Own and honour the integrity of our body!
"...we should own the integrity of our body..."
When we strike the balance and create the clear mind-body-spirit connection, we are in the state of bliss and happiness. To reach this state, we have to start addressing the mind by setting our mindset in the positive, creative and uplifting state. Then, our body's own healing ability gets empowered and activated. As our mind becomes more connected with our body, our spirit becomes more open and brighter.
From an energy-begetting chat with Zosha recently, I was awestruck by something she said - "...we should own the integrity of our body..." I love it instantly as if it is the latest 'Top of the Pops'!
This powerful statement has brought back some memories from the time when I first moved to Hong Kong and the discovery of my hyperthyroidism condition at the time - and especially, the journey of taking control of my health.
I recall vividly that for a brief moment alone, standing in the lobby of the hospital whilst waiting for my sister to join me for the second consultation, I felt the extreme void of confusion and vulnerability. I was trying to understand how I got myself into such a state, since I had always been sensible about my diet and lifestyle (like eating healthy, regular yoga practice and swimming etc). I really thought that I had my stress level under control through the "healthy" lifestyle. Clearly, the test report said otherwise!
The next thing that Bri nailed into my head was that hyperthyroidism is not a terminal illness like cancer, but if I failed to get this hormonal imbalance condition under control, I would be serving a life sentence of never-ending medication, treatments and hospital-runs etc. The thought of “life sentence” made me more determined to “exterminate” this condition with all available resources – and the journey began…
In conjunction with the prescriptive medication, I was introduced to a massage therapist. In our first session, she went straight into the heart of the matter - negative emotions that have been neglected and stored in various parts of my body for too long.
I realised that while focusing on developing my legal profession at a City Law Firm, I did only the superficial bits to look after my body. All of my negative emotions were not processed properly and in that process, my body kept taking them on until it lashed out with hyperthyroidism.
That session of massage therapy was an extremely painful one - and the word "painful" is an understatement, given the amount of screaming and crying that came out of me! However, she helped me to rewire my mindset. With the guidance of the therapist, I started to apologise to my body for neglecting it and express my gratitude and love to my body. Miraculously, the pain started to disappear – and naturally, I repeated the same mantra whenever she hit the painful spot for the rest of the treatment!
Over the time, I started to learn more about how my body records different kinds of memories. I become more connected with my body - when any discomfort starts to surface, I would sit back and communicate with my body to see whether it is a reflection of my current state of being or something from the past that has started to surface etc.
While I was getting more in touch with my body, I was developing my new career at the bank who brought me to Hong Kong from London. I had good support from my family and friends as well as my colleagues at work in this journey. In just under 2 years, I was cleared from hyperthyroidism and never relapsed since.
Reiki then came to me, and I began a new era of exploring and cultivating my spirituality. This time round with a more balanced mind, healthier body and enhanced spirit, I climbed the corporate ladder with more confidence in expressing my skills and talents. I left the bank with many fond memories and great friendships and started to devote my time to grow Luxe Nova.
So, when Zosha said about owning the integrity of our body, it simply resonates with my belief and practice. In fact, I feel empowered when I own and honour the integrity of my body. For one, everyday I thank my body for being my best buddy and for taking care of me.
There are so many things that you can do to own the integrity of your body. Here are some simple practices:
1. Get plenty of good quality sleep. It is not just about getting enough rest, but also allowing our mind to work optimally. Here are 5 TED Talks to inspire you to sleep more.
2. Regular meditation and/or mindfulness practice. It is about training your brain to be more focus and relaxed at the same time. When you hit this zone, your creativity is infinite. It is also a good time for you to listen deeply – to your thoughts, your body, your environment, other sounds, emotions, ideas etc.
3. Good eating habit – healthy and high quality food and drinks. You are what you eat! Do think twice before you put some junk into your mouth. However, it is ok to have junk food occasionally – just as a treat and to shock your body a bit, so that it can appropriate the good stuff even more.
