AUGUST 28, 2011

Basking In ‘ME’ Time

Posted by Dorothy under Community Interests, Interesting Reads, Natural Highs, Wellnessno responses

Listen to the ‘Lazy Song’ by Bruno Mars

The soul has an absolute, unforgiving need for regular excursions into enchantment. It requires them like the body needs food and the mind needs thought.”–Thomas Moore

When was the last time you spent time alone, doing something you like, pampering yourself or taking care of your needs? When was the last time you experienced stillness and calmness?Are you always around the same people everyday?If you have a career, a partner or obligation to raise kids, do you feel that you are giving a lot of your time to the need of others? Do you feel that you have too many things on your hands?? If you are thinking twice to answer these questions, then it will do you good to have some ‘me’ time to re-evaluate your life and schedule.

What is ‘me’ time?

Having time to yourself ( alone/private time ) , out of your normal routine  or away from people you’re always around with. In simpler terms, disengage yourself from daily distractions to regain your identity. Do something you’ve been wanting to do, or something of your interest, or NOTHING at all ( well not literary nothing:) ) In my context, ‘me’ time means spending time alone drinking my favorite Golden Bloom Brand Coffee

When and how to have ‘me’ time?

Anytime…even fifteen minutes can make a difference to you. For instance, allow yourself to lay in bed longer when you do not have to rush to work or your kids to school during the weekend; if you usually cook all meals, you can sometimes pack or call for food delivery so that you can take some time off the kitchen.

Some days, you will surely be able to have more time to yourself. When that happens, turn off your phone during that time, limit your time at the computer, shut the world out. You can go for a long walk by the beach, read a book, watch a movie, or if you are spiritual, meditate. Just forget all your troubles and responsibilities during that ‘me’ period. You can put all those things on hold for a few hours. Remember how it was when you were a carefree teenager??Re-live those feelings again.

Benefits of ‘me’ time to yourself and people around you

I am pretty sure that when you spend your time day in and day out with the same people, be it work colleagues, friends or family, you will tend to get annoyed with little things very easily. This can probably lead to agitation causing stress, miscommunication,or worse:resentment. Such situations will result in emotional stress.

Therefore, if you have a career, such personal development is important to better work performance; if you have a partner, it could help strengthen your relationship and revive the spark you had as new lovers; if you have kids, it makes you a more patient and understanding parent. You become a better parent when you secure your child’s future. Learn about children’s ISA limit here. As a whole, it makes you a better person, one who is more true to yourself. You will have more patience, tolerance and will find that you are able to deal with people more rationally.

Have a journal

Write what you’ve done during your ‘me’ time and how it feels. Reflect on your moods, your physical health and mental state during ‘me’ time as compared to while you’re busy on normal days.  Spend that time listening to your heart, re-evaluating your goals. Often, being solitary can help you gain a new perspective on your life. Note the difference. Discover the real you, without interferences.

Now, go find some time to become ‘you’. Not a dedicated ‘parent’, ‘partner’, or ‘worker’. To put it blatantly, dedicate some time to yourself. Like a car, your engine has to stop running and be serviced once in a while. It may sound selfish, but stop pleasing others! Make yourself a ‘queen’ or ‘king’ just for that short period of time.

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AUGUST 19, 2011

Cooling Your System The Chinese Way

Posted by Dorothy under Community Interests, Interesting Reads, Wellness2 comments

I am pretty sure that a lot of us are familiar with the meaning of yin and yang ( cool and hot or inactive and active ). In Chinese medicine, some food can be categorized as cooling or heaty. Also, a human body can be said to be cold or heaty. Most Westerners find this concept strange and difficult to comprehend because when the body feels hot, they cool it down by having a cold drink. So, let me help clarify the Chinese concept of a cold or heaty body.

When the body is said to be cold, one becomes inactive, tired and lethargic. Just imagine how your body reacts to the cold and gloomy winter. All you want to do is stay indoors and sit by the heater or fire.

When the body is heaty, the body feels hot, you feel thirsty, agitated and short tempered. It is the feeling you have when the weather is above 28 degrees and the sun is right above your head.

