Health – Page 16 – Andrea Arthur Owan

Conscientious Eating Basics: Adding the Good and Weeding Out the Bad

Which of the following most describes your eating or meal experience?

A) I throw together 2 pieces of bland bread, lunchmeat, a slice of cheese, a limp strip of lettuce and a spread of mayo and mustard for lunch. Every -day.

B) I often eat while working at my desk and/or computer.

C) I eat while watching television or reading the mail, magazine or a book, or chatting on the phone or reading text messages.

D) I often stop at fast a food “restaurant” or pick up a pizza for dinner because it’s late, I don’t have anything at home to fix, or I’m too tired to prepare a meal.

E) Most of my meals are microwaved or come from frozen packages.

Relate to any of those? How about one or more of them?

Today we’re getting an introduction to several posts dedicated to conscientious eating. But before we get into specifics, let’s look at some dismal facts:

For a variety of reasons, our current medical system is based on people being sick and dying.
2/3 of Americans go to work with flu-like symptoms. (We really do live at work.)
The #1 reason for bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical bills that can’t afford to be paid.
Sitting and lack of activity is killing us, literally. Seven hours of TOTAL sitting time a day doubles your risk of death.
1/3 of Americans die before 65.
Most people don’t get enough sleep.
70% of your immune system is in your digestive tract.
Many experts believe all disease begins in the gut.
Even though we may be surrounded by people, we live and work in a very solitary way.
Since the beginning of time, plants and food have been our true medicine. We need to return to that foundation.
69% of Americans are overweight or obese.
SUGAR is now considered by many professionals to be poison.
While we are living longer thane ever, we are sicker than ever.
We grow our foods in the chemicals they use to make chemical weapons.
High fructose corn syrup is like crack to your body and brain.
We tend to treat separate symptoms rather than the whole person.
When you’re under stress, you crave sugar, fat, and salt, and there is no satiation (satisfaction met) point for these.
It is emotion that causes people to reach for the wrong kind of food.
90% of serotonin—a chemical and neurotransmitter that regulates mod, social behavior, digestion, appetite, sleep, memory, sexual function and desire—is manufactured in the digestive tract, not the brain as we once thought.
Wellness is really a diet and mental health lifestyle connection.
We really are living in a “food desert” that comes with a 5x the average death rate—death that comes from curable diseases.
Cultures that eat grains have a higher rate of dementia.

Important Takeaway—

Food does affect the body and mind, but most of us blindly eat whatever is put in front of us or opt for the quick and easy (boring) meal approach.

Conscientious eating—

As we explore conscientious eating, which goes beyond just being mindful of how you eat, we’ll focus on:

being more aware
being more mindful
taking back your health

As Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, said,

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

As we move rapidly into this busy holiday season, where we’re ramping up everything in our lives to an often frenzied, overspent schedule, I invite you to keep something very important in mind—

It can be self-destructive to not tend to yourself.

Please take a moment to let that statement sink in. Meditate on it.

To many of you, that truth runs contrary to what you think your religious faith teaches you. It might even sound as though it borders on sinful, contrary to God’s word.

But how does Jesus, the reason for this marvelous season and for our very lives, say we should approach our lives?

With a light burden. Not a weary or heavy-laden feeling.

I can hear many of saying right now: “What does that have to with conscientious eating, Andrea? Or eating in general?

Plenty.

The fact, as I already noted, is:

Emotion causes people to reach for the wrong kind of food.

Life is emotional. The holidays even more so.

Just as our physical choices, activity choices, lifestyle choices and career choices affect us profoundly, so do our food-style choices affect us. What it comes down to is:

Adding the good stuff and weeding out the bad. (In that order.)

As we go into Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year, we’ll be learning about food—God’s magnificent gift to us. A gift he created for our

enjoyment and pleasure
sustenance
mental and physical health and healing
social fulfillment

And as we go forth, keep those highlighted statements in mind:

**It can be self-destructive to not tend to yourself.**

Emotion causes people to reach for the wrong kind of food.

**You need to add the good stuff to your life and weed out the bad.**

It won’t happen immediately or all at once. Our goal will be to recognize what causes us to fail in this area and start the weeding process.

And we’ll accomplish it together!

