Your feet are a gateway to your body and mind.

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by all the different aspects of our feet: what they look like, how they move, and what they represent.

And I’ve been a big proponent of using foot reflexology as a natural method of optimizing my health and managing my stress.

What Is Reflexology?

Reflexology is the manipulation of points and areas in the feet that stimulate points and areas throughout your body. However, there is much more to it.

Physical Healing Aspects of Reflexology

Your feet reflect your whole body, and the human body is a reflection of the total universe. The feet are the gateway to the human body.

Why?

From the ankles up the energetic world is represented, but your feet correspond to the physical world, or what we perceive as the world of form.

Feet are dense and working on them is the key to undoing this density and achieving balance. You alleviate this density by improving circulation.

Diminished circulation throughout your body means less nourishment and less vitality for all your organs.

Stimulating points on the feet increases blood circulation so that your organs breathe better, while at the same time releasing toxic accumulations of waste material.

Better circulation gives the body a chance to restore its balance to all your organs, glands, muscles, and throughout your nervous system.

Our feet register everything we experience. Technically every cell in the body also registers everything we experience, but we can easily access our feet.

When you open the most dense points through working on your feet, it influences better circulation so blood and nutrients get circulated. Also, inner organs are hard to get to through touch but the nervous system that runs through all organs can be fed through working on the feet.

For cells to survive they need movement, nutrients and elimination.

All human tissue needs the same things. Improving circulation allows your organs to heal and do their job, making reflexology a powerful preventative as well.

Energetics of Reflexology

Every organ corresponds to an emotion or trait.

For instance, kidneys represent fear, adrenals courage and the liver anger. Feet correspond to understanding……UNDER your STAND are your feet!

Feet and head are opposites. Feet is ego and head is higher self. Head is the intellect and connection to the universe and higher self. Feet represent the here and now.

The key to a balanced life is to balance the energy world and the world of matter as we ground our perceptions in the here and now.

When feet are too dense it’s not good. Feet are the most prevalent place that people short out their energetic circuit of balance.

You want your head not too airy and your feet not too dense.

Nutrition and lack of understanding of yourself, others or life can influence this density.

Imagine your foot.

The toes represent air (intellect and mental state), the base of the toes represent fire, the ball of your foot is water and the heel is earth.

Take a look at your toes.

Are they forward pointing and straight?

If this is the case you’re likely an optimist who looks forward while still living in the present.

Are they inward and retracted, held back?

You’re likely to be someone who doesn’t express themselves, can be pessimistic, unsatisfied and defensive.

There are many modalities that work on the organs, so why work through the feet?

There are many places we can work on the meridians and energy lines that run throughout the body. Working on those energy lines in the foot, however, gives the added value of working with a matrix and quality of understanding.

Most of our ailments stem from a misunderstanding, usually of fear, love , and life.

What could be more natural than approaching our ailments through the matrix of
understanding?

Working through our feet then, can help with the process of resolving these conflicts.

We can use reflexology as a preventative and restorative modality. We can also use it when we have a particular health concern if we are willing to explore the mind/body connection through our feet.

Tips for Self Care Using Reflexology

Some places to consider working on:

#1 To help manage your stress work with your solar plexus, which is right below your breast bone. This is your 3rd chakra area and represents ego and stress. To work this point go under your third toe just above
the ball of foot border with the arch. Put pressure there and massage.

#2 To balance your right and left brain go to both big toes just under the nail. Use your knuckle and massage side to side.

#3 To balance your pituitary gland and increase harmony in both your body and your surroundings, use both big toes on the pad of the toe. Use your knuckle and massage in a swirl pattern. When you do this, it stimulates a very strong electrical point that governs your endocrine system.

Hopefully after reading this you may have a new appreciation for your feet as the gateway to greater health.

Treat yourself to a foot reflexology session and see what you think. Let me know!

shelli

What you’ll learn about cholesterol in reading this will go way beyond what you think you already know, I guarantee it.

