By Jackie

If you are currently considering an intensive week of treatment at CPT’s Florida location, you may wonder what you will be able to do in your free time.

The CPT therapists and staff encourage all patients to use their intensive week to restore their mind, body, and spirit. As CPT works to restore your body, you can use your free time to rejuvenate yourself and start a journey towards better mental, physical, and spiritual health. Gainesville provides many resources and opportunities to help you on your way. I highly suggest you take advantage of Gainesville’s many riches in this way:

Eat well. Nutrition greatly impacts your body. Use your week of treatment to make better eating choices. Gainesville offers many healthy places to eat. Try out the Booklover’s Vegan café. You can leisurely read while you eat delicious, local food at any time of the day. For a fantastic salad with a great atmosphere, head to Satchell’s. If you can’t tame your junk food craving, you can head to Leonardo’s Pizza and try a vegan pizza – along with vegan rolls! They also have great salads. If you want to curl up in your bed with some late-night snacks, you can head to Mother Earth for organic food of Fresh Market for great, healthy options.

University of Florida Chapel for Meditation and Reflection

Relax. Gainesville offers great, quiet places to sit and think in peace. For an incredible experience, I recommend you visit Lake Alice on the University of Florida’s campus. Not only are you likely to see alligators, but also huge Oak trees that drape across the lakeside trail – and don’t worry, no one has even been attacked by an alligator. If you continue on the path, you will find a nature trail in one direction and a chapel in the other. The chapel remains a relatively unknown jewel. It is a quiet sanctuary open to the public for meditation and self-reflection. As dusk approaches, head back along the path to the bat house. As the sky darkens, hundreds of bats swirl out in a breathtaking spiral.

Get in touch with nature. CPT therapists recommend all patients walk daily while undergoing treatment. One of the best places to do this is in nature. Gainesville is full of great parks that will quickly lead to a sense of awe and relaxation. If you are interested in a long walk, I highly recommend the Hawthorne State trail. I guarantee you will se an armadillo, deer, or alligator before your feet leave the path. I also suggest you slip into the Natural History Museum. The recreation of the Florida ecosystems is incredible. You walk inside, only to feel you stepped outside. The museum truly sucks you in to another world and will help you appreciate the Florida environment even more. You can also visit the museum’s butterfly rainforest.

Take a mini vacation. If you have time to schedule a mini-trip on the weekend, I highly suggest you take the opportunity to see some nearby areas in Florida. My top two recommendations:

• St Augustine: The oldest city in the U.S., St. Augustine is 1.5 hours to the east of Gainesville. It has an “old-city” charm with an artsy vibe, unique shopping, great food, beautiful beaches, and a castle!
• St. George Island. This is my personal favorite for someone who wants a quiet retreat to the most beautiful and quiet beach in Florida. It is a longer drive, perhaps four hours, but you won’t regret it. I suggest you stop half-way at Wakulla springs to go kayaking along the river and see manatees. Afterward, head to Apalachicola, a little sea-side town less than 15 minutes from St. George Island. Eat some great seafood and then slather on some sun screen to go check-out the island. Its crystal white beaches stretch for 25 miles alongside the emerald ocean. One third of the island is a state park: pristine, untouched, and open to the public. You can walk by yourself along the beaches without seeing a single tourist.

Gainesville and the surrounding area is a pretty incredible place. Don’t be afraid to ask CPT Florida therapists or staff for more information. This is our home and we’d love to share it with you.

The 12th right of Dr. Carolyn Demarco’s A Woman’s Bill of Rights, states, “I have a responsibility to look after my diet, reduce, stress, exercise, and relax on a regular basis.”

Why is this included in Demarco’s bill of rights? Because diet, stress, exercise, and relaxation are fundamental to good health and only you have the power to control these aspects of your life. A doctor can surgically repair any wound, but s/he cannot make you exercise every day or remove items from your dinner plate that are unhealthy. A doctor can only tell you what you should do; you are responsible for putting his or her advice into action.

