Hello you! Remember me?? I won’t take offense if you don’t,
as MIA is an understatement. I cannot
believe the last time I was here was May!!! It was a busy summer to say the
least. Most of you know about my involvement with Biking for Bellies.
Organizing B4B was intense and I was not aware that it would consume all of my
time, leaving little for writing. However, summer is nearing an end and after a
long break, I am feeling rejuvenated and back on track.
As the creator of ‘The Marvelous Me Project’, even with the busy summer, its especially shameful for me to admit that I fell off the wagon.
Actually let me rephrase that: I fell off the wagon, proceeded to roll off a
cliff, down deep into a valley, splashed into a river where I then got swept
downstream by the strong current. Okay, maybe a little dramatic, but nonetheless,
I too let other things take priority over my health. We all do it. We are
creatures of habit and our habits are deeply embedded into us from childhood, perhaps
even beyond that. It takes conscious effort to steer from our old patterns. It often feels as though we are swimming against the current, a constant
struggle that feels totally unnatural.
But please believe me when I say nothing could be more contrary.
We live in an extremely chaotic time. Never has there been so much noise, so much
distraction. We have become slaves to our mobile phones, never letting go,
never letting us disconnect. There are always phone calls to answer, emails to
write, Facebook status’ to update. We are always on call, therefore, our mind
is never completely free to indulge deeply into other matters. Our minds are
over stimulated, and that’s even before we consumed our first coffee of the
day. We then proceed to fill our bodies with highly refined sugary foods all
day long and then rely on booze to calm our racing minds in the evening. A slew
of negative patterns that many of us have fallen into during these bustling
times.
To add to the chaos, we are experiencing a time of great
change. As we transition into a New Age, leaving darkness and entering light,
awareness is heightened to a new level. We are all in search of our truth, our
purpose. I experienced this more than ever this summer. I felt like I was taken
through the ringer, tossed and tumbled, spun around and left completely
disoriented. My explanation of how far I fell from the wagon is not a complete
exaggeration as to how I felt and how far I steered off my path. With all the noise, it is hard to hear. With
all the distraction, it is hard to focus. It is no wonder many of us have gotten lost.
As I fought the current, reached the shore, climbed back up
the cliff, stood up on the road, brushed myself off, I am now ready to not only
jump back up on the wagon, I'm ready to grab the steering wheel and take control. But in order to do so, I am in need of silence and need to focus on
my truth.
 |
| My absolute favorite place to meditate! (my dock by the river) |
This months’ Marvelous Me Project challenge could not have
come at a more suited time: Meditation and 5/day. In detail, to meditate
everyday and to consume at least 5 portions of fresh vegetables per day. Being that it is harvest season here in
Canada, filling our day with the ‘veggies’ of our labour will not be difficult.
Gardens are bursting with bright colours and glorious aromas and the bustling
markets are a great reflection of this. As finding these 5 veggies/day will be
a breeze, your only focus is to get them into your diet each day this month.
With at least 16 waking hours to do so, this part of the challenge is easy
peasy!! Unfortunately the real challenge lies within the daily meditation.
Being still has to be my greatest challenge. My mind is in constant over-drive
and my ability to remain focused on one thing is, well, incapacitated to say
the least. There is no one that will be more sympathetic to your struggles with
this month’s challenge. And it is not as if I haven’t tried. I have practiced
in my home, taken lessons from teachers, bought meditation books and CD’s. I
even traveled to a temple in Laos and followed a meditation led by a Buddhist
monk!! Still, silencing the mind has to be my life’s biggest challenge. That is
why we will start off slow. Start with 5 minutes each morning. Get up 10
minutes early, find a quiet spot in your home, away from your phone or laptop
and sit or lie down comfortably. The main idea is to concentrate on your breath.
Feel your lungs expand with every inhale and then feel them empty with each
exhale. Your mind will wander, its normal. The idea is that when it does, bring the
focus back to your breathing. In a few days, after you feel comfortable with 5
minutes, we will move on to 10, then 15, and hopefully by the end of the month
be able to meditate for 30 minutes each morning.
If you too, have taken a vacation from your health, there is no time better than now to return home. Bring your focus back to your health and back to your truth. It’s never too late to jump back on the wagon and grab that steering wheel. And remember, in the game of life, U-turns are always permitted:)
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