Self-Care
‘Under-Doing’ For You And ‘Overdoing’ for Others?
Are you ‘under-doing’ for yourself, or perhaps ‘overdoing for others’ in order to gain approval and love? Many of us fall into this pattern without even realizing it.
When we are raised to be helpful, agreeable and accommodating, it can become second nature to say yes whenever someone asks something of us.
For some people it can take many years, sometimes even decades, to recognize that constantly putting others first may not always be the healthy or loving choice it appears to be.
Learning to set healthy boundaries is not something most of us are taught when we are young, especially if we have grown accustomed to keeping the peace by going along with what others want.
Many of us know what it feels like to be the person everyone relies on. When something needs to be done, we are the first person people think of. When someone needs help, they call us.
At first this can feel rewarding because we enjoy being supportive and dependable. Yet always being that ‘Yes’ person can quietly create an imbalance over time.
When we continually give our time, energy and attention to others without receiving the same in return, the natural flow of energy becomes disrupted. Healthy relationships usually involve a balanced exchange between people.
Nourish Your Mind, Body & Soul With Real Food
My relationship with food evolved the day I decided to start my own garden. I didn’t have much space where I lived, so I rented a plot in a community garden nearby, for a very small fee.
Although it soon became a part-time job, it also turned into my sanctuary. Any stress from the day cleared when I went there.
I was always eager to go there and visit my growing family of fruits, herbs, flowers and vegetables. It made me feel like a child again!
Connecting with the Earth on such a deep level also gave me a new perspective on my spiritual identity.
From being inspired by fellow gardeners to teaching my son important life skills, I was motivated to get serious about treating my body like a temple and also raising awareness in others.
Something I once took for granted and paid little attention to, became a great passion and concern for me.
I saw our society falling into a downward spiral health wise and knew it started with the quality of our food and water.
I began to educate myself more on how everything we consume was being processed and came to the conclusion how vital it is for us to re-adopt some of the old traditions of our grandparents and ancestors. By taking their wisdom and applying it to our current food crisis, we can raise the consciousness of our world, feed the poor, and heal ourselves in mind, body and spirit.
Spiritual Self-Care: How To Overcome Energetic Depletion
Do you constantly feel tired, depressed, or simply lacking in energy?
If you often feel drained or exhausted, even after a good night’s sleep, and a medical professional has already ruled out any underlying physical causes, you may be experiencing energetic depletion.
Physical tiredness and energetic depletion are very different, requiring different approaches to correct them.
For empaths, sensitives, and intuitives in particular, constantly absorbing the energies around you and the noise of the modern world can be draining in subtle ways you may not even be aware of.
Essentially, it means you are expending and also “leaking” energy more than you are replenishing.
It can be caused by many things, such as overstimulation, emotional burdens, failing to set boundaries, consuming too much media, toxic people and places, or simply not being present in your daily life.
On a deeper level, energetic depletion can also reflect what is happening within your spiritual life and energy field. When you are disconnected from your intuition, carrying unresolved emotional or karmic burdens, or spending too much time in draining environments, your spirit can begin to feel heavy and dimmed.
I Am Responsible For Me
We all make mistakes. Each one of us has looked back on our life path and thought, if only I could go back and change it.
I wish I would have bought that house while it was still available at a lower price, because I would be on easy street by now.
Or if I could go back and take that amazing job, which I did not realize was so wonderful at the time, due to my youth and inexperience, I could have retired with a huge pension and many benefits by now.
One of the biggest regret that comes up quite often, is wishing to go back and tell relatives and friends that we love them… before they passed away so unexpectedly. I have so much to say to them right now, I wish I would have said it then.
My favorite saying, and yes, I am guilty of this myself: if I could go back to my teens with the knowledge I now have as an adult, I would change the course of my life and do things differently.
Yes, it would be nice if such a magic wand or time machine was available to us, so we could travel back and start over. However, truth be told, in our youth, we probably would have done the same things again.
