Monday, November 2, 2009

Immersion

Hello...

So yesterday I started a week long detox. The yoga studio I go to does this every few months, then I think once or twice a year they do a month long one. It's pretty lowkey for a detox - do 6 sessions of yoga in the week, eat whole foods, nothing processed, and skip booze and caffeine.

We also are supposed to journal - something I have never been good at. That's because growing up I knew whatever I wrote wouldn't be a secret, so I wasn't willing to commit anything to paper. Oh childhood baggage! This week though, I'm trying to actually follow through with it. One thing I am going to do every day is think about something that I'm grateful for. I've lost track of a lot of that lately, and I've been focused on all the crap that I'm mired in right now. So I want to spend at least a few minutes every day reminding myself that there's a lot of good in my life. This is by no means a broad, sweeping declaration of "Hey! Everything's GREAT now!" It's not. But it's not all shit either.

I am also reading a book called "When Things Fall Apart". It's by a Buddist nun whose name I can't remember right now, Pema something. It's an amazing book. It's not a typical self-helpy oh hang in there everything's fine, take a long bath and a nap and things will all be back to normal. No. It's more about how when things are chaotic, or you feel fear, the best thing you can do is acknowledge it and feel it. I believe she describes it as making friends with your fears so you can sort of have a truce. Very radical advice, and HARD. But it makes sense. Typical ways of handling situations don't really help, so I'm very excited to be learning new ideas about that. I'll post some stuff from her book here and there. Not to be preachy. It's not for everyone. It's just interesting food for though.

"Chaos should be regarded as very, very good news."

Carol

1 comment:

  1. Hey! That Buddhist nun and I seem to have some similar theories on dealing with things! But that's where the similarities end. I am not a Bride of Christ!

    P.S. I am thankful for YOU.

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