My Wellness Practices:

 

Practicing Wellness, to me, means nurturing ourselves: physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Here’s what I love to do that helps me so much:

 

1 – Pray.  I have to start my day with prayer – setting my focus and attention on what matters most.

 

2 – Scripture Study.  I used to save my scripture study to nighttime, when I’d be falling asleep.  I found that having it first thing in the morning is so much better for me.  I’m seeing things I never saw before, and feeling more about the actual story and lives of the people in the scriptures.  I get insights into my own life – ideas that help me on my path – thoughts I can share with my kids.  It’s great.

 

3 – Exercise – T25 is my very favorite way to exercise and the ONLY program I’ve ever been able to stick with.

 

4 – Listening to uplifting/helpful/informative/intriguing videos or podcasts while I exercise.  I love energizing my body and my mind at the same time – double bonus – yay!

 

5 – Yoga for the Chakras  Just takes 5 minutes a day.  Love!

 

6 – Meditate on my Spoonk Mat for 15-30 minutes.

 

7 – EFT Tapping throughout the day as needed (more on that below).

 

8 – Chocolate Oatmeal with Strawberries and Bananas for Breakfast.

 

9 – Green smootie with my lunch.

 

It may sound like a lot, but it is all so dang helpful!  I feel like a completely different person than who I was before I started my “Wellness Routine.”  It’s a total of about 90 minutes (which can be split up through-out the day, if you like), but all I have to say is this: IT IS WORTH IT!!! (You'll find I say that a lot)

 

 

My Wellness Story:

 

Have you ever noticed that the major progressions in our life are often triggered by difficult and challenging situations?  Well, that’s what happened to me. 

 

It was April 2015.  I found myself waking up in the morning with this strange feeling of anxiety and dread, for no apparent reason.  I would be lying in my bed and could just feel my heart pounding and my stomach churning.  I tried to ignore it (which was my usual tactic when it came to dealing with uncomfortable emotions), but it wouldn’t go away.  In fact, it just got worse. 

 

It was as if there was this “DANGER!  DANGER! DANGER!” warning alarm going off in my brain and I didn’t know how to turn it off.  My body felt just like that feeling you get when the car in front of you slams on their brakes, or you hear your child falling down the stairs.  I was stuck in this panic-funk and it was terrible!!!!!!  It was horrible.  It was so dang scary.  I can’t even tell you. 

 

So, I was living with this pulsing anxiety raging through my body, but the thing was that I still had to carry on with my life.  On the outside, I was holding it together the best I could.  I didn’t want the kids to know how I was feeling inside, so I just pretended that everything was ok, but inside, I was a total and utter wreck.

 

The only thing I knew to do to get myself feeling better was to pray.  So, that’s what I did.  I kept on praying – several times – all through-out the day.  I found that playing my guitar and singing helped also.  And, it was interesting how the spirit spoke to me through-out this trial.

 

Although I was feeling terrible, the one message that kept coming through to me was that this was something that I needed.  Instead of feeling like I wanted to give up, I kept feeling like I was somehow getting stronger because of this.  And, I kept finding comfort in the words of hymns. 

 

Like one day, as I was in the midst of my inner turmoil, out of my mouth popped the words from “How Firm a Foundation:”

 

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed.

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand.”

(Isaiah 41:10)

 

Wow, as soon as I heard those words, I knew they were just for me at that moment.  It was a perfect message from heaven to my soul.

 

So, pray, pray, pray and sing, sing, sing.  Those were my coping mechanisms.  Although it seemed as if those two things were enough to keep me going from day to day, I still felt like I was missing something.  Like there was something more that I could be doing.

 

It was just a really strange experience.  I felt like my mind and my body were not talking to each other at all –like my body had been taken over by these terrible waves of awful emotions.  My mind could reason with the world around me and recognize that my body was being ridiculous, and that there wasn’t any real danger around at the moment, but I didn’t have a way to communicate with my body.

 

 

While all of this was going on, I started researching online for “tips on dealing with anxiety.”  I came across a website called: www.thetappingsolution.com.  I had seen it a few years ago, and thought it looked interesting, but didn’t feel a great need for it in my life, so I had left it alone.

 

Amidst all my new crazy emotions, however, I kept having the feeling to look into this tapping thing again.  It was a technique based on ancient Chinese acupuncture (without the needles) to help relieve stress. 

