I am accustomed to being busy.  I enjoy being busy.  I enjoy creating a new workshop that will assist participants in improving their well-being. I enjoy tweaking an existing workshop to fit a particular audience.   I enjoy planning lessons for my kid and adult yoga classes.  I enjoy  preparing for my clients.  I enjoy writing blog posts.  I really enjoy my work, for to me, it is play.  But, I enjoy non-work activities too like rearranging and redecorating my home, raking the piles and piles of leaves in the fall (well most of the time), and spending quiet time in sadhana (my personal practice).  I am sure I missed some things but the fact of the matter is I am a busy person, and I enjoy it.

I spend most of the winter in Florida to be near my parents now 88 and 89, to check on their well-being, and also to give my husband an escape from the cold of New Hampshire winters.  Doing this brings my “busyness” to an abrupt halt.  It’s a shock to my system.  Suddenly, life slows down.  I mean it really slows down.  It is like night and day.  Yes, I have things to do here getting organized to live in the Florida community, and I have my folks to check-in with, which I am so very grateful for, but my work that brings me such joy pretty much comes to a halt.  For a number of years, I viewed this slow down as a negative, an interruption to the flow of my work.  But this year is different.

This year I am more at-ease with my slow down.  A shift has occurred within in me.  I recognize the gift that the slow down gives me.  Opportunity abounds.  I have the opportunity to enjoy nature outside our lanai windows like the great blue herons and egrets as they wade the shallow waters at the lake’s edge or groom their feathers.  I have the opportunity to enjoy the anhingas drying their outstretched wings in the sunshine at the edge of the lake, and an occasional eagle that might fly overhead circling the lake in search of a tasty fish.  I have the opportunity to watch the sun go down, painting the sky in shades of orange, coral, pink, and gray  silhouetting the palm trees on the other side of the lake.  I have the opportunity to spend more time in my personal practice to explore more fully my inner self.  I have the opportunity to spend more time reading.  I have the opportunity to try more new recipes.  I have the opportunity for more interactive time with my husband.  I have the opportunity to visit frequently with my parents.  And I have the opportunity to continue with some of my work while here.  For some reason, this year, I am able to see the slowing down of  my life as a gift.  I am able to enjoy moving through my life more slowly, less rushed, less busy.   In short, I am accepting life as it is and settling into it as it is instead of lamenting what it is.

My work brings me joy and fulfillment beyond measure.  But I sense that the gift of slowing down this year will multiply the joy and fulfillment of my work many fold when I return to New Hampshire because my depleted tank will be refueled.  There is definitely a gift in slowing down for me, and it is my intention to bring the effects of slowing down back with me into my busier life in NH.  That will be the real test. . . .

I wonder if the gift of slowing down isn’t available to you as well?  Even if you are not away from home, can you slow down a bit?  Can you take time in your day to just breathe, to extend your personal practice by fifteen minutes a couple of times a week?  Can you take five minutes to look out your front window and marvel at your own piece of the natural world?  Can you be fully present with your family members more frequently?

Give yourself the gift of slowing down no matter how it comes to you: accidentally, intentionally, or by default.  Enjoy and reap the benefits that slowing down gives and make those gifts a part of your every day life.

Blessings for a slower, joy-filled new year,

Sandy