I am sure like me your life is very busy. You start your day running taking care of family, work, running your household, and keeping up with emails. Then you collapse into bed at night, try to shut off your brain so you can get some sleep and then get up to repeat the whole process all over again. Taking a daily timeout is very important for your mind, body, and soul. I can hear you saying, that is nice and all, but I don’t have time. Let me just say tough, if you don’t take time for yourself, it will be hard to be all you can be to others. Over time your health will suffer. Daily and prolonged stress is at the root of all health problems. Stress causes the release of various inflammatory markers, a lowering of immunoglobins, leads to adrenal stress, and hormonal imbalance. This can make you vulnerable to the development of dis-ease or the body out of balance or without ease. I often have to remind my own self of this as well. While I was in graduate school I would start my day about 4:00 a.m. I would get up and go to work, then off to clinical rotations, home to do homework, run a household, make time for my husband and children. I even managed to squeeze in my daily workout. I made sure I was in bed by 10:00 p.m., but was not getting sufficient sleep. My diet was Lean Cuisine and Diet Coke. By the way, I have since ditched the frozen, processed meals and diet coke and I am eating real organic foods. By the time I was done with graduate school and started working as a nurse practitioner, I was burned out and a hormonal mess. Something had to change. It has been my mission to not only change my own life, but to help others transform theirs to better health as well. So taking as little as five to ten minutes a day can do wonders and is a good place to start your own health and healing. I have been reminded of this recently. My schedule has been crazy busy lately between work, family, and the recent release of my book Seeds 4 Change: A Path to Health and Healing and starting up my website https://www.pathtohealthandhealing.com. So I decided I needed to practice what I preach and took a few days last week to re-energize myself. My husband and I were able to arrange a few days away with our daughters for some hiking in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas. We treked out to some beautiful waterfalls, enjoyed invigorating hikes, and spent time relaxing in a cozy cabin. The oxygen level and healing sounds of a natural waterfall was just the right prescription for my mind, body, and soul. I spent some time at one waterfall sitting in quite meditation. It was wonderful! The sound of a waterfall was so relaxing and helped to clear my mind, relax my body, and free my soul from life’s daily challenges. Getting out in nature is nurturing. So get out, unplug and leave your daily responsibilities behind; even if it is only for ten minutes or a long weekend away. Feel the stress melt away and your body release all the tension. Taking time for you is one of the best investments you will ever make. Don’t forget to get your copy of “Seeds 4 Change: A Path to Health and Healing” on sale now at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.smashwords.com. Once you have had a chance to read it I would love to hear what you think.