Eat, Pray, Love: PRAY

The Pray part of this journey has been the most unexpected element for me.  I knew that I was going to be exposed to new cultures, new practices, and new traditions; but I did not know how strongly I was going to be pulled towards them.  As I mentioned before, I have never been religious, and although I felt a spiritual calling for most of my life, I never did a thing about it.

Now, it feels like I cannot get enough.  I want to learn more, soak it all in, and do the work that is necessary to feel like I am making a difference and working toward becoming my best self.  That is what the “pray” portion of this journey means to me.  How can I become my best self to better serve me and everyone around me?  Here are some of the answers that I have discovered along the way:

1.  Reading – I know this sounds obvious, but I did not do enough of this in my “normal” life back at home.  And when I did, it was usually something frivolous on social media, or a fiction book every once in a while before I went to bed.  I began reading feverishly in Asia, and surprisingly, I did not read one fiction book.  They were all biographies, short real-life essays, and I hate to label the rest “self-help” books, but I guess that is what most people would call them. These were the books that I found the most inspiring and the ones that stayed with me long after I set them down.  It is amazing how much knowledge and inspiration is right at our fingertips.  All we have to do is slow down and seek it out.  I wish I would have done this sooner…Some of the books I read even had exercises in them that I never would have done at home. In the past, I would have scanned over them, made some excuse for being too busy or saying that I would come back to it later; and then, of course, I never would.  Out in South East Asia, I stopped, and took the time to do every single exercise in full.  I can’t tell you what a difference this made and how it made the readings that much more meaningful. It turns out these things are in these books for a reason. Don’t ignore them.  They work!  

2.  Yoga – I did a week-long yoga retreat in Bali and I did my best to fit classes into my travels as often as I could.  I love discovering new yoga studios, trying new classes, and experiencing different instructors. I don’t think that I need to go into great detail here. Yoga just centers me and makes me feel balanced.  Whatever your thing is, embrace it; and come back to it often so you can find your balance.

3. Meditation – We already dove deep into meditation in my “Trust The Process” post.  Please refer to that for more detail.  But one additional note to add here – This practice is so, so hard.  I admit, that when I met my friends out on the road for my last 2-3 weeks of travel, I did not fit my 5-minute meditation in everyday. In fact, I probably only did it 4 times in a two and a half week stretch. I have gone back to it, but it feels like starting over.  This is so frustrating, but I miss how great I feel and the clarity I experience when I am doing it regularly so I am determined not to give up on it.  Now that I am home, it will be another new struggle to find the way in which I am going to fit this into my everyday life, but I intend to figure it out.  Don’t give up and stick with it!  Even if you have to start over time and time again.

4. Journaling – I try to journal every morning immediately after I meditate.  I find that my head is most clear at this time and I can articulate my thoughts better right after meditation.  Sometimes the journaling is deep and profound, and other times it is simple; maybe outlining what I am going to do that day, or where I am planning to eat for dinner.  It just depends.  But I do believe that making it a habit, much like everything else, is the key.  I end each journal post with my intentions for the day and mantras to help me see the intentions through.  These are intentions, not goals.  Goals are more long distance, while intentions are immediate.  What am I intending to do TODAY?  And how will I ward off evil thoughts that get in the way of my intentions?  For example, Intention:  “I intend to figure out how to build a website because I know I can.”  Mantra:  “I am smart and strong and can do anything I put my mind to.”  Give it a whirl.  I find this helps to keep me focused throughout the entire day.

5. Breathwork – Shoutout to my friend, Nathalie, for recommending her friend, Guy Baruch, for some breathwork coaching sessions.  I had never done breathwork before and I could do an entire post about this, and probably will, so I will keep this short right now and just tell you that breathing is the key to all of this, and breathwork will help you get to where you want to go.  I truly believe that it all comes back to the breath.  More coming soon on this.  It just deserves its own post.

And there you have it.  You will notice that there is no actual prayer in my practice.  If you find that helpful, by all means, add it to your repertoire.  As someone who was never religious, prayer seems a bit foreign to me, but I do recognize and acknowledge my relationship with The Universe in my own private thoughts and some of my intentions and mantras.  I sincerely believe that if you just let go, the Universe will catch you and lift you up.  All you have to do is believe…