Slow Down Darling You're Moving Too Fast

Outside my window is cool foggy mist; as if my house were floating in a grey void. November is here and all I can do is revel in it. 

Contrary to my younger self; I love everything about the time approaching winter solstice. I love the long nights and short daylight hours. I love the cold air in my lungs on my afternoon hikes. I love all the winter soups, root veggies, chai and warming spices. Most of all I love the invitation to do less and rest more. 

Alas for many of us in the working world this is not always possible. The last month for me proved just what happens when I push past my body and nature’s signals. 

A loss of vitality. 

Cooking at two back to back yoga retreats was indeed rewarding on a dharmic level; but it also deeply depleted me. I was pushing myself hard; staying up late cooking and prepping, skipping my morning sadhana practices, eating odd meal times, and not sleeping enough. 

It is not lost on me that the irony of providing Ayurvedic meals means that I am compromising my health in order to do so. 

Thankfully; this too shall pass and since then I have been putting up firm boundaries around me to replenish my ojas, or my immunity. 

Sometimes the principles of Ayurveda begin to seem trite to me; or they feel obvious. Like of course we should live in deep connection to the cycles of nature. But then we find ourselves not doing this. We push, we hustle, and we might find ourselves wrapped in the arms of a capitalistic society who only knows one cycle; and it's a monetary bound one. 

The more we pay closer attention to what the natural world is intrinsically doing, the deeper sense of ease and surrender we will find. 

Guidelines for greater well being are not hidden. 

This is not a riddle. 

The answer lies in your bare hands as the touch the cool soil of an open field. 

How glorious it is.