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New book promotes low-cost habits to happier, healthier life
Ask anyone how to be healthy, and they will likely share a few tips like eat vegetables, exercise, skip the fast food. Ask if they are doing those things regularly, and the response is often a longer list of excuses. One excuse Dr. Michelle Robin, author of the newly released book Wellness on a Shoestring: Seven Habits for a Healthy Life and with Your Wellness Connection, hears a lot these days is lack of money.
"People think that healthy living costs a lot of money, and they are afraid that, in this current economy especially, wellness is beyond their reach—that it is something they could only achieve with a personal-fitness trainer, expensive gym membership or a hefty grocery budget,” she said.
A licensed chiropractor, Robin oversees care for about 100 persons a day at her wellness clinic in the greater Kansas City area. The book draws from her experiences helping patients of all income levels find relief from lifestyle-related ailments such as joint pain, diabetes, obesity, back pain, depression and chronic illness.
"People are looking for a magic pill for wellness, and the truth is, the magic is in attending to the basics,” Robin said. “It is simple and hard—hard because living well requires you to be intentional, to use your personal power to support your health in a culture where the majority of people around you are not practicing a wellness lifestyle.”
Robin’s success stems from breaking “wellness” into a series of manageable steps—or habits—most of which can be practiced anywhere, any time. The book is organized into seven chapters, one for each wellness habit.
Each chapter includes a basic explanation of the habit, a list of questions to help readers assess their current wellness levels, stories from persons who are incorporating the habits into their lives, and practical tips readers can use on their own journeys to wellness. One technique for reinforcing wellness habits is to reflect on them in writing. The chapters conclude with journal questions.
Beyond the basics of healthy living, Robin promotes complete well-being of mind, body and spirit. “Being healthy is simply being free of disease,” she said. “Wellness is about having lives and bodies that really work; it is about truly enjoying your existence rather than just making it through another day.”
Dr. Robin’s seven wellness habits for complete well-being are as follows:
- Rest, reflect and rejuvenate. How the body is positioned during sleep and consistent quantity of sleep are equally important. Robin explains why no one should be sleeping on his or her stomach.
- Breathe deeply. Breathing well is arguably the most important thing for your body. Without breath, there is no life. Proper breathing affects the function of all bodily systems.
- Move your body. Exercise is important to cardiovascular health, but in terms of whole-body wellness, it enhances concentration, releases toxins and maintains and increases range of motion.
- Free your space. Clutter, whether physical clutter or excess emotional baggage, sets obstacles in the way of goals, saps energy and prevents clear focus.
- Go for the greens. Green vegetables, in particular, give cells what they need chemically so they can function optimally. Don’t like greens? Robin shares recipes for fruity, “green smoothie” drinks.
- Eat from the sea and enjoy the sun! From foods, the sun or supplements, fish oils and vitamin D can boost energy and alleviate joint pain, depression, anxiety, respiratory infections, headaches and more.
- Drink to your health. Consuming fluids does not mean you are hydrated. Robin explains why there is no substitute for plain water, and why it is best to drink it at room temperature.
Wellness on a Shoestring is published by and available through Unity House as well as distributors DeVorss, New Leaf and Ingram.
- Courtesy of Your Wellness Connection
For further information about Dr. Robin's new book or to learn more about the products and services Your Wellness Connection offers, please call 913.962.7408.
Maranatha Academy Select Choir performs at Walt Disney World Resort
The Maranatha Academy Select Choir members became stars of their own Disney show on June 12, 2010, when they took the stage at Waterside Stage. They traveled from Shawnee to the Walt Disney World Resort in Fla. to take part in a Disney Performing Arts Program.
Dance groups, choirs, ensembles and marching bands from around the world apply to perform each year, as part of Disney Performing Arts at the Disneyland and the Walt Disney World Resorts. Once selected, they are given the opportunity to perform at the resort for an international audience of theme park guests. Millions of performers have graced the stages of the Disney Parks over the course of the more than 25-year history of the program.
Disney Performing Arts offers band, choral, dance and auxiliary performers the opportunity to learn, perform and compete at the Walt Disney World Resort. For more information, please click here.
- Courtesy of Disney Youth Programs
For more information about Maranatha Academy, please click here.
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