Last week I introduced you all to my story. I gave you a small glimpse into my journey to healing. I can sit here and type page after page of symptoms, diagnosis's and modern medical treatments that I underwent throughout my life. That will come later. I can also sit here and type page after page of the methods in detail that actually worked for me. That will also come later.
Today I want to give you, in my experience, the limbs or parts of life that we need to pay attention to and nurture in order to live healthy and happy. I am going to explain what I feel are the pillars to living and maintaining a life that is balanced. Once we are balanced or whole, it is much harder to manifest disease, specifically in my case, auto-immune related issues.
Ask yourself, " How do I feel?" I mean really ask yourself! Not the way you would casually ask a stranger on the street, "How's it going?" Try to be completely present and ask yourself wholeheartedly " How do I feel?" Did anything come up for you? Maybe something physically that needs attention, or perhaps emotionally? How we feel isn't directly dictated from one place. We are much more dynamic creatures then that. There is a heck of allot more to pay attention to! So, where do we begin?
Physical Body (Body):
We should absolutely pay attention to what is going on in our physical body. We should never disregard these signs. The unfortunate truth is that once we actually experience physical symptoms, it's very likely we have already been ignoring signs and indicators of unbalance. By the time physical pain manifests we have been neglecting other very important components to our well being. There are several aspects of our physical body that we need to nurture and regulate to maintain balance. If any of these processes are off it can result in illness.
Things to examine:
- Diet What does YOUR body need, crave or reject? In a later blog, I will tell you how my body told me all along (since birth) what I should and should not eat. Once I actually payed attention, my healing began.
- Chemical Exposure (internally & externally) This goes along with diet but it is a little more complex. I have learned that when I ingest food that is as close to pure (not messed around with) as possible I feel better! I am all for a completely Organic and Non-GMO diet! This can also mean other substances we consume that are not in balance with our body's chemistry. Chemical exposure doesn't stop at food. Be mindful of the chemicals you put on your body (soaps, cosmetics, detergents, feminine products) and around your body (household cleaners, air fresheners, perfumes, environmental pollutants)
- Rest I get it, your busy! Trust me, I am a wife, mom of 3, I have 2 dogs a cat , work full time as a high school art teacher, I am pursuing my full time career as a professional artist, teaching workshops, taking several courses online, writing & illustrating several books right now and lets not forget, writing this blog! But, when I need to rest I do it! LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! You are not a martyr, here to save the world by pushing through! If you feel run down, or before you even feel run down, rest!
- Stress (physical) Are you pushing your body too far? Are you putting any unnecessary physical strain on your body?
- Environment Are you living in an environment that doesn't suit your physical needs? Do you crave more sunshine, fresh air or space? Also, how is your living environment? (cluttered, cramped, long commute)
- Moving (exercise, daily activity)
Emotional Body (Mind):
We are emotional beings as well as physical. The key is to pay attention to our emotions, acknowledge them and understand why we are experiencing them but try not to live in them. We should never try to suppress emotions or ignore them. There is a reason why we are experiencing them. Sometimes our emotions can be very motivational! They can light the fire under us and give us the drive to change something that no longer suites us or do work towards or for something we feel passionate about. Too often we let our emotions control us and our actions, ultimately creating unnecessary drama and stress. Once we are mindful of them we can learn from our emotions and how to create balance in our emotionally body.
Things to Examine:
- Relationships (love, friendship, family, work) We want healthy relationships all around! We should never subject ourselves to abuse of any kind. The people we surround ourselves with should uplift and inspire us!
- Emotional Stress (can be created by all of the above and below)
- Grief (Loss of a loved one, relationship, job, friend)
- Hormonal Cycles (well, this one's obvious.. lol) This does fall in physical but we sure see the effects here in emotional! We can balance this by being mindful of our physical indicators as well as emotional indicators.
- Ego (The more we take care of ourselves the more we can control ego and it's sabotage) Ego doesn't necessarily mean egocentric, it means the self sabotaging beliefs we create about ourselves. Sometimes we build walls that we lock ourselves into. We tell ourselves we can't, we're not good enough, or we will never be able to______. ( you fill in the blank) Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.
Spiritual Body (Spirit):
Things to Examine:
- Your Dharma (Life Purpose) What did you come to this earth, in this body, in this life to do? Are you on the right path? Or, are you ignoring signs and direction in order to slip into a quiet "comfortable" role?
- Your Truth (What are you here to say?) Are you stifling yourself? Are you holding back how you really feel ? Sometimes we quiet our voices to appease others, to fit in or to fade into the background. When we hold back our truth we are directly effecting our spirit.
- Your personal connection to Source (God, the Divine, the Universe, Our Creator) No matter what your religious beliefs are classified as, when I am asking you to examine your connection to source, I am referring to your true inner connection! Not what dogma, a book or preacher tells you. How do you feel connected to your higher power? Do you feel connected or disconnected? When and where do you feel the most connected?
- Your Passion (what sparks your inner fire) Are you fully participating in your life or are you just going through the motions? Are you doing things in your life that you are truly passionate about? These passions come in many forms: art, music, writing, teaching, performing, science, service, working with the land.
- Your connection to Mother Earth ( We are Organic. We are Nature not separate from it.) What is your relationship with nature? Do you frequently go into nature even if it's for a few brief moments? Do your daily activities agree with or go against our natural instinctual patterns and rhythms? (rising and sleepiing with the sun, seasons) Are you participating in anything that directly harms Mother Earth or helps heal Mother Earth?
- Balancing your Chakras (Energy centers in the Body) This has a direct connection to physical well-being. Are your chakras aligned and balanced? Are you ignoring signals that certain chakras are closed off or too open? Our energy centers or chakras can be aligned and cleared by participating in activities such as yoga and reiki.
- Protecting/Clearing your energy and space (meditations, visualizations, herbs such as sage & sweet grass or palo santo wood, crystals, prayers: are all tools that can assist in this. Just being aware and setting the intention to protect and/or clear your energy and space is key.)
- Meditation (making time to still the mind) There are many different ways to meditate. Sitting silently with the eyes closed, guided visualizations, staring at an object, coloring, drawing, sound baths such as gongs or sound bowls, walking swiftly, shamanic journeying are all ways we can find some stillness and connect to our higher power.
- Awareness (paying attention to signs, omens, dreams, messages, synchronicities) There are many ways our higher power, creator, guides, angels, loved ones who have crossed over, ancestors and helping spirits try to get our attention. These things may be subtle or profound. Once we are aware of them they can help lead us.
- Open Heart & Open Mind (being open without judgment)
- Being Present (Participating in life fully, not living in the past or for the future) Sometimes we miss out on all the blessings life has to offer because we are focused on the past or future. Be present everyday in every single action that you do!
- Be Grateful (find things daily that you are grateful for) If you find at least 1 thing to be grateful for each day it can enrich your life tremendously. We can be grateful for life lessons, growth, and awareness among other obvious blessings such as our loved ones, homes and jobs. We can be grateful for our breath, our journey, for this moment, anything at all! When we find more things in life to be grateful for rather then things to complain about we will start to see things from a completely different perspective.
I will be discussing how all of these components evolved and shaped my journey to health and well-being in later blogs. I hope this blog gave you the basic knowledge to better understand Holistic Healing. Often in our society we are looking for the quick fix, magic pill or the instant solution. This was not the case for me, but what I will tell you is as soon as I started healing and balancing different parts of me, the others aligned more easily.
I would love to hear what you thought about this blog!! Please feel free to share in social media, with friends and comment below! Don't forget you can now subscribe & add your email to get notifications and updates : ) (see the right sidebar menu)
Love, light & Blessings
Danielle
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