"I lost all track of time!"
"I don't know where the time went."
Have you ever said this? What were you doing?
Chances are you were in what is called a "flow state".
Chances are you were in what is called a "flow state".
Click here for updates regarding the launch of my upcoming book: Flow State: Finding Your Groove.
I lose track of time and things going on around me while writing, reading, researching, and dancing. My daughters both get absorbed in baking. My son used to lose track of time playing with matchbox cars, now he gets lost in searching Facebook Marketplace for used cars.
Many creative professions require a level of flow to be successful. An artist friend of mine, Jessica, says that if she doesn't get in that state, it feels forced and her art doesn't turn out like she wants it to.
A dance fitness studio owner, Laney, does her best choreography when she is in a flow state.
My middle child who just started welding classes has found herself in flow while welding.
My middle child who just started welding classes has found herself in flow while welding.
What is flow? Verywellmind.com defines it as "a state of mind in which a person becomes fully immersed in an activity." Some call it hyperfocus, which has an unnecessarily negative connotation.
Living in the moment is part of the joy experienced while in flow state. You can be fully present, senses are heightened, and everything else falls away. The experience allows you to improve upon skills and do your best work.
Getting into that state requires a bit of prep work.
Three things you can do to help are:
Three things you can do to help are:
1 - Set clear goals. You should have a roadmap of sorts so you don't have to stop and redirect the project. You already know where you're going.
2 - Eliminate distractions. Distractions are annoying if you are on a roll. They force you to stop and start and you can "fall out" of the zone.
3 - Add an element of challenge. If an activity is too easy, your movements can be rote, routine, and unimportant. Daydreaming, zoning out, and thinking of other things is different than being in a state of flow, where your attention is directly focused on the singular activity.
For more on how to achieve flow and why it's amazing for work and creative endeavors, not to mention contentment and general joyfulness, keep an eye out for my upcoming book: Flow State: Finding Your Groove. Click here to get updates regarding the book launch.
STOP. DOING. ALL. THE. THINGS. and listen to the whispers of your heart. You were wonderfully and fearfully made, unique and beautiful.
The mantra "self-care is the first step in any relationship" is only HALF right. Why would you "care"? If I asked most of my women friends if they love themselves, I assume most would say No, but they all seem to care about themselves. Almost like a first boyfriend that's not ready for marriage, we don't want to commit.
The real Step 1 in self-care, etc. is to get in the right mind-frame.
- Assess your state of being, physically. Touch is the easiest way to ground yourself and get centered. Both feet on the floor. Become aware of temperature, movement of the surrounding air, clothes on your skin, hair on your head and arms.
- Breathe, even in and out (4 in and 4 out, for example), brings balance and clarity.
- Feel the steady pulse of your heartbeat Take this time to correct posture to allow for the best alignment and blood flow.
- Pay attention to sounds around you while keeping awareness of skin and breath.
- Lastly, take a mouthful of water and hold it for 20-30 seconds.
Now that you are mostly present in your body, listen to what it needs.
Are you tired? Is the tiredness physical or mental? Are you in pain? Hungry? Thirsty? Hot/cold?
What can you do NOW to correct anything that is off? Drink water, stretch, grab a blanket, take a nap.
Next, why are you taking the time to do this? Why do you care? What are your goals for yourself?
Who is counting on you? Who could you help or support if you were able?
Having a purpose and goals keeps the focus on moving forward and positively rewards your brain even before anything is accomplished. This ends up encouraging you to continue to make more goals. Try it!
Day-to-day habits (including self-talk, affirmations, etc.) can significantly improve or destroy our health. You know that true self-care is an everyday activity, not a special occasion. True health is mental and physical well-being. If you are "all-or-nothing", stick with a daily affirmation book, Bible study, 30-minute exercise routine, and whole-foods, plant-based diet. If you can deviate from routine without being completely derailed or sliding back into bad habits, aim for 80/20 and enjoy a splurge now and then without guilt. 80% healthy foods and habits, and 20% splurges.
Did you realize that people with positive psychological health have a lower risk of physical illness? What you think and say to and about yourself matters. It matters.
