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I happen to be a fan of Oprah. On her site she had an interview with Kathy Freston who has talked about her 8 pillars of wellness that she believes are the staples of an engaged life. They are as follows:
1. Meditation
2. Conscious eating
3. Exercise
4. Visualization
5. Spiritual Practice
6. Self-work
7. Service
8. Fun Activities
After reading the article (which I will post since the link doesn't work) I decided this is something I would like to try for myself. But how? How do I incorporate fun activities and service into my life as most of my fun activities aren't things I am able to do and at the time, volunteering is out of the question. I realized that I am thinking of the bigger picture and not the situation I am in. So I decided to try to do this in a way that I could modify to my current living situation. Baby steps.
So I've started out by meditating for at least ten minutes, eating one healthy meal a day, doing some form of exercise even if it is only push ups, and doing positive visualizations. I am still trying to sort myself out spiritually, I do believe in God but I have a hard time embracing just one religion. I like ideas from many different religions. So my spiritual practice for the time being is to just work on strengthening my faith. My self-work is taking time to discover what I want, what I believe in and not let others or society affect that. For service, I have been clicking on those clickable links that I posted at the top of my blog. I figured it is something I can do at home and even though a small service, it is still a way to help. I'd love to adopt a polar bear, maybe when I am working again someday, that will be the first thing I can do. Also, I have been trying to help around the house more. I'm sure if anything, at least my mom appreciates that. :) And lastly, fun activities. Since a lot of the fun things I once did, I am not able to do (at the moment) I've started to focus on what I can enjoy to do around the house. I like watching movies, doing some glass fusing, and other forms of art.
I really want to be involved with something that takes me outside of myself, that makes me focus on someone....or something else someday. I am so focused on myself, on the agoraphobia, it's no wonder I keep getting depressed. I am hoping that having certain things I'd like to accomplish during the day will get my mind off of worrying. So I can be me again. So I can do things for others. Plant trees, help animals, get involved...you get the idea. :)
Here is the interview with Kathy Freston
"Her eight pillars of wellness, practices she believes are the staples of an engaged life.
The first pillar of wellness is meditation. "For anybody who is looking to change your life, I would absolutely recommend that [meditation] be the first thing that you do," Oprah says. "I think there are a lot of misnomers about what it is. People think it's something that it isn't. … Meditation is not religious."
At the heart of meditation is stillness, Kathy says. "It's really just getting quiet, going inside and connecting to that inner light. For some people, it's religious and spiritual, connecting to that higher power. For other people, it's just a matter of becoming present."
Kathy says meditation rescued her in her darkest hour. "I was constantly beating myself up, trying to figure out what was wrong with me and how to change it," she says. "Meditation pulled me into my center."
Here's one wellness practice that Kathy says should be observed above all others. "The mother of all pillars is conscious eating," she says. "It doesn't only make a difference to our own personal health and well-being, but conscious eating means you stay aware of where your food comes from, how the animals are treated and how the environment is affected by the foods that you eat. You take in the energy of whatever went into creating that food."
Kathy is a vegan, which means she doesn't eat meat, eggs, or dairy. "Nobody was harmed—that's conscious eating," she says. "If I want to be someone with spiritual integrity, I have to think about the principles that I want to adhere to—compassion, kindness, mercy and the alleviating of suffering when I see it. … I thought, 'If I want to further myself on my spiritual path, as well as my health path, I need to have more integrity. I need to be conscious about it.'
Exercise is another pillar of wellness. Kathy suggests engaging in physical activity three to six times a week for 30 minutes a day. "It's good for your body, mind and spirit," Kathy says. "Especially when you're outside."
The fourth pillar of wellness is visualization. "It's like creating a blueprint for the way I want to become and setting down the intention," Kathy says. "I journal in my notebook, and I think about where I want to go, who I want to be. Then, I just need to close my eyes and see the breakthrough happening."
