Most people dislike change because they believe the process of changing is difficult or painful (both physically and emotionally). Thus, most change only happens when we recognize that the status quo — staying as we are or maintaining old behaviors — is more painful than the process of changing itself. When that happens, we approach change with hope and the promise of a new, more pleasurable existence. That realization encourages us to seek the knowledge and to find the time and the emotional fortitude to build new, healthier habits.

My experience with veganism has had its ups and downs. I grew up eating and loving meat — things like pork chops, ground beef, and even canned meats. When I decided to stop eating meat over a decade ago, I became a vegetarian for a while (eating eggs and dairy), then a pescatarian (enjoying fish on occasion), and then what I called a “holiday-tarian,” or someone who only indulges in meat during vacations and holidays.

At one point I even became what I call a “muffin vegetarian.” Yes, my diet was 100 percent plant-based, but I ate mostly white pasta, muffins, sugary drinks, and bread. How many nutrients could I have possibly found in that kind of food?! I might as well have been a McDonald’s, steak-and-potatoes gal! It took years of education, experimentation, and building better habits that work for me to finally commit long-term to veganism.

That has been my journey. Now it’s time for you to continue yours. What follows are my tips for changing to a healthier, mostly to fully plant-based diet, which is followed by an even more specific twenty-one-day diet plan.

My most important advice is this: Take any changes one step at a time. This is not an overnight process. Every small step is a step in the right direction. Particularly if your diet has been heavy with meat, don’t try to go “cold turkey” or make every change at once. Pick two or three strategies from the list below, try them for a week or two, and see what happens. Then try a few more.

After a month or so, as you adjust the balance of your diet and try a variety of foods, your taste buds will evolve. You may notice changes in your mood and well-being. You may realize that you don’t want meat anymore, or that meat becomes something you want only occasionally, as a treat or indulgence.

Whatever happens, give yourself time, patience, and self-love.

• Start by eating at least three fully plant-based meals a week. That’s just 14 percent of your weekly meals. For instance, pick breakfast on Monday, lunch on Wednesday, and dinner on Friday. Or, make one day entirely plant-based (like the popular Meatless Mondays). If you already do this, then expand by three the number of plant-based meals you normally have each week.

• Make a list of your favorite foods and dishes and see how you can veganize them. For example, if pasta is one of your favorite meals, pick vegetarian options like pasta primavera or eggplant parmesan and use plant-based cheeses.

• Eventually, ensure you have at least one plant-based meal every day, and if you already do this, and then make it two per day. In my experience, the easiest meal is breakfast. If you drink coffee in the morning, have it with almond, coconut, or rice milk. Or better yet, have a bowl of fruit on an empty stomach, wait one hour, then follow that with a piece of whole-wheat toast and organic jelly. Another alternative is a green smoothie made with spinach, bananas, berries, and almond milk.

• Eat at least one raw ingredient with each meal. For example, if you’re eating a bowl of whole-wheat pasta, have a side salad with arugula, cucumber, and avocado. If you’re having a Mexican bowl, make sure it includes fresh-made guacamole.

• Use my “reduce and replace” method (for more on this, see “The Basic Method: Reduce and Replace,” pages 148-50). Pick a single “junk food” to eliminate or reduce from your diet and replace it with one yummy health food you already know and love. For instance, reduce tortilla chips and replace with celery sticks; reduce a bag of Skittles and replace with whole fruit; reduce an afternoon coffee and replace with a cup of herbal tea. Continue doing this each week with other junk food until you have reduced and replaced at least 50 percent of the junk food you currently consume.

• When planning meals, think of animal flesh as a side dish, not a main dish. Make whole grains and colorful vegetables the main stars of each meal. If you still want to eat meat, make sure animal flesh fills less than 25 percent of your plate, so that you are eating less meat.

• Eventually, eat meat only on a single “treat” day. Choose a single day of the week to indulge in meat-based dishes. By doing this, you can also identify how your body reacts to consuming flesh versus whole plant foods.

• Chef Jenné also shared this tip: “Make colorful things, try to show that you can veganize familiar foods, whether they’re soul food or any other cuisine. Try to bridge familiarity with foods that you are already used to eating, and clean them up a little. If the recipe calls for a ton of oil or butter, find a way to cut back on those because, of course, it’s not just about it being vegan, but it’s also about it being healthier. Start where you’re at, with what you already know.”

• Finally, keep educating yourself. Be curious about food, diet, health, and your own body. Read books on the health benefits of a plant-based diet, and continue to learn the what, why, and how of the foods you eat. The more you know, the easier it is to make the right choices.

Jovanka Ciares is the author of Reclaiming Wellness and several other titles. A certified wellness expert, integrative herbalist, nutrition educator, and coach, she offers lectures and workshops in Spanish and English. Visit her online at http://www.jovankaciares.com.

Excerpted from the book from Reclaiming Wellness: Ancient Wisdom for Your Healthy, Happy, and Beautiful Life. Copyright ©2022 by Jovanka Ciares. Printed with permission from New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com.

Without these practices, things don’t flow the way they should. This creates a breeding ground for doubt. At best, we feel discomfort, which makes it hard to keep doing the work we need to do. At worst, stagnant energy hangs around us. We feel like we’re losing touch with reality; our doubt goes off the charts. This is an unfortunate state to be in and entirely unnecessary, at that. We’re better off if we prevent it altogether.