Join me this Friday when I’ll talk about the art and health of social eating. It’s something I knew and really learned how to do while walking the Camino de Santiago. Actually, when I ate on the Camino. That post will give you a bonus to our conscientious eating discussions!

Until then,

Decide that you don’t want to be one of the dismal statistics.
Pray about what God might be saying to you in this area.
Find a good friend, or several, to be accountability buddies with you. Friends that want to embark on this life-changing journey with you, to support and encourage you. To be supported and encouraged.

Thank God for the bounty He has provided, and prepare to enjoy it in new ways. With family and friends.

PS I’m humbly requesting prayer for recovery from having a bone spur cut off my big toe. While the surgery wasn’t long or extensive, the recovery is painful, and I’m unable to get around as easily as they said I would. In fact, I’m not getting around much at all. That’s one of the reasons this post was scheduled so late. Thank you!!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by rawpixel on unsplash

How Do Religion and Prayer Affect Gratitude?

You may have wondered if religious people are more grateful than their unbelieving or agnostic peers. Maybe you’ve asked yourself if praying makes you a more grateful person, or if parenting styles encourages the development of grateful children.

Today on Meditation Mondays, we’ll look at those factors: what role does religion or faith or parenting play in gratitude.

What’s Religion Got to Do With It?

As it turns out, a lot.

In a 2003 study, people who were noted as being more grateful had a higher sense of engaging in religion for it’s own sake and a lower sense of engaging in religion for the sake of others. Like someone would if they engaged in religion simply for the sake of improving their social status. In other words: dishonest motive.

Other studies show positive correlations between gratitude and attirbutes typically associated with religion, such as:

frequently participating in religious practices
considering religion to be an important factor in life
having a personal relationship with God
experiencing spiritual transcendence—a perceived experience of the sacred that affects your feelings, goals, self-perception and ability to surpass, conquer or outshine your difficulties
being committed to your religion—a sense of and expressing your commitment

When studying young people ages 17 – 24, researchers found that this age group tends to feel gratitude when they—

have their prayers answered
experience a miracle
have religious friends

But there were behaviors not correlated with gratitude—

the religion a person was affiliated with
private devotion practice
actively participating in organized religion
having a belief in a spiritual world
how important religion is to your life
considering yourself to be spiritual

I found this list interesting. These results show that gratitude is not triggered or related to what religion you practice; whether or not you maintain a practice of doing devotions or having a time of devotions; being active in organized religion; just generally believing in the spiritual world; ranking religion as very important to your life; or considering yourself spiritual.

I find the last finding fascinating.

So often I have heard someone say, “I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual.” My internal eyeballs roll. Exactly what does that mean? I’m not sure they can answer that. But now I have some scientific ammunition for how flimsy that belief can be.

Evidently just being spiritual doesn’t make you grateful.

But what does affect your gratitude is praying and having your prayers answered!

And while both Christians and atheists put a high price tag on gratitude and the benefits that come with and from being grateful, it was the Christians that reported “significantly higher” levels of gratitude in terms of emotions that feel or emote gratitude than their unbelieving peers.

Religion, gratitude, and mental health—

Some interesting findings popped up in this category.

Older adults that tended be less grateful experienced depression with prolonged financial difficulties.

But church-attending older adults who believed that God intervened in their lives to help them overcome difficulties displayed greater gratitude over time.

And religious involvement has been linked to having a grateful disposition, regardless of negative or positive feelings or display of emotions.

Using your religion to deal with stress had a significant association with gratitude, and that has a high correlation to utilizing prayer to figure out what God is trying to tell you or teach you.

The takeaway is:

religion may help people maintain gratitude even in the face of emotional distress.
religion also offers social support, which triggers gratitude.
praying can stimulate gratitude, for achieving help or understanding (for you or others).
gratitude can help you view negative life events as lessons from the Almighty!

Effects of Praying on Gratitude—

Research has shown that if you are instructed to pray for your partner for a 4-week period of time, you will likely report having higher levels of gratitude for that person than someone who just thinks good or positive thoughts about their partner.

Ever have anyone say to you “I’ll be thinking good thoughts for you!”

When someone says that to me, it always leaves me feeling a little flat and uninspired. I always assumed that was because the person saying it was usually an atheist or agnostic. But maybe it’s because deep down inside my heart, I know “good thoughts” won’t cut it. Something deeper needs to be involved.

