community – Page 2 – We Only Get One Chance

MOTHER’S DAY

I had a wonderful weekend enjoying time outside and soaking in the sun and I always enjoy celebrating Mother’s Day. I am very fortunate to live so close to so much family, and my mom is included in that. I have a wonderful relationship with my Mom and she and I are very close. Moms are moms and life happens which can sometimes create an awful lot of baggage in a parent/child relationship. I am very fortunate and get to spend a lot of time with my Mo

m. I consider her one of my closest friend and tend to discuss most aspects of my life with her. There are quite a few people that are curious of her and my relationship and most people make the assumption that we have been this close my whole life. I grew up with three brothers and was pretty much carted around with them, doing everything that they were doing and not getting much room to be an individual and almost never getting individual one on one time with my Mom. I never really learned the value of good quality female relationships until I went away for school many years down the road. Then came the invention of Internet and email. I was living in Alaska at the time my Mom first got email. We began to email each other 2-3 times per week and I really felt like I was able to get to know her, and thus get to know myself at a deeper level. This progressed for a few more years and our relationship really began to flourish to the point that I she became one of my very best friends. I moved back home in 2004 and lived under the same roof with her for two years. She is amazing, brilliant, straight-forward, talented, level-headed, caring, loving, balanced and really happy. I admire her and all the trials she has had in life and how that has shaped her to really be grounded in who she is. Though she is not “raising” us anymore, because of the mutual love and respect that the my brothers and I have for her, we are able to go to her when things come up and allow her to guide us when we need guidance. It really is a beautiful thing. For Mother’s Day this year, she spent the entire day working and wasn’t going to be home until 8PM. In my mind, she still deserves recognition, as every Mom does, on that special day. We made a small desert celebration happen last night to surprise her, and we did just that. Without my Mom, there wouldn’t be a Me and without a Mom like I have, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Thank you Mom!!! Happy Mother’s Day…today and always!

TIPS

Last night I had the privilege of being 1 of around 2,000 people listening to Deepak Chopra right up in Flint! The CRIM Foundation brought him in, we had to register early but we got in free and they paid for all the parking downtown so that was free too. AMAZING!!! I need to review my notes and I will write a little more at a later time about the actual lecture, however on each seat there was a brochure with some “Things you can do to become a healthier you” that I wanted to share with you. I think the brochure originated from CRIM and Deepak Chopra and this is word for word right from it.

“Things you can do to become a healthier you:

1. Work out regularly! Do something for your cardiovascular health, your flexibility and your strength at least 4 times per week. Walk, run, swim, bicycle, skate, play tennis…Do Whatever Moves You! You’ll feel better, look better and have more physical and mental stamina.

2. Eat to live, don’t live to eat.

3. Have an empowering social network. Invest your time with those who are inspired by life and have a greater purpose to fulfill – you’ll find that you are more inspired as well.

4. Control the chaos; make your home a sanctuary. Be selective about what you bring into your home – not just in terms of physical things but also the computers, music, television, and other forms of electronic entertainment that compete for attention.

5. Start a daily meditation/prayer/quiet-time practice. This can be as little as 10-20 minutes but research has proven the stress-relieving and health benefits. Not to mention, it’s been proven to extend your life.

Personal Commitment Statement:

Starting today, I commit to working toward a healthier me and to helping my family be healthier. I know that by doing so, I am also contributing to a healthier community – physically, socially, and economically.”

Good stuff, huh? Simple too! Health is a choice that we have to make every single morning when we wake up. We may as well choose to be healthy since we only get one chance…

EVERY YEAR…

…around the birthday time for the Cafe of LIFE, I ask people for 3 words that describe their experience here. That small piece of paper is then entered into a drawing for some gift certificates, shirts, bags, etc here at the Cafe of LIFE. Last year I decided to post all the words on here so that I had a place to remember them since knowing that people describe the Cafe using these words is a HUGE compliment to the staff and I.