Instead of getting your nails done, shopping 'til you drop, or taking a bath twice a day, or drinking too much wine, getting present and having goals to move forward is the cheapest, quickest way to reset your body and brain for a healthy long life journey.
Make a goal. Simplify the goal into 3-5 actions. Get to it. Ev Ree Day. Love, you! Love you!
As a health-conscious mom, I tried to get my young girls to choose healthier options, but the oldest refused almost all veggies. One fateful day as we wandered around Whole Foods, there was a man demonstrating a Vitamix blender*, showing how to make fabulous and yummy fruit shakes - with spinach! My girls both drank it up! We rearranged the budget on the spot and got the blender. I had no idea what I was about to get into. I was about to follow the beanstalk so far up after that magical seed was planted.
After researching recipes for my new favorite appliance, I came across info on different diets, including the raw diet. After 2 weeks on the raw diet, I felt amazing yet soon had rebounding fatigue. I decided that my body needed more balance. Adding back carbs, but fewer and healthier, and occasional animal products worked best for me.
Adding veggies was a great trick for littles and a boost for my husband and me, but I was still caught up in doing things the way I was brought up. I was supposed to go to the doctor regularly, take OTC meds for any little symptom, and do the same with kiddos. I believed I was doing the best for them but being the obedient follower didn't prove to be prudent.
After my third child had an MMR shot at his 5 or 6-month check-up, he had a febrile seizure. When I connected one with the other and was told how common and expected it was, I sat in that surreal moment and started connecting other dots. The trust I had completely given over to the medical establishment got its first chip in it. After that, I happened across a magazine, Offspring, which was a one-edition wonder that had a controversial article about vaccines (FYI, if you search for it now, there's a magazine with the same name that has blindly pro-vaccine articles). I'm grateful for it to this day as it opened my eyes to the fact that the medical community while being full of good individuals, did NOT always know how to protect their patients or even have our full well-being as their main objective.
Confusing at first, all the conflicting data, opinions, and stories of harm had to make their way through my existing frame of reference and years of deference. Who was I? I had no medical degree. I did have a college degree, a BS, with multiple genetics classes, but I couldn't possibly be able to read the information all by my lonesome to make a decision different than the pediatrician's recommendation, could I? (Oh, and it's not that little paper that tells you what the vaccine is good for, it's a LOOOOOONG piece of paper full of tiny print that includes actual ingredients and warnings. Don't sign the vaccine disclaimer the nurses give you 2 seconds to read until you get it.)
I found that I could read and comprehend the info. I have. I will help you to see, understand, and plant a magic bean so that you can also look down from a higher vantage point and see your family's path to better health. Empower yourself.
Start with a smoothie.
Here's the basic recipe that started all this:
2 cups of hemp milk (or almond, or oat milk, coconut water, or filtered water)
1 cup of spinach
1/2 ripe banana
2 cups of frozen strawberries
Get a bit more complicated:
2 cups of hemp (or other) milk
1 cup of sorrel or dandelion greens
a handful of grapes or raisins
1 or 2 scoops of protein powder
2 cups frozen peaches
1T of honey
1-2 drops of Lemon Vitality essential oil
dash of cinnamon
Basically, you can add frozen fruit to a milk choice and go wild with little additions and single drops of citrus essential oils. Blend in order because the softer foods blend better BEFORE the frozen fruits. We like to add cinnamon to balance the sugar in the fruit and milk. I love grapes or raisins in my smoothies because it changes the texture and makes it smooooth! My daughter always adds honey for taste.
Share your own recipes here! I love trying new ones.
*For the sake of transparency, I do receive a commission for qualified purchases from these links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I spend a good amount of time pulling together research to get people easier-to-digest chunks of information and only recommend those items I personally have owned or used. We still use that same Vitamix 15 years later!
Man-made EMF or electromagnetic field is creating electro-pollution which is associated with health problems such as cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS, autism, ADD/ADHD symptoms, sleep disturbances, and more.
We are electrical beings with our own frequencies. The 7.8 Hz frequency of the Earth allows us to balance our electrons. Electrons play a central role in biology and health. But when man created all the technology, it is like a wild hurricane of electricity compared to the Earth’s mild breeze.
