Solvitur Ambulando

“You can sort it out by walking”

 

There is something magical and meditative about walking,

especially if you do it daily.

 It becomes a necessity.

I ran across the above Latin saying  in the Meditation year book :

It means “you can sort it out by walking”.  

And you CAN sort it out by walking.  

Just walk it off.  

You’ll be amazed that when you allow yourself to truly experience the rhythmic and repetitive act of walking

it will steady your mind, and

you can sort it all out…

so Solvitur Ambulando…

Cartwheels of Joy

Release the Joy Inside

 

It is a really great feeling to WANT to do a cartwheel.

When joy bubbles up inside of you.. (and it will once you start letting go to let come)… you’ll feel like a kid again and want to do a cartwheel.

 Now, depending on how old you are, how much you weigh,  and what type of health insurance you have (or don’t have)  will determine if you will “actually” decide to do a cartwheel.   

But if you don’t or can’t do a cartwheel you can remember how you felt when you did or could do a cartwheel when you were younger.

You can smile and know that you’ve re-discovered that joy inside of yourself…that expressed itself by doing physical cartwheels.  

(To those of you who are still in your youth: DO LOTS OF CARTWHEELS and enjoy them!) 

May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity.

May your heart sing sweet lullabies of timelessness.

May your essence be the nectar of the open blossom of your joy.

May your spirit soar throughout the vast cathedral of your being.
                                                                                          – Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Increasing Your Energy - NOT Losing Weight

It’s a New Year…again…a New Year

Most people go into EVERY new year with the same “resolution” – Lose Weight

What happens?  It doesn’t work.  They DON’T lose weight.

Why Not? Because they try stuff other people tell them to try.

So, you shouldn’t really think that anyone can tell YOU what to do to “lose weight”.  I can’t and no one else can either. 

What I can tell you is how to increase the energy flowing into your body.

If you can change the focus from “losing” something to “gaining” something the entire “game” changes.  You know the game that  I’m talking about – it tells you that you have to go on crash diets, join a gym, take a pill, get a shot, etc, etc, etc, and most importantly “how you can lose weight in one month that has taken you YEARS to gain”  This does not work, but we all know this, so … 

Just Focus on Increasing Your Energy  –  

Below are 3 Ways:

1. Breathing

You have to focus on the “health” of your breath.  

You have to breathe. You have to find ways to increase the air coming into your body.  

Ways to do this:

• Just watch your breath, breathe in and breathe out and focus on it.  (Try it now, it’s not easy, so you have to practice it.)  Without breathing you die…so it MUST be important.
• Do Yoga and I am NOT talking about Yoga CLASSES (why would you pay money for something you can do at home???) just get a DVD from the Library and try it. Times are tough, getting stuff from the Library is FREE.  You might have to do some research first because it seems to be a MILLION “types” of Yoga that have sprung up (whew…the commercialization of it all…).  Find the Yoga that makes the most sense to YOU.  My spirit lines up with Kundalini Yoga, but that’s only after trial and error. Yoga will help you focus on your breath and it will help you with flexibility at the same time.
• Walk – Just Walk.  If you CAN still walk, then WALK.  If you can not get up and walk around the block or just around your house or apartment then WHAT makes you think you can get up and go to the gym – for which you have to pay for? Just walk everyday and focus on your breath while you are walking. Again this is FREE. 

2. Sleeping

• Getting restorative sleep should give you the energy for the next day
• Find ways to get enough rest that revitalizes you.

3. Eating

• You are a human being.  You have to eat to live.  You can’t get around this.
• Food gives your body the nourishment and energy that it needs to do whatever your body is meant to do – for the moment – for the day –  for your lifetime.
• You have to find the foods that YOUR body needs.  You have to focus on food that provides the energy that YOU need.  Look at the food you are putting  into your body, BEFORE you eat it.  Will it give you proper energy?  Is it nourishing?  

I would have thought I would have been the LAST person to recommend meal preparation and cooking, but once I started focusing on cooking my own meals things fell into place.  

Forget about the fact that you can’t cook.  Don’t believe that voice in your head that is telling you that.  Just cook what you CAN for now.  Even if all you can do is boil eggs, then boil eggs.  Just start. 

That’s it – BREATH, SLEEP, EAT to increase your energy level  – don’t struggle with it – ENJOY IT!

Why Are You Walking In Circles?

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

A young girl at the playground asked me that the other day: “Why are you walking in circles?”

I told her I was exercising. She seemed to be okay with that answer, but I knew it was much more than ‘exercising’ to me.

It was the easiest answer to give her, because exercise is one of the benefits of walking.

