Relaxation Moments

Relaxation Techniques for The Mind and Body

Meditating Throughout the Summer

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Meditating in a summer environment can help you focus on the continuation of life. There is great beauty to be found in existence, and there is a season for everything. As you work to internalize an innate understanding of nature , you’ll be more likely to feel peaceful, complete, and where you should be in your life. When you meditate, you can use your surroundings to help you. Many people try to block out the world and simply look within themselves when they meditate. This can be very useful, but there are also other ways in which you can practice meditation. While you may want to avoid noisy streets and other distractions, you can certainly use warmth and nature to your benefit.

Warmth and Meditation

In order to meditate more easily and focus on what matters to you, you should be comfortable. That means sitting or lying somewhere that makes you happy and peaceful, but it also means enjoying the right temperature. If you’re too distracted on the fact that you’re too chilly, meditation will be more difficult for you. You can escape that challenge by staying warm and cozy during meditation.

The summer is ideal for meditating because the days are longer and the nights are warm. The soft noises of crickets and other small creatures can bring you peace and make you feel more connected with the world around you. As you start to relax and feel more comfortable, the warmth will help you focus on harmony and joy.

Avoid meditating in the extreme heat, as that can make you feel worse and result in a heat stroke. Instead, find a place where it’s simply warm and comforting.

Evenings in the summertime are often good for meditation, and the pitter-patter of rain can be peaceful as well. If you live in a desert environment, rain can bring about relief, great joy, and a deep appreciation for nature that you can use to help focus your meditation.

Grow and Develop Throughout the Summer Months

The object of meditation is growth, and the summer months provide several factors that you can use to speed that growth along, such as:

  • Warmth
  • Longer days
  • Quiet, restful, peaceful nights
  • Occasional rainstorms to renew and refresh you
  • A break from school or work
  • A stronger bond with nature and existence

There are many ways you can benefit from the warmth of summer when you want to meditate. The longer days are often helpful, and perhaps you’ll vacation, so you may have lower stress levels than you otherwise would. Even if you’re not able to take a break from work or school, you can still use meditation to help you feel better, calmer, and more relaxed.

Focus your mind on the beauty that summer has to offer. Blooming plants, quiet nights, small creatures and insects, rain, and the joy of being part of the cycle of life and existence can all be wonderful triggers for meditation and help bring peace and happiness.

Use what works for you. Everyone is different, and meditation is a very personal experience. The way one person uses the summer might not be the same way someone else uses it. Your meditation time is your own special getaway. Take the warmth, peace, and beauty of summer and use it in the way that feels most comfortable to you.

How to Rejuvenate Yourself After Burnout

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If you are suffering from burnout, you’ll likely be looking for ways to restore your peace, health, and happiness. It’s important to treat yourself lovingly after such a trauma to your system so you don’t develop chronic health conditions.

Burnout can cause all sorts of mental and emotional issues, including anxiety and depression. You should try to recognize the signs that lead to burnout, but this may not always be possible. If you concentrate on restoring yourself after burnout, you can avoid these issues and get your true self back.

Consider these burnout tips to help you regain your strength:

  1. Find a new direction. The best, most permanent, way of dealing with burnout is to focus on making sustainable life changes. Ask yourself whether or not you’re happy in your current situation. Perhaps it’s time to make a major life shift, such as a new career or downsizing your home.
  • Take a break. It’s best to get away from the situation that has caused you to burn out. This may mean going out for a walk and getting away for a few hours, or it may mean giving yourself a full blown vacation.
  • You don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money for a vacation. Your goal is to relax and clear your mind. You can certainly do this at home or in your local community.
  • Solve the problem. If you’re currently in the middle of a stressful situation, take action to solve the problem right away as best as you can. Consider the possible solutions to the problem and ask for help from others if necessary.
  • Gain control. Take control of the situation where possible. Realize that you can solve your problems and you’re not doomed to remain in this state forever. Also, have the wisdom to accept that there are situations that are beyond your control.
  • Do what you can to improve your situation, but avoid worrying about the things out of your control.
  • Be open and honest. Sometimes it’s best to set your pride aside and ask for help when you need it. Open up about the issues you’re facing with a close friend or relative. If that’s not an option for you, seek the help of a counselor.

