The Sokanu Blog

Helping you find your passion in life

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By Renee Masur

Everywhere people are grunting and hacking; gripping their chests and throats, glassey-eyed, slothing around town. And everyone else is trying to stay away. Is this the zombie apocalypse? 

No, it’s flu season. 

So far the sickness has taken down half of the team at Sokanu, including myself. Slowly, we are all recovering. And while there always seems to be an endless amount of emails, meetings, and work, when you are sick, there is only one thing on your list: go home. 

1. Nobody Wants What You’ve Got

Let’s face it. You sound terrible. You look awful, and everyone can see it. You’re touching everything and germing up the place. It won’t do anyone any good to get sick from you. I’m sure you are awesome when you’re healthy. So head home, and go get awesome. 

2. You’re Brain Wants a Break

Your body is shutting down and your brain is going down with it. When you feel sick, there are constant interruptions in your mind. 

“My throat feels awful”….cough….sneeze…..cough…..”have to blow my nose”…this hurts….”ok, focus”…COUGH.  Your body needs time to heal, and with that, comes the third reason you need to go home:

3. You Know You Want That Nap

It just feels so good. If only for the sweet relief of your magma-burned throat and leaky nose, a nap is a quiet escape from the pain of your sickness. It gives your body the time it needs to fight the raging war in your body. And really, don’t we all really love sneaking in a nap during the day?

4. Your Job Wants You To 

Pushing yourself to suffer through your sickness while working will only cause a kind of resentment that you don’t want associated with your job. A friend of mine told me, “Don’t be a hero. When you are sick, go home. That’s the best thing you can do for your job.” Come back when you are feeling alive again and do your work with energy and passion. 

Go home, sickie! And feel better. 

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Rachael Pontillo 

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What do you do?

I am am award-winning board certified holistic health practitioner and wellness educator. I work with clients individually and in groups in the Philadelphia area, and nationwide via telephone or video conferencing. I am also a holistic aesthetician and I make all-natural skincare products. I teach natural skin care classes in the Philadelphia area, hold free monthly webinars on various health and wellness topics, and write the popular blog www.holisticallyhaute.com. I also write for a well respected aesthetics trade journal, as well as other online publications, and speak at national aesthetics and health-related conferences.

How did you get there?

It’s been a long and winding road—I began my college education as a design major and ultimately graduated from Philadelphia University with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies with a minor in Humanities. I liked architecture, but I realized that my interest was more in the history and theory behind it rather than the actual design work. I had a sales background from working years of retail jobs through high school and college which helped me land my first job after graduation as an advertising sales rep for a healthcare publishing company.

I moved from sales into marketing and copywriting, and from then I moved more into editorial writing and editing. I continued my writing and editing work on a freelance basis for several years (and still continue) for one of the best known medical publishers in the world. I became a mom in 2004 and again in 2007 and continued to freelance while staying home with my kids. Skincare and makeup were always strong interests of mine (much of the retail sales I did was in the beauty industry), so I decided to go back to school for aesthetics. I realized I needed to set myself apart in the job market to try to find the perfect part-time job, so I used my writing and editorial skills and began writing www.holisticallyhaute.com. My focus within the realm of aesthetics leaned more towards the holistic and more natural approach.

Personally and professionally, I began to see the connection between a healthy diet and having great skin. I decided to go back to school again for nutrition, to enhance my education in this area and open more doors for my career. I started taking health coaching clients and quickly realized that the importance really lies more with overall health and wellness rather than just having healthy skin—but great skin is a bonus you get from taking care of yourself on the inside. I had no idea I’d be doing the work I do now because of it.

Why do you like it?

I love my work for SO many reasons. I help people improve their overall level of health which greatly improves their overall happiness and quality of life. I help people feel great about themselves. I empower people to take control of their own health and their own lives and become educated consumers. I spread the message about the importance of making healthier diet and lifestyle choices as well as choosing skincare products with safe ingredients. My work is incredibly rewarding and I feel that I make a difference in the lives of individual people, and help to broaden the minds of larger audiences with my writing and public speaking.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A model or a performing artist on a Broadway stage…maybe in my next life :)

Follow Rachael Pontillo on Twitter 


SURVIVOR: EXAM EDITION


 study rewards

By Jocelyn McLean

It’s that special time of year: all of the men on campus have shaved off their Movember ‘staches, Starbucks has changed over their cups, and holiday music is playing everywhere you go.