The World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer classified this created radiofrequency radiation as a probable carcinogen in 2013. It’s labeled a Group 2 Carcinogen. And it’s invisible and all around us. “All cells communicate with each other via subtle electromagnetic signals and biochemical reactions”, and the mechanisms that allow digestion and brain activities to work are the rearrangement of charged particles. Continuous exposure to manmade EMR disruptors and disrupts normal cellular function and leads to disease! (IVC Journal)
“Andrew McAfee, a former music professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and one-time principal horn for the N.C. Symphony Orchestra for 15 years says proximity to cellphone towers, WiFi signals, and wireless utility meters causes a burning sensation on his skin, gives him the sweats, and makes him agitated. ‘The removal of Duke's opt-out fees stops that added insult to injury for many who suffer debilitating electrosensitivity conditions and their associated health costs,’ McAfee said. ‘Most importantly, the NCUC order recognizes our medical doctor's proper role in determining what is healthy, not the FCC.”
“‘More than a dozen individuals, including a physician, stated that they have personally experienced debilitating health impacts from the cumulative impact of RF emissions,’ the Utilities Commission said in its ruling. ‘A few went so far as to assert that RF emissions from smart meters contribute to violence and homicides.’” (Government Technology article)
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The commission received a statement from the director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany in New York, co-signed by four other scientists and doctors. The letter said the greatest risk of radio frequency wave exposure is cancer, but symptoms include memory loss and fatigue.
The commission received a statement from the director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany in New York, co-signed by four other scientists and doctors. The letter said the greatest risk of radio frequency wave exposure is cancer, but symptoms include memory loss and fatigue.’” (TCK Publishing)
What you can do:
- Use headphones with wires instead of putting your phone to your head or using Bluetooth.
- Keep your phone on airplane mode as much as possible.
- Choose a healthy diet and lifestyle with supplements like Ginko Biloba and essential oils.
- Keep 10 feet away from devices, especially when sleeping.
- Don’t keep your phone on your person (like in your pocket or bra) and -easy button- use one of these stickers.
- Use EMF blocking devices or pendants - see links below. Smart Meter EMF BLOCKER *
- Use grounding or earthing mats and tech - see the following information:
Grounding / Earthing
“Earthing restores and maintains the human body’s most natural electrical state, which in turn promotes optimum health and functionality in daily life. The earth is endowed with ‘electric nutrition,’ a virtually limitless supply of mobile electrons that gives the ground we walk on (as well as our lakes and oceans) a natural negative electric charge. When you make direct contact with this negative electric charge you are grounding.”
The process of grounding, also called earthing, is a physical change, a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth.
The influx of electrons gives a powerful boost to the body’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory defenses. They rapidly neutralize free radical molecules that create chronic inflammation, arresting the destructive action on healthy tissues, and leading to a reduction of pain.
“Medical thermal imaging has shown decreased inflammation in minutes after people are grounded. It restores and stabilizes the bioelectrical circuitry that governs our physiology and organs by recharging and thinning our blood, enhancing immune function, and powerfully and quickly knocking down inflammation and pain.
Because we no longer sleep on the ground or walk barefoot everywhere we go, we have disconnected ourselves from this major, and very necessary, source of healing. Grounding restores an essential electric connection that we've lost and that we need to keep inflammation at bay.
Grounding is accessible to everyone. It's as simple as walking or sitting barefoot outdoors. If outside is impossible and/or you need more time grounded each day (which most people do!), using indoor Earthing® products to connect to the earth while you sleep, relax, or work is critical.” (earthing.com)
“Earthing connects us to Nature and Nature is the ultimate source of health and healing."—JOHN GRAY, PH.D
Resources:
"Don’t Want a Smart Meter? Get a Doctor’s Note." Government Technology. https://www.govtech.com/health/Dont-Want-a-Smart-Meter-Get-a-Doctors-Note.html
“Smart Meter Health Stories." Michigan Smart Meter Education Network. http://smartmeterhealth.blogspot.com/
Products:
emf-harmony.com for blocking emfs from computers, phones, smart watches, etc.
**Use the code: CHRISTYL for 10% OFF
**Christy LaStrapes is a participant in the GoAffPro Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to the partner site.
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