Stress Management

If burnout tends to be a common occurrence for you, it would be in your best interest to start studying some stress management techniques.

There are certain things you can do to combat stress:

  • Don’t take on too much at work or at home.
  • Remember that you can – and should – tell people “no.”
  • Make time for yourself.
  • Ask for help from others.

Know Your Warning Signs

Once you’ve suffered burnout, you’ll certainly want to know how you can avoid a similar situation in the future. Study the factors that led to burnout, and identify your mistakes so you can avoid making them again in the future.

In the End

These strategies will help you regain peace with yourself. If there are any outstanding issues that you need to resolve, seek solutions so you can achieve peace. You can do so through self-reflection, prayer, meditation, and communication. And once you do, you’ll avoid burnout altogether!

Finding Serenity in Nature

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During the summer, do you think about getting outdoors more, but then have trouble actually following through? If you feel overworked and stressed, it’s time to find your inner peace again. But how can you find serenity in a calamitous world?

Take a deep breath and head outdoors to your favorite national park, local walking trail, bird estuary, or forest. You’ll recapture your sense of calm when you spend some time in nature.

Follow these tips:

  1. Be comfortable. Dress comfortably and take plenty of beverages and snacks.This is easy if you’re driving the car to your special nature spot. Remember to wear comfortable walking shoes.

  2. Avoid distractions. If you take your cell phone, turn it on silent mode to avoid being alarmed by its ringtone. For now, you plan to exchange your own world for that of the park or forest.

  3. Walk on well-marked paths. Make sure you can find your way back.
  4. Forget about the noise going on in your head. Allow the stressful thoughts to float away. Just let go of all the pressures. You’re in one of your favorite places now. No worries exist there!

  5. Listen to the sounds that surround you. Maybe the trees are rustling in the wind, the birds are singing, or you hear an animal call.

  6. Use visual cues to relax. Leave your world behind. Look around and notice all the green trees. See the dirt path, the tiny ants crawling on a log, and the spider web.

  7. Steep yourself in the smells of your surroundings. What is that fragrance? A hint of honeysuckle? The woodsy fragrance of pine? Breathe in and breathe out consciously.

  8. The physicals sensations come next. Are the leaves of a bush lightly brushing your arms? Are you challenged to keep your footing on the bumpy path? Physically coming into contact with nature is an important part of the experience, in addition to the sights, sounds and smells.

  9. Look for the critters in the woods. Maybe you’ll spot a raccoon or a squirrel. Observing other mammals is fascinating and you’ll learn something every time you watch an animal.

  10. Notice the birdcalls. Perhaps two or more birds are talking to one another.

  11. Be aware of what the air feels like. You can most likely tell that summer is here. It’s a clean, fresh, crisp feeling with a hint of heat in most places. Maybe the sun is shining or perhaps you’re deep in a thicket of trees where it’s dank and mossy.

  12. Visit a pine forest. If you’re lucky enough to live within driving distance of a pine tree forest, consider visiting this awesome example of nature’s Zen experiences. Sit down on a bed of pine needles and just be.

  13. Think about gratitude. What are you grateful for in your life? Focus on the simple things. “I love my chair in the living room with my books piled high next to it.” “I’m grateful for the sunset I see each evening from my kitchen window.” “I’m grateful for having eyes to see and hands that work for me.”

  14. Reflect on your accomplishments. Toward the end of your nature visit, give yourself a pat on the back for a difficult situation you’ve made it through recently.

  15. Enjoy the peace. Realize that right at this moment, you feel a sense of calm, peacefulness, and serenity that you can return to any time you want, simply by visiting this wonderful corner of nature.

Immerse yourself in the experiences of nature. Allow yourself to be keenly aware of the sights, sounds, smells, and atmosphere around you. No matter where your favorite outdoors spots are, visit them regularly to return to what’s most important: You!

6 Incredible Health Benefits Of Mindfulness

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By Greg Thurston

Creator of Seven Minute Mindfulness

“Mindfulness” is a bit of a buzz word right now, but that doesn’t mean that you should discredit it. Being mindful is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind!

