exercise

Maintaining Balance While Enjoying Summer

by ultrapeg

Summer is a great time of year for those of us (like me!) who love warm weather.  Deep shades of green are flowing everywhere peppered with the colors of wild flowers.  But summer also tends to be a time when our schedules change and our usual routines are disrupted.  Living here in the Black Hills, summer can also be a time when we are busiest.  Whether you’re travelling or welcoming visitors or maintaining more business hours to accomodate the tourists, it’s easy to get frazzled and forget that most of the time the “disruptions” are created by things we really want to do.

This was illustrated in my own life this past week when I spent 4+ days in an intensive yoga workshop.  The first part of the workshop was an evening event and the hours that preceded it were filled with other personal obligations that required me to show up for scheduled events at specific times with lots of driving in between.  Driving is not my favorite task which added to the stress load.  As I anticipated this day and the intensity of my schedule, it was easy to get uptight and let negativity creep in.  Somehow I was able to remind myself that everything on the docket was an activity I had chosen to do.  Nothing was forcing my attendance and I could easily have bowed out of any of it without serious consequences.  It may seem obvious, but this realization was a revelation.  This was all stuff I wanted to do.  The thought allowed me to relax and just enjoy the day.  From that point on everything went smoothly and in the end I was glad I did all of it.

Granted, it is possible to overload with things we want to do.  This is certainly a trap I can easily fall into.  There are so many things I want to do!  But, unfortunately, time and stamina are finite commodities.  It’s a privilege to have the luxury of being able to be choosy about how I spend my time.  So I’ve become more discerning in recent years.  A friend of mine remarked once that she was very protective of her free time.  I’ve come to appreciate and share that sentiment.  I try to weigh my choices carefully and sometimes I just have to let things go that I would really love to do.  If I make the wrong choice and find myself spending my time on something that really doesn’t work for me, I try to extricate myself as quickly as possible.  Life is short.  And none of us know when the end will come.  Time is precious.  When there is a choice, it pays to be picky about how I choose to spend what time I have.

So as we get into the busy-ness of summer, think about the choices you make.  If something you really want to do disrupts your usual routine, remember that it is just that – something you really want to do.  And try not to let it throw you off balance.  Don’t depend too much on specific outcomes or anticipate negative issues (travel problems, etc.) before they occur.  You may find that whatever happens – even if it is not what you expected – may be surprisingly pleasing.  Stay open minded to whatever happens.  Think of travelling as an adventure.  There are lessons to be learned in every experience.  If you have guests, let them be part of your life.  You might find out that they actually enjoy the same things you do.  Time passes quickly and you will be able to resume your usual routine with fresh enthusiasm soon enough.

On a practical level, changes in our usual routine can often mean physical disruptions like alterations in patterns of eating and sleeping or not getting the same type of exercise that you’re used to.  These complications can further interrupt your enjoyment of vacation and/or company.  Whenever possible, try to anticipate changes and be prepared.  Bring food with you to avoid being at the mercy of what’s available on the road.  Yoga and Pilates are both disciplines that you can easily take with you.  They don’t require much space and there are some great lightweight yoga mats designed for travel that you can keep with you.  In a pinch, use a towel or invest in those socks with the non-skid bottoms.  Or do some chair yoga. Or take a walk.  Walk between gates in the airport.  Or at the rest stop if you’re driving.  If you have guests, try getting up a few minutes earlier or inviting your guests to join you.  Don’t forget – their routines are also being disrupted.  They might welcome the opportunity to accompany you.  Even 10 minutes a day will help keep you grounded.  Just focusing on breathing for a few minutes can make a big difference in your attitude.  Frequently attitude adjustment is all you need to change a negative to a positive.  And breathing can be done anywhere, any time, under any circumstances.

