On the surface, a glimpse into the life of Dara Stewart reveals nothing unusual. Shes got a job she likes, friends and family who love her and a big, dumb Akita named Jake. But after a brush with death from a brain hemorrhage in 2002, Daras recovery included having to learn to walk again. For Dara, the normal life she has now, for which she is profoundly grateful, required an astonishing degree of effort and focus.
Relying on simple but powerful life and stress management techniques, she was able to not only recover from what her doctors had expected would be a disabling medical catastrophe, but to go on to find her lifes purpose and to discover a peace that far exceeded what she had known before.
These techniques are available to all of us.
Manage stress: Meditation was my initial way to relieve stress, said Dara. As she recovered, she found that a connection with nature calmed and focused her. She combined hiking and meditation into mindfulness walks and volunteered at the Desert Botanical Garden in order to stay in touch with nature.
Exercise: Dara found that yoga, in particular, helped keep her balanced. It really made a big difference in the...