But you might not be sure what it is. Is mindfulness just being more aware? Or does it mean clearing your mind?

Being mindful, in one sense, is like simplifying things. Normally we try to multitask all day, worrying about 20 things while doing 10. That doesn’t work too well.

Being mindful means focusing on the present moment. Being fully here. It allows you to attend to what’s going on right around you and inside you. So it simplifies things because you can just enjoy the present moment.

You can mediate to be more mindful, and you can practice it throughout your day. Whatever you’re doing, give it all of your attention. Be proactive about putting down your other worries and being present in what you’re doing and who you’re with.

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Mindfulness a gift that we don’t give to ourselves much. In fact, our society teaches that we should be getting as much done as possible all the time, which leads to burnout, stress, health problems, and lower productivity.

Mindfulness, on the other hand, offers the opposite, so let’s take a look at all the benefits of mindfulness.

1. Mindfulness reduces stress

Let’s start with the biggie. In today’s world, we really battle stress from all sides.

If we carry around all the things we have to worry about, our mind never gets a break. That’s why so many people are completely burned out, feeling down, and stressed to the point of panic attacks or needing medication.

This kind of worrying steals away any chance of joy or relaxation in our day. You probably know how it goes: you’re sitting at your desk at work, stressed about a deadline, and also about a disagreement with your partner, and some tension you’re feeling with a coworker, and the company party you’re supposed to attend tonight…

Constantly carrying all of these things and feeling continued stress leads to:

  • Restless sleep
  • A racing mind
  • Low energy
  • Feeling irritable
  • Feeing defensive
  • Getting angry easier
  • Panic attacks
  • Constant panic
  • Headaches, body aches, migraines
  • Jaw pain from clenching teeth
  • Tight shoulders and back pain
  • Depression

As you can see, trying to keep everything on your mind leads to all kinds of problems, resulting in lower productivity and even worse things.

We might even feel guilty if we forget to worry about something. Do you ever do that? You’ll finally get absorbed in something and it feels really nice, but then you remember all the things that aren’t resolved, and you feel guilty for letting yourself have a few minutes.

But you need those minutes!

Being mindful and present will allow you to get absorbed in what you’re doing, give it your full attention so you can do better, and you’ll feel more clear and mentally energized.

Your body and brain wasn’t made to handle constant stress. It’s so much healthier to be present and put aside the other pressing thoughts.

Challenge yourself to be mindful in one activity a day: a walk, mediation, making a craft, writing, drawing, singing, or something else you enjoy.

See how it feels to let yourself be fully present with that one thing and not having thoughts about anything else. And then see how you feel the rest of the day.

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2. Mindfulness creates better health

Being mindful and present lowers our stress levels and also centers us, bringing many health benefits.

You might notice that you’re calmer after practicing mindfulness, your head feels more clear and focused, you’re more productive, and more alert.

Being mindful greatly benefits your mind, and that in turn benefits your body and overall health.

People who practice being mindful have higher brain function, an increased immune function, lower blood pressure, lower anxiety levels, and are more calm.

We’ve heard this for years, but experts were talking about meditation and yoga. Both of those are ways to be mindful!

3. Mindfulness decreases depression symptoms

When you decrease stress and improve your health, that can help with depression.

Mindfulness does that and more. It’s been considered an effective part of overall depression treatment for a long time.

Being mindful often helps people see and acknowledge their feelings, and that leads to better coping. Being mindful and let you say, “I see that I’m feeling that way, and that’s okay.”

Being mindful engages the observant self, so you can notice how you’re feeling, and what you’re thinking, but not get completely sucked into those feelings. You can step back and analyze the situation better.

4. Mindfulness increases Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is one of those fun words (in my opinion) that show you what they mean. Neuro, or brain, plus plasticity, or being flexible.

Think about how plastic can be soft and pliable.

Being mindful helps your brain increase its ability to change and adapt, which is pretty important to our survival even though we’re not back in the caveman era.

In a simple sense, neuroplasticity refers to how our brain grows, learns, and changes. When we change our mind or learn new things, we actually make new pathways.

