In my book Awakening the Body of Wellness, I write about awakening to Wellness through Body/Mind practices, one being the practice of fascia yoga. On pg 24, I write about revisiting a school you once attended and how the different vantage point changes the whole experience. I relate this to the practice of fascia yoga because by continuously aligning the Body before moving into a specific pose, we constantly meet habitual patterns that appear as tight hips or shoulders and learn about our habits. Fascia yoga encourages us to see and feel the experience rather than get distracted by doing the proverbial pose, which is how we learn about our tendencies. Learning how to relax into the experience, even while making so much effort to build, tone, and strengthen the core, changes the whole experience; this is what it means to change the Body about the Mind.
In my book, I also tell a story of someone labeling yoga asana as the longer path instead of the direct Bhakti devotional path. If you read my book, you will see that I questioned this perspective from the beginning of my journey, and here, over 20 years later, I still have direct Heart insights through Body/Mind practices. The practices I share are for awakening to Prana Shakti and aligning with the creative flow of life's inspiration that courses through our Body/Mind when we align and allow it to do so. When we learn to allow and co-create with life, it changes the whole experience.
There are many ways to align our multi-layered Body/Mind. Physical body wellness supports mental body wellness. Mental body wellness supports nutritional body wellness. Nutritional body wellness supports emotional body wellness, which often comes after several complete and large bowel movements. You probably weren't expecting that to end there, and honestly, it more often starts there, which is why nutritional wellness and the ability of your digestive system to respond is key to much more than the Mind and our culture tends to think.
When the digestive system can break down your food, absorb the nutrition, and eliminate the waste created by that food, your digestive system has respond-ability. Body respond-ability makes it easier to feel responsible for our choices in all aspects of our lives, but for this article, let's stick with nutrition wellness choices that keep our Bodies able to respond.
Enjoy the holiday sweets and know when it is enough. Know when you are pushing your limits beyond the Body's ability. Match your cocktail with a glass of water. Enjoy the holiday dinner and start the next day with a glass of lemon water and an apple, followed by an early lunch of protein and veggies. Make a batch of soup each week so you have it on hand for when you need something quick for breakfast, lunch, or dinner; you can always add an egg for protein. If the holidays are a time that also challenges you on some level, fill your cup first with Mind/Body Wellness practices, and it will change the whole experience.
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