Walking to a New Healthyself-Beat Down Main Street Today! Tips on Breathing, Keep Blood Sugars Low (and by the Way, Advocate to Get Your A1C before your BS (blood sugars) are high!

As I was enjoying an avacodo sandwich on toasted bread with olive oil, I was thinking of what I should do next. Walk or drum on the Green where lovely benches and even seasonal plantings called to me. Or then there was the Upper Main Street easy walk to the Sharon Library housed in a mini-castle of granite with lovely windows, features and computers (and books and DVDs and nice peeps plus a bathroom as there also is at the local Sharon Farm Market also just down the hill from the Green.)

I decided to follow the intention to walk after eating to help my blood sugar level (that along with 'portion control as in smaller healthier (think non-sugary, not fried or too much white flour or fat..) amounts of food than most Americans or others realize is key to not having blood sugars surge in the first place.

Get your A1C to understand your baseline and then as you live, gain weight, have kids, age over 40 etc, you will be able to monitor in a more meaningful way. Check the www.diabetes.org (American Diabetes Association) --even www.ada.org is for dental info which of course is important too to keep up with regular cleanings and daily brushing and flossing. In addition. look up alternative healing ideas to PREVENT Diabetes or Address it with Education and Support (and Improved Eating and Regular Brisk Walking for 30 minutes daily--not all at once if not easy but start and improve with your doctor's counsel.

Drop sugary sodas  and candy (sorry but you're worth) and dilute fruit juice. Share ideas with others to get healthy and fit together, especially helping kids learn great habits and eat real veggies, healthy snacks and good food to help their mood!  Drink lots of water whethe a son or a daughter (and  little lemon or Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar or other well-made brand can aid digestion which sometimes declines with age as does the signal for thirst.)

As I started at a gentle pace (planning to do a good 10 minutes of brisk walking which I will do after this post), I let my closed my hands into fists and doing some tummy drumming. I recalled from www.drsha.com that he recommends 8 minutes of such gentle pounding on the belly region to help food digest after each meal (maybe I should double check to see if that's really the dealy-oh. So please check with your doctor and his site and your own gut instincts to see what may be of benefit to you and yours.

I figured it was worth a try. Walking makes it easier to 'keep the beat going'. Any pattern would do (and I know a few from years of playing with the Salisbury Hand Drummers, but google John Marshall's books and youtube for some basic ideas. Basically circling round the tummy in a pattern that starts at high noon and works its way around the clock to your left, then down, then to your right and up and around again would echo the path of the food travels through your digestive tract (large intestine then small intestine if I recall my biology correctly, then colon).

Wouldn't it be nice if all of US could learn basic body parts including the internal organs as students or online? Many traditions advocate massage of the tummy and other organs as part of a good health care regimen, but not necessarily too firm or vigorous. Gentle strokes work for most folks. Children, pregnant women or others with special conditions likely should check with a medical doctor before doing anything along these lines or even taking hot baths, ingesting teas or herbs or other seemingly harmless 'natural things'.

Even taking cold medicine or getting vaccines should be researched and done in ways and with consults with one's doctor in terms of types, pacing and any care before or after to know about for ease and safety. But back to the tummy drumming for most up and about types of people. I wanted to share this as soon as possible, and with the Sharon Library (or other one nearby) open to the public, I followed through as happens maybe one out of twenty ideas I get.

Hope this idea catches on and in terms of drumming up fun, I may venture to herald the day and season with a few beats on the Green, but that may require a permit, so maybe I will do so on The Sidewalk, which I was told by one town is not subject to permitting (at this time). Were I to ask or receive donations then maybe it would be.

Meanwhile I know a few folks who could use help this or any season with housework, childcare, money toward rent and other basic bills and more. If I know some, likely you know some who may be reluctant to ask or do not really know how to do so in a clear way. Why not address this issue. What if the tables were turned and You Needed Help? Would you be able to ask Someone or maybe a few folks for some input in addressing the situation? See the book Getting a Life or the book Your Money or Your Life.

Maybe starting a circle with one or more others could help you with follow through, making MOUs (not IOUs but maybe those too) but MOUs are Memorandums Of Understanding that Clarify a situation whether in terms of finances, living arrangements, housewok and car or yard care, childcare, terms for watching a child (yours or others, short-term or longer).

Once the ball gets rolling in terms of writing down what one is expecting (or needing) to do regarding self-care and other types of care and maintenance which may stem from cultural, social, familial or legal guidelines or laws, well then everyone can tweak accordingly (and maybe tweet updates). In the Climate Change Conference in Paris there were many bracketed parts of a potential agreement.

Those concerns and guidelines in brackets were up for discussion. They are deciding today, due to a much-needed extension, what would make it in the final agreement among many countries, both developing and developed (likely Over Developed) to have more goals toward sustainable practices for their energy sources and the way people live and to allow more people to live with breathable air. It may seem like something we should not have to ask for or too much to pray for even, but it is a necessity and will perhaps be better regulated by more countries.

All of this is worth 'drumming for' in terms of Drumming for Good Causes, a Growing List as More People become Aware of What's What and How to Make Our World a Safer, Nicer and More Sustainable Place to Inhabit. Here's a little secret that is coming to mind..we are all 'drumming all the time' without even trying. Take a moment to breathe and relax and feel the drumming of your human heart.

What  a beautitful beat as you walk down the street or breathe with relaxation (and a thought of  "Soft"- with a breath in and "Belly"- with a breath out)Try doing the breathing only through your nose a few times, counting four breaths in a row in that relaxed way, then repeating a few times. Feel any difference?

Even when walking or exercising, a respriatory therapist Tom Fleming shared that can be a healthier way to breathe. Again, check with a professonal if doing anything more serious along these lines. The Buyteko Method of breathing is one that promotes awareness of breathing through the nose to help the blood not have too much CO-2 which can make it sticky.

In shallow breathers (sometimes the elderly or those who are sick or through the mouth only), CO-2 may build up more. I wanted to learn more yet heard also that too much talking, sudden laughing and yelling and so on can all impact the blood and contribute to unhealthy conditions. I used to talk for hours on end. Now I am more aware of when I am talking and for how long.

I like writing since it it way to process ideas without having to open my mouth at all. Along the lines of vocal exercises for enhancing the quality of one's voice, I took short acting classes (and have watched many live plays as a student at Vassar College so of course the students were a bit on the extra talented side but I didn't hold that against them.

Some folks say they are bored watching anything, yet taking time to understand a play can be valuable as so much of life is like a play (and Shakespeare's "Out, Out Brief Candle, Life is but a  Play.." depicts that as the summation of life and paints a rather grim picture of life as a tale told by idiots and  in the end, 'signifying nothing'.

For many people that is their mantra or understanding of life even today. In spite of the the awakening of our many individual and collective talents, dreams and abilities (including many spiritual or psychic insights about humans and the universe), most people believing only in physical matter and a surface view of life, dismiss miracles as humdrum and almost count on living one life with no consequences (or maybe feeling there's no forgiveness.) Keep the faith and be open to new good dreams!