the journey

Your journey will be much lighter and easier if you don’t try to carry your entire past and future around with you. Take a break. Let go of your obsession with yesterday’s struggles and tomorrow’s to-do list, and simply enjoy the beauty of what’s right here, right now. Sometimes you have to stop thinking that some new richness will fulfill you, so you can fully experience the richness that's already yours.

happiness

moving forward is about staying in the moment.

being grateful for where i am.

taking care of myself just for today.

forgiveness. understanding.

and knowing that the mystery of life (and it's challenges) is a gift.

walk more. breathe more. give and be love.

love.

i am worthy, grateful, mindful and strong.

knowing i am on the right path in my head is one thing. knowing it in my body is another. i struggle sometimes, so i am dedicating today's blog post to the ideas i need to internalize. i am about to begin the process, a new one for me, of quieting my mind. some call this meditation. i will call it my "practice". please share with me and others exeriences you have had with meditation in the comments area below. and if you haven't done so already, join our community by signing up for email at the top of the column on the right. peace!

the art of practice

practice isn't necessarily fun. but spending time consciously working on improving a skill has one of the biggest productivity payoffs around. that makes intuitive sense with music and athletics. but I think that's the case with many life skills as well. practicing the art of getting up and taking a walk, practicing the art of buy smart foods, practicing the one thing that you are particularly bad at and that might be holding you back (for me that's negotiation). making these things part of your day helps you to grow. and growing helps keep you young and vibrant. it is also true that when something is practiced it becomes second nature. so when life throws you a curve ball, and your distracted, you still have the skills you have developed through daily practice. practice may not always make perfect, but the art of practice is perfect in and of itself.

wsj article on practice
a video: matisse-and-the-art-of-practice

the root chakra

in the past i have resisted many of the things i am learning to embrace now as i progress on my path to wellness. i may have rolled my eyes at friends who had specialty dietary concerns or indulged in eastern spiritual practices. however now, i no longer have the luxury of ignoring the classic ways to wellness. so when one of my nutritional advisors beging talking in detail about chakras, i listened. she advised me to work on my "root chakra". so today i did some new age searching and found "the mystic banana" website and what i discovered there has been helpful:

The Basics
There are seven main chakras, located along the center line of our body, from the base of the spine to the top of the head.   Each chakra is associated with different glands, organs, body regions, and aspects of our life, personality, and spiritual development. The chakras are critical to our physical health, the quality of our life, and our ability to develop spiritually.

The Healthy Chakra
A healthy chakra is open, allowing energy to flow freely both horizontally, in an exchange of energy with the universe, and vertically, connecting it with the other chakras. It’s very common–almost universal–to have one or more chakras that is somewhat blocked or imbalanced.  An under-functioning chakra can cause disruptions in a person’s body, mind, spirit, and life. These disruptions can range from a sense of unwellness and unease, to more serious problems–actual dis-ease in one’s body or dysfunction in one’s life.

What is the Root  Chakra?
The muladhara, or first chakra is located at the base of the spine.  It’s keyword is “survival.”  It relates to the physical self, self-preservation, survival instincts, our connection to our bodies and the earth, and our sense of safety, security, and belonging in the world.  Its related color is red, and its related element is earth.

Find out The 10 Ways to Clear Your Root Chakra at the mystic banana website.

when did you stop dancing?

as i continue my zealous quest for health and balance in my life, i have discovered that some days i can grow weary. changing habits is, it turns out, takes a lot of energy. establishing new routines takes focus and commitment. that's why i was please when i came across this inspirational quote by gabrielle roth. it reminded me to enjoy the process and to make some of the new habits in my new world really fun ones. after all, all work and no play make jack a very dull boy.

working out the details.

working out the details. 

on a steep learning curve of food, nutrition, balance, and harmony. 

it's all juicing, soups (lentils) & neo salads. 

weight loss is still slow, but then, that was my original game plan.

the connection between philosophy & a good walk

The Gymnasiums of the Mind

In this Decenber 2012 article in Philosophy Now Christopher Orlet wanders down literary paths merrily swinging his arms and pondering the happy connection between philosophy and a good brisk walk.

If there is one idea intellectuals can agree upon it is that the act of ambulation – or as we say in the midwest, walking – often serves as a catalyst to creative contemplation and thought. It is a belief as old as the dust that powders the Acropolis, and no less fine. Followers of the Greek Aristotle were known as peripatetics because they passed their days strolling and mind-wrestling through the groves of the Academe. The Romans’ equally high opinion of walking was summed up pithily in the Latin proverb: “It is solved by walking.”

Nearly every philosopher-poet worth his salt has voiced similar sentiments. Erasmus recommended a little walk before supper and “after supper do the same.” Thomas Hobbes had an inkwell built into his walking stick to more easily jot down his brainstorms during his rambles. Jean- Jacques Rousseau claimed he could only meditate when walking: “When I stop, I cease to think,” he said. “My mind only works with my legs.” Søren Kierkegaard believed he’d walked himself into his best thoughts. In his brief life Henry David Thoreau walked an estimated 250,000 miles, or ten times the circumference of earth. “I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits,” wrote Thoreau, “unless I spend four hours a day at least – and it is commonly more than that – sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields absolutely free from worldly engagements.” Thoreau’s landlord and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson characterized walking as “gymnastics for the mind.” (continue reading here)

letting go

"Two monks were on a pilgrimage. One day, they came to a deep river. At the edge of the river, a young woman sat weeping because she was afraid to cross the river without help. She begged the two monks to help her. The younger monk turned his back. The members of their order were forbidden to touch a woman.

But the older monk picked up the woman without a word and carried her across the river. He put her down on the far side and continued his journey. The younger monk came after him, scolding him and berating him for breaking his vows. He went on this way for a long time.

Finally, at the end of the day the older monk turned to the younger one. "I only carried her across the river. You have been carrying her all day."

Letting go can be difficult. Letting go of people, ideas, expectations, desires; letting go of bad habits, false beliefs and unhealthy relationships... the list goes on. Every day, every moment presents an opportunity to create ourselves anew, to shrug off the baggage of the past, open ourselves up to the possibility of the moment and take action to create an incredible future.

the "hoarder mentality"

in america today we are taught from a very early age that the more you have the better you are: more money=success. we were raised and live in the advertising age. fancy cars, huge burgers, the newest fashions, the biggest houses are all the symbols of success. it's no wonder that our culture is the first to develop a a thing called compulsive hoarding. although researchers have only recently begun to study hoarding, according to the mayo clinic, "It is not clear whether "compulsive" hoarding is a separate, isolated disorder, or rather a symptom of another condition, such as OCD".
like obesity, this is a complicated issue. but one thing is clear, there is a growing need in our society to have more. because not having enough is a sign of weakness. could these concepts be the under-pinnings of some people's desire to eat more, as if they cant get enough?
compulsive hoarding and compulsive eating are related enough for me to wonder about my insatiable desire to eat. does my compulsive eating attempt to fill the same empty hole inside me that compulsive hoarding fills? i am not an expert, but i do know that it sometimes feels that way.
for years i have said, "most people struggle to have more. but i struggle to have less".  and it's true, it is a struggle to have less. i live simply and believe in the power of austerity. as i am beginning to come to terms with my over-weight reality, i wonder if it would be possible for me to transfer my approach to "having less" to one of "eating less"?