piece together peace reflection

as a part of piece together peace, this month i decided to set an intention to do yoga everyday in order to bring more peace into my life.  yoga has been a part of my life for the last 16 years since meeting my husband.  he gave me the book yoga: 28 day exercise plan by richard hittleman and i haven't lived a life without yoga since then.  before ezra was born we went to a yoga class together 3 times a week and still found time on the off days at home to do sun salutations and head stands.  michael is good about incorporating sun salutations everyday in his morning routine, but my morning routine involves making breakfast for ezra and turns quickly into what activity we find ourselves doing together.  

today we built an awesome fort under which we played blocks and told nursery rhymes with felt cut outs.  before i knew it, it was time to make lunch in time for michael's return.  then i started to prepare dinner - a casserole i would later put in the oven - so that i could finish the dishes, the laundry, and the floor sweeping, go to the playground, then go for a walk and come home and only have to put dinner in the oven for it to be ready.  i actually did not get to my yoga today, but will later this evening.  i am happy to have made a more conscious effort to do yoga everyday this month.  yoga is always a good choice.  

but, my needs have changed in my physical and mental health practices since moving to st. maarten.  island life is slow paced and relaxed.  i am not the one in medical school.  i have virtually no stress in my life.  thank you michael!  i love you for that!  so, i must say that i don't need yoga to unwind.  i also spend a lot of time on the floor playing with ezra and can find myself crawling along the floor in a game of trains or cars and can stop for stretches in the middle of our play.  it is not hard to put myself into a downward dog or cat/cow position during our day of play.  what i am missing in my life is cardiovascular exercise.  we live on the 7th floor of a hotel.  i rarely take the stairs because of the amount of time that takes when you're holding the hand of your 3 year old counting each step all the way down as he hops down each one like a bunny rabbit, or just the feasibility when you're coming back from the store with 5 bags of groceries.  one must take the lift and bring the pram as well!  

so...  what i do need is exercise that jogs my heart and gets my lungs taking in huge gulps of air.  you would think this is easily done living on an island where it's always warm and sunny.  but, that is not the case on st. maarten anyway.  first of all there are no sidewalks.  the cars do not drive like they're on island time.  they race around like they're on a racetrack.  there is no dotted line demarcating lanes, no stop signs, or crosswalks in my neighborhood.  but, i digress.  i say a little prayer every time i go out with ezra in the BOB and push him up the hill toward a less traveled road.  we live right off the main road that goes around the island.  the real reason you can't easily go for a walk anytime here on st. maarten is the oppressive heat that envelops us six months out of the year and the hungry swarms of mosquitos carrying dengue fever that abound and relentlessly bite my ankles and any part of ezra's sweet body during those long six months.  it doesn't cool off when the sun goes down at night nor when it rains (unless it is a hurricane).  but, just about a week ago...  something magical happened here.  the trade winds came back blowing all that heat and all those pesky mosquitos far far away.  i find myself running errands and returning home without a drop of sweat on my brow.  so yesterday and today ezra and i began walking a couple mile loop again with our dear friend alexi and her cute dog bailey and are planning on walking everyday until the day we leave st. maarten.  yesterday evening i felt 'alive' for the first time in months and found myself singing songs as i was putting away ezra's toys last night and bursting out into more songs today - without even consciously doing it!  what i need to do to bring more peace into my life is to walk more.  so, that is my intention for the month of december.  i will walk everyday.  hoping this finds you with peace in your hearts and minds.  namaste.