My blog posts and articles are always inspired by my clients, friends, and the community I serve when they email me their questions about their health and their diets. I always feel so inspired to help and write and serve and so I wanted to write this blog post about conquering stress since a good friend of mine reached out to me and asked me about what he could to help him with his stress. Stress can be extremely detrimental in our lives. This is one of the reasons why many people can't and won't heal from disease as it can block your means to healing.
I've had a lot of experiences with very stressful situations when I was running my own restaurant and catering company by myself without a lot of support. I felt all alone and by myself when I came across challenges that seemed bigger than life itself. However looking back there were some simple things that I could have done that could have relieved my stress and my situation. So here are some keys to conquering those stress demons and creating a more pleasant and peaceful life.
- Gain perspective on your stressful situation.
When the earthquake hit Haiti, my perspective on my life changed enormously. Experiencing a major earthquake in an already impoverished country with very little food, medical help, clean drinking water, and adequate housing is an extremely stressful situation. I used to say to myself that if you have food in your refrigerator, access to clean drinking water, a roof over your head, and clothes and shoes than you are living better than half of the world. Missing a car payment, yet you have a job, dealing with a medical issue yet you have health insurance, or losing a boyfriend yet you have great friends are not stressful situations. Stressful situations are do or die so gain perspective on your situation and really see it for what it is, a temporarily uncomfortable situation that can be and is being remedied as soon as you take action consistently.
The greatest gift we were given to by God was the gift of breath. The breath has enormous healing power. The breath releases up to 70% of the body's toxins through the lungs. Not only that but the breath has the ability to calm us down in stressful situations, center us, help us to deal with racing thoughts, and it helps us to gain perspective, thus enabling us to remedy our problems rationally.
Sleep is very healing for the body and the mind. When we are sleeping, we are healing our bodies and our bodies and minds are transforming. This is why it is so important to sleep as often and for as long as our bodies desire. I used to think there was something wrong with me because I like to sleep for something like 8-10 hours a day and sometimes if I so care to, I even like to lay down in the middle of the day for a quick 45 minute snooze. But now I realize that this is the way my body processes thoughts and experiences. We all have different ways of processing and coping. You are not unhealthy if you sleep for a long or a little bit of time.
I do Bikram yoga a lot. It not only relaxes me, softens my joints and bones, but it also helps me to sleep, elevates my heart rate and works me out to the point of exhaustion, but it also gets me real clear and helps me to deal with problems that I thought I may have. Any form of rigorous movement for an extended period of time releases endorphins in the brain, gets the chi in your body moving, and promotes overall healing and well-being. Even if your stressful situation is still present in your life, you know have the gumption, the tools, and the ability to deal with it like a champ.
- Find an activity that brings you ultimate pure joy and do it everyday.
Find an activity that is easy, simple, doesn't cost a lot of money, and doesn't take much energy or effort to do and do it everyday. It could be as simply as praying, meditating, reading a book, talking to a child, calling a friend, laughing to yourself, making yourself some food. I noticed that when I started doing this years ago, that I started to make all the activities that I do in my life fun. So now even the things that I used to loathe to do actually now bring me sheer joy. Sometimes just driving in my car makes me happy, cleaning my bathroom, making food for family and friends, and making my niece happy by playing with her brings me a lot of joy. Remember taking baby steps allows for transformation to take place not taking quantum leaps.
Music is the ultimate band-aid. Pleasant sound vibration boosts the function of the immune system which of course if your immune system is smiling, then your health is improving.
- Reach out and ask for help even if it hurts or goes against everything you believe in.
This is extremely important and very healthy. We have to learn to reach out and ask for help. We cannot do everything alone and we were not designed to do everything alone. God created billions of beings for the planet so that we all can take part in the miracle. Learn to ask for help constantly. You may not always get it and don't let that stop. You may get help from people who may be looking for something in return. That may not be the type of help that you need but understand that asking for help is about you, not the other person. Its about finding the humility and the love inside of yourself to know that you need help and you need help from another person. It also teaches you how to trust other human beings which is extremely important as well.
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Nwenna Kai is the author of The Goddess of Raw Foods available for purchase at www.amazon.com and the upcoming children's book, The MoreLove's coming September 2010. You can get the FREE e-book Nwenna Kai's Holiday Recipes at her website www.nwennakai.com by signing up for her weekly e-newsletter at her website. She is the previous owner of Taste of the Goddess Cafe, one of LA's pioneering organic raw food cafes. She is the 2007 winner of the Elizabeth Dole Young Entrepreneurial Scholarship sponsored by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) for her work as a health and wellness entrepreneur. Visit her website at www.the-guide-to-raw-foods.com and her blog at www.theguidetorawfoods.com/blogspot.com.
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