Getting out of dry dock

Good news… In the past two days I started getting back seriously into what is my most focused, motivated, self-caring, self-nurturing mode of living…

By this I mean that I am getting back into writing, eating more raw food, drinking more water, studying, engaging with my sacred work, and practicing many tools for balance and growth.It was time.

I could not keep on deluding myself in “needing a pause” any longer… Sometimes we stray from what we know is best for us.
Sometimes we get into a comfortable and unproductive mellowness, an indulgent laziness supported by the best excuses in the world.
And you know what? that’s OK too. For a spell.
Because maybe that’s the way we need to pause and regroup, anchor and digest all the past work, and create the new…
Maybe it is exactly what I needed, in terms of not performing, not painting, not writing, not learning.

I tend to believe that we need to pause sometimes, in the growth department.
On another hand, letting go of my best routines, food wise, or exercise wise, is self-neglect, I ought not to lie to myself about that!
So… while I’m not beating myself up about it, I came to a point where my body has been screaming at me, and I had to listen…
Thank you Body of mine.
SO clear. So straight forward.
Note that my most indulging periods are still incredibly healthy compared with the majority of eaters out there!
But yet, excruciating arthritic flares, mental fog, fatigue, lack of sleep… all showed up.

It’s very slow and insidious, this process of going on a lesser tangent.
Less focus, less work, less discipline, less acuity, less peace, less equanimity… It’s all so perfectly tied up!

When we start straying in one domain, you can be sure, the whole ensemble falls apart somehow. It’s like dominos really.

But since I’ve been in this work for many years, I know that if I pull ONE thread, and make it right again, everything gets back in alignment, and today my body already starts feeling better, so happy for the raw soup, and the glasses of water, and the breathing… so grateful that I love it and encourage it and give it renewed attention and care.

One can start with anything really.
Deep breathing. Inspirational material. Mentor. Healing food. Acupuncture. Journaling. Chanting. A sauna… whatever.
Anything. Something. Something Good.

These past few days I put back very inspirational audios and videos in my day, I bought the very food I knew would take care of the aches, I talked myself into getting more work done, and I also more often consciously breathed, been ever more grateful for my life, and reflected again on what it is that I want to dedicate most of my time to, right now.
Today. This year. I’m back on track. Almost fully.
Over all, my motivation is back and my discipline is coming back.I’m pulling out of dry dock, and letting myself into the mighty flow of radical self-care once more…

As a coach, I often meet people who are stuck in their own dry dock, where I was myself for a long time.
I can relate. I spent years there. (A long time ago I did not even know I WAS in dry dock!)
I can see their pain, and their habituation to making do, to indulging in the wrong treats, to numbing their most adventurous ideas into oblivion, to forgetting even who it is they’d like to be…

After long enough, after years of that, we don’t even like who we are any more.
The wonderful news is that along the past decade or more, I learned sure ways to get back onto my path, where i function best, where I’m clear, where I bloom, after a period of lesser care… and get my groove back pretty quickly.

Of course it starts with staying aware of what’s going on.
And compassionately be there for oneself. That’s the ticket actually. Self awareness and self compassion. Before anything else.

Even people who teach balance fall off sometimes.
Even coaches get stuck.
Even practiced peace makers get upset every now and again.
Even millionaires have gone broke occasionally.
It’s all right.
Perfection is only an abstract idea, made up of ever changing parameters… never to be reached.
Perfection schmerfection. ^_^

What is grand is the knowledge that we have it in us, and with practice, getting back on track, whenever we fall, gets easier and quicker, every single time…
So if today you my friend, are in dry dock, fret not, fear not: you have what it takes to get back onto your favorite track, or to learn a new one.
I promise you. And I can relate.

Actually I was just there for a while.
Should I share this?
Yes, because I know it might feel so hopeful to you out there, reading this.
Yes because I want to be true and candid, and human.
Yes because vulnerability is the ultimate form of being real, of being there, of being with and accessible to others.
Yes, because at the end of the day, if I hid my moments of weakness, I would be disavowing parts of myself!

So dear one, I hope this resonates with you somehow, and I’d be delighted if you feel like sharing your own struggles, your own victories, your own recipes…

There is something really cool about dry docks: you can see all of you, hull, keel, barnacles and all, in plain sight.

And lovingly do some honest examination and clean up…
All in all, it’s the perfect time, and the perfect journey, always.

Much love, and happy new year to you!

To your high seas…
Emmeline