PAST ARTICLES:
Get your Groove on and Dance Yourself Happy
(June 11, 2010 Issue)
Fitness doesn't have to be about looking good to feel good, it should really be about what makes you feel good makes you look good. When you feel good inside your true self shines onto others, you will attract other people that also feel good to you, and because you feel good you are confident and happy.
There's a new style of fitness that is sweeping the world and Groover by Groover making it a better and happier place. This new style of fitness is called The Groove Method (www.thegroovemethod.com) and has now landed in Fort St. John. Groove is a dance style of fitness that has limited emphasis on choreography giving each participant the possibilities to move their body in their own creative and unique way. When you allow yourself to move your body to the way the music makes you feel it allows your spirit to glow with love, confidence and happiness enabling you to tap into the force that makes you who you are. Not only do you feel amazing and free while you dance, your getting a full cardio workout, improving strength, balance, co-ordination and your moving your body functionally and creatively.
Groove classes are being facilitated by myself Rodina Patrick and will be free for participants 10-18 years old with the accompaniment of a paying participant 19 or older. My goal is to get the kids, teens and families active, having fun and being creative with their minds and bodies, so that we can connect with ourselves and each other to keep our bodies and minds positive and healthy.
Check out www.rodinapatrick.com for Groove and Groove for kids 5-9 Class times and Locations. Join me and lets Get our Groove ON and Dance our way Happy.
By Rodina Patrick
Yoga for Osteoarthritis
(June 18, 2010 Issue)
With more than 3 million Canadians coping with Osteoarthritis, this condition is on the rise as it increases with ones age. Studies show that more than 80% of the Canadian population aged 75 and over is affected and is most common in women. Genetic factors, stress, trauma and obesity are also risk factors in both men and women.
Osteoarthritis is caused by regular improper wear and tear of the weight bearing joints such as the knees, hips, feet and spine. Obesity, lack of exercise, a rich fatty diet, stress, emotional issues and tension are also risk factors and develops over time with age. Diet and exercise play a huge roll in prevention of this condition. The body needs exercise and proper nutrition to repair, build and heal itself. Improper nutrition combined with improper wear and tear of the joints and age will effect the protein make up of the cartilage that cushions the bones, which results in cartilage degeneration. When cartilage begins to degenerate it causes friction between the bones which leads to pain, inflammation and limitation of the mobility of the joint.
Though prevention is key in this condition, those coping with Osteoarthritis must also take the same preventative action at a level that feels good to their body uniquely. This includes living a healthy lifestyle with a balance of proper nutrition and exercise, including Yoga and Meditation. It is recommended that you consult your doctor/physician before beginning any new diet and exercise regime. When choosing an appropriate Yoga class to suit your needs it is a good idea to choose a class specific to Osteoarthritis or a very gentle and therapeutic Yoga class. Yoga styles such as Anusara, Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow and Bikram are not recommended.
Yoga for Osteoarthritis consists of gentle range of motion exercises, breathing techniques, healing meditations/visualizations and positive affirmations. The Yoga postures help to preserve function of the joints, release tension and stress in the joints and surrounding muscles, strengthen the muscles surrounding the joints and help with pain and inflammation. For existing sufferers with Osteoarthritis Yoga can be an excellent practice to cope with pain and regenerate healing. As well, Yoga can also be an excellent preventative practice to keep the joints flexible, strong and lubricated.
The Meditation techniques help to keep the mind in a positive state as you deal with emotional issues that cross your path. They aid the body in releasing tension and stress, help to keep the immune and nervous systems healthy and can help initiate physical and emotional healing.
If you love yourself you take pride in taking action to keep the body and mind in the healthiest state possible. You feed your body foods that cleanse, nourish and support the bodies systems allowing your body to efficiently fight off infections, diseases and help with faster physical healing. You exercise to keep your muscles strong to support you as you get older with fewer injuries so you can live an active, fun and happy lifestyle, enabling you to enjoy life to its fullest after you retire.
If you take care of your body and soul now, then your body and soul will take care of you when you get older. It's up to you to make the choice! Prevention is key, but it all starts with you.