But don’t fall into the trap of simply egging someone on with adding religious-speak, either, like using the words “spirit,” “divine,” and “God.” Using those words fall just as flat. They don’t increase feelings of gratitude.

And do you think that having intrinsic religiousness and a trait of gratitude increases your gratitude for a favor? Evidently that power combo didn’t effect the expression of gratitude in response to a favor.

Men versus Men—

In the German men versus American men study I mentioned in last week’s post, the researchers also discovered that 1/3 of the American men in the study preferred to hide their gratitude.

None of the German men expressed that desire or need.

Gratitude and people around the world—

Far more than Americans, United Kingdom citizens tended to link gratitude with a host of negative emotions, like:

guilt
indebtedness
embarrassment
awkwardness

And kids?

American children were the most likely to express “concrete gratitude” (the desire to repay a gift or favor), when they were compared to children from Russia, Brazil, and China.

Which kids were the least likely to express it? Russian kids.

However, 11 to 14-year-old Russian kids expressed “connective gratitude” (taking into account the desires of the benefactor when repaying a gift or favor) than the other children.

What about parenting?

Drum roll? Brrrrrrrrrr. The answer is…?

Nothing. Not anything concrete, anyway.

What a researcher named Andrea Hussong did find and publish in 2017 was while 85% of parents encouraged their children to say “thank you,” only 39% of them to experience gratitude in ways other than saying those two words.

The question that still remains in the area of parent-taught gratitude, though, is how parenting choices influence how children think of and experience gratitude.

Researchers say it’s an area ripe for more research, and more study needs to be done on it.

NEXT WEEK we’ll take a break from looking at the research to explore more of gratitude in prayer. You won’t want to miss this post! It’ll provide you with great preparation for Thanksgiving, and a good Christmas present idea—for you or that special friend.

Until then, be thinking about how you pray and for whom you pray.

Who could you pray and increase your gratitude for?
How might you increase your children’s gratitude expressions through parenting?
As Thanksgiving approaches, who can you think of that would get a real boost from a show of gratitude?
How could you boost your own gratitude trait?

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by rawpixel on unsplash

How the Camino de Santiago Changed My Daily Eating and Cooking Habits

I thought we were going to have to eat it for every meal while walking the Camino. All the books said we’d have to, that the Spaniards consume it for lunch and dinner, and that breakfast would only be a hard (read: stale) piece of bread for breakfast. Maybe you’d get lucky and find a place open early enough for a café con leche.

WELLLLL, it could be that we hit the jackpot, all of the Camino books I read were old and wrong, or the establishments are trying to meet the demands of more discriminating (and maybe demanding?) pilgrims.

Whatever it is, we didn’t have to eat the ubiquitous ham sandwich or pork dinner if we didn’t want to.

We weren’t stuck with ham and a sliver-of-cheese sandwich. We didn’t have only pork tenderloin for dinner.

Instead, we were treated to exquisitely fresh and varied meals for nearly every day of our journey.

A lot of it!

Fresh bananas, oranges and apples were prevalent. We often packed those along for a mid-morning snack with a hunk of delicious Basque cheese, since we elected not to get bogged down physically by a big breakfast.

Sometimes we’d treat ourselves to a HUGE flaky, buttery croissant, or one stuffed with dark chocolate (Chris’s personal fave) and cup of café con leche, but most of the time we waited until mid-morning to stop for a short break and nibble.

Then we’d usually walk through lunch and have a sandwich or more substantial snack after we stopped walking, around 2:00 – 3:00 in the afternoon. Sometimes the sandwich would be one we’d purchased that morning and saved, or was a fresh one we found at an open store. (When we arrived in a new city nearly all of the places were closed for siesta, so we had to wait until they re-opened. In some towns that was five-ish; in other places it was 6:00 or 7:00. You never could be too sure about what you’d encounter, so you learned to be prepared in the meal or snack-to-tide-you-over department.

And many of the towns had markets open early enough to enjoy a cafe con leche before heading out. One wonderful and noteworthy Lorca albergue we stayed in offered a nice breakfast selection.

3-Course Meals—

But nearly every dinner we enjoyed was a three-course meal affair, with several selections for each course.

