365 Inspirations—365: Happy New Year

Well, goodbye year of the SNAKE and hello year of the HORSE....If 2013 was a hard year for you, the snake might have something to do with it. Snakes are deceptive and creep up on you when you least expect it. I know so many people who experienced unexpected setbacks and difficulties this year. But the good news is, the Year of the Horse, a compassionate and loving creature, is here for 2014.

This is a pre-written post. Right this very minute, I'm at a silent meditation course in CA with no contact to the outside world. In other words, no reading, no writing, no electronics, no dancing, no singing.

Just meditation. That's it.

So I'll be ushering in the New Year with eyes closed and legs crossed.

I so need this time. I'll be welcoming the Year of the Horse in silence.

Now is a time when people write down New Year Resolutions.

After writing 365 blog posts for this year, I feel like cutting myself some slack on the resolutions!

I made it to 365 and that's a miracle in and of itself!

But I'll give you the gist of what I see in 2014:

1. More meditation, yoga and inner work.
2. Less computer (except for book writing and a handful of blog posts)
3. More walks in nature
4. More focus on friends and family
5. Exercise and healthy eating

I was thinking I might join a gym too, but I do get lots of exercise with walking and yoga. I plan to continue working on my new book and not blogging every day will free up some of that time. I also really want to cut sugar, grains, and coffee from my diet. I felt so good when I did that before.

I want to say that travel is in my horizon. I see it, but part of me feels the need to save and to just observe where I am. In 2013, I went on so many trips and yoga retreats—Peru, twice to Hawaii, twice to Las Vegas, Sedona, and right now I'm in California for this course. It was exciting, but perhaps I need to see how it feel to stay home for a year? Maybe it will give me an opportunity to travel inward if I stay right where I am instead of always being on the go!

Maybe I will get some clarity about my direction at the end of this meditation course. It ends on January 6th  and I'll be coming out of silence then.

 Thanks for tuning in here for an entire year. I plan to still write posts, just not everyday.

Our next retreat is at The Yoga Lodge on Whidbey Island January 24-26! Hope to see you there. You can find out more about it here.

Did you enjoy these blog posts for one entire year?

365 Inspirations—153: Slowing Down and Paying Attention

Blooming Camellia in my front yard

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."—Lao Tzu

When I have many things to do, my usual tendency is to speed up, but for some reason I s—l—o—w—e—d way down today.

I would do one thing and then stop and just sit there with absolutely no thoughts. This doesn't usually happen to me. Normally when I have a lot to do, I'm on to the next thing before the first is even finished.

I started noticing things I hadn't noticed before. I mowed the lawn in the backyard and noticed that our new roof that we got last summer has very interesting little black boxes on one side. I have no idea what these are for. While attentively raking the grass into small piles, I would take rests and watch the trees in our backyard sway in the breeze as huge bumble bees got their fill of pollen from the flowers overhead. I closed my eyes and felt the sun on my shoulders. I listened to the leaves speak. 

I sat down on the front step. Everything was blossoming, blooming, and buzzing. Everything was alive. 

My heart seemed to beat to the drip of the outdoor tap. I stepped behind the bushes, in close to the house, to tighten the faucet and then returned to my place on the step.

I felt full of everything. I felt alive with all that was around me.

I don't know how long I sat there.

Amazingly, I got everything done that I needed to do. I gardened, checked half the tests for one of my classes, made dinner for my husband, cleaned out the fridge, did the laundry and now I'm typing this post. 

I felt like each activity I did was new. I was so curious about each step in the process. I felt like a baby who feels grass between her toes or hears the sound of birds for the very first time. I'm not sure why this day was different than any other day, but I like this new pace.

I'm going to go slowly more often, especially when I feel the need to speed up.

Do you remember the activities you did today? Were you aware of each step in the process? Do remember all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes around you?

365 Inspirations—59: Slow Down

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast--you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."—Eddie Cantor

 It's the end of the quarter crunch at the college. We need to get the students ready for tests, grade the tests, do paperwork, input grades, etc. It always feels like I'll never get it done, but then suddenly it's all over and I'm on break.

Usually I go home between my two classes. I have a split shift and feel I need to go home and rest before my night class, but tonight I decided to stay at school. I went out to an early dinner with a colleague at a nearby restaurant. It was totally unplanned, but we were both hungry when we ran into each other in the teacher's room.

It was nice to slow down and catch up with her. It was completely an impromptu meeting. After our dinner date, I was going to go home, but there wasn't enough time so I stayed at the college.

I made all my copies for the final, got a snack at the coffee stand, graded a stack of papers, and now I'm taking a little rest.

I'm happy I stayed at school today and got some things done. It saved me gas and now I feel a bit more relaxed.

Lately I've been a last minute person. I wait and wait and then find I'm over my head with things to do. I'm trying to change that habit and slow down a bit, even during this crunch time at school. If I can somehow slow down during the busiest time of the quarter, then that's saying something!

Off I go to eat my veggies and close my eyes and nap for a little bit. It feels so nice to slow down and actually be ahead on things I need to do for once!

Do you ever feel like you are racing from one thing to the next? Do you ever take time to slow down even when you are extremely busy?