It is valuable information for us all to have and be able to pass on to others who might be confused about cholesterol.

Let’s Start by Understanding Cholesterol and the Brain

Your brain is made up of 50% cholesterol. Your brain cells don’t split and divide like other cells in your body. They must live longer, so they have more cholesterol in them.

Doesn’t this tell us something about the need for cholesterol?

Your brain cannot get cholesterol from the blood. The blood-brain barrier prevents this. All cholesterol in the brain is made in the brain. Reducing brain levels of cholesterol will kill brain cells.

Statins, cholesterol reducing drugs, get into the brain and interfere with making cholesterol that’s essential for normal brain function. Yes, you will have lower cholesterol while taking statins, but at a great cost.

Let’s Look at Statins and How They Work

Before 1987 and the introduction of statins, all cholesterol lowering drugs and dietary interventions didn’t particularly work but weren’t particularly harmful either.

The first statins came about in 1987. There are about six popular statins, of which Lipitor is the most frequently used.

Statins block complex biochemical pathways present in every cell in the body. Statins block the cellular production of many compounds, one of which is cholesterol.

One of the unplanned effects of taking statins is that they block and suppress another enzyme, COQ10. This enzyme is essential for all muscles to function properly. So if we get a 40-50% reduction in cholesterol, then we also get a 40-50% reduction in COQ10. This messes with an essential part of cellular chemistry.

In 2001 new guidelines were put forth by the National Cholesterol Program for use by doctors who prescribe statins.

Roughly 25 million Americans are taking them, creating a 12 billion dollar
a year industry! And that may be a low estimate.

Before this, statins were being used in smaller doses, but in the past few years there has been a big expansion of these drugs into the elderly and healthy populations. The elderly may already have a low COQ10 level due to brain atrophy so if put on statins they’ll see interference with memory and cognition.

If LDL levels are above 140 people are now being told to take statins as a “preventative” even though they have no heart disease.

Statin research (check out the articles in Lancet of a 2002 study on statins) does not show reduction of heart disease or stroke in any population except those diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, and even in those cases there are still dramatic negative side effects from the drugs.

The harm seems to outweigh the little benefit of the anti-inflammatory response one gets from the drugs. Studies show that statin use over four years actually increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

There has been a cholesterol neurosis over the last 15 years making cholesterol an evil substance.

Having a high LDL level is “bad” and will lead to a heart attack or stroke. This has been an incredible myth that still exists, linking high cholesterol levels as a causative factor in disease.

There have been generations of brainwashing efforts about cholesterol. It’s a lucrative myth and probably the most profitable one in medical history.

More on the Adverse Effects of Statins

1. They indeed lower cholesterol, which is dangerous.

Cholesterol is important for brain and nerve function. As I mentioned, one half of your brain is cholesterol.

You will notice a cognitive decline in people taking statins. And after age 65, the lower your cholesterol levels, the higher your mortality rate.

2. The interruption of COQ10 is an extremely negative side effect of the drugs. COQ10 is needed for cellular energy production, and cells that use the most energy are the first to suffer. COQ10 contributes to ATP in your muscles so its reduction affects the mitochondria (the powerhouse cells).

Heart muscle is the largest user of COQ10 because it works the hardest so it has more COQ10 in it than any other tissues in the body. The interference with COQ10 production makes your heart muscle vulnerable to dysfunction.

With statin use you’ll find a gradual decline in people being able to do what they used to do, getting more easily fatigued and irritable.

3. Statins are carcinogenic. We don’t really know yet why statins increase certain cancers.

One idea might be that when you interfere with enzyme Q, you interfere with all bioenergetic systems including the immune system. People with cancer have been shown to have low levels of Q so perhaps one’s defenses are weakened and affected more than we know.

4. The adverse effects from statins can be delayed. Unlike toxic drugs like chemotherapy which make you sick right away, statins are unique in their delayed adverse effect. You might be on them for a few years before you notice memory loss or lack of stamina, so you don’t put the pieces of the puzzle together as easily. The side effects of statins are progressive over time.

