Revisiting the Seasons

Sometimes I get busy internally. Today I journaled and ended up spending an hour writing out all sorts of stuff I had not faced and realising a lot of things and while it didn’t look like I was doing much, emotionally I feel put through the wringer. Then I had work.

With all that going on, there wasn’t time to do anything worth blogging about – and even if I was prepared to blog about the stuff that came up today, I need time to process it. I was a little out of it at work, looking back.

So, instead, an update on a previous activity. Keeping track of the changing seasons.

I found a whiteboard and added something it most weeks. I filled it up, but took a photo before wiping it clean and beginning again:

Listen to your body

One of last week’s activities this, following on from the How to Heal Your Body book

What is [your body] telling you at the moment?

The book advises meditating and then noticing where in the body you feel any soreness, stiffness or pain, place your hand on this part and

…ask your body to tell you what is wrong. Then simply wait quietly for your body’s inner wisdom to tell you what is causing the discomfort.

From the crown of my head, I got that I was overthinking.

From my eyelids I got that I needed to do less.

From my gut I got that I worry too much.

Before you leave your meditation, imagine your hand is a healer’s hand and your touch is bringing warmth light and into the part of your body where it is resting.

I don’t know how well I did there, because I didn’t want to stop to reread the information, but I imagined a healer’s hands slotting into mine, a bit like a ghost, except it didn’t feel scary.

I’m fairly sure some healing took place. I haven’t done a lot of healing, but I know to drink water after performing any healing, so I did that next.

I am keen to get back into meditating again. It’ll help me connect with my body more, as well as reducing worry, thinking and doing too much!

Look to the Sky

I have had a difficult day, so will be typing less and posting more photos than I anticipated.

Today, look up at the sky every single chance you get.

So I did:

Sorry about the random sizes, I’m too tired to do much about fixing them today.

The sky was beautiful. Blue, with gorgeous clouds.

…each time you look up, remember the billions of others living their lives under the same endless sky. I find that as I look up from my small, everyday concerns into its vastness some of the things that bother me shrink in size and seem less important than I’ve built them up to be.

I didn’t find that, but looking at the sky and thinking of all the other people living underneath it, I did get a sense of connection. When you get down to it, we’re all “only” human.

Seeing what’s real

Today’s activity continues the decluttering.

When was the last time you peered in the bottom of your handbag or wallet?

Take a few minutes to empty the contents of your bag onto the table and be ruthless about throwing away [everything] that doesn’t need to be there.

This is something I do regularly. I saw my doctor this morning, and am resting this afternoon. I’m not sure if I’ll have the energy to clear out my bag today. On the plus side, my doctor reminded me that while I do still have bad days (as I have blogged about often), I have better ones in between. A few years back and a low period would last for days. It’s good to have people on the outside to point out how far you have come when you can’t see it. I expect this blog will be another way to remind me in the future.

It is lucky there’s not much to blog about today, because I still have yesterday’s activity to write up.

What is this life if full of care, We have no time to stop and stare?

– W H Davies

Yesterday’s activity was about taking time to stare around, to

Look hard at this incredible world.

I posted yesterday about staring at the snow. I also looked hard at Marley when she deigned to curl up in my lap, purring away.

Last night we ate out as a family before my cousin went to the states. We ate at Atomic Diner, and there was plenty to stare at over dinner:

Backing up

Today, take a few minutes out in the middle of the day to give your back a break. Find a flat surface on which to lie on your back. If possible, use a small cushion or even a jumper under your head or neck to align your whole body as straight as you can.

Now bend your knees up, keeping them about shoulder width apart, with your feet still flat on the floor. You should be able to feel your spine coming closer to the floor, supported by it. Enjoy the sensation of being supported, and notice, when you rise again, whether you feel a fraction taller.

This was the activity I did today. It was comfortable enough, though if anything I felt shorter when I stood up. Or maybe I was just aware of how short I am, because I was thinking about it. The weather is becoming colder again, and my floor is draughty, so I probably won’t repeat it until winter is over.

This morning I woke and didn’t feel miserable. It’s a start.

