Breathing Into The Discomfort

drkathleenhartford — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:24:51 +0000

As an exercise approach I enjoy weight training, it fits my personality well. It is active, you push hard, you stop, you rest and then you are at it again. No long pauses, no waiting. There is intense discomfort at times, but it is ceases as you “push” through the difficulty. But today I was doing an extreme stretch video where I achieved difficult positions and held them for what felt like incredibly long durations. I began to fixate on the discomfort that was being created in my body and wishing I was anywhere but there.

The gentleman on the tape kept repeating; “Breathe through the discomfort, breathe through the discomfort.” I began to do this, in fact, I began to breathe into the discomfort. It was hard, I was straining, not knowing when it would end, when he would release the held position, or when my muscles could relax.

I began to reflect into my personality, noting how I am better at pushing and resisting than allowing and letting go. I guess in some way it gives me a sense of power and control. With weight training I know I have only two or three more reps until the pain will stop. I know when I can push for one more and still survive and I know when I am maxed out and must stop. But with this stretching I had no control, the power that this training required was very different to what I was accustomed to, unlike weight training there was no definitive point of failure and for some reason this was much harder for me to endure.

Once I started to breath INTO the discomfort things got easier. I began to relax into my body, I stopped fighting the pain and I was able to achieve higher levels of flexibility and patience, I was no longer ‘anxious’ for it to end.

While holding my positions I was wondering about life’s painful places, those places that we’d rather push through aggressively, quickly, even if it caused intense discomfort, because our main desire was for the distress to be over.

Would we be better served to breath into these uncomfortable places? Might we learn deeper lessons as we soften to the possibility that we can stretch and allow life to unfold with its purpose? Could we maybe begin to flow and soften so that life did not bounce off of us in such a harsh, painful way?

My question to you is how do you exercise (your demons)? Do you run from them as far and as fast as you can? Do you push the heavy weights and relationships of life away and feel more powerful for doing that? Do you walk slowly talking with your friends again and again about your life circumstances? Or do you get quiet, gently stretching, asking your body for more flow, more movement and more flexibility?

All forms of exercise are good and all forms of exercise serve a purpose. Perhaps the key is in knowing when to push, when to run, when to communicate a problem and when to be quiet and patiently stretch, asking yourself for more elasticity, greater tolerance and flow.

The Energies Of Enmeshment

drkathleenhartford — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:29:42 +0000

I have a beautiful lilac bush, and I mean a huge bush, in my yard whose fragrance I enjoy each spring. It is so beautiful and full of blossoms that even when you are on the other side of the farm, if the breeze flows just right, you can smell the lovely fragrance of lilac.

Two Saturdays ago after returning from ‘date night’ with my husband we went to see the lilac bush, as it was almost time for it to blossom. When I looked closely however I saw a vine had enmeshed itself through out the lilac bush and the lilac was at risk of being smothered. This wasn’t a small vine. This vine had trunks that looked like a tree, and its expanding tentacles were everywhere.

Much to my husbands dismay, he was quite ready to relax for the evening, I asked if he would please get the saw, hatchet and a few other ‘chop down the vine’ items…we have to free the lilac bush from this vine….he had grumblings about really? Now? Can’t it wait until morning? But I was unyielding, it was something I felt needed to be done right now. Truthfully, at the pace life is currently going I was afraid it would never get done or most likely we would forget, until it was too late.

We began cutting and pulling and sawing and yanking, once we both counted to 3 and pulled which quickly landed us both on our backsides, laughing hysterically. This got me thinking about how innocently we allow people and situations into our lives that slowly take over, suffocating us, diminishing our fragrance and choking off our sustenance. It might be a job that no longer excites us, or a relationship that brings us down. It could be the negative voice of another or an old memory of a teacher, mother or father saying “you’ll never amount to anything”. It could even be our own negative thoughts that over time wear us down preventing us from blossoming and fully expressing our gifts in the world.

Perhaps we are doing this to another. Someone we love, someone we are afraid to let go of. It could be innocent comments we make about another’s life that keeps them off balance and doubting their own inner knowing. It could be our need to control our children or our partners so we can feel safe or prevent change.

Whatever the intrusive vines are in your life I invite you to get out your saw, your ax, your clippers and begin to pull, pull, pull. To enmesh your energy with another will always diminish you both. Yes there will be times, like my husband and myself, that you will fall on your backside and I hope like us you will laugh at the absurdity of it all.

