How to Nourish your Soul – Health & Happiness Toolkit – Part 4
By Vera Martins, PhD, ND, MAMH
Naturopath and Herbalist
Following Part 3 of Your Health and Happiness Toolkit – Uplifting your mood, in Part 4 we explore the ways in which you can nourish your soul.
Take advantage of this time to do the things that really bring joy to your heart (sing and dance around the house, paint, decorate your favourite room, you name it). If you don’t know what makes you happy, now is the perfect time to experiment and discover. This is a time to let go and feed your inner self!
Start the day with a short meditation (10-15 minutes are enough) to set the tone for the day. My favourite applications are Insight Timer and Calm.
Stay connected to family and friends creating a feeling of community and belonging, but manage it in a way that message feeds and video calls do not take over your life – you want to be in control of your own routine and daily flow.
Breathe! Deep breathing creates a connection between the body and the mind, ultimately relaxing the body and balancing the soul. Practice Four-Square Breathing (also called Box Breathing Technique) throughout the day and/or Pranayama (an Ayurvedic practice of controlling the breath) in the morning.
Other self-care practices that I also recommend are gratitude, journaling and prayer.
And if sometimes you feel like “doing nothing”, then give yourself permission to do so. Set aside some quiet time and curl up in the sofa with your favourite book or simply spend some quiet time tuning in with yourself. Remember, sometimes less is more, and our bodies are really good at letting us know what they need at different times, let’s just train ourselves to listen.
We hope you have enjoyed this 4 part series. So, the main message is to learn how to protect yourself and take this as an opportunity to look after your wellbeing and the ones you love. If you cannot go outside, this is the time to go inside.
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