There are so many different components of one’s well-being. Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to start when you want to feel, look, and live better. There’s our physical health, mental and emotional states, and spiritual health. Short of an emergency situation, I think the best place to start is the one you’ll start with. Each impacts the other.

As we succeed in one area, we tend to feel more confident, physically and emotionally, to take on another. It is important to remember that we can always improve our well-being. Let's take a look at two very important components of our health, well-being, and happiness: your bone health and ability to reduce stress as it occurs.

Bone Health

As I’ve shared, my bones are quite thin, and so that is where my focus is today. I sat at a desk, hour after hour, throughout my three-decade corporate career—other than running from meeting to meeting, thinking I was too busy to fit in anything else. Ha!

Now, I spend a good portion of my day on my health and well-being. So, the moral of the story for me, and I hope it helps you, is: put the time in now because it gets a lot more painful in the later years if you don’t. I’ve had two compression fractures and am now recovering from a broken shoulder. The shoulder may have broken, regardless, as it was from a pretty bad fall. However, I know I have to improve my bone health and overall strength to minimize these occurrences.

Even as someone who coached others regarding their diet, lifestyle, and emotional well-being for over two decades, my bone health was not on my radar. So, I always suggest to clients that they start looking at their bone health at least by their 40s. If you’re beyond that and have not, I encourage you to get your bone density numbers as soon as possible and learn what they mean. They have their limitations, and a baseline is important.

It was quite a shock to me that after picking up my groceries about 3 years ago, albeit with three full and heavy bags in each hand, I would soon learn the hard way I had two compression fractures in my spine, resulting in the most physically painful 3-month period of my life.

I have read the work of John Robbins, son of Irv Robbins, the co-founder of Baskin Robbins, for over two decades and admire his journey to make the world a healthier and better place for all living creatures on the planet. Ocean Robbins, son of John Robbins, is now as much of an advocate for health and wellness as his father is.

Below is a link to a very helpful article by Ocean Robbins, CEO of Food Revolution, on preventing osteoporosis and promoting bone health. Robbins discusses the essential nutrients we need and healthy habits to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and promote bone health.

How to Prevent Osteoporosis and Promote Bone Health with Food, Ocean Robbins.

https://bit.ly/bonehealthforlife

My biggest takeaway from the article is to get to the doctor’s office this month to re-test all these very important nutrient levels. I did a comprehensive nutrient panel about two years ago, and it’s time again to ensure I’m heading in the right direction.

How about you? What is your next step to make sure your bones stay healthy for life? The article above can help you prioritize.

A Stress Remedy

First, I’d like to state 3 important concepts when it comes to our emotional well-being:

1) No one else is responsible for your feelings or reactions to events, circumstances, or challenges in your life. Those are your own. In other words, you own them.

2) E + R = O: Event plus Response equals Outcome. It is our responses to the events, circumstances, and challenges we face that create our outcomes, not the events themselves: what they said or didn’t say, what or when it happened.

3) Thoughts chase feelings quicker than feelings change thoughts. So change your feelings, and your thoughts will follow—and rather quickly.

Here is a quick HeartMath® technique called Quick Coherence to shift stressful feelings in seconds to a couple of minutes to positive ones such as ease, calm, compassion, and appreciation. Thoughts change quickly with a shift to these feelings.

Step 1: Heart Focus: Focus your attention on the area around your heart or chest. It might help to place your hand over your heart.

Step 2: Heart Breathing: take a breath as if it is coming in and out of your heart, breathing a little slower and deeper than usual. Find a rhythm that is comfortable for you.

Step 3: Activate a positive feeling of care or appreciation for someone, something, or someplace in your life as you continue to breathe in and out of your heart. Feel what it is like to be with that person, thing, or at that special place as you continue to breathe in and out of your heart. Do that for a minute or two.

Do Quick Coherence throughout your day and enjoy the difference it makes, such as renewed energy, a wider perspective, and kinder words. You might print out the steps and checklist below. Doing Quick Coherence when you wake up, before an important conversation, before a meeting or test—can make the world of difference. Also, during a stressful moment and afterward, to recover quickly.

A Coherent Day with Quick Coherence: add more balance and clarity to your day.

Step 1: Heart Focus: Focus your attention on the area around your heart or chest. It might help to place your hand over your heart.

Step 2: Heart Breathing: take a breath as if it is coming in and out of your heart, breathing a little slower and deeper than usual. Find a rhythm that is comfortable for you.

Step 3: Activate a positive feeling of care or appreciation for someone, something, or someplace in your life as you continue to breathe in and out of your heart. Feel what it’s like to be with that person, thing, or at that special place as you continue to breathe in and out of your heart. Do that for a minute or two.

Checklist

#1 ____ #2 ____ #3 _____ #4 ____ #5 ____ #6 ____ #7 ____ #8 _____ #9 _____ #10 ___

Stress is most damaging as it occurs. Quick Coherence quickly shifts the autonomic nervous system (which regulates 90% of involuntary functions in the body like the cardiovascular, respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems) to a balanced state and creates a coherent heart signal (see below) from the heart to the brain. A coherent heart signal, a smooth and orderly signal, to the brain translates as: “I’m okay. Don’t fight, flee, or freeze.” You become calm instead of anxious, compassionate instead of judgmental, and instead of frustrated and overwhelmed, you feel more confident in handling the situation at hand.

It’s not about perfection. It’s about progress. As you gain control of your emotions, you not only significantly reduce stress, but you also take control of your life. Now, when a stressful Event occurs, (the ‘E' in the E+R=O equation), you'll have a positive Response (‘R’) which will create a positive Outcome (‘O’) for you and all concerned. That's health. That's well-being. That's empowerment.

With growing confidence, clarity, and certainty this technique provides, life becomes the great adventure it was meant to be. A change of heart truly changes everything!