Ten Tips for a Better Workout

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You can find these at Prevention.com inshallah. I just summarized (and added to some inshallah) them for ease of use.

1.       Drink cold water before and during the exercise (my favorite is walking). According to research done in Britain, cold water revs the metabolism (read gives you more energy) and keeps you cooler longer so you can work out longer.

2.      Swing your arms (again this is for walking, my favorite way to exercise). The swing at the lowest point should have your fingertips just about brushing your waist and at the top of the swing, at the high part of your chest, but not crossing over your chest.

3.      Headphones and listen to something with a rhythm. Normally I listen to Quran, however, one can do nasheeds I suppose, I just haven’t bothered to download or anything like this.

4.      Add weight lifting. The key is to lift the heaviest dumb-bells you can for at least 3 reps, up to ten, a few times during your workout. Perfect thing to do when you stop to catch your breath inshallah. It increases your calorie burning power by up to 25%, during the work out, and who knows how much after.

5.      This is my personal tip: start and stop your workout, speed up and slow down, go up an incline (or a step) then back to flat, and do this continuously, not stopping completely from one type of movement to another, nor waiting to complete one movement before the other. So at home with no equipment, you can jump rope, then butt kicks, then stair stepping, then kicks and punches, then Pilates, then repeat the circuit again at least once but best for a total of three times. If on the treadmill, you can go up and down an incline, fast then slow, stepping off to do weights while climbing the stairs and down, etc.

6.      If you can, go walking outside, and use the natural terrain to work new muscles. Invite a friend for motivation inshallah, or recite Quran, or make Dua, or bring your headphones and listen to something inspiring inshallah.

7.      Aim for at least 15 minutes (so you get beyond the warm-up level). Try for two 15 minute intervals in your day inshallah for better results. Work this up to 4 intervals of 15 minutes or 1 hour total of focused working out for best results inshallah.

8.     Don’t steady pace your activity level, add timed interval of fast and slow for faster results inshallah.

9.      Stretch after the workout. This is a crucial step to helping you maintain your regular workouts as it reduces instances of stiffness and discomfort as you train your body into its new state inshallah.

10.  Aim for at least 3 days per week of at least 15 minutes of focused work outs for steady results. Above all, I urge you not to quit entirely. 15 minutes of a done workout is better than 45 minutes of a planned work out. 

Natural Sweetener

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Natural Sweetener

A quick thought on natural vs ‘un-natural’ sweeteners. I feel that so long as there are involved various steps of processing beyond the easy olden and known to be natural ones like cold press, expeller, and various extractions (some with and some without alcohol), then the product is further away from natural and more un-natural.

Now when it comes to sweeteners, I feel sugar from sugar cane is best. Most people who use other things will of course oppose this but honestly, what could be better than sugar (I’m inviting advice here if you feel you can help).

However, I think sugar should be used in moderation, the less you use, the better. I think it is important that we learn to enjoy the natural taste of the sweet foods we eat, be they sweet or not. There is no need to add a sweetener to something like orange juice or a served strawberry (I do thoughL and am going to work on that inshallah).

And if you feel that you can’t get off the sugar addiction wagon, instead of going un-natural and enriching the multi-million dollar companies that are just using your weakness against you to feed their greed, then try to reduce or add natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, or preserved fruit prepared for just that purpose.

Take the case of oatmeal, I find it bland to the extreme but it is nourishing mashAllah so to sweeten it, how about adding strawberry preserve or raspberry puree or dried blueberries? Surely this is a much better and healthier alternative than something whose chemical generic name you can’t even pronounce?

Tell me what you think.

Re-evaluating Goals

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I’ve been thinking and I’ve reached the conclusion that my entire view of goals and goal setting needs to change. It’s not enough to have goals or to even go about writing about how you are going to achieve them, at least not just for one year. Not only that, many of the goals keep repeating them because somehow, every year I’ve not accomplished the past years’, so I restart or more like restate my goals. That’s just unproductive when you really look at it in the long run so I’m going to change things around inshallah.

First off, I’m not setting new goals, I’m reevaluating my previous goals and seeing where I’ve fallen short and can improve inshallah, so I may complete a goal. Second of all, recognizing that as life happens, my goals evolve right along with them, so instead of thinking them as set in stone and not accomplishing them as failures, I should realize they are work in progress and important stepping stones to the next phase that I’m trying to reach inshallah.

Second of all, in addition to writing down my important stepping stones down, I should have a means of accountability for them beyond a personal view and check next to the “to do” list inshallah. I need to involve not just my husband who is very forgiving of my shortcomings and general failures (may Allah bless him) but other members of my family and even trusted friends who will prompt and remind, advice, and push me towards reaching my own goals and realizing my own visions inshallah.

