Yesterday’s meditation was good and I slept peacefully and well after my meditation.
Today, I woke up quite early at 4 am. But I slept for a little while as my gym session was canceled today. So, I went for a nice long walk. I also cooked, so that I don’t need to cook a lot for 2-3 days.
I also had to make another shopping trip. This is my annual ritual because I get a good discount on stuff that I buy.
I am pretty sleepy already, so I will end here
Today, was an easy day. I woke up around 4 am so I did go for my usual morning walk as it is not a training day.
I did fast for almost 23 hours. Yesterday, I finished my meal around 2pm and today, I had my lunch at 1pm. I really enjoy longer fasts these days, but I don’t do them often as it is still difficult to have my required food during a short feeding window. My digestion has improved, but not completely healed.
Today, I am making bone broth. It will cook in a slow cooker for 24 hours. It’s super healing that’s why I drink it. Sometimes, I think that it’s because of bone broth that I am not in a hospital but at home leading a normal life. It has been a long healing journey, which is still continuing.
Yesterday, I had a good meditation. But not a single day has gone by when I haven’t slept during the meditation. It seems that I needed to rest, so this was a good challenge for this month.
I am still thinking of what activity to take up for next month as a challenge. I have quite a few in mind, but I want to take up one by one so that they become a habit.
Now, I am going to sit for my meditation
Yesterday, I slept well after my meditation. However, it was very late, almost midnight, by the time I completed my meditation & went to sleep. I had a phone call with a client so it delayed me.
Despite sleeping late, I was able to get to the gym on time. I am enjoying starting my workouts around 6 am. I am usually back home by 7:30 and start my work early.
Today, at the gym we celebrated our gym trainer’s birthday. While I practice low-carbs, the others in my gym group don’t. So, they arranged a cake. One of the girls is a home baker, so she baked a cake & quiche. Now, it was difficult for me to say no, as I am also new to this social group. After my workout, I did have a taste of both the cake & the quiche. I only had tiny pieces, but my fast was broken.
So, I came home and had my breakfast early and then had lunch. So, since 2 pm today, I haven’t eaten anything except for some fluids & butter coffee. I still find it hard to fast without some butter coffee. However, I am feeling good, no real dip in my energy levels. This is the first time I have had my last meal so early. I usually prefer to eat during the middle of the day.
My early morning predicament about whether to eat or not to eat the birthday cake made me think about all of us who want to eat the low-carb way. It is difficult when the social environment doesn’t support our choices. So, we have to be more strong to make this work.
Instead of sitting at home, I went for some shopping today in the afternoon so obviously I forgot all about food. This is a good strategy, I adopt sometimes. I plan my shopping trips on the days when I fast. I bought a new dress after a while. I don’t like to buy a lot of clothes these days as I am still working through the pile of clothes in my wardrobe.
But as I came back from shopping, I had an interesting chat with Auto Wallah who dropped me home. He told me that his son has topped the 12th boards exams and he is now studying for the IIT entrance exams. He was concerned about how he would manage the finances to support his son’s education. But he was definitely very excited about his son’s achievement.
It was really a very mixed day. Life certainly gave me variety & a lot to think about today.
Yesterday, I had a good meditation after my long walk. I slept well and woke up on time. I went for a walk in the morning and then it was a usual busy Sunday.
I took it easy in the evening to recover enough for my workout session tomorrow morning. It’s already late & I have yet to complete my meditation. I need to wake up at 5 am, so that I can make it for the class on time.
Another week has ended. Next few weeks are going to be busy, so I am trying to get into a groove to get all the pending tasks done.
I will keep it short today.
Today, was another busy and sweaty day. So, after an early dinner, I decided to go for a long walk of around 7kms. Even when it’s humid outside, walking helps. Walking in the park, when the sky is turning darker & the lights are turning on, reminds me of childhood.
Growing up in a residential school, we always walked everywhere, especially after meals as our mess was at quite a distance from our hostel. It also reminds me of home, when we would sit in the open courtyard and look at the twinkling stars in the dark night above.
It feels like a strange activity now. But I am glad that I can skip late dinners and go for a walk instead. It’s much better to end my days with a nice mellow walk to unwind and reflect on my day. Reflection always helps me center myself.
I feel grateful though that I have time to enjoy such luxuries these days. They are quite in contrast to the days I have spent stuck in traffic in cabs on busy Mumbai roads. Until a few years ago, traveling from one end of the town to another was a daily affair for me. Now, I shudder to even think about it.
That’s why, perhaps, it’s not a good idea to look too much at the past. But it’s nice to remind myself of how my life used to be like before the COVID lockdown. My life has changed drastically. I don’t know if it is a good thing or bad thing, but the change is there to stay.
But let me talk about my meditation yesterday. It was a good meditation. Now, I have fallen into a routine. Although I have mainly meditated in the morning, these days I am really enjoying meditating at night.
So yesterday, I had a very good meditation. After my meditation, I slept well & woke up early in the morning around 4 am for my workouts.
However, I didn’t have as good a day as I had hoped it to be. I felt a little exhausted throughout the day, probably because it was too hot. I hate sitting in AC all day. But don’t have much choice these days.
