Working backwards, I see I’ve spent the last four days in a barely-there fog, Prior to that, I spent a fair amount of time in an agitated haze. Neither of these states has felt particularly helpful to my well-being. It seems like I’ve bounced between agitated distraction and lethargic distraction for awhile now. I haven’t enjoyed it, but I found “escape’ to be difficult. No matter how you cut it, there is a lot happening...
It’s happened. Suddenly we’re thrust into a world where reality will prevail. A world where our human arrogance doesn’t just “not help” but actually makes things more challenging. The pandemic predicted for a long time by smart and thoughtful epidemiologists is upon us. Yesterday my writings on this amounted an epic rant —proof that despite all my efforts at mindfulness, living in the present, finding grace, and generally trying to be a good person, I...
As I approach the end of another trip around the sun I like to take stock of the year past and set intentions for the upcoming year. I write down key high and low lights of the year, reflect upon forward momentum, and set categorized intentions (home, friends, creative, health, career etc) for the upcoming 365 days. These intentions range from tackling specific tasks: “Clean out the basement and make it useable” and “Paint the...
The Ayurvedic Kitchari Cleanse, active portion, is officially over and I’ve been in “rejuvenation” for over a week. This cleanse has had its challenges. I really felt my air and space energy go off the rails, which manifested as everything from an over engaged gut to a disengaged gut to fatigue to spacey-ness to insomnia to whatever else you can come up with. During the active phase all went swimmingly well Sunday through Wednesday. Then...
The next stage of my fall cleansing is the Kitchari cleanse. This is an Ayurvedic style digestive cleanse designed to balance the mind body and spirit. It involves eating Kitchari (and ONLY Kitchari), a mung-bean, rice, and ghee based dish daily for the length of the cleanse (seven days, in my case), performing self-message and oliation daily (Abhyanga), soaking the body in a very hot ginger bath nightly, and spending time shifting your gaze inward....
I’m on day fourteen of a fourteen day heavy metals detoxification dietary cleanse. After this phase of my cleansing ritual I will shift into an Ayurvedic-style digestive cleanse—a Kitchari cleanse. More about that later. I know many folks out in internet-land are curious about and/or interested in dietary cleanses. Many have, like me, experimented with different approaches to cleansing while others view cleansing as a crazy woo-woo ritual that they would never engage in but...
Fall weather, is in full swing. In Minneapolis, after an unbearably wet start to the season, we’ve been treated to a few classic, clear and colorful days. But we’re not expecting them to last. Snow is forecast for the weekend (and people just can’t stop talking about it). As I’ve navigated the season, I’m reminded that September and October are difficult months for me. They elicit sadness and grieving and require my special attention. This is especially challenging because autumn...
I appreciate the clarity, although, I must say, I often prefer to reach this level of clarity using easier methods. Insomnia is a pretty unpleasant experience. ...
Autumn is the season for this sort of activity. Many trees are best pruned in the cooler weather, and it feels natural to see piles of branches on the ground, waiting for pickup. This is, after all, the time of year when things start to fall down. ...
I’ve been in a funk the last few weeks. I don’t know exactly why or what precipitated this state but I’ve felt like I’ve been operating under the radar and feeling out of sorts. I know the news of late has been bleak and the weather has been heavy, thick, cloudy, and hot. All that influenced me, but this “funk” felt deeper than all that. I’ve lived on this planet long enough to recognize when...