My intention – keep my body healthy!

I recently moved to Gotland to be closer to my grandchildren. After spending a couple of days with the youngsters, 18 months and five years, I realised I had to get into shape or I’d never keep up! Over the years I’ve done pilates, yoga, senior strength training andsince moving to sweden, walking with poles.

A recent page on Zen Habits  (Leo Babuata’s blog) was about overcoming resistance by challenging us to try getting fit or at least make a commitment to ourselves to do it!

I’m taking up the challenge!

Yesterday I did a whole hour of yoga – great program by Shelly Nicole on Youtube –

Felt great although I couldn’t manage the balancing bits so well!

Today I did 45 minutes in the forrest with my walking poles and really enjoyed it – the wild flowers, smells from the trees and birds song all around.

Thanks Leo for the challenge – great motivation and incites as well!

 

 

Starting from the beginning!

I decided to join the Blogging University, so although I have been dabbling for a while, I decided I’d better start at the beginning so as not to miss out on anything. After trying to write in Swedish, I’ve decided I’d better stick to English as there will be less anguish for any eventual readers!

I’ve done so much, been to so many places and I like sharing my experiences and hearing about other people’s lives too!

There is so much to appreciate and so many new things happening, thanks to the internet we are able to be a part of it all!

I’ve just moved to Gotland to be closer to my daughter and her young family so I’m starting another new epoque in my already jampacked with experiences life!

Avoidance –

Have you ever wondered why you put things off? The thing is you know it’s got to be done sometime and it’s going to niggle at you until you face up! Which are the the most usual tasks to be left for later? Ask yourself why. What makes you want to put certain tasks to one side? Discomfort? Can it be that we stay in the cosy lane because some things are just too tough to face up to?

We can stop building up stress in our lives by understanding why we avoid facing up to things – Leo Babauta’s  Face everything technique is a great guide to doing just this!

The Face Everything Technique

This technique is based on the idea that it’s better to be aware of things, and to deal with them like an adult, instead of running.

And if we do, none of it’s that big of a deal.

Here’s how it works:

1. Create awareness by asking, “What am I doing right now?”Throughout the day, set reminders or put little notes that remind you to ask, “What am I doing right now?” The answer might be, “Checking Facebook,” or “Switching to a new browser tab,” or “Eating some chips.” Something simple and mundane like that, but just ask yourself what you’re doing, to start to bring awareness.
2. Next, ask yourself, “What am I avoiding?” When things get difficult o body in the present moment. How bad is it? You’ll find that it’s No Big Deal. Stay with it for a little longer. And a little longer after that — challenge yourself.
3. Take appropriate action. Now that you’ve faced it and have seen that it’s not such a big deal, you can act like an adult rather than a little child: you can decide what the best action is right now. If you’re afraid of doing some task, but you’ve faced it and seen that the fear is not such a big deal … you can remind yourself that the task will benefit you and others, and is much more important than your little fear. If you’re avoiding a difficult conversation with someone because you’re angry, you can see that the anger and offense is not such a big deal, and you can talk to the person calmly and appropriately, with empathy and compassion, and figure out a solution.

Read the entire article, you might see the light!

The Face Everything Technique: Why Avoiding Difficulties Doesn’t Work

 

Morning

September  was once a month I loved without reserve. Autumn arriving, those cooler days, and my favourite colours, beautiful golds, browns, russets appeared in the landscsape.

That was Australia. Now I’m in Sweden September brings with it a tinge of regret – the summer is over. Although we still have lovely bright days the temperature is slowing dropping, the dew lingers longer and the evenings a bit chilly. Still the colours compensate a little and I remind myself mindfully – enjoy the moment. So waking up this September morning to a wonderful sunny sky I seized the moment and remembering Leo Barbauta’s wonderful words about daybreak I started a new project.

To reiterate………

The Daybreak: Make an Important Goal Happen with a Morning Habit.

