Body & Soul
....words for thought.

Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught Hell for. - Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States.

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It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most, it's making a great deal out of the little ones. - Jean Webster

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RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

The following has been recommended in every publication from Reader's Digest to New Age healing manuals, but this step-by-step relaxation exercise can relieve stress and tension.

Lie down on your back with your arms at your sides or lightly resting on your shest. If that's not possible, sit ina comfortable chair. Put your feet up if you can. Close your eyes. Take several deep breaths.

Relax your feet - You may want to say to yourself, "I am relaxing my feet. They are becomming more and more relaxed." Then go up your body, piece by piece, doing the same thing to relax your ankles, legs, hips, buttocks, stomach, back, and shoulders. Follow through to your hands, arms, jaw, cheeks, eyes, forehead, and scalp.

Feel your entire body relax, and remain this way for five minutes. For a deeper state of relaxation, imagine yourself on an elevator, going from the 10th floor of a building to the 1st floor. Count the floors and relax at each one, as you did throughout your body.

There's another technique for relieving specific tension - particularly in the neck and shoulders - while you are working. Breathe deeply from your abdomen. Each time you exhale, imagine you are sending that healing breath to the part of your body that is sore or fatigued. If you do this for even one or two minutes, it will help.

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If we sincerely want harmony, peace and joy in our lives, we can have them but we must be willing to do the work. We must make maintaining an awareness of our spiritual natures first in our lives. Our inner world is the architect of our external world. We don't lose faith in the goodness of life because we become angry and depressed. We become angry and depressed because we lose faith in the goodness of life. - Susan L. Taylor

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