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When I was in college my roommate and I would take a 30 minute power nap every afternoon. One week her mother was visiting and was outraged that this was a regular occurence. By the third day she joined us in our afternoon siesta, but warned that this would not go over well when we hit the “real” world.

Boy was she right! Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days. Recently, I discovered something even more invigorating than the power nap. I noticed a co-worker would be away from her desk everyday at 10 am and 3 pm like clockwork. When I worked up the nerve to ask, she told me she went out for a walk.

I decided I would adopt the habit. If only to break up the monotony of the day. I’ve discovered the power walk. Here are some of the benefits I am experiencing.

Energy Boost
In addition to being refreshing, the power walk is also invigorating and energizing. It gets your heart pumping, the blood flowing, and those synapses firing. Today, office workers spend most of their day sitting. Between the office commute, the hours spent in front of the computer, and sitting in front of the television for entertainment, your body does not get many opportunities to move around. The power walk is the perfect antidote for this. It gets your body moving, your brain thinking, and the blood flowing.

Breaks the Day Up
As I mentioned, my power walks are helping to break the monotony of the day. Rather than take on your work day in 4 hour increments, a 15 minute power walk in the morning and one in the afternoon will break your day into 2 hour increments. You can return to your desk or meeting alert and ready to take on the next chunk of work.

Mental Clarity
Sometimes my power walk is timed just when I’m banging my head against the wall trying to solve a difficult problem. Stepping away from the computer for a while helps. Your head will clear when you go for a walk. New solutions will become apparent to you. You will return to your desk with the perfect solution and the energy to execute it.

Calorie Burn
It’s no longer a secret that I am getting healthier everyday. Part of that is increasing the number of calories I burn. While a power nap might prove energizing, a power walk certainly burns more calories. You can get an extra hour of walking into your day with power walks. A 15 minute walk for a morning break, one for the afternoon, and a 30 minute lunch walk, gives you an hour of movement easily spaced throughout the day. It certainly beats staring into space while marching on the treadmill.

Socially Acceptable
My roommate’s mom was right. Dozing off at your desk while staring at the screen isn’t the best office etiquette. Worse than that, noding off in the meeting while your boss is giving a very important (cough, cough) presentation. No one can fault the power walk though. Better than that, it gives the impression that you care about your health and you’re industrious.

Stress Relief
Ever feel like telling a co-worker, “Let’s take this outside.” Now you can, with just 2 more words. “Let’s take a walk outside. Or you can go by yourself. A short walk will help to diffuse the situation and loosen you up. It also beats a smoke break.

Fresh Air
Finally, it’s just good to get out and be around nature for a bit. Even if it’s the one tree in the parking lot. On a rainy day you could take a walk along the perimeter
of your floor so that you can at least see the outside. You can find out first hand what the weather is like.

Try it this week. Instead of taking a break at the snack machine, take a 15 minute power walk outside with a co-worker. Build your work relationships, and do something healthy for yourself. Best of all feel energized and have fun.

It’s easy to say that you are living in faith when things are going well. Your faith muscle gets exercised when things aren’t going so hot.

What is faith anyway?

In positive thinking circles, faith may be described as the “knowing” that things will work out as they are intended. In personal development circles, you might call it courage. If you are spiritual, but not religious, you might say that you have turned it over to your Higher Power. According to the bible, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Whatever words you use to describe faith, you know that it involves believing that something is True even when there is evidence to the contrary.

How do you live in faith?

You can live in faith through your actions. Using this method is especially effective in pursuit of goals with a well outlined plan. You may have started out with a big audacious goal that your broke down into bite size pieces. As you work through each step you may encounter severe obstacles, but you know that your goal is in sight. You continue to work on the individual steps and they all add up to the achievement of your overall goal. You exercise faith because even though the your goal does not materially exist yOU know that if you follow your plan step by step it will materialize.

Through your mind and intellect, you can also live in faith. The most popular method is visualization. Having a clear picture of your optimal situation despite the appearances is a very effective way to live in faith. To see it right, not set it right, according to Eric Butterworth. Exercising the faculty of imagination to see your life as you would have it be. Scientists have found that there is no difference to the brain between actual experiences and experiences imagined. Now, we can use this to our benefit or detriment. By worrying and projecting worse case scenarios your brain is imprinted with this picture. On the other hand, you could just as easily use your mind to picture the life that you desire.

Abiding in Spirit with absolutely no worry or concern is also a form of living in faith. Completely centered in a place where you know that God is all there is. That God is absolute good. That there is nothing to fear because there is only God. That all of your needs and desires are met before you know of them. You don’t have to become a recluse and live on a mountain top to practice this method of living in faith. You can do so by developing the practice of meditation.

When life appears to be going completely wrong, be it a tight financial situation, marital stress, health issues, or things just going haywire, take a pause. You can begin to employ one of the above methods to move from worry, despair, or outright fear to a sense of calm, clarity, and faith.