Wintry Mix

I suppose I could write a post about the State of the Union address. I think I won't, though.

Also I could write about Oswiecim, the Polish word for what the Germans called Auschwitz. I'm adopting the Polish version, because WWII is over. The holocaust is over. I could write this morning about my reasons for even considering a visit to the camp while I'm in Poland. (It isn't to immerse myself in the suffering and misery of all the people who died there, but to GET OUT of that energy. I feel like some part of my soul has been swirling inside the holocaust all my life. I would like to retrieve that part of my soul, let go, move on.)

There's a lot more to say about that. But ... the topic is still simmering in the back of my mind/heart, not quite yet speech-ripe.

Instead, I'll post Five Do's and Five Don'ts for Good Health, according to the cosmology of Reya - because a couple of people have asked me to. Why not?

First a serious disclaimer: I believe good health is mostly about luck and genetics. You can contribute to ill health, or increase your chances for being healthy, but the truth is that there are folks out there who are healthy as a horse even though they do everything you aren't supposed to, and others suffering from ailments even though they do everything "right." Good health is basically a mystery. It's so unfair.

FIVE DO's

1. Get enough sleep. Just do it. Seriously.

2. Take it down a notch. No matter how you live, my guess is that you're trying to do too much. You don't have to force yourself to become laid back - god forbid! Being laid back is something we on the northern end of the eastern seaboard really can't comprehend. No matter what it is you think you MUST accomplish, just take it down ONE NOTCH.

3. Take care of your teeth. You wouldn't believe how many diseases are linked to bad teeth and bad gums.

4. Move around. You don't have to go to the gym or raise your heart rate to a certain level, just don't sit around on the couch all day. We were built for movement.

5. Spend time outside every day, yes, even if it's "too cold" or "too hot" or whatever. Connect with the sky, weather, landscape. Every day!


FIVE DON'Ts

1. Don't worry about your weight. It is currently popular to blame all ills on weight, smoking and global warming. My guess is that the world is far more complicated than that. There are plenty of people who weigh "too much" who are perfectly healthy.

2. That said, don't eat fast food. That stuff is toxic. I like Michael Pollan's rules for eating. Keep it simple, eat actual food. The more it's processed, the worse it is for you. Even frozen vegan veggie burgers are, to my mind, just as gross as fast food. They aren't real, they have no vibration. How can they possibly be nourishing?

2. Don't believe there is any tried and true path to good health, you know, if ONLY you'll drink pomegranate juice, or follow so-and-so's seven steps to great health in seven weeks, or whatever. It's a lovely dream that there's The One True Way to Good Health, but it is a dream.

3. Avoid pundits. In fact, avoid TV. Listen to music instead, or watch movies. Skip "the news." Read a book, or The New Yorker. Or blogs (but skip the political blogs).

4. Don't take things personally or literally. Learn what you can from your experiences, then let go and move on. (Thanks to Rob Breszny for this one.)

5. Stop focusing so much on how your life SHOULD be or COULD be, or how you hoped it WOULD be. Count your blessings.

....................

Of course I could go on and on, but I'll stop now! Have a good Wednesday, y'all. Shalom.


I thought I was taking a pic of this guy on the Metro train. How funny that it was also a self-portrait. Looks like I am haunting him. Fortunately for him, he was so absorbed in reading and listening to music, he didn't even notice.