Ritual Cleansing

Even though it is a long weekend, my internal clock woke me up at 6:30 after a late night of watching two great documentaries, "I Am" and "Vegucated". The man and the dog are away until Tuesday, so I have been taking advantage of my free time. I did some lounging about while having a glass of hot water and lemon while reading today's Be the Change email and watching the inspirational videos of the day. "Lounging" is not normally part of my morning schedule. I own a Boarder Collie, so its get up and go (or lose your favourite shoes) on a normal Saturday. I still wanted to keep up with my walking routine in the morning so by 8:00 AM I did some exploring around the pond's edge, watching minnows, birds and bugs, and drank my jar of green juice, then walked about in the dried area of the tall grass.

 

 

Sunday is traditionally my day to do a big clean up at home. I try to keep up with laundry, dishes, etc., during the work week, but Sunday is always the big haul before Monday. Taking care of the home is a mirror of taking care of the health. If the Feng Shui Police showed up, they'd slap me for all the nooks and crannies that have been overlooked.

"When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied." - Herophilus

As a painter, I cannot paint in an unhealthy, cluttered state of mind. As a Yogini, I cannot practice when my Top Secret Yoga Room (NO BOYS ALLOWED) has become a dumping ground for all my course books, hoodies, socks, inside out tote bags, and receipts from Bridgehead spilling out of my wallet due to the fact that I am faking having a tidy house.

Moping is the worst. So I took some time out to "roll around on my mat" because that counts as personal practice time. Seriously, I did cool things too, like attempting an arm balance. I really suck at them. I almost turned on the light switch with my foot trying to flip over.

Blaaaaa!!!

 

No sweat!

After all my hard work today, I spent the evening doing some home-spa care. I began with a white clay body mask. I used A.Vogel brand of White Clay for dry and sensitive skin which I added water to this morning, covered, and left in a sunny window throughout the day. Setting up my clay in the morning not only allows it to properly congeal, it also gave me something to look forward to at the end of my day. I have not used a clay in probably over a year. It is such a healing natural beauty product. First, shower and scrub all over with hot water and a loofa. Apply all over and wait until the clay dries and becomes tight on the skin. Then, jump in the shower, melting the clay off your body.

After drying off I treated myself to Ayurvedic self massage before making myself dinner. Lucky me, I got to take home the end of my teacher's massage oil jar. I cannot remember what essential oils are mixed together, but it smells heavenly.

Today, the first day of Be the Change was a devotion to myself and my home, a Ritual Cleansing from the inside out. A lot of water intake too. I may be up throughout the night!