What Can You Do

The literature is full of confusing information on cholesterol and statins.

Getting into the politics of statin research, the drug companies, and the FDA and how drugs get approved is a much larger topic than I have room for here. Don’t underestimate the influence of drug companies on research, and always check to see who has funded any study you read. The FDA seems like an organization we should trust, but buyer beware! How the FDA came to approve the first statins is a scary story and one you might want to research.

When physicians tell patients to take statins, when you’re the patient it’s a tough call. Doctors generally believe them to be beneficial and take them themselves.

Trust your own instincts on this.

You may decide to change doctors.

Some doctors are willing to do a non-invasive ultrasound called a carotid artery scan. This will show you if your arteries are fine or if they are filled with plaque, so if you have high LDL levels and want to see the condition of your arteries this would be helpful. Some people have a familial trait for making a lot of cholesterol, yet this doesn’t harm them.

What you want is to improve health and decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke, right?

If your arteries are clogged, it’s not a good thing.

The question to ask however, is why is the plaque there and how did it get there?

The cholesterol molecule lines the arteries for a reason.

There could be multiple reasons or poisons that have damaged the LDL molecule such as inflammation, toxins, chemicals, damage from other drugs, food toxins, refined carbohydrates or excess sugar.

Keeping your liver healthy is key.

Even snacking in between meals has been shown to gum up cholesterol metabolism.

Simple lifestyle habits come to mind.

Avoid trans fats.

Increase your intake of omega 3 oils.

Exercise will decrease your stress and increase your production of COQ10.

Lose weight if you need to. Exercise, diet modification and supplementation are always worth looking at before taking drugs.

Your cholesterol might not change but you’ll surely be healthier.

What you need is normal healthy cholesterol metabolism so it doesn’t get gummed up in the arteries.

Clogged arteries are not due to a lack of statins—they are lacking healthy cholesterol metabolism!

Cholesterol is vital to life and vital to how the human body makes energy.

Reconsider the cholesterol myth and share this information with people you know taking cholesterol reducing drugs.

shelli

Do you ever find yourself in a philosophical and reflective mood?

I know I do.

In fact, I’m in one right now so I thought I’d pass along some ideas and quotes that I find inspirational.

I wrote down these ideas and lifestyle behaviors as I thought about what I’d like to be focusing on right now:

*remember my source. I believe with spiritual awareness everything in life is improved.

*live the golden rule. This is important in creating cooperative relationships.

*be good to the universe, take care of my earthly home.

*eat my fruits and vegetables and consume only what I need.

*move and exercise on a regular schedule. This makes a positive difference in my life.

*live with purpose and challenge my fears. Expressing my purpose is what life’s all about.

*be emotionally mature and self-responsible. Let my light shine.

*give to life. Open to life and share in a constructive way with others, giving wisely of myself.

*see the good and the possible. Every problem has a solution. In all challenging circumstances, see opportunities for good, for learning, and for growth.

In addition to my ideas I find these quotes inspirational:

“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance: one cannot fly into flying.” Frederich Nietzsche.

To me this sounds like an opportunity to practice lots of joy in lots of different movements as we travel down the road of life.

“Behold the turtle–He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” James Bryant Conant.

Select goals that make you reach, stretch you and pull you beyond what you thought was possible.

“I get up every morning determined both to change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult.” E.B. White.

Life without a sense of humor would be intolerable for me. I love to laugh!

“People say that what we are seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think this is what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive.” Joseph Campbell.

Find your joy and make choices that bring aliveness out in you. We all know it when we feel it!

shelli

Yoga CAN play a role as part of every woman’s self care toolbox.

Yoga is a combination of physical poses (called asanas), breathing techniques and meditation.

That’s a somewhat “official” definition.

There are many yoga styles and different styles stress slightly different aspects of these three elements. Although yoga comes from an ancient Indian spiritual tradition that includes meditation and chanting, a class does not have to include a spiritual component.

