Checklist for HealthWe are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
— PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN
Ayurveda is a consciousness-based system of health that includes spiritual practices. At my yoga center, I have found that many clients who suffer physical and, more important, emotional symptoms, have neglected to include a spiritual practice in their daily lives. If you are in that category and are not sure how to integrate a spiritual practice, or are hesitant, this section will give you the tools you need in order to begin.
Defined simply, the word spiritual relates to the human spirit or soul beyond the physical or material. The problem with the concept of spirituality is that people either love it or hate it. Most don’t understand what it really means to be spiritual. And others associate spirituality strictly with religion. If we truly are spiritual beings having a human experience, as Teilhard de Chardin proposes, how is it that so few of us actually know what this is about?
I believe the intimate link between the word spiritual and the word religion has caused mistrust in the concept of spirituality because of the imperfect nature of religion as an institution. Many people I meet state they are spiritual but not religious. Yet upon further conversation I realize that they are, in fact, more religious than spiritual. Even though some people prefer to embrace the concept of spirituality rather than religion, sometimes that’s difficult to do. Most of us have been brought up in one religion or another. Religion, like a person’s cultural or educational upbringing, becomes ingrained in the fabric of who we are; and no matter what we do to change the course of our thinking or belief system, it remains there, like a faithful friend. And in denying this fact, we often find that this faithful friend becomes more present. So if you were brought up Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, or something else, just accept it as a part of your upbringing. But it doesn’t mean you can’t expand upon what you’ve learned.
Spirituality, on the other hand, while related in some way to religion, is a whole other ball game. I believe that, because spirituality, unlike religion, is difficult to delineate, many fear the subject. The fear may come from our inability to explain it. To paraphrase Dr. Deepak Chopra, “When something happens which we cannot explain, we call it a miracle. But when we discover the reason why, we call it science. Yet, it does not make it less miraculous.”
Our knowledge of what is, is extremely limited. If we were to base our thinking, beliefs, and sense of possibility only on what we know, we would be living in a tiny box. And most of us do. It’s as if we’ve moved into a house of one hundred rooms and, instead of exploring or even being aware that we live in such a house, we confine ourselves to four rooms. Of course we can live a decent life in those four rooms, but why not explore the other ninety-six?
It is imperative that, in the process of healing or living a life of wholeness, we expand our view of life and the possibilities contained within it. So, when we define spirituality, we can expand our view beyond religion and, as a result, also have a sense of intuition and experience such things as coincidences, good luck, love, awe, compassion, wonder, and excitement. And when we expand, we feel a sense of connectedness, trust, surrender, and flow. Then we experience the miraculous.
Please understand, it does not matter what religion you adhere to, if any; you can and do live a spiritual life. It also doesn’t matter if you believe in a higher being. I’ve met self-proclaimed atheists who weren’t actually atheists at all. Many had been disappointed by their own concept of God, such as when they asked for something that didn’t manifest in their lives. Others had been so turned off by religion that they concluded that anything related to a life of God creates violence, chaos, and disharmony. And some, who believe that nothing exists beyond the physical realm or that which can be proved, have opted out the possibility of a higher being. However, most atheists admit there is something else, whether it is called Mother Nature or universal organization. Call life beyond the physical what you will. But a life of healing cannot occur without embracing this part of you.
In cultivating your awareness of your spiritual self, it’s essential to turn inward to find it. All our lives we have been called to the outside world in everything we do. When we were born, our attachment to our parents or other caregivers gave us what we needed to survive. We looked to those same caregivers, as well as siblings, grandparents, and other family members, to help us form our concept of self and our place in the world. In school, we looked to our teachers and friends for approval and guidance. In every part of our lives — at work, in relationships, and in daily life — we are drawn outside ourselves. How often have you been asked to look inside yourself?
In order to get in touch with our spiritual essence, we must expand our view of what it means to be spiritual. I believe the easiest concept to begin with is intuition. Often we struggle to make decisions, forgetting that the answers we seek are contained within. Have you ever been in a situation where you “felt” danger, although you couldn’t quite put your finger on why? Or have you ever met someone and, in an instant, had a sense that this person would be your new best friend? If so, you were homing in on your intuition.
