This letter is early since I wanted to send it before American Thanksgiving. This is the last new letter before my December hiatus.
Hi Friends,
I recently did an Ayurvedic consultation at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.
If you’re not familiar with Ayurveda, it’s the sister science of yoga. It’s the world's longest continually practiced medical framework, and still one of India's traditional healthcare systems. It focuses on treating each individual, and their unique psychological, emotional, and physical conditions. It covers everything from food and exercise to mindfulness and sleep. It’s fascinating stuff — I’ve been dabbling since I first studied it during my yoga teacher training seven years ago.
In preparation for my appointment with an Ayurvedic health consultant, I filled out a lengthy form asking everything about my health and lifestyle. Honestly, I was not prepared for quite so many questions about poop.
We discussed a variety of things, but I mostly wanted to focus on eating and sleeping. Sleep has been a challenge for me lately (thanks, perimenopause!) and while I am a lifelong vegetarian, I never know exactly what I should eat.
(Side note: I grew up in Hollywood but I somehow escaped disordered eating. I got plenty of other fucked up things, but I side-stepped that one.)
We discussed a variety of topics in the Ayurvedic meeting, and my consultant made some fantastic suggestions. I mentioned that I get super hungry at 10:30 AM, and I end up snacking on whatever random stuff I have around.
She scribbled down a note. “So instead of just snacking, you should have lunch at 10:30 AM.”
“Wait. What? I can do that?”
“Yeah. Just have your mid-day meal at 10:30. It’s fine.”
It is? Why was this mind-boggling news to me? Why the hell did I need to pay a lady $120 to tell me to eat when I was hungry?
I’ve made some changes regarding when/how/what I am eating as I enter a new phase of my life, and it’s been fantastic on several levels.
I’m being purposely opaque with what this means, as nutrition and food issues can be triggering/ostracizing/problematic. I have zero interest in telling anyone else what to eat, and if I posted here what I am doing, I am destined to get a million messages about how I’m doing it wrong — and that’s just annoying.
I wanted to write about this because we can forget how profoundly food can impact our mental wellness. We think of food as a reward or punishment, we think of it as good/bad, and we get overcome by cravings or beat ourselves up for the choices we made. There is A LOT of emotional stuff there.
But what floored me was how I had somehow made up a rule in my mind that lunch couldn’t happen at 10:30 AM, even though that’s what my body was clearly asking for. I’m not sure where that rule lived in my head, or why it was impossible for me to recognize that this arbitrary timing was not serving me.
How many other ways am I doing that in my life? What other bullshit rules am I following blindly?
As we go into this holiday season, please don’t make food the enemy. Please don’t succumb to arbitrary demands on you and your life.
Enjoy flexibility.
Enjoy kindness.
Enjoy pie.
I am taking a hiatus in December. Jeremy and I will be doing some domestic and international travel. I will be resting. I will be assessing what is next. I will be turning 45 years old.
I do have newsletters scheduled to go out to you, which are reader-favorites from the archives, so those will pop into your inbox on Fridays.
I hope you enjoy them and you can always catch up on anything you missed here.
A few other things from my week:
What I just learned
Our director, Chris Columbus is thinking of turning the footage into a documentary. Get ready to see lots of outtakes of 14-year-old me giggling or looking confused about which line she should say next because this was not in the script at all.
What I read
A letter from Cheryl “It’s From Darkness Everything Grows.” I thought some of us might need that right now.
What I hope you use
I’ve got many free resources for you over on Blue Mala, and I hope you continue to use them while I’m offline. Whether you need some writing prompts, breathing techniques, or a short yoga/meditation class - I want these practices to be a support for you. Find all that right here. And if you want more, please join our pay-what-you-can community.
What I did
Last week, Mission Flexible hosted another incredible Mindfulness retreat for Veterans. We had some new participants, new challenges, and new opportunities for me to learn and grow as a leader.
The leadership team is feeling good about the direction of the organization. All for onesie!
Thank you for being here, friends. I wish you peace and joy as we wrap up 2023. Keep an eye out for letters from the archives, and I’ll be back in January.
Much love,
~Lisa