Week 4: Restoration

Week 4 is here! I'm more than half way through at this point, and feeling great!
This weeks focus is restoration. Baron says, "The time to relax is when you don't have the time for it...As we remove the rocks that block our wisdom and light, we find that we are able to set more and more time aside for the things that restore us: time spent in nature, solitude, meditation, intimacy, having heart-to-heart conversations that heal" (p.155).
I think this week was the hardest for me. Ever since I began this challenge I have had a go!go!go! mentality. The days are passing so quickly, and I feel like when I finally have the time to relax, I am only doing so to gain the energy to star the next tasks on my list. I have never had as much energy as I've had the last 4 months I'd say. Changing my eating habits has a lot to do with that, as I feel like I'm not being weighed down after eating. I used to eat dinner and then just want to hang out on the couch while my body used up all it's energy to digest all the food I'd just eaten. Now that I am eating more fresh produce and lighter meals I am able to get things done after dinner. I also have not had much problem waking up early. I have also tried to get a full 8 hours of sleep each night. But when am I really taking time for restoration?

Week 4: Yoga Practice
This week I increased my practice to 60 minutes. This wasn't really an issue because I normally practice at the studio for one hour. This week I had fun with poses like Halasana (plow), Karnapidasana (deaf man's pose), and Urdhva Dhanurasana (wheel). I didn't really have difficulties with any poses this week.

Plow

Deaf man's pose

Wheel

Week 4: Meditation
This week's meditation was 20 minutes. This was difficult for me, as I felt at about 13-14 minutes I would start fidgeting. The task this week was to focus on the now moment, and to let my mind appear as blank as a screen. When I notice a thought, image, or distraction, I was to step back into the gap between me and my thoughts and start over again with a blank screen. Baron says, "The point of meditation is to train ourselves to know the difference between thinking and being lost in thought" (p.175). This was easier said than done of course, but I did my best.

Week 4: Balancing Diet
This week involved a 3 days fruit fast/cleanse. The cleanse was to eat only fruit for 3 days. You could of course make smoothies, drink fruit juices, and fruit soups (like tomato soup) as long as they are natural and additive free. Unfortunately I didn't end up doing this cleanse. I was very busy and couldn't find the time to be cutting up fruit all the time. I think I will try this in the future though when I have the time to prepare fruit "meals" and focus. The cleanse can cause fatigue, dizziness, lethargy, and constipation, which is due to the fact that your body is releasing toxins and they are floating around in your body. He also mentions that it is very important that you come off the cleanse slowly, and not to binge eat. He suggests just adding back in the fresh foods you have been eating all along, in moderation.

Week 4: Excavation Questions
What excess baggage am I carrying around with me?
The thoughts, feelings, worries, and past situations I cling to that drain me are all my excess baggage. 
What do I most need to let go of?
Anger towards people in my life, stress about money, fears from past negative experiences. I learned a few months ago that I need to let go of anger that I had towards some people, because it wasn't serving me. It was draining me, and I realized that there is nothing I can do about how other people think, or what others will say about me. Stress over money has always been an issue for me, and I started teaching myself how to budget better. I also watch the show "Til Debt Do Us Part" a lot! She has some great tips that I've been using like limiting your weekly expenses to a certain amount. 
Do I really give myself enough time to relax and restore myself? How can I carve out more time for this?
Lately I haven't had much time for anything, let alone restoration and relaxation. Mike has helped me calm down a bit by expressing that I need to spend less time focusing on preparing meals (gathering recipes and ingredients is very time consuming at the beginning), and blogging. This is probably why these 40 days posts are still coming. Again, thank goodness I kept a journal!


Next up...Week 5: Centering.

Namaste!