Aprovechar

We–my husband and I–are at the end of Day Six of a 60-day trial of being sugar-free.  For the past six days, we haven’t had any cane sugar (table or unprocessed), honey, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, or artificial sweeteners.  When we set up the rules, we allowed ourselves one agave-sweetened treat per week, and [...]

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I think many of us spend so much of our lives with family members, role models, religious leaders and texts, self-help books, magazine articles, and other facets of society telling us to be ruled by self-control, via willpower, that it quickly becomes ingrained in us that immense willpower is essential for running the more difficult [...]

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Offer yourself empathy. This is a very important step in self-care.  I started to say it’s one of the top three lessons I’ve learned in the past couple of years of self-care. Really, it’s one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my whole life.
Before the start of 2006, before I began offering myself [...]

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Perhaps you are a lucky soul who lives in a time and place where, during your day, each day, you get to take a lovely stroll through stalls or shops selling fresh vegetables, fruits, breads, cheeses, meats, etc.  You carefully inspect each in-season fruit or vegetable to pick out the highest-quality combination of tastes and [...]

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We’re one week into 2008, and one week into the Year of Self-Care!  How are you feeling? Are you pumped about this year being one where you will grow in your ability to feel more soothed, more fulfilled, and healthier? I know I am.
I’ve struggled lately, emotionally.  About half the time, I feel fine.  The [...]

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We want change to happen instantly.  We want fast results.  We want to dive head-long into something and discover success within days, or even moments.  We think that instant success will feed us for the long haul—keep us going until we are truly great at something, or until we’ve accomplished what we’re trying to do.
That [...]

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The day of my grandmother’s funeral, I knew I needed to exercise to give myself a dose of endorphins before I headed down to join the family.  It was bitterly cold outside, so I rushed to the gym to squeeze in a workout before we were scheduled to leave.  I rode a bike on the [...]

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