“I want to live. I want to dream. I want to be free. So, I rest.” - Octavia Raheem
I love this quote, and I’ve been thinking about it as I step into working with my business coach, Eva, and my virtual assistant, Amber. My dreams are starting to happen, and expand, and open, and it's a lot of fun. At the same time, I need the rest. I need rest. I need rest. So last night, I took a two hour warm oil bath. My husband and I have been working for a couple years with John Douillard and Life spa, which is his ayurvedic program, and we've been doing cleanses with him. I love his approach because he's so gentle, and loving, and kind. Everything is slow, and mindful, and you just do the best you can. It's not about having to be perfect in any way. It's about gently loving your body's digestive system, and your body's way of being in the world, little by little. It's been really wonderful for both of us, for our digestive systems as well as just our life in general. So, we got this lovely lymphatic massage oil from John. It’s a combination of a whole bunch of lovely oils, and it's just been great for our family. We put this oil on the boys after their baths each night, and they love it. Lymphatic massage is a soft massage to the top of your skin. It's really gentle and really soft, not like a traditional massage, and often you do it to yourself. So, Christopher and I, as well as the boys, Jayce and Kayden, have been using this oil for a while now, and it's so nurturing. It's so loving.
So, last night I was resting in my tub for two hours. I know, it sounds kind of crazy. I used to never take baths, but once I started taking them, now I can't imagine not taking them at least once or twice a week. I just rest in my warm tub. I don't like it very hot - it’s all the Pitta in me. It's the fiery element, so I don't like the water very hot, and not cool either. It's just this lovely warm that works just right for me. I soak in that warm water with Epsom salt for a while. Sometimes I like it quiet, and sometimes I have my chanting teacher, Krishna Das on. Sometimes I’ll listen to the chanting. Sometimes I’ll do the call and response. Or I might listen to my meditation teacher, Paul Mueller-Ortega, and one of his lectures about meditation, and life, and deepening, and beauty. I choose teachers of yoga, of meditation, of chanting, of nutrition that are very loving and compassionate. There's not any perfection to any of them in their schools or their practices. It's really about just being gentle to yourself on this journey of learning these practices that can be so life changing. I enjoy listening to them sometimes in my baths, but last night I was just in quiet. It's so lovely to put your ears under the water and just let yourself feel that underwater sound or quiet. That’s part of my rest. Then, after the Epsom salts, I actually like to do yoga in the tub. I know it sounds kind of weird, but I like to do a few poses where I'm on my back, or on my side, or my belly. It's like practicing in a warm pool. It's really lovely. Then I do this oil. You take a relatively small amount, and you just give this gentle, loving, nurturing touch to your body. It just gently moves over your arm or over your leg, and it's nice to circle softly around your joints. The main lymph areas that are really good to put a therapeutic oil on are the feet, the inner groin, the belly, the armpits, the neck, and the head. Give those areas some extra love with a lymphatic massage. After this rest I feel so rejuvenated. That time in the warm water and the massage fills me and softens my mind. It's kind of like being cocooned in this warm water, like you're being held and suspended in this warm element of water.
“I want to live. I want to dream. I want to be free. So, I rest.” The rest lets us go in and fill our energy tanks in such a way that then we can step out and follow these dreams and do them from a full tank, instead of trying to work from an empty tank. Give yourself time to rest. One time this week, see about taking a bath or wrapping yourself in soft blankets on the couch, and just resting. Maybe you can give yourself an hour, but if you can't, 15 minutes is okay, too. It will be so worth it.