Choose a way to clean your space, your body, and any sacred objects you hold dear. I encourage this level of freedom, this DIY-style spirituality, with everything. That means if you want to cleanse with incense, go for it. If you want to burn sage or palo santo or some other raw plant, that’s fantastic. If you’re into holy water, or tap water with essential oils, or even water you’ve collected from your favorite forest stream, dot a little on your heart or your third eye (the seat of your intuition, located on your forehead between your brows), or perhaps pour a bit on your head or hands. You can say a prayer while you do so, sing a song, recite a mantra, or empty your mind of all thoughts. Pay special attention to the parts of your physical or spiritual body that feel energetically significant — your heart, your hands, your third eye, and so on. What matters most is that you’re putting intention toward releasing what doesn’t serve.

The same principle applies to grounding. Grounding is about protection. It’s about staying present enough to guard our own house, and to ask our guides to join us in that. In most cases, we physically get low to the ground — think praying, sitting in meditation, and so forth — or at least bring attention to the lower parts of the body. Then we ask for help from something outside us. By reconnecting with the light, we remind ourselves of what our spirit is here to do — inhabit this body, for a time, and use that time wisely. We then allow divine energy to come through us, filling us up with positivity and replenishing our resources.

As with cleansing, there are many ways to go about grounding. If you feel connected to a cultural tradition that makes that happen, practice that. If you’re called to make up your own thing or to adapt a version of someone else’s teaching, that’s fine, too. How you protect yourself is your business; my only goal is to convince you to do so.

When I use words like cleanse, ground, and protect,  I don’t want to give the impression that there’s something dirty or unsafe about spiritual lightwork, because I don’t believe that to be the case. Instead, we owe these rituals to ourselves and our Team as a sign of respect. We don’t allow anything to build up, any outside energies to cling to us. We hold ourselves accountable by affirming, over and over again, what we’re here to do: to work with light while in a human body. Repeating these practices over and over is a necessary part of turning toward a spiritual life.

In summary: find your thing, pick your way, and do it regularly. I’m a stickler about that last part. As you practice cleansing and grounding, you will start to know when you need them. These rituals will become comforting; they will become your spiritual home base.

PRACTICE

Smudging and Bringing In the Light

You may have already identified the cleansing and grounding practices that are going to work best for you. If you are still curious, I offer my own. My cleansing practice is smudging with sage, and my grounding practice is an adapted visualization meditation that I call Bringing In the Light.

Smudging

We’ll start with smudging. This is a technique developed in numerous Native American traditions that uses smoke to cleanse the air, which in turn can clear any energetic nastiness hanging on to people, animals, places, and the like. While the act largely mirrors similar incense- and smoke-cleansing methods from Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East, using white sage — my preferred plant for cleansing — is unique to the indigenous communities from the North American continent. White sage has a powerful and immediate effect.

To smudge, light the tip of a single dried leaf or the end of a smudge stick, putting your intention into the flame before blowing it out and allowing the plant to smolder. I love the smell; it immediately opens me up to Spirit. Then, using a small bowl or other sacred item (I like using an abalone shell) to catch any burning pieces that might fall, wave a feather to direct the smoke around your space, clearing out everything that isn’t for your own highest good and that of others. Move the smoke over your whole body, being sure to cleanse your hands, heart, and third eye. When you’re finished, you can allow the sage to burn out on its own in the bowl, or if it’s very well lit, consider putting it out in a little bit of sand or fresh soil.

Bringing In the Light

Bringing In the Light is a mini-meditation based on one I learned from my teacher Pat Longo. This grounding ritual helps us replenish our energy directly from the source. It offers us a protective energy boost while spreading universal Source energy throughout the world. This practice is done seated with the palms facing up.

Start by saying, either internally or aloud, “Dear guides, with gratitude I ask that you fill my body and soul with your love and protection. Please ground my energy so that I may serve the greater good with a renewed vibration.” Feel your body connected to the earth. See your own energy reaching down to the planet’s very core. Then imagine a bright beam of light coming from above and filling you with divine energy. If visualization comes easily to you, it’s possible that you will actually see this light in your mind’s eye. If you’ve never in your life been able to “see” things in your mind’s eye, don’t worry — just imagine it. Allow the light to enter in through the top of your head, beaming down through your face, and allow some of it to expand outward through your ears, sending forth all the knowledge of the universe. Allow the light to continue descending through your throat, neck, chest, and shoulders; into your arms; and through your fingertips. Allow it to move down through your torso and belly and down your legs to come out your feet. See the light connecting you directly to the floor (if you’re indoors) and the earth beneath it. Now, allow that light to ground you even further. Take a few breaths, feeling how the light grounds you. When you’re ready, open your eyes.

I encourage you to adapt this ritual for your own needs over time. You will likely learn to do it quickly, sometimes even imperceptibly, as needed. The more you do so, the more you’ll be able to recognize when your energy requires a slight adjustment to realign with Spirit.

MaryAnn DiMarco is the author of Medium Mentor: 10 Powerful Techniques to Awaken Divine Guidance for Yourself and Others.  An internationally recognized psychic medium, healer, and spiritual teacher, her work has been featured in media outlets like The New York Times, The Dr. Oz Show, Women’s Health, Elle, and Redbook. Visit her online at http://www.MaryAnnDiMarco.com.

