DragonRising Publishing

To celebrate to summer holidays and DragonRising's own Summer Holiday Sale, Sally Topham, author of Finding the River, has put together 10 things to help you relax and make your holiday a time of healing.

Read on for Sally's great article, which will help you switch off this summer...

Sally Topham writes: "Summer’s here! And many of us are looking forward to our holidays – if we’re not already taking some time off.

Holidays are an extremely good invention, especially if we really make the most of them! Now is the time to give yourself permission to press the ‘pause’ button and take some much-needed space for yourself.

But it’s sometimes hard to switch off, isn’t it? Stress and pressure are so much a part of life in our culture nowadays. We’ve got fast food, fast travel. We rush around from A-B and are beset by deadlines at work and at home. All this has a knock-on effect on our mental and physical states causing tiredness, chronic fatigue, depression, high blood pressure, and a general weakening of our immune systems.

So, if we’re going to start making a dent in this madness, a holiday is a really great time to start trying out a few ideas to take off the pressure.

10 THINGS TO HELP YOU R-E-L-A-X AND MAKE YOUR HOLIDAY A TIME OF HEALING

• Choose a couple of really good books to read – perhaps the latest one by a favourite author?  -  or something that’s been recommended by a friend.
• Get lots of fresh air and enjoy as much time out in Nature as you can. Many of us spend too much time indoors or in offices which are either stuffy or air-conditioned.
• Give yourself lots of Reiki (if you know how to do it) or treat yourself to a session.  Alternatively, try having a massage to relax those muscles and ease away accumulated tension.
• Go for walks, or swim, climb, trek, dance or garden (whatever is most appealing or do them all if you want!)  This is all good exercise and really helps you to relax and enjoy some quality sleep afterwards. Getting a good night’s sleep is so important and is a vital basis for our health and wellbeing.
• Tap away your stress and problems with Emotional Freedom Technique  or EFT as it’s better known. (You can read up on how to do it in my book “Finding the River”).
• LAUGH! It’s one of the best antidotes to stress. Watch films or TV programmes that make you laugh. Spend time with friends who have a good sense of humour.
• Give yourself a media break. Try going for 24 hours without watching TV, listening to the radio, answering  or writing  emails or doing anything on a computer. Stay away from newspapers, magazines, Twitter and Facebook etc.  This really gives you an idea of how much time we spend on these things and how compulsive they can become for us. Giving yourself a day off from all this stuff can be very healing!
• If you don’t already journal, try keeping one this summer. You don’t have to write every day. Just take time out to note down your feelings now and again.  It’s a wonderful way of becoming more aware of what’s going on inside of you and gaining a greater sense of clarity about where you are. Remember, we grow with every experience, thought and understanding we have and even challenges and problems can become tools for healing and transformation if we view them in that light.
• Cultivate gratitude - it’s the best way to live a life of abundance! Write a list of all the things which make you feel grateful. Remember the simple things in life which are so good : the warm sun on your body; the love and support of friends; the sound of birdsong  - as well as the more material things. Before you go to sleep, run through the good things of the day – no matter how small - and give thanks for them.
• Meditate. This is the ultimate ‘pause button’ technique. If you don’t know how to do it, there’s lots of examples and ideas in my book you could try! Or just spend time staring out to sea, watching sunsets or gazing at beautiful views. They’re all meditational activities and will connect you back to Nature which is healing in itself.

Enjoy the Summer!"

Sally Topham's book, Finding the River: The Energy Self-Help Guide for Surviving Life's Challenges, along with many other great books & audio products, is available with 30% off in the DragonRising Summer Holiday Sale