These are the benefits of slowing down, according to “in pursuit of slow” author Jackie Jarvis.
Jarvis is a business owner and coach who has experienced the stressed, overwhelmed life that comes from owning a business. Whatever your role is in life, the demands placed on us or those we take on can be exhausting.
If slowing down long enough to experience the pleasures that come from your work, passions, and relationships is a challenge for you, or if you feel life is slipping away, you’ll want to read Jarvis’ book and get back on track or develop a new mindset that will transport you to a more peaceful life. “The Voice of Slow” is my favorite chapter because it sets the stage for the remainder of her book. Here’s why…
“Our Voice of Slow wants us to listen, to take heed. It wants us to stop running too fast and doing too much. It wants the best for us.”
Visit inpursuitofslow.com or buy on Amazon.com.
DISCLOSURE:
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase but at no additional cost to you. I have experience with all of these companies and products and by linking to their product or a party that sells their products, I recommend the product based on their helpful and useful nature, and definitely not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.
“A Walk for Sunshine” is a special anniversary edition and a celebration of the 20th annual Sunshine Walk, Run and Roll, a fundraiser born out of Jeff Alt’s 1998 2,160-mile trek along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
Beaufort Books recently released the commemorative edition to celebrate Alt’s 147-day time out from civilization and more than $500,000 he has raised since 1998.
Alt experienced long days and nights alone as he braved a variety of weather conditions that ran the gamut from excessive heat and wind, 10-foot snow drifts to bitter cold and agonizing blisters to raise money for Sunshine Communities, a small community in Maumee, Ohio. His brother, Aaron has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability and has called Sunshine home for more than two decades.
A Walk for Sunshine is a fascinating account of his travels that’s so well-documented, heartfelt, and humorous you’ll want to read from beginning to end in one shot. In one of my favorite passages, Alt describes a typical day on the trail.
Of course, a simple guess of “walking, eating, or sleeping” would sum up my typical day. My life was very simple. As I breathed, a beautiful sunset in a valley or paused at a stream to drink in the tranquil sound of fast-moving water, I envisioned different people from home who would appreciate what I was seeing and experiencing. I wished that everyone could stop what they were doing and walk with me. I wished Aaron could experience this adventure firsthand.”
Whether you’re inclined to spend your days hiking or you have a family member with disabilities, you will find Alt’s endearing portrait refreshing and inspiring.
A Walk for Sunshine was published on Sept. 9, 2017, by Beaufort Books, New York, NY and is available in print and e-book editions. For more information, visit http://www.beaufortbooks.com.
Learn more about Jeff Alt’s continuing travels and expeditions at jeffalt.com/#intro.
Jeff Alt’s 2,160-mile trek along the Appalachian Trail has raised more than $500,000 for individuals with disabilities.
DISCLOSURE:
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase but at no additional cost to you. I have experience with all of these companies and by linking to their product or a party that sells their products, I recommend the product based on their helpful and useful nature, and definitely not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.
Are you overwhelmed by the thought of traveling by plane with your children?
More than likely, there’ll come a time when you’ll contemplate a trip abroad or a visit with family. If traveling by plane with your kids evokes fear and anxiety and doubts about whether you have the parenting skills to pull off family travel, you’ll want to read “Super Flyers: A Parent Guidebook for Airplane Travel With Children” byDr. Lori Baudino, PsyD, BC-DMT, a licensed clinical psychologist and board-certified dance/movement therapist.
If you’re like Dr. Baudino and you love to travel, why shy away from what could be a memorable journey with your children and a valuable learning experience for children and adults?
Super Flyers is a parent’s manual that’s jam-packed with strategies you can utilize when you need support to handle those trying and awkward moments.
Dr. Baudino shares her tips to handle those fleeting moments of upset and chaos that can occur during travel when children are overtired, overstimulated or restless. She outlines skills parents can employ that will set the stage for a more joyous time.
“If you are a parent then you will eventually come across traveling with your children,” says Dr. Baudino.
