Category Archives: Happiness

How to stay motivated in your quest for optimal health

Posted by Jan 28, 2015 fitness, Happiness, health, new year's resolutions, passion, workout, yoga Leave a Comment
How to stay motivated in your quest for optimal health

As we near the end of January you might be looking back at the goals or resolutions you set for yourself just a short time ago. Have you picked up momentum or have you hit some speed bumps along the way? More than likely you have faced moments of doubt. We all do. So how does one stay motivated day after day?

We are all motivated in different ways and it’s worth while to sit down and ask yourself what motivates YOU! Is it inspirational quotes, images of others overcoming impossible tasks, is it a friend, family member or group of people? Make a list of of the first things that come to mind. Ultimately though I believe motivation must come from within. It’s there always, we might just need a little external “spark” to get it going again. Once you have taken some time to reflect or even try out your personal external motivators then make them a regular part of your day. Read a quote first thing in the morning, reach out to a friend mid-day for a quick chat or play that song that always gets your blood pumping right near the end of your workout when you think you can’t do anymore. It may also be worthwhile to note who or what drags you down and try to reduce their influence on you. There may be images or people who are not uplifting you the way you need them too. Perhaps this is a friend or partner who tends to be negative about your goals. Speak to them about this, maybe they don’t even realize the effect it has on you. Pictures can speak a thousand words so watch if commercial images of seemingly perfect people are causing you to doubt yourself. There are so many amazing videos out there of people just like you and I who have overcome great adversity to realize a healthy and happy life. If they can do it so can you.

I find external motivators in some of the most unlikely places. What motivates me to move my body the most is thinking about the people in my life that have been affected by illness and had their bodies virtually taken from them too soon. I think of my mother who died an early death due to cancer and how her body became so foreign to her. Or my friend and student who suffered a very short time with lung and brain cancer and found the simple act of breathing almost impossible. When I’m working out and I think I just can’t do any more I visualize their faces and I dedicate the next push of energy to them. Just writing this is getting me excited. When I run outdoors I take a path system that winds it’s way around my neighbourhood and I usually try and go a different way each time but normally the end of my run takes me down a main road. Often there is a man in a wheel chair watching the traffic pass and when I see him I give him a wave and he waves back. No matter how tired I feel at that moment I start to run like the wind. I can’t imagine he asked to be put in that wheel chair and I’m sure if given the choice he would rather run just like me. So I run and I run and I run….for him and for me.

Here are some of my favourite ways to spark my own internal motivation, maybe they can help you too:

  • Motivational quotes – if I find them online I write them down or pin them on my Pinterest board so that I can refer to them again.
  • Uplifting pages on Facebook – enough with the criticism, let’s support each other!
  • Videos of individuals who made radical changes to their lives.
  • Working out alongside people who inspire me with their dedication and intensity.
  • Surrounding myself with others who are on the same path of good health and sharing some of my obstacles with them.
  • Particular songs – I make sure they are on my playlists!

Always remember that there will be ups and downs. We can prepare ourselves for the “downs” and even allow ourselves to feel them. There’s a quote I love: “When you have one flat tire you don’t slash the other three.” When you have a day or week where you fall off track just get back on and try not to dwell on it. Reach out to those motivators. I would love for you to join my Facebook page where I try and post regular motivation.

“When you are just about to give up remember why you started” – Anonymous

Live the life YOU want!

Posted by Jan 14, 2015 fitness, Happiness, health, new year's resolutions, passion, yoga Leave a Comment

I did not grow up thinking I would some day become a Yoga Teacher. My parents did stress to me at an early age that if I were to attend post-secondary school I should chose an academic program that would get me a “good job” that payed well. When I chose a business program my father would ask me (tongue and cheek) “What are you going to be after this? A business person?”. For ten years after university I worked for a major corporation in an industry I knew nothing about until the night before they interviewed me. I gained some great knowledge and experience while I was there but if someone were to ask me if I was happy there, happy with my professional life…I couldn’t say “YES” confidently. I had to alter my behaviors and habits to fit the mold of an employee I thought I had to be while working there. I wasn’t living a life true to who I was. I remember a coworker asking me once “If you could do any job in the world what would it be?” Without hesitating I said “A Yoga Teacher”. It was my heart that spoke in that moment, and it actually caught me by surprise. Then my head got in the way and I quickly followed it up with, “But that will never happen”.

While on maternity leave with my first child I did a lot of soul searching. I had time to step back and figure out the big picture of where I wanted to be in life and what was going to make me happy. It wasn’t money, it wasn’t a bigger house or anything like that. I knew that I wanted to spend as much time as I could enjoying my daughter, I wanted an active lifestyle, and I wanted to help people. But in that moment I didn’t know what that was going to look like. So I went back to work and every day my heart broke a little when I would drop her off at daycare so early in the morning and pick her up so late in the evening for a job I wasn’t passionate about. I still shudder thinking of those times. I’m not saying this is a bad “scenario” to be in but it just wasn’t for me and I was unhappy with it. Then I got pregnant with my son and decided it was time to really focus on how I was going to make some healthy changes for myself and for my family.

I took a leap of faith. I decided to follow a professional path that was very different from the one I had been on for so long. There were moments of fear and moments of doubt but the moments of excitement far outweighed the less uplighting ones. There were ups and downs and many sacrifices were made but all of this kept me on the path towards the goals I had laid out for myself. I started listening to that beautiful voice in my heart that spoke to me that day with my coworker and told my head to take it easy. Now I feel like nothing is stopping me. I don’t always have a perfectly laid plan but I do have a map. And the map says that I will some times make pit stops, take the scenic route or take a short cut towards the messages my heart sends me. So maybe it’s time to ask yourself if you are living the life YOU want. Don’t stop and think about the answer, say the first thing that comes up. Then write it down or say it aloud. Then you go full out in that direction and never look back! When you start moving towards a goal that excites you and brings you joy there is nothing and no one that can stand in your way!

Stay tuned to my blog for more inspiration or leave a comment.