A Beginning...

Where to start?  I've always struggled to make healthy choices for myself on a consistent basis.  I can make good ones for a few days, a couple of months, sometimes up to a year. Invariably, I find myself falling back into old patterns...bad food choices, lack of exercise, choosing to invest my energy in things that logically will not be worth the effort long term.

Earlier this year, I moved from Texas to Washington State.  I had visited Seattle a few years before, and something about it resonated with me.  So, when the opportunity came to try a new adventure, I took it.  I looked at everything as an opportunity to try something that ordinarily I'd avoid for being odd or weird.  If I wanted to wear tie-dye and eat granola, or listen to loud club music, or find myself going to things like the Blackberry Festival or the Lavender Festival, then why not? 

I found the earnestness of people talking about the environment, or injustice, or pot legalization somewhat amusing.  They actually seemed to believe that if enough people agreed with them change was possible.  Then I realized, what if they were right? What if believing something could be better and putting it out there was the first step in making a different choices?  What if I needed to be more earnest to make better choices for myself?  What if I needed to see a better future for myself in small ways to make some lasting changes for myself?

My first step was of course to find a way to start feeling physically better, stronger and with a better balance in life between things I should do and the things I dream for.  In some respects, it's hard to set goals when your dreams aren't concrete.  I dream of standing outside on the side of a mountain or overlooking the water with the wind in my hair, feeling small but free.  I dream of feeling contentment and energized from new experiences...seeing new places, trying new hobbies, meeting new people without trepidation.

So a couple of months ago, I tried a Beginning Yoga class.  I really enjoyed it.  For the first time in my life, I was learning to relax. I enjoyed how I felt during class when I was able to stretch and felt myself gaining flexibility.  I also loved how I felt energized afterward.  I've since found another Beginning Class on Saturday mornings.  So, while I'm trying to avoid saying "I need" to do more yoga or running or any other physical activity in such a way that condemns myself, I'm trying to take slow and steady steps to build physical strength with balance.  In my pursuit of achieving my dreams, I need to remember that the balance yoga might be a useful tool.

Something I'm also investigating is a vegan diet.  When I was a senior in high school, I attempted semi-vegetarian for a year.  I don't remember why I thought to try that.  I think because I could recognize I had issues with food, but I felt as though I couldn't stay away from "bad" food.  I suppose it was the "easy" way to have an illusion of being in control of what I was eating when I knew I wasn't.  I did allow myself meat, chicken, or fish once a week, because I thought at the end of the year I wanted to still be able to eat those things without getting sick.  So, while I digress, I think it was worth noting that the concept of vegetarianism isn't so weird to me...even for a Texas girl.

If you do any kind of reading about yoga, it won't take long to see references to vegetarianism or veganism.  If you keep reading, it won't be long until you start reading about the health benefits of being vegan for people with diabetes or heart disease, both of which run in my family. 

So...I thought I use this blog to record the events of my life in 2013.  I'm going to use the next few weeks leading up to New Year's Day to develop a game plan.  I think first I need to set goals, but I want them to be doable.  As of right now, I can think of three...

1. Do some form of yoga, even if it's just 10 minutes of a Sun Salutation A, three times a week.
2. Spend two months transitioning to a vegan diet.
3. Spend 10 months eating a vegan diet.

Maybe if I focus my goals on things to do, and leave the results up to God...maybe I might find that I'll find a freedom I've never experienced in more than fleeting moments. 

“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.
Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land.”

― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass