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The day before yesterday I had another coffee dates which was fairly unremarkable except that this particular man was having a really hard time with Seattle’s dark days (SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder). He told me at length about his depression, the medications he was taking, the side effects of the meds, on and on. I know a lot of people who have trouble with mood this time of year and it got me thinking about complimentary therapy when medication isn’t enough or for milder cases of depression that may be triggered seasonally. The latest research shows that complimentary therapies are being incorporated into treatments to help mitigate the symptoms of depression and restore a sense of well-being and control.
Obviously these strategies aren’t necessarily a substitute for medication and you should always talk to your doctor before considering any health technique you hear or read about. I don’t personally have SAD, but am prone to mood disorder and have been most of my life. Adding these strategies to my lifestyle have and continue to help me with minor depression so if you think you might need a mood booster right about now, this might be helpful to you.

Tweaking your diet: Most experts agree now that a diet high in processed foods can be a major contributor to mood problems. A whole food (translate: real food with ingredients Grandma would recognize) approach, with a focus on an increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids can help. Studies show that a diet low in these cellular building blocks has been linked to depression. Oily fish like wild salmon, herring, and sardines are the richest natural sources, but if you hate fish like I do, you may need supplements to reaach the recommended levels. Talk to your doctor about which sources are best for you.

Exercise/Sleep/Light: A workout may be the most powerful way to refresh our brains and our moods. More than a hundred clinical studies have concluded that exercises boosts mood and mental function. The stimulation of the feel good hormone – serotonin and dopamine come into play here. The recommended does: minimum of 90 minutes per week, make it fun, and take it outside. Outdoor workouts do double duty because the air and sun (when it’s out!) energize the body and indirectly improve sleep, another essential for mental health. I notice a big difference on the days I run outside versus working out on the treadmill – I feel lighter and it clears my head.
Try light therapy to reverse mood problems associated with winter months. Get a 10,000 lux light box – which is the equivalent of a bright sunny morning (you can find them online).

For me, yoga “gives my mind a bone to chew on” and really helps boost my mood during winter’s darkness. Studies have linked regular yoga practice to with lower stress hormones and an increase in GABA (the anxiety reducing neurotransmitter).

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Some of the best coaching I receive is from my clients. Working today with an incredibly gifted physical therapist who is reinventing her practice in her mid-50′s. She hired me to help her clear away the collection of “resources” as she calls them from past work incarnations to make room for her new vision which includes a new Feldenkrais practice.

We were working primarily with paper, lots and lots of old files, literature, and articles that represented important periods of her life. Her fear was that disposing of anything might erase the memories and achievements of her life she most wanted to remember.

Her AHA moment came when she told me she needed to learn to really understand the value of things – how to respect them instead of fearing them. Whenever we are in doubt about whether what we’re holding on to is adding or detracting from our life, we need to ask if the stuff in questions is aligned with our core values. For some people out of alignment manifests as clutter, for others it may be destructive relationships or health habits. In getting to her goal of releasing what wasn’t enhancing or advancing her life, my client measured those old resources from her past against what was really important to her today, and that made her decision to let go of the past much easier.

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Is your house cluttered? If so, chances are so is your health. New findings suggest that people with clean, organized homes (a supportive environment) are more likely to be physically active than those with cluttered spaces. Whether or not the kind of somen who care for their homes are also predisposed to care for their health isn’t clear, but the general principle makes sense, yes?

What are you tolerating in your space that could be preventing you from having a healthier body?

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I don’t know about you but the past decade was a pretty tough one for me.  I’m glad I didn’t know that in advance because when I look back,  I wonder how the heck I got through it with as much humor as I did!  I sustained many losses from 2000-2010.  My marriage collapsed, I lost my brother, my mother, my father in law as well as two dear friends.  A precious 7 year relationship ended (although we are still good friends) and my business tanked in 2010.  Maybe you too have suffered your share of hardships.  I know many who have lost their jobs, businesses and homes. 