By Rodina Patrick
Positive = Healthy
(June 25, 2010 Issue)
You create the path that you walk everyday and it all starts in your mind with the thoughts you think. If you really take the time to go into your mind and notice the thoughts that flow in and out of your mind, you will be very surprised what you hear yourself say everyday. Whether your looking in the mirror, driving your vehicle, when it's raining out, when you step on the scale or finish eating a piece of cake. The thoughts will flow either in a positive direction or a negative direction, and in most cases 9 times out of 10 they will start flowing in a negative direction.
When you look in the mirror do you notice what you like about yourself? Most of us notice our flaws and when we notice our flaws and zero in on our flaws, the thoughts start telling you "I'm so ugly", "my nose is so big", "I wish I had whiter/straighter teeth", "your so fat no one will ever want to be with you", and the list goes on. When you think this way about yourself it actually changes the neural pathways in your brain and you begin to believe it. This will manifest into either an eating disorder, low self-confidence, depression, anxiety, fear of trying new things, acne and eventually disease.
When you are driving are you rushing? Are you fully paying attention? Are you curtious to other drivers? Most of the time the answers to these questions are 1. yes, 2. no (not fully), 3. No. When you rush you actually manifest being late. Do you ever notice when your rushing you get all the red lights or can't find a parking spot? I know in the past I have and this is not a coincidence. This happens because our mind starts thinking negatively, you begin to develop a fear or adrenaline like feeling in your chest, and if someone cuts you off or slows you down you start swearing at them in your head or even out loud. Your negative thoughts actually manifest you into becoming more late, cause an accident, bring on stress, depression and eventually disease.
If someone told you the thoughts that you think everyday are a choice that you choose to make and its what you think that causes the feelings and emotions in your body would you make the choice to change? If you are one of those people that are frequently depressed, are anxious, live in fear of trying new things, have an illness whether mild or severe, or get sick a lot; if you made the choice to think more positive thoughts about yourself, others and the world you can actually begin the healing process within your body and change your life forever.
The body is designed to heal itself, and this healing starts in your mind by noticing your thoughts and choosing to think positively. When you look in the mirror notice what you like about yourself, tell yourself "I love you", "I am perfect just the way I am". If it is medically known that eating disorders develop through repetitive negative affirmations then it can only be true that if you reverse these affirmations to positive you can begin to truly learn to love yourself. It is in this self love that you may create the life you've always wanted, and what most of us truly want is to be happy.
This process is true for everything you do in your everyday life. When you love yourself you choose to make the right decisions to take care of yourself by thinking positively, eating treats in moderation (allowing yourself to enjoy these treats when you do indulge and refrain from guilt after the fact) and exercising to prevent injuries/ailments, keeping your body strong as you age. Love for yourself will allow the universe to flow through you with ease which in turn will manifest into excellent health, a strong immune system enabling your body to fight off disease faster and more efficiently, you will attract to you people who also love themselves and all the dreams of your life will manifest into reality when the time is right.
If this is the life you want to live, the power lies within you, you just have to change the way you think. Only you can set yourself free, you just have to believe.
With Love,
Rodina Patrick
Forgiveness will set you FREE
(July 2, 2010 Issue)
Here I am on my journey, more fears conquered and I have come to another step into awakening. Just like the season I have bloomed into fruitation, I am vibrant and sweet, I am grounded and strong. The sun and the rain support my essence, I am one with the universe.
The force flows through me with ease and I accept, allow, forgive and love. There's so much beyond us, beyond the clouds, the sky, even space, our galaxy and the many other galaxies that exist. When you close your eyes you have the ability to feel what is beyond us, when you close your eyes you have the ability to envision your future. Are you skepticle? Are you afraid? Let go and learn to fly, free yourself from the very meaning of what you think you know. The heart will show you, listen and you will be set free. Deny and you will never see.
Let yourself sparkle in the sun as I do now, bask in it's radiance. Shine brighter then ever before that's what your life is for. The door is in front of you, you just have to open it! Open the door to the place you want to go. This power is within you, this is the power of free will and freedom of choice. Feel in your heart what it is you want, forgive the seeds from the past that cause you pain and you will learn to live again.