It does not mean that you can not be completely and fully in each others lives in an interdependent way that allows each of you to blossom, in fact you can support each others blossoms, marvel at the fragrance and keep your lives full, exciting and fresh. We cannot save another nor can anyone save us. We cannot control another, nor should we ever allow another to control us. All we can do is help, love and support each other in a way that allows all of us to be more of who we were meant to be.

Creating a Container For Your Dreams

drkathleenhartford — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:45:51 +0000

I had the most interesting phone session with a patient the other day. She was speaking about the desire to have more color and beauty in her life so she went out a bought a beautiful plant. On the way home she stopped at the gym for a workout only to find that by the time she returned to her car the plant had wilted. Determined to nurture the plant back to it’s original beauty she realized she did not have and could not really afford the necessary soil and pot that the flower required. When exploring this dynamic we realized that this was part of her pattern of mis-creation. There was a dream but the necessary container to hold the dream had not been created first, so when the dream showed up it was not sustainable.

We all run patterns such as this that hold us back from our full creative potential. If there is a dream you are dreaming but feel frustrated in it’s forward movement, explore the container that must hold it. If it is a business do you have the money and staff support required and if not how can you create what you need. If it is a relationship do you have the common ground and communication abilities to create the desired intimacy? If not is there a book, a course, a conversation or a coach that can help you create this.

You see our lives are a sum of our choices and our choices support (or not) what we say we want to create. So next time your plant is wilting rather then entering the conversation/drama called “poor me I have a wilting plant, struggling relationship, failing business” look at the container for the plant and make certain you have all the support necessary in the form of enriched soil, a well draining pot and just the right amount of water to nurture and hold your plant. Be committed to maintaining the container. Once the container is complete and supported then the dream will come and thrive!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

drkathleenhartford — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:05:44 +0000

When you are stuck between a rock and a hard place things feel helpless. We feel as though we can not move and our issues between our needs, wants and desire all come to the fore to be viewed as desperation and longing. In nature we find a different experience because in the rawest forms of nature there is only one agenda and that is to grow. A plant knows/senses that if it simply and consistently leans toward the light it’s needs will somehow be met. No matter what it’s circumstances it can be the best version of NOW by gently leaning toward the light.

This is how grass grows amid side walk cracks in the city as tens of thousands of people walk unconsciously over this miracle each day. While the blade of grass is simply being what it is, a blade of grass expressing itself beautifully in conditions which are less than perfect but more than adequate.If asked the blade of grass might say if feels blessed to be alive and able to express itself even in these less than perfect conditions. The blade of grass gets that no matter who treads on it, when the sun shines and it gently leans toward the sun’s warmth all is well.

You might ask how a picture of a plant, a weed I might add, growing in a rock in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania has any relation to you? My response would be how can it not. All things are connected and nature continuously reflects to us all answers from the earth. She is Mother Earth for a reason:

She feeds us in mind body and spirit
She hold us on her lap in the gardens and Central Parks of life
She laughs with her sunshine and cries with her tears and yet it is this combination that brings to us our nourishing food and the basic necessities of life.

Constant sunshine wold burn our blossoms and eventually dry out the juice that makes us shine. Constant rain destroys our grounding washing away our roots and our ability to take hold. It is the perfect combination/ balance between the two that allows for growth and the perfect blossom of life to unfold. So next time you are stuck between a rock and a hard place I invite you to lean gently toward the light and do the only thing possible to do. Grow!

Weeds in a Flower Bed

drkathleenhartford — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:05:15 +0000

Walking back from the barn today I noticed the weeds in the flower beds. It was almost as if they had sprouted overnight crowding out the flowers and destroying/overshadowing their blossoms. It reminded me of the weeds in our lives, the unhealthy relationships, the unhealthy foods, the unhealthy thoughts, the unhealthy patterns we unconsciously continue day after day which do not serve our (on Purpose) life. They too crowd out our blossoms, our gifts to the world, and prevent us from being all we can be.

I invite you today to gently look at your weeds not as bad, for they too have an origin and a story, but rather as no longer serving who you are in the world. It may require us to move away from a draining relationship, be vigilant in monitoring our thought patterns and choosing only those nutrient foods that enhance our lives. Slowly as we methodically remove the weeds allowing the blossoms to come forward our lives will change forever. We will find more beauty and most importantly we will find our fully expressed selves.