Yoga will improve your strength, flexibility and balance.

It has also been used to help women with back pain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, arthritis, heart disease and fatigue.

In other words, you’re not just addressing one symptom when you practice Yoga; you’re addressing your whole self.

Yoga helps people become better at maintaining concentration and coping with their emotions, which is important in producing lasting health benefits.

Due to Yoga’s benefits, many employers provide yoga classes for their workers. Employers find that yoga helps their employees handle stress, anxiety and burnout.

One example is Sandia National Laboratories, a national security laboratory in New Mexico. They offer free yoga classes in an on-site fitness center for its 8,300 employees.

So far, Yoga has been a hit. “There’s a great deal of call for it. Yoga has always been consistently attended here. It’s one of those classes you can take and go back to work and not smell really bad,” comments Stephanie Holinka, a spokeswoman for Sandia. Unlike aerobics or other types of exercise, Yoga doesn’t require a shower afterwards — something that employees appreciate.

One of Sandia’s main reasons for offering Yoga is to help workers feel more relaxed and less stressed, she adds. “On the days that I’ve gone, I feel so much clearer when I get back here. You end up coming back with a lot of energy, which is nice,” she says.

You might think you’re too old or too inflexible to try Yoga, but anyone can do it.

As I mentioned before, Yoga has many styles to fit everybody regardless of your age or fitness level.

I’ve been teaching Yoga for 10 years now, and while it’s not for everyone, it has much to offer. Find a class and teacher that you feel comfortable with and give it a try.

If you already have included Yoga in your self-care program, I’d enjoy hearing from you and learning about the benefits you’re receiving!

shelli

Exercise, particularly during menopause, is essential.

It protects us against aging, dementia, heart disease, hot flashes, stress, excess body fat, depression and diabetes.

It improves the quality of sleep and sex, and protects bones and joints. Some studies tell us exercise takes 10 years off our chronological age. Studies on twins have shown that the twin who exercised had less heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis.

Yes, there’s effort involved in order to reap the benefits.

In looking at the questions that I’m most often asked, I see some common threads of confusion, so let’s take those myths and bust through them.

Myth #1 There’s Not Enough Time In The Day

Every woman feels strapped for time.

We are jugglers keeping many plates spinning in the air all at once.

The studies I’ve read suggest that that average American watches four and a half hours of television a day. Some of that time, at least, can be used for getting fit.

It’s important to try exercising at different times of the day and seeing what works best for your schedule. Some women find that getting their workouts in first thing in the morning is best, and others prefer the evenings.

There is no right or wrong time, whatever works and whatever schedule you’ll stick with is what’s best!

Myth #2 Exercise Is Boring
To reap the long term benefits of exercise, it is essential to do what you enjoy!

Think beyond walking, jogging or more structured routines, and find what works for you. Spend the evening square dancing and you’ll have walked five miles.

If what you’ve chosen for staying active does get dull, mix it up.

If you usually take a bike ride or a walk alone, invite some friends to join you. Change the locations of your exercise sessions. Don’t just use machines and stay indoors.

Variety will keep your movement choices fresh.

Myth #3 Exercise Is Exhausting

It’s true that if you’ve been leading a sedentary lifestyle and you do too much too soon, you’ll feel tired and achy. This means you’re overdoing it. Listen to your body and make corrections.

The idea is to start slowly, be consistent, and your energy levels will increase as your effort increases.

This also holds true for women who have been very active all their lives. An increase in effort and energy expenditure needs to happen over time, not all at once.

You do have to spend energy to get energy, so see exhaustion as a warning signal.

Myth # 4 Exercise Will Hurt Stiff Or Achy Joints

It’s exactly the opposite.

Exercise, when done properly, is a lubricant and a natural pain reliever.

Studies with arthritic populations find that one hour of low impact exercise, twice per week, reduced pain and fatigue, and improved joint function.

