times that I have shut the door, relaxed and closed my eyes, my body instantly relaxes, and more importantly so does my mind. We were told to focus on our breathing, feel it in either our nose, chest or stomach. Try to keep your thoughts clear, and when a thought enters your mind, gently push it aside. Eventually we will learn to name the thoughts that enter, making it easier to clear them out of our head. I cannot say that it has become life changing, but it certainly makes me feel calmer when I've sat and relaxed.

We all carry so many layers of stress, if this will help me shed some of that, I'm more than willing to give it a try. There is a very timely article on the BalanceYour7 website on this very topic. Before you doubt it, take a few days and try giving yourself 10 or 20 minutes of total calm, focusing only on your breathing and clearing your mind. If nothing else, you might grab a midday cat nap! Who can argue with that!


Check out this article on the Balance Your 7 website: Mindfulness, meditation can help reduce stress.

Sun Safety

The battle has begun. The battle of sunscreen versus squirmy children and an insistent mother.

"Stand still or you will get it in your eyes."

"Rub it in, you missed a spot!"

"Mom, it's cold, stop!"

All of these and more, are frequently heard in our house, morning, noon and night. We have started our summer activities and the sun has finally reappeared--so has the infamous white cream. I have started to do more homework on the type of sunscreen that I choose to use. There is no shortage of options--sprays, lotions, sticks, foams.

Which is best, which is safest? We want a broad spectrum, protecting from both harmful UVA and UV rays. Guidelines recommend an spf rating of 15- 50+, but do not forget to reapply and reapply often. A higher spf tends to make people believe they are protected for longer, which is not true. In short, ingredients matter. Avoid any sun product whose label says retinyl palmitate, retinol or vitamin A. Look for ingredients zinc oxide, avobenzone and Mexoryl SX. These protect us from harmful UVA radiation. Avoid the sunscreen chemical oxybenzone, a synthetic estrogen that penetrates the skin and can disrupt the hormone system.

The best sun protection is to use common sense, cover up when you can and seek or create shade. Color on our skin does not mean healthy. This is such an important message to teach our children, especially teenagers. So while the battle rages on in my house, and many others, it's such an important one. Be sensible, and proactive, and if you can, practice your wrestling moves! It's helped me, and ultimately we will do anything to keep our kids safe.


Sun Safety Tips

Go 'Fore' It!

I finally made it out to do one of my favorite things, favorite healthy things that is.

I hit some golf balls on the driving range and putting green for about an hour. I was one of the only people there, standing in the glorious sunshine that has been missing in Wisconsin for the past nine months! I'm not sure what I enjoyed the most--the solitude, the sun on my face, or the feel of the ball as it sailed in the general direction that I wanted it to go! Unfortunately the last scenario didn't happen as often as I would have liked, but the sunshine and warm weather made up for it!

Golfing is such a great way to get outside and get a bit of exercise. My husband and I enjoy playing this sport together and we are finding that as our kids age a bit it's a fantastic family activity. You don't have to be a pro, clearly just watch me play, but you can easily find enjoyment! We prefer to walk when we have the time. It's a great opportunity to chat, enjoy the weather, and get a little exercise in the meantime. There are abundant places to play in the Coulee Region, and it's a game you can take on the road! My mom has even picked up a club after retiring, my grandma is an avid golfer and she's in her late eighties. Go grandma!

It's a life-long sport, and it's never too late to try. Take it from me, I'm one hack on the course, but I keep at it and sometimes it's possible to even surprise yourself with an awesome shot now and then. Go "Fore" it, you know you want to!


Check out the number of calories burned playing nine holes of golf!

Here is a listing of area golf courses.

Local abundance!

As summer very slowly makes its way to our region of the world, with it comes an abundance of produce, farmer's markets, and an overall feeling of fresh.

I read a quick interview with the author of the book Cooked by Michael Pollan. He says that the number one thing we can do to be healthier is to cook at home. He stresses that cooking is key to changing our health and the environment, and those who cook for themselves consume a healthier diet. One of the points that he made is that if we let corporations cook for us, they are going to buy food from the biggest monocultures. But we as consumers have a choice. We can take time out of our day and choose the food we prepare, how we prepare it and where it comes from.

The citizens of the Coulee Region are fortunate to be surrounded by agricultural heaven! We have local farmer's markets several times a week, where produce grown locally can be purchased only hours after it was picked! We can drive right up to a farmer's door and pick the cow, pig, sheep, etc that we want to have butchered for our freezer. We can see how it was raised and what it was fed.

I'm trying my best to buy more locally and shop healthier. As summer finally arrives I hope to continue to frequent our local farmer's markets and experiment with new recipes! Cooking can be such a joy, and seeing my kids try new things and discovering they enjoy them makes it worthwhile.

Now If I could only get them to do all the dishes.

For more, see this article: Buying local and organic food on the Balance Your 7 website.

Boston.

A city on my long list of cities I have yet to explore. Now a city that will forever have far more significance than ever. I feel like I just sat down and wrote about the tragedy at Newton, CT. Now Boston.

We, as a country, are now living, working, shopping, playing in a totally different world than our parents and grandparents did. With senseless tragedies like the now-named "marathon" bombings, we live in a world that we now look over our shoulders, growing suspicious or leery in ways most of us never even thought of before.

If our world is now so different, what kind of future do our chlldren and grandchildren face? When will we ever learn to stop taking our anger and hatred out on innocent individuals? When did extremism and radical actions replace logic and rationalism? And why? With so much sadness and anger surrounding this violence, I took some comfort in a quote I read by Mr. Rogers:

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." Fred Rogers

Seeing how others rushed in to assist and looking for all of the helpers shows us that the good in people far outweighs the bad. Maybe our children have a bright future after all. And someday I cannot wait to visit Boston and experience its beauty and history but never forget its recent events.