I’d like to give you the first instalment in “The 6 Vital Steps to Emotional Health” Hope you enjoy.

How To Be Free Of Emotional Baggage and Finally Live a Life of Health, Vitality and Abundance

Did you know that research shows that 90% of all illnesses are stress related?

Did you know that stress is caused by negative emotions such as fear, worry, frustration, powerlessness, resentment, bitterness, sadness and many other feelings?

If you control your emotional health, you control your overall health and well being!

Here are Six vital steps that if you take action with, will help you get started on a more energetic, healthy, happy, content and fulfilled life.

Let’s get healthy:

Step One – Establishing Self Care as an Integral Part of Emotional, Mental and Physical Health

“What you are is God’s gift to you. What

you do with yourself is your gift to God.”

Danish Proverb

Human beings are a complete system made up of the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and social. Each part of our system impacts on the other. To have good emotional health we must have good physical health. To have good physical health, we must have good emotional health. So let’s start at the being with how to care for our body and reap the rewards of strong emotional health.

On any given day, we have a certain amount of energy to spend to accomplish the necessary tasks for the day. If life is going well and we are fit, healthy and happy, then we will have a larger amount of energy to spend than if we are going through some form of life crisis. When faced with life’s problems, our precious resource of energy can be very quickly used up.

Digestion uses more energy than any other activity we engage in. However, negative painful emotions are the second greatest user of our finite stores of energy. In other words, personal disaster will cause us to feel many painful emotions such as, fear, hurt, frustration, confusion and powerlessness and these emotions will use up a very large proportion of our daily energy allowance.

Without an adequate source of energy, we will find it very difficult to successfully navigate the challenges we may face as we move forward to a healthier life. Not only will our body feel exhausted but our brain function will also be diminished and we may find it difficult to make decisions and remember things.

Just like a car requires not only petrol to run, but the right sort of petrol – our bodies also require the correct fuel and proper care to perform at a time when we are most challenged.

Below, is a simple but effective prescription for self care that if followed, will help you perform at your optimum:

· Be careful about the types of food you eat. When under pressure, we often turn to the fast foods that are easy to reach for and give us a quick burst of sugar. In very simple terms:

o The best food to eat is unprocessed. Try to stay away from processed foods such as, fast food, cakes, chocolates, sugar drink.

o Replace these with vegetables, fruits, nuts and protein such as meat and fish. Complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains help increase our levels of serotonin. Serotonin is a brain chemical or neurotransmitter that helps us feel calm. Of course, this is very important in times of crisis.

o Protein taken three times a day, at about the size of the palm of your hand, will help you to not feel as tired.

o Try to eat something no more than one to two hours after waking as this will help keep your blood sugar levels up for the day

o Eat frequently, that is every three to four hours, the types of foods I have mentioned, as this also will help keep your blood sugar levels up, thereby helping you to not feel tired and confused.

· What you drink is also important. Remember to drink a minimum of two litres of water per day. Reduce or cut out alcohol as it acts as both a stimulate and depressant. During times of stress our adrenals are working overtime and it is a good idea to avoid anything that will further stimulate them. Caffeine and sugar also stimulate the adrenals so it is important to reduce or cut out drinks such as cola, coffee and soft drinks.

· Try to get some form of cardiovascular exercise 4 – 5 times a week for between 30 – 45 minutes each session. This form of exercise includes walking, swimming, cycling, running and dancing. Cardiovascular exercise helps us produce many good chemicals such as, serotonin, already mentioned and endorphins which are a natural opiate or feel good chemical. This form of exercise also helps us get rid of the stress chemicals such as, cortisol and adrenaline that are produced in times of adversity and stress.

· Try to get adequate rest, sleep and relaxation. During periods of stress, the body produces high levels of toxins. It is when we relax and sleep that the body has an opportunity to repair and restore itself. Denying yourself rest will affect your ability to continue to reach your full potential.

· Tap into every form of support possible.

Although this information may be a bit technical I have found that if people understand why they need to keep up these basic self care practices they are more motivated. Keeping your body in good shape, will be one of the most powerful things you do to help keep your mind and emotions in peek condition to help you bring about the changes needed to live your best life.

I’ll send part two very soon but to learn more why not come to one of my seminars:

Talk soon

Julie

PS the website again is www.secretstoemotionalhealth.com and I’ll be sending out lots of free products to change your life

“Rick Warren is the author of a publishing phenomena – “The Purpose Driven Life” His work has been instumental in my life as well as my husband’s.

He has helped millions of people worldwide and as far as I know that includes Rupert Murdoch and some of his executive team.

If ever there was an example of how to live life in tough times, I think that the interview below is it.

Enjoy the read – you may need a few tissues:

This is a interview with Rick Warren. He wrote the Purpose Driven Life.

Read it through to the end…………
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now
having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. This is an
 absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, ‘Purpose Driven
Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California

 In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were
not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

 One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body–
 but not the end of me.

 I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions
of
 years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God
wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

 We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life
isn’t going to make sense.
 Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just
 coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.

 The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character 
than
your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is
in making your life happy.
 We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of 
life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the
toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

 I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe 
that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of
like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something 
good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something 
bad that needs to be worked on.

 And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
 good you can thank God for..

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, 
which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to 
get
rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of
 thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for
 her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened 
her
character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a
 testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For
 instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million
copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
 It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with
 before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego
or for you to live a life of ease..
 So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety 
and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide
what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
 lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
 Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from 
the church.

 Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace 
Plan
to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, 
and
educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since 
I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be 
able
 to serve God for free.
 We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? 
Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or
 am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, 
if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and
love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do 
list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.
 That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

 Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

 Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

 Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
 If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen. But it will just be nice 
to pass it on to a friend….just like I have done.
 God’s Blessings”

I hope you were inspired by this as much as I was.

In the near future, I will be letting you know about my new membership site which is along these lines of finding your purpose and living your best life now.

Until next time

Julie