| Finding our balance of happiness, energy and peace has us trying many things. Taking a daily moment to clear our mind and focus on our breathing may be the key to the start of that search. Mindfulness and Wellness are words that have become part of today’s culture. It’s quite common to hear people say, “I’m going to take some time for myself.” But the way we manage our stress and wellness journey is a bit different today than in centuries past. Nowadays, we can download an app to calm our mind, set a timer to take a mental break or “fast” from electronics. However the wellness journey of years past was much more of a public and communal form of mindfulness and almost always included heat, sweating and a spiritual component. The wellness journey is a very old and ancient one with many different ways to relax and rejuvenate depending on what part of the world you are from. Mindfulness has its roots tracing back to ancient civilizations from the East (India, China) to the West (Rome, Greece). There were Turkish baths or “hammans” where people go to purify their bodies and their souls or how about soaking in hot volcanic ash called a Japenese “onsen.” If that is not your cup of tea, the Native American culture believes in, “sweat lodges” where you sit in a circle and sweat for several hours, a ceremony which focuses on the spiritual, pushing the body and the mind to its limits. In Finland, it is estimated that there are about two million saunas or approximately one for every two or three people. So whatever your definition of mindfulness is, there are a million in one ways to calm the mind, rest the brain and travel on your wellness journey. Namaste. https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/what-is-wellness/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20121129-the-origins-of-bathhouse-culture-around-the-world |
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