Creating Your Wellness Space
Part 1
Finding calmness in a chaotic world can seem impossible. Or, at the very least, incredibly out of reach. We often accept “stressed-out” as our default emotion, but it does not have to be that way.
Being bombarded by information, expectations and obligations on a daily basis can truly begin to take a negative toll on every aspect of our lives. It can affect our mental health, our relationships, our self-confidence, our overall sense of well-being and more.
I created a private space in my home called my wellness space. This is the space where I go to escape from the busyness of life so that I can thaw out, recharge and focus on my well-being. But suddenly and unexpectedly, my wellness space was disrupted with the COVID-19 Pandemic and work-from-home protocols. Just like many of you, I was forced to improvise on the fly: dining tables became desks; couches became office chairs; and bedrooms, kitchens, and family rooms became shared workspaces. Additionally, I was faced with the challenges of juggling work with online school supervision, personal relationships, household chores, and family demands in general.
I needed a quiet place to retreat and take a respite from life’s hectic pace. But “my space” was now cluttered, chaotic and filled with distractions. My daily routine was now topsy-turvy and many of the habits that anchored and helped me function, changed in the blink of an eye. Their absence became uncomfortable and the desire to escape to a place where I can recharge became more crucial. I had to find an alternative.
So where do I go from here? Continue with the overwhelming stresses of life with no respite or establish a place where I can retreat and unwind. It was important that I re-create my wellness space and so I did. My oasis became the beautiful cliff at Dawlish Beach, St Philip, with the fresh breeze blowing in off the ocean and the crashing sound of the waves became my peaceful place. I still go there to unwind, write, pray or just to think. It is a place where I can slow down and just be me without the demands of family, work, church and general business of life.
Where do you go to de-stress and “chill out”?
I am talking about a special place where you can go to slow down from the busyness and routines of life, refresh your mind, body and spirit or engage in enjoyable activities. That place you can go to and unwind. That place that does not demand anything of you or create expectations- a place where you can just be YOU!
For some, it is a room in their home, like Miss Clara from the movie “War Room. It was an extremely small but quiet space which she dedicated as her “go-to-space” to pray. Elizabeth followed Miss Clara’s successful strategy and replicated a similar space in her home. Without the distractions of life, Elizabeth entered “her space” and later enjoyed the benefits of the time spent in her sanctuary ( I guess you can tell the impact the movie War Room has on me with the many lesson to learn). For others, it may be the beach, park, or nature area and some may prefer the plant life in their garden.
Whatever you choose, your wellness space should be personalized and unique to you.
Pamela P Cumberbatch, M.H
Natural Health Practitioner and
Author of Plant-Based Cuisine: Complete Nutrition For Healthy Living
Good Health as a Human Right
We as humans are said to be at the top of the food chain, those who can think and master their own destiny. We are the ones most evolved and the ones to preside over all creation.
We are born. And we die.
However our quality of life, our contribution to humanity, community and family is usually linked to our health and wellness. Poor health inhibits the depth of our contribution, and is often a detour from our purpose.
Despite our intelligence we humans seemed to be the ones most challenged when it comes to making good health choices for ourselves and our families.
Good health is a desire inherent in all humans and yet the quest for good health is becoming more elusive. As we celebrate World Health Day we would here wish to reevaluate the necessary steps people and communities and by extension governments need to consider, so that the goal of good health can be accomplished, and manifested as an essential human right, regardless of status.
Mother Earth provides for us and nurtures us and we in turn should do the same. Our own mothers have nurtured us. She carried us within herself from birth until fertilised by our fathers. The health and well-being of woman and man is essential, however it is woman from whom we all come.
It is inevitable then, that the women of the planet are deserving of high priority when it comes to ensuring the health of the nation.
Policies must be women centred and then this will spread throughout the nation. Government must create safe and woman friendly spaces so that giving birth is not traumatic and that focus is on mother and child. Facilities must be adequate but more importantly staff must be caring at our birthing institutions.
The journey from infancy through the many stages of life is often muddled with negative food socialisation placing us on a negative track, and significantly delaying the appreciation of a health conscious way of life for youth.
Commercial interests swoop in and satisfy vulnerable taste buds, sometimes with the collusion of parents, creating an opportunity for bad habits to form.
National policies for good health must be created without the intrusion of commercial interests, thereby ensuring that legitimate health and wellness needs are not derailed.
We understand the challenges of creating a healthy environment for ourselves and our family but it is a struggle worth pursuing in order to stymy the death and disease which seems to be spiraling out of control.
Health and wellness is achievable when humans return to the very basics of good living. When the key factors in good health are centred around women and children, we can build a society which minimising death and disease.
We must return to nature before nature demands it.
Written by Everton "Heru" Holligan a natural health specialist for the Centre for Rights & Responsibilities.
