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How to Make Your Workspace More Green, Holistic and Healthy

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sustainability in the workplace ideas

How to Create a Green Culture in Your Workspace

As you transition your home to a healthy green home, you’ll want to start transferring those habits to your office. Paper and the endless amount of electricity and disposables that come with an office will ultimately find their way to the landfills just like it does at home. So, start leading by example and begin making small changes and talking to your office manager. 

Office Recycling Program

One of the easiest ways to get the office on the bandwagon is to start a recycling program (if your office doesn’t already have one). We all know the massive amounts of paper that go through our offices. One of the easiest ways to do this is to set up a central bin (or two if you need it, depending on your office size) where everyone can recycle their paper. Encourage the office manager to buy only recycled paper. Start turning off computers and lights at night and turn down the heat a few degrees. 

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How Can a Coach Improve a Client’s Behavior by Optimizing the Brain’s Power?

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Harnessing the Brain’s Power to Achieve Goals 

As a coach or trainer, you will want to learn how to awaken our highest potential by harnessing the power of our thoughts to achieve goals. You will find this very helpful as you work with clients making behavior changes. 

The reality: we are only a thought away from significant change. Experiencing well-being can be dialed in at the level of our brain. Thoughts create emotions and emotions color our every life experience. Emotions are what give our life meaning. The unpleasant ones inspire us to take on challenges; the pleasant ones bring us peace and happiness. 

How to Use Our Thoughts Productively

Let’s look at how to take our thoughts and train our brains how to use these thoughts productively. We do this by shifting the thoughts that no longer serve us as needed; this allows us to successfully achieve our goals. In order to understand this, we have to acknowledge the work of theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. One of his most famous quotes states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another. Einstein also stated a belief that thoughts are energy and thoughts are constantly creating our life – from our thoughts come emotions and emotions are what keep us on track in life. They guide us to deeper happiness. Emotions provide feelings and insights into our thoughts and beliefs. They provide a sort of therapy for our thoughts.  [Read more…]

What is Gamma-aminobutyric Acid (GABA) and How Does it Reduce Neuronal Excitability by Inhibiting Nerve Transmission?

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benefits of GABA supplements for brain health

What is Gamma-aminobutyric Acid (GABA)?

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a neurotransmitter, a chemical messenger in your brain. It slows down your brain by blocking specific signals in your central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord).

GABA is known for producing a calming effect. It’s thought to play a major role in controlling nerve cell hyperactivity associated with anxiety, stress, and fear.

Scientists also call GABA a non-protein amino acid neurotransmitter.

How Does GABA Reduce Neuronal Excitability by Inhibiting Nerve Transmission?

Humans have a highly selective membrane that keeps our blood and cerebrospinal fluid separate: the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Some molecules, like water, pass through it easily, other things, like bacteria don’t. This membrane also contains special channels to diffuse important molecules one way or the other, like glucose.

It’s an important border, as drugs that cannot cross into the brain, or do so poorly, have much less of an effect than ones that do. For example, morphine can’t cross the BBB very well, but its close relative heroin can! Upon entry to the brain, heroin is converted into morphine, which is why heroin is so much more potent than morphine. [Read more…]

Basics of Anatomy and Physiology of the Brain: An Introduction for Coaches and Trainers Who Help Clients Enhance Performance

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The Structure and Physiology of the Human Brain

As coaches working with clients, we are often guiding a program to meet goals related to health and well-being. Based on this need, we will dive into some basic principles about the anatomy and physiology of the brain. To begin understanding the human brain, we are going to turn our focus to its neurotransmitters and their impact on brain function. 

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Fundamentals of Nutrition for Optimal Brain Health and Function

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The Effects of Nutrients on Brain Function

Optimizing brain health is on trend. A well-functioning brain creates more opportunities for success in each aspect of life. Discover the fundamentals of nutrition for optimizing brain health and function for yourself and coaching clients.

Hydration 

An important fact to know is that 80-90% of our brain mass is water. When we experience dehydration, the first organ to be affected is the brain – which is why hydration is critically linked to optimal brain function. A proper hydration level allows for the important balance of minerals across the cellular membrane, thus allowing it to hold the proper charge so that it maintains optimal functioning. But we also need proper hydration to ensure that the cells receive life-sustaining nutrients and the removal of toxic waste from the brain. 

A client who does not consume enough water to maintain adequate hydration for their brain will not function optimally. One concern with under-hydration is the toxic waste build-up in the cells of the brain; this is typically the culprit behind fatigue and brain fog – two of the most common concerns of people over the age of fifty. Increasing water may be one of the easiest ways to inspire your clients to improve how they feel. When we can consume water consistently throughout the day, we are more able to naturally address this decline in function. 

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Understand the Fundamentals of Brain Health and Fitness and How to Coach Your Clients on This Topic

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How can I improve my brain health?

Benefits of Brain Fitness Knowledge

It is important to explain meaning and relevance here, as some coaches may not see the connection between how an understanding of the brain is involved in health, fitness, and wellness. 

