7 minute read
Vitalize & Balance Yourself Holistically
• Practice gratitude and give thanks for the good parts of your life. At the same time, move toward the greatest life you have envisioned. • Remember that golden opportunities for growth and service always accompany difficulty and suffering. (see article #10, Handling Life’s Biggest Changes and Challenges, and #29 Suffering at http://www.SoulProof.com) • Shield yourself from emotional sappers and zappers, especially if you are sensitive or empathic (see article #23) • Nourish loving relationships with significant others, family, friends, and pets. • Follow your heart-felt callings, even if just part-time (see article #21 Identify and Fulfill Your Soul’s Missions.) 6. NATURAL CARE
Avoid drug and surgical approaches whenever possible. Why? The New England Journal of Medicine reported that over 750,000 Americans die each year from prescription drug reactions, hospital-borne infections, outright mistakes and complications from unnecessary surgeries. The potentially serious or fatal risks of these disease-care treatments may be necessary for emergency conditions; however, those risks are clearly not warranted for many common and non-crisis maladies that often respond very well to natural healing methods. Assemble a natural health care team to provide healthy healing including specific chiropractic and cranial adjusting, acupuncture, deep massage and essential oil therapy. If you are depressed or suicidal, seek help from a crisis support team, psychological and/or pastoral counseling, integrative medical doctor and natural health care providers (http://www.Soulproof.com articles #5 and # 26.) Remember the 3 L’s for babies: Leboyer (optimal care just after birth), La Leche (breast-feeding) and Lamaze (natural childbirth). Also provide a real food diet for infants. These optimal starts early in life set the stage for a healthy teen and adult. Educate yourself about the potential short- and long-term dangers, as well as questionable effectiveness, of most vaccinations. To learn more, visit the National Vaccine Information Center at http://www.nvic.org; Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute at http://www.cmsri.org; Vaccine Papers: An Objective Look at Vaccine Dangers at http://www. VaccinePapers.org; and http://www.TheDoctorWithin.com. 7. TRANSCENDENCE
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• Know thyself. You are a being of energy, awareness, spirit and consciousness. • Understand that you are a special and beloved being who came here with special gifts to share and lessons to learn (article #21 Identify and Fulfill Your Soul’s Missions.) • Much evidence indicates that you will see your postmaterial loved ones and pets again and likely can sense them now (articles #9 Visiting with “Departed” Loved Ones Now; #28 After-Death Communications; #35 The SoulPhone.) • Although you may wish for some things to stay the same, remember change is good for growth, freshness and learning. • When pondering “Why is there so much suffering?” be aware of what you are focusing on. Are you mainly thinking and talking about your old wounds, losses and disappointments? Or are you paying more attention to the magnificence and richness of life, and how you can serve others? (article # 29 Suffering) • Nurture a relationship with your Higher Power: ask, converse with daily prayer, sense responses via meditation, spend time in nature, serve others and use centering practices that quiet the brain.
The first letter of each key above spells the word RADIANT. That’s what you really are: a radiant being of light, energy and awareness who is temporarily visiting this planet for meaningful reasons.
As an old Japanese saying cou nseled: "The best time to p lant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time is today." I hope you app ly that w isdom and begin to holistically vitalize you rself today.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Fereshteh Azadi
Mark Pitstick, MA, DC is an author, master’s clinical psychologist, holistic chiropractic physician, frequent media guest, and webinar/workshop facilitator. He directs The SoulPhone Foundation and founded Greater Reality Living Groups. Dr. Pitstick can help you know and show—no matter what is happening to or around you— that your earthly experience is a totally safe, meaningful, and magnificent adventure amidst forever. Visit http://www.SoulProof.com for free articles, newsletters and radio interviews with top consciousness experts.
Mending the Breaks
By Jo Mooy
Life is a continual cycle of things coming into existence and going out of existence. All things, no matter if it’s a person, a sofa, a bowl or a vase, are part of that cycle. Each has a beginning and an ending—a birth and death. What happens in between those two events is an al- lotted amount of time to enjoy the object, or not, the experiences encountered, or not, to relate with others, or not, to mark the passage well, or not, and to live a best life, or not. Some experiences during the allotted time can mar the vessel. A person might face emotional hurt over a life situation. Though it’s an invisible injury, it’s as real as a physical one and leaves unhealed scars on the individual. Wine spilled on a sofa becomes a permanent stain with no option but to replace it. A vase falling off a shelf can break, shattering the pot into many pieces. Most people would discard the vase, consigning it to a memory.
The Japanese however, took the cycle of the vase’s allotted time and reverently turned it into the Zen practice of Kintsugi. The vase was once created by skilled artists. It was treasured by a purchaser and beautifully displayed in the home. One day it broke. Instead of throwing the broken vase into the trash, the pieces were retrieved and repaired, but in a new way.
The Kintsugi artisans believe the blemishes and breaks are part of the vase’s lifecycle and should be honored and respected. Kintsugi means “golden repair.” The artists use liquid gold,
liquid silver, and resin filled with gold dust to mend the breaks in the pottery. This process makes it much stronger than before. The technique also creates a more unique vase with distinctive golden designs that highlight the cracks. And, the added gold increases the value of the urn. The art of Kintsugi puts value on imperfection. By embracing the flaws and bruises, a stronger and more beautiful piece of art emerges.
Kintsugi is a metaphor for living with life’s ups and downs. Breaks often occur in families, friendships and relationships. For some it’s easy to focus on the breaks. They love all the drama and
imagined storytelling that went into the break. Living in the past, all they see is how the perfect vase used to look on the perfect shelf. Sadly, the potential to see the beauty of the golden repair never occurs.
The holy artisan of the soul knows that human flaws happen so repairs to the spirit can be mended. We’re imperfect pieces of pottery. When we fail in an expectation or fall down from a lofty perch, it’s a glorious opportunity to understand what the broken shards are about and try to repair and heal the pot. The result is a more beautifully tempered vessel of expression.
Inherent in the practice of Kintsugi is expressing gratitude for both the good and the bad. It reframes the negative experiences so a more positive one is experienced. All the flaws, all the breaks, all the imperfections, recognized for what they are, can create a better and more healed individual. Kintsuge defines a spiritual practice of personal wellness that puts a golden lacquer on the breaks in our character so a better human evolves. It’s a compelling practice that teaches us to gild the scars.
Conscious Living with Jo Mooy Jo Mooy has studied with many spiritual traditions over the past 40 years. The wide diversity of this training allows her to develop spiritual seminars and retreats that explore inspirational concepts, give purpose and guidance to students, and present esoteric teachings in an understandable manner. Along with Patricia Cockerill, she has guided the Women’s Meditation Circle since January 2006 where it has been honored for five years in a row as the “Favorite Meditation” group in Sarasota, FL, by Natural Awakenings Magazine. Teaching and using Sound as a retreat healing practice, Jo was certified as a Sound Healer through Jonathan Goldman’s Sound Healing Association. She writes and publishes a monthly internationally distributed e-newsletter called Spiritual Connections and is a staff writer for Spirit of Maat magazine in Sedona. For more information go to http://www.starsoundings.com or email jomooy@gmail.com.
The Heart of the Matter
