I'm taking a break from the seven-days-a-week teaching/mothering/partnering/problem-solving schedule that has become my life. Don't get me wrong, I love what I am doing, who I am, and the people with whom I spend my time. But lately I am feeling like I'm wearing coveralls filled with rocks and I need to empty out my pockets, take off the dungarees, soak in tub and walk around without anything on for a bit. Lighten the load, so to speak.
I'll be heading to one of my preferred healing places, my birthplace, almost literally. I'll be gratefully staying with my parents in their very homey abode, where my son and husband and I will be treated to all the creature comforts family can provide along with a zero-pressure schedule.
I'll be able to reconnect with childhood, school and college made friends. I'll hug relatives with whom I've shared some familial losses and we can cry and laugh together to heal. I'm looking forward to practicing yoga at some new spaced to spice up the learning and teaching engines as well.
One of the highlights will be leading two demonstrations at the Chicago Abilities Expo on June 21 and 23, which is why I timed this trip so early in the summer. I usually visit the Midwest in August when the moisture level in the air feels a bit more swampy (and does what it wants with my hair). Funny, though, I don't mind it so much when compared to the desert blasts in San Diego, especially when the Santa Ana winds blow mercilessly, an assault to every mucous membrane.
A dear friend, a teacher, an inspiration, was once told that she needed to take time to restore herself because when you teach, you expend energy from your svadistana and manipura chakras - your power/creative/reproductive energy centers; you are figuratively expending yourself. So maybe that's what's going on; I'm not just physically tired, but energetically drained. So I'll take the advice that I give to everyone, that I know to be so true. I'm going to move outside my usual routine and take a well needed break, not just by physically moving my location, but mentally changing the way I think about what I do. If I over-give, then I am no good to those I wish to serve. I need to find balance and so I look forward to meditating on these thoughts over the next 12 days.
I leave with this sweet prose poem I found today on this exact subject. See you all soon.
