I’ve been really happy lately—not because life is perfect, my body is perfect, or anything is perfect. In fact, I was just typing in my newsletter when the program deleted my last few paragraphs and went nuts on me. We all have plenty of challenges. We all get wobbled. But I’m fueling my joy by doing things that uplift my spirit, taking time to focus on how I want to feel, and looking for things to appreciate everywhere I turn.
I had to get up and walk away from the computer to grab a cup of tea and recalibrate! This is just the nature of life on earth. And whether the things that wobble us or the people that do are large or small, the commitment to taking care of your own well-being—physical, mental, and emotional—is important..
It isn’t the easiest time to be on earth. We feel the currents in the human pool. Earlier in the year, I was walking to my kitchen and suddenly burst into tears of grief. It happened about the same time as the shootings were rocking our nation. Like many of you, I don’t watch the news, but I feel it.
Yesterday, my back was cracking all over the place. Vetebrae were readjusting on their own. I got up from. my desk and had had sciatica for the first time in my life for two hours, then it went away. I should have known. Today Mother Earth is cricking and cracking with devastating earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, and what surely must be a huge internal adjustment in her structure.
The way I handle such sensitivity is to care for myself even before I care for others. I give myself grace. I’ve taken more naps this year than ever before. I sometimes pare back my schedule to do only what must be done, so I can make time to rest and meditate. I sit every day and focus on how I want to feel in whatever task I have coming up.
It doesn’t take long to get centered in myself once again, feel the life force flowing, and reclaim my joy. A little self-care goes a long way. It plugs you back into the eternal stream, refuels your energy, and helps you remember that you must be important to yourself in your own life or you can’t give much to anyone else. You’ll burn out. Many of us in helping professions have come close, many times!
By the time I taught my class in June, I couldn’t wait! My passion had returned, and I was on full power!
And thus we entered the phase of recalibrating again…
I had become so passionate about enjoying life again that I did what I sometimes do, and went a little too far… in this case, with sugar! My lemon tree gave me 3000 glorious lemons this year, and I made over 20 pints of delicious sugary lemon curd (pudding). My friends were generous and gave me tons of chocolate for Christmas. And suddenly, happy to be alive, I couldn’t wait to enjoy all of it. The lemon curd came out of the freezer. The chocolate came out of the pantry. And what went into my body was more sugar every day than I usually eat in a few weeks. It was a lot of fun…
But then one day I looked in the mirror, and started rolling with laughter at the rolling hills that had “suddenly” appeared around my midsection.Somehow, in a few months, I had transitioned from being the slender soul I have been much of my life into looking like the traditional family dumpling, as the ladies in my lineage joke. I couldn’t stop laughing. All I could think was, “Where did that come from?” Suddenly, the discomfort I’d been feeling around the middle made sense. It never occurred to me that the constant full feeling I had was me being more full of “stored energy”!
There really was no mystery about the extra pounds. I typically eat healthy, natural foods with only a little sugar. And although I don’t have any judgment about weight one way or another, I was no longer comfortable, and I like being comfortable! I wanted to recalibrate, but haven’t had much time to hike or exercise. And so I sat and thought about how it felt to be my regular shape, just to get in the right vibe, and suddenly recalled a story in Autobiography of a Yogi in which Yogananda thought himself thin. That seemed like the perfect solution!
I put myself on a program twice a day for two to three minutes each. I sat and simply recalled feeling smaller. I remembered the lightness of hopping on rocks in the creek, the feeling of getting dressed without feeling as if I were stuffing one of my larger pillows into a small pillowcase, and how good it felt when I could do endless sit-ups. I recalled the deliciousness of fresh berries, a fresh veggie sauté with lemon and herbs that filled me up so much I didn’t need dessert. I focused on the wonderful feeling of Spirit’s love on my skin that I have been experiencing regularly, and the warmth of the sunshine on my face. I spent those few minutes every day focused on anything that made me feel good being in a body.
