Author: Brittany M. Edwards

On a journey to be healthy and wealthy.

Friday! Splurge Day!

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Health & Wellness

Okay so this is the day I cheated myself. I ate late, more than once and had beers and cocktails. Oh My!

Not a great idea, but everything I had was amazing. I found a hidden gem near my house! Our very own neighborhood brewery! One way to keep your stress down is to just go in your neighborhood and try a place you’ve never been before. You are allowed a reward day for all the hard work you put in throughout the week. I definitely did that. Fridays are usually the day I pick. After a long week of work and all the tasks that are completed, sometimes it’s really needed.

Splurge days are always fun, just have to make sure not to overdue it. You don’t want to feel horrible the next day because you stuffed yourself the night before. It’s best to still enjoy things in moderation. Rewards are needed when you workout and eat right all the time. You treat it as an incentive to keep up the good work going forward. So make sure you set a splurge day to reward yourself and your health will continue to improve.

A Must Share – 21 Ways to Nourish Your Mind & Body

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Health & Wellness

Good Morning!

Ever wonder why there are so many ways to take of not only your body, but your mind and soul/spirit too? Well I found something that pretty much lays everything out there for you in a nutshell.  These findings in the photo shared are actually what motivated me to want to share the information I’m learning. I myself, have already begun to follow some of the suggested ways mentioned in the photo below. I struggle with inflammation, insomnia, depression and anxiety and also finding out what would help me combat these ailments and still lead a healthy and productive life.

Now as always, the information given is just a suggestion (or a stepping stone). However, I encourage you to try incorporating some of these soulful ways into your life and routine. They literally make a world of difference. Let me know how it goes.

 

Learn how to manage stress!:

Ayurveda. What is it?

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Ayurveda

Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest healing systems, beginning in India over 5,000 years ago. Its principal belief is that all things are connected, whether living or not. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that literally translates as “the science of life” or “the wisdom of life” or “the knowledge of longevity”. According to Ayurveda, in order to be healthy your mind, body, and spirit have to be aligned and balanced with the universe. Being healthy is not just the exclusion of disease in the body.

Ayurveda has a few basic principles:

  • Reaching your unique state of balance in your whole being (body, mind, spirit) is fundamental to your well-being.
  • There are 3 doshas (that describe who we are): vata, pitta, and kapha – I’ll get into these more in future posts.
  • If you are imbalanced, get rid of what’s causing the problem. If you are still experiencing imbalances, counteract with opposite (ei. spicy foods cause indigestion so eat something less spicy).
  • Always support your digestive system, it is here that the good nutrients is absorbed and the bad waste is expelled.
  • The universe is made of the 5 basic elements air, water, fire, earth, and space.

When you hear about Ayurveda, mostly it’s about learning about your body’s unique composition of the principle energies (doshas) and keeping them balanced. Vata (space & air) is the energy of movement, pitta (fire & water) is the energy of digestion or metabolism, and kapha (earth & water) the energy of lubrication and structure.

The Power of Positivity

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Mindful Living

Positivity

It’s a common concept that gets tossed around in numerous situations. With so many reasons to be negative, we have to find it in ourselves to be positive everyday and not let things get to us. It’s sometimes harder to keep positive on a regular basis, especially with all the crazy things that are going on in the world today. Why is it so important to keep positive? Well the energy you put out is the same energy you’ll receive back. If you emit positive energy, positive things will happen for you. Don’t believe me? Try it!

We constantly have a million and one thoughts going through our minds, not all of them are positive. So how do you change a negative thought into a positive one?

When that negative thought comes in your head, you have to immediately change it. Seems simple right? Not completely, not for everyone. Even I find myself having moments where I should have turned a negative thought into a positive one and instead I have just let it slide on by. However, with practice, comes the ability to really be able to succeed at this. Getting rid of the defeatist thoughts can be a challenge, but it’s very rewarding.

No more saying to yourself “I can’t do this,” or “the task is just too hard,” or “I’ll never get it right.” You have to say instead “I can do this, nothing is too hard for me, and I can get this task completed correctly.” One thing I always find that helps me to get rid of the defeatist thoughts is a scripture: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.

That scripture is so powerful and it reminds us that we can do anything we set out to do with the strength of God through Christ. I also like to hum a tune in my head that sounds upbeat and sunny. Sometimes it’s a children’s song like BINGO or Pop Goes the Weasel, and other times it’s funny song I heard on YouTube. Either way it helps bring you out of your thoughts all together.

