The Beautiful Answer

And Then Again

Time to think about fall where I live, as the weather gets cooler and thoughts turn to warm drinks in the morning and naps in the afternoon. My workout routine is changing, as I add more restorative yoga and detoxing stuff to my regular cardiovascular work, weight lifting, hiking, walking, Pilates and dancing. My diet is changing, too, and as I take a brief break from writing, I’m thinking about how to give some of my free time to volunteering. I’m even thinking about how to have a small garden, which is difficult, since I live in a condo building with verboten common spaces. But maybe it’s possible on a smaller, indoor scale. 

Then again, as the weather changes and I find myself wanting to stay inside and plan all kinds of upcoming travel and adventures, maybe it’s about giving myself that ease to dream. Maybe this season of harvest is about canning and baking not just food (well, some of that) but ideas. I find that though I’m not a particularly restful person, liking instead to be busy with reading, exploring, discussing and experiencing, I need more time to ruminate, to just consider my next moves. I need time to allow my mind to woolgather, and the more I do this (it feels unbelievably indulgent; I dare you to try it sometime) the more it cracks me up,. It’s as if my mind has collected all this great stuff over time, and then unfurls it like a slideshow when I slow down long enough to watch it. My mind tells me jokes, sings me songs, pokes my ideas forward, and comforts me when I’m scared. It tells me everything’s going to be OK. It establishes peace among the warring parts of my body and intentions. 

So to reframe this time that’s gathering in intensity where I live, I don’t need to DO anything. Maybe it’s about accepting that I need more rest than I used to, or that rest isn’t necessarily a bad thing (try telling that to my mind right now). Surely I’ll be a better, happier and more productive person if I’ve had some sleep, if I’m a little kinder to myself. Surely, reframing this to accept my needs will help with my growth in many areas. And as I silence the voices in the back of my mind, or allow them their time at the podium and no more, I feel a little clearer about where I’m headed. I see that only some of the path can be covered in any given day, and then it’s time to sleep. 

Don’t Stop Being Amazed

The word cleanse gets under my skin, especially as it applies to the diet. I get that nutritionally, most of us aren’t all we could be, and that bringing more awareness to what we put into our mouths would make us happier and healthier. But the idea that somehow our insides are dirty and that we need to clean them out is to pretty much diss the body and the amazing things it’s capable of, despite our best efforts to eff it up. 

Despite my distaste for the idea of cleansing (I hate even typing the word — it just gets on my nerves), I signed up for Yoga Journal’s 7-Day Detox program, available online. I like the idea of changing my diet to be local and seasonal (luckily, I live in California, so that means I get a lot of choices there), but also to transition into the harvest season of fall in an intentional way with yoga, meditation and other related techniques. 

Ayurveda is on my list of Things to Study as I keep getting older. I’m fascinated how medicine is so intricately entwined with spirituality in pretty much every other culture except ours, and how they treat people often without the high-tech equipment we have in the U.S. This detox program is based in Ayurveda, and so far, I’m finding it pretty great. When fall comes around, I want to go out a little less anyway, so this is a great way to reconnect with myself and what I want to get done over the next few months. 

Another thing that’s arisen on its own has to do with detoxing, but not within my body. I eat pretty well, for the most part, and exercise almost every day. But toxic friends and acquaintances seem to have moved another layer outward in my life. No reframing necessary. Without drama or self-inflicted suffering, they just … moved away. 

Pretty cool, the way this stuff works on more than one level. And me? I don’t ever want to stop being amazed by what goes on.