November Update

I have decided to do a monthly update post. I will include any insights on wellness practice that I have stumbled upon during the previous few weeks. Thank you to those who continue to join me in these thoughts and ideas.

I have been exploring a few different wisdom traditions over the past few months, listening to lectures and discussions on various topics related to consciousness and wellness practice. As I synthesize these teachings, I am confirmed in my ongoing practice as well as finding new attitudes toward my approach. I would like to share a couple of thoughts that have influenced how I practice.

To begin, I have discovered that I tend to take my practice a little bit more “seriously” than is warranted. What I mean, is that I can be too rigid and have expectations about how I feel during or after the practice. This is somewhat counter to the intention of creating a serene state of mind, body, and spirit. My take away has been to lighten up and allow for a little bit of flex during practice. I can let my mind wander while I practice, and not feel like I am missing a mark. Sometimes my wandering mind will show me something I need to look at.

I am also being much more appreciative of the reality of cause and effect, or karma. I can see how my practice creates healing in my being, and I have more ease in life. A good example of this was during the air travel to California that we experienced last month. Two flights of 2 to 3 hours each way. My typical experience in air travel is that I have low back and hip discomfort after an hour or more. I often take ibuprofen as a preventative to keep the discomfort controlled. On this trip, I did not take any ibuprofen. I also did not experience the discomfort that I have in the past. What was different on this trip?

I have found that my daily practice of stretching and moving meditation has prepared my being for the challenges that I choose. Hard work in the garden, driving for hours to enjoy visits with family, air travel, light construction projects, and so on, are some of the ways that I challenge myself. What I am finding is that, even with some stiffness and soreness after these kinds of challenges, I am able to bounce back to my baseline easily and quickly. Awareness of karma is key to maintaining the balance that allows me to do so. When I push the envelope, so to speak, I realize that I may have more discomfort as a result. An attitude of acceptance makes the discomfort easier to tolerate and recover from quickly. It is when I am not accepting my responsibility for the discomfort that it can be increased and more difficult to recover from.

These are a couple of wellness insights that I have enjoyed recently and I hope that you may find some ideas in my experience that you could apply in your own wellness practice. Thank you for reading this post. If you would like to receive these blog posts when they are published, you can subscribe using the button.