So many people out there believe health is only concerned with the physical body and environment, likely because modern medicine has promulgated the idea since Descartes’ theory of body/spirit separation was adopted as law in this field. But it is not the truth. As recognised by most ancient cultures, whole body health must incorporate the physical, environmental, emotional, mental and spiritual, because each of these aspects form a part of our whole body system. Furthermore, whether we’re aware of it or not, we cannot find balance in our lives until we practice self care in each of these aspects.
In last month’s article I talked about the physical and environmental aspects, this month continues with the emotional/mental and spiritual. They are all interconnected so each one affects the others. There are so many options available in caring for these aspects of ourselves that it might seem overwhelming, but all you really need to do is find the practice and/or practitioners that work for you. And even 20 minutes a day can go a long way. If your excuse is that you’re too busy and can’t find the time, just change that perspective and make time. Sooner or later you’ll realise your health depends on it.
Here are some tools and practices you can use to maintain your emotional/mental health:
- Practice actively loving yourself. This comes first and foremost, before applying any other tool or practice. Simply sit with your hands on your heart for a few minutes a day and tell yourself you fully love and accept all parts of you. Watch the shift that happens.
- Focus on deepening your connections with people. Heart centred relationships are very healing on a soul level.
- Spend time in nature, and with animals where possible. Both will ground you and especially if something stressful or negative is happening in your life, this will shift your perspective.
- Practice gratitude! Discover how this one element alone can transform your life. Here’s a wonderful short meditation I like https://youtu.be/b5pCt0XQTsk
- EFT, NLP and Emotion Code are all incredible tools to heal your emotional and mental programming, to shift trauma from the body, and to change your neural synapses. EFT: https://www.emofree.com/nl/eft-tutorial/tapping-basics/how-to-do-eft.html NLP http://www.nlp.com/what-is-nlp/ Emotion Code http://www.drbradleynelson.com
- Hire a coach or mentor to help you with your life goals and keep you accountable.
- If you feel you could use therapy, I recommend working with a therapist who incorporates spiritual healing, rather then solely talk therapy. The reason being that while talk therapy certainly helps, it cannot heal the root of your problems as spiritual healing can.
Some tools and practices for maintaining your spiritual health:
- Meditate! Daily is ideal. It’s been said before, but meditation has so many positive effects on your body and soul, including reduction of stress, depression, anxiety and fear, and an increased sense of peace, love and joy. If you really don’t do well with seated meditations, try active options such as a brisk walk in nature, yoga, tai chi/chi gong or swimming.
- Brain Entrainment Meditation – this falls under meditation, but is special enough to deserve it’s own mention. These meditations send mostly inaudible binaural beats to the left and right hemispheres of the brain, which actually alter the brainwaves and cause a shift in responses. Here is a wonderful resource: http://www.mp3-meditation-club.com Equally, a youtube search will render a huge number of binaural meditations: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=binaural+beats
- Take moments of stillness and connect with your higher self/inner wisdom/energy source, or however you prefer to call the all knowing part of yourself. Start building your trust in inner guidance, your intuition, for this is where all truth lies and where all best decisions are made from.
- Participate in spiritual healing, be it working with a practitioner or learning a healing practice for yourself. There are so many healing methodologies available, a good starting point is Reiki but if you really want to be propelled, try one of the various forms of Quantum healing.
- If you feel so called, join a spiritual community. A wonderful spiritual centre I attended in the past and highly recommend is https://agapelive.com They are LA based but anyone worldwide can listen to sessions and obtain the teachings. Alternatively, research your local area for groups and try out a few. Consciousness expos and festivals can also be a wonderful experience.
Try even a couple of these suggestions and watch the shifts that begin to happen in your life. You will feel more vibrant yet simultaneously peaceful, radiate better energy, look better (yes, it’s true!), and ultimately lead a more fulfilled life.