But this has bigger scientific implications. When someone has a stroke and has to relearn how to walk, they’re actually learning how to re-circuit their brain around the damaged area.

Imagine how much stronger your brain will be if you practice mindfulness and therefore improve neuroplasticity. That’s a huge advantage for dealing with all of life’s curves and for any brain damage you might suffer.

5. Mindfulness helps you deal with illness

Studies have found that mindfulness helps people with cancer and people with chronic illness-even terminal illness.

I can see why being in the moment more would help someone enjoy life day by day. Research has found that mindfulness helps cancer patients reduce stress while relieving fatigue.

For many, mindfulness increases our spirituality and sense of purpose, and it helps people handle their emotions regarding their illness.

Mindfulness can greatly improve life for people with chronic pain, such as low back pain. It helps patients focus on something other than the pain.

6. Mindfulness helps recovery

We’ve seen all the ways mindfulness benefits our mental and emotional health. It also helps us physically when we need to recover from illness.

This is probably due to all the other benefits of being mindful.

We have better focus, we’re less stressed, we feel more at peace, and so we’re happier.

We’ve talked about some big areas where mindfulness helps. To zoom in a bit, here’s a list of more specific ways that being mindful improves our lives:

  • Better mental health
  • Less stress at work
  • Better emotional regulation
  • Less problems with alcohol and drugs
  • Less depression and anxiety
  • Better performance at school and work
  • Better relationships
  • Better self awareness
  • Less burnout
  • Better able to cope with ups and downs
  • More resilience

We’re just healthier when we’re more mindful, because people aren’t really made to multitask 5 things all day long and always worry.

We can benefit from slowing down and enjoying the present moment. Why let other things detract from what you’re doing? You can give those other things your attention in due time.

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Mindfulness in the Winter for Self-Care

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The cold, grey days and long, dreary nights of winter are an ideal time to establish a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is helpful in dealing with stress and other challenges such as anxiety and depression, and it is an effective self-care tool that can easily be applied by anyone, anywhere. Whether one has been an adherent of mindfulness for many years or is a novice, there are practices that can be incorporated into daily life that can help to bring a sense of calm and peace to both our inner and outer beings. Some practical ways to practice mindfulness in the winter include the following:

Sitting Meditation

Perhaps the most well-known mindfulness technique, sitting meditation essentially involves quieting your mind and recognizing your emotions. By doing this, we can honor our feelings while at the same time learn not to be controlled by them. By bringing stillness to our minds, we can stay in the present moment. We allow ourselves to pause and to relax, to restore harmony and balance to our lives.

There are many methods of sitting mediation to choose from. The most basic technique calls for a meditator to find a quiet place to sit, close his or her eyes, and focus on his or her breath. Thoughts will race through a meditator’s mind, and that is perfectly normal and acceptable. When this happens, one simply needs to return to focusing on breathing in and breathing out. Although it can be difficult to find time to meditate in our hectic lives, even taking five or ten minutes in the morning or evening can prove to be very valuable.

Breathing

Many people find that a mindfulness practice that involves intentional breathing does wonders. The act of breathing in and breathing out at a controlled pace helps to regulate our heart rhythms and keeps us from hyperventilating, which can be miraculous in extremely stressful situations. Learning proper breathing techniques is an essential form of mindfulness self-care.

One popular breathing procedure is known as “4-7-8 Relaxing” breathing. One inhales for a count of 4, holds one’s breath for a count of 7, and then exhales for a count of 8. Repeating this behavior for a few cycles can bring rapid relief to an overburdened mind and body.

Explore Nature

The shorter, darker days of winter can be difficult to endure. Although it seems counterintuitive to venture outside into the cold, getting outside to explore and spend time in nature is one of the most healing gifts that we can give ourselves. Being exposed to even a little sunlight, along with getting exercise, increases our feelings of contentment. Walking through the woods or going to the park are incredible ways to explore nature in the winter.

We can incorporate mindfulness into our nature explorations by pausing to examine what we see while outside. Notice the birds that are still around. Look at the shapes of the icicles hanging from the trees. Feel the wind on your face. Taking a moment to appreciate nature is an incredible form of mindfulness.

