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Recently, a Miraval [wellness resort] guest e-mailed me in a panic. She had so many options of what to do during her stay here, that she felt completely paralyzed with how to start.

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What was supposed to be a vacation was turning out to look like the same craziness she experienced at home. It was the same “I’ve got to get going and doing…” response that she normally had managing a job, husband, and kids while trying to stay healthy and sane living in Manhattan.

How to stop this insane mental chatter, along with an incessant need to “keep moving” was her long-term question. Going non-stop was causing her to feel mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. Small wonder that she no longer felt energetic, fulfilled and vibrant—beautiful seemed far, far away.

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Part of what we talked about was a solution that involved dealing with chronic stress and the potentially devastating effects the stress hormone, cortisol, plays on the body. We spent time creating a program of vitamins and supplements to mute the cortisol response, better ways to eat and drink to modify chronic inflammation, and an exercise strategy that seemed manageable in her busy life.

But another big part of her regimen involved a daily practice to be able to spend time—however brief—listening for the whisper. I explained to her that inspiration does not come with gongs blaring or fireworks blasting. 

It comes in whispers. 

"Ahas" don’t typically slap you across the face—they tickle your cheek. They come in the shower as you get out sopping wet, trying to pen your revelation on a soaked piece of toilet paper. They come in still, silent moments, when life is slow. We need these moments to fill us up, find beauty in the small things, and move us forward on our journey to health, but how could a “Eureka!” moment ever find its way into a frenetic day full of fast pace, confusion and chaos?