If worse comes to worse and you forget something, unless you’re visiting a third-world country you will probably be able to find whatever you need somewhere in your travels.  No need to beat up on yourself for forgetting.  Treat the situation as a puzzle that requires a solution using what’s available rather than lamenting a lack that can’t be changed.  Remember all of the things we do to and for ourselves effect our overall health, both mental and physical.

In a recent article entitled “Cultivating Self Sustainibility” from the online magazine OM Times, Angela Levesque, an exercise physiologist, mind/body educator and energy healer, wrote the following:

“Sustainability is a word often associated with economics and environmentalism.  But the concepts of sustainability should also be applied to our health.  Our health and healing largely revolves around our self-care.  .  . it is our day-to-day actions that matter the most in how well we feel.

Stress has been defined as when perceived resources do not meet perceived demands.  When we fail to practice self-care and take time out when we need it, we put our minds and bodies in a lowered functioning state.  If we honor the needs our bodies we set ourselves up for greatness.

. . . remember to use your resources wisely.   Allow them the space to renew when necessary.  Without stress reduction and relaxation you will deplete them. So put the same value on loving more, laughing often, and moving creatively and with purpose.  This is how you cultivate the sustainable self.”

Take care of yourself and enjoy the summer!

Getting Stuck In the Middle of Constant Change

by ultrapeg

Just when we think we’re getting a break from the intensity of winter weather, it returns.  Such is the nature of winter.  January and February can seem like the longest two months of the year.  Yet there is constant change.  Each day there are a couple more minutes of daylight.  At first it may be difficult to notice, but it is happening.  Even in the dead of winter, there is just enough change to alter shadows and transform the snow into ice.

The other day as I did a rare stint on my treadmill I watched the sun come up over the hill in front of our house.  I had this idea in my head that the scene from this window was stationary – not much happening.  How wrong I was.  The play of light and shadow across the lawn as the sun rose was a steady stream of action.  Just when I thought everything looked great and I just wanted it to stay that way so I could appreciate the beauty, it all changed.  The scene was completely fluid, each landscape dissolving into the next in a matter of seconds.

With the paradox of constant change being the only thing we can really count on in this life, maybe you might find that you have trouble maintaining your practice through all of these ups and downs.  Here are a few words of motivation from Tibetan Buddhist nun and author, Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, that also contain the hint of Spring:

When you plant seeds in the garden, you don’t dig them up every day to see if they have sprouted yet. You simply water them and clear away the weeds; you know that the seeds will grow in time. Similarly, just do your daily practice and cultivate a kind heart. Abandon impatience and instead be content creating the causes for goodness; the results will come when they’re ready.

This can apply to anything you are trying to accomplish that takes some time.  You may not see results right away and this can be frustrating.  Especially if you hit a plateau and feel that your progress has stopped.  But if you just keep at it “the results will come when they’re ready”.

Bernie Glassman, a teacher of Zen Buddhism, puts it another way:

. . . we get so attached to some end result that we can’t function. We need help just to move on, only life doesn’t wait. There’s a little ditty that sort of sums this up.

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream.

Imagine that you’re rowing down a stream and you’re trying to figure out how to do it. Do I first row with the right oar and then with the left, or is it the other way around? What does my shoulder do, what does my arm do?

It’s like Joe, the centipede with a hundred legs, trying to figure out which leg to move first. He can’t get anywhere, just like the person in the rowboat. And while he’s hung up with all those questions, the stream is pulling him on and on. So you want to row, row, row your boat—gently. Don’t make a whole to-do about it. Don’t get down on yourself because you’re not an expert rower; don’t start reading too many books in order to do it right. Just row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.

So when you’re tempted to blow off your exercise practice – or whatever routine you are trying to establish for yourself – because you feel like you’re not getting anywhere, just remember that the stream is still moving.  And so is the light.  Be gentle with yourself and just do what you can until the way becomes clear again.  You were motivated once and that resolve and enthusiasm can again return if you let it.  Although you may feel stuck right now, if you have a little patience, everything will change.  That’s something you can count on.