When I was acting full time, care of my body and voice were a key part of my career success and lifestyle. This focus on a finely tuned instrument (a body well cared for) empowered me to exude a vibrant vitality that increased my confidence and power. My body was my instrument and its performance was only as good as my care of it.   

By the way, I learned this AFTER I stopped acting full time and didn’t keep my body well tuned.  I noticed lots of side effects- sleeplessness, sugar crashes, gut pudge, and ruddy skin.  Yuck!  So I knew that even though my career didn’t require it, I needed to demand it for me and I made a very active and conscious choice to get restful sleep, eat healthfully, and exercise consistently.

DID YOU KNOW?

According to the CDC, 30% of Americans are sleep deprived.

Americans spent $200 billion on Fast Food in 2015

82% of gym members don’t attend regularly (got to love those automatic payments!)

Believe it or not, getting good sleep was the hardest one for me. When I was singing, I knew exactly the number of hours I needed each night to sing my best and I would sleep in, go to bed before the sun, do whatever it took to get the number of hours to perform my best.  Without that pressure, I found I was running on fumes because, even when I slept plenty of hours, I was not rested afterwards.

A well-written piece of music incorporates silence and rest to heighten the impact of the melody.  A well-cared for body requires rest and sleep to enable the body to perform to the best of its ability during the day so I’ve included some “sleepy time” tips to help you get better sleep.

• Mindful Nighttime Moment: Sit quietly alone drinking calming tea and allowing your body to decompress and wind down. Mindful breathing is a must.
• Close Up Shop: Walk through the house, check the doors, turn down the lights and pass by your sleeping children and pets. Send them a silent blessing.
• Capture It: Journal to capture the moments of the day.  Every night, I write in a fill-in-the blank journal to answer questions like:  what I am grateful for?, how did I nourish myself today?, what inspired me?, who did I help? and what did I learn?
• Mini Spa: Light a lavender soy candle or some other aromatherapy to encourage your body to relax.

Make waking up the best part

Ever wake up and just want to stay in bed, crawl deeper into the covers, snuggle up to your pillow and nestle in? Me too! It might be cold outside or perhaps the day’s agenda is looming over you or maybe you didn’t get good sleep. Whatever the reason, when you just don’t want to leave the covers, it’s important to have a morning ritual that excites you. Rather than jumping up head first into a busy day I suggest creating something special that rewards you for going vertical. Here are a couple of 10 minute ideas:

• Mindful Morning Moment: Sitting quietly alone drinking and really tasting your coffee
• Mini Retreat: Gentle stretching and breathing to tune into your breath | body connection. Meditation is great too.  I use meditation apps to keep my focused.
• Stillness: Sitting out on a patio or porch and listening to the morning birds
• Open Up Shop:Walking through the house and peeking in on your sleeping family or pets

Whatever it is, be kind to yourself and give yourself something to look forward to that is just for you before you begin the tasks of your day.

Your body is designed to help you accomplish the amazing goals that you have.  Let it do what it’s supposed to do by taking good care of it.  

For the rest of my tips on how to Stand Center Stage, sign up here.  And for some good ideas on how to feel more confident by eating well, read this article from Success magazine.