It all begins with your mind, your attitude, helping yourself develop a perspective that is helpful, not counterproductive. Each season lasts 3 months, on the calendar. If you open the season of winter lamenting the shorter hours of daylight and the cold temps, you are setting your mental stage for depression and frustration. The trick is to prepare and even though we are nearing the end of the 1st third of this winter season, it is not too late to get happy and healthy about it. Over the next 8 weeks, I will introduce what to do to make it all happen — for your mind, body, and spirit, one step at a time.
Step 1 of the formula that really makes a difference has to do with how your body feels. You have to feel limber and warm — it is why we love the sunshine, it gives us that feeling of being able to move as we drink in the warm rays. Having a collection of top quality long underwear is essential — but not just any, and certainly not the old fashioned bulky type. I have found pro+ionic copper infused fabric compression wear and, no joke, it makes a great difference. I have been investing in this one outfit at a time and find it remarkable — it is my long underwear from socks to tops and in all different colors! It keeps the body at a comfortable temperature with 3D technology. You don’t have to understand it, you just need to wear it — but if you want the details, here you go — watch and then order, it is so worth it. http://www.tommiecopper.com/copper/mind/fabrics#mind
Step 2 is possible because you’re not completely captured and focused on your aches and pains. It is cold outside, you are inside, and it is vital to have your surroundings promote your comfort — its why we love overstuffed furniture, warm blankets, knitted comforters, roaring fireplaces, candles, and relaxing music. This week, make just 3 seasonal changes in your home that will brighten it and warm it. Place a big wooden salad bowl [or any creative container] on a table top and keep it filled with green apples and lemons, fresh oranges, any of your seasonal favorites. The visual is bright, the colors are warm.
Eat the fruits and they will energize you.
For the other 2 changes, take a visual staycation and get ideas and tips at:
http://www.pinterest.com/drdebcarlin/diy-crafts-i-love-for-leveraging-stress-daily-and-/
Step 3 is where you beckon your mind to come into your control, it is the only thing in this life we actually can control. With everything else, we are only kidding ourselves and getting frustrated. It is when we allow our mind to have run away thoughts like a dog off leash that we get into trouble, because stress mounts. There are some stressors that we can avoid but we cannot possibly avoid them all and so managing them is essential. It is also pleasure filled. Learning to meditate simply means learning how to control the mind in a way that relaxes it, clears it of thoughts, and invites the body to relax at the same time. For a selection of guided relaxations, take a trip using this link. You will learn to relax and become your own best laughing Buddha.
https://drdebcarlin.com/inspirational-reading/how-to-reduce-stress-with-relaxation-exercises/
Step 4 is where you now invite others to join in your newly evolving winter of happiness and well-being. Invite a handful of your favorite people over to watch a gentle, funny movie, something that will get you all sharing belly laughs. Laughter is good medicine, no kidding, it is pure science. Not sure which movie to pick? Do a Google search on your favorite comedians and you are bound to find some goodies. I love anything with Peter Sellers as the Pink Panther, Steve Martin, John Candy, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Gilda Radner, Madeline Kahn, or Myrna Loy. John Candy as Uncle Buck making a giant pancake for his nieces and nephew always gives me a good laugh. The 1937 classic Double Wedding with William Powell and Myrna Loy is guaranteed to get you chuckling. Just pick a few and start the fun. There is nothing that delights us more than the warmth of good friends and a dose of humor. Let it happen once this week!
Step 5 for your overall psychological health and well-being alongside your financial realities, you need to climb out of your warm cave and get to work, take care of your various errands. The secret to doing it in this program is to take steps 1-4 seriously and flip your brain into a zone of positivity. You know the weather is harsh, so bundle up. You know people get nervous when the roads are slick, so give yourself extra time so that you can move slowly and enjoy your excursion. Stay off the highway and discover a scenic route to your destinations, familiarity can feel stale, freshen things up and get a new experience in this week. Most of all, place the thought into your beautiful mind that to hurry is to miss out on some lovely opportunity, even if it is simply to take a breath and feel a smile on your face.
You do, indeed, have the Strength Within to not just survive the winter season but to love it, to use the time to get to know yourself again, to love who you are, to take better care, to be well — for real.
