The 7 B’s of mindful healing

In order to bring harmony into our lives, it is important to consider the whole person; the emotional, physical, mental and spiritual aspects of human existence. We cannot ignore any part for healing to take place.

7 points for mindful healing

1. Blessing: If you were to look at your life, you would surely be able to find something to be grateful for. Imagine focusing upon this one thing and letting it grow in your mind, expanding out and becoming bigger. At the end of the day, imagine identifying five things you were grateful for. Imagine then, reflecting on these five things, giving them more space in your mind, feeling the tingling in your body, lifting your mood and touching your spirit. Your sleep is bound to alter and deepen in ways which are healing for you. Imagine then counting your blessings in the morning before you rise from bed, identifying five things you are grateful for. By counting your blessings, you are making room for more blessings to come into your life.

2. Breathe: Breathing fully and freely is our birthright. If you watch a baby breathe, you will see the beauty and simplicity of flow in the body. With each inhale, the baby’s belly fills with air like a balloon, the pelvis rocks, the legs open, the chest rises and then falls, like swells across the ocean. This is natural, oceanic, full-body breathing. It is the way we were meant to breathe.

Breathing effortlessly, a baby lives fully and freely in the now, in the expansiveness of the moment. There is no past to remember, no future to plan or worry about. As we each experience the joys, challenges, and traumas of life, we begin to anticipate and react from our past experiences of pleasure and pain. Unfortunately, we lose the freedom and expansiveness that were natural at birth. We become afraid of disapproval, punishment, or abandonment. We experience unpleasant feelings that we don’t know how to handle.

As a result, we begin to contract more often or even shut down. We learn to “control” ourselves, to “be good” to receive positive attention. We sacrifice our desires for the approval of others. To control ourselves in this way, we unconsciously tighten our muscles and restrict our breathing. We discover that the less we breathe, the less we feel, and the easier it is to get through the challenges and difficulties of modern life. Over time, this process develops habitual unconscious reactions that lock up the body and prevent the full expression of both pleasure and pain. The essential flow of life force energy becomes kinked like a hose, and every functioning system in the body will eventually degrade faster.

Miraculously, by directing your consciousness back to your breathing and learning to work with it, you can regain what has been lost. You can learn to let go of patterns of worry and tension, which hold you back and return to natural, oceanic, full-body breathing. Like a baby, you can experience the full connection in every moment.

3. Being: We live in the age of distraction, yet one of life's sharpest paradoxes is that our brightest future hinges upon our ability to pay attention to the present. This is being, in the moment.

We live in an age which contributes massively to mental fragmentation and disengagement, paying little attention to practise stillness and calm.

At work, we fantasise about the holiday; on holiday we worry about work. In order to feel more in control of our minds and our lives, to find the sense of balance that eludes us, we need to step out of this current - to pause. Our minds are filled with intrusive thoughts from the past or frets about what may or may not happen in the future.

Being in an active, open, intentional attention, in the moment, you realise you are not your thoughts and, instead, you become an observer of them. By cultivating being in the moment, you reduce your stress, boost immune functioning, reduce pain and lower blood pressure. The paradox is that you cannot pursue it for its benefits with the mind; you have to trust that the rewards will come.

4. Believe: We have been conditioned to self-doubt. To believe in ourselves is to trust that we have the ability to retrain ourselves to let go of our fears and self-doubt in order to build our self-esteem and self-confidence.

Everything you have in your life is a result of the belief in yourself. Here are four steps to take in order to help yourself retrain your belief in yourself:

• Believe it is possible. No matter where you are or what anyone says, believe that you can do it.
• Visualise. Focus on what your life would look like as if you already have it. Spend time visualising it, dreaming it, being it.
• Act. Always act consistently with where you wish to go.
• Take action towards your goals. One step at a time. Do not let fear stop you.

5. Beauty: “Beauty belongs to life, but is immortalised in art” - Leonardo Da Vinci

Meaning in life is part of the story of the link between nature connection and well-being. When we see something beautiful, our heart rate alters, muscles flinch, and our brain changes. We are wired to connect to the beauty we have been attuned to in life. For many, this is nature.

We all have a different inclination when it comes to what we find beautiful. Once we become curious about beauty, this can be found in unexpected places. In a look, someone gives you, in a kind gesture, when someone gives you some of their time when you see a piece of art or craft.

Love is central to seeing the beauty in life. When your heart is open, anything is possible.

6. Becoming: Becoming who you are is paradoxical in the sense that you already are who you are, and so there would seem to be no need to change. However, the change (or becoming) is a matter of growing into oneself, a little like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly or a seed becomes a plant. In a sense, it already is what it will become, but in another sense, it is not yet that thing. Indeed, it must take action and undergo change.

As humans, we are in an ongoing state of becoming, of losing ourselves and finding ourselves. When we are born, we begin dying, so that we may become something else, metaphorically speaking. 

There is no arrival or final destiny, but a continual death of self and rebirth into something new. By dying in regards to one way of being, we are born again into our new creative self. May we all support each other as we walk our own path and become who we truly are.

7. Bloom: There are some people who believe they cannot grow, or they don’t have the ability to bloom into something more, but that is not true. We all have the power to bloom into something beautiful. 

Some blooming processes take more time than others, so patience is required. Sometimes the processes which take the longest to bloom end up being the most beautiful or the strongest. The process of growing or blooming is the most beautiful process to ever happen to someone. When you go through the process in which you shed all your fear of change and are preparing to go where you have never gone before, wonderful things can happen.

It’s not like you are changing yourself completely or becoming a different person. It is more of growing into a person that you feel more comfortable being than the one you are now. There will inevitably be some uncomfortable growing pains along the way, but more times of joy and inspiration will be experienced. Once you are blooming, you will feel that beautiful feeling more often and enjoy basking in this, until the next stage of evolvement occurs.