Wellness Journey with Joe

Week 8 - A Day of Purity and Sufficiency

Plan a Day of Purity & Sufficiency

I realize it’s a bit early in the program to expect a complete change in habits, but I thought I would outline a good day that you can try after being in the program for a couple months.

Purity requires not only nutrition, but also exercise, intellectual stimulation, emotional awareness and spiritual expression.  This will also give you an idea as to the direction we will be taking on this Wellness Journey with Joe.

Below are suggestions as to foods to be consumed and activities you can involve yourself in to accomplish a complete day of pure and sufficient living.

 Wake up early – take a moment, pause, and just give thanks for another opportunity to express yourself as a human being.  Reflect for a moment on the things that give you joy.  Positive thoughts decrease the body’s stress response while optimism improves concentration.  More on the specifics of that later.

 Stretch – Take 10-20 minutes and perform some basic stretches to get the circulation moving and improve your flexibility.  My 28 minute stretch DVD is a great resource to choose from.  You can find it in the videos tab on the main menu of this site.

 Brief walk – Now just walk outside.  This is not necessarily a "workout".  Simply go down to the end of the block and return home.  Enjoy the quiet of the morning and visualize your day.  Identify the one major thing that is on your mind.  If it is a positive thing then this whole day you will want to re-visit and appreciate this, and take action as to cultivate it.  More likely it is a negative thing.  Today you will want to focus on at least one action step that addresses the relief of that stressor.  That action step should be addressed early in the day, get it out of the way, and experience the relief!

 Breakfast – Choose a simple, healthy breakfast that you certainly are familiar with by now.

 Go to work, or not, but whatever you decide to do make sure you greet everyone with a smile and positive attitude.  You do not need to be overly outgoing, just realize that smiles and positive attitudes are contagious.  Avoid the obvious bad energy.  After accomplishing that one action step mentioned above then for the rest of the day today just focus on positive accomplishment.  Put a reminder note someplace where you will see it often to remind you that today is a day of purity and sufficiency and that you will act accordingly.  Have water available throughout the day.

 Lunch – Have a salad (mixed greens) with as many vegetables you can pile on (carrots, raw beets, red peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, celery, avocado, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.  You can add chicken strips or fish for protein.  Add oil and vinegar lightly for dressing.

 Snacks – Mix some nuts and seeds or snack on raw vegetables.  Raisins are great to add with almonds, walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, unsalted sunflower seeds, etc.  (Do not add m&ms!)  Mix seltzer water with 100% fruit juice over ice for a fizzy soda substitute.

 Exercise – At least a 30 minute brisk walk, or up to a full aerobic/strength workout.

 Supper – Wild caught salmon, grass fed beef, or free range chicken with two lightly steamed vegetables and wild or brown rice.  Avoid bread and pasta.  Drink water, and avoid alcohol.  Treat yourself with a piece of dark chocolate for dessert.

 Evening reading – Take one hour and sit in a chair with a cup of herbal tea and read something just for fun.  Avoid the newspaper or radio news.

 Go to bed early, and dwell on what a successful day you have just spent.  Be thankful to be alive, and congratulate yourself on spending a whole day of mindful living.  Goodnight.