A Shifting Perspective...

"The saying goes, 'The sage rests, truly rests and is at ease.' This manifests itself in calmness and detachment, so that worries and distress cannot affect him, nothing unpleasant can disturb him, his Virtue is complete and his spirit is not stirred up."

-Chuang Tzu

I have been on a quest for rest this week. Yesterday, I read through all of the blog posts I've written here and the one thing that really stood out to me was my need for rest.

It seems, since I turned 40, that I am constantly tired. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm working out everyday or if I'm going to bed early...I just seem to be tired all the time.

And since I'm paying more attention to my body...since I'm trying to learn to trust what it is my body really needs...this week, I have forgone my intense exercise regimen for rest. I've been doing some yoga poses instead of climbing on the treadmill every morning.

One pose I've come across is the Viparita Karani pose. You can find out more information for this pose here, at Yoga Journal.

I have been searching for a yoga practice for months now. I've tried Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow, but those practices are not giving me what I'm really craving right now. What I want is a bunch of restorative poses that will help me get the rest that my body is craving.

I'm trying not to panic about this shift in perspective...because, really, how much weight am I going to be able to lose in a week if I'm not working out?? I'm about to find out. I'm still counting calories and staying within my calorie range, so I am sure that I won't see a gain. But making this shift in perspective has been scary because I wonder if I'm sabotaging myself...sabotaging my weight-loss goals? But then I think...the journey I'm really on is about finding better health for myself. And right now...this week...I want to rest and restore. Maybe next week I'll get back on the treadmill...

As I was driving into work this morning, I was thinking about how, just a few months ago, I would get so frustrated if I only saw a half pound loss on the scale (per week) and now, I'm thinking that losing a half pound would be fantastic! It means progress...

But there are other ways of progressing on this path...quitting smoking (I did this about 5 years ago), quitting drinking diet sodas (going on 3 years!), and since this summer, quitting eating fake/processed foods...beginning to eat a mostly organic, health positive menu...drinking mostly water on a daily basis and cutting my consumption of caffiene and alcohol...these are all amazing steps on my journey to complete health!

These little shifts in perspective add up to such huge changes...