The sun begins to come up, and the first rays of light begin to shine upon this fresh day.

What do you do with this time?

The most important thing.

If you have a project you want to happen (let’s say you want to write a book), this is the time to form a habit that will make that project happen. A morning writing habit will get the book done. Simply wishing for the book to get written, or saying you’ll do it “someday,” doesn’t make it happen.

If it’s important, you’ll make a morning habit of it:

• If you want to lose weight, create a morning walking habit. Or morning strength training. Or a healthy breakfast with fruits and veggies.
• If you want to start a new business, create a morning session where you work on it every morning.
• If you want to become more mindful during your day, create a morning meditation habit.
• If you want to work on your relationship with your spouse, have a morning habit of talking about your relationship over coffee.
• If you want to journal, make it a morning habit.

Why is morning a better time for important habits? Why not afternoons or evenings? Well, I’m biased, because I really love the mornings. But I’ve found the time to be quieter, less chaotic, better for reflection and focus. Some people will work better in the late nights, but I’m usually tired by then. So figure out what time is your magic time — I think for most people that will be mornings, but not all.

I’ve done pretty much all my important achievements through morning habits: I trained for several marathons by running in the morning, created this blog and wrote numerous books with a morning writing habit, have improved mindfulness through morning meditation, and became a regular exerciser and healthy eater. I’ve had morning walks, done morning journaling, morning yoga, and morning talks with Eva.

There are great habits you can create in the afternoons and evenings too, but I recommend trying a morning habit if you have something important you want to get done.

Make it a habit, and do it first.   Sourced from Zen habits.net

Förståelse av acceptans

Mindfulness innebär att uppmärksamma på syftet, i nuet, med kvaliteter som medkänsla, nyfikenhet och acceptans.
Acceptans är en av de mest hjälpsamma attityder i mindfulness. Acceptans innebär att uppfatta din upplevelse och helt enkelt erkänna det snarare än att döma det som bra eller dåligt. Genom att erkänna känslan, tanke eller förnimmelsen och gå in på det, upplever vi förändringar.

Anna Kåver berättar – Inom den västerländska kulturen övervärderar vi i allmänhet känslomässig kontroll. Det är ett stort och intressant ämne som jag har fördjupat mig i, i boken Att leva ett liv, inte vinna ett krig….

Med acceptans menas att välja att se, ha och stå ut med både den inre och den yttre verkligheten utan att fly, undvika, förvränga eller döma den och att handla utifrån denna verklighet effektivt och i enlighet med dina värderingar och mål.

Med andra ord behöver vi acceptera verkligheten som den är och agera förnuftigt för att förändra det vi inte vill ha.

Acceptans kan göra oss mer positiva, avslappnade, flexibla och kreativa i vårt tänkande om hur vi kan göra för att övervinna våra svårigheter.

Acceptans betyder inte att tycka att något är bra, önskvärt eller att ”vända” något negativ till något positiv. Acceptans är heller inte det samma som passivitet och uppgivenhet.

Titti Holmer, i sin bok Lycka nu; förklarar…….Acceptans betyder inte att du ger upp, att du inte bryr dig, att du passivt uthärdar eller ger upp planerna för något bättre. Nej, visst inser du att du vill lämna situationen, men du lämnar tankarna på förändring och fokuserar på nuet utan att värdera det. Acceptans betyder helt enkelt att du ger upp ditt krig mot tillvaron och slutat kämpa emot det som är. Du väljer att välja flödet i livet istället för att motarbeta det.

När du har det riktigt svårt, vänd dig till nuet. Allt som far genom ditt huvud just nu, det är bara tankar. Det går inte att tänka sig ur dessa tankar eller tänka sig ur situationen – för de existerar inte. Du kanske har ett starkt obehag i kroppen just nu. Det är ett problem, ja. Men inte värre än att du står ut med det. Du vet att det kommer att gå över. Du har alltid en förmåga att hantera nuet, men du kan aldrig hantera en inbillad framtid. Och det behöver du inte heller. Eftersom framtiden inte finns.

