A Vision of Success - Life Mapping

Success is more than financial independence, titles, and/or degrees. Planning for success is about mapping out all the aspects of your life. Similar to a map, you need to define the following details: origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route.

Origin:  Who you are

A map has a starting point. Your origin is who you are right now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, “Hi, I’m Jean and I am a 17-year old, senior high school student.” It does not tell you about who Jean is; it only tells you her present preoccupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Moreover, you can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your good and not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses. Upon introspection, Jean realized that she was highly motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. Her inclination was in the biological-medical field. Furthermore, she believed that life must serve a purpose, and that wars were destructive to human dignity.

Destination: A vision of who you want to be

“Who do want to be?” this is your vision. Now it is important that you know yourself so that you would have a clearer idea of who you want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself, then your vision and targets for the future would also be unclear. Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing Jean’s story, after she defined her beliefs, values, and principles in life, she decided that she wanted to have a life dedicated in serving her fellowmen.

Vehicle: Your Mission

A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It can be analogized to your mission or vocation in life. To a great extent, your mission would depend on what you know about yourself. Bases on Jean’s self-assessment, she decided that she was suited to become a doctor, and that she wanted to become one. Her chosen vocation was a medical doctor. Describing her vision-mission fully: it was to live a life dedicated to serving her fellowmen as a doctor in conflict-areas.

Travel Bag: Your knowledge, skills, and attitude

Food, drinks, medicines, and other traveling necessities are contained in a bag. Applying this concept to your life map, you also bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or measures of success. Jean realized that she needed to gain professional knowledge and skills on medicine so that she could become a doctor. She knew that she was a bit impatient with people so she realized that this was something she wanted to change.

Landmarks and Route: S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. Thus, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Thus you cannot set two major landmarks such as earning a master’s degree and a doctorate degree within a period of three years, since the minimum number of years to complete a master’s degree is two years. Going back to Jean as an example, she identified the following landmarks in her life map: completing a bachelor’s degree in biology by the age of 21; completing medicine by the age of 27; earning her specialization in infectious diseases by the age of 30; getting deployed in local public hospitals of their town by the age of 32; and serving as doctor in war-torn areas by the age of 35.

Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes

The purpose of your life map is to minimize hasty and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you lose your way. But oftentimes our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes thus; we must anticipate them and adjust accordingly.

Pranic, Tantric, and Reiki - Why Do Energy Healing?

You have probably come across exotic-sounding terms such as “chakra”, “prana”, “aura”, and “tantra” in your course of reading books on spirituality, sex, and healing in the New Age literature section of the bookstore. But what’s the real scoop behind these exotic vocabularies?

Are All Energy Healings the Same?

Chakra or energy center is a term used in Pranic healing, an ancient Hindu system of energy healing. “Prana” means life energy. “Aura” is another terminology traced to Pranic healing. Aura is a non-physical body that consists of energy, which exists along with our physical body. The aura that covers our body is said to have seven layers pertaining to the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of an individual as manifested by energy. Studying the color and thickness of auras gives ideas on the state of health of individuals. Six colors are associated with aura and interpreted into six personalities. These colors are all present in an individual but one or two are more pronounced.

            Green – ambitious achiever

            Blue – spiritual peacemaker

            White – unconventional chameleon

            Red – activist

            Orange – creative communicator

            Violet - psychic

Although Tantra is popularly associated with the peculiar practice of sex and spirituality, it is another method of energy healing. It comes from the word “tan” which means to spread or expand. The concept of connectedness is a recurring theme in Tantric writings on sex and spirituality. As a method of healing, spirituality and sex figure prominently. It is presupposed that the union of man and woman can reach spiritual levels during orgasm, which removes the body and mind off collected impurities. These impurities being negative energies can in turn manifest as physical illnesses.

