Its been almost half a year since I last posted thoughts.  Back then, on December 31^st, I was full of gratitude, and thankfulness, for all that I am surrounded with.

I still am.

Not to say it hasn’t been a challenging year, hence, why I’ve been absent.  Looking back, my 2021 year began with a new series of Yoga classes on-line, hoping to soon be able to get back to in person.  It was only a couple of hours a week, but hey, for a super small business like me, those dollars can translate into groceries for a week, or even paying a utility bill.  The path to wellness begins with, and requires nothing but the desire to try, and that resonates with the people who come to me with their body of the day.

So very grateful for my yoga community.

Shortly into the New Year, my best friend, Coco (my chocolate lab) became incredibly ill.  We spent several weeks on the edge of life or death due to a blockage in her intestines, with indescribable obstacles from not being able for her to be seen due to covid restrictions, to not being able to afford to be seen. I experienced the power of our connection, and the power of prayer, in a big way. In the eleventh hour she underwent a critical, life-saving surgery removing 15 inches of her intestines, resulting in a long road back and massive medical bills.  I was simply amazed at her will to live, and who stepped up to help us with costs, and support.

So very, very grateful for the people and organizations that were there for us during the most difficult of days in January.

In the midst of all that trauma, I ending up in emergency with what appeared to be a heart attack.

Thankfully it wasn’t a heart attack.  It’s amazing how much stress and trauma a body can take under extreme circumstances.  So grateful for my faith.  My strong body, mind and spirit, and ability to work with my breath and yoga practice to manage trauma overload.  As I’ve so often said in my yoga classes, “The breath is life, just breathe”….

Yes, January was full of challenges that once again, confirmed there is so much to be thankful for.

By February a true miracle occurred.  I was offered a temporary, full time work contract working from home.  There was a clear end date to the assignment, I just needed to make it to that date. A big goal. So grateful to have that opportunity to earn a livable wage and do it from home, as Coco was far from out of the woods needing to be closely monitored, and that income was spent just as quickly as it arrived.

Two setbacks later, we are now, hopefully, finally over the hump of complications and we can call her “fully recovered”.

From February, until May 28^th, I basically worked night and day.  My days started at 6 a.m. teaching yoga every morning on Zoom, followed by a 40+ hour work week, and teaching yoga 3 – 4 nights a week and every other Sunday morning in person.  The end of May my temporary work contract ended and I was back to exclusively teaching yoga.

Again, so grateful, for my strong body, mind and spirit to be able to carry me through such a grueling day to day for those 4 months.  So grateful for the will, the drive, the perseverance, the determination, and the skills to be able to create a means to carry such a heavy load without actually overloading.

Just when I thought I was headed for a break from continual work, another short-term contract was presented to me for the month of June.  Once again, I was committed to work from 6 am to 8:45 pm most week-days, but now overtime Saturday and Sundays from 5 am to 4:30 pm to get that contract out on time.  We just wrapped things up Friday afternoon. Now I can finally take a much needed break.

The first half of this year I’ve been very absent. So very grateful for the friends that worried, wondered, understood, and reached out to me during that time, when it was so difficult for me to do the reaching.  Love you so much!

Oh, did I happen to mention that on May 6^th, at approximately 6:00 pm I was launched across my kitchen—airborne–taking a hard fall that knocked me out for over 10 minutes? I have been slowly healing from being pretty much incapacitated for the month of May. Yeah, well, I’m doing much better now. More on that in another post.  But for now, all I can say is….

So grateful for the will, the drive, the perseverance, the determination, and the skills to be able to heal from what could have truly been an extreme disaster.

And there was the day my truck was broke into, days later followed by the state patrol and canine canvassing my yard and neighborhood searching door to door for home invader/burglars, and a week later followed by yet another several “thug themed” incidences in my neighborhood….yeah.  I am indeed grateful that I am a strong person.  Grateful that I can detach. Strong in my convictions and decisions on how I will respond to any threats to me and mine.  I am grateful to be at peace with what I am at peace with–definitely ready to “rise to the occasion” should it present itself.

And breathe.

We are almost half ways through this year.