So give it a try and see the difference it’ll make in your life.

 

Mask Day!

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Beauty

Okay, so it’s always a good decision to take care of your body on the inside and out. I decided, for myself, that I would try a head-to-toe approach. So I literally started with my hair: finding a good regimen, products to use, and to maintain its healthy appearance. (I’ll make other posts about my hair revelations later, but I was too excited about this face mask).

Today is about my face!

I have found one amazing Dead Sea Mud Mask by Pure Body Naturals! OMG! I love this mask! Not only does it make my skin feel amazing, it’s all natural! I can actually pronounce every single last ingredient in the mask, which is usually a rough task. I must say, my face has never felt this clean and refreshed. I definitely can see how it’s a number top seller on Amazon.com. I will definitely be using this mask every week for a deep cleansing, to shrink my pores, and help with keeping acne at bay. 

I definitely recommend this buy!

Mindful Breathing

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Mindful Living, Mindfulness

I find that learning to breathe mindfully, is the first step to living a mindful life. It can be difficult when you’re just starting out, but it gets easier. The more you practice, the better you get. Mindful breathing helps you calm your mind. A calm mind is just the beginning to gaining a deeper understanding of yourself.

To make it easy I start with simply find a comfortable place to sit. You can also lay down if you want. In any case, make sure you keep your back straight. Get a timer, and set it to five minutes. While taking a deep breath in and letting it out, slowly close your eyes. To help you only focus on your breath; say the words “inhale” as you inhale your breath, and “exhale” as you exhale your breath. If at all your thoughts began to wonder, just bring your focus back to the words “inhale” and “exhale”.

Aim to practice mindfully breathing everyday for five minutes for a week. Pick a time of day, maybe after you brush your teeth in the morning and/or before you go to bed at night. It’s a good time frame to get you started. On the second week, you can extend your time frame to ten minutes everyday. The next week, fifteen minutes and twenty minutes by the forth week.

Stress & It’s Problems

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Health & Wellness, Mental Health

Stress

This lovely 6 letter word is the cause of so many health problems today. It is also one of the toughest things to alleviate; even dealing with stressful situations can be difficult. There’s no way to completely get rid of stress; however, you can learn to cope.

So what is stress?

Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat.

The thing is stress can be good and bad for us. Certain types of stress can help us while other types can land us in the hospital with heart attacks, strokes, and mental breakdowns. Stress can literally kill you. That’s why it’s important that we try our best to handle our stressors in a healthy manner.

Firstly, it’s imperative to know what your stressors are. Some are very common:

  • Work/Career
  • School
  • Kids
  • Money

These are just to name a few. You name it, it can be a stressor. The most common way to keep your stress levels low is to make sure you exercise and eat properly. There are, however, more ways to keep your stress levels in a safe range. Personally I like to go for walks around my neighborhood. I find hidden gems that I didn’t even notice always driving around and it actually lifts my mood.

I’m a person that gets bored doing the same things pretty easily. So there are a few other ways I like to cope with stress:

  • Coloring/Painting
  • Meditation
  • Deep breathing
  • Sports & recreation
  • Reading books
  • Journaling
  • Have a good cry

These are just a few things that help me deal with my stressors. I will tell you this, nothing substitutes for being under the care of doctors whose job it is to help us. I didn’t always think this at first; however, therapy is definitely something that can’t be substituted.

The Warm-Up

by Brittany M. Edwards, posted in Fitness

Warming up is the best way to insure that you minimize injuries during workouts or sporting events. I used to run track & field in high school and college and it was the first thing we did before really getting into the thick of practice. All athletes are required by their coaches to do a warm up routine, but they aren’t the only ones. Singers do warm up exercises for their voices and musicians do warm up exercises with their instruments making sure both are finely tuned. Actors even do warm ups before they begin their scene.

Warming up is part of the fitness process but the concept is used widely. Here are a few warm ups I like that are low impact and get the blood flowing properly to the muscles:

  • 5 minute walk/jog
    • I usually walk/jog around my neighborhood, or I pick a specific destination if I’m planning to do a light workout at home later. This gets the whole body warmed up without having to add more exercises.
  • High-knees
    • Doing high-knees opens up the hips and warms up the lower half of your body. There is two ways to do high knees: 1) you pull your knee to your chest with your hands alternating legs. 2) while holding your hands straight in front of you, you raise each knee to your hands rapidly.
  • Toe touches, then touch the sky
  • Arm circles
  • Lunges