Unlike Pranic and Tantric healings, which have Hindu origins, Reiki originated from Japan. It is relatively younger than Pranic and Tantric healings having been rediscovered in the early 1900’s. Reiki stands for universal energy, an energy brought forth by higher intelligence. Students of Reiki are taught how to tap this energy to heal physical, emotional, and mental illnesses.

Although Pranic, Tantra, and Reiki are all systems of energy healing, they differ in the type of energy tapped for healing: life energy, sexual energy, and universal energy respectively.

The concepts of the connectedness of mind, body, and spirit; the connection of individuals to all living and nonliving things around them and to the universe; and how energy impacts physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being are some of the salient similarities of these three healing methods.

Why Do People Turn to Energy Healing?

Pranic, Tantric, and Reiki are considered alternative methods of healing. In spite of the availability and relative accessibility of modern medicine, how come more and more people are being drawn to them? Here are some possible reasons:

           

· People perceive modern medicine to be isolating.

Medical treatments are oftentimes focused on the disease and its causative agent, which can make a patient feel isolated and treated like a mere host of the disease. Although recent developments in hospital practice are gradually promoting the holistic treatment of a patient, the perception still persists. Unlike in energy healing, since energy and spirituality are intimately linked, the patient feels that all aspects of his health are being attended to.

· Energy healing worked where modern medicine failed.

For several reasons both explainable and unexplainable, modern medical treatment failed to heal ailments and conditions in several if not many persons. Research or data may not be able to support this statement. But for the families of the dying as well as for the dying patient, they would take the risk of using alternative methods ranging from herbals and organics, faith healers, witch doctors, and New Age healing techniques just to be get well.

· Energy healing is a good way of relieving stress.

Meditation is part and parcel of energy healing methods and this is an added come-on for highly stressed people. Moreover, sophisticated equipment is not required thus it becomes all the more convenient for students and future students of energy healing.

The battle between alternative healing and mainstream medicine continues as both present the benefits of their approach. But in the final analysis, what matters is the restoration of good health.

· Energy healing is non-obtrusive and natural thus it is safer.

Repeated surgical procedures are physically and emotionally traumatic for most patients. It is but a logical and attractive option to both patient and families to look for less stressful health interventions. Moreover, with the rising popularity of New Age religions, going natural is the way to go.

Stress - What It Is, And How To Get Rid of It

Defined simply, stress is the body’s reaction to a threat or challenge resulting from a situation (called a stressor) that can be either positive or negative. The body does not differentiate between psychological and physiological stress.  And stress is the number one killer, and one of the things that can stop you from achieving your goals.

Physical Symptoms:

Physical changes when under stress may include tense muscles, pounding heart rate, cold or clammy hands, headache, sweating, and a feeling of butterflies in the stomach, dry mouth, stomach ache, heartburn, colds, fatigue, constipation, teeth grinding, skin rash and back pain.

Mental and Behavioral Symptoms:

Irritability, anxiety, apathy, nervousness, depression, hostility, forgetfulness, confusion, short temper, overeating, under-eating, overly emotional, excessive smoking/drinking and withdrawal from relationships.

Other signs of stress include talking faster than normal, biting one’s nails, pacing, restlessness, hyperactivity, distractibility, and trembling. Under chronic stress the person will seem tired, restless, and feel out of control.

How to get rid of Stress?  Diet & Lifestyle!

Diet – The Foods You Eat

Foods play a vital role in providing mental and physical nourishment for relieving stress. For stressed people, the foods that you need to avoid are the ones that contain a great amount of caffeine and alcohol. Sugar should also be avoided because it causes the blood sugar to soar and then drop very quickly.

To get rid of stress, there are different kinds of stress relief food that you can try for your mental and physical wellness. Below are several types of stress relief food to help you in managing stress:

Asparagus – This green vegetable is high in folic acid that helps stabilize your mood. The body releases hormones that affect the mood when stressed and eating asparagus is a good way to block these hormones. Folic acid is actually needed by the body to make serotonin, it is a chemical naturally produced in the body that affects mood in a positive way.