The best part of it has always been finding time for the people I so cherish, whether it be a phone conversation or enjoying time spent together laughing and doing things that make us happy—and now being able to get out and about again. I find myself feeling so very whole, centered, and grateful for my life, and the people who choose to be a part of it. I feel ageless. Boundless, ready for another short term work project to begin in just a little while, and the excitement of additional Yoga programs with new partners to follow shortly. Thankful for my physical health improving daily, time spent with good friends, and just as importantly, the serenity of alone time.

So much gratitude spilling out from my being.

Life is good.

No matter what happens in your world, outside of you, around you, despite you, you always have a choice.  You can choose to ask yourself “why is this happening to me?!”   Or you can choose to hold space to look within, and ask yourself “what is this trying to teach me?”

 

May you find some peace and stillness between the triggers and the chaos.

May you set down some of your burden and lighten your load.

May you breathe softly, with care and loving kindness,

And may you find gratitude for all of the good that we have.

 

Namaste.

 

“Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.”

—George Eliot—

Welcome to week 34 of 52 weeks of quotes meant to give you inspiration and something to think about……..please do share your thoughts in the comments on my website in this post!  The opportunities in 2019 can be endless!

 

Thank you for reading my post.  What do you dream about seeing, doing, being?  Got a bucket list? A life plan?  Want to start one?  I’d love to help you get there, check out my services.  The first step to believing ‘opportunities are endless’ is sometimes not as hard if you grab some inspiration under my blog category, “Bucket of Limitless Possibilities”.  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. All comments are greatly appreciated.  You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my website homepage.  As always, please feel free to share my information with others who may find interest and value in PR Brady AdVentures!  Thanks again!

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak”

—Hans Hofman—

 

Welcome to week 33 of 52 weeks of quotes meant to give you inspiration and something to think about……..please do share your thoughts in the comments on my website in this post!  The opportunities in 2019 can be endless!

 

Thank you for reading my post.  What do you dream about seeing, doing, being?  Got a bucket list? A life plan?  Want to start one?  I’d love to help you get there, check out my services.  The first step to believing ‘opportunities are endless’ is sometimes not as hard if you grab some inspiration under my blog category, “Bucket of Limitless Possibilities”.  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. All comments are greatly appreciated.  You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my website homepage.  As always, please feel free to share my information with others who may find interest and value in PR Brady AdVentures!  Thanks again!

 

 

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you’ that would suffice.”

—Meiser Eckhart—

 

Welcome to week 31 of 52 weeks of quotes meant to give you inspiration and something to think about……..please do share your thoughts in the comments on my website in this post!  The opportunities in 2019 can be endless!

 

Thank you for reading my post.  What do you dream about seeing, doing, being?  Got a bucket list? A life plan?  Want to start one?  I’d love to help you get there, check out my services.  The first step to believing ‘opportunities are endless’ is sometimes not as hard if you grab some inspiration under my blog category, “Bucket of Limitless Possibilities”.  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. All comments are greatly appreciated.  You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my website homepage.  As always, please feel free to share my information with others who may find interest and value in PR Brady AdVentures!  Thanks again!

 

“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”

— Oscar Wilde—

Welcome to week 27 of 52 weeks of quotes meant to give you inspiration and something to think about……..please do share your thoughts in the comments on my website in this post!  The opportunities in 2019 can be endless!

 

Thank you for reading my post.  What do you dream about seeing, doing, being?  Got a bucket list? A life plan?  Want to start one?  I’d love to help you get there, check out my services.  The first step to believing ‘opportunities are endless’ is sometimes not as hard if you grab some inspiration under my blog category, “Bucket of Limitless Possibilities”.  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. All comments are greatly appreciated.  You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my website homepage.  As always, please feel free to share my information with others who may find interest and value in PR Brady AdVentures!  Thanks again!

 

 

“You either get bitter or you get better. It’s that simple. You either take what’s been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate. It belongs to you.”  

—Josh Shipp—

Welcome to week 23 of 52 weeks of quotes meant to give you inspiration and something to think about……..please do share your thoughts in the comments on my website in this post!  The opportunities in 2019 can be endless!