But what I do believe is that everything is made beautiful in its time and what we’ve lost will be returned to us in ways we can’t imagine.  What the past decade has taught me is that I am much stronger than I ever believed.  I discovered my priorities were out of whack and boy did I get the opportunity to get them straight!   I appreciate more than ever the gifts I came to deliver and thank God I still have a chance to use them to play bigger starting right now.

Probably most of all I’m celebrating the fact that despite everything – I’m still here – and I’m going to have fun!  Your mess can become your message and a celebration of what you’ve been through and how far you’ve come.  I think we’re all a bit too serious most of the time and really what else matters other than we give and receive love and enjoy life?  That’s our purpose here on earth and when we each use the gift we’ve been given to that end, everything changes.   

Mother Teresa said it beautifully, “Joy is a net of love by which you catch souls.”     Happy – emphasis on happy – New Year.

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While on vacation last week I came across this great message from author Seth Godin (Unleasing the Idea Virus, Tribes). It’s not only true in the marketplace, it’s a life metaphor as well.

Digital media expands. It’s not like paper, it can get bigger.
As digital marketers seek to increase profits, they almost always make the same mistake. They continue to add more clutter, messaging and offers, because, hey, it’s free.
One more link, one more banner, one more side deal on the Groupon page.
Economics tells us that the right thing to do is run the factory until the last item produced is being sold at marginal cost. In other words, keep adding until it doesn’t work any more.
In fact, human behavior tells us that this is a more permanent effect than we realize. Once you overload the user, you train them not to pay attention. More clutter isn’t free. In fact, more clutter is a permanent shift, a desensitization to all the information, not just the last bit.
And it’s hard to go backward.
More is not always better. In fact, more is almost never better.

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Thanksgiving has always had a special meaning to me, especially since I grew up less than 30 miles from where the original feast was held at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Every year we made the pilgrimage (pun intended) to Plimoth Plantation, and I never tired of hearing the story of the colonists first winter and the incredible hardships they endured. (I’m not even fond of camping unless there is an electrical outlet handy for the hair dryer.) Without help from the natives they surely would not have survived.

It’s typically the time when we reflect on our blessings and are thankful that we’ve survived our own hardships during the year. I hope you put yourself at the top of the list! Are you thankful for you? Are you taking time to show it by giving your body and your spirit the care and nurturing it deserves?

If not now when? If not you who? Change is possible regardless of what you’ve suffered in the past and what age you are right now. I have no athletic legacy and I’m no superwoman. I was a stay at home over 40 mom of two who (after a divorce and many painful years battling mood disorder) simply refused to believe that my best years were behind me.

Now I get to learn about you and from you – my everyday heroes – strong, savvy, sexy women who have a unique gift to deliver. My mission is to simply help you pack and get ready for your mid life road trip so you’ll have the health, energy and confidence to rock your second half.

And I’m incredibly thankful for that.

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I had a great opportunity this past weekend to work with a client and friend at her home for the day. She had just returned from Miraval spa with her sister where they had been able to spend time with Dr. Pamela Peeke, author of Fit for Life for Women and founder of the Peeke Performance Center, LLC in Rockville, Maryland.

We were discussing the importance of health and well being as we go further and further down our mid-life road trip. A couple of things she said to me crystallized what I’m passionate about teaching and living.
First, you have to move past your pre-conceived notions and old beliefs about what you can do and how you can create new habits. You have to give yourself permission to take some time to care for yourself – and really dive into what the mind-body-spirit connection means to you. Change up how you think and how you view things.

For instance, she and her husband revamped their guest bedroom which was rarely used and created a workout room with elliptical machine, exercise bike, and weights. This simple shift created time and space in their busy schedules to actually get several workouts in during the week, instead of stressing to get to the health club.

They also order organic home cooked meals for delivery a couple of times a week instead of traditional take out, fast food or microwaved boxed food. On the weekends, she said, they are more inspired to eat clean after eating healthy all week.

She hired me to help her go through the house and office and organize the space before the holidays, claiming that the physical act of decluttering opened up more mental space and gave her “room to breathe.” The energy boost from those simple acts, according to her, has given her the momentum to do a better job of honoring herself in mind, body and spirit despite an intense work schedule and very active social life.

