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There is a reason that many refer to the month of September as 'Stresstember'. We all go through changes galore and if there is one thing that we don't tend to enjoy it's change!
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 Can you imagine being without your phone? In todays society it is so attached to us that it is like having an extra limb, or a security blanket perhaps?
On my recent trip overseas to spend much needed time with family, I turned my phone off, and it stayed that way for 4 full weeks. The first few days were tough! As a business owner, outside of the treatment room (when I'm with clients the phone is set to 'Do Not Disturb') my phone is regularly attached to my hand. But being in an overseas country where I didn't know anyone outside of my family, there was no use for it. We spent the majority of our time in and around my son's home. When we ventured out we were together, so again, no use for it. I could have purchased a phone card but who was I going to call?  The basis of a holistic approach to health, to life and to change, is acknowledging the mind, body and the spirit connection, and nurturing that connection. What affects the mind has an influence on the body and visa versa. Anything affecting either or both, mind and body, impacts upon our spirit. Let's take stress as an example. When we're feeling stressed about a situation we can feel it in our body. Some feel is as stomach upset, some as shoulder pain from tightened muscles, others experience headaches. Often, and at the same time, stress can cause a loss of hope, thus affecting the spirit.
What is considered healthy, or not, seems to be linked to fads that come and go. I've watched clients as they have embraced different ideas and diets based on what is current, only to spiral when they haven't worked. Alternatively, I have seen those clients who take the time to tune in to and listen to their bodies, and what "feels best FOR THEM", experience the most success with lifestyle changes. They are also the happiest and most content people that I know.  Taking the time to get to know your body and working with it rather than pushing it is essential to holistic wellbeing. Get quiet for a moment and ask yourself the following: 1. When in the past have I felt my very best? What was going on for you at the times that you felt your best? Think about
2. What currently makes me feel my best? Think about the clothes you feel best in, the foods that give you energy, the activities that feel good and the people in your circle that light you up. When you create this list be sure to leave off the things that are done, worn or eaten because you "should". Only list what "feels" really good 3. When you visualize or daydream about events of things you would like to draw into your life, what are they? We often picture ourselves or wish for things we'll do or have someday when we have more time or money, or fewer commitments. List these things. Now, compare your 3 lists. Is there a theme that you can pick out as to what things, activites, foods, people, etc. make you feel great? Can you incorporate one or two of them into your life now?  So what does this have to do with Holistic Health? Holistic health includes how you feel physically, spiritually and emotionally. If for example you love to dance but run instead because you feel you should, is running the optimal work out for a good foundation in your health? If to go out running you find yourself thinking of all the reasons you don't want to, you find you are not enjoying the experience and you're feeling unhappy doing it, is it really the best for you?
If instead, as soon as you hear music your body begins to move and your mood lightens, and you smile...doesn't dancing fit your holistic wellbeing in a more positive way? Think about the "shoulds" in your life and how they make you feel. What can you change to shift the feeling for a more holistically healthy you?  The trees teach us how to let go During the months of September the trees are a shining example of letting go. The leaves they've grown through Spring and Summer change colours as they begin to die and then drop from the branches. The tree becomes bare, only to begin the cycle again the following Spring. There's no thought to it, there is just no more need of these leaves and so the tree simply lets them go. We often marvel at nature as her colours turn to the reds, oranges and browns of Fall. The crunch of leaves beneath our shoes or jumping in piles of leaves that have fallen bring joy. I think though we often don't make a connection with the lesson the trees are sharing with us in the art of letting go.  Humans find letting go more difficult For humans letting go is more difficult. We struggle with the one constant in our lives, change. It's inevitable that at points in our lives we must summon the courage to just let go and allow life to happen to us, because to do otherwise can bring feelings of desperation, guilt, anger, sadness and loss. Emotions can consume us and keep us stuck in the past chapters of our lives, when really the page has already turned...we just haven't acknowledged it yet.  Seeking connection is part of being human In letting go we have to take some time to mourn the dream that is lost, the picture we have created of what we think our life is about, or should be, the person we thought was meant to be with us forever... For each individual the acknowledgement, acceptance and release of that dream takes time, as does the healing process and taking steps to move forward. But move forward we will, at some point, in some way, by our own definition. As natural as change is in life, so is our need for connection to something new. It's a part of what makes us human. In the years that I have practiced the healing art of Reiki I have been witness to incredible feats of letting go. It's important to create a safe, non-judgemental space for each client to take whatever time they need, while providing a gentle and loving presence where they can feel secure to laugh, cry, rail against the unfairness, weep as acceptance comes, experience joy as they begin turning the page...and any other messy emotions that raise their heads. It's humbling to be a part of that experience as clients let go and move forward.  Reiki eases the path in letting go Reiki, loving energy that is focused, can begin the process of developing a cushion to the pain, until the client is ready to take it on, face it and release it. Often surrounded by that loving, healing energy, it can be a less painful and easier path. Reiki energy can also help in guiding us towards that new path, one that is the best and most joyful path for our being. In the art of letting go I'm often reminded of something a friend has said to me, that "What is meant for me will not go past me" In acknowledging a trust in the universe and wrapping it in the loving energy of Reiki it is easier to have faith that this is so. That what is part of life's plan for us will show up...if we allow it.  |
Teresa Graham,
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