There are several fundamental cornerstones to wellbeing. Our spiritual goal, as Eckhart Tolle tells us in A New Earth, is to awaken or to become conscious and as the Yogi’s believe is to become enlightened. These abstract concepts of awakening and enlightenment are strangely foreign and believed to be unobtainable to many of us, but broken down in recognizable western concepts the path is not only obtainable but necessary for our overall health and wellbeing. Essentially these concepts are showing us how to become more balanced, to not let our thoughts, our emotions and our egos get in the way of being happy and centered in everyday life, including difficult times, as well as how to feel alive from the inside out. There are cornerstones or pillars that will enable us to better reach these states within ourselves. These pillars are:
True Rest
Pure Foods
Movement
All of these are important pieces to the puzzle and can be broken down into further concepts around health, spirituality and science. I have learned personally as well as seen with those around me that rest is absolutely essential to health, regardless of what else you may be doing. Rest is our internal stress management tool and it is accessible to everyone, although we may need help in finding it, as I have. The beautiful and promising part of rest, as I have defined, is that once you start to tap into your internal rest mechanism, you start to instinctively access it in your daily life, as needed, even just for fleeting moments which in turn revitalize you in your busy life bringing more balance and joy. Without rest, even if you are eating pure foods, exercising, volunteering or helping others, and even meditating, you may still feel unhappy, unhealthy and un- whatever. I want to clarify what I mean by rest:
Rest is having enough time in the following states to truly revitalize your body, mind and spirit in order to manage and handle life optimally. Your own individual needs for how much and what kind of rest you need will vary from day to day and person to person. When in balance you feel healthy, alive, and vital, and will recognize when to give yourself rest to revitalize; thus, not going into chronic states of stress and fatigue. True restful states include:
Inner calm (awakened state), where thoughts & emotions are not taking over
Complete muscle relaxation
Sound uninterrupted sleep
I also want to clarify what true rest is not. For example, there have been many times in my life that I have been lying there in bed or sitting comfortably in a chair, perceiving to be resting, but my muscles were tense and my mind was incessantly thinking, and possibly stirring up emotions too, therefore I was not truly resting. Additionally, when we watch TV, play video games, and even listen to lively music, we may believe we are relaxing, and in a sense we are, but this is NOT a state of true rest. These circumstances create thoughts, emotions and reactions on their own. It is important to understand that just because are bodies are not moving, does not mean we are in a state of true rest.
All of these cornerstones are imperative for optimal health, and whatever order you address these cornerstones, whether one at a time or all at once, you will be moving in a positive direction.
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
Resources for finding True Rest. Here are some effective, yet easy and affordable resources.
§ Learn to take 1 – 3 deep breathes throughout the day, whenever you think about it.
§ Read A New Earth by Eckahrt Tolle
§ Go to Share it Live it and use their free guided relaxation techniques http://www.shareitliveit.org/?page=IndexRelaxation
§ Follow the free streaming New Earth Classes on Oprah.com or follow her upcoming Soul Series for streaming interviews with top spiritual teachers @ www.oprah.com.
§ Take a free Yoga class online @ www.yogatoday.com.
§ Watch Yoga Journal TV at http://www.yogajournal.com/video/.
§ Find other books and resources in spiritual and mindfulness topics @ www.soundstrue.com.
§ Try Wild Divine’s biofeedback and mindfulness software training products. Learn more @ www.wilddivine.com or see products on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s.html?ie=UTF8&node=3760931&brand=Wild%20Divine%20Project.
If interested, please follow future articles pertaining to these cornerstones, including pure foods and movement.
Namaste, Stacy Ruse
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Cornerstones to Optimal Wellbeing: True Rest
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2 comments:
Oprah's 4 interviews with Jill Bolte Taylor were the first that Oprah did after Eckhart Tolle and they take everything Tolle talks about to another level. Oprah's copy of Jill's book, MY STROKE OF INSIGHT, was dog-eared and all marked up and kept reading from it the way she read from A New Earth and recommended it highly.
Oprah's recommendation was enough for me. I read My Stroke of Insight and I loved it too. This story is as inspiring as The Last Lecture or Tuesdays with Morrie - and even better, it has a Happy Ending!
I bought the book on Amazon because they have it for 40% off retail and they also had an amazing interview with Dr Taylor that I haven't seen anywhere else - Here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/0670020745/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211471755&sr=1-2
I read "My Stroke of Insight" in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. I laughed. I cried. It was a fantastic book (I heard it's a NYTimes Bestseller and I can see why!), but I also think it will be the start of a new, transformative Movement! No one wants to have a stroke as Jill Bolte Taylor did, but her experience can teach us all how to live better lives. Her TED.com speech was one of the most incredibly moving, stimulating, wonderful videos I've ever seen. Her Oprah Soul Series interviews were fascinating. They should make a movie of her life so everyone sees it. This is the Real Deal and gives me hope for humanity.
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