It's a new year and a new you! What choices are you going to make differently? I've been talking about energy attachments and energy healing in many of my past columns, but energy work can only go so far. You have got to make some positive changes in your own life to ensure good health.

Energy work is a wonderful support for your immune system and well-being, but it works best when combined with an active, healthy lifestyle. You will certainly reap benefits from forms of energy work such as Reiki, Healing Touch, and so on by themselves. However, if you truly want radiant health and happiness, you've got to put forth some effort to modify your lifestyle.

I'd warrant you have made a few New Year's resolutions such as to lose weight, get a better job, etc. Why not forget RESOLUTIONS and focus instead on SOLUTIONS? If you want to feel more energized, there are a few simple choices you can make that will make a huge difference in your quality of life:

1) Cut down on sugar. Avoid candy, cookies,cakes, sugar-laden drinks, sodas, cereals, etc. Sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever and wreaks havoc with your blood sugar. Cutting back sugar will improve your overall health and mood!

2) Limit your intake of caffeine to one cup of black or green tea a day or cut it out altogether.
Caffeine is a cheap source of energy-Let your energy arise naturally, not from caffeine.

3) Exercise three to four times a week! Walking is great for cardiovascular health, but weight lifting is essential for strong bones and releases hormones that keep the body looking younger and feeling energetic. If you want to lift weights, it would be smart to join a gym and to use one of their personal trainers for a couple of introductory sessions. Or you could hire a trainer to come to your home and to show you how to use free (hand-held) weights.

4) Take time to meditate and pray each day, in your car, right before you go to sleep, or whenever it is convenient. Remember that everything you do can be a meditation, even cleaning the house! Practice mindful awareness of the present and watch your life transform.

One of the best ways to support yourself in transforming your life is to take a Reiki I class.
I'll talk more about what Reiki I involves and describe a typical class in my next column. For now, I dare you to make just one or two new choices for your health and to keep them up. As a minister pointed out to me lately, the only difference between you and I and Jesus, Buddha, and the other great masters was that they made good choices CONSISTENTLY! Keep that in mind as you make choices every second of your life.

Barnsley Brown, PhD and Reiki Master, offers all levels of Reiki classes, individual healing sessions,
intuitive counseling, past life regressions, and stress management training. She is an ordained
Interfaith Minister and has trained in numerous healing modalities including Reiki, dowsing,
kinesiology, Thought Field Therapy, and more. You can reach her to request a complimentary newsletter or to schedule a telephone or in-person appointment at Spirited Solutions™, 919-967-1164, or spiritedsolutions@yahoo.com.