Shift for Wellness Jennifer Behre Caputo

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Food fuels the body, it comforts the soul, it triggers emotions. Food is woven into the fabric of our ancestry, and has very deep roots into who we are and how we live our lives. Food is the center of our celebrations and our comfort in times of grief. Food can cause allergies, brain fog, digestion issues, inflammation, sluggishness, and it is also the greatest of all healers. 

 

I have come to this miraculous realization with the help of many brilliant doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and practitioners, but none more transformational than the help of Ayurvedic Total Health Coach, Ivette Desai. 

 

Growing up with an Irish mother and a Scotch and German father, white flour, sugar, and dairy were the basic staples of our diet at home, as I believe it was for most households across America. During the 1970’s, we ate what we thought at the time was a healthy diet. like margarine instead of butter. 

 

The dots that were never connected for my family were the ones that would have saved most of us from recurrent hypoglycemic episodes and migraines throughout most of our lives, which we accepted as just a part of our every day as  “just something we experience”.  My mom, who’s suffered all her life from migraines,  was always of the belief to just accept and don’t question.  I am often blamed for analyzing everything.  For going too deep, for questioning too much.  At 53, that’s not a switch I can turn off so easily, nor is it one I intend to. 

 

Inquiry is what drives me.  I wonder. I question. I analyze. I always want to know why. What’s the cause of that?   It’s how I’m wired and I’m unapologetic about it. I was never satisfied with fixing an issue, I wanted to get to the root of the problem to prevent it from occurring again. That’s a lesson from my dad that was instilled in me very early on.

 

I like to be out and about having a good time like everybody else, and I so desperately wanted to be like everyone else who could go about their day and just enjoy themselves without having to wonder and worry about if they’re body was going to give out and start shaking and shut me right in front of everybody. 

 

I could no longer tolerate the sudden drops in my blood sugar levels that brought me down quicker than I could say, “Pass the sugar”.

 

I sought the help of a nutritionist  at the Schachter Center for Complementary Medicine in Suffern, New York, and  with a quick glance at my food journal, she asked me about the healthy fats that were missing from my diet.

 

Innocently, I asked her, “What are healthy fats?” And she told me, “Olives, avocados, watermelon, nuts, seeds, oils, fish, coconut flakes, chia seeds”, and of course there’s more, but these ones were a game changer for me, my diet, and my lifestyle!

 

I Immediately added these foods into my diet and was on cloud nine! I felt like I had the answer to all of life’s questions! Healthy fats were the missing piece to my puzzle.  They were the answer to the ancestral programming in my body and the myth I was telling myself for way too long about, “this is just my makeup and   something that I have to deal with”.

 

You’re not going to like what I have to say right from the start today, so I’m encouraging you to try your best to stay open and receptive, because today we’re talking about food, and I’ve had enough conversations about food with people to know that the topic of food is like politics, religions, and money.  You don’t go there.  

 

Food is very controversial.  Don’t challenge a person about what they put into their body and what they feed to their family, because you will tick them off. People do not like to be challenged about what they eat, trust me, because I’m one of those people.

 

Since this isn’t a conversation, per se,

Let me begin by telling you that the inspiration for this post began with a request from my friend, Mike Kuczala. In short, Mike is a bestselling author, acclaimed keynote speaker and innovative professional developer in both educational and corporate settings. He’s currently wrapping up the publication of another book titled: The Peak Performing Teacher: 5 Habits of Success, which will be out in February. A few months ago, Mike asked me to write a blurb for his book about my morning routine, so it’s here that I share with you what I’ve shared with Mike.

I’m excited to say that Mike is going to be a future guest on the show and he’ll talk more about his book and the 5 Habits of Success.

 

It All Begins the Night Before

Now preparing for my morning routine begins the night before. Scheduling bedtime is paramount and shutting off devices an hour before bedtime is a must. Powering down gives my brain the time it needs, and deserves, to settle down and prepare for a solid 8 hours. The sleep routine begins when I walk in the door from school. And during the summer, I’m a pretty scheduled person, so the routine begins around 5:00/5:30 pm.

