 I am getting close to leave for my next adventure...this time to Spain for a yoga retreat, culture, hiking, wine and olive oil tastings! While those are amazing things about travel and adventure, there are additional internal shifts and benefits from travel. Travel isn't only beneficial to your physical well-being, there is also a significant amount of research suggesting that exploring a new place is also greatly impactful on your emotional and mental well-being. I'm in! Here are a few good reasons to travel and how it positively impacts your mental and emotional wellness.... 1) Travel relieves stress Life can get pretty hectic with busy careers, family responsibilities and being accessible 24/7 with technology. Thus, taking a break from the daily hustle is essential for your mind to relax, recharge and rejuvenate. Traveling promotes happiness and helps you take your mind off stressful situations. This leads to lower cortisol levels, making you feel more calm and content. Not to mention while experiencing amazing things! 2) Travel fosters new perspectives and reinvention If you allow it, travel has the ability to expand your mind and perspectives more ways than you can imagine. Traveling, especially to a foreign country, can allow you the space to re-evaluate and reinvent your life. Meeting people from other cultures will teach you that the way you’ve been looking at the world isn’t the way everybody else does. In fact, your point-of-view might have some blind spots. Seeing the world for yourself will improve your vision and your view on life. Some of the happiest people I met were in poverty stricken areas. You also can get a great appreciation for your own life. Some my greatest shifts in perspective came to me when I was traveling the world. 3) Travel increases resilience Going or living somewhere where you feel excited and intimidated at the same time builds resilience. I have done quite a bit of travel solo, and love it. I have to problem solve, be on my toes, and aware of what's around me. To know I can do that, is an amazing feeling. Facing difficulties in an unfamiliar environment, among new people, forces you to learn and adapt to a life that's out of your comfort zone. This builds flexibility, patience and emotional strength. Travel can help you when larger issues in life happen with more grace and patience, I remember earlier in my very early travel days our rental car in Costa Rica was broken into and that included my passport, money and credit cards and some belongings! Another travel adventure to Peru, I lost my cell phone on the plane. These experiences taught me to work through situations more calmly and to attach less emotion to belongings and still be present. I could have let those incidents ruin my whole trip, but I chose not to. Bottom line is, the more challenges you’re faced with, the better you'll get at overcoming them, eventually becoming more resilient, mentally and emotionally. 4) Travel is Education Seeing the world provides an education that’s absolutely impossible get in school. Travel teaches you economy, politics, history, geography, and sociology in an intense, hands-on way no class will. You can learn a new language and be exposed to culture and not to mention amazing food! 5) Travel helps you move forward If you’re between jobs, schools, kids, or relationships, travel can be a perfect way to move from one of these life stages into your next great adventure. Travel will give you a chance to reflect on where you’ve been, where you’re going, and where you want to end up. 6) Travel helps you develop skills you didn't know you had Sometimes it’s only far from home that you realize you you’ve got skills you’ve never used. It’s travel that brings them to the surface and makes you smile, satisfied to have reached the mountain top, or crossed a gorge or helped a villager clean up after a storm, or even to have successfully ordered a meal at a restaurant where English is not spoken. I could go on with more reason to travel! All of the benefits I mentioned above can be integrated into your everyday life. The peaceful feeling you had by the ocean, cooking delicious food, and all of the skills, can be recreated at home. The memories and experiences you have traveling will be with you for a lifetime! Photo: Me in New Zealand
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 There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen. ~Rumi We all have an antenna for intuition and wisdom, but when the noise of our lives gets too loud, whether that be inside or outside noise, it’s more challenging to utilize our own inner guidance system. Many of us have been conditioned to ask for advice and to look outside ourselves for answers or guidance before checking in with our own inner knowing. We may have gotten into the habit of trusting society’s opinions and influences, forgetting that we have our own wisdom and guidance, if we are open to listening. When we depend only on our mental capacities to navigate our lives, we are limited and often end up feeling confused, ping-ponging between pros and cons and can get stuck in what path to choose. Trusting in myself and my own intuition has been one of my biggest breakthroughs. There have been times in my life when my intuition was speaking and I didn't always listen. Now, when faced with a choice or decision, I always tune into my body and my mind. I know the difference from when I'm just scared and when something isn't the right path for me. You can always return to your own inner compass too. What I have found is that as we attune to our own knowing and trust in it by taking action, we build and strengthen the muscle to navigate our lives with more grace. There is a flow that we tap into where synchronicities tend to unfold more frequently and things fall into place much more smoothly. Inspiration that comes through them into action. You have such wisdom within you. You know what is true in your own heart… you’ve always known. I support you in following and trusting your own knowing. You are here to express and be who you are in this world. You are ultimately the only one that knows what is right for you at any given time. This doesn’t mean we close off to other perspectives. Other people may make suggestions and offer advice, but I invite you to check in with how it feels in your body and let that be the barometer that guides you. Listening in the silence, especially in the morning, even if it’s just for 5 minutes or going for a walk in nature are other great ways I have found to hear my own inner voice more clearly or to reconnect with my truth. Disconnecting from social media and all the noise is supportive for me as well. Some people tune in through prayer, meditation, yoga, listening to music, going surfing or what athletes sometimes refer to as the ‘runner’s zone.’ Staying connected to what inspires you is another way to help connect back to the frequency of a higher vibration where intuition lives. Whether that be reading uplifting material, hearing a lecture on something that lights you up, or doing spiritual practices – you, more than anyone, knows what makes you come alive… do that! Of course, I share all of these as suggestions and I am in full support of you following what’s most true in your heart… always. We are all here to support and learn from each other, so if there is an experience you’d like to share about, maybe a time you have listened to and followed your own knowing, especially if it wasn’t the logical choice, but you listened anyway, please feel free to share below. We can inspire each other to stay true to ourselves. Hello, thanks for stopping by! I am Lisa Firullo and I am a Certified Life and Career Coach and Licensed Therapist. I support people to get clear on what they want in their life as well as who they are and want to be. I support people to get connected to your own intuition, build self-trust, and own connect with their own power so they can live the life they are meant for... with joy, play, ease and prosperity. We will address the blocks that get in the way, stress/overwhelm and self-doubt, identify goals and vision, and create an action plan to get there. If this resonates with you, I offer a 60 minute complimentary session, email me at lisafirullocoaching@gmail.com and we will set a time to talk! |
AuthorLife and Leadership Coach, Licensed Counselor, outdoor enthusiast, yoga lover and passionate about wellness. Archives
May 2022
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