Are you nourishing your mind?
In my last blog post on N is for Nourish, I talked about the importance of nourishing the mind. So this week, I thought I’d talk about ways in which you CAN nourish your mind.
When your mind is nourished, your body and soul will follow. Having a healthy mind is the first steps to having a healthy body & soul. Looking after your mind’s wellbeing is the key to living a happy life.
So here are some ways you can give your mind some TLC:
1.GO FOR A WALK
This is one of my favourites. Getting some fresh air is a great way to feel refreshed because it provides energy and the oxygen intake allows us to feel better. So a twenty-minute walk a day can really help to fight negative emotions, feelings and thoughts.
2. READ / LISTEN TO AUDIO BOOKS
Being a writer, I’m an avid reading. As much as I love fiction, I also love spiritual, inspirational and motivational books. Books that really help me grow and connect with my inner-self & guides. So if I am walking, I will stick on my headphones and listen to books about angels, past-lives, soul-development, living with passion etc. Being certified in the Law of Attraction, I practice mindfulness daily. It truly is important to keep our thoughts positive. When our minds are fresh and in a good place, as the Law of Attraction tells us, we’ll attract good things to us.
3. READ POSITIVE MESSAGES/QUOTES & AFFIRMATIONS
You will find endless positivity on my blog and my shop. When times were at their worst; I was pregnant with our second child, living at my in-laws (because my ex-husband’s business had taken a downward slope practically overnight), we had no idea when we would be able to afford to move out … it was all a bit of a mess! My own family weren’t around to support and it was a very hard time. However, it was at this point in my life when I started to collect inspirational quotes. I would write them down onto a spreadsheet and I couldn’t believe how much it helped.
I realised I had so much to be grateful for. I was pregnant with our 2nd child, how could I not be relishing in this love. We were so lucky that we didn’t need treatment, that I fell pregnant so easily (trust me, if anyone knows anything about depression and sex-drive, you’ll get that we were VERY lucky to fall pregnant so easily!). I was extremely grateful for that. We had a roof over our heads and my in-laws were so lovely, they really looked after us.
So once, I started to look at life from a gratitude point of view, my world changed. It wasn’t long before my husband got a business opportunity and we moved into a 2-bedroomed house, which we rented, but I was so grateful that we had the opportunity to move our life forward & not look at the negative. Since then, I read positive quotes & affirmations daily & I create my own. Hence the reason I set-up my online shop, as I feel it is important to surround yourself with reminders that you do have so much love to give and so much to be grateful for. You can also download my free inspirational messages book, which will show you how to make your own inspirational box.
4. WRITE DOWN POSITIVE MESSAGES/QUOTES & AFFIRMATIONS
As above, it’s just as important to write down quotes & affirmations. I think this really helped me. Just putting them into a spreadsheet. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, but it truly helped. I did eventually make them into ‘annual quote a day’ books, and the process truly helped. It still does now. I’m a true believer this really works. In fact, my own quote is:
‘Positive messages throughout the day help to keep the negative thoughts away.’
You don’t need to use a spreadsheet, you can use a notebook or something that will inspire you. Buy a blackboard or a noticeboard and write down an affirmation/quote for the day. This will help the whole family come from a place of love and believe in themselves. Perfect for inspiring children. Just like the downloadable inspirational quotes will help to lift our children so that they become well-rounded adults who believe in themselves.
5. THERAPEUTIC WRITING
Now, this is my thing! Being an author, of course, I love writing and I love writing my inspirational blog, so I’m bound to say writing helps. But it’s actually a renowned form of therapy. It’s a great way to explore your emotions. The best way is to simply write, without thinking about WHAT you are writing. Just write. It’s like allowing your mind to be released of any pent-up frustrations. The best of it is, with therapeutic writing, you don’t need to be the best writer, best speller or know your grammar, because that’s not what it is about. It’s about writing for you and releasing toxic thoughts.
You will find writing prompts in my A-Z positive word blog.
Just pick a letter you’d like to work on, read the quotes and have a go at the exercise.
I found it also helps, that once my thoughts have been released, is to then think about what I want from a situation, so I write a ‘fantasy page’, I put out my desires to the universe but on paper, as if I’ve already received them, as if my desires have already happened and how that makes me feel. The thing with the Law of Attraction is, people struggle with imagination, so by writing down how something would make you feel, it’s easier to imagine it. It’s not only a great way to release, but it’s a great way to bring joy into your life. Experts at League City Integrative Counseling and Wellness will offer you guidance and expert advice.
6. LISTEN TO MUSIC / MEDITATE
Credit: VeryWellMind
When many people hear the word meditation, they believe that they can’t meditate, because they can’t sit still for five minutes and think of nothing. Admittedly, I found this a struggle at first, but after trying guided meditations I soon learned how to meditate alone. However, I found that music can be a huge avenue to relaxation, I found this out when I went to a Gabrielle Bernstein seminar. She played, ‘Titanium’ by Madilyn Bailey, she asked us all to stand up, close our eyes, put our hands in the air and feel the music … even as I write this I get shivers.
The feeling of joy and calmness filled my body. Since then, I truly listen to the music. I truly listen to the words and feel the music. A great way to listen to music is when you are out walking or when you are in the car (obviously not to close your eyes, but to feel it) … my girls and I are always blasting music and singing at the top of our voices. They had a friend in the car just yesterday, we blasted some music, we sang, we got our groove on … her friend said, ‘I never want to leave this car.’ It’s amazing how much a good sing-song can release those endorphins … so choose some of your favourite songs and get blasting those vocal cords.
7. START A PROJECT OF LOVE
Do something you love. This could be a scrapbook of a holiday, party or significant life event. Put aside some time to create something. If you’re not a creative person, do something that makes you happy. A passion project that will have you excited.
8. DECLUTTER / MAKE SPACE
This is kind of a given in the world of feng-shui. Clutter and mess can cause disorganisation. Now, I always say I have an ‘organised mess’ because I know where everything is, however, I have to admit I do work better when I’m not surrounded by wildness (I don’t mean nature, although, often feels like I’m sat in the middle of a zoo). There’s a wonderful feeling when you clear out the clutter that is causing your mind to feel like a chaotic roundabout. So book a day in your diary and clear out those cupboards … you may have things you can give to charity or for a car boot sale, whichever, you will feel such a calming release once you are decluttered.
9. INDULGE IN A CROSSWORD/WORDSEARCH/SUDOKU/JIGSAW PUZZLE
This to some people may sound extremely boring, but trust me, these activities truly work. Find something that you’re interested in, even sitting down to a colour therapy book is a great way to switch off, because your mind is concentrating on the task at hand, so other worries can be pushed to the back of your mind.
10. LIMIT TECHNOLOGY TIME
In this day and age, this last one is like swearing at people. How on earth did we live without such technology? When I was a teenager, I remember sitting on the stairs to use the house phone and making sure my sister didn’t pick up the other phone to listen in on our conversation. How times have changed? Don’t get me wrong … I do love the way technology has moved on and things we can do today are amazing, it makes running a business much easier: I can sit in my car on the school run and work on my phone – however, there comes a point when it’s too much. One of the sayings we’ve used as a family is, ‘When in the room, be in the room!’ This means, engage with each other. Make time for each other. Listen to each other. Spend time without our heads in any kind of technological device.
You can read more about nourishing the mind on my previous post;
have a go at the therapeutic writing exercise
Also, visit my online shop to download some awesome quotes about nourishing your heart & mind