 

Thank you for reading my post.  What do you dream about seeing, doing, being?  Got a bucket list? A life plan?  Want to start one?  I’d love to help you get there, check out my services.  The first step to believing ‘opportunities are endless’ is sometimes not as hard if you grab some inspiration under my blog category, “Bucket of Limitless Possibilities”.  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. All comments are greatly appreciated.  You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my website homepage.  As always, please feel free to share my information with others who may find interest and value in PR Brady AdVentures!  Thanks again!

The end of the year has passed. The time of closure. The time of reflection.  The time of renewed belief in miracles.  A time to realize how lucky we humans are, how complex our very existence is, and how much we have to be grateful for, every single day.  Often, the end of a year is a time to contemplate our path, our needs, desires, and whether or not there is cause for any changes.

And now here we are, unfolding into a new year, a new decade. A fresh start.

Have you come to discover anything you no longer need?

I know I have, as I continue to evolve—coming deeper into a lifestyle based on peace, I find myself already making slow and steady changes in action and thought.

Change can be a daunting idea.

Especially if we seek, or find comfort in habits that are perhaps bad for us. Turning away from them can feel impossible.

But what if we mustered up the courage to let the past, the bad, the unsolvable, the hurtful, the scary, and all the icky stuff go?

Just walk away?

What would that look like?

Feel like?

Letting go of that which we do not need frees us to rise above ego, indulgence and entitlement. It sheds layers—even years–of conditioning away, leaving a sense of all there is to be grateful for here and now.

Finding gratitude simplifies our lives, allowing space for appreciation, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, tolerance and grace. How would our world look if we all stood together in these things?

What a beautiful concept to dream.

What a beautiful change.

May the New Year bring a softening of opinions, a lessening of polarized views and expectations and demands. May you receive an abundance of good health, peace, joy, love and contentment.  May you find space to experience each moment lived to its fullest. May your path be one of wonder and appreciation. May you share your true soul self and all the goodness in you with everyone you meet.  Peace and Good Will towards all.  Let’s be the catalysts of change launching into a fabulous 2020.

Namaste!

Thank you for reading my post. If you find yourself spending your time not doing what you love, I invite you to contact me –perhaps we can change that.  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’. There’s a place to do that right on my home page.  As always, please feel free to share with others who may find meaning and value in exploring limitless possibilities with PR Brady AdVentures. Thanks again!

 

How did it get to be June already? While I’m a little late in checking in, at least it’s with good news.   Once again there are victory flags a-flyin’.  I’m pleased to report a final update how I did with shedding those 25 pounds by Memorial Day.

Yes, I am happy to say I’ve completed the weight loss challenge and am feeling pretty darn awesome!

Seems like dieting is all about food rules, restrictions, and strenuous exercise, doesn’t it?

“Pffffffffft” !!! Not for this girl!

It’s been 5 months since I started my wellness journey. In regards to eating, I never really felt like I’d “given up” anything to eat, although I did choose to omit certain things for 30 days during the Cleanse and Restore Challenge in January just for the principal of following more of a Keto/Paleo diet.  It really wasn’t a big deal to do knowing it was temporary.  If you have been keeping up with my story, the Cleanse and Restore Challenge truly set the stage for me to prepare to make some modifications to my lifestyle habits.  It was an interesting process that reignited a sense of health, strength and energy I thought I’d lost forever.   Check out the series of blog posts I’ve written describing my journey.

Completing the Cleanse so successfully inspired me to keep going, resulting in me dropping 2 ½ sizes in 5 months, and not just 25 pounds, but a whopping 28 pounds – pounds that just weren’t serving me well. Dang I pulled out my summer pants from last year, dressed real quick and shot out the door to get groceries, and spent the whole time trying to keep my pants on! Say—what?  It’s true; they literally were dropping off of me. I don’t understand how these people who purposefully wear their pants hanging down off their butts can stand that feeling!  It was quite the awkward experience!

