Aim for sustainability with your wellness program...start with simple stretching

Develop regular, good habits and watch those good habits develop you!

Focusing on sustainability is far more practical and enjoyable than stressing over perfection. Practice does not make perfect, it merely makes it permanent. Having been a coach for over 30 years, I’ve worked with many clients with bad habits from years of bad practice. Things don’t change, you change...in your thinking and actions.

Wellness is about pursuing and creating a champion mindset, for the health of it.

Good health or bad health is a result of personal daily choices. Those choices do matter as they develop into habits.

Change the “have to” into “I want to”by tweaking your perspective and you will bring fun and positivity to the activity. It’s so hard when “I have to” and so easy when “I want to!”

Every athlete knows the importance of commitment and discipline. There is no overnight success. Success comes from the endless hours of training that no one else notices. The same is true in all aspects of life. First you develop the habit, then the habit develops you.

Although you can’t change your health overnight, you can change the direction of your future by developing some simple, good health habits.

I believe and teach total wellness: head, heart and body. All three are necessary. Whether you are a competitive athlete simply looking to improve your quality of life, once you begin to embrace all three components, balance and peace prevail.

From the moment the alarm clock goes off, our lives are jam packed. Do you ever feel like your life has become a game of survival rather than an opportunity to live life to enjoy it? And you wonder: Where can I fit in time to workout?

Take my TCOY (Take Care Of You) Challenge. Wake up to music and stretch for one song. Music provides a soothing way to wake up and helps create a better attitude. One song is typically 4-minutes. While lying in bed, stretch your neck, back, arms and legs. Focus on inhaling and exhaling while taking deep breaths. Do this every day for a year and you will have stretched over 24 hours! You may find you enjoy it so much, you’re stretching to multiple songs.

Stretching is probably one of the most overlooked forms of exercise, yet the benefits are dramatic over time. Stretching increases flexibility reduces injury. In addition, the activity helps you tap in on all three areas for TCOY total wellness: head, heart and body.

When starting a stretching program, focus on your breathing and holding the stretch. Breathe in through your nose for 3-5 seconds, followed by a slow 3-5 second exhale also through your nose.
For strengthening I recommend using resistance bands. Different colors represent different resistance levels (yellow, red, green then blue). Wrap the bands around your palms; the shorter the band, the more resistance.

To help you get started, I’ve taken a few photos to illustrate a few basic stretches and band stretches. YouTube has demonstration videos.

One final note, you’re only given one body...thought you can’t change your health overnight, you can change the direction of your future with simple, good health habits...and remember the goal...sustainability!

TCOY = Take Care of You! It’s a philosophy and way of life! Follow Lucy DelSarto on twitter and facebook under “TCOY Wellness” for more wellness tidbits. Her blog is www.tcoywellness.co.cc.