Take time to find the beauty in life.

Finding ways to let go of some of the things in life that stress you out is the first step toward healing yourself. Dr. Jon Kabat-Zin in his book  Full Catastrophe Living describes how to use your mind, body and soul to free yourself from pain and illnesses.

Stress can harm you

There is so much literature on the fact that stress is harmful.

You would think that by now we would take that advice and find ways to decrease the stress in our lives.

I have been trying for almost 5 years.

My favorite way of decreasing my stress is using my creativity.

It seems that when I increase the time I spend creating something, I am at peace with myself. Creating makes the time pass, and at the end, I usually have something beautiful. Not everything that I create turns to gold!!

Sometimes I struggle, but when I do, I usually put things to the side for a moment.

And say to myself, ” This is supposed to be my peaceful time.” You may have to remind yourself of creating peaceful times and how to stay in them.

Yoga Helps with Stress

It is like yoga poses. You stand still and tall in tree, you become the tree. You may waver a little but you can stay in the pose. And while you are in this asana, you are still, quiet and at peace. If you waver too much, you may fall out of the asana and struggle. But your teacher tells you, “Do not struggle, you are where you are.” Trees bend and sway with the wind and sometimes they do fall down! Practice is how we become stronger and more flexible.

My yoga teacher used to always tell us, ” You want to be at your edge with yoga. Just like Goldie Locks and the testing of the bear’s beds. Not too hard, not to soft, just right.” Your yoga asanas should be where you are in the moment.

Healing and Wellness

Do you have something that really helps you to focus on healing and wellness?

If not you should begin to find some healing ways.

Using your imagination, think of something that really makes you feel well. Maybe it is just looking at some old pictures of family and friends. Or your healing ways could be practicing the piano or singing a song in your car as you drive along.

Each person has their own specific way to heal themselves. And to make a full transformation to wellness and health, you may have to develop yourself by finding personal meaning and love in the things that you do in life.

Healing and Curing

And healing may not be curing yourself of something. Healing is something that we have found that brings a new found peace within ourselves.

For example, if you learn how to be still through meditation, you begin to be able to slow down your heart and feel calmer when faced with difficult situations. It does not mean that you can cure yourself from a disease, it means that you can now cope with difficult situations without over-reacting or getting upset with yourself or others.

Taken in part from: Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990) Full Catastrophe Living. Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness. New York, NY. Delta Trade