Step 3 - Water-logged

A simple, basic element of living beings is, of course, water.
Since most of a living body is water, it's probably a very good idea to consume a pretty good deal of it. And in reality, it can play a rather productive role in alleviating headaches, fatigue, muscle pain, digestive problems, and even portion control - feeling full and satisfied.

1. First thing when you wake up in the morning: drink a tall glass of water
2. Before eating a single bite of each meal: drink 1-2 tall glasses of water (depending on how active you are)
3. 2 hours before bed: drink the last tall glass of water

The benefits:

• fills you up - feel fuller faster, but without making you lethargic
• aids in digestion
• hydration helps keep blood flowing nutrients and oxygen to the brain - staves off fatigue and headaches
• flushes toxins - not just substances introduced to the body, but the actual waste products the body produces that need help (via water) to be properly flushed out
• reduces muscle pain when the body is able to flush its toxins and increase blood flow with nutrients and oxygen, the body can repair itself and get rid of lactic acid to make stretching effective

The only catch here is that it's preferable to drink hot or room-temperature water - though any water is better than none; ice water slows the metabolism and can shock the system. Unless it's hot outside, try to avoid drinking chilled water.

AND:

For severe menstrual cramping or nausea, I have discovered (and my friends have corroborated) that drinking plain hot water (when peppermint tea is not available) is an amazing way to alleviate nausea and cramping. Kinda strange that something so simple can do something so effectively. Give it a shot, it's free!!!

Step 2 - Beer Bottle Reflexology

Many people, like me, suffer from restless leg (muscle over-use), foot, knee, and lower back stress from sports, repetitive use and injuries. About a year after my lower back injury, I began working in a warehouse on concrete floors... within 6 months both my knees swelled and were so stiff and painful I couldn't kneel. I felt an exceeding amount of pain in my feet (between the concrete and competitive dancing); and I remembered a trick my sister (the college track star) taught me, using a frozen water bottle. Instead I used glass bottles, beer bottles being the perfect size to get a good stretch on the arch.

Sitting or standing, with as much weight as you can put on it, start out with long strokes rolling from toe to heel.

It doesn't feel like much to begin with, but after 90 seconds you'll start to feel the odd spots in your foot that are tense. Then start doing shorter, quicker strokes on those areas.

Then start rolling along the outer side of the foot in long, slow strokes.
Then on the inner side of the arch, heel to toe - feeling for those tight spots, and working them out with short strokes.





 give yourself about 5-15 minutes (I often do it while sitting at the computer - like right now), or however long you feel like. As soon as you stand on your foot again, you'll notice an immediate difference.

For me, within 3 days of doing this twice a day for a couple of minutes, and getting the pharmacy arch supports, the swelling and pain in my knees went down, and the pain I usually endured from dancing went away. No pain-killers, who'da thought!?

Since I mentioned restless muscles, I wanted to say that I only ever suffer from it when I stop stretching on a regular basis. The quick fix is bathing in icy-hot, but it is not nearly as affective as spending a few minutes in a seated forward fold... but! more on that later.

Step 1 - A Series of Stretching

Usually everything begins and ends with food or exercise and the two's interrelationship...
While that is very true, most people already know what they need to eat more and less of, and that they should do some form of exercise. What most people don't realize is the importance of this one, life-changing activity that is not dependent on either food or exercise... and that is: STRETCHING!

food can seriously alter your mental and physical states
exercise can also alter your mental and physical states

STRETCHING is an often over-looked and under-appreciated way to alter mental and physical states. It is also how to avoid and bounce back from injury; how to singly increase circulation and metabolism, decrease pain and stress, improve mood and motor function... and it's the easiest damn thing to do regardless of what level you're at.

The best thing about stretching is that no matter what level you're at the benefits are the same - the only trick is knowing how to modify and listen to your body to get the best stretch possible.

Where to start:

Lay on your back on a firm surface - heels together, relax your feet so they fall away from each other; hands at your sides, palms up; relax your face, your jaw, breathe in for 3 counts, breathe out for 3 counts... with each breath let each muscle from your head further and further down hang limp.