 

I brushed off the prompting at first, but I kept feeling it coming back to my mind over and over, until finally, I remember actually saying out loud to myself, “Fine!  I’ll try this tapping crap!”  I didn’t want to put my hopes into it too much, in case it let me down, but I was feeling pretty desperate at this point and willing to try anything.

 

One afternoon, the boys were occupied doing things in the other room, and I had a quiet moment.  I went on their website and first watched the little video that shows you where and how to tap.

 

It was the strangest thing!  I started doing the video (just tapping, not even saying anything yet), and all of a sudden, I started to cry!  I actually had to pause the video half-way through and just cry for a minute before moving on.  It felt like I was finally beginning to shift these emotions.

 

I finished up the how-to video and downloaded the general “stress-relief” audio that they have, and oh my goodness!!!  I can’t even tell you!!!!  It was AMAZING!!!!!!!  I did my tapping, while saying the stress-relief statements, and it was like – BAM!  Instant relief! 

 

The first thing I noticed was that I was STARVING!  I honestly had not even felt hungry at all as I was going through my emotional break-down.  I guess I hadn’t been eating very much.  My appetite had been totally gone, and now, all of a sudden, my stomach was growling.  In fact, I had to stop my tapping because I was so distracted by how hungry I was. 

 

So, that was my first miraculous step into the world of natural healing, and since then, I have been learning SO MUCH!!

 

It was interesting, because I was in the perfect state of mind to start this.  I learned more about the brain and about the “Fight or Flight” alarm that goes off in the brain.  Mine was stuck in the on position, and the tapping is designed to turn that off, and that is exactly what it did.  It was like I finally found the switch in my brain that could turn of the DANGER alarm.  Ahhhhhh.

 

And, as soon as I was able to lift that fear and dread off of me, my mind was able to think more clearly, and my spirit was able to feel more clearly.  The spirit spoke to me so strongly those first few days as I as coming out of my fear/dread.  I just felt this overwhelming appreciation for the power of our bodies and our minds.

We have so much capability inside of us.  For the first time in my life, I really and truly felt of my divine nature.  I felt this heavenly presence within myself, and knew that God had created my spirit and my body, and that I have endless potential and that I am His daughter, and that my spirit’s natural state is one of love and joy and peace.  It’s the world that adds the fear and the dread.

 

I felt like I caught a glimpse into my spiritual soul for a moment and felt of the love and goodness that is there (not in a prideful way, but in a deeply spiritually moving way).  It was so beautiful!  I was filled with this love and power that I have never felt before so intensely in my entire life!  It was such a testimony builder for me – a reassurance of who I am and my purpose.  It was like the fog lifted and I could see clearly.  Wow, it was incredible!! 

 

Since then, I’ve been studying all I can about the power of the mind and body, and it is just so completely fascinating.  It’s amazing!  I feel like I’m getting super powers or a sixth sense or something.  I’m feeling things I’ve never felt before, and seeing the world and myself in a new way, I’m handling stress and emotion so much better than before.

 

Now, I’m nowhere near perfect.  It’s not like a just tapped one day and all my stress was gone.  It was remarkable in how quickly it settled my nerves, but it’s been a constant thing that I’ve had to keep on top of.  The fear, anxiety, stress, and overwhelm find their way back into our bodies from time to time, but now I have a way of objectively managing it.

 

This began a search and thirst of mine to learn all I can about stress-relief techniques, how our bodies work, and the natural healing capabilities that we all have within us.  I’m learning so much about myself and my habits that have been holding me back – the false beliefs that I’ve been holding onto all of my life.

Just in my relatively short time of studying, here’s a little list of how I’ve improved my life:

• I’m able to manage my fears better

• I have better posture

• I have more confidence

• I can think more clearly

• I’m more comfortable talking to people

• I’m more comfortable talking in front of groups

• I’m having more creative thoughts

• I’m able to find solutions to problems

• I’m able to ask for help

• I’m kinder to myself

• I’m more hopeful

• I’m more decisive

• I’m more productive

• I feel I have more of a sense of what’s really important

• I’m closer to the spirit

• I have more of an eternal perspective

• I feel closer to my husband

• I’m not holding onto resentments

• I can talk about my feelings easier

• I can admit to myself where I need to change

• I can sing better!

 

I am so excited about this new path that I am on.  It has changed me forever, and I’m excited and hopeful about all that I still get to learn and experience.