Since the body, mind, soul, and spirit are interconnected, when you begin to connect to this sense you will feel sensations in your body guiding you in the right direction. You will no longer struggle to make decisions. Ask your body if a decision feels right, and you will get an answer: either a sinking feeling or a feeling of ease. A successful Japanese businessman was once asked how he became so successful. He answered that he felt his body before making any business transaction, and that the answers his body gave him were never wrong. Heightened intuition leads to spontaneous right action or decision-making, if you follow it. When pondering a decision, close your eyes, place your hand over your belly in the area of your solar plexus, and ask the question. Wait for a sensation in the body. With practice, you will begin to understand your body’s signals and become sensitive to what’s right for you.
Going from Tunnel Vision to Funnel Vision
Our agreement with reality has been formed over time. As newborns, we embraced infinite possibilities. And then our parents began to tell us what to do or what not to do. Then began the process of turning our expansive view of the world into a constricted view. The process of cultural and social conditioning gives us tunnel vision in all that we do, think, and perceive. Often the conditioning is so strong that we make decisions or think thoughts without knowing why. Have you ever bought something or performed some other action by habit and then said to yourself, “Why am I doing this? I don’t even want this.” Let’s say you have a habit of getting coffee and a donut at ten every morning, but then one day you realize you don’t really like donuts. It’s just something you’ve done for years. Awareness is the result of coming to that realization and, the next day, buying a yogurt or a piece of fruit instead. Lack of awareness is knowing you don’t like donuts but continuing to buy them because it’s what you’ve always done.
Buying a food item is a trivial example, but we go through this process all the time with decisions big and small. Suppose you’ve gone to church every Sunday because your parents taught you it was the right thing to do. In this case, you hate your church, wake up in a bad mood on Sunday morning, drag yourself to Mass, put in your time, and head home. Then one Sunday, Mass is canceled because of a snowstorm and you stay home. You snuggle in your favorite chair, take out some inspirational literature, stare in amazement at the snow glistening in the sun, and feel a sense of contentment and connectedness to all that is. You tell me which one of those actions is more expansive. I am not implying that going to church is a bad thing. I am suggesting that listening to your inner voice and honoring it connects you to your spiritual self. Social and cultural conditioning were necessary to get you where you are today. But if you are going to open up the other ninety-six rooms, you need to let go of that conditioning. Letting go may be temporary or permanent. It’s a choice. But it becomes conscious choice-making rather than conditioned choice-making. And with conscious choice-making, we’re better prepared to live with the consequences of our choices, whether good, bad, or neutral.
Another reason why most people stick to their four rooms is that doing so is familiar and comfortable. Holding on to what we know keeps us in our comfort zone, even if we’re not content. The first time you begin to question your choices or thoughts, and then take action in the direction that feels right but different, can be extremely scary. You are stepping into something new and unfamiliar. The voice of past conditioning can be very loud: “You shouldn’t do that,” “What if . . . ,” or better yet, “We’ve never done it that way; that’s not the way it’s done.” If you hear these conversations in your head, shut them out for now. They are remnants of your past holding you back. You can let them back in when you’re ready. Then question them to see if they are true. One false belief that we hold on to when living in fear of moving forward is that there’s no going back. As you expand your awareness, you’re exploring new horizons. Who says there’s no going back? There’s no rule stating that once you’ve left your previous conditioning, you can’t go back. You always have that possibility. Let’s take the example of going weekly to church: Suppose you decide to skip church for a few weeks and try out your new Sunday ritual. Then, after a month or two, you decide you actually miss going to church, or that it was inspirational for you. Will someone levy a punishment or fine if you go back? I doubt it.
For a brief time, I was a Girl Scout leader for my daughter’s troop. The badges earned on their vests are called Try-Its. The girls earned each Try-It when they accomplished three or four items on a list, which proved they had actually tried a new activity. I thought the name and concept were brilliant because they encouraged the girls to try new things without feeling that they had to like them or adopt them permanently into their lives. As adults we need to do the same. Try new things, test the waters, start to expand your vision of reality, and see what works.
Cultivating the Act of Witnessing Awareness
When we stay mired in our thoughts, we usually stay in the realm of past conditioning. Once we begin to witness our thoughts, we can determine whether they are old and outdated or new and evolutionary.
