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Saturday, April 20, 2013

Weekend Detox



Hello, boys and girls! What a box full o'rocks this month has been!

Some rocks of course are more obviously beautiful than others. I am a lover of crystals: quartz, amethyst, Iceland spar, calcite, green fluorite . . .


 . . .  and while I "know" that the stone in the toe of my shoe and those granite boulders littering the path are lessons and gifts of one sort of another, I'm a little tired of all that instruction! I need a few days out from under the weight.

So this weekend I'll be detoxing. I'm unplugging and disconnecting. I'm relaxing, I'm reading, I'm resting.  If something doesn't absolutely need to get done, it won't.

Maybe you need some time for yourself, too. Maybe you've been feeling a little stressed and overwhelmed. Here's a basic a la carte detox menu, for future reference or if you'd like to follow along.

Be good to yourself. You're the only you you have.

Detox in place:  Yes, you can do this at home. Announce to those within shouting distance that you'll be forgoing your usual chores, duties, and routines. You'll be resting, relaxing, taking time for yourself, eating lightly, thinking good thoughts -- devoting the weekend to self-care. Therefore, everyone can make their own bologna sandwiches and pull their own underwear out of the dryer.

Give your digestive system a break. Forgo -- as much as possible -- meat, alcohol, sugar, caffeine.  Giving up that first cup of coffee would feel like torture to me, and this weekend is not about deprivation, so I'll have my morning java, but will make conscious choices. For me that means no processed foods or heavy meals, but throughout the day enjoying my favorite grapefruit, small servings of granola and yogurt, vegetable juices, a little decaf tea in the evening.



Give your connectedness a break. The 24/7 news cycle will spin quite adequately without you. Skim the paper if you must, but that's it. No cable news. If you have a favorite show or light movie in mind -- of course, enjoy it. But don't let the television or radio provide constant background noise. Little or no Internet,  Facebook,  Twitter. If you must communicate with loved ones via e-mail or social media, do so briefly and efficiently. Five or ten minutes at most, morning and night if you must. Get in and get out.

Give your emotions a break.  We're all carrying some worrisome burden. Put it down for the weekend. My mother would advise me, when things were very bad, to "close the book and put in on the shelf." You're not forgetting your trouble, not pretending it doesn't exist: Just briefly setting it aside. On Monday, stronger and refreshed, you may pick it up where you left off if you must.

Move and appreciate your body.  Take a brisk walk around the neighborhood. Play some music from the 80s and dance in your kitchen. Enjoy a hot bath and afterward, smooth wonderfully scented lotion on your skin. Rest. Breathe deeply. Your body works hard for you. Give it its due.

Create something.  Write a poem, a story, a song. Paint a picture. Make a collage (below, a birthday collage I made for a friend). Devote a few hours this weekend to reveling in simple, unadulterated creative joy.



Connect with nature.  Play in the dirt. Putter in the garden, if you can, or at least stroll around the property and assess, gathering up the winter debris and dreaming of what's going to get planted where. Flowers, vegetables, a patch of each . . . picture the beauty and bounty in your mind. Or visit the nearby park, the lake, the mountain, the stream. Get out from beneath the artificial light and turn your face to the sun or the stars.  

Connect with your self -- the inner you, the spiritual you.  Meditate. Pray. Write in your journal. Start a journal, if necessary. Nap. Read something uplifting, something that nourishes your imagination and feeds your soul.

Be grateful.  And this is the key. This is the goal of your detox weekend. To set aside the worries, the fears and doubts; to shed for a few days the excess of modern life and the constant stimulation of the media. To reclaim what's innately yours and entirely good.

You are a vessel of wonder, beauty, wisdom, love, and strength. Be still, be glad of heart. Have faith. The Universe will provide.  



"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

--Julian of Norwich


Statue of Julian of Norwich, west front, Norwich Cathedral.




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