When you forgive, it is in this forgiveness that you will be set free. First forgiving others for they know not what they do, they only know what they have learned. Then forgive yourself for putting yourself down, for not accepting yourself as you are. You are a shining star, though it may take many years to get to you, one day you will get there, one day you will see peace, love, freedom and bliss forever; but not with your eyes will you see, you will see this with your heart.
Forgiveness is the lock and love is the key, but only you have the power to set yourself free. Heal your body by expanding your mind and you'll be surprised what you will find. The place of heaven lies within, release your sins and learn from them.
I share with you my knowledge that has helped me save my life. I am now greatful for all the pain and bad experiences I have gone through, for they have been a stepping stone that has lead me to greater wisdom, happiness, love, and freedom. I am now fulfilling all the dreams that I once only imagined in my mind. My gift to you is this knowledge to heal yourself, so that you can live the life you've always wanted.
If you'd like to check out my personal story on how the practice of Yoga was my 1st stepping stone on my pathway to healing check out my profile on my website www.rodinapatrick.com.
With Love,
Rodina
Hobbies for Health
(July 9,2010 Issue)
Hobbies do more for our bodies then we think. When you find a hobby that you enjoy doing not only will you keep the mind busy and in the present moment, it enables the brain to keep learning, it makes you happier overall, reduces stress and the risk of depression and dementia. The list of benefits continues to include: lowering blood pressure, delaying the onset of alzheimers, improves focus, concentration and creativity, and can help with overcoming addictions by keeping you in the present moment. The more our minds and bodies live in the present moment the less we think about those addictive habits. When overcoming an addiction the best and natural way to do so is by exchanging one habit for another, and finding a hobby that you enjoy and love doing is an excellent healthy way to do so.
The latest studies show that when we learn new things, we develop new and positive pathways in our brain. When we learn new skills and stay in touch with our creativity we keep the brain young which also helps to keep the body young.
How do I know what kind of hobby to explore? The best way to find a hobby that suits you specifically is to explore the activities that you enjoy doing, make you happy, that your good at yet have room to excel in, or something you used to do as a child that you enjoyed and want to bring back into your life.
Activities to get into include: quilting, knitting, gardening, building toys, wood working, performing, art, music, writing, dancing, games, puzzles, pets, any kind of exercise, being in nature, something that makes you laugh and so much more. The list is literally endless as to what you can do for a hobby in your spare time.
Not only do hobbies help us overcome and or prevent addictions and other ailments by keeping us in the present moment, they actually keep us in a state of happiness more often. The more time we spend worrying about the past or wishing we had the future, it affects our subconscious and also our muscles, organs and cells in a negative way. This way of thinking implies we don't want what we've got right now, which creates inner conflict and reduces the quality of your life substantially.
Do yourself a favour and spend some quality time with yourself. Try something you've always wanted to try, or get back into something you've put to the side. It's so imperative to our state of health and well being that we take time for ourselves no matter how busy our lives seem to get. When you make the time for yourself it gives you the ability to greet the world with happiness and show off the true potential of your being. When you feel good and you feel happy, this happiness rubs off onto others. So really by taking at least an hour a week to make yourself happy your actually making the world a better place by sharing your happiness with others one person at a time.
With love,
Rodina Patrick
Yoga Strengthens the Body & the Mind
(July 16, 2010 Issue)
Yoga starts with the breath, taking nice slow deep breaths as if your breathing to a slow count of 4, or controlling the breath by seeing how long you can make your inhalations and exhalations. This style of breathing strengthens the diaphragm, tones and cleanses the internal organs, relaxes and releases tension in the body, clears and quiets the mind and helps to balance the nervous system. In Yoga we practice Ujjayi Breath meaning Ocean Breath because your breath sounds like soft waves sliding onto the shore. The sound of the breath helps to quiet the mind and relax the mind to help keep the mind in the present moment (clear of thoughts), instead of following your thoughts from past or future that tend to take over our present moments. Yoga means "to Yoke", "to Join together", "Union" etc. Essentially meaning your are uniting the mind and the body together as one. Giving each participant the opportunity to get to know their body and learn to trust the signals from within the body.