The “Salad Mixta” was usually a large plate of greens, a sliced hard-boiled egg, tuna fish, fresh tomatoes, white asparagus and tomatoes (and sometimes roasted red pepper strips), maybe a sprinkling of cheese or corn kernels. A light coating of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt served as the dressing. I was usually full and adequately satisfied after the salad, which I always ordered.

Then the second course was an equally humongous plate of pork tenderloin, albondigas (meat and pork meatballs) in a delicious, mildly sweet roasted red pepper sauce, a pasta dish or a fresh fish dish. I lost count of how many plates of northern Spain sea bass tenderloin or bacalao (cod) with a pepper sauce coating I consumed. And I didn’t tire of it.

Dessert might have been flan (always offered), ice cream, cheesecake, tiramisu, or a choice of whole fruit. Occasionally a monstrous slab of chocolate fudge cake with mounds of whipped cream was a selection.

And the dessert (unless it was a ubiquitous Nestle concoction), didn’t taste as though it contained nearly as much sugar as our American varieties. So the ingredient flavors were not overpowered by the super sweet sugar.

Oh, and every dinner came with a full bottle of red wine. (The daily imbibing on the cheap motivates a lot of people to walk the Camino).

I can count on three fingers how many times I had wine, which includes a glass of rose in France, a sip of red somewhere in Spain, and enough to dampen end of my tongue at the famous Fuente del Vino (Fountain of Wine) at Bodegas Irache.

No way was I going to walk the Camino on a glass of wine, as some unfortunate pilgrims tried (and failed) to do successfully.

Energy to spare on reduced rations and exercise—

What we noticed was how physically and emotionally satisfied we felt with the meal strategy.

Although we consumed a lot of calories for dinner, walking five to six hours a day quickly burned that off.

But exercising on a primarily empty or lightly filled stomach allowed our bodies to more efficiently burn fuel without us feeling sluggish or uncomfortably stuffed.

It was something I used to practice religiously—not eating before exercising—but had abdicated, primarily in favor of convenience or meeting others’ schedules.

But now we’re back to it. And we feel SO much better! And physically lighter. Keeps the brain sharper too. That practice also fits into the popular Keto diet, where you’re running in caloric deficit and burning ketones.

Opting for fresh food—

Another thing we noticed was just how much more we enjoyed REALLY fresh (like right off the adjacent farm) food.

Anyone who had the joy of biting into a beefsteak tomato thirty years ago knows how disappointing our current overgrown, overproduced, GMO’d tomatoes we get today are.

In France and Spain, we once again enjoyed the real deal—plump, fresh, juicy, right-off-the-vine, organic tomatoes. Many tasted like heirloom varieties.

And we’re not going back to the tasteless type.

Shopping and cooking fresh—

Now I’m taking the time to shop frequently—about every other day—for fresh (and organic) everything:

Fresh fish
Fresh veggies
Fresh fruit
Fresh meat (which we rarely consume now)
Fresh milk
Fresh cheese
Fresh bread
You name it. It gets purchased fresh and consumed. Not much frozen anymore, except maybe berries.

Hello, farmers markets!

Chris and I are becoming weekend regulars at the local farmers market, returning to our favorite handpicked produce sellers, the adorable bread baker who kneads and molds her artisan bread with her gnarled rheumatoid arthritic hands. The former Wall Street worker who sold it all and moved to a Sonoita ranch (on the Arizona-Mexico border) to raise grass-fed cattle gets attention for her delicious ground meat and sausage (and hydrating purified rain water blended with rose water and 6 vital essential oils).

And I’m really enjoying the art of preparing and cooking, making a game out of seeing what I can combine for flavors. You’d be surprised what tastes good together!

I’ve even cracked open the Great Courses DVD and book The Everyday Gourmet: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking compiled by The Culinary Institute of America. I started it a couple of years ago and am excited to re-start and finish it, improve my skills and cooking joy!

Cooking can be fun and relaxing. Something you can take pride in doing. Something that joggles the imagination and adds variety to life. It can also be a very social event, as when you and your hubby are chatting and chopping and stirring and laughing.

Makes me wonder when they’re going to get wise and re-introduce home economics back into the schools—for girls AND boys!