Within days, I lost my taste for excess sugar and started craving fruit again. I didn’t even think about chocolate except for my usual two pieces a day. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to get up and do my yoga and sit-ups. And, while I don’t have a scale, I know what I see and feel, and within two weeks, half the additional midsection had disappeared. To make things even better, I started “stumbling” on videos to correct my posture 🙂
This wasn’t rocket science, of course. Less sugar equals fewer calories, but the process did not involve suffering or feeling deprived, as it usually does. I don’t have the bandwidth currently to do my day-long hikes once a week. But simply because I wanted to feel comfortable and was willing to take a few minutes a day to focus on feeling good in a body without worrying about how and when the changes would unfold, the vibrational universe went to work. My brain rewired, my cravings changed, and I’m on the way back to my usual size.
The moral of this story isn’t about weight loss. Iti s more about loving yourself through the heights and the valleys, and simply recalibrating when you’re not pleased. Mine happened in a way natural to me. Some of you might get impelled to see a doctor to get your hormones or thyroid balanced. The guidance is different for each of us, but the commitment to do something self-loving like sitting for a few minutes a day and thinking thoughts that feel good is pretty powerful. If I were obsessively focused on everyone else, I guarantee I would not have made even that little time for myself.
So, whether you feel the weight in your body as I did, or the weight of the world, as so many of us do, the process of lightening up, be it literal or metaphorical, is still the same: start by loving yourself enough to care for your feelings. Make space in your mind for thoughts that feel good and space in your day for things that feel good, no matter how small. Scale is irrelevant. The way you feel is what matters.
And from that commitment, your energy will start to return. Your joy will begin to renew. And your body will be allowed to resurrect itself since that is what bodies are programmed to do, with all the new baby cells being born every second.
Here are a few things that will help you get your mojo back when you feel tired, overwhelmed, or disconnected, or if you just want to feel a bit more inspired in life:
1. Grant yourself grace
The angels always insist that the first step on the road back to feeling good is to accept yourself as you are. Stop fighting your natural feelings and healthy instincts. If you’re tired, rest when you can. If you don’t feel like being as “available” as usual, pull back where you can. Do something that allows an overworked mind to take a breather—get outside, read a book, take a digital reset. Stop trying to live up to others’ expectations or even your own. Don’t try to feel good about things that don’t. Instead, find things that do.
The more we stop fighting ourselves and surrender to what truly feels right in the moment—kind and loving, no matter how small—the more we open up to the flow of life force once again.
2. Get rid of artificial deadlines. Question the to-do list.
So many times, we think we have to get things done when we don’t. And while we might really want to accomplish many tasks, the real must-do list is often much smaller than the want-to-do list. I have things on my list that have been there for a few years, and I haven’t been inspired to handle them yet. I’ll get there. Pushing yourself never feels good.
When you’re feeling a little deflated, it is best to pare the to-do list down to only the real must-dos and let the rest wait till you have more energy or inspiration.
3.Enjoy life’s simple pleasures and focus on what feels good
On the road to inspiration, we have to start small. Enjoy your coffee, or your cat. Enjoy walking your dog or reading a few pages of a good book. Enjoy an interesting video, or shut your eyes at night and feel the relief of “time off.” Walk around your house and enjoy the memories inspired by the objects you have, or enjoy the texture of a blanket on your couch. Make or get a healthy meal and take time to savor the flavor.
Or take a few minutes a day as I often do to focus on how you want to feel. Indulge in a fantasy. Recall a time you felt great and. relive it. Just a few minutes here and there of feeling good does wonders for your spirit and your day.
Start small and simple when you’re trying to rekindle your spark. Little pleasures are like little sparks of love that, when added up, will fuel the flames of inspiration once again. Every time we look for something to enjoy, more will reveal itself.
The formula is pretty simple. Grant yourself grace. Be kind to yourself. Relieve yourself of unnecessary pressure. Look for things that feel good. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. The road back to a good vibe isn’t glamorous, but it is paved with tiny pebbles of goodness.
The path is revealed by removing obstacles such as unnecessary pressure, false deadlines, or self-judgment that leave us feeling exhausted.
And although at times this world can seem like a bit much for many of us sensitive souls, earth can also be a lot of fun when we shift our energy and attention, take care of our own needs, and find small, silly ways to tap into joy.
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