By evening, I felt so tired that I watched a movie on Netflix for a bit & also tried to sleep. I also didn’t eat properly today. I was in general a bit miserable. I hope tomorrow will be a better day.
Today, I am going to keep it short.
Ideally, this should have been two posts, but I couldn’t manage to write one yesterday. The reason is yesterday, I had to go out for a haircut, which obviously takes a lot of time. Plus my house-help decided to not show up. I also had workouts in the morning. By the time, I came home, I was super tired. I just had an early dinner & dozed off. I woke up around midnight & completed my meditation. So, I at least completed my meditation, even if it was in the middle of the night.
The meditation on day 16 was at a better time. I completed my meditation before 9 pm and had a restful sleep, so woke up well in time for my workout session at 6 am. Early in the morning, I walked to the gym. It takes about 15 min to do that. It’s not a pleasant walk as the area is a bit crowded & not very clean. But I like the cool morning air against my skin & the changing blue colors of the sky. That moment of watching the sky turn from the dark of night to the light of morning is my favorite time of the day.
While walking back from the gym, I walked to the beach for a minute to catch a glimpse of the sea. The way the sky and the ocean meet in the morning, melding into each other, with fishermen out in their boats & people walking on the beach is quite a relief from the busy streets of Mumbai.
These days it’s quite warm throughout the day, almost impossible to be out or sit without air-conditioning. So, it is good to be able to experience the cool morning breeze before getting into the hustle & bustle of the day.
I think I will now go and sit for my meditation
Wow! I am at the halfway mark. I am loving this challenge now. Because I have learned that no matter how tired I am, I can sit through meditation & go back to sleep. Even if I sleep through some of my meditation, it’s okay. Instead of watching Netflix, it’s better to sit for meditation & then sleep.
The immediate health benefit, which I have observed is that my sleep is better & I do wake up on time mostly. Some days I wake up an hour or two later than I normally like to do.
I am also getting more organized in my other chores. I have more energy throughout the day. So, instead of procrastinating & feeling tired, I manage to complete my work.
My concentration is much better, so I can complete my work in a shorter time. I still have a long way to go. But now I know that I need to continue with my meditation & that it was a good challenge to take on for this month.
I also am more mindful of how I am spending my time during the day. So, this challenge is helping me a lot.
If you’ve never tried meditating, you should give it a try, even for 15 min.
Okay, now I will sit for my meditation. Until tomorrow
Yesterday’s meditation was good. I managed to do it a bit earlier too so I got a good amount of hours of sleep.
But today didn’t go as planned. I gave in to an occasional impulse to go shopping for some workout clothes. It was almost a year since I haven’t bought any workout clothes, so it was time. But I am not sure if I should have gone today. Tomorrow is another busy day as I have planned to go for my haircut. These are the mundane aspects, which I have never bothered about. But ever since I started working from home, such activities have become an occasion, which don’t bring me joy anymore. I do them as a chore.
Until the pandemic changed my life, I used to find such activities very routine. But now things have changed. I spend more time at home and I enjoy it. The last two years were difficult as my productivity slowed down quite a bit. But now I am aiming to get back to my usual self. I keep telling this to myself every day. Sometimes, I think it’s good to remind ourselves about things we need to do.
In the last few years, I have painted & learned about health. Both these are very different from the kind of activities I used to engage with. So, while I have discovered a new side of me, I now, want to reconcile my two sides – one side, which was forever engaged in work in a competitive world and the new side, which wants to venture out into unknown areas of life. Is it possible to reconcile yourself? Sometimes, I wonder.
Have you ever faced such a situation?
I think I will sit for my meditation with this thought. Maybe I will find some answers
Yesterday, I completed my meditation a bit earlier than usual, so I was happy. I slept well & woke up early enough to go for a nice walk just as the sky was changing colors. The dawn colors of the sky are my favorite time of the day. The city is usually quiet so I really enjoy looking at the colors changing from dark blue to light blue.
Although the day started well, somehow I was a bit tired by the afternoon & almost sleepy. This was a busy week as I started my workouts & I exercised for 3 days a week, so was somewhat tired by the weekend. Yesterday, I had one meal after a 24-hour fast and today also I ate after an 18-hour fast. So, I think eventually, my body needed time to recover. I wanted to sleep early but I had phone calls to make so got delayed. I have a lot of pending tasks to complete that I am finding it hard to even get started on some of the pending stuff.
My life will get more busy from tomorrow, so I will need to remain more focused. Today, I was talking to a friend & she is also interested in trying the low-carb diet with me. In fact, both she and her daughter may do it together. It feels good when people want to make efforts to better their life. In my view, everyone should try this way of eating, because it brings benefits only. I will write more posts on this topic later.
Today, I want to remain focused on my meditation. One thing is true, meditating every day almost always changes my life and it is doing it this time too. I feel that if exercise is necessary for our body, meditation is for our mind. Today, I ate my dinner a bit later than usual, so I was a bit worried if I will be able to meditate. But it was very light so I think I will be able to. Every day I worry, if I will be able to complete the challenge. But then it happens. That is the beauty of this life. Things happen, we just have to believe in them.
So, now I am off to meditate.
Reflections 