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I’m always a fan of holistic wellness, so sitting down to talk with Amy Rizzotto for this week’s episode was a real treat. Amy is a yoga instructor and studio owner, certified nutrition coach, health blogger, and wellness entrepreneur. She approaches happiness, wellness, and health from many different angles, and our conversation showed how it’s possible for everyone to balance mind, body, and food in a unique and joyful way. Here are some of the insights Amy shared in our conversation; hear the whole thing in this week’s episode (you can download it above!).
You Already Have the Tools to Cope
Amy introduced us to the practice of Mindful Yoga Therapy (MYT). This technique has been extremely effective in helping people deal with trauma, especially veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress or in Amy’s case a severe accident (she was in a car accident just before she was trained in MYT).
For Amy, the best part of the technique is how it helps people elicit tools and techniques from within themselves to heal their mind, body, and heart. These tools, she says, are already within each of us. We just have to learn how to help bring them out into the open and use them in healthy ways to cope with stress.
Amy’s Tip: Amy recommends spending five minutes per day with your mind. Whether it’s first thing in the morning, at your lunch break, or just before bed, this time allows you to tap into the quiet voice that often gets overpowered during the day, and to channel your greatest potential.
Think ‘Movement,’ Not Exercise
You know me: the “E word” is not my favorite word in the dictionary! Luckily, Amy agrees: it’s more important that you move than exercise. Movement can be running errands, taking the dog to the park, or going for a walk. It can also be running, yoga, or swimming.
What’s more important than what movement you do is that the movement brings you joy. If you find joy in the movement, Amy says, you’re more likely to keep it in your life, and your health will improve.
Amy’s Tip: Be willing to experiment with different kinds of movement, and adapt as certain movements become more or less joyful. Trying bowling for a few months is perfectly acceptable, as is shifting to a different movement if you find one that brings you new joy.
Food is Just One Cog in the Wheel
Having tried many different dietary lifestyles – vegan, vegetarian, paleo, you name it –, and being a certified nutrition coach, Amy spends a lot of time considering the role food plays in our lives. She says that our perception directly impacts both what we put into our bodies, and how we feel when we consume food and drink. The first step to making food healthier for you (no matter what you eat) is cultivating an awareness of what you’re feeding yourself and how that makes you feel. This awareness can help you make small or large adjustments to feel your best.
Amy has a great insight: everything can be a form of nourishment – not just food. Often times, we heal or console ourselves by eating, but there are many other ways we can meet those needs. Sleep, spending time with friends and family, finding a form of movement that makes us joyful – these are just some of the other ‘cogs in the wheel’ that help us feel nourished and healthy.
Amy’s Tip: Slow down for one meal per day. Unplug everything and just experience the meal. Whether it’s with friends or alone, enjoy the flavors, smells, and sight of the meal. Consider where the food came from and how it got to your plate. All the hands that are instrumental to feeding you. This might be an uncomfortable process at first, but you’ll adjust to the connection with your meal over time.
Together, these three tips can help you take steps today to improve your whole health – mind, body, and relationship with food. You can find more about Amy and her teachings on her site, MOAR Fit.
When overcoming fears, you have to take your heart and throw it over the fence then jump after it.
–The Yamas & Niyamas (one of Amy’s favorite books about ethical yoga)
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