The Chinese believe in the balancing of yin and yang energy in the body to avoid sicknesses. So, when the body is cold, one should have heaty foods to neutralize. Example of common heaty foods:

Ginger and Honey – Boil some water and throw in sliced ginger, and a little honey
Coffee
Mangoes
Peaches
Vinegar
Beef
Chicken

On the other hand, when the body is heaty, consume some cold foods. They are:

Barley – Boil some barley seeds and add in rock sugar – serve as a drink
Chrysanthemum – Can be found as a tea
Winter Melon – Normally used in soups
Banana
Watermelon
Yoghurt
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cucumber

The heatiness and cooling effect of foods refer to their capacity to generate sensations – either hot or cold in our body. They do not refer to the state of the food but its effect on our bodies. So bear in mind, a glass of cold drink may not be the solution for a heaty body. If you are in doubt, start experimenting and be sensitive to changes in your body.

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JULY 28, 2011

Heal Yourself With Colours

Posted by Dorothy under Philosophy, Wellnessno responses

People in Asia these days try to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid the dangerous rays of sunlight which is one of the causes of skin cancer. What they do not realize is that sunlight is a natural energy needed by our body as they provide us with Vitamin D and most importantly in the healing world, it helps energize our chakras. With 7 main chakras in our body, and each relating to a body organ, the lack of sunlight therefore causes the colours of our chakras to dull and in turn leaves us feeling emotionally and physically imbalanced. People suffering from skin cancer usually sell their life insurance policies as a viatical settlement deal in order to pay for treatment expenses. If you are interested to get a life insurance quote today, see a place like lifecoverquotes.org.uk for details.

To counter this dilemma, I would like to introduce to all my readers an indoor chakra energizer called the colour healing. It can take from as little as 5 minutes to as long as you want and can be done either standing or sitting. If you find it difficult to remember the sequence of the colours of your chakra, it will be useful to know that the colour of our 7 main chakras are the same as the colours of rainbow in the same sequence.

To start: Inhale and exhale deeply to calm and centre yourself. Then move on to the
next instructions when you are ready.

1) As you inhale, imagine the colour red coming up through your legs and when you exhale fill up your root chakra ( security centre ) with this energizing colour, giving you a vibrant feeling of security and confidence. Next, inhale again as you absorb the qualities that the red vibrations gives you, then exhale as you feel fear being dispelled down through your legs and into the ground.

2) Next, imagine the colour orange moving up to your sacral chakra
( sensation centre ), then exhale to flood orange into your sacrum enlivening you even more after the red, bringing you joy. Inhale again to absorb more of the positive qualities then exhale to disperse sadness into the ground.

3)  As you mentally bring in the yellow into your solar plexus chakra
( power centre ), bring in power and will into yourself. It helps boost up confidence and low self esteem, promoting optimism. Other than that, it also encourages self-control.

4) Now, bring in green, the colour of nature into your heart chakra
( love centre ), creating love and compassion to yourself and your loved ones. When you exhale, remove hatred and revenge and bury these negative feelings into the ground.

5) Then comes blue for the throat chakra ( centre of communication and understanding ) a peaceful and relaxing colour which helps in uplifting your moods. It promotes calmness and understanding, allowing better self – expression.

6) Next, visualize indigo slowly enveloping your third eye chakra ( intuition centre).It’s connected to a person’s ability to think clearly, as well as their sense of imagination, intuition, wisdom, awareness to the world and insight that we all have to some degree. It helps us make decisions, and our ability to tell reality from fantasy. In other words, it helps one to be more trusting of their intuition.

7) Finally, let violet fill your crown chakra ( cosmic consciousness centre ), which is the symbol of purity and spirituality. It helps to balance the other 6 chakras and promotes freedom in three aspects of a human being: physical, emotional and spiritual.

To end: Visualise all the 7 colors energizing your chakras again, from your root to the crown. Then inhale to bring in positiveness into your self and exhale to release all the negative feelings into the ground. To finish, mentally tell yourself that you are now feeling recharged and revitalized, and that you will have a positive day ahead no matter what comes your way.

This method of colour healing need not be done as a whole. You can choose to energize only one particular chakra to achieve the effects you desire.Ie: focus on visualizing green in your heart chakra when you feel anger while filling your heart with love and compassion.

*For more info on chakras, check out the chakra energy chart

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