With that said, I will inshallah put down here where its viewable to the public (all and sundry!), the progress I make, the accomplishments I make, the rearranging of thinking or stepping stones to an important and life changing achievement that I make inshallah. Also, in this place where I can feel like I’m being accounted by the public (just in my dreams rightJ), I can add new thoughts, ideas, and goals as the year progresses. This being because each new day brings a better understanding and sometimes a new idea and I feel in order not to lose the ground that I gain, I must put down all the ideas and thoughts down inshallah so I can review and reflect and see if I’m even working on what I said I’d work on a few months ago inshallah.

There’s no better accounting that the one you can see in black and white and I think that may be one of the reasons why Allah will have us handed our book of deeds, “book” being the operative word. In it we will have all of our life and deeds accounted (written for us to read and see inshallah). If I copy this idea from our Lord and write down things as I go, then I can inshallah see if progress is being made and that way, I don’t have to re-invent the wheel each time I get the energy to improve my life or emerge from whatever doldrums I had sunk into for whatever reason inshallah.

I’m looking forward to making this “my life while in this life” book inshallah. I read somewhere about the idea of viewing our life as a book being written and the person went further to say that wouldn’t I want my book to be the type that becomes a favorite reading instead of a onetime read that pretty much ends up in the do not re-read list? I agree. Look at the life of our beloved Prophet Muhammad salatu wasalaam. How many times and how many people want to read his (salatu waslaam) story? I know I love reading it. It brings me to tears, it inspires me to change and be a better and more forgiving human being, it makes my heart beat fast, it makes me long to meet this man whom had Allah chosen to lead us in this “ends of time” subhanallah!

If I want my story to be a good story, one that inspires, brings joy, and deserves a repeat re-read inshallah, I must account my actions; I must work hard, in my Deen and in my life, which should be my Deen! Subhanallah the changes I must make. The more I write, the clearer I feel I’m becoming… Allah please guide me, and do not allow for me to be misguided nor to misguide others. Please forgive me and thank you for everything. My trust is upon you, my reliance as well and I love and worship only You, and only for You.

Having Khushuu with my Family

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Being with the family, all of us together and engaged with each other is such an important part of loving each other actively and helping each other to be better individuals when the time comes to be apart from each other.

Many a times my husband has cautioned regarding spending time online and being careful that it does not take time away from the family, my various duties, and worshipping Allah with khushuu. In this case, I believe having khushuu or focus and full awareness, while being with the family, not being distracted in anyway, will bring the same benefits to the family, that are brought to the formal salaat (prayer).

One of the best ways to bring khushuu into your salaat is to worship Allah as if you see Him, because then your focus is fully on Him and on what you are doing while there in front of Him.

Similarly, having khushuu while with your family means shutting out the world’s distractions such as internet, phones, ipods, book/magazine reading, etc. to the extent that your focus and your full attention and awareness is upon your family and you are fully engaged with each member inshallah.

There should be at least two times per day when family should be together physically and emotionally, enjoying each other, sharing about their day, any frustrations, successes, seeking advice, and generally loving and laughing each other and together inshallah.

Furthermore, there should be special time with the husband and wife inshallah, where not even the distraction of children is allowed. The best times would probably be after Fajr before the day starts and after Isha and putting the children and their personal day to bed inshallah.

The couple time need not be especially intimate or romantic each and every time, but it should be the time when the two strive to nurture and renew each with soft touches, gentle words, and tender hugs.

Couple time is essential to having a strong and steadfast marriage, which will translate to a strong and steadfast family inshallah. When the couple takes time to focus on just each other, not just as part of the duty to be intimate, but fully enjoying their time, physically, mentally, and emotionally their trust and reliance on each other is strengthened and any fractures are healed before they turn into open festering sores inshallah.

Showing Love to your Husband

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Sometimes, in the busy-ness of my day, I forget to Love my husband, and when this continues without my paying attention, I may sometimes find myself at a place where my husband becomes just another duty or obligation to deal with.

This is obviously not what marriage is about. Allah says “Among His proofs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves, in order to have tranquility and contentment with each other, and He placed in your hearts love and care towards your spouses. In this, there are sufficient proofs for people who think” 30:21.

With my husband, there should be love in our hearts, care in our treatment of each other, including cherishing, and we should live together in tranquility and contentment, not as a duty or obligation or just tolerance of each other.

Now, I think anyone who knows about marriage will tell you it takes work and a lot of it, done constantly, in order to flourish and be successful inshallah. That does not mean the couple don’t love each other, it just means that it not as easy and unencumbered the way movies and stories, which are primarily made for entertainment, portray.

