Good news! I have recently started a new job at a health and wellness center, and I am very optimistic about my future there. Bad news, my blogging time has become temporarily limited. I am hoping to have some time in a week or two to sit down and really put the time in for a good solid entry. In the meantime, I have been thinking of some things that I would like to share with you all.We have been putting a lot of focus on the importance of eating well. We should all know how important it is to get out there and move your body. Exercise is so beneficial, even if it's just a short half hour walk every day. We will discuss more on this in the future. It's easy to put focus on these two things and glance over the importance of what you are feeding your mind.
While I truly believe that by eating and moving well, the positive thinking tends to come naturally; I also believe that negative thoughts are sometimes all that stand in the way of making positive changes and advances in your life. This makes your mind a very powerful tool, and if you use it to your advantage, the possibilities are endless.
As a yoga instructor, I am always trying to think of ways to give my class a new way to look at the life before them. After a battle with depression and anxiety, it was yoga that started me down prescription-free path to health and wellness. I have felt the power of what proper thinking can do, and mixing it with the right food and exercise can make a person one step short of bulletproof. Today, I would like to share some of the lessons and perspectives that have helped me over the years. Some I have found in books and magazines, others I have written myself. Each has played a role in the person I am working to become; a person who will never stop growing, learning and changing. Otherwise, what is the point?
Feed your Mind
- The mind is the most complex organ in your body. It sends billions of signals to your entire body, and it needs to be taken care of. You have the power to change your view, you are in control of how you see the world.
- Stop and listen to your inner dialog and ask yourself if you like what you hear.
- Negatives get in the way of a happy life. Choose what you give your energy to and don't let it go to waste. Sometimes all that needs to change is your perspective.
- Believe in yourself. Your true belief is revealed in the smallest moments. If you tell yourself that you will do something, do you do it? When you promise to set boundaries for yourself, do you set them? These are small, defining moments; they define your ability to believe in yourself. When you can count on yourself to follow through with even the smallest details, you will be able to love stronger, face adversity with clarity and generate peace in yourself through all interactions.
- Approach life with love, patience and grace. Accept compliments and feedback, listen you your loved ones and slow down your haste. Don't fall back to doubt, it is a powerful destabilizer.
- Learning to let go of the things you cannot control is the only way to gain control of your own life. Don't waste time and energy being angry with things occurring around you. Acknowledge them and let them pass on by. Grasp onto the things that bring you peace. Let them keep you grounded, dig in, plant your roots and see what grows.
- Self realized change is the only sustainable change. This can only come from focused, inner work. Set goals and follow them!
- Don't dwell on guilt, acknowledge it, learn from it, move past it.
- Live in the balance. There are shades of gray we must apply to our lives. Whether it is taking a pause to gather your thoughts before answering a question, or accepting that things do not always have to go as expected. Live in these pauses, these between times. Yes, they can often be uncomfortable, but we can learn so much about ourselves in these moments. Embrace these shades of gray.
- Take responsibility for your own happiness and unhappiness. All beings are responsible for their own actions. Suffering or happiness is created with your relationship to the experience, not the experience itself. Although you may wish only the best for yourself, happiness or unhappiness depends on your actions, not your wishes. May you not be caught in reactivity.
~Namaste
