Getting Unstuck...preview to my e-book coming soon!

How often have you felt "stuck" in life? In your job, your relationship, or your diet? Have you ever felt like you want to change your life but don't know what to do or where to start? I want to help you get unstuck. My guide book, Getting Unstuck, will give you simple tips to incorporate into your life to help you get organized, make better decisions, be healthier, stronger, and manage your stress more effectively so you can live the life you dream, feeling happy and content, even if things aren't always ideal.

Here's a sneak peak at Getting Unstuck.

Getting Unstuck - A simple guide on how to reduce your stress, accomplish more, and improve your overall health and happiness, step by step. By Joni Sturgill

There is no magic pill. Not for weight loss, not for health. Not for stress reduction or sleep. The effect of a “pill” is often temporary, with many vast and possibly dangerous side effects. Plus, if you’re not addressing the root cause of a problem in your body and/or mind, you are not “curing it.” To be healthy, calm, focused and productive takes effort, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. It doesn’t have to feel impossible. The key to success is:

1. Committing to change. Always remember that it’s your choice how to respond to your circumstances.
2. Changing, one step at a time. Acknowledge that it can be a slow process. Tackle one step at a time.
3. Compassion - for yourself. Accept yourself, even when you make mistakes.

So often we beat ourselves up because things don’t work out as we plan. We didn’t “succeed” in losing weight, we aren’t “doing” what we told ourselves we should or we have projects we can’t seem to finish. The self deprecation that accompanies our so-called losses only stresses us more, wearing down our immune system, and disconnecting us from our health and happiness.

That’s where this guide comes in. Read one section and take time to incorporate the tip into your life. Sometimes it might take a day, sometimes it might take two weeks.The book is meant to be cumulative, so try to retain as much as you can, as you progress. Ultimately, there might be some tips that don’t apply to you, and if that’s the case, simply let them go. There might be others that challenge you significantly. Keep practicing these ones. In time it will get easier and you will find a balance that not only works for you...but one that opens doors in your awareness...in your health...in your sense of happiness and accomplishment.

As always, use common sense for your body and your situation. Discuss any major changes with your physician. I am not, in any way, suggesting that you stop any medication or “pills” that you take, I simply want you to consider the possibility that (depending on your circumstances) you may not need it at some point in the future. In other words, don’t close any doors on your health. Allow your body and mind to be open to growth, change and wellness.

Overview of some tips:

Learn your triggers. What causes you to fly off the handle? What kinds of circumstances or situations really stress you out? Recognize them when they happen, and just try to become aware of how you feel in a “trigger” situation. How does it feel in your face, your shoulders, your chest, your belly? What about your mind? Simply developing this awareness is a huge step toward transformation. Learn to recognize and tell yourself, "this is a situation that causes me stress. I feel myself tensing in my jaw and in my shoulders." When you learn your triggers, you can start to reprogram your reaction to such situations. Eventually, you'll handle them with ease. I experienced this myself when I was in my 20's. I realized that I had road rage ...(more in the ebook)

Practice Breathing. 

Breathing exercises can reverse your stress response. Chronic stress can lead to a whole host of illnesses, from heart disease to cancer, so learning stress management is key in improving overall health. Breathing therapy has been successfully applied in the treatment of the following conditions: feelings of tension;  hyperventillation; burnout; headache; chronic fatigue; sleeping problems; concentration problems; anxiety and phobia; panic disorders. The best breathing technique for dramatically reducing stress is ... (more in the ebook)

(Other tips in the ebook...details to come!)

Eat Green Vegetables

Know the Difference Between and a Project and a Task

Spend Time in Nature

There's much more to come. While you're waiting for the ebook to be complete, take one or two of these steps and try to incorporate them into your life. See what happens!

Healthy Resolutions

"I will lose those pesky 10 pounds!"

"I will fit into the clothes I wore in high school."

"I will go to the gym every day, where I will mentally beat myself up and feel bad."

Did you make a new year's resolution? Did it sound like one of the above statements? 

I hope not! Whether it's a new year's resolution or you're just looking to make a change in your body and your health, learn to focus on what you really want, just by asking yourself a few questions.

If your goal is to lose weight, ask yourself, what are the benefits of losing weight? Is it to improve your health? Reduce your chance of disease? To have more energy to do the things you love? Be specific. Write it down.

Be clear about these benefits. "Fitting into the clothes you wore in high school" isn't a benefit to losing weight. You must dig deeper. What would you feel if you did fit into those jeans from high school? You'd feel good about yourself. While reaching a healthy weight can make you feel confident, perhaps you might make another goal, to work on building your self esteem and self worth in a different way.

Being clear about your health and fitness goals is an important step to success! When things get tough or you feel challenged, you can pull out your list of benefits and renew your sense of determination. 

Remember to give yourself a break. Changing habits takes time, whether you're starting a new exercise program or learning to eat healthier and cook your own meals. Don't expect everything to happen overnight. Baby steps...make one small change each day, and a more significant change each week.

Ask for help when you need it. Learning to live healthy can be a real challenge and it's okay to need help on your journey. If you'd like my support, anything from exercise advise, to healthy cooking, to eating out, to losing weight and gaining more energy through the foods you eat, contact me! I'm here and waiting to design a healthy living program for you.

Good luck and good health to you in the new year!