If you perform a Google search on the words “holistic living”, a slurry of results come up, ranging between impossible looking yoga poses or hard to pronounce herbal remedies. If you want to adopt a holistic lifestyle, the important part is to start where you are, now, as you are, with what you have. Below I have defined loosely what holistic living is from my perspective and how it can be a powerful tool to improve every aspect of your life, and the world at large.
So, what exactly is holistic living?
To live a holistic lifestyle is to adopt a toxin-free, natural outlook and apply it to every area of your daily life in order to create a way of living that is cleaner, more balanced and healthier for yourself and for the planet. It means making use of natural products in place of chemical-laden, man-made ones, and expanding your mindset on how toxins can enter your body. It also means cultivating an awareness of how you feel presently vs how you WANT to feel, and working with compassion for yourself to reach that goal. It is important not to judge yourself for however you may be living currently, but to simply be aware of your lifestyle and ask yourself if it is the best way to live to reach your specific health goals.
Let us begin with the universal truth that all matter is a form of energy, in that there is empty space between the molecules in atoms that contains constantly moving or vibrating particles. The level to which your cells vibrate is an immediate reflection of what you place in, on and around your physical body, speaking not just materialistically but also in relation to the vibration of the media you consume as well as your own thoughts. Your body is wise, and knows how to assimilate into its highest vibrational state, but only if you give it the tools that it needs to achieve this. Simply put – the higher your vibration is at a cellular level, the better your body will function, and the better you will feel – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Personally, I get a wonderful amount of satisfaction and encouragement around holistic living when I view it as a kind of game. How good can I feel? What level of health can I achieve?
It is also important to mention that living a healthy lifestyle does not mean starving yourself on a long fast or beating your body up at the gym. To be healthy is to integrate various habits, on various levels of “health”, that create a balanced lifestyle that ultimately at the end of the day gives you a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction. Sometimes living a balanced life means taking a day off the leafy green train and eating raw cookie dough (vegan, of course) and watching netflix documentaries all day. I have found that It is all about listening to what your body needs in each moment. Balance, moderation, compassion.
The art of listening to your body may not come naturally to everyone, and that’s fine! In my experience, my body has always known how to communicate, it was I who did not yet know how to listen. Starting off, you may be thinking – what does that even mean? Well, think back to the last time you were hungry, and what your cravings were. The sensation of craving is one way that your body communicates what it would like you to consume. However, it is important to note that your body only craves more of whatever you are giving it. If you are only eating junk foods, then your body will only crave junk foods, and become adverse to anything green and leafy. That also works reversely – the more meals you eat that include clean, whole foods from the earth, the more your body (and your tastebuds) will want them. It really is that simple!
As with anything, the more you practice the art of listening to your body, the better you will become at hearing and fulfilling your body’s needs. Cultivating awareness of sensations in your body, which is one of the fundamental teachings of eastern forms of meditation, is the starting point. Take time each day to sit in a quiet, calm space, where you can be comfortable yet engaged, and turn your focus inward. Start feeling the way your breath naturally moves your body, how does it feel? You don’t need to use your mind to find words to describe the exact way that it feels, just notice it, and sit with it. Deepen the breath – how does that feel? How does your body react? Does your heart slow down? Do you loosen the tightness in your chest and stomach? Do you become aware that your thoughts slow, even slightly? Once you’ve started to turn your awareness inward like this on a regular basis, you are able to begin conversing with your body. In your mind, simply address the energy of your physical being. Does it feel warm, cold, buzzy, light, heavy? Once you’ve cultivated an awareness of how your body feels in it’s current state, use it as a starting point. Does your body feel the way you want it to feel? Could you feel stronger, more alive, more vibrant? Are you open to changing the way you feel on a daily basis? If so, refer to my blog post “Top 10 Biohacks” for concrete ways to improve the health and energy of your physical being.
Now that you know how to feel into your body, start to think about all of the processes your body does constantly without your consciousness needing to be involved. All of the automatic processes that go on inside of you, to keep you alive, from birth to death. Begin to cultivate a feeling of gratitude for your body, thanking it for giving you life and allowing you to experience life force energy in the physical form. Gratitude is one of the highest vibrational energies that you can allow yourself to feel, and for me, the energy of gratitude is the ultimate key to attracting more situations in your life that you can be grateful for.
Another topic I would like to talk about is on the subject of taste. So many people eat to satisfy their taste cravings, and stop there. They consume food as a form of satisfaction only, when in reality consuming for nutrition AND satisfaction is completely possible! Our society is programmed to desire instant gratification. I don’t believe there is anything innately wrong with that, however when it gets to the point where your long-term health is being sacrificed for a temporary dopamine release, that is where issues start. When you begin to cultivate an awareness of as well as an appreciation and dare I say love for your body, you will begin to feel the effects of what you consume. You will start to notice that certain foods either speed up or slow down the rate of digestion, or foods that give you more energy or make you feel sluggish. And naturally, over a surprisingly short amount of time, you can begin to train your body to crave that which brings it the most nourishment, and therefore, satisfaction. As stated above, the food that you consume becomes the food that you crave. In my experience, there is about a 3-5 day window of “forcing” down some fruit and vegetables before you find that all of a sudden, the salad on the menu looks much more appetizing than the burger. You will end meals feeling energized and light, with a clearer and more productive mindset. And those feelings will be reason enough to continue to consume that which fuels you.
The Ascension Garden 