The knowledge I have now, is because of the life lessons and mistakes that I have made. My errors and poor decisions created who I am today!
Am I perfect? Heck, no. Do I still mess up? Oh, yes. However, do I carry the things I messed up in my backpack of hardships, or do it let them fall to the ground and return to Mother Earth, and not let them move forward with me?
Maybe It’s Time To Reboot Your Energy Channels!
Our bodies contain endless potential for energy: physical, mental, electrical, psychic. Much like the sun itself, we are constantly providing energy. Yet, many of us feel drained and exhausted? If we learn to reboot our natural energy channels, this doesn’t have to be so.
Like the power of our brains, we may only be using a small fraction of our personal energies. The best way to get started is a program of meditation or prayer to discover where our strongest energies lie. These are to be found in our psychic centers, or chakras.
As you begin your journey, you’ll notice stronger feelings in one or more of your seven spiritual centers: crown, eyes, throat, heart, chest, spleen, and root. It may be a slightly prickly sensation, like static electricity, or a growing warmth, or a feeling, or a pleasant coolness.
It may be helpful to repeat a personal mantra, listen to soothing sounds, or close your eyes as you do this. Imagine concentrating your energy on that particular place within your body.
You may not be able to channel fully the first few times, so keep trying. Also experiment with different times of day, lighting schemes, and mantras. After a while you’ll feel the energy building up.
As with any form of energy, it will need to be released properly once it has concentrated. Since our main receptors are our hands and feet, these are perfect for those just starting out. Feel the built-up energy flowing outward. This may also give you a physical sensation. Continue reading
The Spiritual Healing Power Of Water
Have you ever noticed how being in or around water can transform your mood? How calming and soothing water can be?
The sound of the waves rolling in and out on the shore or the sound of rain, for example, can evoke a state of relaxation. Being in the water is even more relaxing, calming, refreshing and cleansing.
Depending on what we need at a particular time and how we use it, water can offer us an energetic reset, so to speak.
Given that water can have such a profound effect on our state of being, it is a powerful tool that we can incorporate into our spiritual practice.
Throughout many spiritual traditions and cultures, water has long been revered as a symbol of renewal, rebirth, release, purification, and tranquillity. The flow of rivers, the gentle fall of rain, the sacredness of springs and the vastness of oceans all remind us of life’s natural cycles.
Water teaches us how endings can wash away the old and create space for new beginnings. Just as water nourishes the Earth and sustains all living things, it also represents the continuous movement of transformation within our spiritual and emotional lives.
In many cultures, ritual bathing or washing with water is a sacred act of purification. Whether it is immersing yourself in a holy river, blessing a newborn with water, or simply washing one’s hands before prayer, these practices all symbolise the release of our burdens and the clearing of stagnant energy. Water invites us to let go of what no longer serves us, helping us to return to a state of inner balance and clarity.
Give Yourself The Grace Of Forgiveness
If you are an empath you may believe that forgiveness should be easy for you, or at least easier than it is for others. But I’ve spoken to many empaths and highly sensitive people over the years who all struggle with forgiveness.
One of the main issues with forgiveness for the empath is that we feel another’s emotions intensely, literally as our own. This muddies the waters considerably, because it tends to blur boundaries. Blurred boundaries can often lead to a closed mouth for an empath. Why? Because it is difficult for us, especially in childhood or in romantic relationships, to know where we end and another begins.
It is easy for others to manipulate appropriate boundaries with an empath, or to erase them altogether. All the empath knows is that there is pain, sadness, a sense of frustration, or anger. If you are an empath, then the question becomes are you angry with them, or yourself? Should you have been able to foresee the catastrophe happening, the relationship ending, job imploding, and so on. This leads to self-doubt and the rehashing of incidents that occurred years ago…with no resolution.
In the meantime, every time an empath thinks about the situation, past or present, we feel it…and the cycle continues.
Yes, you are empathic, intuitive, even psychic, but that does not make you immune to being human, neither does it make you all-knowing or all-seeing, especially when it comes to your own life, childhood or relationships.