Essential Practices Toward Holistic Living
@hellolovelyliving visiting the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Chino, Hills, CA
"Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold."
Bob Marley
When things start to get overwhelming, it is best to take a pause. This allows you to contemplate and address the things that need your most immediate attention. Additionally, it encourages you to view life from a higher perspective, enabling you to be better equipped to face the challenges you need to overcome.
Meanwhile, by choosing to live a life centered on your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health while living in the present, you begin to live life holistically. Everything you do, from household chores to work, you do with enthusiasm and cultivate a positive aura.
As such, living a holistic life takes effort and consistency. You must establish practices for a healthy and happy life. What exactly are these practices? We will discuss a few for you to consider to help you toward holistic living.
Take ownership of your health
Taking a vested interest in your health is beneficial if you are committed to embrace holistic living and enhance all aspects of your well-being. There is a vast amount of information available via the Internet, apps, and television. However, finding reputable and reliable sources will contribute greatly to expanding your knowledge and awareness about health beyond what the media and commercialism perpetuate.
For this reason, focus on educational resources published by reputable organizations, bodies, researchers, and healthcare professionals who are challenging the status quo and exposing the truth about health and wellness beyond the confines of a system that continues to carry on old narratives. These are people who can give you the tools that you, yourself can feel equipped with to take charge of your personal health journey.
From nutrition, diet, and how smoking impacts your body, to self-care and how alcohol affects your immune system, it is beneficial to learn about health and the consequences of your lifestyle choices. Being open to learning and expanding your knowledge base will help you to make well-informed decisions and choices. It will also help you understand how your body and mind work and what you can do to optimize your physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
Follow a regular fitness regimen
If you desire to be healthy and maintain your quality of life, you must follow a regular fitness regimen that keeps you active, regularly. For this purpose, take part in physical fitness activities that are most suitable to you and your interests. These activities could range from jogging, walking, biking, and swimming, to taking a yoga class.
Essentially, being physically active and fit will boost your overall mood and well-being. You will also dramatically increase your awareness about your physiology. This understanding will help you learn how to maintain your health and well-being, allowing for a greater connection with your inner self. You will be more attuned to your needs and will appreciate and care for your body more effectively and with greater accuracy.
Spiritual well-being is equally important
Spirituality goes beyond the physical and material aspects of our well-being and allows us to connect with a higher power. We all seek higher truth and desire a connection that is eternal—one that brings us a greater understanding of our purpose now and beyond this life.
Following a spiritual practice that serves your innermost needs is essential. As you begin to learn about and explore which practices speak to you, you can discern which ones are most beneficial for you. Through a relationship with yourself and with a higher source and by integrating meditation, prayer, contemplation, and/or conversation into your daily life, you can begin to engage in a healthy spiritual practice of your own.
For instance, if you go to church regularly, the pastors and ministries typically guide you toward spiritual well-being. It is because they follow a discipleship curriculum that prepares them to be in a position to successfully lead others toward a spiritual path. As such, spiritual teachers can assist you with developing regular spiritual practices to help you get aligned with your goals in this area.
Learn to live in the moment
Living holistically is being attentive, aware, and connected in whatever you do; This is simply because you are not just going through the motions. We must observe our lives and be able to make the necessary changes to ensure that we are taking care of ourselves at a holistic level. Living each day fully means living in the present and appreciating the now. If you notice yourself getting swept up in a wave of worry or aimlessly scrolling through your smartphone, return to your spiritual practices. This will help you get back into alignment when you start to get distracted.
Turn your home into your sanctuary
Your home should be a safe haven where you can escape the pressures of daily life at any given moment. By caring for your home and considering it your sanctuary, you can create a space that is peaceful no matter what the external conditions entail.
Create comfy nooks in your home where you can read, reflect, pray, or simply be without expectation. Display sentimental photos, works of art, trinkets, and iconography that fill your space with good energy and that speak to how you want to feel within your home. Freshen things up regularly, rearrange areas that do not feel right, and keep areas uncluttered so that you are always surrounded by an environment that is inspiring and peaceful.
Takeaways
When you take care of yourself at a holistic level and address your most essential needs, you gain greater awareness, spiritual guidance, and peace. Wisdom is gained over time and with age, so the sooner we go inside and seek that inner understanding, the sooner we become more equipped to understand ourselves at the most foundational level. Once we do this, we can greatly impact our life by taking charge of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.