Excerpted from the book from Medium Mentor: 10 Powerful Techniques to Awaken Divine Guidance for Yourself and Others. Copyright ©2022 by MaryAnn DiMarco. Printed with permission from New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com.

It can only be known by direct experience. All that another can do is point you towards that experience. If you follow that pointing you will certainly, when the moment is ripe, know it for yourself. Experiencing your natural, unaltered, and simple awareness is experiencing precisely who you are and have always been. This awareness has no purpose, intention, expectation, or attachment. It just is.

It’s actually quite simple to experience. We are born into a pure and simple awareness. A young child naturally experiences one thing after another without interpretation and commentary, without separation into “I” and It.” The Buddhists illustrate this with the metaphor of a complex tapestry. A young child enjoys the diverse sensory experiences, leaping with delight from one visual impression to another.

However, that is no longer how it is for us. We have lost the natural unfiltered awareness of a child. Instead, we superimpose memories, stories, and meanings onto the perceived images. We are constantly interpreting and commenting on the tapestry. Rather than experiencing the tapestry as it is we alter it, experiencing instead as a conceptual abstraction. And these mental elaborations rapidly take over from our brief but natural experience, affording little if any time to experience what’s actually there.

There is neither good nor bad here, but merely the observation that direct unfiltered awareness is our natural state. The problem is not that we acquire the capacity to add meaning and context but rather that we forget and lose the capacity to experience directly what is as is. We get meaning, context and perhaps functionality by superimposing existing patterns of perception, but lose the creativity, freshness, and possibilities of a beginner’s mind.

How does this happen? Early in childhood we lose touch with unfiltered awareness. It fades from view as we develop the sense of a personal identity. We are given a name and then fill that container with life experiences, which in time are formed into fixed patterns of perception – templates through which we see the world. Our world becomes narrower, familiar, fixed, and increasingly abstract. Simple awareness goes underground, as we develop a conditioned, selective, and preferential awareness.

A tree is no longer a simple sensory experience. It is a certain kind of tree with specific characteristics, uses, and preferences. Another person is no longer an unknown to experience and discover, but rather quickly categorized – liked or disliked. Nothing remains quite as it is. We create a fictitious world, no longer experiencing life as is, but rather what we have made of it with our conditioned mind. Our adult life is thus circumscribed and limited by the past. Seven billion people on our planet and seven billion worlds.

I would like to stop here and offer the words of T.S. Eliot:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

In the same poem he offers us a more specific instruction:

In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not.

What are we told? First, that what the seeker seeks is what we have always been from the very beginning, before the process of individuation and separation. Our journey, the end of our seeking, is a homecoming. To accomplish this return requires awareness of the process of individuation, its assets, and liabilities. We begin from the fragmented disconnection of our personal self, which still holds a subtle remembrance and longing for our natural essence, our wholeness. We become humble pilgrims walking the path that returns home, to the place from where we started.

The most insidious liability of individuation is our conditioning – the habits of perception and reactivity that unknowingly shape and influence all our experiences. We learn to acknowledge their presence with neutrality and detachment. We then let these ghosts of the past dissipate from lack of further attention or elaboration. The past, we observe is merely a mental pattern laid down long ago whose significance, if any at all, is long gone. So, what is it like to experience a natural and unconditioned awareness that is free of the past?

Consider the following. When you first awaken in the morning notice what enters your visual or auditory field. It is not yet named, valued, or in any way altered from its actual presentation to consciousness. It is simple unconditioned awareness of a sensory object. When absorbed in meditation you can similarly observe mental activity come and go without adding a mental commentary. This is unconditioned awareness of a mental object. It may only last a moment before your usual conditioned awareness takes over. Observe that as well, as it is essential that you come to know the entire process – how unfiltered awareness re-boots as conditioned awareness. 

Why is this glimpse of unfiltered awareness so important? It’s the beginning of a new freedom, or perhaps I should say an old freedom. We now have the choice of experiencing and responding to how things actually are rather than experiencing and reacting to a self and world shaped by our past. We are able to discern and observe our mental process and act free of the influences of the known.

The final step occurs when our attention shifts to awareness itself. We become self-aware rather than object-aware. Unlike the child we know our unconditioned awareness for the first time, as well as our conditioning. We are aware that mental and sensory objects appear in consciousness – we acknowledge all that arises in awareness – but we know them to be only transient appearances on an unchanging ground awareness. Our natural awareness, the ground of our being, does not come and go. It is ever-present now and always.

Challenges and difficult circumstances will continue. But they will be experienced by a stable and unmoving awareness. They will be held in a ground of serenity, peace, wisdom, and gentleness. No fear. No anxiety. No suffering. Just presence and being. Some say this is a passive state that’s incompatible with worldy life. This is not so. That is merely the statement of an ego caught in ordinary life. Those who touch beyond know better.

