For many people, this
connection between mind and body is a mystery.
After all, to those raised in a western culture,
this holistic perspective is a very different
look at our bodies. We probably grew up
with or bodies treated in separate units, as has
been the case in traditional western medicine
for centuries. A separation of the mind
and body is the mindset many of us still have in
looking at our lives and our health.
Holistic health
practitioners see the connection between mind,
body and spirit and treat their client’s
physical and emotional ailments as a whole.
They acknowledge that all of these aspects of
being are interconnected. Modern medicine
is beginning to acknowledge this connection and
more and more doctors are prescribing
supplements, exercise and stress reduction
techniques. In some cases, massage,
acupuncture and other alternative therapies are
recommended as supplemental care.
This body mind connection
occurs through vehicles called meridians.
We have thousands of meridians, which are energy
channels that run throughout the body and are
associated with our organs. In eastern
medicine, this energy flow is referred to as chi
or prana in Indian traditions. Prana means
life force.
If this life force becomes
blocked from trauma and/or from life’s demands
(popularly know as stress), illness can occur.
Illness can manifest in many forms.
Stiffness in the body to acute pain, a weak
immune system, or organ problems.
These blocks in our life
force can slow one’s progress toward creating a
satisfying life. For example, one can be
too ill or in too much pain to try new things.
Illness often causes depression, which can
inhibit one’s ability to create the
relationships one needs to succeed. Also,
one’s creativity can be blocked by the stress in
one’s life. When our creativity is
blocked, we will never truly be able to assess
what it is that moves us to a place of
fulfillment and bliss.
Instead, we want to bring
our bodies to a place where our life force
energy flows freely. This flow can occur
only with a dedicated mind. A mind
committed to health and well being. The
first step is to pay attention to our breathing.
If we fill our body with oxygen, we become
energized and at the same time relaxed and our
life force grows stronger. It is essential for
optimal health that we bring oxygen into all of
our cells. Is your breathing deep and
relaxed?
A larger concept, called
Self-Care, is new to many of us led to believe
our bodies are invincible, until we are faced
with a severe illness or injury. The loss
of health happens to the best of us when we stop
paying attention to what our body needs.
I once believed I was one
of those invincible people. I grew up a
very athletic person and a very good student.
Both attributes highly rewarded in our culture,
I had many opportunities presented to me.
I chose this path, full steam ahead,
volunteering much of my free time, while
studying and/or working many hours. Soon I
had a child, still determined to keep this pace.
My mind and body craved it. I was a
“doer”, driven by the rewards and recognition I
received for working so hard. Too hard.
My first message from my
body was a back injury caused by a car accident.
Very soon after the injury, while receiving my
first holistic treatments of acupressure and
neuromuscular therapy, I continued to attend
dance classes and rode my bike almost everyday.
As you may expect, the pain persisted.
Finally, enough people came into my life (my
Earth plane angels) to explain to me how they
healed from their back injuries. A common
message was to stop any physical activity that
involved use of my back, aside from the simple
yoga stretches recommended by my practitioners.
This concept was quite foreign to me at the
time. After all, I was young and strong.
How was I to stay in the physical shape I was
used to maintaining? How was I to do the
activities I loved and that fed my soul?
Despite my concerns about living this new life,
I took their advice and it worked. But as
soon as I could, I got back on my horse and rode
hard. I required one more lesson before I
would fully listen to my body, mind and spirit.
An ongoing chemical
exposure in my new home was this life-changing
wake up call. Healing from multiple
chemical sensitivity, which in my case caused
extreme fatigue, flu like symptoms and headaches
required me to reexamine every aspect of my
life. This condition taught me to finally
slow down and take care of myself in a more
holistic manner. Some of us require such
harsh lessons. Perhaps after reading my
story, you will avoid such a lesson in your
life.
Several years have elapsed
since this illness was diagnosed. As a
result of my personal healing process, I have
learned the art of balance in my life by tuning
into the body mind connection. I have
slowed down enough to listen to my body, mind
and spirit and I was able to heal.
My body continues to
remind me to slow down, listen, get enough
exercise, sleep, eat consciously and devote
significant time to joyful, playful and
pleasurable activities. Not to mention,
avoiding toxic environments, but that’s another
article in itself. Quieting my mind
through meditation and practicing therapeutic
dance and yoga has allowed my mind to hear what
my body and spirit need.
It has been my life
experience of getting in touch with the Mind
Body Connection that has led me to develop the
methodology for my Lifestyle Enhancement
Coaching practice. Over the years, I have
accumulated a wealth of tools and techniques
that one can use on a daily basis to stay
centered, clear, focused and healthy. This
lifestyle will ultimately lead to achieving ones
fullest potential.
Lifestyle Enhancement
Coaching has a core system which begins with
clearing old relationships with people and
things. The clutter from years and projects gone
by fall into this category, as do holding
grudges, resentments and passing judgments.
These outmoded behaviors and objects zap the
energy we can instead be devoting to creating
supportive relationships and environments that
will carry us toward our dreams.
Creating a solid
foundation for one’s personal growth is another
part of the core system of Lifestyle Enhancement
Coaching. This foundation includes
organizing your life so that it supports you to
move to the next level. This may involve
taking care of unfinished business, like old
debts, creating a bookkeeping system or
designing one's office or home for the new life
one is choosing to lead. Another component
of the foundation is to maintain a balanced life
that includes mindful eating, physical activity
and some form of spiritual practice. Being
centered, balanced, healthy, strong and flexible
create the self-esteem, confidence, strength and
stamina for being successful in life.
Spirituality helps one to trust and let go of
fear.
The maintenance of a mind
body and spirit connection is woven throughout
Lifestyle Enhancement Coaching. With this
holistic awareness, one begins to detect when
one is off balance and how to make the necessary
corrections to get back into balance. For
example, one learns when one needs more sleep or
exercise, what foods to eat to refuel, and how
to discern healthy/supportive relationships from
those that drain energy and hold one back from
accomplishing ones dreams. In time, one
can live a life of balance abundance and bliss.
All one needs to begin is desire, willingness
and trust in the process.
