No doubt about it, we live in a complex world full of a multitude of traditional and alternative approaches to almost every area of life. Opinions on the topics of health, wellness and fitness vary across a wide scale. But there is one concept upon which medical professionals, alternative practitioners, and health and fitness enthusiasts agree. It is the acceptance that there is a definite connection between the body's state of health or wellness to one's mental and emotional well-being, and to a person's sense of spiritual connection and expression. Simply stated, the body, mind, spirit connection does exist, and these days it is getting attention from nearly every corner.
When medical science cannot find the cause for a patient's symptoms, she is very often sent to a therapist who can assist in seeking the mental and emotional causes for illness or pain in the body. In turn, many therapists now look at the client's sense of spiritual connection and expression as well as psychological phenomenon in order to help discover the causes for unease. And more often than not, somewhere along the line, one person in the professional team will find needs that are not being met in one or more of these aspects of a person's life.
In this fast-paced world we have created, it is the rare individual who manages to keep all the balls in the air all the time. Sooner or later one area of life demands more than its equal share of our time and attention, and as we turn our focus to our need to lose weight, our desire to be in better physical shape, our wish to feel healthy, well-balanced, contented and fulfilled, some other area of our being gets shortchanged. We drop one of the body, mind, spirit balls that we have been juggling.
If it is our body that has been shortchanged, it will often manifest pain or fatigue, giving us every chance to pay attention before it goes into all out illness. If we are neglecting our emotional or mental needs, our relationships will likely suffer or fail to help us feel fulfilled, and off we go for counseling to see what is the matter with the people in our lives. How can we handle them better? How can we meet our needs and theirs too on only 24 hours a day? And in increasing numbers, people have been sensing the need for spiritual connection and expression in order to know and live as their best and whole selves.
So, what is the best way to deal with this delicate balance of Body, Mind and Spirit that makes us the magnificent beings we are capable of being? Today there seem to be as many different paths to personal wisdom in this area as there are people on the planet. Some will attend class after class seeking what they feel is missing from their lives. Some will try every vitamin, herb and alternative care program out there in an attempt to feel fit and energetic but never stabilize on one. Others will go from ashram to Buddhist Temple to Kundalini workshops in search of some enlightened one who can show them a simple way to contentment and a sense of self-fulfillment.
But individuals in growing numbers are seeking ways to access a deeper part of themselves, to enrich their day-to-day experiences and to give attention to each part of their sacred being. Many have found their way to take this inner journey through a process called "journaling."
What exactly is journaling? The answer to that question is as unique as each one who undertakes this form of practice. It can be as simple as keeping a diary of daily events, lists of symptoms or feelings, or as complex as telling your story and becoming the central character of your own life. Journaling is a natural process that anyone can make available to themselves and use in whatever way they choose to help create self-understanding, self-honesty and awareness of their body, their mind and their spirit, the roles that each of these aspects wants to play in enriching the journaler's experience of life.
This form of self-exploration through journal writing is an inexpensive, portable, creative outlet in which there are no rights, no wrongs, no authority except oneself, no rules and no censors. It is one place where we can look at what our body is feeling and be honest about our fears without panicking everyone around us. It is where we can rage against the injustices in our lives, calm ourselves enough to be honest about the part we play in those events, and examine the effect our emotions are having on our behaviors and the people we are drawing into our lives. It is where we can come to know ourselves as having our own answers, or at least having direct access to wisdom that we were not even aware we possessed.
Journaling can be done anywhere, any time. And any thought, any pain, any satisfaction, any relationship, any vision, anything can serve as a source of inspiration. The journaling experience can be a journey into the Self, a discovery of Self as your own best expert, a taking charge of creating wellness in your life rather than becoming victim of illness that you need to then work to rid your body of, a record of the thrill of sculpting your body into a more accurate expression of the splendid creation that you are.
To get started you do not need any special writing talent, misspelling and incorrect grammar are all right. All you do need is paper, a writing instrument and a desire no matter how small to express or to know your Self, to create an enriching balance in our life. You will not need to rearrange your life to benefit from this creative self-expression You don't even need large blocks of time. And yet the rewards can be so great.
No comments:
Post a Comment