Give yourself a few minutes, clear your mind... if you can't, then focus on one thing, like a flower, or your love's face, and nothing else.

Next, take a deep breath in, and while you exhale, bring your knees into your chest and hug them.

The alternate is to bend your knees and place your feet on the floor hip distance apart as closely tucked to your body as possible.

And as before, breathe in deep 3 counts, and out 3 counts, letting your lower back melt into the floor. Give yourself a few minutes and clear your mind again. Then slowly and gently lean your knees side to side or roll subtly side to side - hold to one side, then the other, breathing in and out each time you shift.

While laying, an easy way to stretch the upper body is to simply lay your arms straight out from the shoulder, bend at the elbows perpendicularly, palm up. Relax the shoulders, elbows, and neck.

So, I discovered that if I rolled out of bed when my alarm went off, onto the floor, and snoozed while doing these poses, it made it so much easier to get up 10 minutes later. And even though I was working 7 days a week, I felt motivated and less stressed when I did it. Not only that, but at age 22 I was suffering from chest pains - quick, sharp, inexplicable pains I never got diagnosed - but after starting this small regimen, those went away... when I stopped for a couple months it came back, so for years I managed to keep myself doing these stretches. Additionally, at that age I also threw my back out loading trucks (I ran a shipping department), and it is an ideal, low-impact way to stretch and improve circulation for that sort of injury, relieving a lot of the pain that comes with just simply standing, walking, and weather change.

I know this seems small, but, like a lot of small things, it makes a substantial difference. Recently I've been so stressed I haven't been able to sleep. I hadn't been 'feeling' stressed, I hadn't really been acting stressed, but my mind was racing and unsettled, and I realized I was suffering from stress. So, after hours of restlessness, I lay down in my library, which is my chill room, sprawled out, heels together, arms out, palms up, breathed slow and focused on my flower guillardia since I couldn't clear my mind... Slept like a log, and despite being sick, I'd wake up feeling motivated!

No diet change, no strange positions, or even exercise, just 5-10 minutes of snoozing time before and/or after bedtime. Don't even have to change clothes or get any equipment, the hardest part is finding a comfortable place and spending a couple minutes letting go. But every time you do it, it is worth it, so the goal is to do it at least once every day - and over the last week, I have.

Where to begin...

The root of this project lies in the thwarted efforts of everyone I've encountered who's made decisions about their lifestyle, food, and mentality that they somehow believe will eventually give them results, or that they believe should've already achieved them their goals - if it was simply a matter of lifestyle, food, and mentality. That, and the fact that they don't believe me when I point out why they're not happy or meeting their goals. So, I am putting myself through changes, that should be simple enough for anyone to implement, to achieve reasonable results in a reasonable amount of time - and maintain it for the long-term.

This is actually the second run of this project (named for one of the above-such persons)- because there are now others suffering from a simple lack of practicality, easily summed up as this: Do what you've always done, get what you've always got. Ergo, if YOU are dissatisfied with the results you've achieved, then something has to change about what you're doing and how you're doing it.

Based on information available in my blog French Toast and Existentialism from personal experimentation, and countless documentaries and books available (see list) on YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon, I am building a transition plan for people who love food and relaxation like me, but have opened themselves to the possibility that food and being sedentary is killing them, making them unhappy, causing health problems, and even causing mental problems. Not only that, but it will incorporate small lifestyle changes that will enable the body to adjust better, be more resilient, lose weight, and relieve stress - in addition to odd ailments to which doctors only prescribe medication and surgery, but can be relieved and reversed without such.

THIS is not some miracle cure-all.
YOU are your miracle cure-all.

Simply by listening to your body, paying attention to how it responds to food, activities, and stress, and learning techniques to develop that interaction, it is entirely possible alleviate ailments and boost health and resiliency.

So, herein lies my experience with successes and failures in nurturing and sustaining my body and mind, and a new chapter of my own, personal self-improvement.