Body, Mind, and Spirit
"The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you've lost it." ~unknown
Why is it important to strive for balance?
We are physical, mental and spiritual beings. One component builds upon the other. They are sequential as well as simultaneous meaning that you must pay attention to all three to sustain a life of outstanding performance, health and joy! There must be a balance between analytical processes, love & creativity, and action to be in full expression of who you are as an individual contributing to the whole.
We spend an ornate amount of time in analytical thinking and most of it negative. We are bombarded more than ever with negative information in regard to what is happening with the economy, the threats at home and abroad, the environment and education. We must make daily choices for our own well-being to neutralize all the negative information and rapid changes happening on our planet. We can no longer ignore the cry of our Soul. It is in need of deep nourishment. Without it, it will be extremely difficult or even impossible to adjust and survive in these challenging times.
How do you know when you have become imbalanced?
Listen to your body. It will tell you! The imbalance can show up as headaches, tension and stiffness in the muscles or more seriously, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, older biological age, etc. There are many schools of thought that all dis-ease is a result of an imbalance within the three components of who we are.
Listen to your emotions. They will tell you! Are you having frequent feelings of despair, hopelessness, lack of enthusiasm, or excessive anger, anxiety or depression?
Many have come to believe that these conditions are our natural state – a normal part of life! I disagree. We are here to experience a life of passion, enthusiasm and ultimate health.
What can we do to create a balance in Mind, Body, & Spirit?
Let’s begin with the physical aspect: Move your body! Find the exercise that you enjoy whether it’s swimming, hiking, tennis, aerobic dance, yoga, power walking, belly dancing, whatever….just move! You must move and stretch to stay strong and flexible. Effective action is very difficult if you are not feeling well physically. If you lack energy and vitality to enjoy life to the fullest, then even meditation or prayer becomes a struggle. A spiritual person without a healthy physical body is out of balance.
Secondly, let me address the mind, emotions and spirit together. Turn off the TV, radio, and push away from the computer! Spend time in quiet reflection or meditation. Meditation is the foremost balancing technique in human experience! It quiets all the analytical thinking and puts you in touch with the fruits of the Spirit: joy, peace, harmony and love. It nurtures your Soul. In the silence, truth and wisdom is revealed to you. It heightens your awareness and you become more integrated as a whole in mind, body & spirit therefore expressing & experiencing yourself more fully.
Find the meditation technique that you enjoy! There are so many to choose from such as journey meditation combining imagery and visualization or sounding meditation using repetition of a sound as its focal point, and movement meditation such as yoga or strolling thru nature. Perhaps breathing meditation focusing on the breath, or listening to soothing music with closed eyes. Reading from the Holy Bible or some other source of inspiration and quietly reflecting on their words may work for you. The perfect meditation is if ultimately you leave feeling better than when you began!
You are a physical, mental and spiritual being. By investing time in all aspects of who you are, not only is your life deeply enriched but so are the lives of others. It is not easy to be balanced and it is impossible to be perfectly balanced all the time. Always be patient and gentle with yourself in the process of life. But by being aware of how you are feeling and making conscious choices to be balanced in mind, body, and spirit, the by-products of joy, peace, harmony, love and health are yours.