The concept of becoming a witness is simple. In a new environment, you do this all the time. You take in the sights and scenery and listen to the sounds: you notice what’s happening all around you. Once we’re used to an environment and have assessed or judged a situation, we stop witnessing. We go about our day on autopilot unless something interrupts our pattern. Other terms for witnessing include noticing and observing. Watch yourself as you go through your day — observe your thoughts, actions, and words. Don’t judge yourself, just watch.
The better you become at observing yourself, the easier it will be to pick up on patterns in behavior that are no longer serving you. The first step is noticing. And when you’re ready, you can set your intention to change those patterns into ones that will serve you better.
Another tool to cultivate is listening to your internal dialogue. We all have conversations with ourselves, which include phrases we repeat endlessly. Witness your internal dialogue. Notice when you repeat things to yourself. Do you hear negative self-talk? Are you telling yourself things that may be no longer true?
In my classes with Dr. David Simon, he used to explain that there are three gateways between a thought and speaking. Before something slips through your lips, ask yourself these questions: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? The questions were intended to address dialogue with others, but you can apply them to your inner dialogue too.
Take the first question: Is it true? We repeat things to ourselves for years without regard for their truthfulness. For instance, I grew up with the notion that I couldn’t play sports. When I was young I didn’t have good hand-eye coordination, especially when it came to sports played with a ball. My automatic response and thought pattern became: “I can’t play sports.” One day, I realized that this response might not be true. I was asked to join a volleyball game on the beach, and instead of making my usual response, I agreed to play without saying anything. Now instead of repeating a phrase that is not true, I may say, “I’m not especially good at basketball,” or, “I’m rusty and need practice.” Those statements are true.
Here’s another example. I have a client who’s single and who has recently lost a lot of weight. She looks fabulous and is naturally beautiful. She said to me, “I can’t stop thinking when I’m out in public: ‘I’m unapproachable. Guys do not approach me.’” Looking at her, I thought the statement completely absurd. In order for her to make a truthful statement, she needed to shift her inner dialogue to something like: “I’m thin and beautiful. Guys will approach me with ease.”
Let’s suppose that a statement you’re repeating to yourself is true. But it may not be necessary to repeat it. Maybe you were from a broken home or grew up without knowing your dad or were orphaned at a young age. While these statements may be true, continually repeating them doesn’t open up your life to newer possibilities and healing, so let them go.
The third question, “Is it kind?” is probably the most important one. As you begin to notice your internal dialogue, do you notice kindness? Are you kind to yourself? Are you kind to others in your thoughts? If you can answer yes, you are on the right path, regardless of how others perceive you. Start with kindness toward yourself, especially as you begin witnessing your awareness. Wherever you are now in your journey, if you never notice your patterns they can never change.
Exercise: Internal-Dialogue Assessment
As you begin to notice your internal dialogue, write down the phrases that come up most often, either internally or in the things you say about yourself to others.
Phrases I repeat to myself that are positive:
Phrases I repeat to myself that are negative:
Next, turn the negative thoughts or phrases you wrote down into ones that are more positive or are going to serve you better.
EXAMPLE: Turn the negative phrase “I am lazy” into a positive one like this: “I’m learning to make lists and manage my time better each day.”
One of the best ways to cultivate the act of witnessing awareness is to practice meditation. Meditation is the quieting of the mind field. It lowers the number of thoughts we have in a day. It brings calm stillness to the mind and body and helps us access our higher, or spiritual, selves.
When taught properly, meditation is fairly easy to do. At the Ayurvedic Path, we practice a mantra-based meditation technique called Primordial Sound Meditation, which is also practiced at the Chopra Center. Another type of mantra-based meditation practice is Transcendental Meditation. In my experience, mantra meditations are among the most successful because the mind is given something to do. You silently repeat a mantra, which is a sound without meaning, and the mantra replaces thought. The nature of the mind is to think thoughts, and if you go into meditation with the intention of stopping thought altogether, it’s nearly impossible.
Even if you have no formal training in meditation, you can sit in silence with your eyes closed for a few minutes each day. Find a spot in your home or office where you have few or no distractions, close your eyes, and observe your breath for five minutes. If your mind wanders, bring it back to your breath. Don’t try to control your breath; just watch. You may notice that it gets faster, or maybe it falls into a pattern. That’s okay; just let it be.