Working at a marriage means working at yourself, learning new things, applying what works, changing what doesn’t, listening patiently and a whole host of other skills and application that one may not have known before entering into wedded bliss.

One of the things one has to work on, or more like, to do work on, is the love you have in your heart for your spouse, by keeping it at the forefront, nourishing it regularly, and constantly attending to it the way one would a cherished garden inshallah.

So here are some of my ideas on what I can do, practically, to show love to my husband, to nourish the garden of our love inshallah.

- Copy the actions of the wives of the Prophet (salallahu alayhe wasalaam) in their treatment of their husband (more details on this later).

- Hold my husband in my arms so he may feel the whole of me right there with him, physically, and draw what strength or fulfillment he may need after a hard day of work and dealing with the world outside our home.

- Take time to look into his eyes, looking at his face, smiling warmly, with the my full focus on him, so he knows I’m there and present, seeing him and being pleased at what I see. At the same time, letting my heart soak in and refill with my love for the man I married with eyes wide open mashAllah

- Compliment my husband regularly, just because he is my husband and that’s a hard job in and of itself, with special attention paid when he does something particularly endearing or hard or that I had requested be done

- Thank my husband effusively whenever possible, for doing things he is supposed to, as well for those not necessarily in his sphere, for trying, for helping, etc.

- Tell him I love him often, when we are alone, with our kids around, with family, whispered to him while in public, etc. Whenever I remember inshallah or the situation warrants or just as cherry on top the ice cream Sunday!

- Do sweet things for my husband, especially those I know he will enjoy. Some sweet things are massages (can just be across the shoulders to relieve tension), preparing a special meal or desert, creating a romantic atmosphere, surprising him with a small present (store bought or handmade), etc.

There are many things one can do to show love to the husband, some are actual things, some are words, and some are can only be felt by him so your actions will speak the most inshallah. It does take work make a beautiful marriage and like a garden, the more TLC you give it, the more it will flourish a testimony of true and abiding love inshallah.

Conviction bleeds into the Speech

This is a Christian speaking about wearing a head cover/veil:

“The covering not only speaks to others around us of our commitment and dedication to God and to our Godly marriage (if married), but it should also be a constant reminder to ourselves, to take care in our actions, our speech, and our treatment toward others. The presence of Godly modesty is often a silent, guiding influence to direct our daily lives with respect and honor as children of God, and also provides an invisible wall of protection from the endless attacks and temptations from the world around us. When the head covering is understood to be a statement of modesty and meek humility before God, we embrace it as part of our clothing as closely as we would embrace our most intimate apparel. To the woman who cherishes her head covering, it would be to her as nakedness to go without.”

Imagine that, a christian woman advocating the head covering, and statating the conviction behind it that would make any Muslimah proud to read mashAllah. May Allah increase us in yaqeen, in conviction to live out the truth that we learn, and guide us to His Pleasure amen.

Having Khushuu with my Family

Bismillah

Being with the family, all of us together and engaged with each other is such an important part of loving each other actively and helping each other to be better individuals when the time comes to be apart from each other.

Many a times my husband has cautioned regarding spending time online and being careful that it does not take time away from the family, my various duties, and worshipping Allah with khushuu. In this case, I believe having khushuu or focus and full awareness, while being with the family, not being distracted in anyway, will bring the same benefits to the family, that are brought to the formal salaat (prayer).

One of the best ways to bring khushuu into your salaat is to worship Allah as if you see Him, because then your focus is fully on Him and on what you are doing while there in front of Him.

Similarly, having khushuu while with your family means shutting out the world’s distractions such as internet, phones, ipods, book/magazine reading, duties, etc. to the extent that your focus and your full attention and awareness is upon your family and you are fully engaged with each member inshallah.

There should be at least two times per day when family should be together physically and emotionally, enjoying each other, sharing about their day, any plans, concerns, frustrations, successes, seeking advice, and generally loving and laughing each other and together inshallah.

Furthermore, there should be special time with the husband and wife inshallah, where not even the distraction of children is allowed. The best times would probably be after Fajr before the day starts and/or after Isha and putting the children and their own personal day to bed inshallah.

The couple time need not be especially intimate or romantic each and every time, but it should be the time when the two strive to nurture and renew each with soft touches, gentle words, and tender hugs.

Couple time is essential to having a strong and steadfast marriage, which will translate to a strong and steadfast family inshallah. When the couple takes time to focus on just each other, not just as part of the duty to be intimate, but fully enjoying their time, physically, mentally, and emotionally, their trust and reliance on each other is strengthened and any cracks are healed before they turn into open festering sores inshallah.