When action is necessary it spontaneously arises from the clear knowing of unconditioned awareness. That action will not be a reaction to our interpretation of an event, but rather a precise and accurate response to the experience at hand as it is. There is no thought process involved, just a natural knowing and natural responsiveness. We slowly gain trust and confidence in living from this center of our being. And we gain inspiration from knowing that those great ones, as well as ordinary individuals who have lived from heart and soul, are remembered for their lasting noble contributions to mankind

We will also discover that this simple awareness is the great healing elixir. The mental and sensory appearances that once seemed separate from awareness will be recognized as the dynamic expression of awareness – formlessness and form each an expression of consciousness. No longer a separation. No longer fragmentation. Finally, the knowing of wholeness, of oneness, of the sacred union. We return home and know it for the first time.

In the Western tradition the wise Oracle of Delphi expresses it this way:

Once you have touched it

There is no division:

No tearing your heart away

For it knows no separation.

Website: http://www.elliottdacher.org

By definition, self-care means doing what is good for us — increasing our emotional and physical stamina, improving our self-esteem, and building resilience. Maintaining good self-care ensures that we stay compassionate, impassioned, and engaged. It means doing important work in one area without sacrificing other parts of our life. It means maintaining a positive attitude in spite of personal challenges and the larger injustices in the world. Self-care activities create daily improvement in our lives and have beneficial long-term effects. That said, these activities are not always fun. Sometimes they even border on boring.

We also might feel guilty about self-care because it can go against what we’ve been taught, which is that to be a good friend, parent, spouse or partner, coworker, and community member we have to put others first. Self-care means putting ourselves first, and we’re often conditioned to believe this is wrong. It’s rude.

It isn’t consistent with how so many inspirational leaders throughout history are portrayed, such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Margaret Sanger. We admire these individuals because they endured suffering and hardship and practiced self-sacrifice. Proper nutrition, healthy relationships, and exercise are secondary, if not frivolous. They didn’t have time for yoga!

Two problems contribute to a negative view of self-care. The first issue is what I mention above, that self-care is often considered self-centered. It can imply caring that extends only to ourselves as individuals. But we can expand our definition of self to extend beyond the individual and include our family, community, the natural world, and all sentient beings. Self-care actually means caring for the entire community of which we are a part; it encompasses and protects this larger order. Self-care is not about being virtuous. In a way, it means living and working in ways that are consistent with and model how we want the world to work.

The second issue is that the concept of self-care has been hijacked by corporations to create a very profitable industrial wellness complex, one that focuses on beauty, happiness, and comfort in the name of self-love and self-compassion. In Western society, this is mostly geared toward white women of means, but it can include anyone. The main goal of this industry is to sell goods and services that provide only a superficial appearance of self-care, one that is often, in fact, indulgent and frivolous precisely because it’s a temporary quick fix that only aims to make the individual feel better about themselves.

The reality is that authentic self-care is unsexy, hard work — which isn’t an attractive marketing pitch for corporations or brands. The way the term is broadly used today has very little to do with the healthy choices that reflect true self-love and self-compassion. It certainly has nothing to do with the struggle to survive in the face of political and structural oppression. For communities that are under attack by their own government, and for individuals with little access to health care, fresh food, clean water, and safe housing, self-care is a radical act of self-preservation.

Authentic self-care is for everyone. It’s what we all need and deserve, but it can be hard because it’s not a quick fix. Ironically, neither is our own inner journey, or something as lofty as social justice work. Seen this way, wellness is one aspect of social justice, and like social justice, wellness doesn’t happen overnight. This is another reason that self-care has gotten such a bad name:

It is much easier to practice “self-care” in easy ways that feel good right now than it is to develop the discipline of a healthy lifestyle that often sucks in the moment but feels really great later. Authentic self-care is not self-indulgence. Self-indulgence is unrestrained gratification of our desires and whims, behaviors meant only to alter our mood and provide a temporary escape from pain and grief.

How can we tell the difference between self-indulgence and true acts of self-care? First, ask if what you’re doing is a temporary quick fix or something that is meant to yield long-term benefits. Sometimes, self-care is best expressed by setting limits in ways that prioritize what’s most important. This takes discipline. Some everyday examples might include watching only one episode of a TV show, not binging a whole season, so you get to bed at a decent hour and experience a full night’s rest. It might be not having a glass of wine with dinner, or only having one; saying no when you don’t want to do something; or waking up early so you have extra time to meditate, journal, or exercise before work.

The morning when I wrote my own self-care list, which was my response to true despair and a will to survive, I felt an instinctual inner knowing that I had to give up most of my vices in order to truly dedicate myself to self-care, to my healing, and to my overall wellness. If the work we do in the world is larger than ourselves — and for me at that moment being a mother to my son was just that — then self-care means defining clear boundaries that help ensure our long-term physical, mental, and spiritual health. But I didn’t give up all my vices.

I knew there were healthy indulgences I could still enjoy, ones that provided important moments of joy and happiness. For me, these were defined by even the smallest of actions that helped me restore balance during one of the most imbalanced periods in my life. This included things like spending an evening reading a good book with a mud mask on my face; shutting down my phone and not responding to texts or emails for a few hours of solitude; and having a meal with a friend while engaging in meaningful conversation. I didn’t consider any of these things frivolous.

My point is this: Self-care is not one-size-fits-all. We each must decide what’s right for ourselves. The biggest challenge I needed to overcome was the guilt and ingrained belief that taking any time for myself was selfish. In the end, what I learned from this experience is that tending to myself is a way to reaffirm that I value myself, and because I do, I must also honor myself.