In the meantime, you’re bent over a textbook and substituting food for caffeine.

If you’re like me, the winter exam period is particularly hard. The days are short, with what feels like 6 hours of sunlight – even less, if you live in Vancouver, where December brings mostly rainy days and a blanket of fog. While Christmas is my favourite time of year, memorizing facts and figures really puts a damper on my holiday spirit. More importantly, because Christmas break is so much shorter than summer break, I am that much more eager to be finished with finals so that I can fly back home and stuff myself with holiday treats. That being said, we do have to get through it – so here are some things I’ve learned over the course of my degree.


KEEP A SCHEDULE

When my brother was studying for his CA, he treated studying like it was a full-time job. I have always tried to adopt this strategy during exam period. At the time, it may seem like a good idea to stay up until 4AM studying – but this will either cause you to sleep in until noon the next day, or to wake up early after having slept poorly. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule is key to being on top of your studying-game.

STAY HEALTHY

My health is usually the first thing to slip during exam period. I find myself making excuses. I don’t have time to go to the gym; I don’t have time to cook healthy meals. I slowly turn to a life of pizza and Red Bull. While I think it’s fair for anyone to succumb to a meal like this once in awhile, it should be an exception – not a rule. If you know you won’t be home to make yourself lunch or dinner, make a trip to the grocery store and stock up on healthy, portable snacks and meals. If you can’t make time for your regular workout routine, make sure to fit in half an hour of exercise into your day – this can be taking a walk on a study break, or riding your bike to campus.

PRIORITIZE

One of the first things I do at the beginning of exam period is write out a detailed list of all the things that need to get done, in no order of time or importance. While this list can appear overwhelming at the beginning, it also gives you tangible rather than abstract goals that can easily be prioritized and scheduled. It also enables you to create a study schedule that caters to your own habits. For example, some people have trouble studying one subject for 8 hours straight. If this is the case, break up your day into sections so that you never lose focus on what you’re reading. Which brings me to my next point…

STAY FOCUSED

This can often be the biggest challenge, and everyone has a different way to deal with it. Some people cannot study alone, and others can’t study with friends. Know your habits, and optimize them. Ideally, I like to study with friends who are excellent at maintaining focus. What we do is give ourselves periods of time where we not only have to stay focused ourselves, but we have to enforce focus in others. We schedule breaks where we take 5-10 minutes to chat, watch stupid videos, or grab a snack. Then it’s back to the grind. If you don’t need your laptop – don’t bring it. If you do need your laptop, and cannot keep yourself away from All Things Social Media, try downloading an app like Self Control (http://selfcontrolapp.com/), which allows you to block certain websites for a specified period of time.

TREAT YO SELF

Last, but certainly not least – reward yourself for your accomplishments. This can be anything: watching an episode of your favourite show after a long day of studying, treating yourself to an Eggnog Latte after three hours of reading, or buying yourself a nice dinner after writing an exam. Exam period can be stressful, and looking forward to the little things can be just the thing to get through it.

Good luck, everyone, and happy holidays!

jocelyn


Why Having a Dog is Good For You

Desi dog

(My dog, Chloe, a desi dog—a Hindi word meaning “local”—she was a rescue from the streets of Deli)

By Jeremy Newcombe 

I, like many dog owners, love my dog. She’s been my constant companion since I adopted her from a rescue agency just over a year ago. I was, however, surprised to read this article by the Huffington Post about how having a dog is good for your health. I mean, I’d always grown up around dogs, so it seemed like a no brainer to want to bring another one into my life as soon as my living situation allowed, but I was fascinated to learn that owning a dog could be just as good for you as having a gym membership.

First, it should be no surprise that dog owners have to go outside more; anyone that has had a puppy from 3-12 months of age knows how frequently that little bladder needs to find a patch of grass.  Recently I saw a saying floating around online which sums it up: “There are so many cats on the internet because dog people go outside.” Even beyond puppyhood, dogs need exercise and will force (nay, encourage) you to go out for walks, hikes, and plenty of other outdoor adventures. They can be, if you let them, the perfect workout buddy.