And all of that is reaping side benefits:

Enjoying my market and food shopping time—browsing the produce to see what’s available, planning my meals based on the available (and in-season) ingredients.
Getting exercise by moving around the kitchen more when I’m cooking, and more often in general, since I’m spending more time in food preparation.
Slowing down and enjoying the slower pace of life.
Getting outside in the fresh air to stroll through a farmers market and enjoy friendly conversation with vendors.
Enjoying meals more.
Spending less money on food because more gets eaten and less gets wasted!
Did I say saving money?
Except for dinner, which we’re trying to eat by 6:00 PM, we’re no longer married to specific times for breakfast and lunch. Sometimes we eat a late breakfast, skip lunch and then enjoy an early late lunch/early dinner. It certainly helps with the sleep!

NEXT WEEK I’ll add something to this topic that will help you emotionally, physically and spiritually. (Especially through the holidays!)

Until then, happy farmers market browsing!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Dane Deaner on unsplash

Surviving the Holidays with Conscientious Eating

What’s the one thing most of us have in common during the Thanksgiving to Christmas holiday window?

Want a hint?

Overeating.

Not a surprise, is it? All of those delectable goodies: the rich desserts, the fatty dressings, company parties, family gatherings, Aunt Bee’s 1000 calories a piece family heirloom recipe, and on and on. You feel obligated to indulge and out of control. You excuse it as okay because you’re going to turn over a new eating leaf in 2019.

As we rev up to Thanksgiving this month and then into Christmas in six weeks, maintaining healthful eating habits and not gaining an extra five to ten pounds that will likely not come off next year, we’re going to wade into the conscientious eating waters here on Workout Wednesdays.

Just exactly what does conscientious eating mean?

It’s not just conscious eating, as you’re probably familiar with. Living consciously is a big topic these days. It goes beyond that.

It means not just being conscious of what or how you’re eating, but being conscientious about the food choices you make.

Specifically, we’re going to look closely at how eating affects your mental health, body inflammation levels and brain, especially the aging brain.

Last month I had the opportunity to attend a great educational program on conscientious eating.

One of the sad facts we learned is that the US life expectancy hasn’t improved much in the past several decades, and the major determinant in improving life expectancy was the introduction of antibiotics after World War II.

And although the longevity age seems to be eking up, much of that may be due to available medicine.

An ugly statistic we must face is that the United States ranks 34^th on the longevity list, tied with Cuba.

Not a pretty picture.

Country Comparisons

One thing both Chris and I noticed when we returned from Europe was just how overweight Americans are. I knew the statistics, but the glaring fatness and sluggishness of Americans couldn’t be missed, or ignored.

Just why is that? And does that heavily influence our poor longevity status?

I think there are a lot of contributors to our obese status, and we’ll look at several of those. But we’ll focus primarily on what you can do—as a consumer and as a person concerned about your health, your lifestyle, and your overall fitness and energy levels—to improve your health, lose weight without going on some special six-week caloric restriction diet, and reduce your chances of serious illness.

We’ll really delve into the woes of the Western diet and why we need to care about inflammation in the body, what it means for your overall present and future health.

Want to feel good mentally, physically and spiritually on January 2? Then meet me back here next week when we start our conscientious eating focus!

Pre-holiday checklist:

Until then, go through your cabinets, pantry and refrigerator to get an idea of how many products you purchase that contain sugar, added sugar and ingredients like fructose and high fructose corn syrup. This includes any kind of sugar, even if it’s raw or evaporated cane source. What percentage of your overall food intake does it constitute? (Make sure you examine ingredients in every processed food, frozen, fresh or canned.)

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Keeping the Camino Alive at Home

One of the biggest things I miss about being on the Camino de Santiago is that I’m no longer outside as much as I was when walking it. I’m inside. Too much. All that fresh air, sunshine, the varied terrain, endless views, and those interesting cloud formations to enjoy and revitalize me.

So that’s one of the ways I’m continuing my Camino here at home. I’m making a point of getting outside more often. Taking my ten-minutes from writing breaks outside. Feasting on the cooler weather, the backyard plants that have busted out in uniquely fall foliage and flowers, the brilliant green baby grass sprigs that have exploded from the ground. Then there are the songbirds that have returned from their summer mountain escape to feed at my feeders. The animal life outside the walls of my home is busy, and I’m enjoying witnessing it!

