The Write to Health

Ever since I was a young girl I took my big sister’s words as gold.  If she rejected an idea then I followed suit. If she approved of something, then there was a good chance I would do it.  I have never gone ahead and done something that big sis’ disapproved of…until now.   My sister, who doesn’t even have a Facebook account, can’t fathom why anyone would desire to put it all out there and start a blog.   In fact, most of my friends and family who see how much I have on my plate at the present time, are a bit confused at my commitment to write.

This blog, like all the other crazy things I do, is centred around my great desire to maintain my own health and vitality.

I really enjoy writing, and feel more purposeful when I happened to write about the things in life that I am most passionate about.  As soon I log onto my blog and tap away at my keyboard, nothing else seems to matter, time stops, I become present and focused, a tranquility fills my mind and a calmness sweeps into my space.  This is the state where creativity lies.

The human body has always fascinated me, but I think I was the most enamoured by our design when I first learned about the direct link between creativity and healing.

I’ll never forget the day where I first grasped this information about the Autonomic Nervous System.  Basically, that there are two parts; our Sympathetic Nervous System (flight or flight); and our Parasympathetic Nervous System (rest and relaxation).   In times of stress or crisis, we release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol.  These hormones increase our heart-rate, heighten our senses, raise our blood sugar, and allow us to become alert in preparation for a fight or flight from danger.   Our Parasympathetic Nervous System is where our body repairs itself, digestion takes place, and where the immune and reproductive systems kick in.   The two nervous systems work independently of each other.  In other words, you cannot be in both systems simultaneously.   Either you are in perceived danger and your body is in a reactive state, prepared for battle, or you are healing.   At no time is your body able to do both.  This is because our digestion, immunity, reproductive system, growth and repair etc. are extremely metabolically expensive.  Our cleverly designed little bodies know that during a threat, these systems are not critical to our survival, and rather the energy needs to be saved for let’s say, to run from a sabre tooth tiger, or perhaps a tsunami.

Sure, it’s not often we have to run from a sabre tooth tiger these days (thank god), but any perceived threat or stress will kick your body into fight or flight.   Constant worry, anxiety, fear of the future, stressful jobs, break-ups and so on, keep our bodies in a perpetual state of fight or flight.   That is not what our stress response was designed for.  It was meant to assist us in a short brush with danger.  Once we either out ran the sabre tooth, or we somehow managed to kill it with our bare hands, we would then lay under a tree somewhere and relax.   This continual state of emergency we tend to currently live in, means we are not giving our bodies enough time in PNS or rest and relaxation.   Even when we do sit down and rest, we have a hard time turning our mind away from our crisis, so we remain under distress.

Okay, so what the hell does that have to do with me writing?

I only recently learned that creativity is only possible when you are in PNS.  That means if you are doing something you love, something that requires no motivation, but simply inspiration, where hours can just pass by and you have completely lost your sense of time, then you have forced your brain to switch into a place where you are literally healing.   This is why you might hear someone say that playing an instrument feels therapeutic to them…that is because it actually is!

Starting this blog required me to push through a lot of insecurities, as it puts me at greater risk of being judged or ridiculed.  It goes against the advice of the person who’s opinion means the most to me.  As someone who used her English class in high school as more of a spare block than anything else, it was with great difficulty that I came to the idea that I had any right to start a blog.   But, once I learned the benefit of abandoning all those worries and just doing what I loved, as it relates to my wellbeing, then it became a paramount part of my wellness routine, just the same as exercising, eating well and positive thinking.

You may say that you are not creative, but it’s not true.  Any activity that you get lost in: cooking, painting, gardening, etc.  are spaces where you are healing.   Whatever the belief you have that limits you from doing something that inspires you, it’s time to retire it, as those limiting beliefs are literally killing you.

When the voice and the vision on the inside become louder and more profound than the opinions expressed on the outside, then you have began to master your life.

-Dr Demartini

Hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.   Shares, follows and likes really give me the courage to keep going and are greatly appreciated.

Sending love from Sydney

-Maria