Excerpt from Well Being: Rejuvenating Recipes for the Body and Soul: "Like everyone else, I look forward to time off and the chance o unwind. On about the fifth day into a recent vacation I noticed a subtle shift in how my body felt. I woke up and realized that not only did I feel rested, but the chronic pain and tension in my lower back had disappeared. As the day progressed I found that my anger at the small things-an interruption or a misplaced set of keys-had abated. Away from the day-to-day hassles of everyday life, my mental, emotional, and physical self was reawakened and I felt fresh to become acquainted with my more balanced self.
Loosing touch with ourselves is easy to do these days. We are conditioned to ignore the warning signs that protect us from becoming ill. Instead we push ahead to meet deadlines and live up to our responsibilities and commitments until fatigue or sickness overwhelms us and forces us to stop.
For much of our lives we live on automatic pilot, living day to day without consciously engaging ourselves. Instead of focusing on the present moment, we focus on the past or where we want to go in the future and are vaguely aware of our inner tension. We may find ourselves intensely reading the back of a cereal box and before we realize it, we have hastly eaten three bowls of cereal. By not paying close attention to this dynamic, we unconsciously commit ourselves to a deep spiritual impoverishment. We shortchange ourselves of our potential.
Self-awareness is a prerequisite for good health. By deepening our attention we can be more in tune with our bodies and freed from the constant stream of thoughts that pull us away from the deeper, richer pat of ourselves. The reward for this attention is a recovered connection to our own wisdom and sense of purpose. This concept of living more fully in the present is at the heart of Buddhist and Taoist philosophy.
Meditation is a process to help us deepen our attention and get in touch with our true selves...Click here to read more and to purchase Well Being: Rejuvenating Recipes for the Body and Soul."
