Spiritual connection with nature

Sustaining Health – Bringing Balance to Your Life

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As babies we learn to find our balance. We discover how to effectively balance our bodies on our own two feet and thus begin to take our first steps. Soon, we’re running about, achieving countless physical feats and continually honing that physical stability as we grow.
Our parents don’t just want to see us walking though. They are also concerned that we start talking. And we too want to communicate with those around us. In turn we flex our mental muscles and learn to speak. Throughout our childhood, we are pushed to sharpen our mental skills and increase our cognitive capacity. And as we grow into adults, we are told that this capacity will determine what job we get and what kind of life we will live.
Though we put a great deal of value on physical and mental balance in those early years of life, the more we mature, the more we must train our spiritual balance in order to not only achieve success, but truly live a happy and healthy life. It is that deep internal balance that allows us to maintain our equilibrium. No matter how balanced our bodies and minds, without a balanced soul or spirit, we will never be able to fully utilize our physical and mental aptitude.

Setting aside the Time

At times, you may think that empowering the soul takes much more than training the body or mind; however, I would suggest that all three require similar effort. Of course this is somewhat dependent on your personal strengths and natural talent. Nevertheless, at a certain point it boils down to time. How much time have you actually spent focusing on each of these three aspects of yourself; the physical, the mental and the spiritual?

How many hours did we spend memorizing math formulas or rewriting essays in school? How long did it take you to polish that business proposal before the meeting? How much time do you spend at the gym each week? Now, how many minutes do we find to simply sit peacefully and do “nothing”? This seems to be the hardest for most of us in the modern world.

Setting aside the time to focus on the growth of our soul can seem impossible. It is easy to use our physical goals and mental requirements as excuses for not empowering our soul. To say, “I need to focus on this project. I can’t afford the time to watch the sunset or go sit under a tree.”

A shift in perspective can help you get over this hurdle. If you take the time to focus on your spiritual health, you will begin to see how that improves both your mental focus and physical strength.

For example, if you meditate, you need to quiet the mind and relax the body. To do so can require an enormous amount of mental and physical focus. Thus as we train our soul, we inextricably must train the body and mind to be in a state of not doing. For most of us, this is very difficult, but it is an invaluable skill for everyone.

Once we realize that spiritual practice can also be a mental and physical workout, it is much easier to allow yourself the time to polish the soul. In time, we can understand the innate relationship of the body, mind and soul. Only then can we begin to hone all three aspects of the self with each action we take. No matter our singular focus, we are always strengthening and training our whole self. This is a state of true balance.

Energizing the Soul

Feeding the soul can be deceptively simple. Just like the body, the time we offer the soul directly corresponds to its health. The toughest endeavor can be finding the time to fortify your spirit. For indigenous people, this time was built into their daily life. Today, we must re-learn how to integrate the soul into our routine.

Here is a simple practice you can use each day that can lead to profound changes in your body, mind and soul. This is a teaching I received from the indigenous Huichol tribe in Mexico during my apprenticeship with Don José Matsuwa. I did not make this up; it is not my own invention. Instead, the Huichol people have been availing themselves through such practices for thousands of years.

Earth & Sky

Finding your place in the Center

Walk slowly, visualizing the love of Mother Earth percolating up through your feet, into your lower body. Simultaneously, embrace the light of Father Sun, as it enters through the top of your head (at the fontanel) and travels towards your chest. Now imagine the love and light meeting in your heart. As these two elemental powers merge, feel how they form a figure eight at the thymus gland, what the Huichol refer to as the entranceway to the heart. Allow the two energies to mix, adding to your kupuri (life force). Continue to walk slowly as you maintain the figure eight.

This simple practice ties in the three aspects of self. You are physically moving, walking on the sacred altar of the Earth. You are mentally visualizing your connection with what lies beneath and floats above. And you are relaxing the senses in order to become aware of the movement of energy within yourself.

Don’t be tricked by the simplicity of this exercise. The challenge is to do it regularly. If you practice this enough, eventually each step you take becomes a sacred act of balance.

