A couple of months ago, one of the cancer warriors I had previously treated for hormonal cancer developed severe gastric issues which refused to go. She was eating the right food, doing her breathwork and taking her supplements and medicines on time. She had made miraculous progress last year with me in reversing her cancer. All other parameters came back in range and continue to be stable, but her daily discomfort of bloating, and acidity did not reduce. A few exhaustive counselling sessions revealed latent stress caused by feeling stifled in her physical and hence, mental space. She lived in a joint family, and despite being in senior management, work in an open office.
“There was not a single moment she got to herself.”
So what did I advise her? Something very simple. She lives in a small apartment and her area has two small windows only. Each window could fit in only five plants. So I worked with her on the following:
- I helped her choose a wood step up planter with five plants in each row, hence the windowsill could fit 10 plants age.
- We identified a few indoor plants that give out 24 hours oxygen and also beautify the place, along with a few air-purifying plants for common areas. This was a step appreciated by the rest of her family as it suddenly made their environment look more soothing.
- Everything was ordered online and I helped her with the links.
- While she had plants on the windowsill, I asked to get a few candle lanterns, and hang a couple of plants and some decorative hanging items like crystal beads, wind chimes and a bird sitting on a wooden bamboo.
- The entire process of greening and decorating her balconies and her home took three weeks. After that, it was the process of maintenance via watering the plants, weeding out the dead leaves and once a fortnight, digging up the pots for some fresh air and oxygen to go to the roots. I specified to her that she did not need a gardener for all this and she should do it herself.
- Her routine every morning would be to tend to her plants, while sipping on her green tea, and water them before she sat down for her pranayama. Earlier, she would only get up and sit for the pranayama.
- Sometimes in the evenings and on weekends, she would light candles in the lanterns, which come down after a heavy day at work.
Three weeks after she began doing this – six weeks after we began the entire exercise of greening her surroundings, her bloating started to reduce.
Yesterday, I had a session with her and she laughed and said: “You are unconventional.
I would have never thought this would work. But I haven’t felt this good in my stomach, energy, and sleep as I feel now, so thank you!”
So why did this simple activity work?
“It helped her pause and spend time with herself while looking after and nurturing those plants.”
Every time she looked out of her window, she saw the decorative pieces mingled with the greenery of leaves, and that visually made her feel pleased with her efforts. This was her own space and she had contributed to making this space look beautiful. She owned it.
Very often, the chronic problems we face have fairly simple solutions of just pausing and looking around us to see if our own space has the right positive energy or not. Whatever was bothering her took a backseat and the worrying thoughts which were secreting stomach acids and giving her bloating, began to die down. The calmness she felt helped break the cycle of anxiety. The presence of all the other people in her home and office around her stopped bothering her because every morning, she was getting her own space, alone, doing an activity she enjoyed.
Life is simple and unhurried if you want it to be.