I believe that most of the time the simplest solutions are the best, more specifically when having to overcome the hardest challenges. When I am feeling overwhelmed with guilt, shame, regret, grief, or any form of so called negative feelings or thoughts. I try to imagine a scene such as this one. I imagine that I am standing right underneath this beautiful waterfall. " Wash it away".... I let myself feel whatever I am feeling allowing the vision of the waterfall to cleanse my body, mind, and soul. As I close my eyes I can feel the coolness of the water running down my head. I tilt my head back allowing the water to drench through my hair, as it slowly falls down my back caressing and cooling my warm sun-soaked skin. Underneath the water I feel my feet, safely balanced on a large smooth flat stone. " I am safe"... I can see a school of fish swimming past me without concern. I can hear birds chirping in the trees around me. I can feel the light from the sun shining down on my face. I breathe in deeply as I smell the air around me. What do I smell? Is it the water or the trees? Or maybe I smell smoke from the campfire I had put out earlier. Depending on the day or the mood I am in I might smell the stinky fish (hahaha). I stay here in this place as long as I need to or as long as my environment allows me to. Sometimes 5 minutes or sometimes an hour. Exercises like this always help to ground me in situations that feel out of control. It helps to slow the world down enough so that I am able to make healthier decisions instead of rash decisions that come from fear or trauma. Notice I said healthier. This exercise does not guarantee the outcome of the problems that I am facing or take away all of the pain and worries that I have, however it does help to ease the weight of the world. The more that I have practiced this and similar techniques the more I have noticed my bigger problems seem smaller and my small, pesky, problems almost evaporate with the air around my waterfall.
In this enormous crazy world that we live in today, it is almost unthinkable to have a space that is all our own. A place where we can slow down and create without being consumed by external factors. I am a 41 year old mom who had no choice but to get creative and figure out how to make time for myself, to heal pain and trauma. To learn that self-love is mostly about taking small steps, even if it is only 5 minutes a day, to show myself that I matter too. My needs, my wants, and my desires are just as important as everyone else's. Even though I can't fly to unknow destinations around the world or can't go alone to a 5-star restaurant, I have learned that there is literally no place that my mind can't take me. I encourage all of my reader's to practice 5 minutes a day creating your own peaceful place, full of imagination, wonder, and maybe even a little pixie dust.
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