Path of Wellness

Much of this episode is a verbatim transcript reading of a video I did several years ago called “standing planks“. I did my best to adapt it to this format but it’s still very useful to check the video out here - https://youtu.be/_sFfS0lFz9M For anyone who has explored ways to strengthen the Core muscles, the plank exercise has certainly come up. Since these muscles are designed to maintain stabil...

Witnessing a mind blowing example of balance and stability, I began a deep dive into why a stability ball can play such a big role in improving health and wellness. This episode further explores how to find and intentionally activate the core, specifically the TVA, and continues to set the stage for stabilizing all the postures and movements of daily life. It is one of the key lessons I’ve carried...

If we are going to strive to keep our bodies in motion as much as possible, shooting for some magical number of steps per day, we have to make sure that movement is healthy. All the movements of daily life require a certain amount of strength and stabilization and, for the most part, that stabilization comes from our core muscles. Learning why they are so important to healthy movement, as well as...

I suppose, by now, there aren’t too many people that haven’t heard about 10,000 steps. For a wide variety of reasons, it’s a pretty valuable goal to shoot for. But why 10,000? Where did it come from? What about 9000, 8000 or 7000? Regardless of the number, moving more each day has had a significant impact on my wellness, my health efficacy and, more broadly, how I think about moving through my lif...

There is a lot talked about regarding the impact exercise has on our well-being but there are some key ideas within that concept that are worth exploring on this podcast. As I’ve continued my efforts to be the best me possible, physical movement has had a significant positive affect. Along with good sleep and nutrition, just keeping your body in motion can heal a lot of what ails us.

For me, critical tools against depression are a belief in the future and an ability to roll with what life throws at you. Understanding that doesn’t happen overnight but it can begin in an instant. And if you are aware, attentive to the given moment in your life, it can become a strong piece of defense against darkness. Ironically, the critical moment that pushed darkness as far away as ever, was...

It certainly does feel good to be able to feel good. To live constantly in light and relative happiness, experiencing only the usual struggles of relationships and responsibilities. And it has been important to always recognize what puts me in that mindset and also what will keep me there. My tools to fight depression were plenty at this point and, thankfully, continued to develop during this fulf...

Thank goodness I experienced so many wonderful wins during that first college experience because I needed those growing “layers” of protection to continue pushing through. I continue to bounce around from one direction to another, all the while just compounding the struggles in my brain. But I pulled from the past, and saw how to continue towards the light…but something always seems to get in the...

I definitely felt a growing ability to push back against darkness as I moved through this first college experience. Critical moments taught me what tools work to keep me from the deepest black of depression. Though I had started developing these tools, however, they were not as sharp as they are now. But I got lucky that an unexpected coincidence gave a little more strength to my efforts to keep m...

It could have been the darkest of days when I was faced with the decision to turn away from the one thing that had brought such light into my life. But my time in the darkness taught me to never stop trying to move forward and to recognize even the slightest beam of hope. Feeling the “dead end kid” disappearing forever was the key to spotting a chance for growth and for nudging me in a new directi...

I discovered Theatre not long after discovering the mental health trouble I was in and it became a bright light in the darkness of my life. Through high school and into college, that was the group I kept going back to. But I was in for a very different experience with the theatre folks in college. One that I never could’ve seen coming. And one that has rippled through my life to this day, more tha...

It’s one thing to recognize an unwanted behavior and to make the effort to change, but it’s a much different thing to become aware of a significant mental health issue in yourself when you’re just a kid. Knowing nothing about addressing the problem, not to mention any concept of behavior change, I made the mindful decision to fight. To fight to live and to search for the light whenever I feel dark...

Throughout this podcast, the way the topics are delivered has evolved. I’ve gone from thinking they’d be given like lessons in a text book to simply just telling stories about my encounters with wellness along my personal journey. And peppered in with the joy, the sleep, the song and the heartache have been references to many other wellness factors and domains. This episode marks the beginning of...

When you really want to do something for your wellness but the doing of that something might create anxiety, you’ve got yourself a wellness conflict. This issue is showing itself as I contemplate more broadly publicizing this podcast about my personal Path of Wellness. But doing so involves coming up against a major anxiety trigger that I can’t let stop me.

Our lives are molded by so many decisions, both good and bad. Learning how to accept and live with the bad ones has been a major part of my personal wellness journey. Any moment in the future can become very different than what you expected and so every moment in the present should be held dear.

Finishing up my breakdown of Andrew and Polly’s Forever Young, it’s clear the song hit on some major themes for me. Being able to adjust to the unexpected, whether physical or emotional, and keeping a song in my heart all the while, have been critical factors contributing to my state of health. But engaging life with a youthful sense of awe and wonder and joy is an absolute “must have” as I travel...

I continue breaking down one of my favorite children’s songs. There’s a lot about truth packed into a few lines of lyrics and, though I perceive it very difficult for a child to learn to be truthful to themselves and others, we might as well start teaching it as young as possible. It’s a shame, however, that long before most kids grow to be thoughtful and true they leave the encouraging lyrics of...

Unless an adult has small kids, I don’t think too many are listening to children’s music. But the messages we encourage our kids with can still apply no matter your age. Strip away the music and notice the words. Words to live by as you journey along your path of wellness.

In an unexpected “aha” moment I found myself reflecting on the songs that have meant the most to me during my life’s journey. From the breakups to the joys, the lyrics of a song can teach, support and even guide us. And I encountered a particular favorite during an evening run that struck me with its directly positive and uplifting message. Even just reflecting on music that helped shape my life,...

Taking care of yourself seems like a simple idea. You’re just supposed to do it. But how do you know what’s going to work for you. After deciding what wellness factors to work on how do you know what the best way is to get you to the goal? How do you know how to take care of yourself?

For one reason or another, there is an aspect to the sleep story that I have left out. It took a bit of work to overcome the seriously unsettling nature of sleeping on my back, which was an important and uncomfortable aspect of learning to sleep. Once again, sleeping becomes very personal but the resulting wins helped round out these important lessons of how to go to sleep.

I could never have recognized how important that “clear year” was to the rest of my life. Yes, I was working on long-term personal improvements but, reflecting back, I can see how much more was really happening. Using breath as a focus was extremely valuable, but it’s what that breath pulled me from that’s had the most impact. It encouraged me to let’s all my troubled thoughts pass on by. I didn’t...

Once my need for more sleep became very apparent I had to figure how to actually do it. Learning how to fall asleep in a healthy way was a game changer and the technique I stumbled upon is one I use to this day. There are many factors that affect our ability to sleep but having the confidence that you can, at least, fall asleep when time comes can have a huge impact on your sense of wellness and h...

Having fun, exploring new joys and learning about yourself are all important aspects of a healthy and positive journey along your Path Of Wellness. But that journey will be a very tiring one if good sleep isn’t part of the plan. In fact, so much of the good we try to do for ourselves can be diminished if coupled with poor sleep habits…no matter how hard we try.

The idea of being “aware” of your actions and wellness choices has been one of the running themes in this podcast. So it made sense that I use this 10th episode to emphasize a particular major impact it’s had on my life. Making use of an an ancient system of energy balance and awareness, I took some wellness steps along my Path of Wellness that, quite literally, brought me to where I am right now.