Wellness

CHOOSE YOUR PATH AND DON’T LOOK BACK

BY HUNTER PLOSZAY

Aproblem people of all ages face is staying true to themselves and their real passions out of fear of ridicule and not being accepted by their group of friends and family. Life catches up with us and our life decisions start to sway between practicality and inner happiness. Robin Chant’s new book The Art of Choosing You: Tools to Radically Shift Your Thinking is a personal journey to finding yourself and making deep connections with those around you.

Robin Chant is a Brandon, MB, fire-fighter - paramedic and humanitarian. After many years of fighting fires and helping people who are injured and sick, The Art of Choosing You will put out internal fires, strife and help one’s self heal.

Robin knew she was different from her group of friends. While her friends would gossip about superficial nonsense and talk about their marriages and children, Robin was constantly subdued with incoming interrogations about why she wasn’t on the same family path as her group. The truth is Robin didn’t want a husband and kids like her so called friends. She actually believed that meant something was wrong with her—until she found energy healing!

“Once you Choose You, Anything is Possible”

- Robin Chant

As Robin was volunteering the Red Cross in Puerto Rico, she met someone that told her she wasn’t wrong for making a choice of not desiring children – she was fi nally honoured for her choices and it was a turning point for her. From this experience she came home from volunteering and set up to re-discover her before she allowed judgment from others to stop her and what she desired to create in her life.

This led her to discover Energy / Holistic Healing which looks at every aspect of you and your life for overall health. In one of the many courses she took, she was introduced to the concept of the circle theory which shows what judgment is and isn’t and how much it limits our lives. She fi nally was able to choose herself beyond judgment and start creating a life she desired.

She started her practice and helped many clients in such intimate ways that allowed herself to grow and step more into her potency. She then dove into teaching many diff erent energy / holistic healing modalities that are all about lett ing go of your limitations and moving towards choosing you without judgment.

Her new passion created her to have more confi dence in who she was. She even fl ew half-way around the world and climbed Kilimanjaro. In 2001, she volunteered for 3 weeks with the Red Cross at Ground Zero. This allowed her to step more into the strength of her – which the circle theory is all about.

After many years of seeing clients and teaching students all around North America, she wrote a book fi lled with tools, tips and questions that she wished each and everyone of the clients & students had. What if you never judged you again? The book; The Art of Choosing You: Tools to Radically Shift Your Life, invites you to get to know you without judgment and of not being right or wrong and how connecting to your 4 main aspects of you allows you to create a deeper connection to yourself and others. “There is no positive and negative judgments, only interesting points of view.” - Robin Chant 

Robin Chant robin@artofchoosingyou.com www.artofchoosingyou.com /artofchoosingyou /artofchoosingyou

Because your quality of life matters

“Our Family taking care of Your Family!”

Our caregivers are qualified and trained to provide support for individuals living with Alzheimers, Parkinsons, MS and ALS. We want to assure you that you will feel confident, safe and loved with our compassionate caregivers.

Our Services

• Self & Family Managed Care • Caring Campanionship • Transportation • Personal Care • Meals & Food • Health Management • Home Making

VIP Home Care Inc. provides loving and supportive non-medical care to seniors and others with special needs. We are committed to helping you remain in the comfort and safety of your own home with the goal of assisting you to stay active and engaged in life. We provide respite and support for the family giving them the peace of mind they need to enjoy their lives! We stand by our motto of “Our Family taking care of Your Family!”

We are in regular communication and offer flexible scheduling and there are no standard shifts; we are here for you whenever you need us! We strive to provide a consistent and personalized schedule to allow both our clients and caregivers an enjoyable and successful relationship! We work for YOU.

VIP Home Care Inc. continues to provide care and support during these difficult times. We are taking all precautions in order to keep our Clients and Caregivers safe.

VIP Homecare

144-99 Scurfield Blvd Winnipeg, MB 204-504-4077 info@viphomecare.ca www.viphomecare.ca

Pandemic fatigue

Are you surviving or thriving?

BY KIM RAAIJMAKERS

How can you go from fatigued and stressed to continuing to live your life even while in the midst of a pandemic?

9 months of anxiety, stress, constant vigilance, changing health protocols and guidelines. Add in cold and fl u season, and you may be feeling more anxiety with every cough, sneeze and running nose. It is exhausting. Without a doubt 2020 has defi nitely handed us a variety of challenges.