Sorry. I digress.  Okay, so here’s the most interesting part of losing the weight:

I didn’t exactly “follow the rules” of health and wellness to get here. The whole philosophy of being kind to your body?  Ha. That went right out the window.  I did not live with moderation or get 8 hours of sleep a night—I averaged a frightening 3 ½ to 4.  Why would I not be getting enough sleep? Well because I did not have a balanced work/personal life—I worked full time, (still) go to school full time, and manage 2 small businesses.  Yup, I didn’t follow my own advice of establishing boundaries and work/life balance.  My mantra of “Less” was cast to the side these last 5 months.  And what should have happened is, I should have failed miserably at achieving my goal because the stress of my day to day should have totally thrown my system out of whack.

But it didn’t, and here’s why.

I practiced yoga and meditation daily. Hard to believe?  That’s all? How could I even have time for that, and why would I stop everything to make time for something like that?  Well, I have always been a high achiever in life, much like Nike’s “JUST DO IT”, but over the years as I’ve evolved and found deeper reasoning as to how I’m able to do as much as I do. I’ve become more in tune with the base, or the root of self-care.  I believe achieving virtually anything is tied into a Three Part Intention based on Understanding.

Understanding of your mind (rational thinking)

Understanding of your heart (emotional)

Understanding of your body (honoring what your body needs)

That said, I made a conscious decision to put myself through a period of time of over extending, with a very specific structure and purpose behind it, knowing that overextending was a temporary situation with an end date. I wanted to change.  I wanted to improve my health (mind).  I wanted to get back into my clothes (emotional).  I wanted to be able to enjoy the things I used to do again (body).  It wasn’t a situation I was “sucked into” with no control over.  I had complete control.  Nose to the grindstone, I was focused and driven.  I chose to commit to a set of circumstances in order to obtain the results I wanted. Having that level of clarity is psychologically key in managing stress—I mean consciously managing stress.  It seemed like knowing I’m in charge made it all so do-able.  There was no stress.  And if there’s no stress, your mind and body doesn’t shut down and refuse to cooperate.

So I began each day the same way, with a short “wake up” work out that starts in bed, and ends on the floor next to the bed, becoming yoga, and then ending with meditation. This (still) happens from 4:45 to 6:00 each day.  What I did run out of time for was other forms of exercise. On average I headed to the gym after my meditation and got on an elliptical about two or three times a week for maybe 30 minutes tops.  That became very difficult if I was to get to work by 8:00 am with my geriatric dogs doing unexpected things in the morning. That’s right; my entire weight loss experience was completely VOID of heavy duty sweaty workout sessions.  The rest is history.

My body has definitely changed. My life has most certainly changed. I have maintained an increased energy and stamina all year.  Even with just a few hours, I sleep like a log and wake up refreshed most of the time. My physical condition remains fantastic and pain free.  This has become my new normal, and I love it.

Of course, there are dozens of additional things I did to achieve this weight transformation goal, but I’m saving those gems for a workshop I’m doing. For now what I can share is; I feel like I did not go on a diet.  I changed my lifestyle.  Having done THAT requires very little maintenance.  Yoga and meditation is like breathing for me.  I eat pretty much whatever I feel like eating—I just happen to feel like eating a little differently.  I continue to drink lots and lots of water with essential lemon oil–about 64 ounces of water a day– to flush out the toxins our bodies are subjected to every day.   Of course I continue to use the Life Long Vitality Supplements as a staple part of my daily routine.  The PB Assist (probiotics) and the TerraZyme (digestive enzyme complex) are products I continue to use for maintenance as well.  I incorporate essential oils to protect my immune system, assist with curbing food cravings, and to increase my metabolism.  My life is joyful.  I am filled with gratitude. I love where I am, and where I’m going.

But my work contract just completed (heavy sigh)! Now that I’ve got an additional — OH MY! — 50 hours a week to work with, what EVER will I do with that time?  First off, I’m going to break out my box of “I’ll never get into these pants again” pants and stow away my ‘pants on the ground’ pants. I’ll ramp up my exercise program—more cardio and more core muscle group specific strength training, along with my daily Yoga, and regular meditation.  Time to melt away the jiggly bits and firm up.   I have a new goal.  I want to be able to pull back and shoot my bow at 57 pounds again, and hunt this fall.  After all, girls’ gotta eat.

Bow opener is usually around the 15^th of September.  Will. She. Do. It?

