I have an amazing internet tech guy Ryan who suggested I do a quick blog on the importance of our technology but also the importance of turning it off once and a while. So here I go… I love Twitter and my twitter followers know it. I love Facebook as well. I love to chat, organize and get my work done from home, and just plain staying connected is a miracle of our modern world. Still there is a time and place for everything, technology included. Sometimes we need to slow down and get real… We need to go outside, stroll, breath deeply or read a book away from the distraction of our computers, cell phones and TV. We are living in the future in many ways and the fact that we can correspond with people around the world in seconds (I have my email account attached to my FB instant message so I get people from Argentina, Germany, and Russia saying hi when I am writing to my daughter who might be in Morocco… AMAZING!). It is cool to have access to the world and information in the way that we do, but we have to stop making it define us and run our lives! To be healthy and to live longer we need to TURN OFF technology – create for yourself techno free days, or at least hours, so that you can re-tune to your natural biorhythms.

When we take time to go out into nature whether that is your neighborhood, Central park, or perhaps the beach… the time we spend with ourselves in nature and or in Silence will change our lives for the better. We are more happy and productive when we take time to just allow the elements to be our guide. When you connect with you, especially in nature, you connect to your personal strength. SO enjoy the summer sun… the breezes and the feel of the sand beneath your feet, because… it is there for you. Also LOVE your technology, yet LOVE yourself enough to be quiet, still and detached from the frequency of cyber life by tuning into the frequency of nature and the balance of YOU!

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Silence, communication, my journal, technology

For me to be alive and happy I have had to organize my life differently. I had to find time where I would otherwise have been stressing over plans undone or future desires unmet. I have moved into a space where how I wake up becomes the template for a day well lived. I awaken with the sun most days if I have gone to bed early enough the night before. I have realized over years of trying to defy the needs of sleep that rest is the most nurturing and powerful gift I give myself. Sleep heals and rejuvenates my body. It purifies my thoughts and regenerates brain function. It also is helps me defy the aging process to a certain degree…at night my body can fully relax, recharge and reorganize from a day of projects plans and expectations. I have had to learn to sleep. I used to believe that I was more efficient without sleep. I believed that I was more spiritual when I didn’t need much sleep. This has proven to be untrue. I always felt my energy was compromised. Now I get 8 to 9 hours where I used to only get 6. I am so much more at ease now.

I drink water first thing in the morning. I drink a glass of Noah’s water… a natural magnesium spring water that tastes sweet, or O2 Cool… a natural spring water with added oxygen. I sometimes spin the water in an oxygenating spinner which then further oxygenates my cells. I drink one full glass and then another half glass with a tablespoon of Himalayan Sea salt water mixed in… to get the nutrients of good salt… since beginning this practice not all that long ago I feel my immune system boosted. Water is critical to ones good health… good clean water has the ability to get rid of a headache create energy and un-fog your brain especially after a night of dreams and travel.

I then sit in my garden facing the light which is still making its way into a brighter sky. I breath at first natural breaths then variations of breathing that involve retaining air or alternate nostril breathing and sometimes quick breaths. I then rotate my spine while sitting crossed legged… I rotate one way then the other. A few minutes each side… I go up and back with my spine arching and rounding like a cat would do upon awakening. I roll my wrists and arms to find a fluidity of movement and the kinks of sleep get undone. I stand and swing my arms up and down and round and round… I roll my head each way and rotate my shoulders – these movements all to wake my body up to the new day. It can take 10 to 30 minutes depending on how much time I have or what my body needs.

The great joy that comes from the sun peaking over the hills and finding it’s way to my face while the air is still crisp is like being kissed by the Beloved. It says good morning in a way that no other kiss can say. Sometime I will continue and do some yoga postures, like cat cow, sun salutations and more, until I find that I am in a full back bend and the sun is now beating down on my chest and heating every tendon that is now liquid from slow intent motion designed to oil me.

After yoga I may workout… jump rope or lunge… swing kettle bells and do push ups, but the important movement happened slowly and organically and was my morning introduction to the day. Then I sit silently. Bindu, my dog rests in my lap and we both sit with eyes closed or open. I tune into my breath again and I listen. The chirps and buzzing… the call of busy mama birds feeding their chickadees and the racket a squirrel makes when a cat has been found looking nefariously in their direction, ready to pounce. I feel the crisp air turn warm and healing and I feel all my cells activated and I rejoice in all that I am grateful for. This is the way to begin a day. AWAKE, ALIVE and connected to myself and aware that the voice that comes to me as I sit, is my inner guidance… a voice that tells me I am okay and that this new day hold tremendous possibility.

Exercise, Silence, events, journal breathing, Exercise, morning, well-being, yoga

Start your day with a large inhale after you turn off your alarm clock and stand up. Hold the inhale for five seconds, then exhale with an audible sound of release. Remember to take the feeling of rest into your standing body. Your challenge this morning is to take a long, deliberate breath before every small task you do, from the moment you awaken until the moment you leave the house. Breathe at the toilet: one deep inhale and exhale. Breathe before you turn on the taps and splash your face with water. Breathe before you take off your nightgown or T-shirt. You get the picture! As you go about your morning concentrate on breathing – it will slow your day down very little, but help improve your efficiency and reduce your stress as you calmly focus on the little tasks at hand.

Healthy Living, Silence, journal