HOLISM -living life whole!

One of the powerful lessons I learned from both Yoga and HeartMath is how to live my life from a whole being perspective, holistic. Prior to embarking on my yoga and HeartMath practice I lived (like many) in my head, thinking of how life “should” be or what others would think of me as I did things. I often neglected my physical sense of comfort, denied my feelings and intuitive sense of things, while not seeing the biggest picture of how this affected everything else around me.

Everyday in many ways I get the opportunity to not only think about things, or believe in things (mental) but also remember to note how I feel (emotional) or sense my relationship with other (spiritual) all the while being in my body (physical) in the experience of it. We all have the potential to live our lives whole by balancing the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual elements of being.

HeartMath shares it this way. We have four domains of resilience that help bring us into coherence.

Physical includes: physical strength, endurance and strength
Mental includes: mental flexibility, attention span, ability to focus, incorporate multiple points of view
Emotional includes: emotional flexibility, positive outlook, self-regulation
Spiritual includes: spiritual flexibility, commitment to values, tolerance of others’ values and beliefs

When we are cognitive or mindful each day of our four areas of being we are observing our capacity to be flexible in all four; ie to be focused (mental), while physically durable (physical), regulating our emotional responses (emotional), and tolerant of others’ values (spiritual.) The practice for both yoga and HeartMath is centered in our breath as a guide or timeout mechanism to observe all of it and make adjustments when needed!

Asking yourself “how does this food/thought/belief/feeling/value benefit me?”, is a great way to move through your day. If you know it will weaken you physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually you just may want to make another choice. Knowing what uplifts you spiritually, nurtures you physically, enlightens you mentally, or renews you emotionally is the self-empowering practice of holism. It is truly amazing how good we CAN feel, if we only allow ourselves the gifts of being present in these way.

It is a practice.

It does take time to build.

You will resort to old ways.

Yet when you get back to it, you just may find progress has been made.

It is important to take the time to celebrate the progess! BE YOUR OWN MENTOR!