Words of great wisdom that have caught my eye and struck a chord deep within me, have often been found posted on the doors of other people's refrigerators! And this is one of them:
1. YOU WILL RECEIVE A BODY. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around. Take care of it.
2. YOU WILL LEARN LESSONS. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think they are irrelevant. It depends on your attitude.
3. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES ONLY LESSONS. Growth is a process of trial and error. Experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works".
4. A LESSON IS REPEATED UNTIL IT IS LEARNED. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.
5. LEARNING LESSONS DOES NOT END. There is no part of life that does not contain lessons. If you are still alive, there are lessons to be learned.
6. "THERE" IS NOT BETTER THAN "HERE". When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here".
7. OTHERS ARE MERELY MIRRORS OF YOU. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. WHAT YOU MAKE OF YOUR LIFE IS UP TO YOU. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours. You make your own heaven or hell.
9. YOUR ANSWERS LIE INSIDE YOU. The answers to life's questions lie inside oneself. All you need to do is look, listen, trust and be patient.
10. YOU WILL FORGET ALL THIS.
(Taken from "Chicken Soup for the Soul" by Cherie Carter-Scott)
For this article I would like to focus on the first rule. I want you to take a sheet of paper and list all the things that come to mind as being under the heading of taking care of your body. Take at least five minutes to do this.
Here's my list:
1. Exercise - which is broken down into aerobic (to get the heart rate up and the lymph fluid flowing), stretching (to release muscular tension & armoring and improve flexibility), resistance training (to build muscle tissue for strength).
2. A Balanced Diet of Organic Foods - There are so many different books and theories on diet it will make your head spin. I have come to believe that everyone is different as to their requirements and tolerance for carbohydrates and fats. I think the answer to this for you is in your genetic makeup, which can be gleaned from your family tree and the cultures therein. For example, my ancestors were Viking, Spanish and Scottish. Not a vegetarian amongst them! I tried a vegetarian diet and it made me feel awful. We all need protein at each meal for good health but whether you body is best suited to a diet of plant or animal protein, high or low carbohydrate content, lots of fat (the good kind), etc. depends on your body's blueprint so check out your genealogy. Organic food is important so you remove pesticides, xenobiotics (substances that mimic or block hormones), hormones (you make enough of your own) and antibiotics, all of which upset the balance of the body.
3. Plenty of Water - This was a challenge for me since I never really liked water and the thought of drinking 8 glasses a day was beyond my comprehension. I found that if I kept four, 8 ounce bottles of filtered water in my car and made sure I had one of them with me at all times I would absentmindedly sip the water. Lo and behold by the end of the day all four bottles were empty!
4. Get Enough Sleep - Know you needs in this area. If you need eight hours to feel good then make sure you go to bed early enough to do it. Set your priorities accordingly.
5. A Regular Routine - The body is rhythmic and does best if you do things regularly such as eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time, etc. A routine that I have adapted from "Perfect Health" by Deepak Chopra is that as soon as I get up I drink a small glass of warm water. Then I warm two tablespoons of olive oil in the microwave for 30 seconds and give my body a light massage (this calms the nervous system and the endocrine system too). I shower. Brush my teeth and tongue. Then I do series of stretching exercises. After eating breakfast I sit for 5 minutes with my eyes closed (this assists the body in the digestive process).
6. Indulge In Pleasurable Activities - Have a good belly laugh! Get a massage. Work in the garden. Talk to the trees. You get the picture.
7. Be Mentally & Emotionally Balanced - As the speed-up races on this becomes more of a chore. Pay attention to yourself. A good cry works for me and if I find that things are really tough I have found two products that can help. One is a Bach Flower Essence mixture called Rescue Remedy and the other is a nutritional supplement called EM-Balance. I have several massage clients who use EM-Balance and have been able to combat serious depression. It has also been used successfully with A.D.D. children. If you would like more information on EM-Balance please give me a call.
Now look at your list.
Refine it adding and deleting until you have your "perfect" list, put a check mark next to each thing that you are ACTUALLY DOING.
