SECTION 1 LIFESTYLE- HEALTH, WELLNESS, AND MORE

Reprogramming Mind, Body, and Spirit

Have you experienced anxiety, depression, or severe panic attacks? Check. Have you been told it could be your smartphone, social media obsession, or the multiple screens in your life? Guilty.

Have you ever experienced body image issues? Maybe. Too many "plandids" or selfies and not enough candids. Who me? Do you have a difficult time finding your passion, what makes your heart smile and your soul sing? Let me check Facebook.

Is it our digital world, or has life always been this challenging?

I started interviewing people and started with Lisa Gianvito, a yoga and wellness coach, to find out how she guides people to a healthier, happier version of themselves.

When Gianvito started having panic attacks at age twenty-seven, she reluctantly turned to yoga and meditation thanks to doctor's orders. Even though she's a busy entrepreneur who owned a successful hair salon, she cherished her gym workouts. At the time, the words "yoga" and "meditation" did not exist in Gianvito's schedule or vocabulary. Little did she know, they were about to.

It seemed unfathomable that something as passive as meditation could be so beneficial. As an entrepreneur or mompreneur, every minute is precious, calculated, and measured on efficiency and productivity. Yoga and meditation don't seem to gel with our multi-tasking mentality. Slowing down, even stopping, seems counterproductive in this 24/7 digital world.

Reluctantly, Gianvito took her doctor's advice. After listening to a few meditation tapes, there was that aha moment when her mind actually stopped for a minute, and that feeling felt-well-good!

"I started listening to a guided meditation, and I quickly noticed that my mind wasn't racing, and my heart wasn't beating out of my chest. Then I added yoga videos (there were no yoga classes where I lived)," Gianvito said.

"It felt really good, and I began to see my body in a whole new light."

Like many people who try yoga and meditation, Gianvito wanted more. So much so that she went on to get her 200-hour yoga certification, then her 500-hour certification.

Fast forward to now, and Gianvito has sold the hair salon she owned for 25 years and traded her outer beauty skills for a business focusing on the inner beauty of wellness. Today, you can find Lisa as a mind, body, spirit coach offering doses of digital detox.

#DigitalDetoxSecrets

We are one and whole. Gianvito reminds us with her tips that we must focus on the mind, body, and spirit to make definite and positive changes in our lives.

Lemon Aid

Gianvito recommends waking up to warm water and a half of lemon. Start your day with a warm cup of water and add in half of a freshly squeezed lemon. The idea is to get rid of the acidity in the body, and although lemons seem acidic, they actually help reverse the acidity in your body to alkaline.

Lemon water helps your pH balance and triggers improved digestion, reduces heartburn, builds your immune system, contributes to weight loss, clears the skin, and speeds up the body's elimination process. Who knew one food could hold so many detox benefits?

Meditation Baby Steps

After you start detoxing your body, your mind is next. It can be intimidating to start working meditation into your daily schedule; especially when it feels like you are not really doing anything but sitting.

Gianvito recommends starting with an app such as InsightTimer. You can pick a mediation, from one minute to forty-vie minutes long, and you can customize your experiences such as mood, sound, and time.

InsightTimer offers special tracks on love, relationships, anxiety, sleep, and depression. You can even look at the advanced and upgraded options from the free version and join groups, take courses, and be part of a community of 5 million InsightTimer meditators.

Just Move

Forget the gym membership or waiting for a friend to go with you to a studio. Get up, get out, and walk outside. Pause the gym membership and save your money. Keep it simple and honor who you are. There are also tons of free videos on YouTube.

Positive Transformation Starts with Affirmation

The number one thing that helped Gianvito transform her life was positive affirmation. She uses positive affirmation when journaling and by repeating mantras over and over again in her head. This is called reprogramming your brain with positivity. Mantras should always be spoken and written in the present tense as if you already have or already are the thing you want.

I love myself.

I am happy.

I am strong.

I am compassionate.

Reprogramming your brain is possible. Even if you are on a treadmill, start repeating the affirmation. Soon, you will see things in a new light, and the negativity shifts, and possibility begins.

Be Honest, Be Authentic

You can justify the shit out of your life, but that doesn't get you anywhere.

Be real, be honest, and make the commitment. Stop procrastinating.

If you really want to change, you will do it.

The reason you don't want change is that you don't want to do it!

The After-Party

Catch up with Gianvito if you want more. She offers digital detox programs, Skype coaching, and specialized yoga classes and events.

Follow her on Instagram and Facebook. @lisagianvito

Digital-Destress

A psychologist paced around the room as she spoke about managing stress to the audience.

She raised a glass of water. Everyone expected her to ask the question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?"

Instead, she smiled and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

The audience's guesses ranged from four to eight ounces.

The actual weight has no real significance.

What does matter is how long I hold the glass.

If I hold it for a minute, it does not feel so heavy. If I hold it for an hour, my hand might start cramping up.

If I hold it for a whole day, my arm will probably become numb and feel paralyzed.

In each case, the glass's weight does not matter, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it gets.

What's the point?

Stress and anxiety are like a glass of water. If we stress about things for a short while, nothing happens.

If we think about them for a long time, they start to hurt.

If we think about them all day, we will feel paralyzed; unable to do anything.

It is important to remember to let go of whatever stressed you out.

So, every evening, as early as possible, put away the stress you have carried during the day.

Don't carry things throughout the evening and into the night.

Remember to put down your glass of water.

I found that story in my Facebook newsfeed one day and thought it was the perfect introduction to talking about how to eliminate the space we allow for stress in our lives.

What exactly is stress?

It's a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. That could be working too much, not getting enough sleep, worrying about things you can't control, focusing on negative thoughts, doing things for the wrong reasons, saying yes to everything, or eating the wrong foods.

A big stress factor for all of us is money: not making enough, having enough, or owing too much. That's why managing your money and living within your means is critical to your happiness and stress levels. The money is not causing the stress; it's the decisions you make around the money that adds up to high-stress levels.

Just one more email to read, Facebook post to write, Instagram like, and scroll.

How much stress do you carry each day?

It's like a badge of honor. In some crazy twisted reasoning, if we are not stressed, it's as if we don't care or that we are not working hard enough. Many equate stress to effort. The more stressed, the harder we must be trying. So, in some insane way, we think all that stress will pay off in huge dividends of success. We'll eventually make more money, have more time, get that job, earn that recognition, have that baby, or buy that boat. But then, that's just a new kind of stress.

Our lives are even more triggered with stress thanks to social media and the insta-world we live in. Stress can manifest and lead us down a path of slow self-destruction when it is combined with eating cupcakes, Oreos, and ice cream or drinking a glass bottle of wine. I guarantee that going to happy hour after work every night and the oh-so-easy solution of turning to prescription drugs for relief is not the answer.

Before you know it, you have stress and other problems such as being overweight, becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol or making very poor decisions while under the influence.

Here's what happens to your body when stressed:

• Heart beats faster
• Blood pressure increases
• Breath becomes shallow and rapid
• Blood sugar rises
• Adrenaline and cortisol production surge
• Immune system weakens
• Production of sex hormones decreases
• Digestion is halted

How much stress do you let go of each day?

What's the first thing we do when feeling stressed? Eat, drink, and sleep. All seem like they should be part of our daily life, but too much or too little can lead to destruction.

Stories. We have so many stories happening in our head that never come true. The "What if...?" stories that lead us down to the depths of...