My 12 Days of Christmas Gift For Your Health and Well-Being
On the first day of Xmas, my true love sent to me...
Hello, friends of Yours,Yan,
Traditionally, 12 days of Christmas begins on Christmas Day. However, the good rebel in me decided to kick my writing butt (oops, fingers) to buck the trend and release a 12-day of Christmas gifting specially for you.
In the next 12 days, starting from today, each post contains very short stories and insights around my cancer survivorship, with a dash of the entrepreneurship life.
Most of all, as a healer, movement practitioner and health coach for more than a decade, you will also receive some tips from me to optimize your health and well-being; simply because
We are living in some crazy weird times, be it climate, covid or cultural shifts.
It’s the holiday season. Some find themselves struggling to find their inner balance managing their sleep, stress, healthy movement habits and food.
(Yes, there is such a thing as holiday stress which can backfire on our health too.)
I always believe in putting our health and well-being as a priority in our lives, even before I had cancer at 23.
We often hear these sayings about taking care of ourselves-
“The first wealth is health.”, “What is health without wealth”, “Prevention is better than cure”.
And even when these has been taught, preached and repeated to us like broken records, how many of us can say they truly are able to put into practice their personal health routines, not succumbing to societal temptations and distractions, in this post-modern era?
I know I had fallen off the bandwagon at times, but somehow I always find myself back on track with newfound revelations around well-being.
This is my intention for the 12-days-of-Christmas-Gift-to you - to guide, support and inspire you to get back on track right now. No need for wait for 2023 to arrive or when the holidays are over.
May your holidays and Christmas season be as healthy and vibrant as it is meant to be.
There is always light when we allow ourselves to see it, feel it, hear it and perhaps taste it, one tiny ray at a time.
🎄On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me..
A CALL OF A CONNECTION.
When we truly observe what’s around us,
When we reflect on the historical events of mankind,
When we just be still,
Notice how we are surrounded by Connection.
Our cells, tissues, organs and networks are all connected to keep our bodies alive.
We come into this world with connections too; first with our birth mother via our umbilical cord. (Before we get “cut” off)
We grow and develop into individuals, connecting with other individuals and with systems-in-place to make surviving as livable as possible.
When I had cancer at 23, I started making more connections as to what could have caused it, despite healing from childhood malaises and living a healthy and active adolescence.
I started looking for synchronicities and patterns in my post-cancer life.
15 years later, with pandemics and rise of #mentalhealth awareness, we realized the importance of connections in our life, more accurately speaking, QUALITY connections.
Quality connections are vital to our wellbeing, even when the technologies and social media surrounding us can somehow try to disconnect us.
💝 Day 1 Gift For You - Ideas to Cultivate Quality Connections
So on this first day of Christmas, I like to invite you to gently remember to first have quality connection with yourself.
Speak life-giving words to yourself.
Look at the mirror and connect.
Record yourself using your phone and replay it to listen if you feel courageous,
Touch your skin with self-soothing massages using lotions and essential oils.
Close your eyes and really listen to your heartbeat if you like to.
Say something nice about yourself.
Then when you are ready, I like to invite you to extend a quality connect with another living being in real time.
(No text-based conversations or posting stories and reels to connect. It’s about time we bring quality connections back to our technological tools.)
It can be your dog, a flower, a tree, your neighbor, the grocer down by the street or even that Amazon Prime delivery guy/gal who’s been working hard and delivering all that last-minute Christmas gifts for you.
A gesture of quality connection need not be grandiose or expensive. It can be as simple and effortless as a smile from your heart, a gift of flower, a small glass of clean water or saying a word of appreciation and encouragement, such as, “Thank you for (doing what you do), I see you; I appreciate what you are doing.”
Connect - and be surprised at what unfolds next.
💝 Your Turn
Share with me, which of the above quality connections would like to try this week?
What are some of the ways you cultivate quality connections?
Till Day 2 of Xmas-gifting,
Yours,
Yan ❤️
💭 QUOTE FOR THOUGHT
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” - Carl Gustav Jung
🙏 Genuine Ask
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