Self-care in winter revolves around activities that can be done indoors. The extra time that we spend at home provides us with the time and space to implement changes. Practicing mindfulness is a crucial step in staying stress-free and calm during the winter.

How to Care for Yourself in the Winter

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Winter can be a beautiful and thoughtful season, but it’s often difficult to enjoy it with the cold temperature and various illnesses in the air. Luckily, it’s entirely possible to enjoy a picturesque winter season with a few simple steps! Here are some self-care tips you need to enjoy winter today.

Staying Healthy and Warm

One of the most difficult things about winter is the high-probability of getting sick. Whether it’s a sore throat, stuffy nose, or dangerous flu, you’ll want to protect yourself while still enjoying the season’s benefits. While flu vaccinations and over the counter medicines are common, these tips can help protect you while also being enjoyable by themselves!

First, you’ll want to keep your body and home warm throughout the season. This seems obvious, but it requires more than just a sweater and heater. Make sure to wear socks indoors to keep your body temperature down, and sip on warm tea throughout the day. Avoid caffeinated teas in the evenings and instead choose something calming like chamomile.

As the temperature drops, you’ll also find that the air gets drier as well. This can cause your throat and sinuses to get scratchy which also leaves you more susceptible to common colds. To prevent this, get an air humidifier and add some pleasant natural oils into the mix. Oils like lavender, lemon, or peppermint can open your airways and keep you relaxed throughout the season. Plus, a humidifier makes your room’s air moister which will keep your sinuses clear no matter the temperature outside!

Taking Care of Your Mental Health

Depending on where you live, the winter may bring subzero temperatures and occasional snowstorms. When the sun isn’t present for long periods of time, your body begins to produce less vitamin D. When you have a vitamin D deficiency, you may experience mood swings along with other symptoms like depression, lethargy, and insomnia. To help, try a small vitamin D supplement to keep your levels stable throughout the darker months.

Your mental health can also improve through regular exercise. While you may not be able to run outside, you can practice yoga or body weight fitness inside of your home in any season! Do some daily pushups, jog in place, or simply shake out your arms throughout the day. Even the smallest amount of exercise can go a long way in keeping your mind and body healthy during the winter.

Arts, Crafts, and Literature

You may spend more time inside during the winter months, but that doesn’t mean you have to be bored! Find some unique activities or games that you can play inside to stay busy. This could be a new board game or something more personal like arts and crafts. Learn how to draw, or reignite a passion for a craft that you haven’t enjoyed in a while. Plus, nothing’s better than diving into a long and well-written book during the winter! Have some hot chocolate, curl up in a blanket, and enjoy that book you’ve always been meaning to read.

While the winter may not be everyone’s favorite season, it can be an enjoyable time if you put your mind to it. Plus, you can get some festive and colorful lights to hang indoors so you can always enjoy the warmth of the season. By following these tips, you’ll be sure to have a wonderful winter season without worries!

What Does It Mean To Be In A Truly Relaxed State?

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Relaxation and the ability to be relaxed is a very powerful tool in life. Think about it, people say all the time, when your anxious ‘just relax’, or when you’re about to feel pain and you know it, people say ‘just relax’ and when you are about to speak in front of a large group of people, you say to yourself ‘Just relax’.

At even deeper levels, relaxation has the ability to show you something about yourself that most people wouldn’t believe unless they saw it for themselves. We will get to that later on.

What Is Relaxation?

When you are letting go of worry and concern in your mind, you experience greater degrees of relaxation. On the other-hand when you are encouraging worry and concern in your mind you, experience greater degrees of tension. When people learn to meditate in order to experience inner peace they are encouraged to relax.

When people enter into deep states of hypnosis, first they are taken through a process of relaxation. However, what is it exactly? It’s a silly question really, but the answer is this: Relaxation is the action of releasing tension in the muscles of the body.

Mental relaxation is the action of releasing tension in the thought process, done in various forms of meditation and hypnosis discipline.

So How Can We Make Use Of Relaxation?

