CENTER in 2022
January’s theme, CENTER, is inspired by this participant’s feedback...
“Your teaching and classes are a gift each week. I think my lesson for 2021 is to learn to hold both sorrow/joy, hard/easy (and any dichotomy really) at the same time with grace and find peace and comfort in teeter totter balance between them while “abiding the midline/center”. That you teach each week with grace my friend.”
A Powerful example of choosing the Middle Way…A Buddhist understanding of practical life. Avoiding extremes of denial and indulgence, and viewing reality with a balanced position between eternalism and annihilationism.
The last two years have been a crash-course in non-attachment, relinquishing control (as though we ever had it), and awakening to our fundamental priorities. As so eloquently written above – finding comfort and peace in the midst of suffering, while abiding our center requires attention, intention, and practice.
When life-circumstances are stressful and chaotic, even the most disciplined of us lose sight of our movement, mediation, sleep, and nutrition practices. These are very things that optimize both mental, and physical health; coaxing us back to homeostasis.
I'm often asked "what's one thing I can do to optimize my health?" The answer is...it depends. I know right, we're all looking for the magic bullet; sorry to disappoint.
Ultimately (especially as you age), you'll need to work with a healthcare professional who'll evaluate your risk-factors, read and interpret labs, and become a partner of your physical, and mental health needs.
As for the practices listed above? Your healthcare provider wants you doing the basics, AND, they understand life is a series windstorms.
With that said, my #1 suggestion for supporting your health and wellness endeavors is...
SELF-COMPASSION.
Not exactly the 72 day, Keto fat-burning, calorie blasting fad click-bate right?
And yet, without self-compassion, it's nearly impossible to sustainably right your wellness ship. When you fully engage in life, you'll undoubtedly face choppy seas. Focusing on guilt, shame, regrets, failures, frustrations won't motivate you. In fact, we tend to adopt buffering solutions for escaping these feelings; pulling us further away from holistic health.
For all the successes, celebrations, and highlights you'll experience in life, the inverse is true. Back to the dichotomy of 2021...learning to gently hold both.
Regardless of where you are on the wellness spectrum. As we say so-long to 2021, practicing grace and compassion in 2022 has the capacity to raise all the boats in your harbor.
Sail on.