…positive, professional, friendly, relaxing, comforting, peaceful, welcome, kindness, easy, convenient, personable, healing, compassionate, laid-back, cool, friendliness, caring, wonderful, pleasant, fun, calming, helpful, healthy, hopeful, welcoming, complete, calming, enlightening, healthy, friendly, awesome, nice, relaxing, positive, altering, happy, healing, peaceful, wonderful, I love Erica, I love Teri, fun, great people, serenity, practical, makes me feel good, everyone makes me laugh, great experience, relaxing, hopeful, life-changing, convenient, expedient, amazing, fun, life change, positive, exciting, P.S. everyone is friendly, relaxing, rejuvenating, therapeutic, sense of well-being, uplifting, inspiring, amazing, relief, comfort, relaxation, release, healthy, re-aligning with LIFE, enlightening, growth, encouraging, healing, welcoming, did I say healing?, peace, health, calmness, thankful, rejuvenated, health, relaxing, friendly, refreshed, energized, relaxed, relief, learning, comfortable, invigorating, healing, fun, relaxing, stress-release, calming, wonderful, helpful, hopeful, relief, refresh, fun, painless, peaceful, restoring, cheerful, healing, grateful, new, me again, straight, relaxing, new, feel better, friendly, always smells good, relaxed, clear, energized, educational, serenity, rejuvenating, delightful, awareness, awaken, alive, relaxing, inviting, efficient, calming, relaxing, comfortable atmosphere, understanding, gentle, kind, relaxing, helps, relieves pain, wonderful, pleasant, fantastic, relaxing I love Erica, friendly I love Angie, awesome I love Teri, good health, peace, calming…

There were another 20 or more of the word “relaxing” but I didn’t want to keep writing it.

Bottom line…I think we are doing our job and we are looking forward to many more years to come. Thank you to all of you for adding to our Cafe of LIFE community!!!

YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

As many of you know, I practice yoga…a lot. I have been committed to cultivating my inner yogi for the past 4 years and spend 2-3 nights at Ethos Yoga Studio in Holly http://www.ethosyoga.net/.

It is one of my passions and helps to make me a better person in this world. My usual classes are Monday and Wednesday night over at Ethos and Friday afternoon either there or down at Center For Yoga in Birmingham http://www.centerforyoga.com/. It is therapeutic for me; mind, body and spirit. It is absolutely one of the greatest things I have added to my life and spend a lot of time talking about it during the day at the Cafe of LIFE. In order for the body to be and stay healthy, it needs to move. I haven’t found a better way to move the body than to flow and twist and turn in a yoga class and would highly recommend it in some way to everyone.

Tomorrow starts a new phase of yoga for me. I am always on the hunt for rich, rewarding experiences and I will begin a Yoga Teacher Training course over at Ethos Yoga. The course is 3 months long and is designed to immerse trainees in the yoga philosophy. We will be practicing yoga on a daily basis on our own or in a class. We will develop a personal meditation practice on our own and in class. We will change our eating habits to vegetarian or vegan. So this is going to be in addition to what I already have going on which is running a really fun chiropractic practice, hosting an amazing Book Club, giving Half Hour to Health lectures, participating in an awesome Walking Club, being a dog mom, and a runner amongst many other activities I am involved in. It means getting up an hour earlier and time managing a little better. It means studying and spending a lot of down time reading and writing. I look forward to it. I will keep you posted during the process.

(pictures are right off Ethos website; Kel Leigh Coale photography)

POISONING

I will be posting some wonderful pictures from my past weekend in the next post but I wanted to discuss a little about a situation and a lesson I learned about the body. This past Monday, my flight went from Reno/Tahoe to Denver to Detroit. My connecting flight in Denver was delayed. Usually I am running around trying to find a protein bar or something on these types of travel days but since I had an almost 3 hour delay, I decided that I would take the time to sit down at a restaurant and have something healthy to eat. My choice was a salad with mango, strawberry and

