“A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself,
may after all be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.“
~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
The holidays are here and you are safeguarding your wellness routine. You continue to work out, eat healthier and keep doing “all the right things.”
We jump on the healthy bandwagon thinking we have all the bases covered, exercise for stress reduction and cleaning up our diet to eliminate the bad stuff. Things are moving in a positive direction and you think you are doing everything you need to do to feel better.
But are you? Are you feeling as good as you think you should considering all the changes you have made?
There are two very important aspects of your new and improved lifestyle that you may have forgotten about, your mind and spirit/soul.
The mind, body and spirit make up a trilogy and represent a complete and whole person. Each aspect of this trilogy requires nurturing, strength training and regular engagement to be as healthy as it can be.
How many times have you heard someone say that a person they knew had done “all the right things” but still got sick. Our emotional needs, the needs of our soul/spirit are just as important as our physical body’s needs. In fact the longer you ignore one aspect of the mind, body, spirit connection the quicker chaos can wreak havoc on your life.
This is where adding a little “Zen” into your wellness routine can round things out and nurture your “whole” body.
Here are some simple suggestions:
- For your mind do something that takes away your normal mind “talk.”
- Everyone immediately thinks of meditation which is a wonderful tool but understand that meditation comes in many forms other than sitting on a cushion and being still. (which is fine too)
- A walk in nature, alone or with your favorite pooch can be very meditative.
- Losing yourself in a great work of fiction (no self help or business books allowed) can create a lot of great head space.
- Journaling can create that space too as long as you don’t edit what you write or worry about getting it all done correctly.
- Games like Sudoku, crossword puzzles, Scrabble (Words with Friends) or anything that challenges your mind, gets you totally involved in the moment are not only good for your focus but a great workout for your brain.
- For your soul do something that truly connects you to the joy of your soul, that feeds it on a deeper spiritual level.
- Sitting in nature.
- Connecting with people who feed that spiritual side of yourself.
- Attending a workshop or gathering that truly speaks to your soul.
- And sometimes just sitting still, being quiet and going within.
These are things that you may already know but have forgotten along the way. A little more “Zen” sprinkled into our lives is what keeps us well grounded and moves us along a healing, healthy path. Try lots of different things and keep the ones that truly speaks to the trilogy of your mind, body and spirit.
As always I love to hear your comments on our FB page and share the love of this post with someone in your life that might need some “Zen” in their wellness routine.
*** To help you along your wellness journey, I have a BIG announcement. ***
Starting in 2015 I will be hosting several workshops based on The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte. As a Desire Map Facilitator, I will be helping you find your “Goals with Soul”, which means living your life according to how you want to feel and setting those goals according to your “core desire feelings.” This work is deep, filled with lots of soul work and so worth it! So stay tuned right here and if you are not a part of our Zen Chick community, sign up below so you will get all the good stuff first!
