What your mind can do for you

Our strong immune system has everything to do with a regulated nervous system. It is important to have our nervous systems regulated.  

So how do we regulate our nervous systems?   We do this by breathing, being mindful and calming ourselves in whatever way works for us.

This is a time for us to create as many coping and stress-free activities as we can – a chance to think about what works for us and what doesn’t. Stop and think for a moment:   what relaxes you ?  What makes you feel excited, passionate, alive?  What helps you become calm, centered, or allows you to reset your emotional state? Breathe and calm

Do you know yet?  If not, this is for you an opportunity for you to try new activities, to test what helps and eliminate what doesn’t work.

Move your focus onto resources. 

What can you do indoors that will support you, your family and others?

This is an opportunity for us to stop doing things for purposes of distraction but rather maximize our activities – making them meaningful, connecting and inspiring.   We can use this time to do things that we have always wanted to do but never seemed to find the time for.  We can use this time to learn, grow and heal. 

Stop for a minute and make a quick list of what you have always wanted to try – maybe trying a new recipe, learning a musical instrument, building or creating something, or perhaps there is a craft that you have been wanting to do. 

Think of all those things you have wished you had time for and add them to your list. 

Now what on your list, can you do indoors or online?

It is a great time to pull out your artistic abilities, doing any form of art, such as dancing, painting, drawing or singing.   Use this time to spend time with yourself – praying, moving, breathing,  meditating, and connecting with your body.

This unique gift of time is rare, precious and won’t come again easily. 

How are you going to spend it? 

What do you want to feel when you look back on this time? 

This situation will pass, and when it does, we should feel like it was time well spent. We should feel like we learned something new, built new bonds with those we love, celebrated our creative being, developed habits we wanted and routines that serve us.  Most importantly we should feel that we connected with ourselves and our deepest desires.  We have a blank slate for our lives.  And for the first time we can choose what to fill it with.

How are you spending your time at home? 

What are you doing that you have always wanted to do?

Be Well, Be Blessed

Santa

RUNNING THROUGH DARKNESS
MEMOIR OF A SPIRITUAL WARRIOR

BY SANTA MOLINA-MARSHALL ‧ RELEASE DATE: MAY 3, 2022

This debut memoir chronicles a woman’s spiritual exploration and growth as she overcame a disturbing childhood and helped others heal.

Brought to America from the Dominican Republic as a youngster, Molina-Marshall should have led a happy life. Her father was a diligent worker, and his large family wanted for nothing. But the author recounts that her dad had a drinking problem and was a serial philanderer. Molina-Marshall’s long-suffering mother left him for a woman. Then it was all downhill for the bright, 12-year-old girl, who was shuttled between foster care and relatives. According to the author, she was sexually abused by the husband of one of her siblings. This resulted in Molina-Marshall becoming alienated and moody. By 15, she simply tried to survive. In her favor were grit and a restless intelligence. She quit school, rented a room, and found a factory job. Time went by, and for a while she was happily married. Yet when her husband left her, her life truly began. She turned to religion for answers but decided that blaming God for her woes was a cop-out. 

In this absorbing and moving memoir, Molina-Marshall’s vivid storytelling is fearless. She frankly discusses the truths she discovered and the indignities she suffered. These admissions are disclosed with a touch of resignation and plenty of bite. However painful, everything she experienced was a lesson, and she bravely realized that she was part of the problem: “The fear of being hurt, rejected, or abused often led to me feeling lonely and misunderstood. No one knew the agonizing pain I felt being trapped in my thoughts and anger. I was becoming my biggest threat.” 

The author skillfully recounts her intricate spiritual journey. To deal with her psychic wounds, she searched for an inspirational system. Her open-mindedness led her to the interfaith concept—cherry-picking from various religions and spiritual movements, yoga, and Indigenous beliefs as a way of finding peace. Along with her female partner, she built a therapy practice, making use of every spiritual element that aided her and others. The road was bumpy, and she found that women of color in same-sex relationships were not welcomed everywhere. To do good works—and finally live on her own terms—she effectively overcame bigotry.

An engrossing, cathartic account of empathy and success through determination and confidence.

Pub Date: May 3, 2022   |    ISBN: 978-0-578-38315-6  |   Page Count: 264    | Publisher: From Trauma to Triumph  |   Review Posted Online: June 13, 2022