Andas, tillåt dig känna kroppen och känslorna. Ge det hela din uppmärksamhet bara en liten stund. Ta ett djupt andetag. Mer smärtsamt än såhär blir det inte. Släpp ditt motstånd. Säg ja till det som är. En av livets viktigaste lärodomar är att tillåta sig att känna det man känner.

Så när livet överväldigar dig – fokusera inte på måsten i framtiden utan se vad du kan göra här och nu.

Källa:  Anna Kåver – leg. Psykolog, leg. Psykoterapeut, handledare i KBT och specialist i klinisk psykologi.

Titti Holmer – legitimerad psykolog, föreläsare och författare till succéboken Lycka nu. Som en av Sveriges främsta experter på mindfulness.

Making your desires become reality.

Now for the practical stuff – Leo’s seven simple steps to help you off the couch and back on track.

1. Make a date. Right now. All the good intentions in the history of the universe mean nothing if you don’t actually get started. And the only way to get started is to take action, right now. Not tomorrow, not later today, not in an hour, not when you finish reading this article. Right now! Look at your calendar, and make an appointment to create your action plan, or to take the first action (“Go walking at 5:30 p.m. today in the park,” for example). What’s the first action you can take to make your desires a reality? Create a healthier meal plan for tomorrow? Create a place for everything you use at work, so your organizing system doesn’t fall apart in two day? Decide what that is and make an appointment for it, right now. Second part of this step: make that appointment the most important appointment on your schedule, more important than a doctor’s appointment or a meeting with your boss.
2. Set a small, achievable goal. Remember, inertia is a powerful force. If you haven’t been exercising for a couple years, it’s hard to get started. You’re used to the way things are, and even if you want to change, it’s difficult. So don’t start out trying to conquer the world. Just conquer something exceedingly small. It might sound wimpy to say, “I’m going to walk for 10 minutes” or “I’m going to do 10 pushups and 1 chinup”, but those are much more likely to beat inertia than, “I’m going to exercise for 45 minutes today.” Be realistic, and make it very very achievable. It’s the only way to beat inertia.

“Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back

3. Commit thyself, big time. It’s this commitment that will keep you going after you overcome inertia. Sometimes we get filled up with enthusiasm, but then a few days later, that enthusiasm wanes and we submit to our old buddy laziness. Now, I’m not anti-laziness — just the opposite, I assure you — but we can’t let it stop us from making our dreams come true. So instead, make a commitment, publicly. State your small, achievable goal, and tell it to as many people as you can. Call or email friends and family, tell all your coworkers, join an online forum related to your goal and tell all of them. Put it on your blog. However you do it, make sure people are aware of your goal, and that there’s sufficient pressure to overcome laziness.
4. Baby steps, baby. Again, inertia is a very strong force. I’ve said it before, but this is a very important step here: the best way to change is through baby steps. One small step at a time. Don’t try to bite off too much. How is this different from the above step, setting a small and achievable goal? It’s the same concept, but extended beyond the initial goal. It’s taking things one little goal at a time, a bit at a time. For example, let’s say you want to run a marathon, but currently your running regimen consists of running to the bathroom during commercial breaks while you’re watching Lost. So do you go out and start a marathon training plan? Nope. You start by walking 10 minutes a day. Then, when that becomes a habit and too easy, walk 15 minutes. Then 20, then 30. Then jog a minute, walk a couple minutes, jog a minute, and so on, for those 30 minutes. Then jog 90 seconds, and so on, until you’re running for 30 minutes. Do these steps a week or two at a time, so that all of a sudden, you’re running for 45 minutes every other day … and you barely noticed the progression. That’s the way you get to a goal … small progressions that are barely noticeable. Not by killing yourself the first day out.

“Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.” – Woody Allen

5. Hold thyself accountable. You’ve committed yourself publicly … but it’s not enough to tell people your goal. You have to make it clear that they must hold you accountable to reporting to them your progress. Then report your progress to them regularly. Daily is better than weekly. Reporting to them makes sure that you will think twice about being lazy and forgoing your action plan.
6. Motivate yourself. We’ve already discussed accountability and commitment, which are ways to put positive pressure on yourself — a form of motivation. Those are great, but you also want other types of motivation. You want to find ways to make your progress feel great … either through rewards, or the positive way you feel about your progress, or the positive way you feel when others see how well you’re doing. Find a few different ways to motivate yourself — the more the better. Incorporate these into your plan. Tell people about them. Let them help push you along.
7. Just keep doing it, no matter what. You’ll encounter obstacles, and falter and fall. Just get up and keep going. You’ll face temptations and give in. That’s OK. Just keep going. You’ll make mistakes and get discouraged. No matter … just keep going. Learn from your mistakes, and … keep going. No matter what happens, keep going. If you’re taking baby steps, you’re holding yourself accountable, and you’re actually doing something, you’ll get there.

Source: 7 Steps to Turn Your Self-Improvement Desires Into Reality   http://zenhabits.net

Syrade grönsaker

Det som gör fermenterade (syrade) grönsaker och syrad mjölk så nyttigt är att de mjölksyrabakterier som finns naturligt i livsmedlet får växa till sig i antal. De syrliga små bakterierna gör att andra, mer skadliga, bakterier inte trivs lika bra i våra slemhinnor. Därför håller mjölksyrabakterierna – som kallas probiotika – oss friskare.

–  Mjölksyrabakterierna hjälper också kroppen att ta upp mer av vissa livsnödvändiga vitaminer och mineraler, säger Ann-Sofie Sandberg, professor i livsmedelsvetenskap på Chalmers i Göteborg.

Bland annat gäller det järn och zink, som blir mer lättillgängliga för kroppen av syrade livsmedel. Under själva jäsningen kan det också bildas vitamin B12 och folsyra. De mjölksyrade grönsakerna har dessutom en  fördel jämfört med tillagade grönsaker: de probiotiska bakterierna finns kvar eftersom grönsakerna i princip är färska. Om vi värmer grönsakerna dör probiotikan.

– Syrning är också ett sätt att få ner grönsakernas GI-värde. Det ger en långsammare blodsockerhöjning vilket gör att man håller sig mätt längre, förklarar Ann-Sofie Sandberg.

Source – Må Bra – 8 APRIL 2012

Att lyckas med mjölksyrat är lättare än man tror. Vitkål, morot och kålrot blandas med lök och senapsfrö. Skär grönsakerna på olika sätt så blir det snyggare. Sedan står det till sig i minst 1-2 veckor.

Detta är ett recept från Buffé nr 8, 2013.

http://www.ica.se/recept/sasongens-syrade-gronsaker-716698/

It’s not laziness, it’s something worse!

Days go by and although you notice the stuff lying around, your jeans getting tighter, it’s hard to lift your mood. I found these wise words in an old file.

How many times have we told ourselves in complete earnestness, “I’m going to be more organized and productive from now on.”? Or that the diet starts tomorrow? Or that we’re going to make a real effort to exercise now?Only to have that enthusiasm fizzle away, and all our best intentions come to nothing?

It’s the most common thing in the world (besides bacteria) — the honest and fervent desire for self-improvement, followed by inaction or giving in to temptations, followed by guilt or giving up. Bridget Jones captured it best, writing her constant resolutions into her diary. “Will definitely go to the gym this afternoon.” Only to be followed by a binge of pastries followed by drinking and smoking.

We’re all Bridget Jones. It happens to the best of us. It’s inertia at work, mixed with a bit of laziness as well as the very human trait of giving in to desires despite all the good intentions in the world.