4. Active body, active mind. Being active is simple – for instance, instead of getting someone to make you that cup of tea, make it yourself! You’ll never know what amazing idea would come to you while you wait for the kettle to boil! In any event, just pick the form of activity that makes you move about and stimulates the energy circulation inside your body.
5. Express your gratitude freely. The energy vibration for gratitude is the same as appreciation and love. Saying “thank you” from your heart is the simplest way to spread this positive energy around.
6. Making time to show up. “I am so busy…” is a phrase that has been said too often to substantiate any positive meaning, but a feeble excuse. Time is a man-made concept. When you master the skill of making time for yourself to show up, you will find that even when you are inundated, time will make itself available for you.
This list can go on and on. If you are already doing one or more of these, you are on the right path and keep up with the good work. Leaving you with a thought to ponder on…how would you complete the sentence below:
Today I own and honour the integrity of my body by _________________________________.
Author: Stephanie Luo
The Physical Me is Materialised Spirit
When we establish a firm mind-body-spirit connection, it means that we have a healthy and balanced lifestyle and living in higher consciousness. After all, “the Physical me is Materialised Spirit.”
“The Physical me is Materialised Spirit.”
This is such a profound and yet inspiring statement. The more I contemplate on the essence of this statement, the more inspiration and wisdom I gain from it.
There is an uprising of people whose purposes and missions in life are ultimately to raise our connection with the beauty of living in higher consciousness. In pursuing such life purposes, they are drawn and open to an array of modalities to enhance and maintain a healthy mind-body-spirit connection. These modalities include mindfulness, meditation, yoga, kinesiology, reiki, craniosacral work and sound healing, etc.
Sounds very “new age”, doesn’t it? One may even assume that these people are very detached from the materialistic corporate world or even loath the capitalism. If you firmly believe so, then you are in for a surprise.
It has become prominent for us to meet more of these people in the so-called materialistic corporate world (like investment banks and global corporates etc.) and many of them are holding the senior executive positions. It is a lifestyle choice - whereby we strive to maintain a healthy mind-body-spirit connection. That way, we are able to maintain the work-life balance and to fulfil our potentials at the highest.
Many of these senior executives are the leaders with high emotional intelligence (EQ) and spiritual intelligence (SQ). People who are of high spiritual intelligence radiate integrity, wisdom, compassion, courage, selflessness and inspiration. They are the agents of changes.
In the corporate world, they are likely the ones raising the awareness and introducing different mindset for the better. It is evident that a growing number of corporates are engaging in the community services because it is the right thing to do (instead of a good PR strategy). We are also seeing more and more corporates incorporating the equality and diversity practice, so that they are able to attract and retain talents.
In the banking and finance world where I came from, I am seeing the trend that the senior leaders (driven by their strong values) are utilising the extensive corporate connection and their own power of influence to create the positive shift – be it in their employees, in the underprivileged community, in the environment etc. In short, it is erroneous to continue looking at a business as a money-making machine. Instead, a business is a living entity.
As the Dalai Lama has said in his book “The Leader’s Way”, “the true value of a business is not the sum of its facilities and its employees and its financial resources: The value resides in the relationships between the people within it and with the many stakeholders outside the organisation.”
The corporate world is a grounding environment for us to develop multiple intelligences as well as to cultivate our spirituality. Naturally, the modalities like meditation, reiki and craniosacral work are becoming popular and regularly subscribed to. These modalities are useful tools for us to access our own resources from within.
When we establish a firm mind-body-spirit connection, it means that we have a healthy and balanced lifestyle and living in higher consciousness. After all, “the Physical me is Materialised Spirit.” So, ask yourself this question (or simply ponder on it) - How intelligent and sophisticated is my Materialised Spirit?
Contributor: Stephanie Luo
A good book to read:
The Leader’s Way, by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Laurens Van Den Muyzenberg.
Can global capital markets become catalysts for social change? According to investment expert Audrey Choi, individuals own almost half of all global capital, giving them (us!) the power to make a difference by investing in companies that champion social values and sustainability. "We have more opportunity today than ever before to make choices," she says.
Authenticity and spiritual intelligence are co-related…