All doctors acknowledge that diet, stress, exercise, and relaxation are four fundamental keys for good health. Regardless of whether you are in perfect physical condition or currently struggling with an illness, integrating these four keys into your life will have a huge impact on your health. Some of the many benefits include:

• Preventing future illness: A person who puts the four keys into action is more likely to fight-off illness. Numerous studies have shown that a diet high in fruits and vegetables not only fights current illnesses, but wards off future illnesses. A person who experiences high levels of stress is more likely to succumb to illness – so try to bring that stress down.
• Reducing inflammation: Inflammation can cause chronic pain and many other ailments. To learn about how the four keys can help reduce inflammation, please read our article, “Anti-inflammatories, and Reducing Inflammation Naturally.”
• Improving Mental Acuity: When your body is supplied with the right foods, exercised regularly, and allowed to relax without stress, you will find that your mind functions at a higher level. Many people find they can think faster, clearer, and harder.
• Healing Faster: If you have recently had an illness or injury, the four keys can help you heal faster. Exercise alone will help you heal eight times faster.
• Improving Stress, Diet, Exercise, and Relaxation: As you incorporate each key into your life, you will find that other keys are simultaneously improved. For example, if you eat a healthy diet, your body will be able to exercise better and burn energy faster. Conversely, when you exercise more, your body will crave healthier food and be able to relax more. Exercise is also a great way to burn-off stress. When you are not as stressed, emotional eating decreases.

By incorporating these four keys into your life, you will create a strong, healthy body that forms the basis for your future health. Start today by incorporating one of the keys into your life and then gradually work to incorporate the others.

Two weeks have passed since New Years – the night we all vow to make changes. New Year’s resolutions can be invigorating and motivating; they are an opportunity to examine our lives and note the difference we would like to make in the upcoming year.

But two weeks have passed now and some of us are left wondering, “Have I bitten off more than I can chew?” In the spirit of change, many of us get carried away and create long lists of things we would like to change or choose particularly hard resolutions. As the realities of daily life set-in, we realize we may not be able to accomplish everything we had hoped. Feelings of disappointment and guilt are sure to follow when we don’t live-up to our high expectations.

So where do we go from here? First, just because you may have “fudged” a few resolutions or not followed through on others, it doesn’t mean they should be thrown in the trash and forgotten. Every day is a new day and with it comes the opportunity to start fresh. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t changes to be made. Instead of heaping a load of changes onto our lives in one day, we can take a better approach. By gradually implementing new resolutions, we can make changes that last.

You can start by making a list of all of your goals. Then, try breaking your goals into smaller, attainable goals. For example, if one of your goals is to do everything you can to conceive this year, ask yourself, “What steps can I take to ensure that?” Jot down all the different ways you could improve your chances of conceptions. Some items on your list might include:

• Meet with my gynecologist
• Improve my nutrition
• Exercise regularly
• Complete a relaxing activity each week
• Research treatment options with which I am comfortable

Once you have your list, separate each goal into weeks. For example, we could divide our sample list this way:

• Week 1: Schedule appointment with gynecologist
• Week 2: Research treatment options with which I am comfortable, so I am prepared to speak with my doctor
• Week 3: Improve my nutrition by eliminating white sugar, white flour, and other processed foods
• Week 4: Begin exercising three times a week. Find a work-out buddy or sign-up for an exciting exercise class.
• Week 5: Start doing yoga, meditation, or a quiet walk in the park to remain calm
• Week 6: Research other changes I can incorporate into my life to help me conceive
• Week 7: Add beneficial foods to my life – eat more fruits and vegetables
• Week 8: Exercise 10 minutes longer every 3 days, or exercise 4 times a week.
• Week 9: Add a second relaxing activity to my week

Although these gradual changes are not as instantly satisfying as completing an entire set of goals in one day, you are more likely to stick to your resolutions when they gradually become apart of your daily life and routine. Then, when the ball drops and 2010 begins, you will be able to look back at 2009 and be surprised at all you have accomplished.

by Jackie Schuld

I grew up hearing the old adage, “Everything Happens for a Reason.” I’ve tried to apply the principle to different obstacles in my life, but in September, my mother was diagnosed with recurrent ovarian cancer. As my mother faces a life-threatening illness, it hardly seems fair to think such a painful thing is happening for a reason.

In my job, I speak with infertile women almost every day. I believe that they too must find it painful when people suggest that everything happens for a reason. Did they do something to deserve this struggle? Is there something they need to be taught through infertility? Asking these types of questions only adds unneeded stress and guilt. I believe the old adage still has value, but it is better used when examining life retrospectively.

So what do women do when they are still in the midst of their struggles? Instead of trying to find a reason, women may be better served to use the time to look introspectively. Women can seize the opportunity to examine their lives and see how much time they are devoting for their personal health and well-being. Examining areas like nutrition, exercise, relaxation, personal relationships, and personal happiness can open the doors for growth and change.

This is especially important for women who struggle with infertility. The constant cycle of treatments, charts, medication, and schedules can be very draining and stressful. By taking the time to focus on themselves, infertile women are not only creating something good from an unfortunate situation, they are improving their fertility.

If you would like to read how nutrition, exercise, and stress affect infertility check out our studies of interest at http://www.clearpassage.com/resources/studies.php