What is Holistic Self –Care?

All aspects of our Selves are important. Life is more enjoyable, balanced and fulfilling if we understand, appreciate and care for all our parts. This may seem like an obvious statement, but often we humans tend to over value one aspect and develop it to the exclusion of others. For example, we may be overly focused on our mental world of thoughts, analyzing, labeling and categorizing, or we may be so preoccupied with incomplete emotional baggage that it impedes our thought process and  ability to engage and take action physically.

 

Each aspect of our Selves provides a different level of awareness, a facet of our wholeness, and a distinctive way to experience the world. When we embrace the whole of our being we develop greater mastery, have more skill and ability to live more fully, vibrantly and with more satisfaction and fulfillment.

 

Consciously developing and navigating our human energy system helps turn these concepts into reality. An energetic perspective regarding ourselves and our lives opens the door to a deeper awareness concerning our true nature; it offers a broader lens to look through; provides more options for discovery, promoting health and healing, and developing higher level human capacities including creativity, intuition and spirituality.

 
For a moment imagine a free flow of energy sweeping through you like a river that is free to flow through the landscape. Feel what it would be like to BE this river, at first meandering, then rushing along more strongly, perhaps stopping to pool in a happy little eddy just for the joy of it, once again picking up speed as the current moves forward toward the future, exhilarated by the prospect of a new adventure around the next corner. Feel how this river moves smoothly and evenly through a variety of landscapes shifting, moving, and shaping itself to navigate the terrain but never fighting, stopping or stagnating. Of course rivers do hit obstacles just as we do in life. But unlike the river we have choices, free will and the ability to not be at the mercy of the elements if we know the appropriate skills to navigate the territory.

 

We naturally contract our energy when we encounter negative or unpleasant people, events, traumas or stresses. Over time we have developed ways to protect ourselves and survive…these strategies while working in the short term unfortunately can then become a source of obstruction to the free flow of energy that would fully enliven us.

 

If all of our energies are not fully charged, properly flowing and coherent, we cannot meet the world with the full force of our being. Our view of the world and our place in it then tends toward negativity, limitation and feelings of deficiency. We may experience suffering and pain in our lives as a result of these wounded energies reverberating through our being. The good news is that there is a lot we can do to remedy these situations through learning how to manage our subtle energy systems.