Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.
Monday Mantra: Live your own life
It is impossible to become like anybody else. Your only hope is to become more fully yourself. It is important to be open and receptive to what you can learn from other sources, but ultimately you still have to live your own life, every moment of it.
- Taken from Letting Everything Become Your Teacher: 100 Lessons in Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Every once in a while, like yesterday, someone scoffs at my belief system in all things holistic and natural. This person lately just so happens to be The Boyfriend who, in his defense, didn't outright scoff, but based on the look on his face that's the impression I got. Why? Because I showed up yesterday looking like someone had pushed me down the stairs. A little bit. And he, having grown up in a household that fully believes in Western Medicine thought I was insane. Because I had that done on purpose. And I even paid good money for it.
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| This is not me, for the record. www.guasha.com |
Once a quarter my friend, Amy, comes over and does Gua Sha and Acupuncture on me. I like to call this my Quarterly Tune Up. It's a technique similar to Cupping (What Gwyneth Paltrow is famously known for, from having those red circles on her back that one time at an awards show), but it gets more of the toxins out of your system because it incorporates your entire back, not certain sections.
It's not painful, completely safe, and the redness (or purpleness or blackness, depending on your toxin level and blood stagnation) fades in 3-5 days. For that week you need to drink extra water to keep things flowing. The first couple of days you may feel like you have a cold or even the flu, but by the end of the week you'll feel fabulous. While I'm certified in a lot of holistic health and wellness items, I am by no means a Gua Sha expert, so you can read more about it here. All I can say is that I believe in it. That's why I've been doing it for years.
Coincidentally, the other day we were talking about foods and how I happen to believe that eating certain ones will indeed heal any issues you have. When I mentioned my Kiwi Karate theory, he pretty much gave me the "Wow, you are way more crazy than I thought" look. Now, I'm not trying to rag on him here, but I am using him as an example.
Every single person is different in the way they believe, what they believe, why they believe it, and what they're willing to be open minded to- or not. I fully and completely believe in holistic medicine, Eastern healing techniques, and most things that oppose Western medicine. That being said, I also believe there is a place (and a time) for it all and that the best way to approach anything it to be open minded to everything.
I grew up with a mom who thought deodorant was the devil (with it's aluminum and all), had peanut butter that separated in the jar and tasted terrible (back then, anyway...the world has come a long way since the 80's), and who made me watch videos of all natural cures for cancer and reasons that we get it based on foods we eat.
When I was a teenager, I revolted. I drank soda, ate Jiffy, bought normal deodorant that actually worked. One summer I did nothing but play video games and eat Chocolate Truffle Explosion ice cream. You know me, so wild and rebellious.
Then I got older, moved out on my own, got a job, and eventually got very, very sick. There was a time in my life where, for about a year and a half, I had a virus that made me incredibly ill every time I ate, no matter what I ate. This wasn't food allergies or gluten intolerance, this was every single food making me feel like I was going to die. During this time I had signed up for a yoga class and had decided to take an additional holistic nutrition class to fulfill a credit requirement. Low and behold, that nutrition class with the Chinese Medical doctor who taught it, saved me. What Western medicine could not fix for 18 months, he did in 3. Ever since that time, I've believed. And everything I've tried, everything, has worked.
Yoga healed injuries I was told would never go away. Foods, Chinese supplements, and an understanding of the way the body works and what it needs, healed everything else. What I've discovered thus far in life is that there is no "one way" to anything. I've never believed that and I never will. If there was a single way that cured cancer, healed your body, and helped you lose weight, every other type of product or idea out there would be banned and shamed into the dark underground world of myths.
I will never tell you that my way is The Way. I tend to believe that anyone who tells you that has a lot more to learn in life. You have to find what works for you. My suggestion, as it has always been, is to be open minded. Education is your best tool. If you question something, study it. If you're curious, look into it. If you also want to look like you fell down some stairs, have Gua Sha done! Kidding, you may look worse. Or better. Anyway, the world is a wide and wonderful place with options that abound. Be open minded, try new things, then live the life that works for you. Only you know what that is and whatever it might be, as long as it's for you, it's the right way.
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