Tuna – Tuna is also a great stress relief food option because of its stress-fighting vitamins. Tunas are rich in vitamins B6 and B12 and it is also a good source of protein. If you love mayonnaise, it is advisable to use a low-fat mayonnaise for a healthy meal.

Raw Milk – Milk is very nutritious and high in antioxidants. It is also rich in vitamins B1, B12, calcium and protein that can make you feel relaxed. You can have a bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast to battle the stress ahead of you. Drinking a warm glass of milk also help induce sleep.  However, pasteurized milk is denatured and irradiated and can CAUSE stress.  This is why we recommend raw milk (which is hard to get).

Beef – Beef is also a good stress relief food even though it is usually not considered when talking about health but beef contains good amount of zinc, iron, and B vitamins that also helps in stabilizing the mood. People always think that beef is not good for the body but it is actually more nutritious than chicken. The secret to making a nutritious meal with beef is to not include the fat because it is high in cholesterol.


Cottage Cheese and Fruit – Cottage cheese is a stress relief food that is rich in both protein and calcium. Mixing cottage cheese and fruits high on vitamin C like oranges is a good combination to help fight stress. Vitamin C contains antioxidants that fight free radicals that are released when you are stressed. Furthermore, these free radicals are known to cause cancer.

Blueberries – Blueberries are high-fiber, low-calorie fruits that contains vitamin C antioxidants good for combating stress. You can mix blueberries with cottage cheese or you can also eat them alone for a healthy snack.

To know more about other kinds of stress relief food, it is best that you consult a dietician.

Lifestyle – The Exercise You Get

Research has shown that best tension reliever is physical exercise. It is a great remedy for stress. No other thing comes near exercise in reducing stress. Exercise also helps you sleep by relaxing the tense muscles.

Positive Benefits:

1. Exercise is a diversion that enables you to relax due to a change in environment or routine. It also serves as an outlet to dissipate emotions.

2. It improves blood flow to your brain, bringing additional sugars and oxygen that may be needed when you are thinking intensely.

3. When you think hard, the neurons of your brain function more intensely. As they do this, they can build up toxic waste products that can cause foggy thinking. By exercising you speed the flow of blood through your brain, moving these waste products faster.

4. Exercise can cause release of chemicals called endorphins into your blood stream. These give you a feeling of happiness and positively affect your overall sense of well being.

5. There is also good evidence that physically fit people have less extreme physiological responses when under pressure than those who are not. This means that fit people are more able to handle the long term effects of stress, without suffering ill health or burnout.

In addition to a regular exercise program, you can incorporate these stress reducing exercises.

1. Do some gentle neck rolls to help get rid of the tension. Let your chin drop slowly forward. Slowly roll you head to you right shoulder, back, left shoulder and front. Now do the same in the opposite direction. Do it slowly and repeat 10 times.

2. Inhale 10 deep breaths. Fill your lungs full, hold and exhale slowly, ridding all the air. Repeat. The fresh dose of oxygen will also recharge your energy.

3. Lie on the floor or sit in a comfortable chair. With your hands at your side or on the chair arm, visualize each part of your body, beginning with you toes and moving up. Take your time and feel you body relax, bit by bit.

4. Sit on the edge of your chair, and lean forward, resting your chest on your knees with your hands and head hanging loosely. Slowly unroll you back, vertebra by vertebra, until you’re sitting up nice and straight. This is an excellent exercise for unknotting your back

5. Stand and stretch with you hands over you head. Swing down to touch your toes, bending your knees if you need to. Repeat 5 to 10 times. Now place your hands on your hips, with your legs apart. Bend forward until your chest is parallel. Turn your head and body slowly to the left, then right forward. Repeat five to 10 times.

Hopefully this article has helped.  Remember, stress is nothing to play with!!  I will leave you with a video on using EFT to deal with stress