In the field of nutrition and nutraceuticals, one of the main goals in supporting brain health involves developing and testing the efficacy of brain-based supplements. This is mostly done using imaging technology. Using quantitative EEG data (a way to measure the brain’s electrical activity) with functional imaging is also part of the research and studies done to make practical use of brain scans. Those who benefit from this information include those who may do nutritional consults for clients who were seeking brain optimization…or even just weight loss. 

The training in this course therefore must encompass the concepts from research so that coaches can feel confident that what you are learning is grounded in science; your application simply represents the practical application of the information. 

The Certified Brain Fitness Coach (CBFC) has the potential to be instrumental in transforming the lives of every person you interact with, whether it’s your clients, or your family and friends – you will be equipped with vital education on how to support the health of the brain and mind – both of which can have a profound effect on the body. 

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Why Holistic Life Coaches Should Work with Clients to Enhance Their Home Environment

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Helping Clients Improve the Energy Consumption of Their Home

As a coach or consultant who works with people in areas such as holistic nutrition, holistic health, stress management, green living, lifestyle enhancement, and similar will want to consider the detailed information in this article. Improving a client’s home environment is an important aspect of optimizing health and happiness. 

Why Your Energy Use Counts 

Much of the Green Movement has been focused on reducing our energy consumption. Why? The average American consumes six times more energy than the world average. The average U.S. family spends about $1800 per year on their utility bills. That’s about $150 per month (and much higher as of 2022). Unfortunately, a lot of that energy is simply wasted. Here’s why wasted energy and leaving the lights on in the house and electronics on 24/7 matters. America depends on fossil fuels for about 85% of our energy supply. 40 Carbon dioxide pollution or C02 output results with this fossil fuel combustion. High amounts of CO2 leads to greenhouse gases which are thought to lead to global climate change. 

If you think the only way to save on energy consumption is by installing an expensive set of solar panels on your house is the solution, read on. Making small fundamental shifts around your house can make a big difference. And remember we are about making small steps that when done consistently over time, add up to big change. Remembering to turn off the light and unplug your charger when not in use, adds up to dollars saved and less CO2 output. 

Initially, I was resistant to the whole saving energy in my home thing, because I really didn’t understand the connection between my home and CO2 output and wasted energy. But once I started adding up my wasted energy consumption in my home, I got inspired to start making some changes. I saw that I could start saving over $200 a year on my bills! That’s motivating. 

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What Can a Health and Wellness Coach Learn from a Client’s Lab Results?

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Client Lab Results – Numbers Say a Lot

As a coach or trainer, you are not licensed or credentialed to order medical lab results. However, you can strongly encourage your client to ask their doctor to order blood panels to ensure optimal understanding of the client’s health. Your client’s doctor will review all the results with the client. You cannot demand, but you can ask, the client to share the lab results with you. Having this information is very helpful for a deep understanding of your client’s health and wellness. It can also help build a collaborate effort with their medical team. Let’s discuss what’s most important. [Read more…]

What Health and Wellness Coaches Will Want to Know About Indoor Air Pollution

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reducing-indoor-air-pollution-at-home

How to Improve Indoor Air Quality at Home

In our previous blog posts, we’ve covered why it’s critical to clean up your foods and personal-care products. Now it’s time to examine the chemicals in your home. A growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities. At no other time in history have there been so many toxins and pollutants in our environment, particularly the home. The home is the No. 1 source for toxic chemicals. 

According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Common toxic chemicals found in the home are three times more likely to cause cancer than airborne pollutants. The EPA has also reported that nearly every American has 30 cancer-causing chemicals detectable in their fatty tissue. 

This is another great reason to clean up toxic chemical products at home. It’s part of your preventive- medicine strategy. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the air within our homes can be five to 10 times more heavily polluted than outdoor air, even in the largest industrial cities. This is critical because individuals in Western industrialized cities spend up to 90% of their time indoors. One of the primary sources of this indoor air pollution is chemical cleaners, which also happen to be one of the easiest areas to fix.  [Read more…]

How Holistic Living Coaches Can Help Improve the Lives of Pets

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Experts in holistic health coaching, green living, stress management, and lifestyle coaching can also help clients improve the lives of their pets.  A coach may offer a whole family holistic and green living consultation and evaluation. The pet’s environment can be included in the process.

63% of America’s households today have pets. So, creating a healthy environment for your pet is just as important as your or your child’s health, and here’s why. Animals are exposed to more toxins than we are. Think about it, they are much closer to the ground sniffing, rolling around in grass and flower beds (that are usually sprayed with pesticides), and are scavengers eating anything that remotely resembles food including grass.

They’re also exposed to the same array of pollutants that contaminate our indoor air and water. What’s sad to see are homeowners with pets and children who bring in pest control services like Orkin or Terminex to spray pesticides in and around their home, yard, and flower beds only to then see a healthy child or dog go out in the yard and roll around in the yard that was just sprayed with toxic poisonous chemicals. And remember dogs eat grass.

The other thing they have going against them is that unfortunately pet food, toys, furniture, and other pet products do not have to be tested for safety. Think about all of the plastic toys that are given to our lovable pets that are probably full of chemicals like BPA and phthalates that are toxic to their system. And we wonder why our pets are showing up with the same diseases found in humans like cancer, immune disorders, allergies, and more.  [Read more…]

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