Stretching your legs

Today’s been a weird one. I am still tired, and my throat hurts, but I am not feeling depressed. Just out of sorts, like something’s happened and I have forgotten it.

Today I thought I would do an “explore” activity, namely stretching my legs.

Today. Instead of sauntering or sleepwalking try to properly stretch your legs…pay attention to them. Try making your stride a fraction longer than usual; feel the muscles working, the joints smoothly setting you in motion and the energy powering you forward.

It’s been raining all day, so given I’m not feeling too well, I didn’t go for a walk. I tried to lengthen my stride, when I remembered. The book mentions going up and down the stairs of your house, but I forgot that part when I was at my parents; I live in a flat, no stairs here.

So I haven’t given this activity my best shot. Hopefully it’ll be dryer tomorrow (the weather seems to alternate between rain and sun at the moment) and I can walk more.

It’s good to think about my legs as they are – usually I only think about them when I am in pain. Like I said yesterday

It’s important to give love to all parts of yourself

For the birds

Today’s activity:

…learn how to identify three or four of the most common birds you may spot in your garden, local park, or hovering over the grass verge as you race down the highway.

I already know the local birds: robin, jackdaw, pigeon, dove, magpie (my favourite, obviously). My grandmother’s love of birds came to me through my mother. I know many British birds. I am good at sounds too; I can tell a magpie is near by the calls, identify a blackbird by the warning they give when a cat is around (and the sound of a garden for me is the blackbird song), tell the difference between a pigeon and a dove by the sound. I even found that I have learned the call of a red kite, just from living in an area where they fly overhead. Given they were all but extinct when I was a child, this was a magical thing to realise. (The call can be heard if you follow the link)

However I do not know everything. I pulled out this book from my shelves:

I would like to be able to identify swallows, swifts and house martins. It isn’t the season for them, but they’re not uncommon in the summer and it would be good to be able to tell the difference when they do return. So that’s what I am going to do.

It’s good to be able to blog before I get tired. I am still feeling listless/apathetic, but today’s activity is one I can do, so I will focus on the positive.

Looking at last week…

…I did pretty well given my tiredness, yes, I skipped 2 days, but I am impressed it wasn’t more. Still tired, but less apathetic than I was yesterday. Today’s activity is to slip a loving note into someone’s pocket or lunchbox, the thing about living alone is it’s harder to do this.

In this morning’s Morning Pages I began writing about last week’s activity of becoming aware of my bodies’ natural rhythms. Last week I was too tired to do so, but I have been noticing. If I am well/non exhausted enough in the evenings I can stay up late and get quite a bit done. If I have the energy and don’t have to go searching for things I need I can get quite a bit done first thing too. Actually I think it would work quite well on days like today, when nothing’s scheduled, if I did get up when I first wake, around 5am, and do my writing and oracle cards, before going back to bed, then “sleeping in”. I am more a night owl than an early bird, but when I am awake and ready to get going then I can get a lot done, which I do find satisfying.

One thing I have yet to do today is copy down that bit from my morning pages and into my journal. I rarely reread morning pages immediately, but this time I will make an exception.

Bubbles

Guess today’s activity.

I love this 💕 it’s so simple – bubble mixture and breathing and beautiful to look at. I am going to have to get a bigger bottle, and one that doesn’t tip so easily – I got bubble mixture on the duvet, the sofa and me.

This is one activity I plan to do more of. 😃👄🧐

Smile at smells

Today’s activity:

Go in search of smells that make you smile

I didn’t come across any old books at work, so settled for ones at home; I love that “old book” smell. I didn’t go to the new Westgate shopping centre, so I didn’t drop into Lush, which Has just moved there, and always smells lovely. Instead I walk through the perfume areas in Boots and Superdrug. Not quite the same, but interesting smells, in a good way. Better were the soaps in the local department store.

It has only just occurred to me that I could have visited (or even just walked past) the local gelato place and inhaled; I will try and make a point of crossing the road earlier next time to treat my nose again. In the meantime I am going to light some incense and breathe that in this evening.