I certainly couldn’t tell this young girl:

• I’m meditating.
• I’m contemplating.
• I’m doing a number of breathing techniques, but no one can tell.
• I’m sensing my recently deceased mother in everything – she seems to be everywhere now – in the sky, in the trees, in the birds – everywhere – not just in a room in a nursing home anymore – she’s everywhere.  Her voice is constantly in my head with her life lessons, her wisdom, and this ‘knowingness’ that everything is fine. I just need to trust that, stay humble and get ready for whatever is coming my way.
• I’m seeing something new at every turn around the school building – the geese that fly in formation; the trees that are starting to turn colors; the beautiful purple wild flower; the airplanes in the sky; the tall young guy who should be good at basketball but he isn’t; the dad that’s trying to make his son into a basketball player – even though the kid doesn’t seem to have the natural aptitude for the sport; the soccer field; the ladies who walk around in skimpy and tight outfits looking here and there and pretending to “exercise” but they’re really trying to catch the eye of one of the men playing basketball with their kids; the little girls playing on the monkey bars and talking like their mother’s; on and on I see something new every day and at every turn when I walk on that school yard.

How could I explain to that little girl that:

• “walking in circles” was one of the very best parts of my day.
• television has long ago lost its hold on me.
• when I didn’t walk I felt like I’d cheated myself out of some joy that’s readily available.
• I wonder every day what I’ll do when the weather gets cold – will I still be able to wear my comfortable crock flip-flops? – will it be too dark to walk? – will I adjust my hours at work? – will I walk during lunch? – exactly what will I do?  I must have a plan because ‘walking in circles’ has proven to be the best most consistent form of both physical and mental “exercise” that I’ve done in many years.

How could I explain to her that yes, my answer about exercise was accurate, but it was not all there is to her question.

How could I explain that one day she’d probably find herself in middle age “walking in circles” too.

How could I explain that in life she should keep asking those type of questions…and question the answers…most people never question the answers.  Answers are taken at face value, but there’s usually more to the answer than the answer itself.

I saw her again the other day as she twirled an incredible flip on the monkey bars.  I smiled, and just thought as strongly as I could that I was looking at a future Olympian   I wanted her to believe that too, just from my eyes and my smile.  She caught me looking at her and her eyes got really big.   She looked so proud that I had “noticed” her …or maybe she caught the message I was sending with my eyes and smile –  that she could be anything she wanted to be in life.

I wonder if that young girl will remember that lady in the green and yellow crocks that she asked the question: “Why are you walking in circles?” I won’t soon forget her, or her question to me, or the fact that one day she might just be in the Olympics twirling on the uneven bars.

We never know when we are making a memory.

Don't Limit Yourself

That was the advice from a 75-year-old woman who looked 50 and had the energy of a 20-year-old.

She was a volunteer helping out at the agency where I currently work. What she volunteered for included physical labor that a 75-year-old could not “normally” be expected to do.

She not only did it,  but did it with so much spirit and spunk that it was uncanny.

Before she left the site I told her I hoped the question I was going to ask would not offend her, but I wanted to know how old she was.  She told me that she doesn’t tell her age, but that she WOULD tell me.

I told her I’d like to hear her story one day.  I’d like to know how she has managed to take care of herself – her body – her mind – and her spirit – for all these years.

She was the picture of health.

If we could see more people like her we wouldn’t be “afraid” of aging. We wouldn’t be dying our hair every week, getting face lifts, and basically fighting the aging process like it was the enemy.  We would be-friend it and work with it, instead of against it.

The body is dying.  We know this.

It is decaying. It is losing it’s energy.

We don’t have to fight against that.

We can embrace it and look and act like this lady.

We can amaze people at our physical age, by the life that we live.

The next day of this project, the 75-year-old woman came back to the site just to drop-off something.  She came over towards me and I said…”Wait a minute…look who’s here…it’s Foxy”  She just started laughing as she walked over to me and whispered in my ear and said: “Don’t Limit Yourself”.  That was her secret, she didn’t limit herself.  She didn’t allow life, her circumstances or her age to limit her – never had and I could tell that she never would.

Are You Limiting Yourself?

Are you telling yourself that you can’t do it?

Are you telling yourself that you are too old?

Too Fat

The “Wrong” Skin Color

Too Young

The “Wrong” Sex

Not Physically Capable

Don’t Have Enough Money

Staying in a Job You Hate Because You’re Afraid to Quit

Staying in a Relationship That Died Long Ago, but You’re Afraid to Leave

Can’t  Possibly Do This or That Because You Don’t Have a College Degree

Can’t Start Your Own Business

Can’t Go Back to School

Can’t Finish School

Can’t Afford School

Can’t Make Friends

Can’t Get Good Grades

Haven’t Been Able To Find A Job in Over a Year and Think You Never Will

Can’t Sell Your House

Can’t Relocate

Not Pretty Enough

Not Smart Enough

Not Loveable

Take The Advice of the 75-Year-Old Woman –

Just Quit Limiting Yourself…

Just for Today Pretend Those Limits Aren’t  Really There…

Just Pretend…

How Would You Think?

What Would You Do?

Where Would You Go?

What Would You Say?

Who Would You Call?

What Would You Search For On-line?

Who Would You Get Back In Touch With?

Who Would You Call To Set-up A Meeting With?

Now….Do Some of Those Things…

Just See What Happens…Why Not?…Just For Today

(Who knows maybe there really aren’t many limits.  

How will our lives unfold if we just quit limiting ourselves?)