Taking that time to reaffirm in writing that “I am not broken” set me on my path and positioned me front and center as my own cheerleader and self-advocate. Yet I can also proclaim irrefutably that authentic self-care is a truly selfless act — one that made me into a healthier being, a more engaged mother, and eventually, an impassioned self-care activist.

Excerpted from the book from Sit Down to Rise Up. Copyright ©2021 by Shelly Tygielski. Printed with permission from New World Library — http://www.newworldlibrary.com.

Right now, we are going through an extremely challenging time. Many of my empath patients are suffering tremendously from the massive suffering and fear that is manifesting in the world. This makes them and all sensitive people particularly vulnerable to overwhelm, exhaustion and anxiety. Especially when many of them have been taught that being compassionate means it’s their job to remove other people’s pain.

This is not true. You can hold a supportive space for someone without absorbing their distress in your own body. Finding this balance is the art of healing. Inwardly you can say, “This is not my burden to carry.” It is impossible to fix someone and it is really none of your business to try. More than twenty years of being a physician has taught me that everybody deserves the dignity of their own path.

Here are a few tips from Thriving as an Empath: 365 Days of Self-Care for Sensitive People to decrease your stress level and find your center, even in the midst of uncertainty and chaos.

1. Practice deep breathing to exhale stress
2. Limit exposure to news
3. Do not let others feed your panic. Even though we are going through a scary time now, panic is not the key to any door. When you feel panic, breathe deeply, meditate for a few minutes to center yourself, and focus on feeling safe in the now.
4. If you notice yourself absorbing the stress or pain of others, take some alone time to regroup and replenish yourself.
5. Do not get into victim mode. Try to see the lessons you can learn from chaos and crises rather than feeling only victimized.
6. Stay in the Now. The only way to get through this is a day at a time. Try to stop yourself when your mind catastrophizes about the future.

Many empaths are used to socially distancing as part of their everyday lives so it may take less getting used to than others experience. Earth is not a realm just of sweetness and light. It has great darkness here, and also great suffering. Our intention, as sensitive people, is to not become martyrs and victims, but to try to summon all the light possible to increase the light in the world and overcome the darkness with love. This requires faith, and a strong belief in love—we can all do it together.

Practice this intention from “Thriving as an Empath”

I can be compassionate without becoming a martyr or taking on another person’s pain. I can respect someone’s healing process without trying to “fix” them.

Adapted from Dr. Judith Orloff’s book “The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People” (Sounds True, 2017)

To follow Dr. Orloff, please stop by http://www.youtube.com/judithorloffmd anytime.

Pay attention to your environment. Feed your senses nourishing, interesting, inspiring impulses. Your body/mind is nourished through the exploration of new domains. See your environment with fresh eyes. Don’t take your world for granted.

• Listen to beautiful, interesting, different music from around the world. Listen to the sounds of nature – birds singing, the wind blowing through the leaves, rain beating on your roof, ocean waves crashing against the shore.
• Feel the texture of things. Dig your hands into the earth. Stroke your pet. Caress your loved ones. Feel a sculpture. Rub your hands along a tree bark.
• Look at your world with fresh eyes. Notice things you don’t usually pay attention to. Look at the many shades of green that nature paints. Watch the clouds manifest and dissolve. Go to your local art museum and walk through the galleries. Really look at the faces of the people in your life.
• Taste things as if for the first time. Bite into a tart apple. Savor the flavor of freshly baked cherry pie. Pop a clove bud in your mouth. Taste your lover with a passionate kiss. Drink a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice. Delight your taste buds.
• Notice the aromas in your environment. Breathe in the fragrances of your garden. Sniff the smells of dinner. Inhale the scents of your loved one. Go outside after a rain and smell the earth. Notice how closely smells are linked with your memories and emotions.

The energy and information of the world is translated into subtle sensory impulses that are experienced on the screen of your consciousness. These inner impulses are known in Ayurveda as Tanmatras. We can think of them as mental quanta, the subjective equivalent to the subtlest units of matter in the physical world. Awakening the Tanmatras through active imagination creates an alert mind and vital body.

Read the following visualizations, then close your eyes and invoke a vivid impression in your mind.

Sound
Imagine the sound of:
– A cricket, chirping outside your window at night.
– A grandfather clock, sounding six o’clock.
– A coyote howling at the moon.

Touch
Imagine the sensations of:
– Walking on a sandy beach.
– Taking a hot shower
– Stroking the soft cheek of an infant child

Vision
Imagine the sight of:
– The sun setting over the Pacific Ocean
– A flock of geese flying in formation overhead
– An Olympic diver jumping off the platform

Taste
Imagine the taste of:
– A fresh, ripe peach
– A spoonful of chocolate chip ice cream
– Gargling with mint flavored mouthwash

Smell
Imagine the smell of:
– Bread baking in the oven
– A new bar of sandalwood soap
– A freshly cut lemon

Balance your senses through both inner and outer experiences of nourishing sounds, sensations, images, tastes, and smells, and your inner pharmacy will enlivened to keep you balanced, healthy and happy.

