Day 16- Taking care of the body

I am doing such a beautiful job of attending to and loving my body this month and then I hit *silent whisper* THE DREADED MIDDLE! I love how the middle always manifests as crisis and turmoil, or rather I am fascinated by it. My favorite thing to notice though is how each time I hit a different "middle" I get a little better at recognizing it, shifting my state of being, and moving through it.

Here's how this particular middle played out for me yesterday...
1. I fried my skin at the beach (of course I do not do this, EVER! I am diligent about my sun block, and yet here I am a boiled lobster).
2. I burned myself yet again when I put my hand in our kitchen sink full of water, right after someone had poured the boiling pasta water into it.
3. Ha, I am a slow learner...I burnt myself ONE LAST TIME when I brushed my arm over an empty burner that had been left on.

Can I just say, OK I GOT IT!!! I AM PAYING ATTENTION! WHAT CAN I LEARN HERE?

The answer was easy. After so many days getting set up for this trip, holding space for our group, for Mo and I as leaders, for caring for and arranging a beautiful first 3 days here....I needed to take some time out to care for myself! BY now I have been at this long enough that I am a much better listener than I used to be, and after 3 burns in one day, my ears were burning (so to speak). Just imagine what it used to take me to perk up!

Today I took the day off from our group and going to the beach and hung back at the house instead, to care for my body! I did this by staying out of the sun, taking a lingering shower, an indulgent nap, a beautiful and meditative walk, time out to hear the quiet.

And guess what? I am refreshed and renewed and I made it through another middle, how awesome! I am getting good at this, next time I will probably only need one minor catastrophe before I wake up. :)

There is no message in the sand today because I took care of myself by staying off the sand. So consider this the point of the day...I love myself enough to say yes to quiet and self-reflection when I am called to it.

OM!