Shakaya Leone says 'Pamper yourself like the goddess you are...'

Burn out isn’t beautiful, Baby.  Multi-tasking mamas and other super-sheroes, this is for you…

FOOD DOESN’T GIVE YOU ENERGY- FOOD GIVES STIMULATION

Did you know that it isn’t food that gives you energy?  It is sleep.  Food actually requires energy to be digested, which is why you may feel drowsy after eating.  Sleep is like the battery in a car.  The fuel for our body may be our food, but even with a full tank of gas, if the battery is dead, the car won’t run.  So, even with the most nutritious diet, without proper rest your body cannot function fully.

Animals in the wild get plenty of sleep and look how beautiful, graceful, fit and strong they are!  We may be party-animals and over-achievers capable of turbo-tasking, but the down side is that our inner world can become so ramped up by all the outer stimulation that we cannot wind down properly at night.

YOUR SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ISN’T VERY SYMPATHETIC

The problem with rushing around getting everything done is that oftentimes you may be feeling stressed which triggers the sympathetic nervous system; some women even experience ‘anxiety attacks’ and notice shortness of breath or rapid heart rate for no real reason. These are normal signs of the sympathetic nervous system during a crisis and could help one to escape danger, but this is not a normal response to everyday life.

So what is happening here? Think of it this way- a car has an accelerator and a brake; they are not used at the same time.  But that is what we are doing when we don’t get proper rest and sleep.

Constant misuse of your nervous system over long periods of time causes chronic stress which can result in illness.  Popular author and recovering doing addict, Christine Arylo who wrote Choosing ME before WE says in my book Naked Beauty: ‘There is a silent epidemic crippling today’s 21st century woman. Under the pressure to do, be, and have it all, women’s lives have become unsustainable. But instead of slowing down and listening to the screams of their worn out bodies, women feel no choice but to push through day after day… until the day they push too far and their body stops in revolt.’

YOUR ‘PARA’SYMPATHETIC SYSTEM IS PARAMOUNT

The body ‘forgets’ how to turn off the sympathetic system and needs be re-trained in turning on the ‘para’ system, which is the relaxation system.

To be more relaxed and calm by day and experience deep sleep at night, we must allow for each system to work correctly. To learn how to stimulate your ‘para’ system, which will help calm the overactive sympathetic system, here are 3 very simple and potent relaxing techniques. You can use several times a day or even every hour on the hour for about a minute or so, to attune to the harmony and peacefulness of your parasympathetic system.

3 RELAXATION RITUALS

♥ BREATH calm and deeply and you will begin to instantly relax. Do this at least 10 times, 3 x a day.

♥ VISUALIZE calm, pleasant scenarios or happy memories in your mind’s eye and you can go even deeper in your relaxation.

♥ Repeate MANTRAS or sounds such as ‘Ahhh’ or ‘Om’ or even ‘Thank you’, ‘Yes’, ‘Mmmm’ etc and your relaxation is further enhanced.  Try exhaling these sounds for a real sense of letting go.

These Relaxation Rituals are vitally important especially if you find that you really don’t slow down until bedtime at which point you find yourself tossing and turning unable to fall asleep easily or you cannot stay asleep or go back to sleep…it is usually because you are not relaxed enough.

By applying these techniques in an intentional state of PRAYER or MEDITATION teaches your body to function within both nervous systems properly.  Sleep becomes easier and more restorative as a result.

This is an excerpt from my book Naked Beauty which I am taking to heart.  It’s hard medicine to swallow for this self-confessed night owl to the extreme- I’m a bedtime at 2-4 am and up with kids at 7:30/8 Creatrix!  My high-raw food diet sustains me in the short term- if 9 years is considered short term?  Well, yes it is when I think of how juicy and active I plan on being at 111 😉  I feel amazing, yet I am aware that it may not always be the case if I don’t attend to this missing nutrient of sleep.  This may take some time to change a lifetime habit of nocturnal naughtiness…so in the meanwhile, I am practicing pampering and relaxation rituals during the day to help me unwind at night.

MY 40 DAY EXTREME SELF-CARE PRACTICE

I am currently enveloped in the middle of a 40 Day self-care Practice inspired by Self-Love Queen Christine, so lavish baths are on the agenda, which you can read about in my upcoming EMPRESS LIVING e-Zine when you SUBSCRIBE to my private MAILING LIST below.  And you will get my never before LAVENDER ROSE BATH BEADS recipe that you can make in 2 minutes for the most luxe bathtime ever, at a moments notice.

Shakaya Leone's aromatherapy bath beads

So, when do you turn in, Sleeping Beauty? And, do you have any great relaxation rituals and pampering pearls you’d love to share?  Let’s start an Earth Empress pampering panacea  ♥

Tagged: exquisite self care, naked beauty, natural health and beauty, raw foods, raw renewal, Raw Spa, rejuvenation, sensual beauty, sleep