Wellness Goals

One of the perks of living on an island is being able to easily get into wellness stuff. There are a lot of opportunities around here to motivate people to get back into shape. Thankfully our lockdown has been lifted so there's no excuse anymore. I guess being surrounded by nature can inspire you to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Nature makes you think of relaxation, meditation, and rejuvenation. If I'm still living in a big city, I won't even think of going out for a long walk or something. I would be too busy in my go-go-go get-get-get urban lifestyle.

Some people even travel to far-flung destinations just to take the first steps on the road to wellness. They spend a lot of money to get away from all the chaos of modern life. And I am just here. I guess I was too preoccupied before this whole pandemic thing that I just started paying attention now. So I look around to see what I've been missing the whole time. Then I found this place close to the beach offering wellness retreat and yoga classes. I've been living in this area for quite some time now and never really thought of trying it. Maybe because I have all these worries and negativity in my mind. Finally, I decided today is the day to go out and do some classy stretching.

The first time I tried yoga was when I was volunteering in this alternative lifestyle community in Brazil. I was there for two weeks doing all sorts of things for the community, from gardening to painting. At first, it felt like being part of a cult though I understand that the residents chose this new way of life. It just felt weird I guess but anyway I was just there to spend more time in the region and meet new people. The community had this afternoon Yoga session for volunteers. It was fun doing it with my new friends until I had this very embarrassing moment that resulted from too much stretching.

Years later, here I am now, giving Yoga a second chance. Why not? So I went out and drove to this wellness place not too far from my place. I guess people are still scared to go out these days so it was just me and the Yoga instructor on a one on one session. And this was perfectly fine. She is nice and I feel comfortable with her. So all this negativity about yoga quickly dissolved as I breathed. The stress and worries started to go away for a moment. This is not that hard I thought or maybe I am still in this beginner-level or something. But I am liking it so far.

The struggle to quite my mind was still there the whole time though. I was sitting still yet my mind was racing and wandering around. All this what should I blog about today, who will be coming here in the next session, how was the traffic out there? All this mental noise that took me away from the moment. But as soon as I heard my yoga teacher's reminder to stay present, I started concentrating on my breathing. It felt like calming my mind was a bit more of a work than striking a yoga pose.

Honestly, my life had been a hot mess lately. This pandemic has something to do with it. You know losing business, being jobless, getting out of toxic relationships, and all. But that's just the unpredictability of life as we know it. I seriously need to do something about my physical and mental health just so not to get carried away in these uncertain times. I've been all alone in my thoughts most of the time and not have the energy to talk to anyone. It just takes too much effort lately. I guess change starts from within. I figure I need to start taking care of myself even more from now on. I need to recognize where I am right now physically, mentally, and emotionally so I know which path to take to wellness. Because when you've finally realized that enough is enough, it's time to start from the bottom and work your way up. I realized that there's no other way out of this chaos but to love myself more. There's only Me here so all this love should reflect on my mind, body, and soul. I'll start here and now.