When I woke up this morning, I made a call to my brother but strangely his phone went straight to voice mail. Even though we are miles and miles apart, I typically talk to him several times during the week before he goes to work. This morning I called him because I saw a story of a highway pile up on the news, where several people had died and quite a few were injured. Whenever I hear stories about severe weather or something going on in his residential state, I give him a call to make sure he is safe and far, far away from whatever is going on down there. This morning he didn’t answer his phone and instead I got a text message a few minutes later telling me he was in the ER. I know things have been really weighing heavily on him lately and even though he puts on a good poker face it has not been easy. His stress levels have been intense for several years and now that stress is showing up physically much more often.
That text message caught me off guard but more than that it made me take note of how I handle my stress. How do I handle it? Does my body react to the daily stresses that I incur while running a small business? Have I simply ignored the signs? Do the little aches and pains that just don’t seem to ever completely go away, take up residence in my body because of stress? Do I allow outside forces, something or someone I can’t control cause me stress? I practice yoga, I practice Reiki, I sit in meditation but have I truly learned the art of “stress-less-ness”? I’d like to think so but if I’m truthful with myself, I still allow things that others do or don’t do effect me immensely even if only for a short while.
All of the practices that I have put into place have certainly helped me to talk myself back from the ledge many, many times. Yoga helps me to energize and focus on my breath. Reiki is a very calming practice that puts me in tune with areas of my body that are blocked or stagnant. Meditation is my favorite but oh how I wish that just for that small span of time I could turn the volume of the world to silence. I am grateful that I have an arsenal of holistic and spiritual weapons to draw from. I am grateful that I have found a connection to God that allows me to speak effortlessly from my heart and then listen for an answer. On this, my journey to Zen I am grateful for another day to practice all the things I love and stay mindful to stress LESS.
Namaste
Yogini KP
Journey to zen 