Yet, what I have noticed in my research is that few people have a consistent morning practice they do every day. I often start my professional workshops and personal retreats with the question “Who has a daily practice you do every morning, consistently?” In a professional setting, fewer than 5 percent raise their hands. Even in the retreats with people on a personal development path, fewer than 15 percent have a practice they do, every day. And few have a practice that connects them on the level of all realms — physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual — or that protects and sets their magnetic field. Virtually no one has a conscious flow to downshifting at the end of the day.

Wherever you are on the continuum of a consistent daily morning upshifting and evening downshifting practice, it’s all good. We start where you are. If this is new to you, great! It was new to me at one time. Honestly, when I first committed to a daily morning practice, I would fall asleep, drooling on myself! But I stayed committed; that was the key. If you already have a consistent practice, this will deepen and strengthen it. We call it a practice because you never stop practicing or learning.

Rather than give you a litany of to-dos, I will teach you a “recipe” for creating a simple morning and evening flow, which you apply to the first and last hour of your day — the “Daily Bookend.” The Daily Bookend empowers you to choose the rhythm and feel of your morning, no matter how much time you have or who you live with. It ensures you don’t start your day open to being hacked or go through your day like an untethered windsock. You’ll use the same recipe to downshift in the last hour of your day so you can receive the physical, emotional, energetic, spiritual, and mental replenishment you need.

Your Twofold Mission

1.   Create a flow for the first and last hour of your day, every day. This supports you to stay centered, clear, and calm all day.

2.   Become aware of how your choices in the first and last hour of your day sustain or drain you. This empowers you to make wiser choices that support your life force, and you, to thrive.

Take the following three steps to experiment with and elevate how you start and complete your days, embracing the Daily Bookend as a structure for how you “do” your daily life.

STEP 1: Become Aware of What’s Draining and What’s Sustaining You Because of How You Start Your Morning and Downshift Your Day

For one week, observe how you start your morning and end your day by becoming keenly aware of what you ingest, interact with, and invite in during the first and last hour. Notice what you put into your physical and energetic bodies and your mental and emotional fields. And notice the impact.

STEP 2: Experiment with Your “Daily Bookend” Practice and Create a Conscious Flow for the First and Last Hour of Your Day

You have to start and end every day anyway, so why not do so in ways that naturally cultivate harmony, self-sustainability, and vitality? Relax. I have no list of one hundred things you must do, or unrealistic expectations of you sitting on a cushion for an hour in silence meditating. After twenty years, not even I do that! Instead, I give you the superpower tool of the “Daily Bookend.” As always, think of this not as more to do but as the choices, rituals, and actions that create a supportive flow for how you start and complete your day. Together, these create a pattern that harmonizes you to your natural rhythm and connects you to your needs and center.

STEP 3: Embrace Your Power to Set Yourself Up for Harmony

Wise women don’t ask for permission; we take a stand for what we need and teach others what to expect and how to interact with us. The dynamics in your family or work may not be set up to support a Daily Bookend practice, yet. But remember, you can’t receive what you need from others if you don’t take a stand for it first. Which is why, I dare you to make one small but mighty change. Lock in this daring act of liberation by choosing one self-sabotaging habit and replacing it with a self-sustaining one, on both sides of your Daily Bookend practice. Then you can start resetting expectations.

Morning Upshift

1. My current self-sabotaging habit is…
2. I choose to release the self-sabotaging habit of…
3. I choose to embrace the new self-sustaining choice to…

Evening Downshift

1. My current self-sabotaging habit is…
2. I choose to release the self-sabotaging habit of…
3. I choose to embrace the new self-sustaining choice to…

The key to success is to choose a self-sustaining habit that feels supportive to you, not a stretch or a regimented rule that stresses you out or makes you feel like an ascetic monk who can have no fun. Choose what truly nourishes you. Choose what brings you joy. Choose what may require more discipline on your part but that results in you receiving the benefit of feeling more vibrant, connected, and aligned. Then go into your life, and as you observe yourself about to self-sabotage, make a different choice.

Remember the four stages of personal transformation — awareness, reflection, change in the moment, and integration — and when you waver or falter, apply self-compassion instead of self-criticism to come back to the commitment you have to your sustainability, wellness, and true heart’s desires for your life.

Christine Arylo, MBA, is the author of Overwhelmed and Over It. As a transformational leadership advisor, three-time bestselling author, and host of the popular Feminine Power Time podcast, she is recognized worldwide for her work helping women to make shifts happen — in the lives they lead, the work they do, and the world they wish to create. Arylo offers workshops globally and lives near Seattle. Visit her online at http://www.OverwhelmedandOverIt.com.    

Excerpted from the book Overwhelmed and Over It. Copyright ©2020 by Christine Arylo. Printed with permission from New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com.

For millennia very wise individuals across diverse cultures and time have explored these questions. They have carefully, through contemplative practice and reflection, examined their own experience. Remarkably, they arrived at the same conclusion: happiness is innate to human life. It is not acquired. It is given.

But then you might ask, “Where is it?” The problem, they discovered, lies not in its absence, but in our human tendency to look in the wrong place, mistaking ordinary and transient pleasure for a resilient and enduring happiness. And that is a common and pivotal mistake.

Pleasure is the experience of satisfaction and delight that we attribute to outer experience. It is accompanied by an ephemeral happiness. Because it is ephemeral, we are always chasing it. We find certain people, objects, and experiences to be satisfying, and others unsatisfying. We orient our self towards what is satisfying and avoid what is unsatisfying. Pleasure is seen as residing in an outer circumstance. It always depends on an outer reason  or cause–a person, object, or experience.