 

 Thank you for reading my post. I’d love to hear your thoughts!  All comments are greatly appreciated.  Life is an adventure—good or bad, and it begins today!  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my home page.  If you are interested in learning more about doTerra and the Cleanse and Restore Challenge, please reach out for me! I would love nothing more than to help you achieve your healthiest self too!  I also offer essential oil wellness workshops for formal and informal groups.  Message me if you’d like to set one up.  As always, please feel free to share with others who may find meaning and value in exploring limitless possibilities with PR Brady AdVentures. Thanks again!

Admittedly, I’ve been pretty cocky since I got my health back. My immune system is stellar, I’m pain free and back to normal, and well, I’m pretty much invincible.  That’s what I tell people. It’s been an amazing adventure!  In fact I actually brag about how I simply don’t get sick.  After all, who has time for that?  Especially me, since lately I’ve been averaging 3 – 5 hours of sleep a night for weeks, attempting to juggle a number of priorities at once that I just “had” to get accomplished.

And then my friend came to visit from Pennsylvania. You could say she was the straw that broke the camels’ back.  She arrived on my doorstep Saturday March 17^th. We hadn’t seen each other in years!  Lots of catching up to do.  Of course as we shared what we’d been up to since we last saw each other, I had to tell her my story of healing and getting a new lease on life.

“…and, I have been surrounded by sick people here and there for months and I just don’t get sick!” I proudly exclaimed.  I’m strong!  My immune system is rock solid!  I’m invincible!”

So that night we went to a jazz club for dinnner, then out to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. Nothing too extreme, unless you consider a ferris wheel ride in 40 degree weather extreme?  Anyway, it was a great evening.  We were back to my place at a respectable hour.  Can’t for the life of me figure out what went so horribly wrong after that?

8 AM Sunday March 18^th

Woke up feeling a little “off” and a little tired. No wonder, since I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for weeks now.  I ignore the feelings and push ahead with my day, get ready to go out for breakfast with my friend.

11 AM Sunday March 18^th

Starting to get a scratchy throat and it’s uncomfortable to swallow. Within an hour I begin experiencing occasional coughs, coming from deep in my chest.  I’m really tired.  But we’ve got a bit of shopping to do, so I press on, even though my symptoms are growing through the afternoon.

4 PM Sunday March 18^th

I’m whipped. I’m exhausted.  I suck on a throat drop and take a nap, as does my friend.

6 PM Sunday March 18^th

We’re up and heading to the neighbors for dinner. Sensing that I may be headed for trouble, I make a flu-bomb cap, pop another throat drop and try to suppress my cough as best I can. I visualize being healthy.  “I am not getting sick. I am not getting sick.”

7:30 Sunday March 18^th

Back home and incredibly tired. This cough is deep and getting somewhat uncontrollable.  I’m starting to feel warm, like a fever is coming on.  I make a cup of flu bomb tea with a shot of Jameson, a table spoon of honey with a drop of clove, and fall asleep on the couch while my friend reads.

10:30 PM Sunday March 18^th

Waking up I feel miserable. Yup, I’m sick. Between the eyes awful.  Hot, feverish, sore throat and coughing.  Stuffed up.  Achy all over.  Death warmed over.  It got me. I make a batch of my special chicken soup and have a bowl.  I make a cup of flu bomb tea with a shot of Jameson and do a tablespoon of honey with a drop of clove.  I smear Breathe across my chest and neck and crash on the couch. My friend goes to bed.

3 AM Monday March 19^th

Wake up coughing again. Oh my throat hurts!  I’m hot and feverish and ache all over.  I drink 16 oz of lemon water and have a bowl of chicken soup. I smear some Breathe on my chest and neck, make a flu bomb cap, take that with another tablespoon of honey and clove, and call in sick.  I go up to bed.

8 AM Monday March 19^th

Wake up exhausted, bursting with congestion, fever and feeling dizzy. But my sore throat is virtually gone!  I make a cup of flu bomb tea and go back to sleep.

1 PM Monday March 19^th

Not sure what time my poor friend came downstairs –she doesn’t know what to do for me. I’m so tired and I hurt from head to toe! I have to blow my nose like mad—I think I used half a box of tissues in 30 minutes!  I’m so stuffed up I can barely hear. Time for another bowl of chicken soup.  I drink two 16 oz bottles of water and try to do something productive; put some dishes away. Oh my goodness that was too much—I went back to bed.  My friend escapes to visit other friends.  I’ve been left alone to die a slow agonizing death by crud.

