Is your life all work and no play? When was the last time you did something enjoyable just for yourself? Spent the day relaxing comfortably all alone? Or spent quality 1 on 1 time with a close friend content in just being together, talking, walking, wondering about life in general? When did you last spend time reflecting on the spiritual aspect of your life, sitting in meditation or prayer, or just looking up at the stars in wonder?
If you answered, “I can’t remember.” Or “I don’t have time for that.” I respond to you, make time for that. Spending time within yourself, going into the quiet center of who you are allows for you to become your own best friend. Alone time allows for you to know what you really want and how you really feel about situations and people in your life. Spending quality time alone within your own self allows you to get to know who you are and to be comfortable within your own skin.
Spending quality time alone within your own self is a key component to living a health life. Being comfortable within your own skin allows one to make decisions based on what is best for themselves rather than just going along with what everyone else is telling them they should or shouldn’t do. True happiness, true contentment in life requires you to accept and be comfortable with who you are inside.
If your immediate reaction to the above statement is one of resistance, then stop for a moment and reconsider. We humans seem to find reasons not to believe in ourselves, and we quickly find a lot of reasons why we can’t or shouldn’t do things. And most of those reasons hold us back from enjoying life.
Don’t let life pass you by, don’t forget who you are. If not now, then when? When do you value yourself enough to carve out a little time to just be with yourself, to enter into some moments of inner stillness where the racing self-critical mind is not in control? When do you decide that you are tired of the constant stress that leaves you exhausted and dissatisfied? How many times have you said to yourself, “I don’t even know what I want anymore”.
Yoga, Meditation, and activities like hiking in the mountains are some of the gateways to calming the mind and being with yourself. Hiking in the mountains requires preparation and time to get away, not always convenient. Yoga and Meditation, on the other hand, can be done with a moment’s notice. From one breath to the next, one can choose to enter a mini state of meditative awareness. In that moment, you mindfully become aware of yourself and experience the few stolen moments of your day, allowing yourself to let go and enter into the stillness within, where it is peaceful, calm and stress free.
These few stolen moments in the middle of your day are very doable once you know how. Learning how is easy. But it does require you to take a few classes to learn how. Just as it took time to study your drivers education book so you could get your drivers license, meditation or yoga require a small investment of your time. An hour or two once a week, to learn the basics can give you the ability and the know-how, to immediately relieve day to day stress and enter into a stress-free zone of living. Yes, life goes on, problems and challenges arise. But inside you remain calm and focused, ready to deal with challenges of the day without your mind and body screaming with panic and stress. If you want to learn how to live with a calm, focused, peaceful mind no matter what life throws at you, then contact me. One hour. One class. Invest in yourself! Explore the benefits of going inward. You might just discover you really like what you find. Becoming your own best friend is an amazing journey.
Susan Fritz, RN teaches Yoga Nidra, an easy deeply, relaxing method for going inward. Yoga Nidra is a blend of yoga and meditation, appropriate for all ages and body types. No experience is necessary, No special clothes or equipment, just a willingness to try something different. Different, but enjoyably fun. Contact Sue, for more information. 775 750-0322.