The style of Yoga that I tried when I first started Yoga was a Vinyasa Flow/Ashtanga style, in which the Yoga postures are put together in a sequence to get the heart rate going and tone and strengthen the whole body. The flow of postures combined with the deep Ujjayi breathing has numerous effects on the body physically and spiritually.
Physically, your toning, trimming inches and burning fat, improving balance and co-ordination, and strengthening your body and mind.
Spiritually, as the Yoga practice revolves around Ujjayi breathing,the breath helps to open the subtle inner channels that the thoughts travel in throughout the body. The goal of Yoga is Nirvana, this refers to permanently stopping all our negative thoughts. For it's the negative thoughts that we choose to think that cause us pain, and most people don't realize that this way of thinking is a choice! Depression and Anxiety are a choice that comes down to choosing, am I going to think negatively about others/myself or positively. It's the thoughts that we choose to think that cause the emotions we feel in our body, so if your one of those people that don't like how you feel you have to change what your thinking about. If you want to stop pain, you have to stop the seeds from the past which caused the pain. And this is done in the mind, in deep meditation and Yoga practice.
The incredible magic of Yoga is that it actually attacks negative thoughts on a physical level, as the Yoga postures release blockages from pain from the past that has been held in the body. If we are doing our Yoga poses correctly then, the side channels within the body open up, which actually causes us to think more clearly and kindly. A totally calm and properly focused mind brings negative thoughts to a stand still.
Whether you practice Hatha, Ashtanga, Anusara, Kundalini, Kriya etc. Whether your having a relaxing Yoga practice or more of a workout, the physical effects may vary in your practice where the spiritual effects will always stir within the body and allow you to take in what your body needs to take in and release what your body needs to release. This allows your mind and body to find balance emotionally and physically within itself.
This is a process that takes time with regular practice. The last 7 years of my life have become my journey through my own Yoga practice. It was through this practice that I was able to unfold this transformation within myself. Through this transformation I knew if Yoga could help me it could also be so beneficial to others and their lives. And this is how I choose to share my gift with the world by teaching Yoga and Dance, giving everyone the possibilities to turn within to strengthen the body and the mind. We all have our own gifts to share with each other it's just up to ourselves to explore those gifts and find a place for them in our lives. When you spend time with yourself you learn to live to your own unique purpose, living to the full potential of your being and having the feeling of freedom and happiness in your everyday state. And it does feel AMAZING!
* the blue bolded print above are quotations from The Yoga Sutra Translated in English for the 1st time by Geshe Micheal Roach and Lama Christie McNally*
With love,
Rodina Patrick
Eating Disorders can KILL but there is HOPE!
(July 23, 2010 Issue)
This is dedicated to all those suffering.
Eating disorders can KILL you! Whether your coping with anorexia, bulimia, compulsive over eating or over exercising. These are all psychological conditions, they are all a choice that you choose to bring upon yourself and they start in your mind with negative thoughts about yourself.
There are different stages to every eating disorder. Preventative action is key which starts with the help from parents and is especially crucial at the childs time of maturity, because of all the emotions and hormones that come into play during adolescence.
Eating disorders can be nipped in the bud during early stages of the condition, however relapses are most likely to occur. To help prevent a relapse or the disorder itself it is crucial that parents involve their children in an activity that will boost their self-esteem. So these children can take their confidence and love for themselves into their futures and greet their future with the full potential of their being.
When an eating disorder evolves into a severe or extreme case it becomes much harder to cure. This can and has lead to death. When these disorders become this severe it consumes the victim like an addiction, and for those of you that have tried to quit smoking know how hard this is to do. Like any other addiction eating disorders effect the victim physically, mentally and spiritually. These conditions involve mild to severe depression, anxiety, fear, extreme low self-esteem, thoughts of suicide and all the physical effects that come into play from malnutrition. They also not only effect the victim they effect the victims family and friends as well.