Whether your child is an infant, toddler, pre-teen, or teenager, or you’ll have more than one of your brood traveling with you, Dr. Baudino’s suggestions will get you on your way. In 127 pages, she offers tips and delightful progress updates from her children, Aiden and Lyla.
Why should you buy a copy of her book?
Dr. Baudino explains, “With all that we know about parenting and helping our children succeed – I can empower parents to use these skills and take children to new heights exploring cultures, change and travel in the sky.The analogies of flying and parenting are vast- it’s a journey so we might as well share and model enjoyment for and with our children.”
You can learn more about Dr. Baudino and Super Flyers at drloribaudino.com.
DISCLOSURE:
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase but at no additional cost to you. I have experience with all of these companies and by linking to their product or a party that sells their products, I recommend the product based on their helpful and useful nature, and definitely not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.
Mercer’s book, “Whole Self” is on my “must-read” list.
Heal
Nature has a healing quality. Vibrant greenery rustling from movement. The scent of moist soil. The sounds of wind and water. The startling beauty of a mountain range when you step out of a clearing on a forest hike and see a vista across from you at eye level. The morphing shapes of clouds making lazy pictures in the bright blue sky. The heat of the sun on your face and arms. If you open your senses to experience the diverse qualities of nature and connect with the consciousness that lives in you behind your words and agendas, you will find yourself inside your body as Whole Self. This harmonious, resilient being is who you were born to be.
Our early ancestors, going back as many as 250,000 years, had brains and bodies much like ours. They lived in harmony with nature and would have viewed themselves as animals. Some had an extraordinary ability to adapt and innovate, which was something new to life on Earth. And about 60,000 years ago, when a super volcano erupted, a mere handful of very hardy and adaptive souls survived the catastrophe. We are descended from these remarkable people who found ways to survive treks of hundreds of miles with uncertain food supplies through unfamiliar terrain, and gifted us—their descendants—with the genetic heritage of abstract reasoning.
While we can be grateful for our highly evolved minds, there is a drawback to them. Our powerful capacity to anticipate the future and avoid danger keeps us alive, but most people in the modern world also run on a low-grade level of anxiety because we are hyper vigilant against threats from “dangers” in settings that are not mortal threats. We fear threats to our self-images and belief systems. At birth, instead of being left to bask in Whole Self, we are encoded by our parents, families, and communities to become Constructed Selves trying to control fear. Running our lives making decisions based on these encodings rather than on our instincts and innate sense of harmony does not bring us joy or a sense of aliveness. It stresses us and leaves us feeling as if something is off. Fortunately, reconnecting with Whole Self is the antidote.
Getting away to find Whole Self in nature may be just the remedy you need for whatever ails or confuses you. Whole Self is latent, yet accessible in each of us. It is a state of inner trust that allows all our knowledge to synthesize so we may respond spontaneously and appropriately to real problems in real time in each moment of our lives. It is tranquil, dynamic, and effective. It is a state free of resistance, anxiety, self-doubt, and prejudice. Whole Self enables us to live our lives with quiet confidence and minimal effort. It is the elemental state of being human.
Travel to a forest, a lake or stream, an island, a mountain top. Or step into a garden or park. Find a place to sit where you will be undisturbed—even if only for a few minutes—and be still. You may close your eyes if it helps you get present, or keep them open. I assure you, there is no need to invent a lot of rules for this process. You already intuitively know what to do and can trust it. I recommend breathing and being with what is. Listen, observe, taste, smell, feel. As you do, you may perceive the world around you heightened, like a blurry camera setting has come into focus. You may also notice that tension has dropped away, or that you can breathe easier.
My wife, Valorie, and I live on an island in the middle of a lake in northern Idaho. Every season and day have nuances that are fascinating to us because we take time to appreciate them. Being in harmony with nature through Whole Self is integral to our lifestyle and relationships. If you use your travels to experience Whole Self in a world of setting, I can promise it will enrich your life by making every moment more vivid and peaceful. Life is a grand adventure that begins with you.
KENDRICK MERCER is a historian, philosopher, and consultant. He has provided more than fifty years of coaching to thousands of people who note the transformational power of his business and personal development advice. His extensive knowledge of history, anthropology, evolution, psychology, and science has helped numerous corporate CEOs, presidents, and executives, as well as entrepreneurs, independent business owners and more.