Dr Erica Peabody - Poisoning - Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan

salmon atop a bed of beautiful greens. When it arrived at my table, it looked appetizing enough to dig in so that is exactly what I did. One fork-full at a time, I was noticing a little tinge of brown on the greens, maybe a little dried out, the strawberries hadn’t been run under water in a long time and the mango, though tasted really good, was maybe a little extra slimy and weird. At that moment I thought to myself that since I was at a nice restaurant, it should be fine and I am not one to complain much about what I am served so I finished it all…and everything was good until that evening when I finally reached my destination, I was starting to get a nagging headache. Sometimes a headache will come on if my blood sugar is low so didn’t think much about it and continued on to have dinner, Thai food. I went to bed and slept well but was woken up at 5:00AM with nausea, 7AM started the vomiting and my body was so drained and exhausted. I couldn’t pull things together to make it to the Cafe that morning and slept for about 3 more hours. When I woke up I proceeded to get ready and made it in to work to serve people for the afternoon. I always feel better when I am helping other people feel better, but that is where it ended. Tuesday evening as I was laying down to bed, my entire body hurt. It was food poisoning for sure, my entire body was poisoned and working overtime to improve the environment. Many people in that situation would have tried to find something that would stop the vomiting and take away aches and pains. If the body is poisoned and trying to get something out, don’t you think it is a good idea to let it do that? If it is food poisoning and the body recognizes that, or anything else for that matter, let it do what it is designed to do. Because I let it run its course, my body took care of it and in the long run is better off for it. When symptoms arise, instead of reacting to them, let’s watch them and as long as they are not life-threatening, let’s let the body do what it is going to do. We will all be better off.

ELECTION DAY 2008 – FINALLY!!!!

It’s election day 2008-finally!!!

I do not get caught up in it all as I stay away from watching TV on a regular basis. I only watch one show per week as a ritual with my parents. And through this election season, I am very happy my life doesn’t revolve around the TV. We are completely bombarded by so many ideas through the media it becomes difficult to decipher between what are your own thoughts and those that were planted there by the media and advertising and campaigning. HOWEVER, in saying all that, it is important to vote and make the difference that you can. It may seem small, however you never know how far reaching voting today will effect your life and others. So get out there and make it happen. ROCK THE VOTE!!! (I love that phrase)

“You never know how far reaching something you think, say or do today will effect the lives of millions tomorrow.” -BJ Palmer

Celebrate Election Day 2008!!

DURANGO

Durango, Colorado!!! I visited such a wonderful place last weekend I have to share with you. It is a small town in southwest Colorado, very near what they call “The Four Corners” where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah come together. I guess there is a monument there that you can straddle with your arms and legs and be in 4 states all at one time. I didn’t make it there however I did get to explore the area. Durango is a very conscious city. The people of Durango pay attention to what they eat and how they treat the land and environment. They recycle whenever they can, ride their bikes if it is possible, and respect others. It seems that many people are questioning standard western medicine there, thus leading to healthier births, childhoods, and lives in general. I have friends that practice chiropractic there in the city and are loving every minute of being in their small piece of paradise. Though it is more than a hop, skip, and a jump to get there, if you get a chance to go, TAKE IT!!!

BOOK CLUB

One of the most wonderful things that has come into my life in this past year is the Cafe of LIFE Book Club.

I am not the originator though it was passed to me because I host it at my office. It is such a wonderful experience each and every meeting we have. We all leave lighter and with more ease than what we came in with. We cozy up here at the Cafe of LIFE and have open discussions about real things, that really matter. If you ever get an opportunity to join something like this, take it. And if you haven’t found one yet, COME JOIN US!!!! We begin a new book “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie tomorrow, Thursday Sept 25th at 6:30pm and meet every other week to discuss about 3 chapters at a time.

One word to describe book club….INSPIRING!!!

DOMS

Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness, DOMS,….my friends and I laughed and joked around when we first learned this in school. It is seriously referred to as “doms” and I had a serious experience with it over the past weekend. On Friday I decided I would do a step aerobics class (60 min), a yoga class (60 min), and then I had my first horseback riding lesson. I used to show horses when I was growing up but once I left for college, it was difficult to find time or a horse to ride on a regular basis. Essentially I have been away from horses for 10 years. So I decided I would start taking riding lessons to get involved with horses again. It was great fun but I found muscles that had not been worked in a long time (like 10 years). I work out all the time and I would think that power yoga 3 times per week should have touched all of those muscles but I guess not. Each exercise uses different muscle groups and that is why it is so important to cross-train on a regular basis. My next riding lesson is tomorrow and I am really excited because each time it will be easier and easier on my body. And of course getting adjusted on a regular basis is so important to keep it all balanced. I will be doing that tomorrow as well!!!