Relaxation is something that can be employed by any of us, at any time in our lives. It is a tool that is very useful for dealing with situations and encounters that cause us mental anguish of any kind. It can also help us to experience a greater sense of well-being in our daily lives. Without tension, without stress, we experience greater peace. Inner peace is brought about by a relaxation in the mind and spirit.

At night, we can learn to go through a form of self-hypnosis exercise whereby we release the activities and attachments of the world by encouraging our bodies, mind, and spirits to let go, to relax and just let things be.

The positive effects of this type of mental training must be experienced to be believed, but needless to say, it is one of the most powerful tools we can have in our arsenal for encouraging greater health and wellness.

The Practice

Do these exercises at night when you go to bed, when all of the days’ work is done and there is nothing else left that requires your personal attention. It can be employed during the day also, but make sure you will have at least half an hour to yourself in an environment where you won’t be disturbed or interrupted.

Silence your phone, turn off the T.V, wear something warm, and find yourself a nice comfortable spot to lie down.

  1. When you are lying down, allow yourself to relax and focus on your breath.
  2. Pay attention to the feeling in your feet and allow every muscle in them to relax.
  3. Slowly move your attention up into your calves and do the same thing. Breathe slowly and allow all the muscles from your calves downwards to relax.
  4. Move your attention slightly higher into your thighs and buttocks and do the same. Let everything relax.
  5. Continue the process until you have covered, bit by bit, the entire length of your body, from foot to head.
  6. Be aware of your breathing. Just breathe naturally and allow every muscle in your body to be in this relaxed state of awareness for as long as you like, or as long as you can.

Doing this exercise will develop your ability to be relaxed and you will learn that everything that happens to you in the world, develops a certain amount of tension in your body and mind, and doing this particular exercise will allow all of that tension to slowly dissolve.

Practicing this properly can give you insight into the nature of meditation and has even lead some people to have unexplainable mystical experiences. However, the main aim with this is to uncover for yourself a truly relaxed state.

Once you get the hang of this practice, you can even take it with you into your everyday life, while going about your daily business. Focus on your body and encourage your muscles to stay relaxed, by consciously relaxing them.

Advanced students of this practice will even do it while in stressful situations, combined with ‘breathing focus exercises’ to support their state of relaxation, they can face challenges and stressful situations to a degree much higher than most other people.

In terms of being alive today in the stressful world of the 21st century, developing your own truly relaxed state is a tool that is well worth forging within your body, mind, and spirit.

Healing From Within

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Healing From Within: Using The Power Of Choice To Improve Your Quality Of Life And Wellness

Each of us has the ability to choose. We can decide what to eat each day, what clothes to wear, what restaurants to go to; we have the ability to choose what we want in life and what we don’t want.

Of course, some things we can’t choose like what color our skin is, what size feet we have, what day of the week it is, but we do have the ability to choose something that is really, really important.

How We Feel

The practice of developing wellness in our lives shows us that we do have the ability to choose how we feel. We can consciously influence our emotions and ourselves. We can use mental training strategies like self-hypnosis and meditation to encourage certain states and feelings within our minds.

We can choose how to react to a certain situation or to a certain person. We can control our emotions so that we don’t fall into negative, degenerative, or destructive thought processes. We can even use the power of choice to heal.

Healing From Within

The power of choice is very similar to the power of intention. When we hold an intention in our minds, we are attracting the result of that intention into our lives. When we make a choice, we are attracting the result of that choice into our lives. Therefore, if we learn to be very aware of our choices, and also be aware of where our choices will lead us, we can learn to remove destructive and negative influences from our lives.

When we remove negativity and destructiveness from our lives, we feel an all-pervading sense of wellness within our daily way of life. When we can learn to promote this feeling on a regular basis, the natural result is healing in the spirit.

Healing The Spirit Is Healing Both Body & Mind

The Spirit, the awareness of the entire cosmos, is connected to everything that is contained within it, indeed, they are one. Obviously, that includes you, and me, and everyone else. Therefore, when the Spirit is encouraged to heal, meaning, when healing is promoted within ourselves and without ourselves, naturally we experience healing on all levels.

But what does healing mean?