Meditation is beneficial on every level, from physical to emotional and spiritual. To name a few benefits, it lowers blood pressure, normalizes heart rate, increases immune capacity, decreases stress hormones, and improves sleep. The effects of meditation on the body are quite different from those of rest or sleep. You do experience restfulness after meditating, but the benefits are slightly different because the body is in a different state.
Find a meditation teacher in your area to learn how to properly meditate. It can be frustrating to do it on your own. In the appendix, you will find a few websites that might help you locate a meditation teacher or center near you.
Two main reasons why most students who have an interest in meditation don’t meditate are that they believe their minds cannot be calmed, and that meditation is a waste of precious time.
Thinking Thousands of Thoughts a Day
When talking with my yoga students about learning meditation, the most frequent excuse I hear is: “I think way too many thoughts. I could never sit still and turn my mind off.” In response, I always laugh because that was me before 2007.
The nature of the mind is to think thoughts. It’s said that we have anywhere from fifty thousand to sixty thousand thoughts a day. Most of those thoughts are the same ones we had the previous day. Needless to say, the mind is a pretty busy place. If you can relate to having many thoughts, too many thoughts, or even a hundred thousand thoughts a day, know that you are normal. Having thoughts means you are alive. Congratulations!
The practice of meditation helps to lower the number of thoughts, creates new thoughts instead of repetitive ones, and aids in the evolution of thought. Your mind will become calmer. There will be periods of silence in the mind instead of constant chatter. Because of the society we live in, the mind is on hyperdrive. Even as I sit here writing this, I hear the ping of my iPhone letting me know I have an email. As I hear the ping, I am tempted to stop writing and check my email. The constant call of numerous means of communication, and other distractions, adds to the chatter. Meditation in your daily routine will slow your mind down, sift through and separate the useless from the useful thoughts, and make your life easier.
In the beginning, when you start meditating, it’s not easy. As soon as you sit down and become silent, the mind has all kinds of things to say to you. At this point, an untrained meditator may quit and get up. But if you stick with it, the mind eventually allows you some silence. Before I started my formal meditation practice, I learned guided meditation from a nurse practitioner during my cancer treatment. She taught me to watch my thoughts like an old movie flickering across a screen. While sitting in meditation, you will see a thought arise, transition through your mind space, and — if you do nothing with it — go away. Judging it or asking questions of it will make it stay longer. But if you simply watch it and let it alone, it will drift by. Meditating is much like watching yourself go through daily activity, but instead of watching your activity you will be watching your thoughts.
As I have learned, I am entirely in control of my thoughts. You are the thinker of thoughts, so you have control. The nurse I mentioned earlier told me, when I did my own Internal-Dialogue Assessment exercise (described in the section on witnessing awareness), that if I had a disturbing or upsetting thought I could put flowers around that thought and let it go. Your mental image can be flowers, white light, or whatever else makes you feel good. Don’t supply power to negative or disturbing thoughts. You have that choice. Through this observation, you will learn that you are not your thoughts. You are the orchestrator of thoughts.
Meditation is not about stopping thought altogether. Stop ping it is virtually impossible. You may experience a pause in thought, which is called slipping into the gap or space in between thoughts, but you won’t stop your mind completely. But what we can do is use a mantra in meditation as an instrument to replace thought. Typically, mantras have no meaning, and so they do not create associations. In silently repeating a mantra, you replace thought by giving the mind something else to do. One useful mantra is so hum. This mantra can be silently repeated with one breath: so on the inhalation and hum on the exhalation. It’s easy to use and can be prolonged with a longer breath to slow down your breathing.
Deciding that you can’t meditate because you think too many thoughts is the same as deciding that you can’t eat because you’re afraid of eating too much. It’s ridiculous!
Another excuse for not meditating that people frequently make is: “I feel like I’m wasting my time while meditating when I could get so many other things done.” I previously used this excuse too — and still do sometimes, even though nothing could be farther from the truth.
Meditation is a connection to everything that is. As you meditate, you plug into universal energy. We live so independently, thinking we can accomplish and achieve everything on our own. We live by mantras such as: “I have so many problems,” “I have bills to pay,” and “My house is a mess.” With this mind-set, we strive never to arrive. We’re so busy doing that we don’t take time to be, to allow. It’s in the allowing that we create open space for whatever it is we desire to come to us.
