I'm back from the most impromptu vacation of my life! I realized a week ago Friday that I was exhausted. It's not surprising - it's been quite a year. Just after I finished the course I've been taking at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition over the past year, I felt like a balloon that all the air was let out of. With school, starting my own business, packing my son off to college, the death of my father, and all the usuals in my life, it was a year that Zorba the Greek would have referred to as "the full catastrophe" - not that he'd have meant it as a disaster - just that it is life on it's own terms - with highs and lows, a full life.
But everything has its opposite. And a full life needs quiet time, too. Since I had neither the opportunity nor the desire to actually go anywhere, I vacationed another way. I stopped checking email (ironically, I tried setting up an out-of-office message and succeeded only in swamping my own in-box!). I stopped surfing the web (also ironically, after posting on facebook that I was taking a break from using the computer, I had a couple of replies before I even had the chance to log off!). I stopped reading the newspaper.
So much of my work is done on computer and usually it's fine - even wonderful. My school has a very active message board where students share information, work together, form friendships even. The computer has allowed me to get back in touch with friends from my past and my life is richer having them back in it. And, having a son just off to college, how would I know he's okay without checking to see that he's posted something...anything...on facebook?
However, sitting in front of an electronic screen too much is not the stuff a healthy life is made of. And it's exhausting. Here's an interesting article about this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1
As for the newspaper, all that bad news is exhausting, too. My reading the news daily isn't going to make it better. My taking a week or two off from from it isn't going to make any of it worse.
So, that's what I didn't do. But what did I do on vacation? I renewed my meditation practice had fallen by the wayside this year (another irony - that as I worked to center my work life around teaching people healthy living I dropped one of the healthiest practices I had). To jump-start my practice, I joined the Chopra Center 21 Day Meditation Challenge. If you'd like to try meditation (or renew your practice), I highly recommend this. It's free and it takes just twelve minutes a day. Each day you'll get a different lesson or approach to meditation. By the end of the challenge, you'll have a habit of meditation established and that's the only thing about meditation that's crucial - to do it consistently. To start, go here: http://www.chopra.com/meditationchallenge
I also renewed my Yoga practice (yes, more irony that in my pursuit of learning to be a health coach, I'd also dropped this). Each day I did a short Yoga routine using any one of a number of Yoga dvds I own. My favorites are by Rodney Yee. Find information about him and his products here: http://www.yeeyoga.com/
My dog's benefitted from my vacation, too, as he's gotten more and longer walks. However, I'm not giving you the link to his website.
Now that I've had my vacation, I'm more relaxed and happier and that's always a healthier way to be.
How do you renew your energy when you're running on empty?
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