Mercer graduated from Willamette University in 1958 with a major in history. He went on to earn a Doctorate of Jurisprudence in 1961 from Willamette University Law School, and passed the Oregon State Bar, standing fourteenth in a field of 400 participants, and joined a law firm in Oregon. For more information, please visit www.kendrickmercer.com and connect with Mercer on Twitter.
Whole Self was released on June 20, 2017, and can be ordered from Amazon and wherever fine books are sold.
David Essel, M.A. is the author of nine books, a Master Life Coach and Teacher, Business, Relationship and Addiction Recovery Coach, International Speaker and Radio/TV Host.
David Essel believes positive thinking will never change your life.
By utilizing more than 30 years of experience as a life coach and educator, addiction recovery coach, international speaker and radio/TV host, Essel has transformed his own life through diligence and hard work – the keys to facilitating change. Rather than relying solely on positive thinking, he translated those positive thoughts into an actionable plan to achieve his goals.
Positive thinking, alone, is not a vehicle for change, explains Essel, but coming to terms with the truth: the good, the bad and the ugly in your life, is an integral part of the process he avows.
Whether you need to be motivated to lose weight, resolve debt and achieve financial freedom, save your marriage, or give up bad habits like addiction and codependency, Essel will help you to understand the distinction between positive thinking and quantum thinking.
David Essel, M.S. is the author of nine books. His most recent book, “Positive Thinking Will Never Change Your Life…But This Book Will!” debunks “the myth of the power of positive thinking.”
What’s the ideal age to begin your journey from positive thinking to quantum thinking?
Essel takes his readers to a place beyond wishful thinking and “fantastical affirmations.”
Much like practicing yoga, the perfect age to feed the “5000-pound gorilla,” within you, is “anywhere from eight years of age until 80 years of age,” says Essel. He cites yoga as a technique we can employ to build confidence and work through uncomfortable circumstances we face on a day-to-day basis.
The bottom line Essel spells out in black and white over and over in his book is we need to get uncomfortable in our approach to letting go of a lifestyle and habits that are not healthy for us.
“Yoga primarily is such a powerful weight loss technique because it allows us to deal with the present moment, it allows us to deal with being a little uncomfortable in a pose but not giving up. It’s the same thing with weight loss.” ~David Essel
Self-discipline is paramount to overcoming obstacles and roadblocks to success. Since the philosophy of yoga is to become one with ourselves, a regular practice will help you to become more centered, more focused, and filled with more inner peace.
“If you look around at people who have practiced yoga for years you’ll find that most of them walk with a distinct confident style. Their body alignment is excellent. They breathe from the diaphragm instead of the lungs,” he noted in a email interview.
“Flexibility is a key part of yoga practice. Focusing on the core muscles, the abdomen, and the lower back,” he says helps people to age gracefully and reduce stress. It may even take lines off of our faces. It’s powerful.”
You can read about yoga and how to use this centuries’ old discipline to accomplish your goals and reduce stress in Chapter 5, “The Top Positive Thinkers in the World Concur: Action is the Pathway to Success.”
How can you get started today?
Use “Affirmations,” “Visualization,” and “Prayer” as adjunct action tools for success
Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 6, “Using Affirmations, Visualization and Prayer as Action Tools for Success and A Look at the ‘Dark Side” of Our Lives.” His words hit home.
“Let’s use affirmations, statements of intention, for the weight you want to lose, the money you want to make, the relationships you want to have.”
You might also find shades of your own life in contributions from New York Times best-selling authors Eldon Taylor, Scarlett Lewis, Arielle Ford, Natalie Pace, JJ Virgin, Dianne Collins, Dianne Gray, as well as other top experts in the fields of personal growth and business.
I think you’ll find Positive Thinking Will Never Change Your Life…But This Book Will! refreshing and compelling.
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase but at no additional cost to you. I have experience with all of these companies and by linking to their product or a party that sells their products, I recommend the product based on their helpful and useful nature, and definitely not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.
