Karina Stewart, co-founder of Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa Resort & Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine talks about key ways to embrace any kind of change in your life. Strike a balance when life seems to be throwing everything out of kilter.
1. Taking time to just BE
Taking time every day to do nothing and just be has got to be one of my favourite things… just to be with myself, resting in silence, peace and serenity… even if only for 10 minutes! During these moments of stillness and presence, I find myself reconnecting to myself and to life all around me and gratitude naturally arises within. The immersion in nature during this process is something I find most supportive – listening to the sounds of birds, smelling the scents of plants and flowers and allowing all of my senses to expand as if absorbing myself in nature helps bringing me fully into the present moment, slows me down and helps to bring things into balance with a clear perspective.
2. Sleep Well
Make a good eight hours of restful sleep a night your number one priority! Getting enough sleep is vital for prevention, management and treatment of various health imbalances. An inadequate amount of sleep (that is less than eight hours on a regular basis), has been associated with a weaker immune system, higher risks obesity, heart disease, depression, diabetes and even colon cancer (according to a study by University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine that has been published in 2011). Nowadays it might be difficult for some of us to get a full eight hours of sleep on a regular basis, but we might want to prioritise it once we understand how important sufficient sleep is for our overall health – physically, emotionally and psychologically. Research has shown that we recover best when we go to bed between 9-10pm, allowing our body to wake rested in the early morning.
3. Get Moving
Make sure you get sufficient movement in every day – whether it is walking, swimming, dancing or stretching. It should be something you really enjoy doing. A good 45 minutes daily – ideally outdoors in nature will have a large impact on your overall health and wellbeing.
4. Load up on veggies, eliminate sugars
Food also affects our moods and emotions. Improper diet and specific eating habits will contribute to disruptions and imbalances, while improving our diet, nutrition and eating habits can have a positive impact on our emotional balance. To ride your way through challenging times try to eliminate sugar from your diet altogether. This includes corn syrup, fructose, and sugary foods and beverages such soft drinks, pastries and candy as well as refined carbohydrates, which are basically just broken down into sugar. These foods provide only short-lived energy bursts with little to no nutrient value. They also disrupt blood sugar balance, which leads to mood swings. At the same time increase your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables for their rich nutrient content. Dark green vegetables are particularly good because they are high in magnesium, which is necessary for the healthy function of the nervous system, muscular relaxation and replenishment of adrenal glands.
5. Take a fresh Breath
One great way to slow down and to stay in balance is to ‘pause’ what you are doing and take 10 long and deep abdominal breaths (full, deep, expanding inhalations and slow, long, relaxed exhalations). Ideally, pause for 2-3 minutes every hour throughout the day… the difference in our vitality and wellbeing will be phenomenal…try it and see!
6. Bend, Sit and Breathe
Gentle mind-body practices such as yoga, meditation and Pranayama (breath therapy) will help you become free of stored anger, tension and stress. Practiced regularly, they are a very effective way to bring about and sustain emotional balance.
7. Smile
The best mantra for a positive emotional state is to SMILE. Even when you are going through a troubled mental process, make a physical effort to smile and breathe. This will ease your body and hence your perceptions, and will increase clarity of thought.
Kamalaya’s Embracing Change Program
The “Embracing Change” program is the first of Kamalaya’s wellness programs dedicated to exploring one’s inner self, with Kamalaya’s Meditation and Life Enhancement Mentors tailoring up to five sessions alongside carefully selected treatments to support and augment life transformation.
Mentoring sessions will be spread across five and seven night program durations during which guests will learn to recognise and understand their emotional habits, as well as release emotions, heal, rebuild and strengthen before learning to sustain their personal practice.
This is an ideal program to enrich (enhance) your emotional potential. In addition to the core mentoring session, the addition of Kamalaya treatments and therapies such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, homeopathy, as well as Asian Foot and hand massage, flower remedies and reiki, work synergistically to assist the process of letting go as well as re-establishing healthier levels of emotional balance. This program is ideal for anyone seeking support for life change and life challenging situations of any kind, as well as for targeting emotional eating habits, relationship issues including loss or break-ups, work related difficulties, anxiety and grief, the program can also address longstanding issues of guilt and inner conflict.
Karina Stewart, co-founder of Kamalaya and Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine says, “Our emotional state is pivotal to our experience of life, and often we can neglect our emotional balance with external factors such as stress, ill-health, and fast-paced lifestyles aggravating our responses. Kamalaya’s Embracing Change program has been designed to create an adequate focus on the body, mind and heart helping one respond creatively and healthfully to everything life delivers through greater emotional balance. Further supported with Kamalaya’s complimentary holistic activities, nurturing environment and healing cuisine, we believe the program is a valuable addition to Kamalaya’s wellness portfolio.”
Written by Karina Stewart, co-founder of Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa Resort & Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
