aloha every day

aloha every day

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Mother, mother ocean

Today was my first day 
Back in the
Ocean
In a very long time.



I am:
Stoked
Elated
Peaceful
Healed

The term "ocean therapy" 
Exists for a very real reason.
 Until today,
I couldn't pinpoint exactly what that reason was...
Today, it became clear:
The ocean gives to each in unique ways. 
For my dear friend, mother ocean is a reminder of faith, that God is in control and if we just let go, we will be cared for.

For me, the ocean is the ONLY place 
The STOPS me
and
forces me to be here, now.
It is calming to be present in the moment,
Not thinking about yesterday or tomorrow...
To just BE.

With lovely thoughts of my salt water therapy session today,
 I leave you with lyrics of one of my all time favorite songs (covered best by Jack Johnson at Kokua Fest, in my humble opinion):



Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
Youve seen it all, youve seen it all

Watched the men who rode you switch from sails to steam
And in your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen
Most of em dream, most of em dream

aloha.


Sunday, March 17, 2013

Sleepless in San Diego

I've always been a light sleeper,
but I've never been a poor sleeper...
that is until recently.

I'm plenty tired come bed-time.
In fact, I'm usually the first to sleep.
A few hours later,
I'm up.
Rollin' around to find a comfortable spot,
getting up to get water,
 my mind racing with thoughts of tomorrow,
and the next day,
and the next day,
and...wait:
Did I just say my mind is racing?
Because I've been reading a lot about ways to improve sleep,
one of which is to include meditation daily.
Seems to be a good fit.
I've been meaning to start meditating now for a while.
But therein lies the conundrum:
Meditation doesn't work like that.
"Meaning to meditate" 
is
in fact
the complete
OPPOSITE
of meditation!

So this morning,
sleepless in San Diego
at 4 a.m.
I opened up the Deepak Chopra and Oprah 
(say that 5 times fast :)
meditation challenge:

I've been "meaning" to begin this challenge for 
7 days now.
What better time than 4 a.m., Sunday morning?
I turn on the audio recording,
and begin to follow the directions:
"...any time other thoughts come into your head,
say the mantra: Lam."

I battle this the whole time.
I'm thinking about:
 what I can do with the leftover zucchini (I decided on calabacitas burritos, but should I wait for Wednesday because Danielle will be here and she would like them, but will the zucchini still be good if I wait that long...oh yah, I could flash boil them and freeze them),
whether tomorrow will be as foggy as yesterday,
what I should assign for homework on Monday,
an upcoming IEP meeting,
I should turn the heater down...It's hot in here,
where should we go to breakfast in the morning?
O...M...Gosh
I'm reminding myself of the scene in Eat, Pray, Love
where she makes it to the ashram in India
and is thinking about how to decorate her meditation room
rather than meditating.

I battled this the ENTIRE time
until I'd had enough of my racing brain 
and I turned the meditation off.
I know, I know...
I should have turned my brain off instead.
But I turned off the meditation and decided:
Tomorrow (now today)
is a new day.
I'm going to do everything in my power
to free myself from this rat race 
that I've put myself into.
I know for a FACT now,
that my sleeplessness
is coming from 
my anxiety
and
I
have
had
ENOUGH.

Today is a new day.
I'm starting on day 1 of the meditation challenge
and I'm going through all 21 days.
No interruptions.
Me time.

Here's to improving my life by simplifying my mind!
Cheers! 

and Happy St. Patty's day!
 
"May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go."
~Irish Blessing

aloha.

p.s. Check out my view for the week!



Sunday, March 3, 2013

Health

Mind.
Body.
Spirit.

Three words which are spoken frequently in my household (I just typed that as "househole"...haha...which is kind of true because we live in a loft space and going down our ladder feels like going into a hole.  Haha. Househole...I feel another post coming on).

Hubs and I have been talking a lot lately about our general health.  I'm not just talking nutrition, although that is a frequent conversation topic, as well.  He, the carnivore, and I, the vegemite, work daily to fuse our tastes and preferences into culinary bliss.  We enjoy cooking together and usually we are blissfully and nutritionally successful, but other times we are lucky if the frozen Trader Joe's lasagna makes it from the freezer to the microwave.
Look, we're busy folks. 

Nutritional health is not the topic of concern in this post.  Today, I'm talking BALANCE.
A friend of mine recently posted on facebook that BALANCE is "constant motion in all directions."
All too often, I think of balance as a pull between two things...work and life, good food and junk food, relaxation and exercise. 
But you know what?
My friend is RIGHT!

You see, I didn't learn how to pirouette in ballet class until I understood how to push down with my standing foot, lift up through my thighs, push outward through my elbows and passe knee, and lift through my ears.
"Constant motion in all directions." 

Now, I'm not saying I was a good "turner"
and NOR am I very good
at balance in general.
I tend to focus on one priority for lengthy amounts of time,
and forget that there are other aspects to my life
that need some lovin'
some bucket fillin'
some BALANCE.

Constant movement in all directions...
...not just work.
That is my goal.
aloha.

  

Anxiety and being a teacher




After waking up for two days straight with classroom thoughts on my mind (and in my dreams), I’m determined to do SOMETHING about my intense anxiety. It is holding me back from living a balanced life. My work life should not be waking me up in the wee-small hours of the morning…on the weekend.

I think most teachers are detail-oriented individuals. We have never-ending, multi-categorical to-do lists. Mine happens to have three columns: Things I MUST get done TODAY, things I’d LIKE to get done TODAY, things I want to get done another day (or if I happen to have time today). Most days, the MUST get done things take me well-past my working hours. Most days, the MUST get done things don’t all get “checked off” the list. The third column, you ask? Those are typically addressed during “weeks off” when teachers are thankful for time off to get done the work that has been piling up.

Please don’t read this as complaint. You see, I fully understand it to be the nature of the beast. I am simply searching for my way to tackle the beast. Each teacher handles the work load differently, and I must find what works for me.

So the question is: What do I do to decrease my anxiety about work when I’m at home? A few months ago, hubs and I (he’s a teacher, too) decided to try to form a boundary around our home by which work from work cannot pass. I’d say I’ve stuck to that boundary with 95% success…physical work, that is. How, then, do I draw a boundary around mental work? You know, the “to-do” list in my head? It needs to stay at the workplace, as well.

Here are my ideas: Daily meditation practice; Daily exercise; ?


Ideas? Anyone?


Aloha.