Rest and sleep (lots of it).
Increased meditation (8 or 10 times more).
Silence. Stillness. Watching the sunrise.
Moving my body more (a lot more).
Beauty. And the time and space to appreciate it.
Seclusion realities
Sleep stealers
A number of factors contributed to last night being the worst night’s sleep I’ve had in ages.
First of all, we had been out to dinner, so it took a while to settle down and let the food digest, etc. The end result being that I didn’t get to bed until fairly late.
Secondly, it’s still been really hot — which never helps.
And finally, it was a full moon!
All in all, I slept just a little more than three hours. Functioning during Sunday service was definitely a struggle.
Recovery time
Recovery: wishing I could have had another day of it.
Yesterday fit the recovery scenario: I slept late, took it easy, didn’t even leave the house all day.
Today was the exact opposite: the morning was spent on tasks at home; I ran seven(!) errands in the afternoon; then had soloist/instrumental rehearsal in the evening.
And the rest of the week just gets more intense with final preparations for Friday night’s Oratorio performance.
Jai Guru!
A downtime kind of day
Today was mostly devoted to catching up on sleep and taking things slow. I did accomplish some tasks but nothing monumental or intense.
It was pretty much what we used to call a “mental health day.”
“I can’t keep up!”
I totally get where Snoopy’s coming from. That feeling close to panic at how fast things are going and realizing you can’t keep up.
I also totally get his (ahem) solution!
Post-surgery reflection
It’s post-surgery day #5 and I’m feeling close to normal.
Able to go for walks. Able to sit (or lie) down and get back up pretty easily.
Staying on schedule with my pain meds so that my body can relax and heal faster.
Given all of the above, I can’t help but feel surprised that — after yet another night of good sleep — I was so drowsy after breakfast that I laid down (“for just a few minutes”) on the couch and slept until noon!
This level of healing/rest is mind-blowingly new to me.
Good healing weather
It’s been raining pretty much all day; perfect weather for sitting at home recovering.
I felt like I had really slept in late this morning. But then I was so drowsy while meditating that I laid down afterwards and slept for two more hours.
Definitely some real healing going on.
More sleep, please
Today I fell asleep — really asleep — in the middle of the day.
I was trying to write something at the computer and just couldn’t get my brain to function, so thought I’d lie down just for a moment.
Ha!
But it got my attention and I’m determined to get to bed earlier tonight. More sleep is obviously needed.
Pre-dawn awakening
Ramesha often wakes up in the wee hours of the night and can’t go back to sleep, so he gets up and does his morning meditation practices — at 2:30 or 3:30 am — then goes back to bed.
Well, last night was my turn to have trouble sleeping, finally getting up at 3:30 am. I read my book for a while; drank some chamomile tea; and meditated.
But instead of going back to bed I figured it was a rare opportunity to shift myself to more of an “early to bed and early to rise” routine.
I was pretty pooped all day, but I’m hoping it will prove to be worth it.
Daffodil rewards
It’s kind of funny how even though the top priorities are rest and healing, my schedule seems more jampacked than ever.
Of course, when you look at it more closely, it’s not surprising at all.
These days I’m routinely shooting for eight, nine, sometimes even ten hours of sleep. I can only think of maybe three times in the last few months when I got less than seven. This is a radical shift in my lifestyle which makes a big difference in the number of hours available for other things.
Then there’s the time spent scheduling, driving to, and being at appointments.
I’m doing pretty well at making time to eat well and even managing to move forward with key music ministry projects.
But there’s one important activity that has completely fallen by the wayside: daily walking.
It’s not easy to get myself out the door when I’ve been gone all day at appointments, or I’m feeling particularly tired. But I know that even five or ten minutes in the fresh air will make me feel better.
So, this week I plan to make a concerted effort to take little mini-walks every day. Picking these beautiful daffodils was a little reward that got me off to a great start. 😄