The Benefits of Being Social

Greetings Healthy & Happy Friends!

Today’s main topic is your social life. Having a close network of friends you can count on is wonderfully beneficial to the overall health and wellness of your lifestyle.

A special thanks to one of my dedicated fitness clients – Vera Day, for sharing this insightful TedTalk about one way to extend your life. Only a 16-minute video, so please find some time to enjoy soon!

Next, an article from my own guru, Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple – regarding how our friendships can have such a positive impact on our overall health.

Finally, I think we can all identify with this quotation from the Dalai Lama:
“Basically, a human being is a social animal. So, if you create some short moment of happiness for people, you get deep satisfaction.”

Have a great day, enjoy the upcoming weekend, and I hope many of you are also enjoying the excitement and amazing passion of the World Cup matches these days!

GR​OK ON !

The Power of Gratitude

Happy Summer Everybody!

THANK YOU! Two words that are spoken by us every day, often just as a habit in reply or response to something somebody has done for us. I have made a recent effort to “practice” gratitude each day, which always puts me in the most positive frame of mind. At this time, my wife and I are visiting family in California, and enjoying some wonderfully sunny, warm days outside with long walks-hikes, some other exercise and soaking in lots of natural vitamin D! I am very grateful that we can spend time with my brother-in-law and his lovely wife, as we catch up and often laugh at/with each other, sharing stories together.

There are many ways that gratitude/being grateful can impact our lives on a daily basis. This article is one of many which illustrates the wonderful benefits of gratitude, ending with a powerful quote from the Dalai Lama.

AND, please know that I am very grateful that YOU have chosen to follow along in my new journey to help others in various ways, which are hopefully personally meaningful.

Hoping you all enjoy the summer, and please try practicing more gratitude in your daily life!

GR​OK ON !

“IKIGAI” – Life Purpose & Longevity

Greetings Healthy & Happy Friends,

Well, another school year has come and gone – officially the last one for yours truly – as I transition into my “next career.” This week’s main topic is “ikigai” – the term comes to us from Japan. This can mean our purpose for living, our reason for being – something that we truly and genuinely value, basically that which makes our life worth living!

For me personally, my new venture as a health & fitness coach is what drives me at this point in my life – it is what I am passionate about, and what gets me excited about getting up each morning to start a new day. As I also focused on longevity, this article explains about how ikigai can support our goals and our quest for a long “healthspan.”

Wishing you all a wonderfully healthy weekend!

GR​OK ON !

Healthy Travel !

Dear Friends,

As many of us are preparing to leave Thailand (or other countries) soon for the upcoming holidays, I thought it would be appropriate to share some ideas about how to best survive (& maybe thrive!) during the extremely long flights to your many destinations around the world.

I found this article recently (apologies for some profanity included); and I have used-followed a number of the tips/advice mentioned, specifically:

– refraining from eating any airplane meals (I always bring my own healthy snacks, such as nuts, dried fruit, jerky, etc ….); although I will sometimes eat some fresh fruits served on the plane. Additionally, I will often fast or restrict calories on long flights, while drinking lots of water and green tea, if available.

– no alcohol

– wear compression sleeves on my calves

– move around whenever you can; my “routine” is usually to watch a movie, and then get up, walk around and find a place in the back of the plane where I can do some light exercises-movements (squats, lunges, arm circles, and other simple activation stretches); for about 10-15 minutes. I then go back to my seat, watch another movie, and get up and move, and just repeat several times ….

– As much as possible, I try to schedule my longest flights to arrive at the final destination in the morning; so that I can get outside and take a nice long walk – getting some time in the sun, and also some barefoot time in some nice grass or even better – on a beach!

– I also try to get in some kind of short workout to get a bit sweaty, and helps re-energize after such long periods of sitting on the flights.

– Stay up until normal bedtime in your new time zone. This is very important, and I might also use some melatonin to help adjust my sleep schedule.

Finally, I was able to find a natural, homeopathic product, which I regularly use on all long flights in any direction, to help prevent-reduce the effects of jet lag. I found this in a Whole Foods Market store in the U.S. several years ago, and I have been using it ever since, with wonderful success in helping reduce my jet lag significantly.

OK, that’s all for this week –

GR​OK ON !