And I’m still walking.

But there are other ways Chris and I are continuing to maintain our new sense of freedom and peace.

Today I’ll give you three ways:

Trying to maintain farmer hours.

We’d been trying to do this for about a year, but when we walked the Camino, we had to. And now we crave it!

The albergues (hostels strictly dedicated to Camino pilgrims) require the lights to be out by 10:00, (actually, they’re required by law to lock the doors and turn down the lights to ensure no late-night revelers crash the establishment and pilgrims can get some sleep). Many pilgrims wanted them out earlier, so they could hit the trail before dawn. So we developed the daily rhythm of rising with the sun (or the light switch being flicked to “on”) and beginning the winding down process right after dinner, which we usually ate around 7:00 to 7:30. (Although some blessed restaurants opened the dinner doors at 6:00 to accommodate us Westerners!)

One private home we stayed in (it was like a B&B for pilgrims) required the lights out at 9:00 because she had other tenants that needed to rise early.

Without television, computers, or phone WiFi (pronounced “Wee Fee” by some in Spain) to distract us, we wound down, read our maps and planned our next day’s route, and maybe chatted with other pilgrims. Sometimes we strolled around outside the hostel to enjoy the quiet or distance city lights before retiring to bed. Sometimes we scribbled thoughts in our journals.

At home, we’re making sure the computers are shut down at least an hour before bedtime and only necessary lights for maneuvering around the house or bedroom are left on. Since we don’t watch much television, that’s not a problem for us. But when we’ve been sitting on the couch watching it, we make sure it’s off at least an hour before bed too. (Football games that go to 11:00 PM not included!)

The cellphone is left in its hammock in the kitchen (Chris leaves his in the office room), and we don’t read emails, texts, or Internet articles online, or answer phone calls either. If I can, I even shut down the Internet connection. When Chris’s company uses the dead-of-night hours to load new programs on his computer, we can’t do this.)

For many reasons, we’ve always maintained a strict rule in our house that there are NO televisions in the bedrooms. Having one in a bedroom allows you to disassociate too easily from the rest of the family; it’s a serious sleep and body rhythm disrupter; and it ruins your husband-wife intimacy.

I’m sure you’ve read or heard the research: Keeping all the electronics going right up until bedtime, and often after you’ve gone to bed, ruins your sleep and causes sleep disturbances. Your body needs time to raise your melatonin levels to ensure good, healing, restorative sleep.

On the Camino, we got it!

Preparing well for your day and making sure (as much as is possible with you) that you don’t rush to do anything!

On the Camino, if you weren’t prepared to pack up your backpack and leave the albergue at the designated (no excuses allowed or accepted) time, they locked the doors (8:00 AM in most), then you risked forgetting an item and getting off to a harried start.

I’m continuing that at home. If I can’t finish something in the time I have, I re-schedule it or plan to do when I know I have the time.

I resist allowing others to load up my time with things they think are “critical.” Most of the time they’re not. I don’t commit unless I feel a joy about doing it and know I have the time. Obviously some work requirements fall outside of this rule, especially in the joy department. But I’m also taking inventory on what gives me joy and a sense of purpose and what doesn’t, and that’s giving me more freedom (and reason) to choose what I do when.

In the simplest example, I don’t start a load of laundry at 9:00 at night, when I intend to be in bed by 9:30; or if I know I don’t have time to get the load washed, dried and properly hung up or folded to avoid wrinkles.

I don’t overschedule my day.

If I end up not being able to complete something I hoped to accomplish one day, I don’t stress about it. I move it to the next day’s schedule. Most of the time it’s not a critical, deadline-driven item. If it is, I make sure it gets done first, whether it’s my favorite thing to do or not.

I know, and am honest about, just how long it takes me to get ready to go some place.

On the Camino, Chris and I were able to whittle down our morning prep and backpack loading time to 45 minutes. But that amount of time felt rushed. An hour was more comfortable, so we planned for an hour. And then we rarely ran outside to rejoin the path. We’d stretch, survey the day, weather and our surroundings, smile at and chat with some passing pilgrims, make sure our water bottles were filled, our packs were comfortably situated on our backs, and our poles were in our hands. And then we’d decide if we wanted a café con leche and croissant before we got started, or would wait until a mid-morning break or the next town for those.

