Issue #4 - Keep on riding the waves
Dear ones,
Issue #4 has rolled around quickly (well, it is half-term), and I guess I am mostly just wondering: How are your reflections on the idea of renewal going?
It isn’t always easy stuff, is it?
I love how the evangelist preacher and author Vance Havner put it when he said:
“It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength.”
As I said, it’s been half-term here, and I am not kidding, I absolutely love having my children with me. They’re at the age now where, largely, things are fairly straightforward and I am blessed that they seem to get along. But I think it’s also fair to say that I am still healing from the relentless exhaustion that I experienced in early motherhood. Pretty much a decade of zero sleep and being stretched in ways that I had neither prepared for nor envisaged.
But therein lies the beauty of transformation, right?
As many of you already know, towards the end of last year I was diagnosed with a few treatable health issues. Having pondered on them and responded by further adjusting my lifestyle, specifically for addressing low iron levels (and, thank-you, I already ate tons of leafy greens), it’s likely that they are ‘symptoms’, if you like, of a transformation that my body is experiencing: the perimenopause.
Mother nature you are wonderful, but how come females are laden with such huge biological changes, one after the other?
Sometimes it feels like I am out at sea, riding endless waves. Sometimes, I am catching them cleanly, coasting along without a care. Enjoying the view at the crest. But there are equally many times when I’m tumbling in the waves, rolling. Caught in the barrel without my board. I believe the correct term in surfing circles is experiencing the ‘washing machine’. But, and it’s a big ‘but’, eventually I get my head up above the surface and I catch my breath. There may be times when the next wave comes in a little quicker than I expected—when I haven’t quite filled my lungs enough—but I manage. And, sure enough, soon I’m back up there, making the drops.
Most of the time, I remember this. But, I, like anybody else, am susceptible to forgetting. It’s a part of being human. After all, as they say, it’s why it’s all (meditation, yoga, mindfulness) called a practice. Now, I realise this issue is quite a quote-heavy one. But who doesn’t love a good, life-affirming quote?
As wave is driven by wave
And each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,
So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,
Always, for ever and new. What was before
Is left behind; what never was is now;
And every passing moment is renewed.
~ Ovid
Ayurveda
Recently, I’ve been reading about Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science and an ancient traditional healing system that goes far beyond being just about food. Knowing that my doshas (or my energetic/functional principles) had been unbalanced for a while, I have made it a priority to try to reset them.
According to Ayurveda, we are each made up of a unique combination of the three doshas: Vata (air), Pitta (fire) and Kapha (water), and it is my understanding that my body is dominant in Pitta (fire).
Each element influences our minds and bodies in different ways, and I encourage you to take a look at the doshas to get an understanding of how they could be operating for you.
I have found that my energy levels have improved considerably, so I think it’s something well worth looking into. Especially if, like me, you’re approaching ‘the change’, or going through anything unbalancing.
So, this week, my gift to you is a recipe.
As well as the doshas influencing us, they are all around us in the natural world (of which we are a part of) and, right now, the season of late winter and early spring is Kapha season. Apparently, all the doshas benefit from following a Kapha diet at this time, mainly because we are more prone to catching colds.
So here is a Kapha classic that can be made in no time. There’s the option to make it either vegetarian or vegan - so it’s a great one for everybody.
Thinking about our practice
If we can remember that the process of change (which is continuous, throughout our entire lives, just as it is in nature) isn’t always comfortable, and that we are constantly evolving, and that we have, within our reach, the power to influence our lives, then we, maybe, will find it easier to ride the waves.
Perhaps, also, we can be gentler on ourselves when we are taken under. Reassure that it’s okay to flounder. We are never defined by our experiences, only our responses to them.
The moment I realise that I am lost in thought, I come back to my breath. In many ways, the breath is the surfboard that will take you through anything. Ride the waves of your breath, and you will get there.
It’s an essential teaching of yoga: that the breath is the way we navigate through our challenges and return home to our bodies. To peace.
So, please, this week, remember to breathe. (And that’s a note to myself as much as a reminder for you, dear reader.)
Each time we exhale, the world ends; when we inhale, there can be, if we allow it, rebirth and spiritual renewal. It all transpires inside of us. In our consciousness, in our hearts. All the time. ~ Tom Robbins
With love, peace and endless kindness,
Louisa
x
Thank you, Anita. And thank you for your comments. That’s really interesting, and I can can relate to that. I think when creativity is coursing through us, we have to let it out. To stop would be like becoming a sort of dam. In these situations, I too have to keep working with whatever is there. Ultimately, responding to ourselves - in whichever way is right and that works for us is the key! We all find our own way eventually. Love to you x