Dr. Karin L. Smithson

Take Good Care of YOU

On May 20, 2013 / About You, Blog, Health, Portfolio, Stress Reduction, Uncategorized / Leave a comment

“To keep the body in good health is a duty … otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” ~Buddha

Your body was given to you in faith by your Creator, trusting that you would take care of it with reverence. This means respecting your organs, external parts and internal systems with healthy choices and habits that are meant to improve their functioning, not harm or deteriorate them.

As a therapist, I work with clients on holistic health, meaning keep the entire system optimally healthy on every level – mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. Each one interacts with the other, and when one system is not nourished, it weakens the entire body.

Every single hour presents you with options in treating your body with healthy movement, intake and exposure. You can always choose to start anew this hour, to live for the benefit of YOU for the remainder of the day … and week … and month … and that way of living will become a beautifully wholesome habit.

Choosing healthy movement does not require payment to a gym or a trainer (although those can be superb motivators). In fact, God gave us all we needed to stay active, limber and healthy within the natural playground of the outdoors. We have trails to walk, trees to climb, beaches to run, mountains to explore, hills to hike and waters to swim. And by having a friend join you, you will not only boost your potential to do more than you would solo, but you are engaging in an active connection that is healthy for your spirit and mind.

In addition, all of our indoor living spaces also provide opportunities for muscle movement and stretching by using the stairs, back of our chairs, objects for lifting, or simple floors for push-ups, squats, lunges, leg raises and balancing exercises. There are limitless opportunities to utilize what you already have for health, if you just use your imagination.

God also gave us all we needed within our Earth to live a healthy life by adhering to a diet based from the land and natural food. While diets can jumpstart weight loss, you can save money by simply trying to eat food more in its natural form and limiting your processed foods. I have once heard this superb healthy eating tip:

“If your great-grandmother would not recognize it as ‘FOOD,’ then don’t eat it!”

A superb way to focus on eating whole, natural foods is to buy them from a local vendor, or, even better, connect with nature yourself and use this Spring to start your own garden. Gardening will also cultivate the spiritual, mental and emotional sides of you as God created this wonderful act of producing green life to help our souls feel more one with the Earth.

Most plants do not need a lot of space, and a potted herb garden is very simple to grow – and one of the best ways that you can season your new fresh food without using oils and butter. You can pick up a simple herb plant at the market today and use its leaves to season your fresh fish and steamed vegetables tonight.

Other Healthy Eating Tips:

Fruits & vegetables in their natural state are the healthiest
Dark green, leafy greens are highly rich in antioxidants
Fresh mushrooms, onions & blueberries have been shown to be densely rich in disease-fighting properties

Eating raw fruits & vegetables greatly reduce the risk of stroke, cancer & heart disease
By frying or over-baking vegetables, you are cooking out important vitamins & minerals out in the process
Apples & pears have been found to be strongly preventative regarding strokes.
Eating fruits & vegetables with the peel or skin on is the best way to boost your fiber intake to help cleanse your colon
The lycopene in the red color of tomatoes has shown to be superb in protective effects against cancer

On average, you should be eating about 4 1/2 cups of fruits & vegetables per day
If you are striving for weight loss, counting calories as a habit will get you the farthest for the longest. Cutting out one type of food that you love will only cause you to crave and likely binge later. Count calories and keep it simple!
Drinking filtered water with slices of cucumber, strawberry, lemon, lime, orange or fresh berries is a superb way to stay hydrated and keep the calorie-dense sodas and juices from adding unwanted sugar and chemicals to your body.

Eat less. Move more. Right now do one of these things for a quick jumpstart: a) do 20-50 jumping jacks, b) walk up and down the stairs 5 times, c) do 3 stretches, holding the pose for 10 seconds, d) lift yourself off the edge of your chair and do 10-20 dips from you chair seat.

Now Go Take GOOD Care of YOU.