I am writing this article to tell you there is HOPE!
I myself have suffered from a severe eating disorder that started when I was 13 and ended when I was 20. I felt like I had no one to turn to for help, I felt hopeless, trapped and unloved. I knew I despretly needed help, I wanted to be saved, I wanted to be free again and live a life filled with happiness, instead of the Hell on Earth that became my reality for 8 years.
Because I felt like I had no outside source of options to turn to for help, I was so scared because I didn't know where to go or what to do. It was shortly after I purchased a Yoga DVD and found the practice of Yoga that helped me save my life. It was through practicing Yoga that I've learned you cannot turn to an outside source for answers, you have to turn within. You, hold all the answers to all the questions you've ever had. The battle that you are fighting with an eating disorder is a battle in your mind. And only you can turn off the noise. It's not going to be easy. Life isn't easy. When you suffer a battle like this it becomes your purpose for the time you are coping with it. You must overcome, so you can help others that also suffer.
This is now my destiny and the reason I decided to teach Yoga, to help others turn within themselves to find the answers. When you find the answers you also find the strength to fight the all the battles that life faces you with. I understand that I had to go through all that pain to become the Warrior I am now. You have the choice! Freedom or Hell. Love or Hate.
If you are reading this and are suffering from an eating disorder or know someone that is suffering please feel free to call me or email me. I am interested in volunteering my time to start a support group.
Check out my website for my contact information, my complete story on how Yoga helped me save my life and lots of other stuff. www.rodinapatrick.com
With love,
Rodina Patrick
Health Benefits of Coconut Oil
(July 30th, 2010 Issue)
Studies are showing that cookin with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil out weigh the benefits of cooking with any other oil.
These health benefits include weight loss, hair care, skin care, boosts the immune system, increases the metabolism, helps with effecient and proper digestion, relieves ailments such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis and pancreatitis.
The reason Extra Virgin Coconut Oil has so many health benefits is because it consists of medium chain fatty acids. These fatty acids include lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid. These acids are full of antioxidants and are antifungal, antimicrobial and anitbacterial. They digest easily, increase energy and metabolism contributing to weight loss. The main contributor of these benefits is lauric acid. When lauric acid is absorbed by the body it is converted into monolaurin which helps fight off viruses and bacteria, boosts the immune system, and helps prevent the various heart problems such as high cholestrol and high blood pressure, and reduces the cause of injury in the arteries preventing atherosclerosis.
The antimicrobial properties found in the saturated fats help with stomach and digestion related problems such as irritable bowel syndrome and indigestion. This is because the antimicrobial properties help fight off bacteria, fungi and parasites that cause these related issues. They also aid in the absorption of vitamins, minerals and amino acids that the body needs for proper functioning.
Coconut Oil is the only oil that does not require the pancrease to break the food down into enzymes to be absorbed by the body, therefore it works much easier on the digestive system and is useful in treating pancreatitis.
For people coping with diabetes Coconut Oil helps control blood sugar and improves secretion of insulin. And for those coping with osteoporosis or osteoarthritis the minerals contained in Coconut Oil consist of calcium and magnesium promoting strong bones and teeth. Coconut Oil actually aids in the absorption of calcium in teh body and helps with chronic inflammation.
So far we've talked about Coconut oil being used internally, well it also has many benefits for the skin and hair if you use it externally. For the skin it helps with premature aging because of it's antioxidant properties, delaying wrinkles and sagging skin. It also helps with skin problems such as psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and speeds up the healing of bruises, cuts and scrapes.
If you have dry scalp, dandruff, lice or lice eggs, are balding or have damaged hair, Coconut Oil can be used as a conditioner because it soothes and provides the essential proteins for nourishing these conditions.
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil can be purchased at your local Health Food Store. Help your body regenerate healing or prevent these ailment by cooking with Coconut Oil and or applying it to your skin and hair today. It's a simple and easy change to your diet, lifestyle and way of living. You just have to make the choice to change!
With love,
Rodina Patrick