Remember just like in a garden there will always be weeds striving to take over and interfere with our focus but with increased awareness and commitment we can gently pull them one at a time leaving us unimpeded to blossom fully and grow.

God Bless and Go Well

Kathleen

Obesity in America

drkathleenhartford — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:04:42 +0000

The rates of adult obesity in the United States increased in 23 states during the past year and did not decrease in any state.
And the number of obese and overweight children has now climbed to 30 percent in 30 states, a troubling trend that could signal decades of weight-related health problems such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease as these children become adults. Wednesday July 1, 2009 (HealthDay News)
Add this to the statistic stating that: “One in three American Children born in the year 2000 will go on to develop Diabetes” The US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention Then we must agree with Dr David L.Katz of Yale University we he states:

“It truly is a public health crisis of the first order, driving many of the trends in chronic disease, in particular the ever-rising rates of diabetes.” Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale University School of Medicine Prevention Research Center

America’s serious and rapid decline in health is, in most part, related to a syndrome that creates accelerated aging and disease. Metabolic Syndrome is reaching epidemic proportions and until we take responsibility through knowledge for ourselves and our families it will not reverse itself.

Metabolic syndrome is a complex health condition that affects an estimated 25% of Americans – possibly more. It begins with our inability to manage our blood sugar creating a state of glucose intolerance or insulin resistance. Insulin Resistance creates a multitude of conditions, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, high blood insulin levels, and obesity, when left unchecked these conditions are risk factors for coronary heart disease, diabetes and accelerated aging.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the chances of developing metabolic syndrome increase if you have three or more of the following symptoms:

• A family history of type 2 diabetes and/or metabolic syndrome
• Waist measurements greater than 40 inches for men and greater than 35 inches for women
• Levels of triglycerides of 150 mg/dL or greater
• Low levels of HDL-cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL in men and less than 50 mg/dL in women)
• Blood pressure above 135/80
• Fasting blood sugar levels above 110 mg/dL (mg of glucose in 1 deciliter of blood)

Experts say that metabolic syndrome is caused by a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors. Obesity, a lack of exercise, and improper nutrition appear to play significant roles in the development of metabolic syndrome.

While there is no cure for metabolic syndrome, it is a preventable disease. By following a dietary plan that includes ample amounts of fruits and vegetables, moderate amounts of protein and fats, and low amounts of refined carbohydrates and sugars, the risk of acquiring metabolic syndrome is dramatically reduced. There are also Medical Foods that can dramatically enhance your health by reversing these indicators much more rapidly than dietary chances alone. Last but not least, it is important to maintain an ideal body composition (fat-to-lean ratio) consistent with your age, height, and frame size.

To ensure your healthy body composition, avoid metabolic syndrome and reverse any indicators of premature aging visit www.keytovitalliving.com

Just Say Yes!

drkathleenhartford — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:04:11 +0000

I was recently speaking at a women’s small business gathering. The speaker before me, a dynamic personal coach, was suggesting to the women that they must learn to say “NO”. As women we tend to feel that we should be there for everyone, helping when asked or when we perceive we are needed. Yet often times we provide this help at our own expense leaving us exhausted and at times resentful, sacrificing our quiet time, our work out, or our own work/personal or responsibilities.

However as I was listening I had the thought that actually what we must learn to say is YES! Yes to our selves.

We must say yes:

• To our spiritual selves and create quiet time for meditation, contemplation, prayer and retreat

• We must say yes to our dreams giving them the same time and commitment we give to our children’s dreams, our spouse’s dreams, our friends dreams

• We must say yes to our marriage or intimate relationships creating space to share our selves and to clean up any old issues or regrets that hold us back from physical, spiritual and emotional intimacy.

• We must say Yes to our bodies and create time for exercise, time for shopping for healthy foods, time for preparing healthy food, committing to and choosing activities that are health supportive,

We must say Yes to love and allow our hearts to open:

• To those we love
• To those we find challenging
• To a beautiful sunset
• To the smell of a baby’s breath
• To the forgetfulness of an elderly parent

We must boldly and with great excitement say yes! Yes to our lives, the good the bad and the ugly of this human process.

Life was never meant to be neat and easy, and you would do yourself a great service to give up that ideal. Life was meant to be juicy, like a ripe mango dripping through your fingers with the strings lodged between your teeth and the succulent juice tantalizing your tongue. Life’s like that, messy, challenging, sticky but so worth the sweetness of the juice.

