Total Mind and Body Wellness

As time has moved on, so have our methods for feeding ourselves and our families. There was a time when our work was to grow our vegetables, rear our animals, that was how we ate, with the produce of our labours. Times have changed, our labour has changed, we work from computers, offices, shops, we earn money in this way to buy food that someone else has grown and nurtured for us. We don't see the link anymore between our effort and our result. I have already written about how we should enjoy our work, but this is a different thing, this is making the link between working in a mindful way, to get the things we need. Treat the work like we would the planting of seeds, the harvesting of fruit, the slaughter of our animals for meat. It has a purpose, you may work for a big company, but you aren't doing it for them at all, you are doing it for you and your family. If you didn't have that job in the big company, you wouldn't be able to buy food to eat, the same way you would...

 I have just been writing my podcast episode for next week, and it's about work-life balance. And as I was picking the topic to write about today, I thought I would generally mix up work and pleasure, by going through how to find peace and pleasure in all that you do. The way to do this is obviously to completely comfortable with yourself, know who you truly are and be true to that version of you. Don't be false, don't put on airs, don't try and make yourself to be something that you aren't because of fashion or social media trends, just be yourself. This is difficult for some, there is so much pressure from social media, particularly in the younger generation that they may never know their true selves. This makes me sad.  Finding joy in all that you do can only come with finding that joy in yourself, and that can only come with being honest with yourself about who you really are.  I am so lucky that my work now makes me happy, I get full job satisfaction from peopl...

 IN theory, Buddhism reaches out to me as a pure and good way of thinking. I couldn't be a Buddhist, mainly because I am not a vegetarian, but I do appreciate a lot of the theory behind it. It's a real wellness culture and system of learning and a kind way of living. I read a lot of these teachings and have used them a lot in my recent blogs. Today I want to cover another teaching from Buddhism, and that is the lesson taught by the monk 'Bodhidharma' to a disciple called 'Huike.' Huike was an anxious disciple, his mind was always full of anxiety and he shared this with Bodhidharma one day. He asked for the anxiety to be quietened. The conversation flowed about what was causing Huike the anxiety, and in his telling of this to the monk, he came to the realisation that there were no real issues to cause the anxiety. His fears and worries were only in his mind and not in reality. And yet he clung to these anxieties for no real reason. As soon as Huike realised this,...

 WHO are you? AS a society now, we are obsessed with 'labels!' EVERY day I watch on socials or hear someone say, 'I'm Vegan!' 'I'm trans!' 'I'm keto' 'I'm an influencer!' blah blah blah, yep, it's tedious isn't it? I am very very bored of it now. Social media has broken the true spirit and soul of people. There are also the 'I'm menopausal' and 'I'm ADHD!' LABELS! ARGH! WHY are you labelling yourself? Boxing yourself in? Why do you feel the need to define your personality with just one aspect? Or is that all you truly have about yourself, just one aspect? It makes me mad and sad. HOW would I label myself? I cannot! I simply cannot think of one aspect of my personality that is more important than another, and that is because every day I do a lot of different activities that make me unique. I simply couldn't have a label because there isn't one long enough to encompass all that is me. I am not...