Begin Again

I've written about this before but thought I would post again...on beginning again.

A new moon rises tonight...an auspicious time for new beginnings. If you've been working on something and have hit a point where everything has ground to a halt, now is the time to renew, start over, begin again.

I don't know if it's still on sale but about 3 or 4 months ago, I bought a Yoga Journal special edition called Yoga for Weight Loss (by the way, a fantastic magazine that I read cover to cover, several times!). Anyway, amoung all the great columns and features, there was one article that really stood out for me. Titled, Begin Again, by Phillip Moffitt (pps 114-117), it explores the practice of starting over through meditation and being present.

I feel like, to really change my life, I have to embrace beginning again...it is consistency that is going to erase old habits and replace them with healthy ones. What helps me, when I've gone off track, is to pause, notice that I've gone off track and begin a meditation practice with the mantra, "Just start over.."

I've written, in my last 2 posts, about my struggle to stay on track during the month of June. That time proved to be difficult and, yes, I've had a minor setback, but it's nothing I can't turn around.

It's July! A new month of getting my walk on in the mornings! I enjoy them so much and am excited by the prospect of getting back to my walks. Though I didn't make it to the Greenhills Pioneer walk this morning (puppy drama - see my Facebook page for the backstory), I intend to go for a 5k walk of my own today (or treadmill if it rains). And I already have a race schedule set up for the rest of the year. The next one is the Lady Distance Classic (a 10k) in August.

These races serve as such a huge motivation for me to keep up with my exercise regimen. I like the competition and the race SWAG, and the whole ritual of it all...it keeps me motivated. So I will be training throughout July for my August race. I can get back to tracking on my favorite exercise website, Daily Mile...bet I can add 25 more donuts to my balance before August 1st.

Another way I'm going to begin again; I'm going to start taking Probiotics again. I gave them a 2 month trial and got good results but, for whatever reason, stopped taking them after that (maybe it was that I simply ran out). At any rate, will pick up a new bottle and start taking them again. I think my digestion is so much better and it helps me to keep my diet clean.

Foodwise, I'd like to keep it fresh, cold, juicy, and bright for the summer...so lots of salads, fruits, cold dinners and lunches...simple, fresh, local, and organic, that's how I want to eat. Oh, and lots of color...all the colors of the rainbow means that you are getting really essential vitamins and minerals.

And finally, I think, I am looking forward to renewing my yoga and meditation practice. I think, it is essential that at the end of a workday, instead of rushing home to cook dinner...I should slow down and take a deliberate pause to do yoga and/or meditate...to break with all the anxiety of work BEFORE I prepare dinner...to yoga.