Borneo Blog :: take it easy

I made a mental note that I need to take it easy. I'm pretty sure I dreamt about this message too, but I just went a bit crazy and decided to walk to Mount Kinabalu National Park yesterday instead of wait 2 hours for a bus (what would you have done?!). Needless to say today has been a rest day.

I'm feeling the effects of too much stress on my body, especially as yesterday it was so hot and again today has been a scorcher.

I suppose I didn't really take it that easy today because I cycled to town to get coconuts, veg and water and then I visited another durian orchard! I feel so tired and ill now though. I need much rest.

I said I'd send durian seeds to someone on Facebook but now I am stressing about it too so I need to stop before I get a full on cold/illness.

Mental health

Sometimes I think I'm crazy because I don't conform. Sometimes I think I'm the only normal person. Sometimes I think my life is a dream. 

One thing I've learned over the last year is that happiness is the second most important aspect of your inner being (first being unconditional love for yourself). It's important to realise happiness is something that just is, it doesn't exist from material possessions, sure you can buy happiness but it has an expiration. True happiness just is.

And this is where mental health comes into play. If we are stressed and depressed we will always seek happiness from without. It's very rare that people look within for the answers. People may visit a doctor who prescribes medications, but in reality we should retreat, meditate, concentrate on what our intuition tells us. 

I've been depressed because of weather, lack of friends, general self hatred but the last thing I did was focus on my inner knowledge. To be honest I never even contemplated that the answers are within us. The person who knows us best is not our mum or partner, it is us! We know ourselves the best. 

Therefore, if you ever feel like you're going crazy, you're sad, depressed, stressed, feeling worthless, etc take some time out for yourself, create a meditation space or go to a meditation centre, learn how to breathe properly and be mindful (aware). I think this is so important nowadays. 

One last thing, you're never alone. I'm here to help :) love yourself and find your inner happiness. *kisses*

Try it Tuesday

Breathe

That might sound crazy, but recently I have been more aware of myself and how I react to life. I am actually more conscious of how overwhelmed my thoughts make me, so I've started to stop and breathe for a few seconds.

My mind is always on go, if I'm doing one thing I am thinking about the next. Sometimes I think about my travels and wonder where to start (actually I started by renewing my passport so at least that's out of the way!) and then I drown myself in a list of mental tasks and become overwhelmed.

I have managed to conquer this by acknowledging what is happening (the flood of thoughts), I stop whatever I am doing (stood up or sat down with my body still), mentally tell myself that I am overwhelmed and that I need to relax, and then I take in a few deep breaths. I take note of my surroundings and try to feel everything in that moment (by feeling I mean sense wise: smells, hearing, touch, etc)

It's amazing how quickly I relax by doing this. 

Most people, particularly those who are stressed, need to stop and breathe. The world is so fast paced and business orientated that our health is often over looked. Simple techniques like this could really help in those situations.

So when you feel like your head will explode, stop and breathe!

Jennifer x

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