Feeding Your Three Babies: Body, Mind and Spirit to create a harmonious life.
When people come for coaching or healing sessions, attend a workshop about holistic living or simply talk about life’s challenges and their dreams, the most common phrase you can hear is “I just want to have better balance in my life”.
So what it looks like to have a better balance?
Imagine: you are a caring parent of your newborn triplets. If you have experienced having a baby, you can probably visualize the amount of work that would need to be done to grow them. You’d feed them, learn about their needs from their cries, and after some time know exactly what each of them requires to be happy and satisfied.
If you have never done anything like this in your life, this work will probably be a new undertaking for you to try. I do not mean you have to adopt or give birth to three cute little babies. I mean the act of trying to care of your body, mind and spirit as if they are your most beloved children. See them as the three vulnerable babies that need your attention to survive, to grow and be healthy. Even though the task may seem challenging, you need to remember: there is no escape and they will stay your children for the rest of your life. The way you care about them results in that balanced and joyous life you dream to live.
I have two children and their personalities are very different. Any mother has to learn from day one what a new little person likes or doesn’t like; which sound or activity is pleasurable, and which is irritating for his or her tiny ears; what makes the baby fuss or laugh. It is a lot of work and effort to raise a happy and healthy child. Imagine how much this work doubles when you have twins or triplets, but we still do it because we love our children dearly. Would you be willing to become a loving and caring parent to yourself?
Now, when I speak about having a harmonious and healthy balance in life, I imagine you mastering your care of three precious babies: Body, Mind and Spirit.
If you truly want to live a whole-istic life style, would you commit to paying an equal attention to all of your babies without favoring one and satisfying their each unique needs by the end of each day?
Let’s start with a warm-up to prepare you for the task of creating harmony and balance.
Write down your answers to the questions bellow:
- What does your baby#1 – called Body – truly need to be healthy and happy?
- What does your baby#2 – called Mind – truly need to be healthy and happy?
- What does your baby# 3 – called Spirit – truly need to be healthy and happy?
I know that becoming a mother made me stumble upon many blocks before I knew what my kids needed for their well-being. This was the same challenge I went through when I was searching for ways to raise myself as a person and satisfy my own body, mind and spirit.
I can share with you what I have learned and maybe that will help make this work easier for you than it was for me when I didn’t have much guidance.
1. Acknowledge that any one of your three babies may not ever be ignored!
You can not feed just one or two of your offspring, or change “diapers” or play with just the one whom you like the most. If at least one of them is not fully satisfied, they will cry their eyes out and make the rest of the babies unhappy as well. So, for example, if you ate a great dinner to give some pleasure to your Body, but chewed on bad TV news giving displeasure to your Mind, your digestion will be affected in an unhealthy way, and your Body will experience a distress aswell. While doing any activity, think about all three babies, and be attentive to their responses!
2. Take time to pay attention to the signals of your three babies before the drama escalates.
If you have a great career and work hard on manifesting your dreams which are always a great boost for your Spirit, pay attention to any signals that come from your Body and Mind. If they are cranky, you might have over-worked and are close to getting anxiety or sleeping problems. Pause, make time to re-charge, eat in peace, breathe and take a walk. Otherwise, you could face a crisis when all three babies get sick. Listen to signals!
3. Start every day with feeding your baby #1 – your Body.
In spiritual practices, emphasis is placed on being your unique Self – self-realization and finding your passion, purpose or life mission. In one sense, this is accurate. We are here on Earth to contribute to our society and share our talents and gifts that were given to us. But without Body, you cannot do any of that. So take care of your baby, Body, every day in the most loving way. Nutritious food, favorite exercises, water cleansing and good rest is a must.
Start each morning with a routine that makes your baby #1 vibrant, alive and sing joyfully from every cell!
I have my own list of favourite “foods” for my baby#1. Long lists allows my body to have options to choose from and create variations because my body has moods, of course. Any routine needs some flexibility in order not to become boring or too rigid, but your morning routine also needs to empower you and make you feel great, no less!
There are things in my list like those bellow:
– Sensual massage for my body while still in bed (why not?)
– Hot/Cold showers (those are the best to feel alive!)
