Tag: how to

Healthy Habits, Lifestyle, Productivity

Staying productive via bookend routines

Corie Muldoon

Pick 3 things to do right in the morning.

They could be:

Drink water, wash up, stretch, meditate, journal, pray, give thanks, etc.

Test out different combinations to see what gets you going!

As you close your day out, pick 3 things to do right before bed.

They could be:

Wash up, stretch, meditate, visualize, journal, read, give thanks, etc.

Once you find a routine you vibe with,

Focus on getting your bookends done no matter what…

Start and end your day the same way!

You’ll feel in more of a routine, even if the day ahead of you is out of rhythm.

And of course you can spice your routines up as needed by trying something new!

x Corie

General, Lifestyle, Mindfulness

Figure out how to thrive

Corie Muldoon

How can I use this situation to actually improve and be better in the long run?

Be a visionary and an innovative.

Choose to see the good in the bad.

Choose to see the opportunity in adversity.

Put your emotions aside.

Focus.

Make this work for you and your life.

Choose to evolve and find a solution that helps the world evolve.

Embrace that mentality —> it’s the mindset of a winner.

If you don’t have it, make the choice to have it.

Don’t panic, stay focused, things will work out!

x Corie

Getting Started, Mindfulness, Relationships

Eliminate “I’m fine” out of your vocabulary

Corie Muldoon

Eliminate “I’m fine” out of your vocabulary with the ones you love.

When we give the same answer to a loved one that we do a stranger,

We are shutting ourselves out from the chance to grow a deeper connection with someone who is genuinely trying to show up for us.

FINE is not a true answer. Dig deep about what you’re feeling. What’s the truth?

Give the people around you the chance to be there.

And allow yourself to let go of any bad feelings…

Feelings don’t last forever.

Shout out to #noramcinerny for her time and energy at Bryn Athyn’s #newchurchlive (aka my second home) about this time last year.

These were some notes from her talk.

So blessed and grateful for her kind words and infectious personality. Check out Nora’s ted talk on grief it’s so worth the watch!

x Corie

Getting Started, Movement

What is foam rolling?

Corie Muldoon

Foam rollers are used as an effective method to…

  1. increase blood flow
  2. enhance ROM (range of motion)
  3. reduce tension
  4. increase muscle length

during both warm-up and post-workout sessions.

Warm-Up Sessions

Be sure to use a foam roller for only a brief period of time to elevate tissue temperature and reduce tension.

Think light, even pressure over muscle groups that you will be targeting during your workout.

For example, it’s leg day… so I’m going to foam roll (with light and even pressure) my glutes, hips, quads, hammies, and calves within 60 minutes of my leg workout.

If you find an area of tension, fight the urge to increase pressure.

Applying pressure with a foam roller for an extended period of time during your warm-up session could desensitize the muscle and affect its ability to contract during your workout.

Post-Workout Sessions

After your workout, foam rollers are a great tool that can help reduce soreness and promote the recovery process.

Areas of tension are a main priority post-workout. My rule of thumb is to foam roll within 3 hours post-workout.

Aim to move at a consistent tempo of approximately 1 inch per second; focus on areas of tension for up to 90 seconds to allow the tissue to relax and lengthen.

If you find an area of tension that is extremely painful, take it easy and lay off some pressure.

It’s important to listen to your body, and utilizing the foam roller gives you the opportunity to hear your body from the inside out.

You’ll quickly get the hang of knowing how much pressure to apply, where, and for how long.

Foam rolling also helps promote a feeling of relaxation after a workout, an important psychological benefit.

Areas of Tension: Knots

Exercise-induced muscle damage signals the repair process.

This is when new collagen molecules are formed to help repair injured tissue…

Most likely forming adhesions (aka knots) between layers along the way.

You know what knots I’m talking about…

If you press down around your neck, shoulders, and between your shoulder blades… you’d feel ’em… super tender, may feel like a ball that is tight and/or sore.

Well the average person has knots all over their body… in our hands, around our ankles and wrists, even on our heads.

Knots are large and small in size and can be caused by a variety of activities like exercising, poor posture, bumping into something, and sleeping weird on an on-going basis.

The good news?!

Using a foam roller regularly can help minimize the risk of knots developing all together…

Which means less pain and more ENERGY!

Regular Use

With regular use a foam roller can…

  1. Reduce every day tension and muscle tightness
  2. Increase joint range of motion
  3. Enhance energy levels

To start, I’d recommend incorporating foam rolling 3-5 days a week.

The goal would be to foam roll during all warm-up & post-workout sessions.

However, when you are first getting started… let’s start small.

Let’s focus on getting into the habit of foam rolling areas of tension post-workout for a few minutes at a time.

It’s simple and will give you immediate benefits leaving you with inspiration to keep the habit going.

