It is so usual these days to want to improve our physical health or our mental health or our spiritual health by doing more when actually, maybe we need to do less.

Physical health: the way our society looks at health and improving it is all about more – more medications, more exercise, more food. Adding to the load that our body already carries. More medications means the body has to sort out the fine balance it runs on. More food mean your digestive system has to adapt and work harder, more exercise may strain the system. And forcing your body system to comply puts you at odds with your body.
We get scared of doing less, as if that means the body will deteriorate. As if it means we have to trust the body and maybe that is hard.

I recently felt that I needed to give my body a rest and a chance to reset how its systems work. So I did 7 days on water only. I had planned on 5 but actually, it was easy to continue and I was in a supportive environment. No, I did not feel hungry! Some water had a little celtic salt added (82 minerals as support). The water fast was also supported by daily urine and blood pressure tests. And because emotions or patterns can arise when the food is able to slow and rest, emotional support was available too. (windspirit.com.au) Since the water fast I have been having juice only to continue the reset by providing easy to digest nutrients (day 23 today) and will slowly and gently ease into food after day 28.

Mental health: How can we look after our mental health without investigating emotions. Our society tends to ignore emotions. Or give them a name, and talk about them, which really keeps things in the mind. We value the brain and the mind so much that emotions and the body get overlooked. Probably because it’s scary and we don’t want to feel the so called negative ones.
But our thinking style is set up by emotions.

If you often find yourself preparing in minute detail for something in the future, check your body and you will find fear. Preparing helps us avoid the fear – I know, I’ve done it too. (Some preparing may be needed and doing it lightly is not necessarily driven by fear.)

If you find yourself replaying conversations trying to work out what you could have said better (or what you said wrong), check out the emotion running that pattern. And when did the pattern start. I’ve done that too.

Anyway, back to the water fast…………………one evening as I was drifting off to sleep, a door banged somewhere in the house. I immediately felt my gut clench and I was wide awake. Didn’t go to sleep until about 3.30am and woke at 6, having earthquake memories and waves of emotion. This keep going for a couple of hours. Sobs and tears, followed by an easing for a few minutes. And I allowed it to happen. It was as if my body was in charge and was releasing something I had been holding onto.

Spiritual health: Not sure I like this term, because spiritual health is not something you can work on, add to, or do more of. It is definitely about doing less. When we were young we set up ways to survive. Somehow we needed to fit in because we couldn’t look after ourselves. We relied on others. And then we started to believe things about ourselves. As our brains and minds developed, we came to rely on them. We were trained to rely on them. And thinking patterns develop – patterns to try and keep us safe and growing. And gradually we forgot who we truly are.

Doing less can be hard because of the patterns that run subconsciously, affecting our physical state, our emotional state and our mental state. And how we perceive the circumstances we are living in.

Having a conversation with me, being truly heard, getting clear on the patterns and being honest about them can help. Especially when followed by a deep relaxation to allow the subconscious patterns and self-beliefs to loosen their hold and reveal something much deeper in you – the truth of you.

With love,
Annette
Www.theinnerpath.co.nz