Jim Whittaker and myself 2005

In 2006 I met Alain Robert alias The French Spiderman at the Vancouver International Film Festival. In 2005 I had another memorable experience as I met a legend of mountaineering Jim Whittaker. Jim was the first North American to summit Mount Everest when he did it in 1963. Also, during the event I met the legendary rock climber Peter Croft author of The Good, the Great, and the Awesome.

Now I am a long term back packer but beyond having gone up dozens of peaks my experience in the outdoors is nothing compared to Jim and Peter. They are legends, I am simply a person who likes the outdoors but something happening during the festival that made me feel reassured that my approach to mental and physical health and wellness is actually ’on track’.

I had the honor of being on a discussion panel with Jim and Peter to answer questions on how to manage stress and prepare your mind and body for outdoors activity. Before the discussion at other events I had shared that to train for an intense physical activity you benefit from doing the same activity on a lesser scale frequently and train your mind to believe more is possible. This is what I practiced and shared with people. When I wanted to hike longer distances I simply did more hiking. But many people have suggested to me I need to work out at the gym too but I have resisted because I don’t like exercising I simply like to hike. I had always wanted a legendary source to verify or deny what I believe and Jim Whittaker is a legendary source.

What made me feel reassured that what I believed is ‘on track’ is the fact that during the presentations Jim Whittaker made it very clear to the attentive audience that the main part of his training was going up and down Mount Rainer and training his mind that he was capable of going up Everest. Everything else was supplementary. He trained by doing what he loved to do – mountaineering.

To me, I was reassured. For you I hope this helps reassure you that you can grow to be the best in what you love to do by doing more of it.

Enjoy a great day, David

P.S. You can read more about Jim Whittaker’s adventures by getting a copy of his book A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond. Inside is a history of this great man’s life plus lots of fantastic photographs. I have the honor of having a copy as you can see me proudly holding it in the picture above. Yes! Jim is actually 75 in the picture and in great health. If you like the mountains I recommend you get yourself a copy

Tip One

Adjust the zoom setting on the document once in a while.  So your eyes are not set on the same size letters every moment of the day. This is possible in most word processors and document

Tip Two

Support the health of your eyes by remembering Vitamin A has another name. It is called Retinol related to the Retina of our eyes. Retinol is important to the health of our eyes. Foods that contain significant amounts of Vitamin A are apricots, asparagus, beet greens, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, collard, dandelion greens, papayas, peaches, pumpkin,  red peppers, spinach, sweet potatoes, and yellow squash. Enjoy these sight nourishing foods whenever you can. If you want more suggestions on different foods that can help nourish your eyes and many parts of your body I recommend an excellent book many health stores and wellness practitioners use as a reference text. It is called Prescription for Nutritional Healing and I have my own copy right by me as I write. I needed it to check the spelling of Prescription!

Tip Three

Make sure your monitor is in front of you at eye level – elevate it on a platform if you have to. Sometimes a few big books will work! If you still have phone books to elevate the screen they will do the trick.

Tip Four

To help keep all your body including your eyes moist you need to make sure your body is well hydrated. Keep yourself hydrated by sipping water throughout the day. I recommend you have a water bottle close by that you can sip from frequently. If you are interested in using a stainless steel water bottle that you can use at work and to and from work you can check out my stainless steel bottle review posted here. It is full of helpful guidelines.

Tip Five

Perform fun activities like rolling your eyes to reduce eye strain every ten minutes or so. People working close by you will wonder what is going on!

Tip Six

Focus on a distant object every few minutes – perhaps when you are thinking up a new phrase or checking for something in your memory. Look into the distance rather than downwards.

Tip Seven

Use a Liquid Crystal Monitor (LCD) like on a laptop. It offers better contrast for viewing purposes. If you don’t have a LCD monitor you can start your research by following this link to information on a LCD Monitors

Please forward this posting to a friend to help them protect their eyes too.

Best Wishes,

David

How to Choose a Fitness Program by David Hennessey

Step One Find Your Baseline

Make an appointment with your Health Care Practitioner and get your fitness level assessed. I am not an expert on Body Mass Index and measurements like that but I do know it is important to get professional assistance to see where you are at when you start so you know where you are moving from. As a result you will better able to see your fitness successes. A personal assessment is also important so you get advice on what is appropriate for you to do physically based on your current fitness level.

Step Two Write Down Your Goals

I am a great believer in the effectiveness of writing down your goals for anything you want to achieve. When you make your goals you know where you want to move to from your baseline. Decide what you want and by when you want to achieve this goal.

Step Three Know what you like

It is great to have a friend to work on your fitness with but I must warn you don’t fall into the trap of choosing a fitness program because it is the same as a friends. Unless it is an activity you really do like. Why? Because you will get bored quickly and lose motivation and then most likely stop. You need to find an activity that you enjoy and you don’t see it as just ‘my fitness program’. For example, if you love to run but don’t think you would like to do so alone join with a group who play a running sport like soccer, or rugby or…If you like to listen to music and move join a dance class or just go dancing. The key is to have fun and the fitness will arrive.

Step Four Get Warm and Stay Loose

Make an important part of your fitness program the time to warm up your body. Once warmed up stretch carefully before and after the activity. Remember when you choose your activity consult with a personal trainer (perhaps at our local recreation center) to find out the best stretches for the activity of your choice.  Remember most activities that involve movement including Yoga have a warm up built in when it is properly taught. Yes, I even do some gentle stretching before I head off into the hills with my pack.

Step Five Change Your Activity

Make sure you have a selection of activities you like to engage in to help nourish many areas of your physical wellness. Variety will also help you avoid being coming bored with doing the same activity.

Step Six Be in Your Budget

Some people like to go to a professional gym because they like the social atmosphere or the access to various equipment but they have to stop after a few months because they cannot afford the cost of membership. Make sure that you choose an activity you have the money to support what you are going to do and that the need for equipment will not prevent you from continuing on your path to greater health.

Step Seven Feel the Air

If you choose a physical activity that does not involve you being outside make sure you also take time to walk outside in the fresh air each day. There is, I believe, always more oxygen outside than inside and our bodies need the O2 daily.

Step Eight  Take Action!

Now you have some guidance I recommend you follow these steps and I trust you will enjoy a more relaxed and healthier life.

Note: If you do not have a water bottle to take along with you when you train you can learn about various stainless steel water bottle choices by clicking on this review link.

Optional Steps

To help you on your way I have a few simple tools that will be of value to you:

One tool will help you Simplify your Healthy Eating Habits – an important part of getting and remaining healthy – this is a practical easy to apply system. For details visit http://thewondertechnique.com/simplify-healthy-eating-habits/

The second tool is Mini Motivational Cards. Convenient and inexpensive cards that will help you on your way to mental and physical fitness. Details are here  http://thewondertechnique.com/mini-motivational-cards/

And here is a third tool – If you want to eat organic food as part of your path to increased health and to lower the stress on your body and your budget check out this book of tips  http://thewondertechnique.com/how-to-buy-organic-food-inexpensively/

Enjoy a great day,

David