Authentic happiness is quite different. It’s the experience of peace, delight, and joy that naturally arises from a healthy and wise heart and mind. Its source is internal rather than external. It‘s naturally present rather than sought after in the external world. And unlike pleasure, it’s stable and enduring.

Pleasure is a momentary thing. Because all outer experiences are impermanent, pleasure always dissipates and leads to loss and suffering and an endless and exhausting cycle of searching in the wrong place. Authentic happiness is a permanent trait.

As it is not dependent on anything external, it is resilient, steadfast, and remains a stable touchstone of serenity and happiness throughout life’s challenges and adversities. Much as the depths of the ocean are undisturbed by the movements of surface waves, so is an authentic happiness and serenity untouched by day-to-day annoyances and difficulties. We remain calm within while dealing effectively with complexity outside.

An enduring happiness requires that we turn inward and discover the ever-present natural ease and contentment of a still and peaceful mind. It’s like moving away the clouds to see the sun. It’s always there. The happiness and serenity that resides within has no cause or reason. It’s naturally present at the center of our being. We call this happiness without a cause or reason.

To discover a sustained happiness and serenity we must first calm the mind and then rest in the natural spaciousness of our inner being. We achieve this through the meditative lifestyle. Properly taught and practiced, meditation, both as a sitting and daily life practice, leads to this extraordinary state of well-being and inner harmony.

As a physician I can assure you that the distinction between life chasing pleasure, with its ups and downs, and a life marked by a sustained inner calm, is reflected in both our physiology and our physical health. You can assess this yourself by just feeling the body when you are in the cycle of pleasure and striving, and again feeling the body when it is resting in its serene nature. There is a seamless connection between mind and body.

The dream of a resilient peace and happiness is a timeless human quest. It began centuries ago with the inquiries of the ancient philosophers and scholars and continues into the present time through the efforts of modern day neuroscientists and contemplatives.

Yet it is you and I, right now, who can undertake our own ‘adventure of a lifetime’ that realizes a special type of permanent happiness and peace that surpasses reason or understand.

To learn more about Dr. Elliott Dacher and his work, visit http://www.ElliottDacher.org

According to the ancient texts, Abhyanga nourishes the entire body- invigorating the muscles and tissues, lubricating the joints and increasing circulation. If done repeatedly and patiently, it can stimulate the internal organs, assisting in digestion, moving the lymph, and eliminating toxins (ama).

“The body of one who uses oil massage regularly does not become affected much even if subjected to accidental injuries, or strenuous work. By using oil massage daily, a person is endowed with pleasant touch, trimmed body parts and becomes strong, charming and least affected by old age”

Charaka Samhita Vol. 1, V: 88-89 (One of the Great ancient texts of Ayurveda)

One of the benefits of peaceful abhyanga is the soothing relaxation it provides. While increasing circulation, it still calms the nerves, improves sleep and encourages mindful breathing. Using the correct oils, it has the additional benefit of softening and smoothing the skin, and during the scalp massage, stimulating hair growth.

In the tradition of Ayurveda, the oil used is based on your dosha, or innate tendencies. Dr. Vasant Lad has a post in Healthy.net that reviews the doshas in depth.  View more

For now, a quick recommendation is:

• Vata Dosha: a relaxing oil such as sesame or almond
• Pitta Dosha: a soothing oil such as coconut or sunflower
• Kapha Dosha: an invigorating oil such as safflower
• Good for all Three Doshas: Jojoba oil

Try this Method of Self-Massage:

• Carefully warm the oil
• Begin massaging at the top of your head (adhipati marma) and massage in a circular motion throughout your whole scalp, touching on the many marma points, or energy points, in the head
• Move onto your face: continue in circular massage over your temples and forehead then down to your jaw and cheeks, and then to your earlobes
• Move to your abdomen, with increased pressure, slowly moving up on the right side of the belly, then across, then down the left side, following your digestive path
• When you reach your limbs, move in fast upward brush strokes on the long bones, briskly stimulating circulation with a firm touch
• When you reach joints, return to circular movements, as if cupping your joints in your hand
• When you reach your feet, push deeply with your fingers into the balls of your feet and then the heels, then separating your toes briefly and push your fingers between the toes (Your feet hold many energy points and the nerve endings are close to the surface and easily accessed by pressure)
• Sit for some moments with yourself, letting the oil soak in

A Morning Routine:

Abhyanga is meant to be easily integrated into your morning routine. There are immeasurable benefits to a morning routine. To  learn more about the benefits of a morning routine.  

But realistically, it is very important that the time commitment does not feel daunting. Ideally you would dedicate 10-15 minutes to the abhyanga  practice; but if you only have 5 minutes, focus on the scalp, earlobes and jaw, and the feet. And use more oil if you have the time to let it really absorb into the skin  in a relaxed manner. You will start your day with a renewed sense of equanimity! Enjoy!

To learn more about Dr. Natalie Geary and her work, visit https://VedaHealth.com

Ayurveda, the “Science of Life”, describes the immune system as the balanced functions of three subtle energies:  Prana (universal principle of energy or force),Tejas (brilliance), and Ojas, (vital energy). In order to maintain wellness, Ayurveda teaches that the body must maintain balance, and that all balance is rooted in digestion and nourishment.

