Finding Your Healing Oasis

In our search of the area we discovered that people likely hadn't been here in 40 years. This was a rarely visited oasis.

We had arrived at our destination, a lake nestled high in the peaks of the Rockies. We dropped our packs and hiked around our newly discovered haven.

The water was an inviting blue. Fresh and cool to the skin. It was filled with life, fish swimming wherever one looked. As we explored we saw old fire pit rings. The only trash within were cans from the 1960's.

I had planned and executed this trip with map and compass. There was no other way to get here, since no trails exist.

Applying the diet changes (adding and removing) are the necessary steps to heal from chronic illness. However, it is necessary for continued healing, that lifestyle changes are made. These tools, like my map and compass, will help you maintain your healing.

What to change.

Each day your exposure to modern technology is draining. The ongoing presence of computers, television, radios, cell phones, and so on keeps you engaged. Constant notifications from countless sources drain your attention. While the continual presence of artificial lighting keeps you awake longer than you should be.

I do not advocate a complete removal from these items. It's impossible. What is necessary to your health is a boundary upon these items. A refuge or solitude of your own making.

The movies, games, and virtual mountains of information available to you have a dark side. You have developed self medicating habits in your battle with illness. Like bad food, drugs, or alcohol these sources of entertainment are addicting and habitual. They help ease negative emotions in the moment while wearing at your health.

How do you balance this?

Boundaries.

To thrive in our modern world you are required to interact with these influences. They have a positive purpose with negative side effects. If you don't create parameters in your life they will drain you constantly. So you need to set up times and places free from these technologies.

I cover this in further detail in this post.

What to add.

Meditation. This will become both a proactive and reactive tool for maintaining health. Meditation is a daunting skill. Mostly because we don't understand it. Simply put, meditation is keeping your mind in the present moment.

When you train your mind to anchor itself to the moment you will circumvent fear. You will avert the downward spiral of negative thoughts that have fed your illness. I will have many more posts to come on meditation and its use in your new life.

Activity. Maintaining an active and productive lifestyle is important. When we stop we are easily overwhelmed by what we have to do. The downward spiral will begin and we need to make the right choice. It often only takes enough will power to stand up and take a step, then another step, and now you will be back on track.

The final addition to lifestyle is to have a passion or hobby. Having an outlet will give you many benefits. An amazing program based on this concept was done in Iceland and turned around drug abuse for minors. Check it out here.

These tools take time to develop. However, they are crucial to healing. To stay the course you will need to keep these tools at hand, ready to use.