It is a tribute to my life that these blog posts are sporadic and filled with randomness. And yet, the one focus of it all is the word "journey". I have spun in different directions choosing to wander into the depths of despair and hidden behind rocks and fallen trees along the path of avoidance; but, not once I have truly been lost. Often living along the fringe and frequently focused on pleasures that get in the way of my happiness (thank you CS for sharing that phrase with me!), I seem to arrive back on this page and at least visiting the possibilities once more of living a healthier life.My goal remains the same. My story end has not changed (writing the last page of my life was a game changer - I strive to work backwards from there!). My journey may have. Today I search for what is best as I now am looking at the 70's moving closer and leaving the 60's behind. Another 20 months! Sometimes it is daunting to look at the number but, most of the time, age creeps up on me slowly and I hardly notice the tiny increments until they cluster together into a "look at me!" change.
Choosing to move looks different now....but move I must. This week I have started a chair yoga practice that will hopefully get my joints moving and my swagger back. Gently, soothing stretches and swaying, breaking down the fascia that has tightly woven itself around my muscles and joints and organs. No snap of the fingers to hurry this process along. Curious? The course is available online at Chair Yoga I am not advertising but...it is a video, it was a very reasonable cost, and, it features a girl and her mom (my age-ish) and it demonstrates chair yoga as well as gently floor yoga. The jury is out - I will keep you posted. Today the video moved beyond swaying and breathing and into the spine stretches. I am thinking the cat pose and the child pose modified. It felt good and was only ten minutes.
I am also making it a point of practicing some meditation. This is a bit newer to me. My sister has been practicing yoga & meditation for years and sent me the following link Palouse Mindfulness to get me started. I did the Raisin Meditation yesterday. A very different approach to coach a person into a mindfulness practice. It was a good exercise for me - and I had to work hard NOT to crunch that first raisin!
I plan on doing another one today - the Body Scan. To quote the writing on this at Palouse: "If you think of your body as a musical instrument, the body scan is a way of tuning it. If you think of it as a universe, the body scan is a way to come to know it. If you think of your body as a house, the body scan is a way to throw open all the windows and doors and let the fresh air of awareness sweep it clean." This is a 30 minute time investment - that will be tonight. Once again, I will keep you posted.
Please share your experiences about medication/mindfulness and yoga with me below. I am all ears (and maybe a few other body parts once I meditate!) and would love to hear from you!
Namaste.
