Recommended:
Quantum Wellness
This bestselling book includes tips and information on healing emotional pain, cleansing fasts, moving toward a vegetarian lifestyle, energy balancing, coping with crisis, and spiritual development.
A proponent of holistic living, Freston clearly explains the connection between all these areas, and brief anecdotes from her own journey are told with just the right amount of humor and self-deprecating charm.
Freston suggests taking small steps - a healthy veggie here, a little exercise there, a dash of meditation in the middle. Eventually, she tells us, these tiny movements toward wellness will tip the balance and living a whole health lifestyle will gradually but effortlessly become our norm.
(excerpted from Curled Up With A Good Book. © Deborah Adams, 2008)
|
 |
"What lies behind you, and what lies before you, are tiny matters compared to what lies within you."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
Making Sense of Your High Sensitivity
|
 |
In his book, Cliff reflects upon his life and provides a unique HSP perspective on the lessons he has learned.Learn More
|
Decision Making
Workshop in NJ
![[Woman Deciding]](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs070/1102126619665/img/35.jpg?a=1102578493524)
Topic: Decision Making Made Easier
When: Saturday, May 16, 2009
1:30 - 3:30 PM
Where: Cha Cha Gifts
1300 Livingston Ave
North Brunswick NJ
Cost: $25 pre-registration ($30 at door). Enroll online. We accept VISA, MC, and PayPal.
Agenda: Talk & discussion circle with author Cliff Harwin
Learn more and RSVP for this event.
|
|
|
|
Dear ,
I would like to thank those of you who offered your condolences about my dog Teddy. My family and I were comforted and overwhelmed (in a good way) by your thoughtful emails. It really meant a lot. Though it's still hard, we are all feeling better about the situation.
 Spring has sprung, and summer is just around the corner! What a wonderful time of year to enjoy outdoor activities like gardening, walking, or biking. It's also a good time to think about health and fitness. It is my sincere hope that the wonderful guest article and "featured HSP" this month will provide a spark to help put you in a healthful mindset. |
Guest article by Amy Barbato, Guilford CT
Consistency Outperforms Perfection Along Path to Success
I've decided to apply my approach to maintaining a healthful lifestyle, to other personal goals. I've often reassured friends who fall short of a desired daily exercise or diet plan, to repeat after me: "So what?" Take a breath, acknowledge that you did the best you could for today (you're permitted a diversion), and just keep going.
 Health experts now concur...it is what you do over time, not on any given day, that maintains fitness and health. Consistency is the key! If you're not 100% all the time, it won't derail your overall success, as long as you remain committed to your goals. Thus, there's no need to get discouraged and quit when you lose momentum. Apparently, small steps, taken persistently, surpass the infrequent, "perfect" effort. In other words, stay focused on the "big picture", and you should have plenty of room for flexibility and spontaneity within the daily snap-shot of your life.
While I'd successfully applied this philosophy to my fitness and diet regimen for years, I was missing the same point with other life ambitions. With my more daunting aspirations, like pursuing a career change or adopting disciplined writing habits, I had a self-defeating, "all or nothing" approach. I would gear up and expect to perfectly achieve the "big picture" all at once.
As life will have it, some days I was less productive, and this would discourage and derail me. It was as if one "lesser accomplished" day could determine my overall ability, progress, and prevent what was still possible. Until, one day, after finishing a quick, mini, "couldn't do it all, but at least I did something today" workout, I made the connection. With any endeavor, consistent actions, small and large, collectively add up to manifest results and benefits along the way.
 We've all heard successful people say success was realized not by achieving perfection everyday, but by persisting through the inevitable mistakes, stumbling blocks, and "failures" along the way. Two steps forward, one back, doesn't mean you aren't getting anywhere. You are still on your desired path! A long-term, realistic, healthy diet and exercise program allows for days off, setbacks, and modifications. This mindset can help you approach all of your goals and aspirations. Just keep moving forward with your goal in mind. By the time you reach a desired destination, you may find you've already been living the life!
Guest writer, Amy Barbato, left the "corporate world" about 4 years ago and has been following her passions ever since. So far, she has done freelance copywriting, marketing, and real estate work. Regardless of the many challenges that come up, Amy is dedicated to following the "path of her heart" and creating a life she loves. If you have comments on this article, feel free to email Amy. |
|
Featured HSP
 This month's featured HSP is Gillian Shapiro-Dobbis, a member of The Highly Sensitive Person Friendship Circle. When I met Gillian at my April seminar at Cha Cha Gifts, she told me she was a vegetarian and had recently started a blog on the subject. Since there seems to be a high percentage of vegetarian HSPs, I thought many of you would be especially interested in hearing her story.
Gillian has been a vegetarian for 20 years now. Oddly enough, the tipping point for her was a discussion in a high school social studies class on the ingredients in a hot dog. She found it distasteful and immediately stopped eating meat and poultry products (she never ate seafood). Until that time, she had never really considered where her food came from.
She does, however, still eat dairy products, but at a minimum. More and more, Gillian seeks dairy alternatives, such as rice/soy milks, which are very satisfying. She never had any problems adjusting her diet. In fact, it felt very natural, and she never once missed what she no longer ate. Over time, she has become increasingly more health conscious, something she tries to reflect in her blog, Veg Out with Gillian.
 The main purpose of her blog is to document her personal dining "raves and rants" after sampling cuisine at vegetarian-friendly, entirely vegetarian, or vegan restaurants in NJ, NYC (or wherever her travels take her). She also shares some of her favorite vegetarian recipes.
Beyond that, she hopes the blog will evolve to include a wide range of healthy living topics. Some of Gillian's other interests include yoga, vegan baking (and eating), and "being green". She recently started incorporating other wellness topics into her
blog, many along the lines of natural, eco-friendly consumer products and
remedies.
Gillian started her blog last September. While it had been high on her list of personal goals, she had no idea how to do it. However, after sharing her idea with some friends, she happily discovered how easy it was to create a blog. Once the blog template was in place, her passion for the subject lead the way, and she had no shortage of ideas! In fact, the hardest part for her is not having enough hours in the day to dedicate to her blog!
Gillian had been interested in doing vegetarian dining reviews for a long time. She says that being a vegetarian food critic would be a dream job for her because it combines some of her true loves: writing (she is also an avid journaler) and eating healthy, delicious, vegetarian food. She also appreciates that fact that dining should be an "experience", rather than simply just a way to refuel. Gillian aspires to
some day write a book about vegetarian restaurants in the NY-NJ area.
 According to Gillian, "A healthy diet is such an important topic. I strongly believe that eating the right balance of foods can make a big difference in how you feel on so many levels and in your overall health. It also boosts the immune system. Years of eating the wrong foods will no doubt make you sick, and many illnesses can be controlled or eliminated by eating right."
Gillian would love to get feedback on her blog, Veg Out with Gillian, as well as suggestions for vegetarian restaurants that she should check out. Feel free to email her with your comments.
|
|
I'm very interested in any comments and suggestions, including other
topics of interest and guest article ideas. My objective is to give you the
most meaningful information that I can. Feel free to email me
anytime. I would love to hear from you.
Warmest Regards,
Cliff Harwin
The Highly Sensitive Person Publishing Company |
|
|