Avoiding alcohol after school is another practice. Alcohol does not add to, but interrupts my sleep, and I honor my sleep too much to allow that to happen. Especially if I’m tired. I’ve found that having a drink when I’m tired is the worst thing I can do. I sleep very restlessly, and wake up every hour on the hour and it’s just not worth it. It’s very clear to me that my body is speaking to me, so I listen.

FULL TRANSPARENCY: THIS EXCLUDES TEACHING DURING COVID 🙂

I like to replace alcohol with Sleepy Time tea or anything herbal and calming. Everything I do, from the moment I walk through that door, is an intentional preparation for slipping into sleep as effortlessly as possible, which means I bathe in the evening as well. A bath or a shower at night helps to symbolically wash away the day and calm the nervous system. Then it’s three notations in my gratitude journal, seven more said in my head, as I get myself comfy under the covers preparing for my beauty sleep, but not before I read a few pages of my book!

 

Let the Day Unfold

All of these routines are in place because my morning routine is critical to the unfolding of my day. I wake to a natural alarm clock, which mimics a natural sunrise and gradually brightens to help me wake naturally. It’s then set to birds chirping or chimes, about 15 minutes later, because beginning my day with the sound of a jarring alarm is not an option.

 

Pray. Stretch. Meditate.

Automatically, the prayers begin as I run through my stretching sequence before my feet even hit the floor. The sequence is not long, and it moves my spine in all six ways, activates my abs, and gets my blood pumping. Getting the bed made is the first order of business once my feet land and then before the final pillow is set, I throw it on the floor and settle into morning meditation.

I have no set type of meditation that I practice each morning. This time is very intuitive and I go with whatever my body, mind, and spirit are asking for. I also don’t have a set amount of time for meditation. It could be 3, 5, 10 minutes or more. I just go with it and however long it is, is however long it needs to be.

I follow up morning meditation with a little tapping if necessary.

 

Eating For the Season

Caffeine is also not a part of my diet, so I begin each morning with a tall glass of warm, lemon water. Fifteen minutes later, I drink another tall glass of warm water with an Ashwagandha root extract, an adaptive herb that helps to calm the body, ease inflammation, and boost nutrition. Fifteen minutes after that, I eat my gluten free/dairy free breakfast which changes seasonally. Currently, it’s blueberry,

Wow!! I am SUPER excited to be back in this space with you all on this platform that I missed tremendously!! Wow, where have we been?! Talk about an opportunity to use our tools! And hopefully you had the chance to listen, way back in July of 2020 when I produced that last, episode 48: “Healing Strategies to Help during Troubling Times”. I taught two mini-lessons there on the Peace Procedure and EFT, the Emotional Freedom Technique.  I wanted to teach you how to quickly shift yourself to a state where you can be free from anxiety and trauma.  I also taught how you tap surrogately to help others while we were unable to share in the space of our loved ones. You can check it out by going to https://shiftforwellness.com/48 to learn more.

 

This pandemic, along with all the rest of the adversity that was mixed in with it, is the very reason we practice living a life of wellness.  A life of wholeness.  Other than facing death itself, or the death of a loved one, I can think of no other example on such an enormous scale, world-wide, that could have put our skills to the test.  And here we are.

 

Trauma

We are here with or without loved ones who started out on this journey with us.  This is a very difficult and challenging place to be.  A lot of trauma has occurred.  Many of us went into this pandemic with unhealed trauma, with challenges that felt impossible to overcome.  And then on top of all of that, got hit with this unthinkable tragedy; it’s difficult to digest the enormity of it, the rippling effect it has caused, the damage, the pain, the exhaustion, the oppressiveness.  

 

My question to you all is, how’d ya do? 

 

Our own stories

We’re all coming out of this mess with our own story, our own experiences. For some maybe this wasn’t a mess; there are many different perspectives out there. Some are sad, some are quite pleasurable.  That’s to be noted.  There are many beautiful and creative things that were born out of this time, like all of us finding new and innovative ways to help, to teach, to heal, to do our jobs differently and for some, even more successfully. 

 

Good News!

Companies discovered their workers were just as productive at home, and now many are affording their  employees the opportunity to continue to work from home. Some parents realized their children learn so much better online that they’ve made the decision to change the mode of learning for their child moving forward. 

