Using Natural Cycles to Recharge Your Life
In a recent episode from my radio show, Uplift Your Life: Nourishment of the Spirit, my guest Dr. Pia Orleane and I explore the restorative power of being mindful of your natural cycles to recover health, vitality, and overall wellness. This can be as simple as resting when we need to and connecting with nature. Dr. Orleane pointed out that the belief systems in the society we live in determine our behavioral patterns, many of which are harmful to us. We’ve come to believe that we must be constantly producing, but this takes a heavy toll on our health and our longevity. The brain and body need rest in order to function at their best. Dr. Orleane recommended getting in harmony with nature by following the cycle of your breath. When you breathe in, you go inward and become introspective. When you breathe out, you move outward into the world taking action. We need both components of the cycle. In today’s blog, in addition to my tip of the week and my silver lining story, Marian Stephens shares how she is using the information in this episode to change her life. All my previous blogs, including the first three posts with Marian’s Story, are on my website, paulajoyce.com. Be sure to check them out and follow Marian’s progress.
Dr. Paula’s Tip of the Week
In our fast-paced society, it is easy to get caught up in life’s challenges and ignore the signals our bodies send us to slow down. When we ignore the messages from our bodies and push through, illness is often an undesired outcome.
And now for your tip for the week from my e-book, 33 Tips for Self-Empowerment. I wrote this book because when you are self-empowered, you are connected to your limitless higher self, your soul, your intuition, your gut feelings, your guidance. Our limitless higher self is the wiser part of ourselves, the part that knows the Truth of who we are. My Tip for this week is in honor of our topic today: Do Body Awareness Exercise. Most of us ignore our body, how it feels, what it wants. Learn to pay attention to your body through activities such as: Yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, Tai Chi. This is also in keeping with the advice Numerologist Alice Rosen gave us in our second show of the year. She emphasized that 2018 is the year of Truth, including being true to ourselves and honest with ourselves. Our bodies communicate with us, and if we don’t listen, they have to talk louder. Unfortunately for us, that often means physical pain or illness. When we are tired, for instance, our body is telling us to rest. We are physical beings and no “to do” list is more important than our own health. If we insist on pushing through the tiredness, we lower our immune system and are more likely to get sick. Being ill, forces us to rest or at least slow down. It’s better to learn to listen to the initial signs before our body forces us to rest.
Dr. Paula’s Silver Lining Story
Mindfulness is a powerful tool for maintaining optimal health. By simply resting and focusing on positive thoughts, you can avoid a potential illness.
When I was getting ready to do my writing for today’s episode, I started to experience acute pain in my ribs. I recognized it as a healing crisis connected to the scoliosis I’m correcting, but I didn’t know how long it would last. I thought about trying to push through it, and I quickly shifted my thinking and chose to watch a 30-minute comedy show instead. The story line and laughter took my mind off the pain and gave my body time to recover. When the show was over, I was delighted to discover that the pain had passed, and I was able to think clearly. My silver lining was seeing that I’ve learned to take care of myself and relax when I need to.
I didn’t always know how to listen to my body and used to regularly get bronchitis, sinus infections and I even had pneumonia twice. During those times, I still found the silver linings. I would use the time for rest and solitude and to think about the parts of my life that weren’t working the way I wanted them to. Although this wasn’t the easiest way to make life changes, it did help me discover what I wasn’t wanting to see. Once you acknowledge the truth in your life, you can’t go backwards. The pauses in our life, can be amazing gifts.
In 1999, I wrote this imaginative piece about a woman tuning into her own rhythms and retreating from the world:
He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late. Days later he found her lying quietly in a deep trance with leaves growing on the book. She had been so sweet. He wished he had never let her into his life. Then this wouldn’t be happening. She’d be out playing with the others instead of imprisoned in her body. This always happened and so few came back. He wondered if she would be able to bridge the worlds and return to him, to new life, to all that this physical world has to offer, to his love and her destiny. If she can come back, if she makes it, she will hold the key to the next generation. Her wisdom will help us all evolve to the next heart level. So all I can do now is wait and pray. The pull to the other side is so great. It’ll be hard for her to leave now that she’s had the taste of ecstasy, of true deep connection. Why would anyone come back? Sometimes they’re pushed back and sometimes they make a conscious choice. I do hope she comes back. She and I can do good work together. We each have pieces of the puzzle and when we put together who we are and what we know, we’ll be dynamite. Here’s to that future.
