Feel so good you sing it from the roof tops!
My name is Dr. Sarah Kotzur and I’m a ridiculously happy, licensed naturopathic doctor practicing in Portland, Maine. In my beautiful seaside clinic, I’ve helped thousands of patients regain their health and vitality using a natural approach and I’d love to help you too.
We can enjoy great health naturally if we give ourselves the nourishment we need, let go of the things that sap our energy, and allow the body to heal itself. The whole point of having an energetic and vital body and mind is so you can do the things you love, like working, playing, raising kids, creating art, having sex, jumping motorcycles, and thinking up new ideas and bringing them into being.
Life and all we want to do in it requires this essential energy. We get this vital energy from good food and rest, but we are also nourished by loving social connections with friends and family, meaningful creative work, healthy physical activity, spirituality, as well as frequent feelings of fun and enjoyment in our lives. These all add to our energy level and real-life well-being.
The kind of vitality advertised on TV looks like cute puppies in fields of daisies and all you need is to do is take *this* product (usually some sort of food, drink, supplement, drug, or treatment) and you will be skipping along like a school girl feeling perfect. This is not where true vitality comes from. It’s just marketing. That is not how we get our vitality back. We get it by building our lives on a solid foundation of wellness and it takes time…but it’s so totally worth it, because you get to enjoy life from a really powerful place and you will feel really good most all the time. Even people who report having “okay” energy are amazed at what their body feels like when they make a few tweaks in their lifestyle and diet.
Burnout recovery takes time and deep depletion can be a painful experience. Don’t let yourself get to the lowest place before you turn yourself around and head in the other direction. If you keep going and don’t stop to heal burnout, chances are you may end up with really annoying chronic diseases and feel horrible. Don’t go there!
Did you know that exhaustion and burnout are commonly associated with anxiety, depression, insomnia, digestive problems, hormone imbalance, and thyroid issues?
Beware of the crazy stuff your society, boss, job, friends, family, and neighbors may be doing to themselves and are expecting you to keep up with. Make your own way, even if it’s not what anyone else around you is doing. Just because a stressful lifestyle is “normal” to many, doesn’t mean it won’t harm you.
Challenge: Conserve and Preserve Your Energy
- List five things that lower your energy and leave you feeling tired, depressed, or simply flat. These could be people, places, or obligations.
- If you could let go of one thing, which one would have the biggest improvement on your stress right now? Could you say “no” to something or someone?
- Do you notice a shift in your energy just imagining that you won’t be influenced by that anymore?
Eliminating stress before it begins, or minimizing it, is a sure-fire way to boost your overall vitality.
Strategy: Habits for Stress Prevention
Consider this: are there habits or rituals you could establish in order to take care of yourself and reduce your stress levels?
- If you are always rushing in the morning to make your breakfast, could you set things up the night before?
- If you are always working under deadlines, could you put in place something that helps you plan ahead and not wait until the last minute?
- Brainstorm a couple of ideas to help prevent situations you know cause you stress.
Some people suffer from health problems caused by a lack of vital nutrients required for bodily processes to function optimally. Others have a “fun deficiency”; they don’t give attention to their need (or even recognize their need) to relax and enjoy time alone or with friends and family. Others are so busy keeping themselves busy, they don’t know what really makes them happy and what they truly want for themselves in their lives.
Humans need to have fun for the sake of it. Our culture glorifies work and productivity, but doesn’t give us the OK to really take time for having fun. Fun brings joy into your life, puts the difficulties in life in perspective, and is time you make for yourself that’s stress-free. Finding activities that make you happy is essential to anyone’s ability to manage life’s stressors. Read on for ideas about how to make fun a top priority and reap the health benefits.
Challenge: Plan Your Fun
Research shows that we are happier when we get to anticipate a fun activity, so here’s how to get started.
- Pick the two activities that make you most excited to think of them.
- How often would you like to do this activity: daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, once a year?
- I’d suggest having a weekly activity you look forward to enjoying as well as larger, periodic activities like vacations.
- Put these two activities in your calendar for the next two months. Get a friend to share in the fun. Most importantly, protect these plans like an important appointment that can’t be broken. When people ask if you are available at that time, just say you have a prior engagement.
- Take control of your fun and make it happen. If you don’t, no one will do it for you.
To build our foundation of lasting health we have to hit this vitality-boosting and stress-reducing approach from every angle. This is what holistic self-reflection can accomplish. It can show us the areas in our lives that need our loving attention so we can be our best self and do what we are here for. Shine on!
To schedule a consultation with Dr. Kotzur in the office please visit: SarahKotzur.com
To get your own copy of Dr. Kotzur’s Self-paced Lifestyle Makeover Program: The Vitality Prescription visit: TheVitalityPrescription.com
To download your FREE copy of Dr. Kotzur’s Top 10 Vitality Strategies click HERE
Dr. Kotzur brings eight years of experience specializing in anxiety, depression and digestive disorders. She received 4-years post-doctoral training in homeopathy, a safe and effective system of natural medicine. She treats patients of all ages for conditions including fatigue, insomnia, thyroid problems, hormone imbalance, poor immunity, menopause, blood pressure, autoimmunity, infectious diseases and cancer. Using a non judgemental and flexible approach, Dr. Kotzur prescribes simple diet and lifestyle changes, supplements, herbs, and homeopathic remedies. She uses conventional lab work, as well as food sensitivity testing, in her assessment. She has served on the faculty at the University of Southern Maine’s School of Nursing, where she developed and taught Naturopathic Medicine curriculum. She serves on the faculty at Baylight Center for Homeopathy in Portland. She is past President of the Maine Association of Naturopathic Doctors.
ELM™ | Maine
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