 

I loved witnessing parents backing off.  There was no other option for those parents who work, they had to back off and trust that their child could handle school on their own and THAT is something I’ve been waiting to see for a LONG TIME.  Please understand what I’m talking about here are those students who were already of age to be able to handle school on their own.  I’m not being judgy here, I am sincerely happy for those kids who were able to prove to their parents that they could be trusted to do it on their own. 

 

My heart goes out to those parents who had multiple kids at home or even just one child, not able to do school on their own.  They had to juggle work and school simultaneously and that put a lot of people in a super challenging place. That whole scenario is not lost on me. 

 

What did that do for our students? They proved to themselves that they were enough. That they have the tools and the skills to do school without their parents leading the way or for some kids, getting in the way. I witnessed the pandemic giving the gift of coping skills to many students. Over the years, unfortunately, I’ve witnessed a major lack of coping skills in kids.  Many parents out there insist on always DOING for their children, and this has become a major issue in the classroom because k...

Today, I’m going to be sharing with you two efficient healing strategies to help you manage where you are right now during these troubling times and how you can move forward in a positive direction contributing wellness, understanding, and respect to these issues and to any other issues you need to gain control over. 

 

As we continue to experience COVID-19 and racial injustice in our world, these tools will help you during this critical time in our history and they will help you during a critical time in your personal life.  Whether you have a voice loud enough for all the world to hear; whether you prefer to do your part quietly from the sidelines; if you’re just not sure what to do, or maybe you feel your voice doesn’t matter. I’m going to teach you how you can contribute to your own personal welfare and to the welfare of our nation at large by helping you to create space in your body and movement in the world to unblock limiting beliefs like fear, guilt, worry, and shame.  

 

In a very short period of time and with a few simple steps, you will learn how to shift yourself to a state where you can be free from anxiety, social conditioning, and trauma. And I’m even going to teach how to help others by doing some surrogate healing.

 

The Peace Procedure

The Peace Procedure is the first strategy I want to introduce you to.  The Peace Procedure is about releasing what no longer serves you.  It’s an exercise that invites you to call to mind an issue you’d like to get control over.  It can be a bad habit, an uncomfortable memory, an event, a physical or emotional pain you would like to get rid of.  And because so many people are suffering from the effects of COVID and the racial divide in our country, you may want to put your focus there.  Everyone is in a different place, so I invite you all to remain where you are physically, and emotionally, and work with what presents itself to you today.

 

I’m going to walk you through The Peace Prodceure right now so you can experience it for yourself. Get yourself comfy now and close your eyes. Take three nice, deep inhales and exhales before we begin.  Breathe deep down into your belly and exhale audibly through an open mouth. 

 

Identify An Issue

I invite you now to simply call to mind an issue you’d like to gain control over.  It could be a memory, an unpleasant experience, or a physical or emotional pain you would like to get rid of. Again, keep it simple.  Whatever comes to mind is what your body is asking you to deal with right now at this moment, so stick with that.  Even if a lot of things are popping up, choose one. After learning this procedure you can always go back and work on the other issues that may be popping up.

 

Rate the Intensity

With the issue in the forefront of your mind, sit with it for a moment.  Be with it.  Breathe into it.  Notice it.  Don’t judge it.  Just notice it. What is it? Call it what it is, without judgment. Now, I would like you to rate the state you are in at this moment.  On a scale of 0 – 10 with 0 meaning “I’m totally fine.” and 10 meaning “I am freaking out!”, rate how you feel as you sit here with this visual, this memory, or this pain. The first number you see or hear is the number you want to work with.  This isn’t hard, so keep it easy. The number you see is the number to keep.  Remember that number. This is your Beginning Number: #_______

  

A Loving Remembrance

Now, put that visual aside for a moment and I want you to shift your focus to a loving moment in your life. It can be with a person, pet, movies, a moment in nature.  A simple remembrance will do, there’s no need for a big production. Call to mind any moment or memory in your life that brings you joy, that brings you ease, that brings you peace.  I’m getting you to tune into your inner wisdom here, to tune into a greater source of love.