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Have you been taking good care of your body, your mind, your heart, and your spirit lately? As promised, I would like to continue my study on The 8th Habit and the 4 Intelligences. Developing our Physical Intelligence – PQ, Mental Intelligence – IQ, Emotional Intelligence – EQ, and Spiritual Intelligence – SQ will "instill in us a quiet confidence, internal strength and security, the ability to be simultaneously courageous and considerate and personal moral authority." (the principled use of our freedom and power to choose)

Although, developing and using our PQ seems pretty common, the CDC estimates that more than 1/3 of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese. These numbers are staggering! Perhaps it has to do with an undeveloped or unused PQ birth-gift. There are three essential ways to develop your PQ: wise nutrition, consistent balanced exercise, and proper rest, relaxation, stress management, and prevention thinking.

Wise nutrition 

Eating healthy starts when we create menus and choose foods that contain mostly whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, leaner meats and fish as part of our diet. Vegetarians and other non-meat eaters will disagree with eating any meat as part of wise nutrition, and some non-meat eaters believe that anything with eyes or a face should not to be consumed by the body. Our purpose here is not to debate what  people eat, but to recognize that eating for nutrition is important.  Although, the body uses fat to store and provide energy and to carry vitamins throughout the body, a regular intake of fast and processed foods, high in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol, is asking for PQ trouble.  When we drink plenty of water and fast from time-to-time we give our digestive system a chance to recuperate from improper feeding. Mr. Covey believes “that when you properly control your appetites, your ability to control your passions and to purify your desires increases. It gives you a real feeling of humility and enables you to gain greater perspective about what is really important in life.”

Consistent balanced exercise

Our second way to develop PQ,  is physical activity. Finding the time to exercise can be a challenge for many.  I have found that setting S.M.A.R.T. exercise goals works wonders, especially, when it's an exercise of my choosing and on my own terms. My S.M.A.R.T goal for the coming month is to dance for 10-15 minutes every morning, take a 10-15 minute walk every afternoon (with ankle weights), and jump rope 5-10 minutes in the evening, 4 days a week. It’s specific, measurable, attainable/realistic and timely. What is your exercise routine? Regular exercise builds up your cardiovascular strength, flexibility and increases your quality of life and life expectancy. Being consistent and balancing exercise in strength training, cardio, and toning will impact your PQ significantly.

Proper rest, relaxation, stress management and prevention thinking

Maintaining the body for optimum performance is the third way to develop our PQ. As you know, when we do not get the proper amount of rest and relaxation, our bodies begin to take a toll. In order to relieve our body of this taxation, we must be aware of two types of stress: “distress that comes from hating your work, resenting the multiplied pressures of life, and feeling you are a victim, and eustress that comes from the positive tension between where we are now and where we want to go—some meaningful goal or project or cause that really turns us on and taps into our talents and passion; in short, our voice.” When we operate in a distressed state, we bring more suffering and/or anguish into our lives, however, when we operate from a “eustress management” state, our immune system, longevity and enjoyment increases, strengthens us and enlarges our capacity.

Many of the diseases that affect us today can be prevented by the choices we make. Remember, between stimulus and response there is a space, and in that space we make our choice. It is natural to get off track from time to time, however, as we listen to our body, it will guide and help us get back on track.

Stay tuned for part three - Developing your Mental Intelligence - IQ.

The recommended readings for this week are Old School New Body Click Here!  The Acid Alkaline Balanced Diet

Click Here! and Stress? Laugh At It! Click Here!

Until next time stay beamed up!

Monica