4:30 PM Monday March 19^th

I wake up with a little cough, but it’s not as rough or painful. I don’t feel nearly as bad as I had.  Ha! I’m nipping this crud in the bud!  I drink 16 oz of water, and have some more chicken soup. I smear some more Breathe on my chest and neck and decide to try to go to school, armed with throat drops and Kleenex.

6:15 PM Monday March 19^th

Well I get to school and cough my brains out every time I move, even after applying more Breathe to my chest and neck. After one awful hour of coughing and blowing my nose I give up and go home.  Point goes to crud.

7:30 PM Monday March 19^th

Home and feeling completely drained. Ugh, just shoot me now.  After drinking another 16 oz of lemon water I make another flu bomb cap, take more honey and clove, smear Breathe on my chest and neck, and it’s crawling back to bed.

2 AM Tuesday March 20^th

I wake up burning up AND freezing! I’m dizzy and hot and cold at the same time!  I am parched!  I blow my nose and think I’m going to blast my brains out. I drink two 16 oz bottles of water with lemon.  Clearly I’m in no condition to go back to work.  I call in sick and go back to bed.

6:30 AM Tuesday March 20^th

I wake up sluggish, achy, and pretty much wet from sweating, and I’m totally stuffed up. I blow my nose for an eternity, drink 16 oz of lemon water, have some chicken soup, do 1 tablespoon of honey with a drop of clove, and go back to bed.

11 AM Tuesday March 20^th

I wake up noticing that I have no pain in my throat. Feel pretty good as I sit up, so I get up and try to pick up around the house for about 20 minutes.  All of the sudden there’s a heavy crushing pain between my ears and in the back of my head, and running from my sinuses, down my glands to my neck—-then—-BOOM!  My sinuses clear, my ears pop, and instantly the TV becomes too loud!  Wow!  I turn down the TV and feel like I’ve somehow won a round of this crud.  Still have to blow my nose like mad, but it seems to be a more “productive” event.  After making my egg bake for the week, I have a slice and crawl back to bed, exhausted.

4 PM Tuesday March 20^th

OH my goodness I wake up breathing normal and my skin is not on fire. Still a little stuffed up, but my hearing is still much improved.  I’m feeling so much better!  Still tired, still have an occasional little cough, and some slight sniffles, but wow, so much better!  My sinuses are clearing.  I make some flu bomb tea, and go back to bed.

7:00 PM Tuesday March 20^th

What? I feel great! I wake up feeling human again!  Trying not to get my hopes up, but it would appear that I’ve knocked this crud out of me!

8 PM Tuesday March 20^th

So now here I am, reporting in on my situation. I am still feeling rather drained, but I don’t have a fever, I’m not coughing, my sinuses have remained clear, and I’m just a tad congested—hardly at all.  I’ll be going to bed pretty soon just to make sure I get enough rest.  But truthfully I think I’ve kicked this crud to the curb in short order.  Enduring 60 long hours is quite long enough!

Like I’ve said all along. I don’t have time to be sick. Especially for weeks on end like so many people get during cold and flu season. Life is too short!  I may not be completely invincible, but I am one heck of a force to be reckoned with.  I am grateful to have the knowledge and tools that will impact how I may respond to getting sick.

I’ve shared my complete timeline to demonstrate exactly what I did to shorten my down time.

Simply:

• Don’t go to work.
• Sleep. And Sleep. And Sleep.
• CHICKEN SOUP! Homemade chicken soup. Lots of it.
• Drink water. And water. And water. And tea, and water.
• Medicate. When I say medicate I absolutely mean using all natural means.  No over-the-counter – synthetic – anything.  Herbs, spices, and pure therapeutic grade essential oils are all I use.  OH, and a little whiskey….it’s very medicinal you know…

Can’t wait to get back to work in the morning and give my friend the “all clear” to come back over and complete our visit! Off to make my flu bomb night cap!  Cheers!

