2016: Ending With Reflection

Give 2016 some thought and note the times that you celebrated, re-charged and felt whole. You might be surprised how frequent this actually was. We tend to remember and dwell most heavily on the challenges that were presented in our year, or altered the path we were on. What we tend to forget is that many of these path-altering challenges indeed forced us to learn a necessary skill or grow in a new direction that we wouldn’t otherwise have gone. Reflecting on an entire 12 months can be a powerful reminder of the bigger picture, and demonstrate your resilience despite those rocky moments - and when you step back, you can see they were only moments. 

When Did You Feel Your Best?

Was 2016 the year that you took a leap in your career and left a toxic work environment? Or did a family trip bring you and your children or siblings closer? Even on a smaller scale, we can find memorable and important times where we felt really alive. Maybe you took skiing lessons for the first time, started to go on weekly nature walks or started volunteering your time for a cause you really believe in. Journaling can be an excellent practice to uncover these specific times for yourself, and to discover new ones as well. 

What Are Your Happiest Moments of 2016?

Was a new member or pet added to your family, or did you get to connect with an old friend or relative that you haven’t seen in a long while? Did you get recognized for your hard work on a project, or were you able to able to be present at a sibling’s wedding? A “happy” moment can easily be a subjective way to describe a shift or experience in your life, big or small. 

Past, Present and the Future

With only one day left of 2016, this is a prime opportunity to kick-start a flow of energy that helps keep our minds calm and clear and also invites fresh positive energy to enter. Decluttering your space helps clear that old energy and make room for new projects and ideas. Focus time and dedication on finishing any projects that have been started or halfway completed. Anything that we have been procrastinating on will need some kind of structure so that we can release the energy caught up in it, even if all we do is make a plan with a realistic deadline. 

Here are a few intention-setting prompts to help you reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re headed:

1. What’s the last good habit you developed? How did you do it?
2. What have you always wanted to do, but haven’t gotten around to doing? What is stopping you?
3. What are one of the desires you have for your career? 
4. What relationships (with children, relatives, coworkers, romantic etc.) do you want to grow and flourish? 
5. What brings you joy every single day?

Healthy Eating for the Whole Family

Many parents battle to have their kids eat balanced, healthy meals both at home and at school. Families, however, can make the shift towards healthier meals without having to coax their children to eat something they don’t want to eat. Here are a few ways that you can make healthy food a fun part of your meals together and even have them requesting whole, nutritious foods. 

Give Them the Chance to be Involved

Many kids enjoy helping out at dinner time and even helping out with the grocery store list. Bringing them along to the farmers market is a great chance for them to learn about vegetables or fruits they have never had before, and together you can come up with a dish to try them in. Depending on their age, you can start to let them join in on preparing food and even cooking. An easy way to start cooking together as a family is with “build it yourself” meals such as fajitas, salad bars, pizza or fruit and yogurt parfaits for dessert. This is also a great method if you have some picky eaters as it will give them the chance to try something new, but also eat what they like. Cooking at home shows them that healthy means using whole ingredients and can be fun, too.

Teach Your Kids to Follow the 80/20 Rule

Kids’ appetites fluctuate with their level of activity, mood and growth so don’t stress over a couple of unbalanced meals - or days. The 80/20 rule means they eat wisely 80% of the time, which leaves the remaining 20% for pizza with friends or enjoying the occasional treat. As parents know, it can be stressful trying to control what your child eats at a friends house or at school lunchtime. But the 80/20 rule shows them that perfection is not the goal, and it's alright to indulge in a small treat here and there. This also helps them see that not everything about food has to be restrictive - setting up positive eating patterns early on.

Stock the Fridge with Healthy Choices

Just like adults, kids will make better choices if they are easy. Filling a bowl with fruit and keeping it on the kitchen table puts a healthy and quick option in plain site. The same works for the less healthy options like soda and chips - if they are kept out of sight they are not as tempting. It’s one thing to tell your kids to “eat the rainbow” -  meaning eat colorful fruits and veggies - but it’s another for them to open the fridge and see it. 

If you're used to going down the snack aisle and picking up pre-packaged snacks for your kids, it won't be as difficult as you'd think to pick up quick and healthier options instead. Many stores carry pre-cut vegetables and fruit and although they are a bit more expensive, it can offer more convenience when you need it. Here are some simple snack ideas that require minimal prep or cooking:

• apples and peanut butter or cheese
• broccoli and hummus
• ants on a log (celery, nut butter and raisins)
• lettuce wraps (turkey+mayo, tuna salad...the fillings are endless)
• sweet potato and zucchini fries
• fruit and yogurt ice pops
• homemade trail mix

If your kids are curious about learning how to make their own snacks, this peanut dipping sauce goes great with carrot sticks and can be put together in less than 5 minutes:

• 3 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• A splash of soy sauce
• A few drops of sesame oil
• Water to smooth
• Carrot sticks

Mix everything but the carrot sticks together with a fork or whisk in a bowl. Add water as needed to thin mixture to a dipping consistency (all-natural peanut butter needs more; everyday brands need less).

Still concerned your kids will reject “healthy food”? They will eat healthy, delicious food if you continue to offer it and try to model the right food choices for yourself.  Kids can learn to eat on their own terms which is the key to healthy eating in the long run. It is good to strive for balance but over the course of the week most kids will eat what they need; let them decide how to eat so they learn their own satiety signals.

Start the Morning Off Right

If you go about your days feeling disorganized or overwhelmed, starting a morning ritual can be a simple way to start your day more positive and focused. There are several different things you could use to start your morning, depending on personal preference and the amount of time you can set aside each morning.

This ritual could include activities such as meditation, stretching, journaling, exercise or even cleaning. It can be stacked onto another part of your morning, for example: meditating for three minutes before brushing your teeth. The idea is to create space for reflection so that you know where your day is headed, and give you a sense of control so that you are less reactive and more productive for the day. Over time you can add on more time to this morning ritual, ideally setting aside 45 minutes to an hour each morning. 

One morning ritual that has a long list of health benefits and is easy to incorporate: drinking warm tea. Tea has less caffeine than coffee (some are caffeine-free), so it provides mental alertness but is less likely to increase anxiety or jitteriness. The general health benefits that tea provides includes: protection against heart attack and stroke, improved bone mineral density and a boost to your exercise endurance. 

If you're curious about adding tea to your morning routine, we're happy to announce that you are now able to purchase our new proprietary tea blends at the clinic. We have taken a lot of time to curate these exclusive blends with Urbal Tea that support the body in managing stress, fighting inflammation and better digestion. Here's what you can find in our two blends:

Sweet Relaxation

• Hibiscus: reduces high blood pressure and symptoms of anxiety and depression
• Oatstraw: high in calcium and other minerals, stabilizes mood and supports the nervous system
• Kava Kava Root: offsets anxiety, stress and disrupted sleep patterns

MindBody Wellness Blend

• Turmeric: effective at managing arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease
• Milk Thistle: lowers cholesterol and detoxifies and protects vital liver functions
• Dandelion Root: strengthens the immune system and balances the natural and beneficial bacteria in the gut

Urbal Tea uses 100% herbal quality ingredients in their tea blends and are based here in Milwaukee. You can find several of their blends such as Brain Booster and Sleep Tight inside our  clinic in addition to our proprietary blends. To learn more about Urbal, check out their website here.