Health and Wealth the Medicine Wheel Way: Part 3

We know you are enjoying the information about the Medicine Wheel because your comments and emails have indicated your delight! We continue today with the words of or Guest Blogger, Ralph P. Brown. We also wish to alert you to the possibility you could avail yourself of this man's wisdom on a regular basis. If you have visited Mirrored Windows you have seen that you can sign up to receive his Newsletter.

Again we offer our heartfelt gratitude to Ralph P. Brown and Mirrored Windows for a grand opportunity for our visitors to learn about the Indian culture!

"THE SOUTH – the Emotional

As the sun travels in a clockwise direction around the earth, so we will honor this by traveling in the same direction around the Medicine Wheel. With that, we enter the south and the emotional body. Our emotional body has both an inner and an outer aspect to it. Emotional health is the awareness of not only our own feelings, but also how we connect to others.

First, we must understand and manage our own feelings and sense of well-being. When a person is in a state of balance, there is a general feeling of positivity and even enthusiasm about life. The difference between life and living is the difference between existence and thriving.

There are only a few emotions but a wide variety of feelings that stem from them. Fear, anger, happiness, sadness/grief and love are the base emotions. Emotional maturity comes as we learn to effectively manage and cope with these emotions, as well as to related ancillary feelings. In the same way that we must find and dedicate time each day to building and maintaining the physical body, so too must we make time for the care and growth of our emotional body. The daily practice of meditation is a benefit. Take time out of each day to find things that you are happy about and thankful for. Send that gratitude in the form of prayer as it will help you become more aware. Awareness is crucial to growth and development in our emotional health. Focusing on and making time for positive relationships in our lives is also necessary. When our relationships are stable and healthy, they add to our state of well-being. We can exist without other people, but we can't thrive. To put it simply, we were created a herd animal and as such, we are meant to work together for the good of the herd. Our relationships are the outward aspect of our emotional body, just as self-awareness is the inner.

You may have noticed that there are different kinds of emotions. I am reluctant to use the terms "positive" and "negative" when speaking of emotions since there can be learning and growth from pain… ultimately making it a positive event in our lives. Fear is a great teacher especially when we work to control and evolve from it. Feelings are clues that we need so we can make adjustments in our lives. When we feel good, we go for more of the same. When we feel bad, we make corrections to feel better. All of this needs to be tempered with good judgment and balance. There are many things that can make us feel good that, in excess, can be negative. Some emotions make us feel good and some make us feel bad, but all are necessary to our emotional state of mind and our learning."

As you would expect, we are again inviting your comments and questions via the comment box...please know how precious your remarks are to us and how gratefully they are received. Mr. Brown's comments will continue tomorrow so you have something wonderful to anticipate!

Mirrored Windows

Connie Baum