I realize that I haven't officially launched my web site yet but I thought I could get a head start on some blogs so that you could have something to read, if you choose.
The first thing I have realized, is that a week goes by way too fast!! I thought that a weekly posting would be doable. And I think it will be once I get into a routine, but for now it is a struggle. Not that I don't have plenty to say, that is not the issue.
Today's title is doing less, being more. I guess maybe I need to practice that a bit more. But what does that mean? My current reading selection is Essential Ayurveda by Shubhra Krishan. She says the Ayurvedic route to great health involves two simple steps:
Here is a scenario she describes in the book, not unlike one I lived on a daily basis:
"You have just emerged from a meeting with the boss, and for the next two hours you worry about the furrow on her brow and the tone of her voice. Determined to win her smile by the end of the day, you immerse yourself in a sea of files. In doing this, you ignore your dry throat, your stale breath, your aching eyes, your sore neck, your dry skin and your stretched nerves. Later, at home its the spouse, the kids, and dog all waiting for you to give them time, attention and dinner.
All the while, in every way possible, other people are deciding the course of your actions. We are listening to them so hard, trying so desperately to please them, that we no longer listen to ourselves. In "doing" all the time, we forget to just "be".
Ironically, over time, the more we "do" the less we achieve. All that effort takes its toll on our physical, mental and emotional health. It disconnects us from our deeper needs, leaving us empty and dull.
Now imagine a different, more pleasant scenario.
You come to work determined to win your own smile at the end of the day. That is, you remember to log off your computer, take a short walk, drink a glass of water and moisturize your skin every thirty minutes. Instead of "grabbing" an indifferent lunch, you bring fresh fruit, yogurt, and a whole grain sandwich from home. You don't take coffee breaks, you take exercise breaks.
Just one day of treating yourself well is sure to set off a chain of happy events. You return to your desk humming after your short break, and suddenly the solution to a niggling little problem pops into your head. You find yourself being nice to your coworkers. Instead of the usual post-lunch slump, you feel a post-lunch kick. Back home, you want to make a good dinner instead of warming yesterday's meal.
In treating yourself well for a day, you achieved both doing less and being more. You still did things, but what you did was gloriously different from what you had been doing for so long. You let yourself slow down instead of driving yourself hard. You did not misuse your body and you did not pressure your mind. You began the process of healing.
You lived Ayurveda today."
On that note, I think I will go meditate!
The first thing I have realized, is that a week goes by way too fast!! I thought that a weekly posting would be doable. And I think it will be once I get into a routine, but for now it is a struggle. Not that I don't have plenty to say, that is not the issue.
Today's title is doing less, being more. I guess maybe I need to practice that a bit more. But what does that mean? My current reading selection is Essential Ayurveda by Shubhra Krishan. She says the Ayurvedic route to great health involves two simple steps:
- Doing less
- Being more
Here is a scenario she describes in the book, not unlike one I lived on a daily basis:
"You have just emerged from a meeting with the boss, and for the next two hours you worry about the furrow on her brow and the tone of her voice. Determined to win her smile by the end of the day, you immerse yourself in a sea of files. In doing this, you ignore your dry throat, your stale breath, your aching eyes, your sore neck, your dry skin and your stretched nerves. Later, at home its the spouse, the kids, and dog all waiting for you to give them time, attention and dinner.
All the while, in every way possible, other people are deciding the course of your actions. We are listening to them so hard, trying so desperately to please them, that we no longer listen to ourselves. In "doing" all the time, we forget to just "be".
Ironically, over time, the more we "do" the less we achieve. All that effort takes its toll on our physical, mental and emotional health. It disconnects us from our deeper needs, leaving us empty and dull.
Now imagine a different, more pleasant scenario.
You come to work determined to win your own smile at the end of the day. That is, you remember to log off your computer, take a short walk, drink a glass of water and moisturize your skin every thirty minutes. Instead of "grabbing" an indifferent lunch, you bring fresh fruit, yogurt, and a whole grain sandwich from home. You don't take coffee breaks, you take exercise breaks.
Just one day of treating yourself well is sure to set off a chain of happy events. You return to your desk humming after your short break, and suddenly the solution to a niggling little problem pops into your head. You find yourself being nice to your coworkers. Instead of the usual post-lunch slump, you feel a post-lunch kick. Back home, you want to make a good dinner instead of warming yesterday's meal.
In treating yourself well for a day, you achieved both doing less and being more. You still did things, but what you did was gloriously different from what you had been doing for so long. You let yourself slow down instead of driving yourself hard. You did not misuse your body and you did not pressure your mind. You began the process of healing.
You lived Ayurveda today."
On that note, I think I will go meditate!
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