Spiritual practice is Kathy's fifth pillar of wellness. Kathy keeps a statue of Kuan Yin in her home, who she says is the Chinese deity for compassion. "I have her in my bedroom because I always want to be reminded that it's not just about me," she says. "So as much as I can, [I try] to be aware of the suffering that's all around and to be compassionate. I think that's the best spiritual practice anyone can have."
To achieve the sixth pillar of wellness—self-work—Kathy says she is constantly educating herself. "What I do is I read all the time, whether it's on nutrition or spirituality or emotional well-being," she says. "That means going inside and learning where you're stuck and pushing yourself past what's comfortable. And then I choose a book that's going to help me push through those boundaries."
Service is Kathy's seventh pillar of wellness. "When I was feeling depressed and like life wasn't going my way, I started volunteering and doing service, and things had a way of just turning around," she says. "I felt like I didn't get fixated on my own self-centered fear, and I felt like there was an abundance in the universe that I was participating in. And that made me feel really good."
Fun activities are the last pillar of wellness. It may seem simple, but Kathy says it's still important. "Doing something fun just kind of loosens up your energy, makes you feel grateful for everything" she says. "And you have levity in your life, which is important. Once a day, I do something fun, whether just rocking out to music or painting."
If you only focus on work, Kathy says you lose the spirit inside. "Get back to that spirit," she says. "That spirit actually is the thing that generates the good ideas, the inspiration."
1. Meditation
2. Conscious eating
3. Exercise
4. Visualization
5. Spiritual Practice
6. Self-work
7. Service
8. Fun Activities
After reading the article (which I will post since the link doesn't work) I decided this is something I would like to try for myself. But how? How do I incorporate fun activities and service into my life as most of my fun activities aren't things I am able to do and at the time, volunteering is out of the question. I realized that I am thinking of the bigger picture and not the situation I am in. So I decided to try to do this in a way that I could modify to my current living situation. Baby steps.
So I've started out by meditating for at least ten minutes, eating one healthy meal a day, doing some form of exercise even if it is only push ups, and doing positive visualizations. I am still trying to sort myself out spiritually, I do believe in God but I have a hard time embracing just one religion. I like ideas from many different religions. So my spiritual practice for the time being is to just work on strengthening my faith. My self-work is taking time to discover what I want, what I believe in and not let others or society affect that. For service, I have been clicking on those clickable links that I posted at the top of my blog. I figured it is something I can do at home and even though a small service, it is still a way to help. I'd love to adopt a polar bear, maybe when I am working again someday, that will be the first thing I can do. Also, I have been trying to help around the house more. I'm sure if anything, at least my mom appreciates that. :) And lastly, fun activities. Since a lot of the fun things I once did, I am not able to do (at the moment) I've started to focus on what I can enjoy to do around the house. I like watching movies, doing some glass fusing, and other forms of art.
I really want to be involved with something that takes me outside of myself, that makes me focus on someone....or something else someday. I am so focused on myself, on the agoraphobia, it's no wonder I keep getting depressed. I am hoping that having certain things I'd like to accomplish during the day will get my mind off of worrying. So I can be me again. So I can do things for others. Plant trees, help animals, get involved...you get the idea. :)
Here is the interview with Kathy Freston
"Her eight pillars of wellness, practices she believes are the staples of an engaged life.
The first pillar of wellness is meditation. "For anybody who is looking to change your life, I would absolutely recommend that [meditation] be the first thing that you do," Oprah says. "I think there are a lot of misnomers about what it is. People think it's something that it isn't. … Meditation is not religious."
At the heart of meditation is stillness, Kathy says. "It's really just getting quiet, going inside and connecting to that inner light. For some people, it's religious and spiritual, connecting to that higher power. For other people, it's just a matter of becoming present."
Kathy says meditation rescued her in her darkest hour. "I was constantly beating myself up, trying to figure out what was wrong with me and how to change it," she says. "Meditation pulled me into my center."