Healing or more specifically spiritual healing does not actually have anything to do with physical health. I know this may shock some of you, who are reading this, but it doesn’t and it’s actually pretty obvious why not when you can see the big picture.

For example, a person with a terminal illness can still have a very powerful and aware spirit.

A person who is incredibly fit and healthy physically can be completely negative in their minds and still practice many destructive forms of behavior.

Indeed spiritual awakening occurs to many people who are on their ‘death-bed’ so what are we talking about when we use the term ‘healing’?

Healing, In Reality

Having a complete awareness of what we are, knowing that in reality everything is okay, and understanding our position and function in life, that is what real healing is about. On the other hand, there is suffering.

Being lost in life, being confused about what is real and what is not, being angry and traumatized by past experiences, holding onto judgements and opinions about people, things or places which leads to a feeling of separateness, these things are all in the realm of suffering.

True healing can only occur when all of these things are overcome, when suffering is brought to an end inside our hearts. In reality, true healing and true spiritual wellness can only occur when the source of our suffering has been extinguished.

The Result

We have the ability to choose whether or not we suffer. By choosing not to suffer we are encouraging healing within our spirit. When healing is encouraged within our spirit, this has the natural effect of developing inner peace within our heart.

To truly heal, to remove all of the anguish, all of the confusion, all of the aggression, all of the conflict, all we have do is make a choice, a choice not to suffer, not to feed our problems, but instead, to take away the source of their inspiration.

Only we can do that for ourselves.

If we can choose not to promote suffering in our lives, naturally this has the effect of promoting greater quality of life and greater health. But even if our physical health is bad, as will be the case with most of us as we age and grow older, we can still have a mindset that doesn’t experience this as suffering, but simply sees that it is a part of the natural way of things.

For those of us who have health problems in our younger years, by making the choice to stop doing anything negative or destructive, we can encourage greater physical health as well and mental and spiritual health.

In order to do this, all we have to do is make a choice. What will you choose?

Is Your Life Designed To Support Wellness?

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The question we are asking ourselves here is whether our own personal life, in its current state, is designed to support wellness.

This requires a dual approach.

We must investigate exactly what wellness is referring to. Does it mean a general state of well-being? Can we be well physically but not mentally? Does this have anything to with spiritual wellness?

We must recognize whether or not wellness is suited to our life currently. Maybe we already live in a way that promotes wellness in our everyday life and maybe we do not. However, in either case we want to understand how well our life is suited to wellness.

For those of us who do not live in a way that promotes wellness, what do we have to do to inspire wellness in our current life? Do we have to make any changes or is it simply a case of doing more? Maybe it is a case of doing less?

What is Wellness?

Wellness is something that many people overlook. Most people think that how they feel is how they feel and there is nothing to be done about it.

For some, the primary goal of seeking good health is to prevent some possible future disease, like heart disease or diabetes.

Some others relate wellness only to the physical body and others relate it more to their mental state than anything else does.

Let us have a look at a holistic view of what wellness is. Quite simply, wellness can be understood as balance.

Wellness = Balance

When we feel well physically it is due to the fact of our bodies is getting what they need from a balanced lifestyle. This includes our level of physical exercise, our nutrition intake, our level of work vs play, and our personal and environmental hygiene. When we feel balanced physically, we feel well.

Mentally we feel balanced when our thoughts are aligned with our purpose in life. When we have an understanding as to what we are doing, why we are doing it and what needs to be done to maintain order in our life. When we are emotionally disturbed on the other-hand, we say that we feel out-of-balance, or perhaps mentally unwell.

Spiritually, we have a much bigger picture to look at. In order to determine whether we are spiritually well we need to be very honest with ourselves when asking that question. If we feel completely happy with our lives, if we have a genuine understanding of our function and position in the universe, as living beings, then we could be said to be spiritually well. But, and this is where the importance of self-honesty shines through, we must be clear with ourselves if we feel spiritually unwell.

Do we feel confused about our way of life, or our beliefs?

Do we have unresolved conflicts with our past or even perhaps our understanding of our life, or our purpose?

Do we feel inner calm and peace that supports and promotes our utmost quality of life?

