A Radiant Me

Last night I attended a seminar at Divinity Spa, which is located in Botetourt but near Roanoke.

The event was called Seven Keys to Radiant Well Being. It was conducted by Meenakshi Angel Honig, an Internationally Acclaimed Wellness Consultant and Yoga Instructor.

My registration was a spur-of-the-moment activity, made early on Tuesday morning before I was fully awake. I had seen an announcement about the seminar on Facebook and ignored it. But when a friend sent me the information, I decided when I saw it in my inbox that this meant I should go.

Afterward I second-guessed my decision. I feared I would not know anyone there and also that I would be the fattest and most unhealthiest person in the audience. I figured it would be full of stick women who do yoga four times a day and eat alfalfa sprouts.

While there were a few of those folks there, there were also a number of older women (even older than me, old lady that I am) and many had large bellies and butts so I did not feel quite so out of place. I also knew a few of the ladies in attendance and that definitely made me feel better.

The seven secrets were not new information for me, but apparently I need the message knocked into my head many times over in order to actually practice these things.

The first secret was breathing. A few weeks ago I met with another yoga instructor to focus on breathing and in particular breath exercises for my blood pressure. So I was already doing this first secret and I was pleased about that. I felt like I was one up on the game. In yoga, a breathing practice is called pranayama and it is the life force. Life begins and ends with a breath, Meenakshi told us last night. "Breath is the link between the finite and infinite," she said.

The second secret was to visualize your body being relaxed and to tell yourself that you're an okay person. I also do this to calm down, having learned it a long time ago. There are many ways to go about this but it is a great way to bring on sleep if you're having a tough night.

The third secret was range of motion movements. This was not yoga or even deep stretching - just moving your head about, lifting your arms, pulling out the muscles. I liked this part because pretty much anyone, even someone as stiff and unyielding as I, could do these.

The fourth secret involved attitude and then taking positive actions when faced with a negative situation. Meenakshi urged us to develop a positive attitude all the time and to see the good in stuff, whatever  it may be. That is not always easy to do. And then do whatever is necessary to correct the problem, but without complaining or whining. "There is no such thing as stress, only stressful thoughts," she said.  Also, "be the writer, producer, director and star of your own movie" and give it an upward spiral and a happy ending. I liked that idea.

The fifth secret involved lifestyle choices based on a "wellness" wheel. Even this was not new to me as I had come across a similar wheel during the Life Planning class I took at Hollins University this spring. So I already had a good idea of where I am deficit. I think her wheel had a few different categories. Her categories are spiritual, nutrition, yoga and exercise, positive thinking/communicating, relationships, stewardship, and creative self expression. Can you guess which of those I thought I was deficit in? After figuring out which area needed work, one must then create an affirmation about it, write down an action step, and give it a time frame. For example, I wrote: "I now have the tools to eat right and make healthy food choices," as my affirmation.

The sixth secret was nurturing activities. Taking care of yourself. Things like taking a break from a hard day to listen to the wind or the birds, using lotion on your scaly skin, that sort of thing. Smelling the roses.

The seventh secret was to have "attitudes that release stress and enhance well being." This would be things like remembering that the check out clerk is having a hard day when she snaps at you, or forgiving people who hurt you, stuff like that.

"Feel good, feel god" Meenakshi said.

This seminar fit in well with what I have been working on the past few months. Reducing stress is almost a full time job, at least for me.