MEDITATIONS for any mood
Whether you’re tired or wired, Dear Universe author Sarah Prout has a mantra for you
FOR WHEN YOU’RE STRESSED Harvard researchers estimate that 80 per cent of doctors’ visits are caused by stress. It’s also estimated that more than one in five American adults took medications for psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression in 2010. Stress is a silent killer, and this is why it’s so important to create regular self-care rituals in order to calm down, chill out, and remember that we have the power to guide our emotions.
REMEMBER When you feel stressed, it’s a reminder that if you change your thoughts, you change your reality. On a physical level, stress in your body will result in illness because you’re producing a hormone called cortisol. This leads to weight gain, poor sleep, low sex drive, and the
list goes on of things that you probably don’t want to manifest. A gentle approach to guiding your thoughts and emotions is the best solution. Make the journey out of your head and into your heart. Make yourself a cup of holy basil (tulsi) tea, which contains herbal adaptogens to relieve stress, and set aside time daily to meditate and connect with The Universe.
MANTRA Dear Universe, I now release this energy of stress and replace it with self-compassion and trust that everything is taken care of in my life. I am now grounded in my heart space and reminded of the importance of self-care each and every day. So be it, so it is.
Edited extract from Dear Universe by Sarah U Prout (Hachette Australia, $29.99).
GISELE BÜNDCHEN
