The practice of being at home...

Hello All and Happy Monday

Well it has been nearly 2 weeks since I have been out of the hospital. It's hard to believe that I was ever there. I am getting stronger every day and feeling pretty good overall.

I have made an interesting observation though. I am seeing how the practice of being in the hospital is probably very much like that of being in an Ashram. There is a schedule, you have your room, and the hallways, and for the most part everything is taken care of for you, there are no normal life distractions. It was so easy for me to have the practice of peace and calm and let go of worry while in my room. But here I am back in my life, somewhat, and I am noticing that some of the same patterns prior to me becoming ill are creeping back in. And in some ways it was easy to be in the hospital and for me a little more challenging to be back in my life.

But it is all a practice isn't it? Like going away on a retreat where everything is taken care of and it is easy to have the practice. But how do we apply it when we are back in our lives.

I have noticed that I can access that calm feeling if I apply myself . I do notice when the worry starts to creep in and how I can work with it. This is when the pracitce is the most challenging, to apply what I learned while in the hosptial.

My biggest challenge is to be still and not obsess about my house and to also to develop good supportive eating habits. But again this is the practice, firstly to not beat myself up if I make mistakes and secondly to have compassion and patience with myself during this process of learning.

So, like being in the hospital was one kind of learning, being at home is another kind of learning. To me that means applying all that I learned about being in the present moment and being patient and finding peace. Because it is always there for us, we just have to be open to let go and receive it.

I'm so grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow, and my prayer is to continue to apply this to all aspects of my life that will reach way beyond my recovery over the arc of my lifetime.

Thank you for being a witness to all of this and for all of the prayers and support and love.

Enjoy the sunshine and long days.

Namaste
Victoria