I love blogging...it gives me time to reflect and think about work. As a mother of 5, I often find myself putting "ME" last. All you Mom's out there know what I am talking about. It seems like a never ending cycle of dishes, cooking, cleaning, homework, taxi service to all kid's activities and ALL while managing your own business. I found myself in a RUT! I wasn't making anytime for me and I was suffering for it. I was gaining back the weight I had worked so hard to lose. I wasn't sleeping well. I felt on edge all the time and one day I just stopped and asked myself........"How can I be good to anyone else when I am not good to myself?"

I started back exercising and while I was riding my bike all of a sudden I found myself smiling. Yep, right by myself, just me on the bike alone. It was heaven. Not only did I bike 14 miles that day, but I had a chance to think about my day. In particular, I had a difficult room to home stage and half way through the ride, the answer came to me, clear as a bell. Because I was able to deliver fantastic results to my home staging client, not only did she use me for another project, but she referred me to another home staging consult.

You're probably asking yourself, why is this chick telling us all this? The answer is easy. EXERCISE!

Regular exercise has a profound affect on many aspects of our life. Exercise not only improves your health and reduces stress caused by unfitness; it also relaxes tense muscles and helps you to sleep. Exercise can cause release of chemicals called endorphins into your blood stream. These give you a feeling of happiness and positively affect your overall sense of well-being. When you think hard, the neurons of your brain function more intensely. As they do this, they can build up toxic waste products that can cause foggy thinking (you may have experienced the feeling that your brain has "turned to mush"). By exercising, you speed the flow of blood through your brain, moving these waste products faster! It also It improves blood flow to your brain, bringing additional sugars and oxygen that may be needed when you are thinking intensely.

There is also good evidence that physically fit people have less extreme physiological responses when under pressure than those who are not. This means that fit people are more able to handle the long- term effects of stress, without suffering ill health or burnout. In this economy I think it's all something we can do to make things a little easier on ourselves and healthier all around! You, your family, friends and clients will all benefit from it!

So be kind to "YOU" and don't forget to make that "ME" time we all need and deserve! Not only will you benefit, but EVERYONE around you will benefit from it as well.

Here's to a healthy week!