If we keep most of our awareness only on our physical experience in life, it can easily feel like we are being taken on a ride. But if we can instead commit to the notion that there is more to life than just what we experience on the physical level, then it gives us the opportunity to explore deeper aspects of ourselves, allowing for more innerstanding and control over the direction of our life.
The word holistic means whole. Being aware of who we are as a whole, taking into account our body and our thoughts. Our emotions and our pains. Our intuition and our spirit. Spirit also often referred to as soul, or whatever you wish to call that which you are at your core. That which you were when you were born, that which you were as a child and that which you are right now.
Our own individual experience in any and every moment is dependent upon a combination of all of these different, and yet united, holistic aspects of ourselves. Our physical well being, our mental well being, our emotional well being and our spiritual well being all have their own impact on how we process and perceive each moment.
The more time we can dedicate to observing these deeper aspects of ourselves, the more we can then see the impact that they are having on our lives. By routinely watching these different portions of who we are, it puts us into a space where we can recognise the depths of the routine habits that we can all so easily fall into.
Whether we allow our posture to disengage or negative streams of information into our thoughts. Whether we allow emotions to create chaos in our lives or we avoid spiritual reflection. These are all habits that can result from insufficient attention to the multiple layers of our existence, and can contribute to the depletion in our energy levels and an underlying sense of isolation and low self esteem.
Attaching and identifying to only parts of our being naturally causes us to feel more limited and restricted. But through more awareness and innerstanding of each holistic aspect of our being, we can witness more clearly the impact that each aspect has on one another and then ultimately on the experience of our reality.
The body affects the mind and the mind affects the body. The mind affects how we process emotions and how we process emotions affects our clarity of mind. Our emotional state affects how we perceive pain and how we perceive pain affects how we feel emotionally. Pain impacts our spiritual awareness and our spiritual awareness can certainly support our experience of pain.
How these holistic elements interact with one another impacts the energy that we absorb and the energy that we give off in each moment. So does that mean that we can then control our life by getting to know ourselves better? Well, can we control our breath? Yes, we can control our breath, but in the end breath does take control over us. So, as with breath, we can certainly choose to work with life.
By showing up more to each experience in life we can discover our imbalances and build our capacity. Seeing where we may be holding onto things from our past, which we might not even realise we had never fully let go. We can learn how to be more present to each situation and how to be more conscious of every reaction. Allowing us to find equal stability and flexibility to the spectacular, and yet at times, turbulent flow of life.
When we are well in our body, our thoughts and our emotions we can fully embody our spirit and be fulfilled with more joy. Where we are not living out of our past or into our future. Where we are not held back by previous traumas or fearful of future uncertainties. A happy spot often referred to as the still point. And it is in that point of pure stillness, available to us all in each breath, that we can connect within to the infinite source and grace of our soul.
To know if someone is doing well we ask them, and when someone is not feeling well we advise them to take rest and care for themselves. Equally, if we don’t allow sufficient time to nurture ourselves then negative and uncomfortable tensions can quickly develop under all of life’s responsibilities and challenges. Creating barriers to our full potential and making us ready to explode in any moment that we perceive to justify an explosion.
Of course, there are times when challenging emotions are justified, through the process of accepting and releasing challenging experiences. But if we don’t keep a close check on the emotions that we are feeling, then we can easily start to become what they are. We are what we eat and we are what we exercise. We are what we think of ourselves and we are what we tell ourselves. We are what we feel and other people can feel it.
What can we do then to positively contribute to all of these energies? Well, we can take charge. We can give routine attention to our body and exercise it. We can give routine attention to our mind and concentrate it. We can give routine attention to our emotions and process them. We can look within, beneath our general awareness, for any fears and doubts that may be taking their toll over us.
Introspective work can absolutely be an uncomfortable process to begin, but of course with any training comes development and reward. More awareness, more connection and more trust and confidence in our unique abilities. At the same time though, our evolving awareness is also then able to highlight more of the inevitable fears and doubts which we all experience. But at least we can then do something about them.
When we don’t examine our fears and doubts, and the impact they are having on our body as a whole, then they can easily restrict our perception of what choices are available to us and they can limit our overall sense of control. Trust, confidence and positive actions are all challenged by underlying fears and doubts. Thankfully though, fears and doubts can be transformed, and the process in itself facilitates our ongoing growth.