Gaining Perspective

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This is a story I’ve seen around and when I found it again today, I thought to post it here for reference/reminder and inshallah to benefit from.

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

“So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:

“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.

Appreciate every single thing you have because Allah has blessed you with it. Be thankful of the gifts, repentant of your short comings and patient in your difficulties and struggles inshallah.

Raising Visionary Children

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From an early age, my goal will be for my children to memorize the Quran, the beautiful and inspiring words of Allah. Many Muslim parents aim for the same thing and I’m no different Alhamdulillah. I also want for them, from an early age, to understand what that the Quran is the Words of Allah, that they are the an absolute truth, and that implementing them in one’s life is a sure means of attaining success both worldly and after wards. Inshallah I’ll be working to help them understand the meaning of the words in the language they are most comfortable in and learn to see the Quran in their daily living so they may be guided inshallah.

I think I would also like to create a routine where all of us purposely pick something from the Quran (portion we are memorizing or just what strikes our fancy or moves us etc) and spend 10 minutes contemplating this verse/s and see what we can gain from it. Then spend 5 minutes enumerating benefits or explaining our insight or simply discussing it for the benefits of all inshallah.

I haven’t started on this yet but think it is something dh and I can start inshallah, maybe after breakfast or before bedtime, and then when our little ones are a bit older and able to think more critically, they can be included in this routine inshallah.

Most importantly, I’m looking to gain the benefit of bringing the family together through Quran reading, contemplation/understanding, and sharing of thoughts and ideas that inspire and teach inshallah.

Have each of us make a list of things we are grateful for and the blessings in our lives and have a circle of gratefulness. It can be something we do at dinnertime or family times; where we speak about these things and thank Allah together as a family for the many blessings inshallah.

Another off shoot from this can be us listing people/situations of others to pray for, things to do for others to show kindness and generosity, etc. I hope to do this as a family inshallah in order to shift the focus from personal needs to the needs of others who have less than us and are in need. I want to teach my children and practice myself that even if we can’t physically do something for another, we can certainly make Dua for them and expect through that prayer that inshallah, Allah can and will change their condition for better. I believe this will reinforce reliance upon Allah, that He is able to do everything and that in the end, the ultimate power in any situation starts and ends with Allah’s will and appealing to Allah for ourselves and especially for others, will garner reward for everyone involved inshallah.

Finally, the character of our prophet (salallahu alayhe wasalaam) is the character of the Quran and he (salallahu alayhe wasalaam) is the best role model, the one set for us to follow by Allah Himself. In addition to having my whole family working to implement as many of the exemplary actions and characters from the prophet (salallahu alayhe wasalaam), I inshallah wish to give as examples to inspire and encourage, the many wonderful sahabah (radhiallahu anhum), who were followers of Muhammad’s (salallahu alayhe wasalaam) beautiful manners and examples, just like we are trying to be followers.

To sum up my hopes for my family inshallah

1. Using the Quran to deal with life’s problems. Memorize then live the Quran with understanding, implementing the injunctions and using the guidance in the Quran in tackle daily problems, gain direction and focus, and attain wisdom through practicing what is preached inshallah.

2. Being grateful and humble. Exercise gratefulness in its various aspects, strive for discipline in living life diligently, and work to be humble through observing and working together with those of greater need, as well as keeping other who are too far to reach, in mind and heart while praying to Allah.

3. Concerned with character evaluation and improvement in light of the beautiful example Allah has set for us. Constantly work to improve the self by following the correct guidance, avoiding pride, avarice, and delusions of grandiosity that have no place if following the truth and the beautiful example of our Prophet (salallahu alayhe wasalaam) and his companions (radhiallahu anhum).

Introduction

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I’m a Muslim woman who is striving to love my family in my words and actions, for the Pleasure of Allah, in hopes of raising my children upon the Straight Path.

Being a wife and mother are two of the most rewarding and wonderful states, continuously rejuvenating and re-energizing my heart and soul, and fulfilling my desire to serve and sacrifice inshallah.

This blog is inshallah going to be in honor of my efforts to be the generously loving wife and mother that I envision for myself.

I hope to post my daily struggles and successes, any insight into the various aspects of my many roles, the head of which is wife and mother, and whatever else strikes my fancy or lends itself interesting to blogging.

I hope to make this place interesting, inspiring, insightful, artful, and thought-provoking. In addition, I hope to explore the full extent of what being a Muslim woman, wife, and mother can mean and the many and varied resources that are available to help us broaden ourselves.

Please join me in my journey however and whenever you can.