So just say yes to yourself let go of all resistance to what is, it is just what is, like the strings between your teeth, just part of the process of the experience of a juicy ripe succulent mango.

Allow yourself to become all that you would like to be then like a baseball player sliding into home plate when you are done you won’t regret the bruises, scrapes and the dirt, you will simply and emphatically shout Yes!

Note: By the way if someone around you judges your Yes, and someone will, calling you selfish or saying you have changed suggest that they join you in this change, explain that you will be more than happy to support them in finding their YES!

God Bless and Go Well

Kathleen

The Common Denominator in Disease and Weight Loss Issues

drkathleenhartford — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:03:05 +0000

The 3 top products sold in a pharmacy are pain killers, digestive aids and allergy medication. With the recent Tylenol concerns you must realize that every pharmaceutical has a potential side effect that can injure yourself and your children. The three types of medications mentioned all have one thing in common they are formulated to squelch a fire. Whether the fire is indigestion, pain or a hyper-reaction to the environment, the common denominator is inflammation.

In our world we have created ‘The Perfect Storm’ for our bodies. Everyday our body’s are adapting to our lifestyle choices in relation to the air we breath, the food we eat, the water we drink, the thoughts we think, the exercise we choose to participate in and our health care choices. We also must contend with trauma both physical and emotional and a soup of biochemical toxins from our environment, our food supply, our processed foods and our prescription drugs.

You see disease has more than one cause which is why there is no silver bullet but it does have a common denominator and that is inflammation. Even the fat on your body is full of arachidonic acid and toxins. All of which are precursors to inflammation in fact when you begin to lose weight and mobilize fat the biochemicals in the form of organochlorides are released interfering with thyroid function and stalling your weight loss efforts. That is the common plateau dieters always speak about in their frustration. Inflammation is the silent killer savaging the cells tissues and organs of your body. Until we get real about inflammation we will be unable to lose weight and maintain the level of health we all desire.

To get your inflammation under control and to understand the effect it has on your cells, tissues and organs purchase your Key To Vital Living Program along with your natural functional medicine start up kit of Ultra-InflamiX and your essential balanced EPA/DHA fats. Any questions you have can be posted to this blog or call 1-800-893-5000.

Creating a Container For Your Dreams

drkathleenhartford — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:02:26 +0000

Lessons On Collecting Your Energy and Resources

drkathleenhartford — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:50:00 +0000

Thank you for reading my blog. This blog has grown out of my soon to be released book, Ramblings Of A Mad Woman, losing your mind and finding yourself. Ramblings is an exploration of our ingrained mind patterns (the way our mind always responds) and how through nature we are invited to lighten our grip on our perceived ‘always way of being’.

This morning I was schooling my horse Ziggy in the arena and I was struggling in his transition from walking to a nice controlled canter (slow gallop). Each time I would ask him to move forward, we would come undone, hit a slopping trot and fall into an uncomfortable pace.

Rather than try to collect him while we were moving at a fast pace, I instead brought him back to a walk then gently, but clearly, asked for a collected canter and Voila, there it was: that perfect collected canter. We then changed directions and did the same thing, there it was again, that wonderful connection where the rider and horse are one. The collected canter is exhilarating it is where you feel the power of the horse under you. From this collected energy a horse can jump a huge jump, it can be released to go faster or it can slow down to a walk in a controlled quiet manner. It is where all things ‘horse’ are possible.

As I worked with him, I was curious about what this was reflecting in my life. I realized that when I have a project that I am trying to move forward and things become unorganized, I tend to move further into it, with more activity and energy, which often leads to chaos. My lesson for the morning was in these times I might be better served to slow things down, reconnected to my vision, communicate clearly to others that are involved then gently but clearly ask for forward movement. If the movement creates the oneness of vision, purpose and action then I can ride that until the next step is ready to be added.

There are times out on the trail when you are riding and something unexpected happens, a deer jumps in front of you, a tree is lying across the path, a dog begins to chase you. In these moments you may not have time to stop and collect your resources. When you are riding full out you must ride balanced, deep in your stirrups, trust your horse and sometimes just hang on for the jump of your life but when you have the choice slowing down and collecting your energies might serve you well.

I hope these postings allow you to explore these moments in your own life. Please feel free to share your journeys as we open ourselves to new possibilities in life.

Safe Journeys,

God Bless and Go Well!

Dr. Kath