3 Days to a New You!

Looking my best a few years back at the beach.

This has been the Winter of celebration.  It seems every other night we are entertaining in our home, out to a restaurant, or enjoying the role of guest to a variety of generous friends.  All of this is great, wonderful in fact, but comes with it is a bit of a walk on the dark side, and by dark side I mean flour, sugar, cheese, alcohol and animal protein (not necessarily in that order).  I notice the late nights and over indulgence make the mornings less enjoyable.  It's harder to wake up and I'm often a bit grumpy.  And I have seen my belly get its pillsbury dough boy attributes!  Yesterday was Sunday, and I was grumpy and needing a change!  We woke up early and I got a quick start on my chores, dog walk and clean the coop, and had a cleansing breakfast of carrot-celery-cucumber-kale-lemon-mandarin-ginger juice.  Then we hopped in the car and drove up the coast to surf a legendary surf spot I had never paddled out at, Swami's.  On the drive, looking at the beautiful ocean and snow capped mountains, I had the thought that in 3 days you can change your life.  Each meal, each hour of the day, is an opportunity to establish habits, or as we call them in yoga, samsaras.  Many habits we repeat in approximately the same way every day for decades.  But if just a few times in a row we establish a different habit, it may just be enough of a hiccup in your routine to establish some change.  Three days of concentrated effort seems like an appropriate amount of time to me to make a little dent into the pattern of habituation.  I'm in a pattern of excess and focus on pleasure over health.  I believe that if I focus for three days on a pattern of vibrancy, health and positive attitude, it will be the jumpstart to Spring that I need!  Yesterday certainly proved to be one of the most beautiful in my life, surfing in the sunshine with my husband, over hearing the locals say, wow, did you see that girl!  Patio lunch of California veggie sandwiches, curry soup, and veggie juice at Swami's Cafe.  Working in my garden while my new chickens free range around me.  I feel better already.  Woke up early this morning, feeling great.  Walked my dogs down to the beach just in time to see the full moon set into the ocean.