Today’s episode is a relaxamation and it focuses on taking time for yourself and putting yourself first.

When was the last time you spent a whole day just for yourself, doing only what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it? I don’t do it very often myself and yet I know that I should.

It’s an essential part of self-care. Self-care shouldn’t be for when you’re burnt out, uptight, stressed and feeling awful it should be used as part of your everyday life to avoid feeling depleted and unable to cope. If you have others that you care for or look after then you need to look after yourself first. Think of the oxygen mask on the plane, always put it on yourself first else you won’t be able to save others and may even make the situation worse.

Life should be enjoyable as our mental health impacts our physical health; do you know what brings you joy? Maybe a bit of homework for you 😉

Time is something we can’t make more of but we can make more money, have more relationships or more jobs, and find some time for yourself. Live with gratitude for all the experiences you have, if you can’t give yourself a day, then look for an hour or maybe an afternoon.

Be glad you did rather than wish that you had!

Do not listen to this episode while driving or operating machinery.

Your affirmations

1. Today is my day
2. I set aside time to laugh and play
3. I spend time doing what I love

Say your affirmations 5 times each as a set. Repeat your set of affirmations at least once a day. The more you use them the bigger the impact. Add them to a habit that you do every day. While cleaning your teeth, driving, running, walking your dog, washing the dishes, when you first wake up or the last thing at night.

Your self-reflection questions are:

1. What is one new thing I want to try today?
2. How can slowing down help me to stop wasting time?
3. What can children teach me about enjoying life?
4. What do I enjoy doing, having, and being?

Use these reflection questions to delve a little deeper and get to know yourself better. You can use them as prompts for journaling, during meditation or just give yourself a few moments of time to consider.

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.

I am not sure about you but does your cardiac event consume your life? Is your heart health at the centre of everything that you do or think?

Awe is an emotion characterised by a sense of reverence or wonder in response to something perceived as vast or great. Something outside of yourself. It has been shown to have several potential health benefits.

Today I am going to talk about awe as it has been shown to have a positive impact on both psychological and physical health, making it an important aspect of well-being after a heart attack or heart surgery.

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.

The Dalai Lama said, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” To me, the quote means that experiencing pain, physical and emotional, is a natural and unavoidable part of life, but whether or not we experience suffering as a result of that pain is a choice that we can make. In other words, we can choose to let the pain control and consume us, causing suffering, or we can choose to accept the pain and manage it in a healthy and constructive way.

Managing how we feel and react to people, circumstances, and situations can reduce our suffering. You are in charge of how you feel.

I’m sure you are familiar with the term, “You choose how you react”. Actually, it’s not 100% true as our limbic system is always on the lookout for trouble and anything that would be a threat so you may initially experience a fight or flight response. However, you can stop, take a breath or two, and calmly reconsider your response, there may be some facts you weren’t aware of, and therefore take charge of how you feel.

Do not listen to this episode while driving or operating machinery.

Your affirmations:

1. I am in charge of how I feel
2. I choose thoughts that give me control of how I feel
3. I decide how I want to feel

Say your affirmations 5 times each as a set. Repeat your set of affirmations at least once a day. The more you use them the bigger the impact. Add them to a habit that you do every day. While cleaning your teeth, driving, running, walking your dog, washing the dishes, when you first wake up, or the last thing at night.

Your self-reflection questions are:

1. In what situations do my emotions work against me?
2. When I lose control of my emotions, what happens?
3. How would my life be changed if I had more control over my emotions?

Use these reflection questions to delve a little deeper and get to know yourself better. You can use them as prompts for journaling, during meditation or just give yourself a few moments of time to consider.

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.

I am sure that like me you experience stress and anxiety. I thought that prior to my heart attack, I had it pretty much nailed anxiety and that I managed my stress levels well.

Perhaps I did but after discharge from the hospital it got really out of my control and I had to learn to practice what I had been preaching to my clients.

Today I am sharing with you 5 different ways of using your breath to improve your stress tolerance, enhance energy, and regulate your emotional and cognitive states.

1. Psychological Sigh
2. Box Breathing
3. Diaphragmatic Breathing
4. 4-7-8 Breathing
5. Alternate Nostril Breathing

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.

My interview with Jon Johnston. He’s a survivor of a widow maker heart attack and a cardiac arrest that caused him to be without oxygen for 20 minutes, technically dead. He is also an author of two books and a sports website owner.

Today he talks to me about his life before his event and how he died but miraculously survived. He shares with me how he pieced together what had happened with the help of family and friends along with his realisation that he was not the only person affected. His heart attack impacted his family and friends in ways that he didn’t expect.

Due to oxygen deprivation Jon now lives with a traumatic brain injury and yet during his recovery, he has penned two books to help himself and others with their own recovery. We talk about how Jon lives his life happy and has ambitions for the future despite the change to his life, health, and knowledge that he will never be the person he once was.

We talk about Jon’s books and he shares some content with us. Some of his tried and tested activities have helped him and will help you too.

You can find the links we mentioned here:
www.Manageyourdamage.com
www.Jonjohnston.com
Been Dead, Never Been To Europe
Manage Your Damage – Heart Attack Survivor

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.

This week is about nutrition, and my guest is Cheryl Strachan of Sweet Spot Nutrition. She is a Registered Dietitian, specialising in cardiac nutrition and wellness.

Her mission is to share her love for food that hits the sweet spot. She is also the author of a recipe book. It's called 30-Minute Heart Healthy Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for Easy, Low-Sodium Meals. Cheryl believes that we should focus on eating for health gain, because in the long run, weight loss diets don’t work for most people.