It is a case of move-it-or- lose-it. Many times a joint will be stiff and achy because you haven’t used it.

Regularly engaging in leisure time physical activity is necessary to keep your body functioning optimally and your joints free of those aches and pains.

Myth # 5 Walking Is All You Ever Need To Do

While walking does produce significant benefits, as your fitness levels increase you’ll want to incorporate more intensity into your aerobics and add a strength training component to your active lifestyle.

To improve your fitness levels, all muscles, including your heart muscle, need to be challenged.

It also makes sense to have multiple choices for enjoying exercise so that you’re challenging your body in different ways. This will ensure you’re reaping all the potential benefits.

Myth #6 You Have To Wear Special Clothes And Sweat

While that’s certainly true for certain sports, it’s not true across the board.

Sometimes wearing comfortable clothing can be all that’s needed.

Let’s use tai chi as an example. Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art consisting of deep breathing and slow, gentle, controlled movements.

Tai chi improves blood sugar levels in diabetics and relieves stress (making it a great movement choice for menopausal women). It also improves heart and lung health, your immunity and your flexibility. And all it requires is that you wear comfortable clothing!

So think outside the box if you don’t like activities that require a bunch of special gear.

Myth# 7 It’s Difficult To Get And Stay Motivated

There are many women who start exercising when they are faced with a health challenge, but it’s always best to start before that.

Creating an active lifestyle by taking up activities that you enjoy will keep you motivated.

Activities like golf, tennis, hiking, dancing, yoga, pilates, and biking give you an opportunity to spend time with friends and have fun.

Don’t forget the having FUN part. If you’re not having fun, the consistency element that’s crucial for gaining benefits will likely fall away.

You can also motivate yourself by doing something like wearing a pedometer and tracking how much you walk each day, or by signing on for a special event race. Strategies like these work well for getting up and getting going!

One thing is certain when looking to create an active lifestyle during menopause. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

One thing I can tell you with great certainty, having been in the health and fitness field for over 20 years now, is that when a woman gets sufficient and appropriate exercise, her chances of having an easier time during menopause are greatly increased.

Exercise is the best prescription there is for the uncertainty of the menopause experience!

There are specific things that women do who are successful at losing fat and getting fit.

They not only set goals but they GET those goals as well.

Using a proven system can help you specify your goals and objectives, measure your progress, and keep you focused.

However, there will always be challenges and roadblocks along the way. Knowing what to do when you encounter them is the key to staying on track.

Here are 3 challenges you’ll face and some helpful hints for overcoming them.

#1: Perfectionism

Are you a perfectionist? Then this one is for you.

No woman is perfect, though we’d all like to be!

Having to do something without ever making a mistake and slipping up is impossible.

Knowing before you even begin a fat loss plan that there will be days that are not perfect will help you keep focused on the long term goal and stay the course.

If you’re a perfectionist, you often won’t even start a fitness routine or eating plan if you doubt your ability to get it done RIGHT.

Striving to be perfect because your pride demands perfection will sabotage your efforts.

Better to think 80/20. What you do 80% of the time is good enough to get you to your goals. This will leave you room for making changes and creating a new and improved plan as you go along.

Stay the course.

Recognize when your perfectionistic attitude gets in the way.

Take a deep breath and allow yourself to feel good about your efforts so that you maintain enthusiasm and focus.

Remember the tortoise and the hare, and how slow and steady won the race!

#2: Being Timid About Asking Others for Help and Ideas

It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help. In fact, I consider it to be one of the smartest things you can do.

Being reluctant to ask for help will often slow you down in achieving your fat loss and fitness goals.

Be willing to ask for and receive help, including new ideas and solutions when you aren’t making progress.

Have a suggestion box mindset.

You will be surprised at how many good ideas other people have.

Some ideas will come from other women who have gone down the same road as you, and some will come from sources that’ll surprise you.

Be thankful and receptive.

#3: Not Understanding the Team Concept

This takes point #2 one step further.

