I am honored to introduce Michelle Pino who offered to write an inspirational post in honor of National Women’s Week. Sweet Michelle works at Skana Spa in Upstate NY. She truthfully stated to me through e-mail: To me, the daily stresses and life’s challenges, make it so important to make health a priority and inspire us to treat our body right. That motivation morphed into habit once I knew how great taking care of myself felt!

I couldn’t agree more with Michelle. I will let her explain how she keeps health a priority:

Finding Healthy Inspiration

Typically used by wedding and event coordinators, inspiration boards are an assortment of different images that encourage you.  Inspiration boards can be used as a natural way of brainstorming.  Whether your goal is to plan a party or do a closet rehabilitation, inspiration boards will assist you in planning out the necessary steps required to make the process more streamlined.
Here are some easy guidelines to follow when creating an inspiration board:

1. Start looking for images.                                                                                                 This can be done on a poster board or electronically.  Electronically, you can search the web to search your favorite sites to find images.  If you’re creating a tangible poster board, clip images from catalogs or magazines.  The simplest way to do this is by making it a point to not look for any specific thing but rather find images that simply catch your eye.  With the right photos of fitness activities, relaxing destinations, recipes, health food or music lyrics, you can create the perfect inspiration board.

2. Find your focus.
What similarities do your gathered pictures have?  Do you notice a trend?  Is it a particular detail?  A color-scheme?  Find the picture that will be the centerpiece of your creation.

 3. Connect the images.                                                                                               Continue narrowing down your collected items to images that are a better connection to the centerpiece of your project.

 4. Mix it up.
Try a certain combination, look at it for a while and then try another.  Try different combinations of images.  Do this until you find one that satisfies you.  For fresh perspective, you may want to leave your project for a few hours, then come back to it.

 5. Begin creating your inspiration board.                                                                            You can bring your finished board with you when shopping for supplies or selecting new paint.  Don’t be shy about modifying your board as you go, particularly if you discover that some aspect of the board isn’t working and needs tweaking.

 Here is an example board:

Photo Credit: New York Golf Club | Beach Yoga| Paintbrush | Cabin on the Lake |

What inspires me to be active and aspire to live a healthier life is the outdoors.  I love to travel and see new places.  To me, there’s no better feeling than enjoying the outdoors.  I’m really inspired by yoga for a number of reasons.  Yoga focuses the mind and body, teaching ourselves to find a spiritual balance.  I also love that yoga can be done anywhere, even the beach!  Simple yoga poses are simple stretches that can be done in the comfort of your own home or when traveling.  Yoga is great for beginners and the more advanced athlete.  I love the idea of doing yoga on the beach.  The beach is so relaxing, a great place for yoga or walking. 

The outdoors is what truly inspires me and I’ve used for the center of my inspiration.  I’ve been taking lessons near my work at New York golf club, Shenendoah, as a way to spend more time outside. Golf is great because not only is it less strenuous activity, but you also have the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.  Another relaxing activity I’d like to try is painting.  I think painting is a great stress reliever, even if you’re not an artist, it can be a relaxing hobby.

It’s hard to make lifestyle changes that stick over time.  The key to persisting with any healthy lifestyle is balance.  Whether you want to eat more organic food, start exercising daily or just master certain fitness goals, an inspiration board can help you figure out those goals and fine tune what makes you tick so that you stay focused on getting your health together.

Michelle Pino has provided these tips in hopes to educate others on how to lead a more motivating and less stressful life.  Michelle believes more focused approach put on our health will result in more balanced life.  Her hobbies include cooking, DIY projects and learning about healthy lifestyles.  Michelle is thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Alison and together share their ideas on “­­­­­­­­­Berry Happy Bodies”.