A Wellness Gift + Your Input
As I write this end of year post, I want to share how incredibly grateful I am for the Alexandria Stylebook community! You care about your community and the business owners in it, and none of us would have survived this most unusual year were it not for your incredible support. Thank you!Because of you - the expanded idea of wellness, rather than just fitness, is taking root. Every day I get calls and e-mails from people and corporations who want to learn how to really develop wellness habits that not only keep them fit but… more importantly, enhance wellness in every part of their lives. 
So, for this final article of 2020, I am offering something a bit different: A Wellness Gift and a small request for your time and input that will help to expand our impact in 2021 within the community.The Gift: Below is a quick way to assess your wellness knowledge, along with some top tips for the new year.The Request: At the end of the Top Tips is a link to a brief five – ten minute survey that will enable me to gather data for both the design and distribution of an online wellness program that will make Alexandria Wellness' signature program accessible throughout the city and beyond.There is no one I count on more than the Alexandria Stylebook community to give me honest input to advance this effort, so THANK YOU in advance for this gift of five very precious minutes of time!
The Gift: Assess Your Wellness
1. True or False - The best way to achieve work/life balance is to take care of personal and wellness activities before and after work hours. Tip: This is false. The key to work/ life balance is to align and integrate your personal and work life in a way that makes sense for you. 2. Which is the better strategy for achieving sustainable long-term wellness goals: big goals matched with big aspirations or continuous integration of small habit changes?Tip: The brain responds much more positively to small changes that are easier to integrate and maintain than big goals that are aspirational but often not realistic. 
3. Which of the following increases the level of stress your brain experiences?- multitasking- lack of sleep- long "to-do" lists- saying "yes"- All of the aboveTip: All of the above increase the experience of strain. Make stress resilience a top priority and you will respond better to external forces, be less "hangry," and sleep better. 
4. What is the ideal number of sleep hours for an adult? A) 6-6.5 B) 7-7.5 C) 8-8.5Tip: 7-7.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep will help you lead a productive, content, and wellness-centric life. 5. Which of the following is not a strategy for pursuing mindfulness: A) Deliberate breathing: B) Re-framing Negative Self-Talk: C) Meditation: D) Completing Crossword puzzlesTip: Mindfulness can be accessed through a variety of strategies. The ones listed here (except D) are the simplest to start and highly effective. 6. What impact does your daily schedule have on your wellness? A) none B) somewhat C) a great dealTip: The pace of your day, as well as what you do in a day, significantly impacts your wellness. Building in your sleep, meal planning, walks, fitness, water, and breaks throughout the day can help foster a wellness-centric lifestyle. 7. True or False - You have to have a gym membership to get fit.Tip: Turn your day into your gym. You can do push-ups while your coffee brews, stand and sit every hour, and go on short thirty-second – one-minute walks to help you achieve your fitness goals. 8. Which of the following reasons explains why it's important to be able to get on and off the floor without using your hands? A) Indicator of strength B) Indicator of mobility C) Indicator of balance D) Indicator of intelligenceTip: Answer: A, B, and C. Start small by using a wall or anchored furniture as assistance to get down and up from the floor. Pay attention to which side is stronger and which seems to feel greater balance. 9. How many positive thoughts does it take the brain to overcome one negative thought? A) 5 B) 15 C) 20 D) 100Tip: The answer is C! Our language has a lot to do with how well we will succeed in our wellness plan. Find terms that are not complimenting your wellness, like "can't" replacing them with "yet," and small shifts can happen! 10. True or False - The body responds to a 100 calorie pretzel pack the same as a 100 calorie serving of salmon?Tip: This is false. Eating nutrient-rich meals will help you gain greater health, productivity, and less "hangries." Instead of counting calories, focus alternatively on how the food was produced and how it makes you feel. 11. Which is better for your stress? Three square meals or mini-meals throughout the day?Tip: Our body takes six - eight hours to digest food. It is also only good at doing one thing at a time. So mini-meals throughout the day can be confusing to the digestive system that is still busy working on the previous meal. Instead, focus on nutrient-rich foods with ample protein, healthy fat, and fiber. 
12. Where in the body would you find the largest number of sweat glands? A) forehead B) armpits C) feet D) handsTip: Our feet are responsible for most of the physical action our bodies take. The feet have 25 bones, 107 ligaments, and 18 muscles. They have thousands of nerves in contact with the floor that talk to the rest of your body. The more you are barefoot, the more your brain will comfort in its place in space.Which tip will you use to advance your wellness in 2021?
The Request:
That five minutes was our gift to you... if you are able, please click this link and offer us five - ten minutes of your valuable input to help us expand how we can advance wellness throughout Alexandria and beyond.