Plus, you can work your way up in frequency and duration at your own pace.

So with all of that being said, I would highly recommend incorporating foam rolling into your workout regime!

Do you use a foam roller? How has it impacted your life? Comment below!

Happy Foam Rolling!
x Corie

Getting Started, Lifestyle, Nutrition

Whole-food plant-based diet

Corie Muldoon

A whole-food, plant-based diet is known to be the ticket to great health.

But what do we mean when we say, whole-food plant-based diet?

Let’s break it down:

Whole-Food

Foods that are not refined, they’re consumed as they’re found in nature.

Plant-Based

Majority of the foods consumed come from the plant kingdom.

Diet

What we eat. NOT the restriction of calories to lose weight.

Simply, a whole-food plant-based diet means the vast majority (90%+) of what you consume on a daily basis comes from whole plant foods.


Plant-Based Meals

A plant-based meal is geared toward combining fresh produce (fruits, veggies, leafy greens) with dried-nonperishables (nuts, seeds, grains, beans, herbs).

The goal is to make meal composition easy and flavorful.

The food that you have on hand should be high in nutrients and ideally be unadulterated, unprocessed and in its most natural whole-food state.

For some inspo, let’s create some meals together now…

Fresh Salad

fruitavocado
veggiebaby carrots
leafy greenfew handfuls of spinach
nutpistachios
seedsunflower seeds
grain
proteinchickpeas
herbthyme leaves
condimentshoney mustard
spicessalt and pepper

Rice and Beans Bowl

fruittomato
veggieasparagus
leafy greenpinch of arugula
nut
seed
grainjasmine rice
proteinblack beans
herbred pepper flakes, oregano
condimentsliquid aminos
spicesonion powder, garlic powder


Benefits

A whole-food plant-based diet has been shown to:

  1. Make weight loss easy and effortless (without feeling hungry)
  2. Drastically lower cholesterol
  3. Prevent AND reverse Type 2 Diabetes and dramatically improve Type 1 Diabetes
  4. Prevent AND reverse heart disease and high blood pressure
  5. Bring relief to digestive orders such as IBS, colitis and chronic constipation
  6. Slow the progression of and/or reverse autoimmune disorders such as MS and rheumatoid
  7. Clear skin issues such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema
  8. Fight against the development and progression of cancer
  9. Improve or eliminate asthma
  10. Improve immunity

…and much more.

So now that you have the basis of a healthy whole-food plant-based diet – get creative, try new recipes, and enjoy eating guilt free knowing it’s all good for you food 🙂

Let me know how you decide to eat your plants by snapping a pic and sharing your creations via email or social media🤍

Getting Started, Lifestyle, Mindfulness

Daily Routines

Corie Muldoon

From the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep, you are in a routine.

Morning, afternoon, evening…

We go about our time doing certain things a certain way, not always realizing the long term effect those choices may have.

These routines are habits built from our choices.

A routine could be as simple as coffee first thing in the morning, or going the same route to work.

An easy way to spice up our lives is to switch up our routines.

Sub out coffee for tea twice a week. Take a different road to get to work. Mix things up- keep life interesting and exciting!

Are Your Routines Helping or Hurting You?

Now that you are aware that you have routines, no matter how unseeingly small, there’s no question that some routines serve our best interest while others don’t.

In truth, the little things add up to bigger things- this is called the compound effect.

Overtime, are your actions leading you toward your goals, are they holding you back, are they destroying you?

Switching up your routines is important to stay out of the ruts, however it’s equally important to make sure what those routines consist of are good, positive habits that get you to your goals.

2-Week Time Tracking Exercise

Let’s start by tracking what you do on a daily basis for 2 whole weeks.

Every 30 minutes, write down what you did.

Each week, analyze where your time is spent and where you can improve.

This will start to give you an idea of what may be helping you and what may actually be hurting you.

The Chain Method

Once you’ve completed your 2-week time tracking exercise, gather a list of good habits you’d like to implement down the road.

We recommend making a list greater than 3 of good habits you wantt to work on as you progress.

With this list, choose which habit makes the most sense or is the most relevant to your current life situation.

The key to lasting change is to focus on building one new (realistic) habit at a time.

So choose 1 from your list to start with, keeping it as small and as simple to do as possible.

Maybe you read everyday, but you decide to read up on self development instead of mystery novels.

Maybe you want to stretch more and decide to do a one minute stretch each day for 30 days.

Building Momentum

Start with one day, doing whatever habit you wish to work on.

Mark on your calendar each day you did what you set out to do.

As the days pass, you’ll see you’re actively building a chain- work not to break it, keep the streak going!

Remember: keep it simple, taking it day by day.

Wrap Up

We all have the same amount of time in a day. It’s what we choose to do in this very moment that will determine if we reach our goals or not.

Choose wisely (-:
x Corie