Thank you for reading my post. I’d love to hear your thoughts!  All comments are greatly appreciated.  Life is an adventure—good or bad, and it begins today!  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my home page.  If you are interested in learning more about the amazing essential oils I used, please reach out for me! I would love nothing more than to help you achieve your healthiest self too!  I also offer essential oil wellness workshops for formal and informal groups.  As always, please feel free to share with others who may find meaning and value in exploring limitless possibilities with PR Brady AdVentures. Thanks again!

With victory flags a-flyin’, I’m pleased to be checking in with a final update on the 30 Day Cleanse and Restore Challenge I committed to on January 3rd. Yes, I am happy to say I’ve completed the challenge and am feeling awesome.  Thank you to everyone who reached out to me throughout the month with your curiosity and support, I really appreciated your questions and interest!

I thought it would be hard to follow this challenge, but it took virtually no time to adjust. My biggest shift was with portion size, since I eat pretty clean as it is.  I never really felt like I’d “given up” anything to eat, although I did choose to omit certain things for 30 days just for the principal of following more of a Keto/Paleo diet.  It really wasn’t a big deal to do knowing it was temporary.

My body has definitely changed over 30 days. I no longer feel puffy.   My skin feels softer and tighter.  I dropped a whopping  12 pounds in 30 days without trying and my clothes are feeling loose!  I’ve stopped shedding my hair.  I have increased energy and stamina.  My trips to the bathroom are normal.  I sleep like a log and wake up refreshed. My physical condition remains fantastic and pain free.  I’d call that a successful cleanse!

I am done with the complicated array of supplements that had to happen on certain days at certain times and my routine is back to normal. Or is it?  It’s February 12^th and life is anything but normal.  I couldn’t be busier—and all in a good way!  And I’m down another 3 pounds.  Moving forward, I’m using elements of the cleanse, exercise, mindfulness and essential oils to get me the rest of the way to my goal by Memorial weekend.

One thing I must say is this: after doing this challenge I realize that I have not been drinking enough water for years. Consciously making sure to drink 64 ounces of water a day was difficult at first, but doing it sure opened my eyes.  I believe the increased water is one of the key factors of my feeling better over all.  When you consider of all the ways our bodies are impacted by what we do, and don’t do.  I’m pretty sure I’ve been living a dehydrated life for years.  Water flushes out the toxins our bodies are subjected to all day every day.  All I know is I will now continue to drink lots and lots of water with essential lemon oil daily.

Of course I’ll also continue to use the Life Long Vitality Supplements as a staple part of my daily routine. The PB Assist (probiotics) and the TerraZyme (digestive enzyme complex) are products that I will continue to use at low levels for maintenance as well.

I’m ramping up my exercise program—more cardio, and more core muscle group specific strength training, along with my daily Yoga, and regular meditation.   I’m continuing to incorporate essential oils to protect my immune system, assist with curbing food cravings, and to increase my metabolism.  Life will be very busy between now and my goal of losing 25 pounds by Memorial Weekend, so I want to make sure I’m strong, healthy and on track to achieve my goal while I’m pushing myself so hard.

In closing, I’d say this 30 Day Challenge has not just been a cleanse and restore of my body. It’s also been an adventure of the mind.  An adventure to  test the mind; test the will; test the unknown, hold myself accountable to me and push myself to see what I am willing to do to effect positive change in my life.  A challenge of the mind to set the mark, stay the course, and reach for the ring at the end. Oh, yeah, RINGS!  That’s another thing…..I can finally wear my rings again after almost 5 years….

 

Thank you for reading my post. I’d love to hear your thoughts!  All comments are greatly appreciated.  Life is an adventure—good or bad, and it begins today!  If you like what you see, please let me know by “liking” my website. You can even join my tribe to automatically receive new postings ‘hot off the press’.  There’s a place to do that right on my home page.  If you are interested in learning more about doTerra and the Cleanse and Restore Challenge, please reach out for me! I would love nothing more than to help you achieve your healthiest self too!  I also offer essential oil wellness workshops for formal and informal groups.  As always, please feel free to share with others who may find meaning and value in exploring limitless possibilities with PR Brady AdVentures. Thanks again!