What is your thought life like?Mind-set is everything. Have you heard that success is 20 percent skill and 80 percent mind-set? Our skills are needed, but they do not determine the outcome. Skills fail, and people make mistakes. It is those with a mind-set of perseverance and determination who will succeed in the end. What mind-set do you have? If your mind is obsessed on the problems and what is going wrong, you will not be able to easily find a solution. The mind and the body are intricately connected. The body cannot do anything without the mind directing it, and the mind needs the body to carry out its work. Internal dialogue is a big area where people have a negative mind-set. We are often our own worst enemies, telling ourselves things we would never utter aloud even to people we dislike. Beating yourself up with internal dialogue is a mind-set that will keep you stuck in old patterns and keep you from reaching your goals. It is also a source of stress that can be elimintated through mind-set renewal. How to Renew Your Mind...Scripture is where we come to find the right mind-set and renew our minds.
We are born with a sinful mind-set, one that is focused on selfish desires and bodily pleasure. When we come to believe in Jesus and are saved by grace, we receive the Holy Spirit. We then experience a transformation, which could be slow or fast, of being changed by the Holy Spirit into a new person, born of the Spirit. We learn about how we are created in the image of God, "fearfully and wonderfully made," (Psalm 139:14). We learn that God created us and called us to faith in Jesus "to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do," (Ephesians 2:10). To do God’s will, the works He planned for us, we must renew our minds, as Paul tells us in Romans and Philippians: "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace," (Romans 8:6). "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —His good, pleasing and perfect will," (Romans 12:2). "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things," (Philippians 4:8). You see, what we focus on, becomes our perspective and shapes our reality. When we focus on who we are created to be, our purpose in this life, and the power God gives us through the Holy Spirit, everything looks different. A problem becomes an opportunity to see God move or a chance to persevere and grow in endurance and faith. Reading scripture is necessary to renewing your mind. If you are not reading God's word daily, it is time to make a committment to do it. For me Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) has been a fantastic way to keep myself in the scriptures daily and stay accountable. It is a free bible study group that meets weekly during the school year. To find a location near you check the www.bsfinternational.org/mapBSF International website.
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Why is Sleep so Important?Sleep is an important part of each day. If you have ever tried to go without, you know you do not function the same as when you have slept. Our bodies and the earth have a rhythm for each day, and rest is an integral part of the rhythm. Sleep is important for the body to detoxify, renew itself for the next day, recover, and repair any damage done to it. Your ability to solve problems is directly related to sleep habits. Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory and make connections in that information, to help find solutions to problems. If you don’t sleep, your brain cannot function to its potential and you are accumulating toxins within it, bogging it down even more. Sleep is also important to renew the body for the activity of the next day. During sleep, normal body functions are restored. This primarily occurs in the deepest part of the sleep cycle, which some people do not reach well if they get fewer than six and a half hours of sleep each day. During deep sleep, brain activity slows, the heart rate and breathing decrease, muscles relax, and blood pressure decreases. Your body is in its deepest state of relaxation in the deep sleep state. It is here your energy is restored. Sleep is very important to your health and well-being! Lack of sleep over a while can be directly associated with irritability, anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and an increased appetite. It is also connected with decreased motor performance, a weak immune system, increased inflammation, insulin resistance, obesity, cognitive decline, digestive issues, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. One hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight. There is just no way around it—going to bed early is a great habit that will help you be healthier and more successful in life. Are you struggling to get to sleep or sleep through the night?Make sure your sleep environment is dark to facilitate deep sleep. Light is the main driving factor of our circadian rhythm (the awake-sleep cycle) each day. Establishing a sleep routine is another great practice that will help improve your sleep. Put in place a relaxation routine for yourself: complete a breathing exercise, read Scripture, or listen to calming music, which can all help calm down the body and prepare you for sleep. Minimize anything in the environment that can disturb your sleep, like electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs). EMFs, like those from our cell phones, wireless devices, and Wi-Fi routers will disrupt sleep. Make sure to turn your phone to airplane mode and your Wi-Fi off, or put your phone as far away from your bed as possible to limit exposure. Taking a multivitamin with a small snack before bed can also be helpful. Make sure the snack is high in protein and fat and low in carbohydrates. The multivitamin helps the body conduct its repair and restore activities. Taking your multivitamin at night makes any needed vitamins and minerals readily available for use. Avoiding sugar and alcohol are also good measures to take to ensure healthy sleep. Sugar and alcohol are toxins in the body, contributing to disease progression and interfering with the natural sleep cycle. I put together a PDF document of the top 10 sleep hacks and a few reasons that my be causing you to not sleep well. You can download the PDF by clicking on the button below. If you put these sleep hacks into practice and still are not able to get the sleep you need, get help. You may have underlying system dysfunction like imbalanced hormones, parasites or metabolic chaos.
It is important to get tested and fix the underlying dysfunction so your body can rest and repair itself. To find out how I can help, visit my Contact page. Hormone imbalance is a real issue that I am seeing more than ever. Our chronically stressed out, overschedled modern lifestyles plus the lack of real food in our diets is wrecking our hormones. Could it be the cause of some of your health complaints? How do I know if I have hormone imbalance?Hormone imbalance can look like a number of different things:
Why is Hormone imbalance an issue that needs to be addressed?Our hormones control many functions in our body and our vitality, the state of being strong and active; having energy. If your hormones are imbalanced, it can lead to a weakened state of health and left unchecked leads to symptoms and metabolic chaos.
Cortisol, especially is a hormone that must be brought into balance. Cortisol is an important hormone that controls our alertness during the day. It is the body's response to low blood sugar levels, emergency situations, and is a natural pain killer. Cortisol is balanced by another hormone, DHEA. When out of balance, cortisol becomes a destructive hormone in the body, leading to the breakdown of other vital systems. When hormone imbalances are not addressed and other vital systems are affected, then diseases start to present themselves. Before diseases start to appear, it is important to support your body to bring hormones back into balance through diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction and supplementation. Before you supplement, it is important to know exactly what hormones are out of balance and how hormones are being synthesized in the various pathways. The only way to know that information is to test. I have worked with lots of women struggling with hormone imbalance. I personally have struggled with hormone imbalance and know how frusterating it can be. Hormones can easily be brought into balance through a health rebuilding protocol. I have done it myself and helped other women do the same. If you are struggling with any of the symptoms above and are ready to get to the root of the problem, click on the link below to start the process of testing and balancing your hormones. |
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AuthorJessica Mutunga is passionate about good simple living that focuses on relationships, food and creating a supportive healthy environment. She is The Light Way Coach. Archives
May 2022
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