Tag: relax

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Forest bathing

Although there’s been quite a lot written and said about forest bathing in the last few years, it’s not something I paid much attention to — other than vaguely thinking it was a good thing.

But this past week I’ve been getting back into a walking routine, going slightly farther each day. And as I went far enough this morning to actually relax and tune into my surroundings more deeply, I suddenly became aware that I was doing a version of forest bathing!

In fact, I live right in the forest, so every time I leave my home I can be forest bathing…if I’m consciously aware of doing so.

Of course, when I went to read more about forest bathing *, I learned that the recommended length for a forest bath is two hours.

Well, maybe I’ll save that for special occasion forest baths!

[* Click here for an article in Time magazine by Dr. Qing Li, the author of Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness.]

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Mercury is about to go retrograde

This explains so much of what’s going on for me right now.

Complications galore in getting something forwarded on from the States. Not being able to send or receive normal texts (only WhatsApp and Messenger). Feeling kind of slow and heavy and like I don’t really want to go out much.

Mercury going retrograde brings the “re” words to the fore. Basically it’s a good time to re-treat, re-flect, re-new, re-lax, rest…to simply slow down.

Of course, that’s the exact opposite of the plan when we come to Lugano!

So, my goal (as a Mercury-ruled Gemini person) has to be to find a way to balance the need for friends and family social time with allowing time for myself — to be still and to simply BE.

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October 12 update: I’m done!

I’m extremely happy to have very little to report in this update.😄

It’s been two weeks since the AFib incident, with no further episodes. I’ve added back in regular energization, as well as gradually increasing the pace and distance of my morning and evening walks. The opening in my chest where the catheter was is healing well; there’s just a regular Band-Aid on it now and even that will be gone in another couple of days.

Yesterday was my final doctor’s appointment and I’m officially done! I can go for walks without wearing a mask and as of next week I can start eating in restaurants again. The doctors are no longer overly concerned about food restrictions, but I still have to avoid people (or crowds of them at least). 

A week from tomorrow we’ll drive to Pacific Grove to stay in a house near the ocean for five days. A chance to relax and unwind in order to begin the process of integrating this amazingly intense period.

And then we’ll finally be homeward bound — after a full two months away. I can hardly wait. 

Thank you again and again for the love, the prayers, the emails, the notes, the gifts, the voicemails, the insights, and endless support. We couldn’t have done it without you. 💖

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Time to compromise

A friend quite rightly pointed out that it would probably be a good idea for me to let go of the daily blog post during this little staycation.

The thing is, writing a blog post every single day for over a year is the commitment with which I’ve been the most consistent in a long time. So, I really don’t want to mess that up.

On the other hand, this is my week to take things easy; to relax; and most of all — to try and catch up on sleep!

The answer? Compromise! For the rest of the week I’ll simply post a quote or a beautiful photo or a couple of sentences about a particulary fun activity…and call it good!

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Relax. It’s enough.

Can you guess what prompted this post?

Yep, the day got away from me and there’s no way I can write anything of substance without going past my 10:00 “turn-off-the-computer” deadline. Which, of course, has me feeling that I fell short of the mark for today.

So I’m choosing to let it be what it is; just staying present and remembering to relax and breathe.

Which is more than enough!