Some woman can go it alone when it comes to their training and fat loss goals.

Most, however, make much better progress when they enlist a buddy. It can be one other woman or an entire group.

There’s something about knowing that your friends are waiting for you at an exercise class that’ll keep you focused and on track with your goals.

Having a team to support you when the going gets tough is crucial. It gets tough for everyone, so sometimes you get to be the leader and sometimes the follower. This takes the pressure off of you to always have to go it alone.

A helpful writing exercise:

In addition to these three, you may have roadblocks of your own that you encounter on a regular basis in regards to achieving your fat loss and fitness goals.

Here’s a simple three-step process to help you navigate through them and keep yourself on the path to success. You can do this on your own or share this exercise with a group of friends.

1. List three of your personal roadblocks to success. BE HONEST. It’s difficult to admit your “shortcomings” or “issues,” but that’s the only way this technique will help you.

2. Write two or three paragraphs about why these roadblocks are a problem for you and how they are keeping you from success.

3. List at least three ways to push through, jump over, toss aside, or take a detour away from these roadblocks that keep holding you back from achieving your goals.

Learning how to turn your fitness and fat loss goals into reality is empowering!

Use these few simple techniques and you’ll better understand how to bust through the challenges that may be standing in your way.

Let me know how they work for you!

shelli

I am frequently asked to pick 3 natural things that work time and time again to relieve menopausal symptoms.

Here’s what I answer.

The first important thing to work with in order to feel better is your diet.

Exercise is important too, but your diet is queen.

There’s so much confusion these days about what constitutes a healthy diet.

We are suffering from information overload and conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not.

There are so many diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, liquid diets, and hundreds more. The average middle aged woman doesn’t know where to start when it comes to eating what’ll help her feel her best during menopause. 

OK, if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog then you do know where to start, but you get my point!?

The starting point is to make sure your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. The overprocessing of food is in most cases what makes it unhealthy.

This will wreck your metabolism and disrupt the hormonal balance in your body.

To give you some examples, eat whole grains rather than refined grains. Stay away from refined sugar and choose natural sources of sugar from nutritious, whole foods like fruit. Eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, and organically raised meat, instead of processed and refined oils.

It’s about the basics.

You can get too caught up in the gimmicks and miss the big picture.

Low carbs, low fat, high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient or another can blind you to the big truth. Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and help you feel your best during menopause. Cutting out an entire food group will send your hormonal balance out of whack, which is precisely the opposite of what we need during menopause.

The second thing that works time and time again, is getting sufficient exercise and enjoying an active menopause lifestyle.

All women enter menopause at different levels of hormonal health and at different levels of fitness. We all must start from where we are and go forward from there.

This may sound obvious but this point is not to be overlooked.

If you enter menopause in a fatigued state and see that you’ve gained a few pounds, your tendency might be to start exercising like crazy to thwart the weight gain.

However, that level of intense exercise will only fatigue and stress your already hormonally challenged body, doing you more harm than good.

It’s essential then, to first assess your health upon entering menopause so that you begin, or continue, the exercise lifestyle that is perfect for you!

Another point is to focus your exercise both on cardio and strength training, working your body as a whole. At this age we want to be functional, lean and strong and this is most effectively and efficiently accomplished by exercising your body as a whole.

For the third thing, let’s talk about managing stress.

Let’s face it, menopause is a stressful time.

These days women in midlife are pulled in many directions. We are caretakers for older and younger generations. We manage jobs, households, relationships and must find time for ourselves as well.

Whether you practice yoga, enjoy tai chi, meditate or sit quietly every day watching the sunset, every woman must make the time to manage her stress.

It’s not an option during menopause: it’s a requirement. 

Actually, in thinking about it, if you’re looking for menopausal symptom relief (and who isn’t) ALL  three of these are requirements, not options. 

These three: optimizing nutrition, leading an appropriately active lifestyle, and managing stress, are the three best pillars to use when building a foundation on which to go through menopause.

Let me know what you think!

shelli