– Dancing while making your hips draw an infinity sign
– QiGong/Taichi to get fully connected with the body
– Chicory tea with almond cream and an oatmeal with honey, raisins, nuts and butter (unsalted butter truly excites me!)
and more…
4. Proceed to and Complete every day with feeding your baby #2 – your Mind.
After you make your body fully awake and feel satisfied, proceed to feeding your Mind.
Mind likes clarity. Mind and emotions are linked together. Any inner clutter or unprocessed feelings create frustration and are the cause of irritation and negativity. Before going to work, starting any project or meeting with other people, take your time to center your self. Centering is often done with breathing and setting a priority for the day. The priority should be aligned with your sense of inner peace, happiness and wellness.
Things may go off course, and so it is very important to pause during the day and re-center yourself, and if you don’t have time for that or forget to do it , then it is a must before going to bed.
Focus on bringing your Mind peace by satisfying its needs: let go of the old grouch and of criticism, forgive others or yourself for past mistakes and with more understanding create a clear plan for the next step and for tomorrow.
During the next day check if your baby, Mind, is still positive, and if necessary, make changes in your plan or ways of thinking to live your every day with more ease and satisfaction.
Praying or meditating, listening to calm music before sleeping also help in creating more inner peace and clarity as well as positive affirmations and the practice of gratitude toward life. If you skip the evening routine of taking care of your baby #2, you’d need to do it first thing the next morning before taking care of your baby#1. Otherwise, it will spoil your breakfast and the rest of the day. Don’t you want to avoid that?
5. Things that are essential for the baby #3 – your Spirit.
This baby is the one who is most often neglected. We start the day with the baby #1 and more often than not get caught in satisfying its needs. We still find sometime to feed our baby #2 with occasional positivity from being with good friends, sharing jokes, reading good books or watching inspirational movies, but we lose awareness of our baby #3 and it struggles. Its voice is less loud and so it often goes unnoticed. Just as a reminder: this baby is the wisest and without it everything loses its meaning.
When we totally forget about our baby#3, it “dies”. We feel we have lost something, but don’t remember what. The discontent often grows with time, and depressions without “visual” and “real” causes become chronic. We grieve and feel unexplainable pain. Our eyes loose the spark which is the evidence of healthy and bright Spirit.
The baby Spirit can be brought back to life when the profound question is asked ”What do I really, truly want in this life?” “Really-really truly-truly?..”
If your answer would be “an ice cream or chocolate”, you should know that at this moment your baby#1 is talking louder than baby#3. Give your baby#3 more time to express its needs as most people find this question difficult to answer because subconsciously we avoid it.
Truth needs actions that often are challenging. So we explain easily our dissatisfactions, complain and talk about what we don’t like, or what we would love to get rid of, erase, destroy or punish. Rarely do we meet enthusiastic people who talk about their creations, passions or projects they are working on and do it with excitement and hope for the best possible outcome.
These rare people are the most intuitive, wise and caring parents of their third baby – their Spirit. They have listened and haven’t lost touch with it. The satisfaction of their baby#3 shines through their eyes with happiness and contentment.
Short-term goals can give some periodic food to your Spirit, but when they are accomplished, your Spirit goes on a fast and if forgotten, starves. This is when a balanced and harmonious life stops. To have continuous balance and satisfaction in life it is essential to have a Big Dream. The kind that may seem unreachable for the baby Mind, and challenging for the baby Body, but gives exciting vibrations to your Spirit because it will be fed by this dream continuously.
Moreover, it will make everything else fall into place.
Bottom Line :
To live a harmonious and holistic lifestyle, it is necessary to take care of your three babies every day, and to every day make steps forward toward your big and fulfilling dream!
The plan is to create a balanced “feeding” routine for the three babies: Body, Mind and Spirit.
The more you master this routine, the more stable, happy, wise and mature your three children become, and the more union and harmony will be established in your life.
In my holistic practice,The Integrated Way, I offer Qi-Gong practice for Body and Mind, and teach a few techniques for how to get in touch withwhat you truly want and make action steps toward your Big Dream or Vision for Spirit.
I wish you good luck with pursuing your happiness and creating a harmonious life!
~Angela