So how do we beat inertia and temptations? Four basic ways, really:

1. Get moving, a bit at a time. Inertia is beat only by movement. Once you get going, momentum builds up and inertia is no longer a factor. So the key is to get started, and you do that not by trying to go from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, but by trying to go from 0 to 5mph in a day or two. That’s doable. It’s all about baby steps. Once you get going, you’re golden.
2. Be accountable. Laziness, the second culprit, is beat by a bit of public pressure. We all get lazy from time to time (or, to be more honest, all the time), and there’s nothing wrong with that. But to beat laziness, we must apply a bit of pressure, in the form of accountability. There’s nothing wrong with a little pressure, as long is it’s not overdone. Pressure is a motivating thing, especially when it’s positive. Positive pressure includes encouragement from family or friends, an online forum, a help group in your neighborhood, or the readers of your blog.
3. Ignore failures — giving in to temptation is OK. We will always give in to temptation. Plan for it, accept it, move on. There’s no need to beat yourself up.
4. Motivate yourself. Most importantly, you want to really want it. It’s not enough to feel pressure to do something — you have to really desire it. I mean, really desire it, not just think it’s something you should do, or that you’ll be a better person for doing it. If pressure gives you the push toward your goal, motivation gives you the pull.

Given those strategies for beating the obstacles to making your desires become reality … how do we implement them? How do we go from theory to actual action steps?

Mull this over, I’ll continue with the practical stuff in my next article.

Source: 7 Steps to Turn Your Self-Improvement Desires Into Reality – Zen habits   

http://zenhabits.net/

 

Trying out new techniques

Although still a novice when it comes to using acrylics I wasn’t finding much satisfaction and inspiration in the painting circles I frequented. Searching online I found just what I needed, an experienced award-winning artist who could guide me into new, exciting realms. Dan Tranberg’s book, Acrylic Fusion – Experimenting with alternative methods for painting, collage, and mixed media.

Acrylic Fusion encouraged me to delve into the magical excitement of textures, light and dimensions. I was especially happy with the results I got using his Hard Edge technique. Taping off areas and filling them with different washes and mixtures. Hours of taping, painting, washing and waiting resulted in surprising effects.

Fermenterad fisk

”Fermentering är en hälsoregim, en gourmetkonst, ett mångkulturellt äventyr, en form av aktivism och en andlig väg, allt i ett”. Sandor Ellix Katz.

När jag börjar få för mycket kefir jag filtrerar ungefär 3 deciliter kefir genom en kaffe filter och gör mjukost. Vasslan som då blir till använda jag till min fermenterad fisk. Jag läst en artikel om det för ett tag sin på en blogg som heter Thyroid diet coach –  Fermented Fish: A beneficial factor in your thyroid nutrition diet.

Det finns mycket skriven om just fermenterade mat man måste bara pröva sig från.

Bas recept – Fermenterad fisk

Ingredienser:

Glasburk på 500-750 ml

400 gram upptinat sill

1 msk havssalt

1 rödlök

1 dl vassla

3 lagerblad

Ca en msk av kryddpeppar eller annan krydda

Gör så här:

Blanda salt, kryddor och vassla en en liten skål

Skär löken i tunna ringar

skär sillfilé  i middan, ta bort skinnet på sillen med en vass kniv (man bara drå av det)

Skölj filéerna för att minska på grumlighet i inläggningen

Klipp fisken till lagom bitar och blanda med löken

Läggar lök och fiskbitar i glasburk

Häll på kryddor, salt och vassla blandning. Fyll upp med vatten

Lägga i  gärna ett litet lock eller glaslock för att tynger ned allt under ytan

Ställ mörkt i 3-5 dagar i et köksskåp i rumstemperatur

Fermentering eller mjölksyrajäsning

Metoden bevarar näringsämnena och för tarmen goda bakterier utvecklas. Matsmältningen underlättas samtidigt som det bildas enzymer och C-vitamin – Icakuriren 13-04-10