Strong immunity is a product of good digestion. Two primary forces are at work within the digestive system: Ojas, that vital energy, is concentrated in the heart chakra, and is the product of complete and balanced digestion.  Ama is the toxic by-products that result from incomplete digestion. It is the digestive impurities caused by eating hard-to-digest foods or by following unhealthy eating habits. Ama therefore compromises immunity and health.

At the foundation of immune maintenance is Agni, or digestive fire. When Agni or digestive fire strong, the body metabolizes the food efficiently, and Ama (waste) has much less chance to accumulate. Ayurveda therapy focuses on kindling the Agni, the digestive fire of the body to digest toxins ensuring optimal physical and mental wellbeing. 

What can we do now:

Although Panchakarma therapy, a week-long purification process, is probably the most effective way to remove toxins, it is an intense commitment of time and money, and needs to be supervised by a trained practitioner. Perhaps something to do in the future.

But here we are now, in the midst of COVID, in need of some remedies and immune boosts that are more accessible from home. Whether you are feeling run down or just wanting to maintain strength and balance, it helps to incorporate an Ayurvedic regimen at home to help remove Ama, prevent its build-up and to boost your immune system.

Try the following cleansing routine: Eat. Drink. Move. Sleep.

Eat a light diet for a few weeks, to help burn away rather than accumulate Ama. Eat warm, light, nourishing foods, including mildly-spiced vegetables and lentils.

Drink plenty of fluids, but particularly hot or warm filtered water.

Move – walking, swimming, biking. Daily yoga and pranayama (yogic breathing exercises) promote digestion by stimulating Prana (life-force). Finish this rejuvenating work with a massage with warm herbal oils such as the sesame oil, that helps not only our skin but also the tone of our muscles and promotes relaxation.

Sleep: Go to bed by 1 0pm to enhance your sleep hygiene and allow your body to replenish. A bedtime routine reduces stress and restores balance.

Avoid generating excess Ama:

Only eat a meal when you are genuinely hungry, and eat until you are satisfied, but not full. This allows your digestive processes to work more efficiently.

Avoid processed foods, cold foods or drinks, and heavy foods, such as fried foods. Try to avoid vegetables from the nightshade family, such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and sweet peppers, as these create Ama.

In addition, the food that we eat is important, but the way we eat it is too. It is desirable to eat slowly, to chew the food well, so that we can maximize the process of digestion as well the absorption of the nutrients. 

Cooking: Ayurveda recommends cooking with a variety of spices to facilitate the digestion and increase absorption of the nutrients. In addition to adding to the aroma and flavor, the spices have the ability “Yogavahi”, which means that they have healing, immune stimulating properties. The spices facilitate the digestion and help the body to fully absorb the nutrients from the food.

The different spices have their own specific immune stimulating properties: 

Turmeric has a strong immune stimulating effect that is due to its ability to remove toxins from the body.

Cumin helps to reduce the Ama by creating heat that cleanses the body and facilitates the strength of ojas energy. 

Ginger is known as a natural digestive aid, balancing the intestines, and allowing for more efficient absorption of nutrients.

Cardamom and Cinnamon are commonly used to pacify the stomach.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamin C has long been associated with pumping up the body’s resistance against infections and pathogens. Vitamin B2, B6, C, D and E are essential vitamins for maintaining cell strength and nerve function.  Iron, zinc, folic acid, magnesium, selenium and calcium are vital in fortifying your body’s defense against pathogens.

Probiotics: The human microbiome comprises more than 500 different bacterial species living symbiotically with each other and with their human hosts. The highest concentration of these bacteria is found in the intestines.

Most of the “natural flora” are considered “good.” They help to foster healthy digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Some bacteria, however, are “bad” – or pathologic – and carry the potential for disease and discomfort. When an imbalance between the two occurs, digestive issues result.

Probiotics are live microorganisms that form part of a natural and healthy gut flora. They help to recalibrate the balance between “good” and bad bacteria, restoring the natural intestinal milieu.

Healing Herbs:   Supplements and Teas

1. Ashwagandha: Alternatively known as Indian Ginseng or Winter Cherry, Ashwagandha translate from Sanskrit literally to mean “smell of horse”: and it is believed that taking Ashwagandha on a regular basis gives you the vitality and strength of a horse. Apart from boosting immunity, ashwagandha also facilitates good sleep.

Ashwanghanda is the staple of Ayurvedic therapy, along with Triphala. It is used as an adaptogen and anti-stress support used traditionally to help improve not only the physical wellbeing of a person but also the emotional and mental health. Ashwagandha enhances one’s energy and relieves stress and anxiety.

2. Triphala consists of cleansing and detoxifying ingredients that help to remove the Ama that compromises a person’s immunity. Triphala is taken daily and is considered a mainstay of Ayurvedic wellbeing.

The good news is that building your family’s immunity is less costly or complicated than you may have been led to believe on social media. Amidst the uncertainty that is prevalent in the country try these suggestions. And remember to wear a mask during the Pandemic.

To learn more about Dr. Natalie Geary and her work, visit https://VedaHealth.com