When you’re constantly doing, making lists, accomplishing tasks, going for the goal, how many problems do you encounter? In that mode I have found that I encounter quite a few. And when you hit these roadblocks, you get angry, frustrated, and anxious. But what if you came across the same problem and let it go instead, trusting that you would find the solution in time? To do this, you would add the problem to your intentions list, sit silently in meditation, and allow the solution to come to you. In this way we solve problems better, more efficiently, with little error. In your doing mode, you probably bulldoze your way through problems and, because of the frustration and anxiety they provoke, make rash decisions that may turn out wrong. Can you remember a time when this happened?
So here is my rationale. Because we connect to universal energy in meditation, our lives become better organized and more efficient, and we waste less time. Decisions become easy. We enjoy life more because we’re less worried, nervous, and stressed. The right people simply show up at the right time. Life flows. And when you do encounter another problem, you set an intention to find a solution, you state that intention before you begin meditation, and then you let it go. The universe will handle the details for you.
Honestly, I don’t fully understand how a computer works, yet I use one every day. I trust that it will store my information, retrieve that information when I need it, and take me to the Internet daily. I simply trust that it will work. The type of computer I use, MacBook Pro, has been tested by computer experts and used by countless numbers of consumers; and Macs have been around at least since the beginning of home computers.
No one fully understands how and why meditation works, either, but it does. Studies using electrodes have allowed researchers to scan brain waves during meditation, when the body enters a state of calm, wakeful awareness. This relaxed state differs from sleep, according to a joint study on nondirective meditation by researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Sydney University in Australia.1 During meditation, delta waves, the brain activity waves associated with sleep, are decreased, while alpha and theta waves are increased. So, as you meditate, your brain is actually processing information, experiences, and emotions, allowing things to work themselves out.
This may be why, according to a study based on the use of Transcendental Meditation and published in the International Journal of Neuroscience, researchers found that the biological ages of meditators were on average five to ten years lower than their chronological ages. Meditators are continually de-stressing.2 And if you’re still not convinced, let me point out that a tool used successfully for thousands of years may have some credibility.
You can home in on your intuition, practice witnessing your awareness, watch your thoughts, and meditate or pray. But living a spiritual life also requires practicing right action. Throughout the years, I’ve collected suggestions from authors and speakers on the subject of spirituality. And while I could discuss many more here, I’ve narrowed the list down to ten things you can do each day to get in touch with your spiritual self.
1. Practice Gratitude
Every morning, wake up and say thank you. “Thank you for this beautiful day.” “Thank you for a new opportunity.” Whatever makes you arise from your bed happily, give gratitude for it.
Every time anyone does anything for you, say thank you. Express gratitude in everything you do. When you get caught up in a bad mood, stop and find something to be grateful for. Life is too short to get wrapped up in self-pity, and we receive so many gifts. Be thankful. Give thanks to your creator, however you perceive him or her. We have a tendency to use God as a vending machine. Say thank you instead.
Create a gratitude journal and write in it every day. If nothing else, write, “Thank you for the air I breathe.”
2. Have a Namasté Day
I love this exercise, and I encourage all my meditation students to do it. The word namasté is a greeting. But the essence of the word is: “I honor the light in you, which is the same as the light in me, and I know we are one.” When you say namasté, you are honoring the other person’s soul, not her body, mind, position, or social status. And souls don’t wear Prada, Gucci, or Louis Vuitton. In other words, in universal consciousness, every one of us is equal.
Pick a day when you will encounter many people, from cashiers to coworkers to family members or friends. Designate that day as your Namasté Day. During the entire day, look directly into the eyes of everyone you encounter and silently bid those people namasté. It takes a brief moment to look into someone’s eyes with the intention of honoring her soul, but the rewards are amazing. Afterward, go about your business with that person. But notice what happens. The conversation will take a different turn. She may smile more. You may smile more. The interaction becomes more pleasant, grounded, and surprising. Even if nothing earth-shattering happens the first time, repeat the exercise throughout the day and observe. You will notice a difference at least in how you feel.