Lifestyle changes are life long. They require patience, persistence and attention – but most of all that you see your self-care as an opportunity to learn about the complex, amazing woman you are. It’s about making change little by little – baby stepping your way toward better mental, emotional and physical health so you can deliver the unique gift that only you can deliver.

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My two criteria for anything I commit to – doable and sustainable.  Those look different for everyone but the guiding light is the same – if it isn’t doable for you, you won’t sustain it.  With all the information out there on how, what, and when to eat it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  For me it’s like going to the ITunes store to buy music – I surf, click, wander, get confused and leave without buying anything.  (Short attention span may also have something to do with it – one of my nicknames is mosquito.)

These tips come from nutrition coaches and research and they’ve become part of my own coaching for two reasons – they are doable and sustainable.  Here are a few of my favorites. What do you think? I’d love to hear your comments.

Dine Without a Dictionary

“The FDA now has more than 3,000 ingredients on its list of safe food additives,” says David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health and author of the Eat This, Not That! book series. And because we don’t really know how all those preservatives, artificial sweeteners and colorings, and flavor enhancers may affect your waistline and health, he suggests you follow this rule: If a 7-year-old can’t pronounce it, you don’t want to eat it.

Taste the Rainbow

“I always ask ‘Where are the colors?’ when I look at a plate,” says Ellie Krieger, R.D., host of Healthy Appetite on the Food Network and author of So Easy. “Ideally, there should be a full spectrum, since differently colored produce offers different antioxidants.

Turn the Box Around

The front of any food product is where marketers stick claims like “natural,” “low-fat,” and “no added sugar”—all of which can mean squat. “The true test of the quality of the product is the ingredients list and the nutrition facts panel. Learn how to read those,” says Jessica Seinfeld, author of the new book Double Delicious! Good, Simple Food for Busy, Complicated Lives.

Eat Like It’s Monday Morning

“Think of each meal as a clean slate, an individual opportunity to eat well,” says Glassman. “If you’ve been eating a lot of fried foods or sweets, don’t throw in the towel and have even more—you can start fresh the next time you sit down to eat.”

Balance Your Meals, Balance Your Body

“The best options are meals and snacks that contain a mix of carbs, protein, and fat. This balance helps with satiety, weight management, blood sugar, and bone health,” says Bonci. “So almonds and fruit are a better choice than pretzels, even if the calorie counts are the same.”

Accept the Whole Food Pyramid

“Beware of any diet that eliminates an entire food group,” says Jennifer Anderson, Ph.D., a professor of food science and human nutrition at Colorado State University. “Crazy rules like ‘Eat fruit only in the morning’ are just gimmicks for trying to sell a book.”

Rise and Dine

“Eat a breakfast that contains fiber with protein and a little fat, because it kick-starts your metabolism and fills you up until lunch,” says Glassman. “My go-to meals: a slice of whole-wheat toast with natural peanut butter, or a scrambled egg with some berries.” Bonus: Research shows eating breakfast may help you lose weight and keep it off.

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Yoko Ono once said that when she was 30 she thought she knew everything and when she became 50 she realized she knew nothing.  Mid life can do that to you – getting the wind of your youth knocked out of you for a second, only to realize when you catch your breath that you’ve moved into a place of power that is anything but “less than.”   And what I’ve discovered is that far from settling down, I’ve got a sense of wonder about the world that I just didn’t seem to have time for in my 20′s and 30′s. 

I think our generation partied long and matured late, but at least for me now that I’ve lived more of my life than I’ve got left, I’m totally ready to show up for this trip.  In fact I know I haven’t lived through what I’ve lived through – the good, bad, and ugly – just to have it be over now. 

Whatever you’ve done and wherever you’ve been so far, your entire life has been building up to this moment.  In fact, you’re ready for greatness – a greatness you could never have achieved without going through exactly what you went through.  It was all grist for the mill helped you become the amazing person you are.  You’re not too old, it’s not too late, you’re actually right on time.  This is the time for new hope, meaning in life, passion, more enlightenment – hope not just that the years get longer – they get BETTER. You are connected to a flow of life that doesn’t stop – that doesn’t shut down even at death.  It just leads to another adventure.

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