Best of all, evidence suggests that having a pet could even help you live a longer, happier life. Emotionally speaking, dogs in particular are good for your psychological wellbeing. What other creature will jump reciprocate your love as unabashedly as a dog, regardless of whether you have a treat in your pocket or not? The prime psychological benefit of owning a dog is the constant positive reinforcement that you are the best person on earth. Leave your home for 5 minutes, and when you return your dog acts so happy to see you that it makes you wonder if you’ve actually been gone for five days. Yet any other pet will make you thank your lucky stars if they even acknowledge your presence when you have been away for a significant amount of time.

A dog can help you socialize and meet people as well. Trust me, a puppy is always the perfect icebreaker! In fact, I’ve made some truly great friends simply because my dog happened to take a fancy to their dog (yes, really). Talking to strangers on the street, in the hallway, or while riding the elevator suddenly becomes much easier when you’re walking your dog. As the article above states, the act as “great social facilitators,” and can help you establish instant connections with people you encounter. Added bonus for single people: dogs are a great way to meet a potential date.

And, if you’re still not convinced, here’s a video of puppies. If this doesn’t get you feeling good I don’t know what will.

By Jeremy Newcombe

My Problem With Goals

You’ve probably heard before that one of the keys to being successful (in anything) is setting realistic, achievable goals. Personally, I’ve always struggled with this. It might be ironic, but I’ve even had to make “making achievable goals” one of my personal goals. I’m very pleased to say, however, that after working on this skill for the past few months, it’s already starting to pay off for me, and I though I might impart some of the things I’ve learned here.

Back in July I made a commitment to myself to be healthier. While well intentioned, goals don’t really get more vague than that. For one solid week I awoke every day and made a fresh, nutritious breakfast. I got more exercise. I also went to bed at a reasonable hour, knowing full well the effect that a proper night’s sleep would have on my personal wellbeing. All of these things are undoubtedly healthy. The problem was that I didn’t continue those habits. After that week I woke up and thought, “I’ve been so healthy this week, I can let myself slide a little. Just for today.” So I had a bowl of sugary cereal and didn’t exercise. The next day I felt equally unmotivated to going back to being healthy and ended up going out with my friends and having a few drinks, meandering home somewhere in the vicinity of 2 A.M. Now neither of these things are terrible, but I’m sure it’s not hard to see the pattern that’s forming. My original goal of being healthy fell by the wayside, and I had no discernable plan to get back to it. This, I came to learn, is where I failed.

Making goals—even well intentioned ones—too broad destines them for failure. Without clear steps on how to get there it’s doubtful that you’ll be able to stay on the right track. The key that I missed in this instance was to make smaller, more attainable and measurable goals that will build up to a larger objective.

Fresh Inspiration

Since the summer I’ve come to learn quite a bit about setting goals, and perhaps more importantly, how to put in place steps to achieve them. It started when I was catching up on some podcasts while doing some household chores. I listened to an episode of This American Life about Superheroes (which you can find here), and a particular story about a lady named Zora jumped out at me. Zora is a real life Wonder Woman. She trained herself to be a superhero ever since she was a girl, learning to fly helicopters, master martial arts, and defuse bombs. She managed all of this by keeping a list (which she referred to as “The List”) that she would constantly update and revise with all of the skills she wanted to learn if she were to become a real superhero. Amazingly, it worked. Zora didn’t become a superhero overnight, but with time and a hefty amount of diligence she’s been able to accomplish some incredible things.

The methodology behind achieving incredible things by setting smaller, achievable goals is well documented. One of my favorite reads on the subject is here at How Stuff Works. It’s great food for thought, and it can be applied to your career, your health, your personal life, or whatever else you choose.

As corny as it sounds, I took this lesson to heart. I made a list, and I didn’t just fill it with goals like “be healthy,” either. Now I wake up every morning and take my dog for a 30-minute walk, come home and make a nutritious breakfast that I’ve laid out in a meal plan the week before. Three times a week I exercise using a set schedule and workout plan. I haven’t started regulating my sleep yet, but that might come in a later iteration of my list. So far, my goal is to keep those habits and eventually bring myself down to a manageable 15% body fat. When I can put a check beside that goal I can readdress my list and work out a new plan for my health and my future. I might even start doing my own 30 day challenges like our own Renee Masur here at Sokanu. The lesson here is that making attainable goals can make all the difference between failure and success. 

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