You are exhausted because of the stress overload that your body and brain have been experiencing this past year.

The best description I’ve seen was by Tara Haelle in an article on Medium in August 2020. In it she describes our current circumstance as: “your ‘surge capacity’ is depleted — it’s why you feel awful”. Think of the surge protectors you have your computer connected to for power. When there is an electrical surge the surge protector will block the electric overload and protect your computer from damage. Our brains are also built to protect us from high periods of stress – but only for short periods of times!

We are able to handle short bursts of high stress, such as in a natural disaster; think back the reaction and response to the fl oods in June 2020. Yes we are stressed but we rally and take action.

With this pandemic, it is both a natural disaster AND a prolonged invisible threat. Our brains are not created to handle this level of stress for the long term – i.e. our surge protector no longer has capacity to protect us. With this pandemic, we not only have a large disaster, it is a long endurance of a disaster. Our brains were not built to sustain this over the long term. Also as a virus, we can’t see it and that makes taking action diffi cult. We are unable to go into problem solving mode, taking action. So we are left in the limbo of stress.

So how do you protect yourself and go on living your life even in the midst of the pandemic?

1. Choose the words you use to describe how your feel and your situation carefully. In the beginning, I would say – I am quarantining at home, I’m in self-isolation. This creates and embeds the idea of separation and loss. Now I say – ‘I’m staying safe at home’. So often we create extensive stories (both good and bad) about what is happening to make ourselves feel bett er. Challenge these stories, make sure they are serving you and lifting you up. 2. Talk about how you are feeling with someone you trust. If you don’t express your feelings, you don’t feel bett er, and your feelings stay festering in your mind and body. Over time these repressed feelings will be expressed in any number of ways through your body. Either with you becoming ill, burnt out or worse. It is ok to take the time to grieve the loss of special moments, experiences you had looked forward to, traditions that have had to change.

3. Focus on activities that will replenish your emotional

and mental resilience, i.e. your ‘surge protector’. This can be gett ing extra sleep, start a larger project at home you have put off , gett ing exercise, eat healthy.

4. Focus on what is going well, or the experiences you have gained in this time. Remember: What you focus on expands! Yes this pandemic can be crappy, and if that is your focus, that is all you will see and experience. If you look for the great experiences and advantages, you will see more of them!

5. Lower the expectations of yourself

– especially if you are a high achiever. Be gentle with yourself and know that there will be good days and bad days. Recognize that this is a diff erent time, so the old rules and expectations no longer apply.

You can allow the pandemic and all the changes and risks overwhelm you. Becoming exhausted by the limitations and fears that wash over you.

OR you can choose to adapt, change and become stronger in spite of the adversity.

Either option is a choice that you make.

Feel the power of knowing you have the CHOICE! 

Winnipeg’s Neighborhood Gym

You’ve been stuck inside for months, doing what you can to stay active, but let’s be honest: that’s no easy feat when you’re left to your own devices. If you’ve been telling yourself for months, “I need to get moving, I want to get healthier,” then you’re not alone.

At Brickhouse Gym we hear you loud and clear! We know that movement is key to feeling better – both physically and mentally – and we also know that it’s hard to stay on track alone. That’s why we’re here to help you get moving, get active, or even just get started.

Small, incremental changes add up to massive improvements over time. So, by deciding to take the first step toward a more active lifestyle, you’re taking back control of your health and well-being! You deserve to feel good again.

And look, we know Rome wasn’t built in a day, so that’s why Brickhouse is here to help you carry the load, stacking brick after brick and building the foundation for a better life.

At Brickhouse you’ll get 24/7 access to an incredible range of equipment and machines at multiple locations. From cardio machines to lifting platforms, strongman equipment, free weights, weight machines, and ample room to do your own body weight or mobility work, we have everything you need to start feeling strong. We off er student and senior rates, as well as special rates for fi rst responders and military personnel. Our trainers specialize in a variety of health and fi tness goals, and our gyms off er the welcoming, resultsdriven environment you need to achieve those goals.

Now is the time to prioritize yourself and build the strength your body needs to handle anything life throws at you!

All that’s left is to register! Visit www.brickhousegym.ca and sign up today.  See you at the gym.

Brickhouse Gym 2 locations in Winnipeg 104 King Edward St E 418 Gertrude Ave 204-729-6712 brickhousegym.ca