Take Care Of Yourself: Use These Three Life-Tuning Strategies

By: Sheri McConnell
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:40:02
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I am an entrepreneur and a mother of four young children. I balance three separate businesses and the needs of my entire family (including a husband, cat, and a puppy) and I still find time to take care of myself. How do I do it? By following three important Life-Tuning Strategies. All three strategies benefit your mind, body, and soul. It is time to take care of yourself for a change--let's get started!

1. JOURNAL FROM THE HEART

The first strategy is journaling. And I even take this one step further by saying we should try to journal from the heart--meaning we should write about those issues that touch us personally in some way. Positive and negative. Journaling is therapeutic and nurtures your mind and soul. Michele Weldon, author of Writing to Save Your Life says that "writing down your experiences moves them to a new place in the sun where they can grow and your understanding of your history can flower." Joan Didion, another journalist and author, said that journaling or writing helps you "to find out what you are thinking, what you are looking at, what you see and what it means, what you want and what you fear." How long has it been since you asked yourself some of these important questions? Answering them may just be the release you need. Find at least 15 minutes a day to journal--and you will begin to feel calmer and less stressed.

2. EAT FROM THE EARTH

To make the mind-body-soul connection you will need to pay attention to what you eat. You already know that you are what you eat. You will produce energy based on what you put into your body. The answer to eating well is to eat as much as possible that comes directly from our earth. Dr. Andrew Weil, author of more than eight books on nutrition and health, explains that "food is fuel that contains energy from the sun, originally captured and stored by green plants, then passed along to fruits, seeds, and animals. Humans eat these foods, and burn the fuel they contain--that is, combine it with oxygen in a controlled fashion to release and capture the stored solar energy."

Unfortunately the more we process our foods, the less energy they provide. It is well known that obesity in America is directly related to the amount of processed foods Americans consume. These food choices may be fast--but the time and money they cost you in your battle against weight gain, various health problems, and the lack of energy far outweigh any time you save by grabbing this quick fix. Eating directly from the earth positively affects the mind, body, and soul.

This Life-Tuning Strategy can be difficult to follow. It takes determination and planning. As you use the journaling strategy, you will discover how your eating behaviors are dictated by your past, your current environment, and your own beliefs about what makes you happy. You can change the effects of all three. You can unlearn behaviors you learned in the past, you can stop purchasing processed foods and beverages, and you can learn more about proper nutrition.

3. EXPERIENCE NATURE

"See how nature--trees, grass, grow in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." ~ Mother Teresa

The third Life-Tuning Strategy is to experience nature. I jog or walk outside at least 30 minutes every day. Nature provides me with the right sound and scenery for my intuitive senses to come alive. I make this activity a priority in my life because this quiet time calms my soul, supports my creativity, and gives me the mental space I need to tune into my inner yearnings. I have used my "nature" time for over five years to make crucial business decisions and to figure out many pivotal solutions in my personal and business lives. Nature is the perfect prescription for anything that ails you. Experiencing the solitude that nature provides is a form of meditation that calms the soul and purges the stress from your life.

FINDING TIME TO TUNE

To incorporate all three strategies into your lifestyle, you will need to look at your daily schedule in relation to how you use your time. I have a home office, which gives me at least two more productive hours a day than most commuters. I rarely watch TV--adding even more time in my schedule to take care of myself. I know that you will find time in your schedule if you just look hard enough. You will probably have to adjust your expectations a little bit. Are you doing everything for everyone else? Maybe your family could pitch in and fold the laundry each week. Mine do--and they are only grade-schoolers. The point is you are the only one who can make these necessary changes in your life. I promise if you practice even one of these three strategies for at least a few weeks, you will experience a less stressed and much calmer life. You will also be able to handle unavoidable stresses much easier.

Good luck and best wishes as you begin to take better care of yourself--you are worth it!

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Association of Women Writers (http://www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports for writers available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their four children. Contact her at naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.

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