This may sound silly, but when was the last time you looked in the mirror at yourself and said, “I love you.”

What is mirror work?   It’s when you face yourself in the mirror, look into your eyes, and say affirmations to yourself.

Louise Hay, in “You Can Heal Your Life,” clearly describes this simple process.   She helps you gain back your personal power by looking in the mirror and saying “I Love You (put in your name).”   This simple affirmation can have profound affect on your well-being.   

As the day progressed yesterday, my lower back became more tensed and by the end of the day, it was difficult to bend down or get up off the couch.    The pain was speaking to me.

Last night I didn’t sleep that well because every time I turned, my back sent a message to me.  It’s really no fun when you back goes out.   Every day there are so many small actions that I take with my body that uses my back.     It’s amazing how my back just performs without my thinking until the tension in my body heads south to the lower back.  I don’t get back pain often, but any time is too often.

We seem to have a steady diet of stress these days.   Similar to controlling our food intake, we need to find solutions to the stress we ingest into our bodies.

Stress occurs when we have issues with finances, work, relationships or with ourselves. Life can be messy, so there are always opportunities for stress to surface up.    None of us has perfect lives.  Yet we have plenty of opportunities, on a daily basis, to decide whether to increase or decrease the stress in our lives.

I’ve definitely know what the feeling of fatigue is and lately I’ve been experiencing it more.  I’m basically healthy for an older adult so I know this tiredness is caused by other than sickness.  To be on the safe side, I did check out my fatigue with my doctor to insure that there were no physical causes that was generating this tiredness.

When was the last time you forgave someone? It’s not a common word in our vocabulary. I wonder why! I ask myself, how often have I forgiven another or myself and let go of the negative thoughts. As I grow older, I see the value of forgiveness. In my emotional suitcase are many past hurts, misunderstandings, and archaic beliefs that are just weighing me down.

I have to put myself on an emotional diet and weigh in with forgiveness as my tool.

In 2004, I was exposed to Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) at a retreat in Santa Fe.   What fascinated me about this technique was that I could use it on any negative thought, at any time and it didn’t cost me money. That’s empowering!  

What’s Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)?  
EFT is based on acupuncture, without the needles.   A self-help technique that works on bringing relief to the intensity of our emotions, as well as increasing our physical wellbeing.    When using this technique you tap on different areas of your face and upper body.

My health is the #1 priority in my life.  I don’t always treat it so, but my intention is to keep myself focused on my number one priority.  It’s a learning curve for me, and every day I wake up reminding myself that  “today my health is the most important focus for me.”  When I go to bed, I ask how did I treat my physical being today.  Was I neglectful, a little respectful or did I center my energies in treating my body as a priceless gift.