February was quite a month. It was the month I finally realised I had been putting my health on the back burner and neglecting my own wellness. My body had been telling me, but last month it raged at me, and basically I read the message as ‘enough is enough’. Have you ever had that, when the whispers your body is making suddenly turn into screams?
I know I’ve friends who tell me their tummy pain after eating certain foods is getting stronger, how periods are getting heavier and moods are worsening, how headaches are becoming more frequent, how skin complaints are multiplying, how weight is piling on and nothing is helping to shift it.
It is our body telling us that things are not right. It is not happy, and when we ignore it, it keeps pressing on until we have to stop and take notice. I have made some big decisions about how I have been sacrificing myself and already can feel the benefits of a lighter and more open feeling of peace inside me.
It was the news of the tragic suicide of beautiful presenter Caroline Flack that truly hit home with the fact that my neglect of my health was affecting me mentally. I had been pushing everything down, doing my best to just get on with being busy.
That weekend I took stock of my life and my priorities and vowed that I would place me at the top of my list for the next month. I am looking forward to seeing the outcomes, as I’m sure they will be positive and motivate me to continue.
Part of the issue I had, was putting blame onto others for my health decline, when really everything is was doing was as a result of all my own choices. Behaving like this made me feel negative and hateful towards those I cared for, and I liked myself less for being this way.
I have been practicing opening my heart and soul and making my decisions and speaking the truth from what I feel in my heart. I also am sending out love and compassion to everyone in my life and I feel so much better. I feel less defensive, more empowered and more importantly, I like myself more.
Kindness starts with you. It can then radiate out to those around you. I feel it is so important for our holistic health, to spread the message of being kind to others and to practice loving-kindness.
Loving-kindness is defined as sending tenderness and consideration towards others. It involves mentally sending goodwill, kindness, and warmth towards others by silently repeating a series of mantras or statements.
There are so many reasons why loving-kindness enhances our own health. Emma Seppala found 18 Science-Based Reasons to Try Loving-Kindness Meditation
1. Increases Positive Emotions & Decreases Negative Emotions
2. Increases vagal tone, which increases positive emotions & feelings of social connection
3. Decreases migraines
4. Decreases chronic pain
5. Decreases depression and post traumatic stress disorder
6. Decreases schizophrenia-spectrum disorders
7. Activates empathy & emotional processing in the brain
8. Increases gray matter volume
9. Increases your ability to enter a relaxing and restorative state.
10. Increases telomere length—a biological marker of aging11. Makes you a more helpful person
12. Increases compassion
13. Increases empathy
14. Decreases your bias towards others
15. Increases social connection
16. Curbs self-criticism
17. Is effective even in small doses
18. Has long-term impact.
Here is a short meditation I have recorded for you, for when you can find 20 minutes of quiet time, and share your love and positive energy widely to receive all of the above in return! Enjoy and give yourself permission to do this for your wellness – after all, we have such little time on this Earth, we ought to make it a priority that we feel our very best, emotionally, mentally and physically as we move through our life phases.