Marian Stephens’ Story
I am pleased with the changes that are happening in my household. By simply listening to the show, applying the tip of the week to my life, and being more mindful, I am excited to share several positive changes and many more are in the works. My 8-year-old, who I enrolled in school, is doing great – his teacher said he is doing “phenomenal”! I discovered a program that has wrap around services for my special needs 17-year-old that he should be approved for shortly. I have been writing every day, which is keeping me thinking creatively. My husband and I have been openly communicating and are enjoying an even deeper connection. It is amazing how much improvement can come about with just a little bit of work.
Dr. Paula asks listeners this week to be willing to listen to their bodies and use their natural cycles to recharge their lives. I have progressive multiple sclerosis and I am about to start a new medication to see if the progression will slow down. I am having increased difficulty walking which is impacting my ability to take care of my family. I put a lot of emphasis on medication sometimes, and I often find myself frustrated with the results. I avoid being introspective and retreating to focus on my health because I am afraid to rely on myself to heal. It is easier to blame my immobility on medication failure than it is to feel that I am not strong enough mentally to heal. But, it is time to let that fear go and rely on my inner strength. I am starting a new medication this month and I will combine that with going inward and regenerating during the moon cycle this month.
Dr. Paula and Dr. Pia Orleane share many compelling ideas on how to improve relationships. They both stress the importance of loving oneself first and foremost which leads to being able to completely love another. It is not that I do not love myself, it is more that there are behaviors that I know I need to improve that I let go by the wayside. Recently, I kept saying that I would start working on certain things soon (tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow…) because these are not easy things to change and it is a painful process – to really look in the mirror. But, this procrastination was causing imbalance in my relationship with my husband, and that imbalance frustrated me and made me want to work on things even less. It is a terrible cycle – actively not liking the way I am behaving and how it affects the family prevents real connection and intimacy from happening. I wanted honest connection and intimacy so badly that I kept trying to manufacture and force it. That never works and leads me right back to not liking how I am acting. Listening to Uplift Your Life: Nourishment of the Spirit instantly affirmed that I am right to desire and cherish and nourish the connection and intimacy that I organically have with my husband. So I started applying the lessons available and am watching that imbalance correct itself. Dr. Pia Orleane helps me articulate how it feels necessary to have intimacy, trust in myself, and balance to have a strong relationship.
Dr. Paula’s Response To Marian
Great insights and forward motion. Please remember that change is a process, not an event. Have compassion for yourself and congratulate yourself on your successes and progress. Too often we only look at what we still need to do and forget how far we’ve come. Here are two suggestions to help you in your process:
- Keep a Success Journal. Every day take a few minutes to write your progress and what you did that makes you feel good about yourself.
- Do this exercise to release fear
- Ask yourself: If fear were a color, what color would it be?
- Choose a symbol that represents fear.
- Use that color to draw the symbol that represents fear.
- Tear up the paper into tiny pieces, like confetti, and throw it up in the air, flush it down the toilet or burn it.
- Spread the ashes or pieces of paper in your garden and say a prayer that the fear be transformed into love.
- At the end of this simple exercise, you will have released a layer of fear and you will feel lighter and more at ease. You can do this every time you feel fear and it will help you release more each time.
- You can also use this for other emotions like guilt or shame.
For more shows on mindfulness please listen to:
Learn How to Manage Yourself, Not Your Time with Nan Russell
Create Success with Your Internal Guidance with Zen Cryar DeBrücke
Mindfulness Practices to Clear Emotional Clutter with Donald Altman
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