Well-being Wednesday (September 2, 2020)

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TRANSCRIPT
(This episode was partially transcribed by computer and may contain small errors. If you quoting this podcast, please refer to the original audio.)

Each week a new theme. Each day 10 minutes to focus our mindset on what matters. I'm Sarah Parker, Wolf, and you're listening to the FOCUSED INTENTION PODCAST. Thanks for joining me. 

The theme this week is HOW IT IS and today is Well-being Wednesday when we focus on how to take better care of ourselves. 

Hi all and thanks for joining me for the first Well-being Wednesday. I'm very excited because self-care is something I think we all could stand to have a little bit more of and so that's what our focus is on today and every Wednesday. If this is the first time that you're joining us, welcome and I encourage you to go back and listen to motivation Monday or truthful Tuesday. 
If you'd really just like an overview of what the FOCUSED INTENTION PODCAST is all about, we also have it in introductory episode that you can listen to. Alright, so it's time. Let's focus today on how to take better care of ourselves. Away way we go. 

So I am not what you might call it really outdoorsy person. I mean I don't hike difficult trails. I hate being too hot. I would never even consider rock climbing. But, I tell you, there is absolutely nothing that makes me feel better than the woods. If there is a tiny bit of water there, a stream or a lake, even it's even better. My family and I used to live outside of Nashville, and every once in a while we would take a long weekend in the Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg and the hikes there...even this little easy one, you know, we could take.  Maybe an hour we would be in there and I would come back feeling like a new person. I grew up in Wisconsin. Maybe that's where that comes from where we'd take our family vacations up North right where there's just woods and lake. And that's where I kind of find my happy place. Even in our own neighborhood, my kids will tell you I drive them crazy. They call me Miss Flora Fauna because I stop and take pictures of everything and tell them what kind of flowers are out there and take some nice close-up pictures. If there's a deer. Oh my gosh, you're going to hear about it and I'll probably have a picture of it on my phone. Anytime I'm outside and there are trees surrounding me. I just come back from that time outside feeling like my soul got a deep clean. 

Here's the crazy part, guys. Even if you just look at a picture of nature, your mind does amazing things for your body. Even looking at that picture, you can reduce your blood pressure, your heart rate, muscle tension, stress hormones and then just imagine if you actually go outside and you get some more oxygen to your brain. What an amazing way to take care of your body and your mind. 

So, this week, when stress or anxiety hits you because it's going to, I mean, this is a wild world we live in and half the time we're all stuck inside working. Or, you know, trying to stay out of each other’s way or you have a mask on. Whenever that stress or anxiety hits, step outside. Step into nature. Or you know, if you're really in the city. I'm in the city, but not in the city-city. Even if you're in the city, go stand where the Ficus plant is in your office, or you know, get yourself a nice little cactus to put on your desk and look at nature and find its calming essence. Find that beautiful thing that it can do to the human soul. It can give us peace. Take a stroll. Take a few moments of fresh air and if you're feeling really crazy, sit down and meditate. 

And here's a little something you can focus on while you're doing that meditation, we're going to renew our soul with this intention: I take comfort in nature. 

I take comfort in nature. It's that simple. 

So find your own little corner of a natural paradise...a lake, a park, a farm, a backyard garden. Again, the corner of your office that has the fake plant in it. Or use a picture of nature as your screensaver. It doesn't matter. It will all do the same thing. 
Okay, let's put ourselves there, in our natural, happy place, whether that's the forest or the beach, wherever you want to be and take a nice deep breath in. Hold it there at the top. And then breathe out through your mouth. And then we'll just say to ourselves... 
I take comfort in nature. 
I take comfort in nature. 
I take comfort in nature. 
I take comfort in nature. 
I take comfort in nature.  

Thanks for sharing your time with me today and if you're enjoying the FOCUSED INTENTION PODCAST, if you could just take a minute to leave us a rating or review, we would certainly appreciate it. It gets the word out and gets other people listening as well so we can build our community. You can also join my weekly newsletter at sarahparkerwolf.com and I will send you a nice printable of the weeks intentions so that you can print that out and keep it where you can reference it over and over again during the week. Or you can look for us on Facebook if you look up FOCUSED INTENTION PODCAST we’re there as well. And of course click below to subscribe or follow us and we hope to see you back here each and every day. 

​So now let's go out and live with intention, love like crazy and have a great day.