Your Health and Happiness are in Your Hands

Your thoughts are the key to your health. Learn to monitor them and recognize when they are being counter-productive. Then you can switch them around, and choose thoughts that make you FEEL better. It is a process, but a logical one.

Your heart needs to feel nurtured and your soul wants to be calm. Do not create turmoil by dwelling on upsetting memories. As you replay them in your head, your body responds and will suffer. Find your way to 'better feeling' thoughts as often as you can. Choose words that shift you to a happier place - where your stress hormones will not set off a cascade of physiological responses that are adverse to your health.

Your health and happiness are in your hands. It's empowering to know this. When you don't like how you are feeling - anxious, worried or down, scan your thoughts. Where has your primary focus been? There is probably a direct link, and you can flip the situation by simply recognizing this and choosing a different focus. You don't have to go from miserable to elated in 5 deep breaths, but you can certainly step it up a notch by moving towards what you desire.

Be still and put on a fake smile. Fill your heart with love and compassion for just a moment. Visualize a time when you felt this deeply - maybe it was when you held a newborn baby or a tiny fluffy puppy. Find a memory like this that will trigger a higher vibration within you. Be gentle with your self, not frustrated or judgmental. Accept your humanness and laugh at your 'mistakes'. You can use this shift to move your health forward as well - find a memory or invent a scene that you can go to, see and feel when you need it.

When I was trapped in my Chronic fatigue phase, I learned to do this, and found it very beneficial. When I was having a 'poor me' moment, dwelling on how exhausted, weak and sad I felt, I would STOP, close my eyes, and go back to my water skiing days. I could really feel how strong I was as I skimmed across the water on my single ski, leaning back and cutting through the wake with a big smile. I could feel the sunshine and the spray of the water on my face. I felt happy and strong and very alive! And I was proud of my achievements.

I only needed to do this for a few moments at a time. It was my magic reset point - and it cut short my suffering, which was clearly happening in my mind. Find your own pivot point and don't overthink it. A helpful image may pop easily into your head and it will feel right. Store it away. Then when you recognize a moment that you need it - Stop, Close your eyes, Visualize, Feel it and Smile.