Happy New Year! In the spirit of new beginnings and positivity, I wanted to share some resources that have been helpful for my mental, emotional and spiritual health this past year and will continue to be in the new year:
- The Seven Chakras: I’ve learned about the seven chakras before, but in these past few months, I’ve delved further to understand them in relation to my current state. The seven chakras are energy centers in our bodies in which energy flows through. Sometimes blocked energy results from anxiety, stress and other things which not only affects our physical well-being, but also our emotional and mental well-being. You can take a test here to find out which of your seven chakras are underactive, overactive or well-balanced. Overall, understanding them has helped me to check in with myself more often and take the necessary steps to continue to nurture my energy.
- Brené Brown: Her book Daring Greatly has been greatly influential in my life, and I’ve learned to define, understand and process guilt, shame and vulnerability in ways that I had never done before. Feeling feelings are important. I'm currently reading Rising Strong. She writes, "If we are brave enough, often enough, we will fall." The book is focused on how to get back up stronger by recognizing the power of emotions to allow us to redefine our stories through courage moving forward.
- Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sundays: These videos are meant to “nourish your mind, body and spirit every Sunday.” A lot of great nuggets of inspiration and motivation here, and I've been introduced to some spiritual leaders worth following as well.
- Calm: I’ve developed a consistent practice of meditating every morning and night through this app. I’ve learned to use breathing techniques to calm me down during stressful situations. They have all sorts of guided meditations and sounds you can meditate to. I've lately been enjoying meditating to the sound of a crackling fire.
- Still Mind: My friend and artist Jarell Perry runs Still Mind which is a platform for creatives to gain inspiration through practice of thoughtfulness and stillness. Still Mind’s core values are “dialogue as inspiration, self-development as artist development, mindfulness as a creative source, community through shared vision.”
- TED Talks: A lot of solid ones in the self category, but you can peruse a variety of other topics here too.
I hope you find some of these helpful, and I'll continue to share more in 2017.
If you have any resources that have benefited you that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about them, so shoot me a reply back.
May your 2017 be bright and courageous and full of good health and wisdom.
Onward and upward,
Jane
p.s. You can also find me on Twitter, SoundCloud and Instagram.