Here's one wellness practice that Kathy says should be observed above all others. "The mother of all pillars is conscious eating," she says. "It doesn't only make a difference to our own personal health and well-being, but conscious eating means you stay aware of where your food comes from, how the animals are treated and how the environment is affected by the foods that you eat. You take in the energy of whatever went into creating that food."
Kathy is a vegan, which means she doesn't eat meat, eggs, or dairy. "Nobody was harmed—that's conscious eating," she says. "If I want to be someone with spiritual integrity, I have to think about the principles that I want to adhere to—compassion, kindness, mercy and the alleviating of suffering when I see it. … I thought, 'If I want to further myself on my spiritual path, as well as my health path, I need to have more integrity. I need to be conscious about it.'
Exercise is another pillar of wellness. Kathy suggests engaging in physical activity three to six times a week for 30 minutes a day. "It's good for your body, mind and spirit," Kathy says. "Especially when you're outside."
The fourth pillar of wellness is visualization. "It's like creating a blueprint for the way I want to become and setting down the intention," Kathy says. "I journal in my notebook, and I think about where I want to go, who I want to be. Then, I just need to close my eyes and see the breakthrough happening."
Spiritual practice is Kathy's fifth pillar of wellness. Kathy keeps a statue of Kuan Yin in her home, who she says is the Chinese deity for compassion. "I have her in my bedroom because I always want to be reminded that it's not just about me," she says. "So as much as I can, [I try] to be aware of the suffering that's all around and to be compassionate. I think that's the best spiritual practice anyone can have."
To achieve the sixth pillar of wellness—self-work—Kathy says she is constantly educating herself. "What I do is I read all the time, whether it's on nutrition or spirituality or emotional well-being," she says. "That means going inside and learning where you're stuck and pushing yourself past what's comfortable. And then I choose a book that's going to help me push through those boundaries."
Service is Kathy's seventh pillar of wellness. "When I was feeling depressed and like life wasn't going my way, I started volunteering and doing service, and things had a way of just turning around," she says. "I felt like I didn't get fixated on my own self-centered fear, and I felt like there was an abundance in the universe that I was participating in. And that made me feel really good."
Fun activities are the last pillar of wellness. It may seem simple, but Kathy says it's still important. "Doing something fun just kind of loosens up your energy, makes you feel grateful for everything" she says. "And you have levity in your life, which is important. Once a day, I do something fun, whether just rocking out to music or painting."
If you only focus on work, Kathy says you lose the spirit inside. "Get back to that spirit," she says. "That spirit actually is the thing that generates the good ideas, the inspiration."
4 comments:
Hi Kaci, great post. Sometimes I wonder if my entire life experience with agoraphobia has been 'fated' to force me into doing that 'Self-Work' thing. It's weird. All the psychology and philosophy I've read along the way, huh, I wouldn't have done that were it not for being home alone all these decades. I guess I'm saying there's advantages in terms of 'Self-Work' that can be realized through our condition ;-)
I like ideas from many different philosophies and religions too. Have you read, 'Sophie's World' by Jostein Gaarder? Very kewl.
You mentioned glass fusing ... neat. This glass artist may interest you ... she's sure inspired me over the last two years in terms of developing and running a jewellery business from home.
Sometimes I wonder if agoraphobia is what I have to go through to become who I want to become. And then I wonder if thinking there is some sort of purpose for the agoraphobia makes it some what easier to tolerate. Somewhat. Heh.
I have not read that, I will have to check it out sometime.
She's got some pretty cool stuff! Thanks!
"... sometimes I wonder if agoraphobia is what I have to go through to become who I want to become ..."
Yeah, know what you mean. The older I get the more I'm inclining to this view!
A few classy changes out front I notice.
“A diamond is a chunk of coal that is made good under pressure.”
Henry Kissinger
Thanks! It's one of my favorite photos of myself back when I used to do some modeling for fun. :)
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