Being spiritually unwell means that no matter what we do, or where we go, or who we are with, our happiness, our wellness is only temporary.

Eventually we always fall back into some form of despair or confusion, or suffering: like having a splinter in our minds that inevitably, always returns back to hurt.

The Best Thing About Wellness

The best thing about wellness though is that it is attainable, by anyone and everyone. Everyone and anyone on the face of the planet can achieve physical, mental, and spiritual wellness. Bearing in mind, that wellness does not mean ‘to be in good health’. If that were the case then no terminally, ill person could ever feel well.

This is what is meant by, wellness = balance. Even a person who is suffering from a terminal illness can feel well, if their life is balanced and fulfilled.

In order to encourage the development of a holistic wellness in our life, all we have to do is maintain a balanced way of life. This incorporates the physical, mental and spiritual worlds, since all of those things are within us.

Therefore, with regards to the question, is your lifestyle designed to support wellness, the above will give you an idea if it is, and only you will know the answer. If the answer is no, there are many things you can do to make changes, so make a plan and stick with it.

Do You Take As Good Care Of Yourself As You Do Others?

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relax and de-stressSelflessness and selfishness are two very misunderstood terms. People mistakenly think that selfishness means doing things with the intention of taking care of your-self and they also think that selflessness means doing everything for other people that they want, taking everything on board, and never doing anything for your-self.

It’s always important to understand the balance in all of these actions in order to see the reality of the situation.

Imagine This

All day long, you do things for yourself, only based on what you want. If someone else needs something from you, or asks you to get something that they need which might ‘put you out’ a little, you refuse. Your time is your time and you want to keep it all to you.

This is pure selfishness.

Now imagine the opposite.

All day long, you run around for people getting everything they want, not having a second for yourself to get things done or to focus on what you need. You are constantly being told where to go and what to do without ever having the ability to sit down and think for yourself. People use you to the point of exhaustion, every day like a servant to the needs and wants of others.

This is pure selflessness and it is exhausting.

In all of this, it is vital that we find the balance.

Balancing Yourself

When we take care of the needs of others, we must do so while maintaining what we need also. When we need a break, we must be able to say no. When a person’s requests or demands are getting to be too much weight on our shoulders, again we must learn to say no.

While looking after and taking care of others, we must also make it a high priority to have time to ourselves, to relax and not have to deal with any added stresses and pressure.

Doing this, taking time out for ourselves, to give ourselves what we need, actually allows us to better serve others. If there is not balance, very quickly we will become exhausted and drained of our ability to do anything.

In this state, we would quickly become depressed and overwhelmed, or perhaps even start to get irritable and angry. This is all because there is no balance between selfishness and selflessness.

Real Selflessness

What we are trying to achieve here is ‘Real Selflessness’. The kind of selflessness that is balanced, that gives both ourselves and the other person or people what we all need. Living in this way actually makes us more capable of helping others, because at the same time we maintain our own requirements along with the requirements of everyone else.

It is important that we take as good care of ourselves as we do others. If we don’t, we actually lose the ability to take care of others properly.

Developing the right kind of balance means we can go on living through ‘Real Selflessness’ for as long as we continue to live.

How To Be Truly Selfless

We must be honest with ourselves and with others. We must have boundaries in place that don’t allow other people to take advantage, unknowingly or not.

We must recognize when things are becoming too much to handle, and when we need a little space to relax and let go of the stress.

Once we recognize this, we must put everything down, essentially say ‘no’ to the world for a little while so that we can rest, recover, recuperate and reset to come back reinvigorated and ready to serve once again.

Living in this way means that we aren’t just taking care of others, we are simultaneously taking care of ourselves in the same moment.

People will respect this and appreciate it because everyone knows how it feels to be stressed and exhausted and at the same time, they will appreciate that you are still helping them, or that you will continue to be your giving self once, you have had enough of a break to focus on yourself.

Learn to have boundaries in place and effectively implement them. By doing this, you will learn how to be the right amount of selfless and the right amount of selfish, without falling into any extremes.

The middle way is always balanced. Learn to walk the middle way and take care of yourself as much as you do others.