Back home I’m spending more time thinking about all of the items I need to gather together to accomplish my day and make it a success. Do I have everything I need to run the errands I plan to run? Have I put the necessary items in the car? (Like my grocery bags.) Can I consolidate errands on one day?

And the biggest, most effective question?

What can I do to make my day less stressful, less chaotic, more enjoyable, productive and successful?

Answering that question requires that I slow down and focus on what I’m doing and going to do. Where I’m going and how long I’m likely to be there. How long it actually takes to get there, without rushing or cutting others off in traffic. Making the journey itself enjoyable.

And another question I can ask myself is:

How much of the frustration and chaos in my life is my own fault, of my own doing, by my own hand?

Most of the time we have choices. We can set boundaries with others, and ourselves. When we don’t, we need to stop pointing the finger of blame at our bosses, our co-workers, our spouses and our kids. If we let them erase or move our boundaries, then we are likely the ones to blame for the pain, frustration and exhaustion it causes.

Which translates to: No whining allowed.

Whatever I’m doing at the moment, no matter how small or insignificant it seems to be, I’m focusing entirely on what I’m doing.

Again, if getting up late and having to rush to prepare for your day and pack your backpack distracted you, you risked leaving something behind or starting your day feeling frantic and already physically and emotionally overwhelmed.

On the Camino, we got into the habit of planning two days out in advance. How far we planned to walk, the city where we would to spend the night. Then making sure we had lodgings secured someplace in that city.

That relieved us of the pressures (and potential mental distractions) of wondering what our day would look like, what we’d have time to see, whether or not we’d arrive in time to get a bed at a hostel (some are first-come, first served), and whether or not we’d have to walk all around that town to find an available room, or bed.

So now I’m on a mission to remove as many distractions as possible from life. Even the tiniest things that cause my brain to hiccup.

Like not reading the mail while I’m watching the news. Although I might use the commercial breaks for that.

And that includes reading text messages and emails. The only time the phone gets my attention during that time is if Chris or one of the boys calls.

Really enjoying folding the laundry and putting it in neat stacks, rather than haphazardly folding them and maybe leaving a heap of clean clothes on the bed because I got distracted by something else, or was trying to accomplish too many loads of laundry in a day or was too tired or frustrated by something else (like my ridiculously over-packed schedule) to really pay attention to doing a good job.

And not reading something (email, magazine, mail, etc.) while I’m talking to someone, telling them “Keep talking, I’m listening.” And focusing on my meal without reading mail or chatting on the phone. (For years studies have shown that people who pay attention to what they eat, really sit down, slow down and pay attention to their food slow down and eat far less and enjoy their food more.)

Focusing on cooking and preparing a meal instead of watching television (another place to not allow a television is in the kitchen). I’m even getting to the point where I don’t like the distraction of cooking at the stove and talking to someone—including Chris—simultaneously.

Have you ever seen a busy restaurant kitchen? It’s chaos and stress. I’ve determined that the quality and timeliness of my meals is in direct proportion to the amount of attention I give them.

I’m opting for quality and timeliness. It’s certainly allowing me more food preparation and cooking joy than I’ve ever experienced before!

One other positive benefit of being more deliberate and intentional with everything I do, including the laundry, is that I’m experiencing far fewer “now, what-did-I-come-in-this-room-for-again?” senior moments. Just another confirmation that it wasn’t so much my aging, shrinking brain as my lifestyle causing me such frustration, distraction and a sieve-like brain.

And it’s allowing me to enjoy devotion and prayer times with fewer distractions. My mind stays on topic. And I can really listen for, and to God. That’s the best benefit of all!

And you?

These steps might be no-brainers for you, things you’re already doing. If so, bravo!! I applaud you.

If not, consider trying them, or just one. Be deliberate. This is brain retraining, so you can learn new habits; make life more manageable and enjoyable. Less frustrating and overwhelming.

I think you’ll find that your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health will improve!

NEXT FRIDAY I’ll give you some additional changes you might try. Including some of the Spanish lifestyle behaviors I think allows them to outrank us in longevity.

Until then, may you find joy in being focused and undistracted!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photos by Andrea A Owan