Dear all,
One thing I hear a lot (and can relate to myself!) is how challenging or overwhelming it can feel to navigate all the things we need to do to care for our bodies (and minds/emotions/spirits). Appointments, supplements, practices, exercise/s, eating, hydrating, sleep... what sounds simple in theory can end up feeling like an enormous amount to keep track of in practice, especially when also managing working, caregiving, relationships of all kinds, and hopefully some time for rest and relaxation, pleasure and play, too. Not to mention everything that is going on in the world, both far away and close to home, that breaks our hearts and worries our minds and affects us on a cellular level as well. How are we to balance it all?
I'm not sure I have the answers (sorry about that!) but I am sitting with some questions... What if we really approach our bodies as though caring for our dearest beloved, our child or close friend of our heart for whom we would like to do whatever we possibly can tonourish and strengthen? What if we view tending to our bodies as a way of mindfulness and conscious awareness, as a daily practice? Each choice we make, meal we eat, or healthy supplement we take another way of tapping into this, like the weaving in a tapestry or the steps on a pilgrimage? What if we get excited about all the wonderful things we are doing to promote our ongoing health and vitality? Or when things are feeling really hard, honoring ourselves for just breathing with it all, holding our own hands and hearts?
What if we see healing and tending to our bodies as one of the most sacred things we can do, in one of the most sacred relationships we have?
In Chinese Medicine, the Summer season (season of the Fire Element) starts in a few weeks (May 5), and we consider this time leading up to it (starting tomorrow!) to be Earth Time (as we finish out the season of Spring, connected with the Wood element). Earth Time happens during seasonal transitions, and it is a time to come back to center, to ground, to nourish ourselves and find our footing and stability in preparation for the seasonal shift. This is the perfect time to reflect on the value of tending, befriending, and gloriously inhabiting our bodies, as well as to feel how we are an essential part of Earth and Earth is an essential part of us. This is a way of strengthening, rooting, and coming home to ourselves, so that we can be steady and clear as we navigate all that is happening in our own lives and in the world.
Our bodies are inextricably interwoven with our minds, spirits, and hearts, so every practice we do to tend to our bodies with kindness and compassion is helping us flourish on all of these levels. And if our bodies are analagous to Earth's body, then this is a time to lavish both with love.
And as always, offering ourselves grace and forgiveness for whatever parts we aren't able to do, and gratitude for the ones we can.
With Earth Time blessings,
and prayers for healing, peace, justice, and democracy,
Shoshana