Please note that since we recorded this episode, alcohol recommendations have become quite a bit more conservative, due to more recent studies that link alcohol to cancer and heart disease even at relatively low levels.

(In Canada the new guidelines say low-risk drinking is 0-2 per week, moderate risk is 3-6 per week, and the risk goes up from there.😳)

Today we talk about involvement in cardiac rehab in Calgary and how she developed her model the sweet spot. We have a great discussion about moderation, and what it actually means in real life.

We chat about how what you eat can help reduce fatigue and talk about mood foods. If you want to hear her thoughts on chocolate, coffee, and wine, then stay tuned.

How to reach Cheryl: https://sweetspotnutrition.ca/

Free Book, The Sweet Spot Guide to Eating Well with Heart Concerns: https://sweetspotnutrition.ca/eating-well-with-heart-concerns/

Why not join Cheryl in the Sweet Spot Kitchen: https://sweetspotnutrition.ca/join-us-in-the-sweet-spot-kitchen. The kitchen is the heart and soul of your home – and the Sweet Spot Kitchen is the heart and soul of my cardiac nutrition program. Simply knowing what to eat after a heart event or diagnosis isn’t enough. Staying committed day after day, year after year can be challenging. Find your Sweet Spot with food that’s healthy, delicious, and right for you, with guidance from me and the support of an entire community.

As mentioned
The Look AHEAD study www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1212914
Mediterranean diet studies www.nejm.

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.

Today’s episode is going to be rather different; it’s going to be a fictional story. It’s a story of someone that had a heart attack although it is founded in a true story. It’s the first fictional story that I have found about having a cardiac event and I’d like to share it with you.

I came across the author, Aaron David in a Facebook group when I was looking for people to proofread and give me feedback on my book ‘The Beat Goes On’, a how-to support yourself emotionally and practically guide for once you were discharged from hospital.

Aaron agreed, he then told me he was a published author – this nearly gave me my second heart attack as I was then nervous about what he might say. He was amazing and really helped get it just right. In the meantime, I thought I would check out his work and found that he was the author of numerous books of short humorous fiction stories and poems.

When I read his book of short stories “Booky McBookface” I came across this story that I would like to share with you today. It reminded me of how we never know what is just around the corner and how quickly things can change.

Stories can be more than just fictional, they can be metaphors for life. I use them a lot in my hypnotherapy scripts they allow clients to apply their meaning and make the changes they desire.

It's not me or Aaron who is going to read the story but another hearty, Tony Richens-Smith. Tony is also a published author he also wrote “Not Everyone Wants a Hug” seeing the world through the eyes of a dog.

After his widow-maker during covid he wrote his second book “My B****** Heart”, his personal journey after his heart attack. It was when I was listening to his audio book version, I thought I’d ask him to record this for me.

So now without any further ado, I will hand you over to Tony and the Egregious (uh·gree·juhs) Fortune.

Aaron's Website

Aaron's Amazon Authors Page for Books

Tony's Website

Tony's Amazon Authors Page for

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.

Quit hiding your magic! You are UNIQUE, you are the only one like you. You have one of a kind fingerprints, not even identical twins have matching ones. You are the outcome of one egg and around 40 million sperm, any other sperm and you would be a different you. You are the only one to see colours the way you do.

Remember not to compare yourself with others as there is no comparison. And anyway, you would be matching their outsides (what you see) with your insides (with what you think and feel).

The same goes for our health and our life in general. Even if we are feeling broken, we can live with health issues but still be healthy in mind and body. We can still live our lives happy. It really does help to remind yourself that you are good enough and that you are whole, healthy and complete.

Do not listen to this episode while driving or operating machinery.

Your affirmations:

1. I am whole, healthy and complete
2. I am enough just as I am
3. My completeness is my very nature

Say your affirmations 5 times each as a set. Repeat your set of affirmations at least once a day.
The more you use them the bigger the impact. Add them to a habit that you do every day. While cleaning your teeth, driving, running, walking your dog, washing the dishes, when you first wake up or the last thing at night.

Your self-reflection questions are:

1. What are my three greatest qualities?
2. What is unique about me?
3. In what ways do I hold myself back?
4. Why, do I hold myself back?

Use these reflection questions to delve a little deeper and get to know yourself better. You can use them as prompts for journaling, during meditation or just give yourself a few moments of time to consider.

To find more visit my Podcast & Blog Page.

Resources
Download my zero cost Cheat Sheet of 146 Ready For You Affirmations which will give you many options to choose your own affirmations.
Jump on the waitlist for my 6 weeks to Sleep Easy after a Cardiac Event workshop.
Learn a Simple Way to Meditate to gain the benefits of Non-

Send me a message, I'd love to hear from you!

You can read the complete article about this episode here Podcast & Blog Page.

Disclaimer
The information contained within my podcast and on my website is for general information purposes only. It is not official health advice and is not intended to be used as such. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website is strictly at your own risk. If you have any questions pertaining to specific health concerns or you think you may be suffering from a medical condition, you should consult a medical professional immediately. You should also consult a medical professional before making any changes to your normal lifestyle habits. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Getting to know Sallie Crawley
Survivorship after a life-changing event can be challenging. You can rebuild the puzzle of your life and thrive. It takes one beat at a time and the support of people that have had similar experiences. Join me and other hearties in the My Heart & Mind Community, you'll get a warm welcome.