Healthy Eating = Energetic body = Happy Spirit!

You Are Right Where You Are Supposed to Be

On May 17, 2013 / About You, Blog, Inspiration, Portfolio, Spirituality, Stress Reduction, Uncategorized / 1 Comment

“Even when your plans get off track, you are always right where you are supposed to be.”

Sometimes, no matter how much we plan, we end up somewhere different than we were supposed to be. Or we are late … or we forget … or something holds us up … or we get rerouted to another place. This happens quite often if you really think about how many times just this week you were taken off track of your plan.

I see the happenings of each day as kind of like a row of dominoes falling down in lines, splaying out in endless trails over all of the people we pass and connect with … and with every person that they connect with … and so forth. We interact, sometimes throwing each other off schedule, and other times getting in the way of our showing up for something altogether. This is usually not done on purpose, but just a result of circumstance.

But you can be sure that the Divine is making sure that it all happens … ON PURPOSE.

Each happening, pause, conversation, appearance, cancellation, engagement, and occupied space affects everything and everyone else that it touches … and each thing and person that those things touch, spreading out like a giant, trickling, purposeful web of touches, influences the timing, mood, and interaction of the others.

When your plans get redirected and you end up somewhere you didn’t expect to be can you start changing your reaction of aggravation into one of acceptance?

Consider these Possibilities of Purposeful Place:

You (or someone else) are being protected from harm by being held up for a moment, two minutes, or an hour.
The Divine has something more important for you to learn, to witness or to experience than arriving at your preplanned destination on time.
You are being given the gift of alone time to reflect on or pray about something that needs to be purposefully considered.
There is someone that God wants you to meet (or not meet), and your redirection will make sure that happens for the reason that it is meant.
You need to be a part of a conversation that won’t happen unless you are in an exact place at an exact time.
Someone needs important insight or guidance from you that otherwise would not have come across your path.

Bring more peace and acceptance into your life (because you WILL continue to get redirected), by gently releasing your need to control things … and breathe in the peaceful surrender that the Universe has your best interest at heart.

Next time you are held up or forced to change course, try these steps:

Stop, slow your reaction, and take a deep breath.
Release your natural push to control your direction and give yourself permission to move fluidly into this unplanned space
Gratefully accept the interference with your schedule as something in the Grand Plan of your life and in those around you
Let go of anger, and take your mind into your soul - where peace with God’s plan is resting.
Breathe in love and faithful surrender. Lift your hands, or close your eyes and envision lifting your hands, and ask the Divine to show you the way.
Tell yourself that each ‘chance happening’ is actually a ‘purposed happening’
Accept that you are right where you are supposed to be and that we are all moving in a plan of circular Life.

Let it be … let it go …

And know that things are … just as they should be.

7 Moments of Mindfulness in Your Home

On May 14, 2013 / Blog, Family, Inspiration, Mindfulness, Parenting, Portfolio, Spirituality, Stress Reduction, Uncategorized / 2 Comments

I have the blessed opportunity this week to talk to the parents at Peachtree Presbyterian Preschool about ”The Gift of Mindful Mothering” as the school year draws to an end and we all reflect on how we experienced the past 9 months and how we would like to grow as parents in the months to come. A main goal for me personally is to be more purposeful and present enough to enjoy the young, innocent ages of my children even more, as these years will go by far too quickly.

I would imagine that all of you parents agree that it pains your hearts when memories are frustratingly cloudy, and not crisply colorful, because they were so distracted by work, obligations, iPhones, or emotions from the outside. When we keep our minds peering into the stress of tomorrow, we find ourselves so focused on what is happening on the other side of our front door,we inadvertently miss what is happening right at our own feet.

And it is those moments and experiences that are right in front of us that disappear before we realize that our children have grown, tail lights are shining their red good-byes, and the moments are gone. What a wonderful thing to acknowledge this possibility of grasping the moments starting today, and being purposeful about changing the outcome of our lives … and the lives of our children.