We have developed a “box” lifestyle. We live in a box. We get into a moving box to go to our “work” box. Then, we may head to the gym box and back to our home box. You could probably go for days without actually being outdoors for more than a few minutes at a time. This counters our inherent nature — we are mammals, after all. Up until about a hundred years ago, the human race had to spend time outdoors to get food, grow food, and build and maintain shelter. Even though we’ve created these boxes, we remain intimately linked to nature and need to experience it to stay healthy. Allow the sun to shine on your face. Saunter barefoot through the grass. Take a walk outdoors daily. Sit and have your morning coffee outside. Find a way to immerse yourself in nature daily.
4. Experience Wonder and Awe
Instead of going through life with blinders on, wrapped up in all you have to do, stop and embrace the simple but miraculous world around you. Take moments in the day to watch birds fly, observe a child at play, catch a sunset, or take a new route to work and notice something new.
We tend to program ourselves to do the same things with the same routine, and we lose our sense of wonder. Notice that small children are amazed at most everything. The world is such an astonishing place, and there are many new things to discover and old things to observe.
5. Take Time to Laugh Each Day
This may seem self-evident, but truly laughter can heal you. According to research by Robin Dunbar and his colleagues, evolutionary psychologists at Oxford University, laughter produces endorphins and natural pain-relieving chemicals — which are equally produced by physical activity.3
Start by smiling often. Smile as you answer the phone; smile at the lady at the coffeehouse who gives you your morning coffee. Find something to laugh about. Life should be a joyful experience. Laugh especially at yourself. It helps not to take yourself so seriously. Motivational speaker and author Leo Buscaglia said, “Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper. It doesn’t solve anything, but it sure improves the situation.”
6. Give Someone Your Full Attention Each Day
Have you ever been conversing with a friend, only to have her look down, check her phone, and text someone while you were talking? If we are to live in the present moment and connect with our higher selves and others, it’s important to practice staying immersed in the present. Give one person today your full attention. Tomorrow, increase it to two people. Notice when you get distracted by devices while you are with other people.
7. Hug Often and Touch Often
Human touch is certainly one of the most fundamental aspects of health, wellness, and happiness. It saddens me to think that so many people spend each day without being touched by another person. Hug your neighbors, your friends, your children, and your lover. Find opportunities to touch someone’s hand, shoulder, or face. In this society we have become so afraid of touch — because of potential lawsuits or accusations of sexual misconduct — that we have disconnected ourselves from this fundamental human need. My youngest son, a second grader at the time and only seven years old, was told by his teacher that he could not hug his best friend because there was a “no touching policy” in school. My thought was: “What is this world coming to that children are taught in school not to hug their friends?”
8. Perform Random Acts of Kindness
Each day, find something nice to do for someone at random. You could buy a colleague a cup of coffee. Offer to take a friend out for dinner. It could be a small thing that costs nothing, such as letting someone into your lane while driving. Kindness is all about connection and reaching outside yourself and your own problems. Next time you’re feeling self-pity or sadness, go out and do something for someone else.
9. Forgive, Let Go, and Move On
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.
— MARK TWAIN
Life is too short to hold on to grievances. When someone hurts you and you fail to forgive, the poison in that arrow penetrates you, not the other. Chances are, the other person has forgotten what happened. And when you hold on to the pain, it keeps you from moving forward. Forgiveness is internal. You can inform the person or persons who hurt you that you forgive them, but it’s not necessary for your own healing.
Once you’ve forgiven someone in your heart, let go of the grievance completely. Don’t allow the memory to haunt you further. If it’s something you’ve held on to for a while, it’s already taken up a portion of your life. The last part of the process is moving on. People grow and change, as do relationships. When you allow yourself to forgive, even you change. And forward is the direction you must go for healing and growth to occur.
10. Love Like There’s No Tomorrow
Being love is absolutely the best way to embrace your spiritual self. In subsequent chapters we will focus more on emotions, relationships, and your past. But for now, suffice it to say that being loving is the best way you can be. More of your true self comes out in love than in any other way. Observe yourself showing and giving love. By far, it is the most important thing you will ever do.
Explore your own definition of the word spiritual.
Listen to your intuition. Feel signals in your body when you have decisions to make.
Pay attention to the choices you make, and decide whether they are based on social conditioning and habit or on conscious choices.
Notice your internal dialogue. Write down your positive internal dialogue, and create a plan to turn around negative internal dialogue.
Learn meditation and practice it twice a day for twenty to thirty minutes each time.
Practice living a spiritual life by experiencing gratitude and by giving.