Body, Mind, Spirit

During the last few weeks, after getting over home sickness for Orissa and again appreciating life in San Jose, I have re-gained my physical energy thanks to doing what I could of a Master Cleanse and eating holistically again (and building new habits like no-dairy and no-wheat).

I can now run for 2 miles again, though still a far cry from my condition several years ago when I was accustomed to half-marathons and small triathlons!

During this morning's workout, I had cranked up the exercise machine's resistance level and had a fantastic realization: My body, mind, and spirit are so inter-connected! The higher resistance levels came at intervals, and I saw at some times I could easily do the higher resistance and at other times I was pooped. Initially I thought that my muscles needed warming up, but that wasn't the case since even towards the end of the workout, when I was fully warmed up, I had bouts of extreme ease or extreme difficulty.

What I started to realize was that when my mind was empty, when I was not thinking about completing my thesis, Gram Vikas, the next India trip, about my parents, etc., my body was doing wonders. The high resistance levels felt like nothing when my mind was focused just on a spot on the wall. I also realized that when my body was doing more, my spirit went out the roof! Even the Gram Vikas and thesis issues all felt like transformations rather than issues.

I found it amazing that something as simple as presence of mind could have such an impact on my body and in turn my spirit. I also realized that it took me so long to get to this point partly because I had not been taking care of my body, even though I had been doing things for the spirit.

...I am physically the oldest I have ever been in this life, but I am feeling more awakened than ever before. :-)

Stumbling

i stumble, over and over.
Always running for some finishing line.
Only after the fall, do i look behind and below.
It's been a long road.
of smiles, hope, and hard work.
With each stumble, i can return to the root.
Returning makes me want to push farther,
creating a fear of falling even harder next time.
Again I go back to the root...

Papers, presentations, money,
None of those matters.
People and transformation,
and my acceptance of them,
that's what counts.