After the “warm-me-up eating urges” of winter, Spring is the best time to “climb back into your body”.  This is like reminding yourself of what and who you are, detoxing your body and mind, becoming aware of your body and its everyday workings. However, be gentle with getting back into your body.  Just as blossoms gently bloom on the trees now is not the time to work off all that winter excess in one week!

In the 00’s we are so caught up in the rat-race, technology, information-overload era that most of the time we are completely disconnected from our bodies.  We stop listening to our bodies and stop hearing the cries for help that manifest as stress, illness or little aches and pains.   We live in a time that is becoming so cerebral that most people are walking around with disembodied minds -  where the mind is so in control that the needs of the body are completely disregarded.

Why not treat yourself to a “Spring Ceremony” for your body that will help you reconnect with your body and its needs?

Run a warm bath and throw in some Epsom Salts (which help to detox and also cleanse the energy fields around the body), light some candles, put on some soothing music and relax in the bath, close your eyes and just become aware of your body.  Check your body for any feelings of stress or tension and see that tension dissolve like bath salts into the water.  While quieting your mind, move each part of your body and imagine yourself fitting back into your own skin. Become a part of your body again.

Give honour to your body for the incredible vehicle it is that houses your mind and spirit and allows you to exist in this world.   Most of the time, we concentrate on the media-created flaws of our bodies, instead of rejoicing in the beauty and splendour of the miracle that our bodies represent.

During your bath, as you enjoy relaxing, tell each area of your body why you are grateful for it.   And remind yourself of the amazing organs and powerhouses we have within our compact system we know as the body.

Thank your ears for the richness of sound that they bring to the world, thank your legs for their support as you move around the world, thank your heart for it’s consistent beat that keeps you alive, thank your toes for their ability to curl in delight – whatever you are grateful for with each body part, say it out loud – it creates an incredible energy within.

I travel often and find myself in OR Tambo Airport a few times a month and I normally can’t resist going to the Kauai store to buy myself something delicious instead of settling for nasty, bland aeroplane food.

About a year ago I met Lerato, a woman who works at Kauai and would always greet me with a friendly ‘aloha’ and beautiful smile and she would always be cheerful and vivacious - that was until November last year. I walked up to the Kauai counter expecting my usual fun interaction with Lerato (which of corse includes sprinklings of Fairy Dust) but this time I was greeted by a long, sullen face and a bad attitude. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she wasn’t enjoying her job, she was hating it in fact and wanted to find something else. I suggested to her that while she may start looking for another job, in the meantime she should start getting GRATEFUL for everything that she has now, she should look at her life and then take a piece of paper and write down all the things that she is grateful for and see how her life suddenly gets transformed.

She didn’t quite believe me, but she agreed to do the “Gratitude List” anyway… and a few months later I was back in the airport and popped past the Kauai and there she was, back to her bubbly, happy self…. take a look at what she has to say about what she has learned about the power of gratitude.

What have you got to be grateful for?

How has being grateful transformed thngs in your life?

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