The Huichol are taught this and many other spiritual practices of harmonizing with nature from a young age. Since many of us may have missed out on fostering our spiritual balance as children, we may have some catching up to do.

This journey of manifesting balance is a lifelong one. Our environment provides us with countless and ever-changing variables, which may make the process frustrating at times, but never boring. If we dedicate the time and truly strive to equally empower the body, mind and soul, we may learn to walk a sacred life. We can face the ups and downs with a centeredness and self-confidence, with a trust in the overwhelming power of balance stemming from nature all around us. Breathe in the light, embrace the love and begin your journey into balance.

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Brant Secunda is a shaman, healer and ceremonial leader in the Huichol tradition of Mexico. He is the Director of the Dance of the Deer Foundation – Center for Shamanic Studies and has been teaching worldwide for over 30 years. He is also the co-founder of the Peace University and the Huichol Foundation and is the co-author of Fit Soul Fit Body – 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You.

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Brant Secunda

Natural Balance

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Regaining your balance in the modern world

I’ve been a part of the Huichol culture now for almost forty years, and one of the most amazing traits they have is an ability to let go of negative emotions that can arise in stressful situations and refocus their thoughts on positive feelings. Yes, even very traditional people living in partial isolation from the modern world have to deal with stress and challenges!
For just about everyone in our society today, it is less a question of whether or not we are under stress, but more a discussion about how much stress we are experiencing. Short intermittent bouts of stress are what can make us stronger and help us develop as individuals. But long-term constant stress is something that must be coped with. A look at some of the simple time-proven tools the Huichols use can be potent skills to help you immediately in this moment make those positive shifts in your own life.

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Reconnect With Nature
Shamanism by definition is to develop a relationship with nature: to go out and experience the wind on your cheeks, the beauty and sound of a stream or the ocean, to draw in the incredible colors of a sunrise or a sunset. These are ancient tools of transformation that are available to each and every one of us still today. Even if you live in the middle of a city, the earth is beneath your feet emanating her power of love. A simple exercise that enables you to shift stress and bring positive thoughts and feelings is to walk slowly outside, and with each step visualize love coming into your body from Mother Earth. The Huichol do this. You can to!

Draw In Light
In addition to accessing the love of the earth, a second power of nature is light. The sun has light, a candle or fire has light, the stars have light, and we as human beings are made up of light. But sometimes the light that is in each cell of our bodies can feel overshadowed by negative emotions like fear, anger or jealousy. If you find yourself feeling like that inner light needs to brighten up a bit, go outside and visualize the light of the sun streaming into your body through the top of your head. Sit in front of a candle or fire and breathe that light in through your heart. Simple but powerful, this effective tool that comes from ancient times will quickly bring a positive focus and sense of well-being to your soul.

Develop Community
Isolation fosters negative emotions, whereas being part of a community tends to help diffuse stress, reduce feelings of needing immediate solutions to challenges we are facing and most importantly provides a human being with a renewed sense that life is a wondrous, positive experience. This is ancient shamanic wisdom that can so simply be utilized in the modern world.

Laugh
This goes hand in hand with developing community. Laughter is medicine for the soul. It relaxes an over-burdensome sense of self-importance or self-responsibility that says we need to have everything in order before we can be happy. In fact, often the opposite is true. When we can just laugh or make a joke about something that is troublesome, we experience a sigh of relief and can regain trust that all things will work out in life.

Move Your Body 
The Huichol have a very mobile lifestyle, walking through the Sierra Madre Mountains to gather wood, water and grow their corn. They understand the regenerative effect of walking and are fortunate to have this as a byproduct of living in harmony with the world around them. Many of us lack this simple luxury and suffer some of the side effects of a more sedentary lifestyle, especially a reduction in the naturally occurring “feel good” hormones that are released when we move. If your attitude needs a shift, try a simple walk or hike as a way to activate this ancient tool of bringing balance to your body and soul.

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