Can you agree to do that along with us?

The commitment to enjoying the hours with our families by being more present to what is happening is called being MINDFUL. This means that you start being more aware of the moments as they occur, every day, as much as you can center yourself to remember to fully experience the hours of your life. I know this is difficult to do with all of our modern technology, incoming messages and societal pressure, but I believe that being mindful can change our lives … especially as parents.

You have likely read about this practice of Mindfulness, which is based in Buddhist philosophy of being present to your experience as it is happening, and by accepting your emotions, thoughts and feelings without judgment as good or bad. Mindfulness means breathing in peace and settling the spirit on the truth that things are just is as it should be.

Over time, you will learn how to have a heightened awareness of your body’s reaction to experiences, and you will be more able to focus on accepting where you are physically and spiritually, increasing self-awareness and connection to the world, and monumentally increasing your own well-being – body and soul. As Dr. Kathleen Hall, founder of the Mindful Living Network, points out, Mindful Living works much like preventative medicine for an array of mental and physical health issues, including stress, depression, anxiety, obesity, heart disease, addiction, and attention deficit disorder.

Living mindfully will increase your feelings of connectedness as well as improve your immune system, help you gain control over your stress response, increase your creativity and productivity, and improve the functioning of your body’s circulatory, digestive and nervous systems. Your life experience will benefit in ways that cannot be measured, bringing you to feel a higher sense of belonging to the natural world around you, the living Universe, and the divine Creator.

As parents, it is time for us to start focusing on living mindfully to improve our own life fulfillment, but also increase the harmony in our homes for generations by teaching our children the practices of Mindfulness and handling life with less stress, more peace, and greater awareness of the higher good.

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7 Ways to have Moments of Mindfulness in Your Home:

1. Practice slow, deep breathing when you start to feel anxious or angry.

Teach your children to take some breaths when things are starting to get out of hand. You are automatically lowering your metabolic rate by slowing down your system’s automatic stress response and teaching your child positive coping.

2. Repeat to yourself compassionately, “Be present. Be present.”

Center yourself when you feel like you are losing focus on a good moment in your home and tell yourself to ‘come back … be here …’

3. Practice relaxing, soothing stretching with your children.

Just get on the floor and do whatever feels right by stretching your body, asking your children to do it with you and gently talk through how good this is for the body, where they will feel it, and allow the spirit to slow and open up the body’s systems.

4. Ask ‘where are you feeling this in your body?’ when family members get emotional and you can calm through breathing and reflection.

By stopping and interrupting the flow of negative interactions, you teach positive non-reactive coping mechanisms, and most importantly, you model and teach mind-body awareness by paying attention and validating where the emotion is stirring in the body.

5. Eat mindfully, slow down … and talk about it.

By slowing down mealtimes and reminding children (and you) where food came from, how it got to your table, and why you should be grateful to each taste, texture and pleasurable bit, you are transforming the way that you experience eating. Remind yourselves to savor the food instead of rushing through it and pay respect to the land or animal from which it came.

6. Encourage ‘quiet time’ of prayer, meditation or self-reflection.

Science shows the endless benefits of regular meditative practice, and by modeling this, you are teaching your children to improve their lives spiritually, physically and mentally. Create a space for 5-15 minutes of this as a habit every single day.

7. Go barefoot.

This interaction with the Earth is one of the most simple ways to experience the world mindfully, as you walk gently and are present to the feeling of the grass, sand or clay underneath your feet. Pause and reflect the experience with your children, letting them describe what they are feeling. Focus on the sensations of the Earth on your feet, appreciating this union with Creation and the spiritual ‘grounding’ that can flow through this mindful connection.

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I wish you mindful days ahead as we move forward with this season and with our experiences and roles in the world. May you find a higher awareness in each moment and a more peaceful acceptance that … in every wonderful, trying, joyful, frustrating, precious moment …