In the dream, there’s a satisfying heft to the device hanging from my neck by a black cord. A little like a digital stop-watch, it holds two precious hours which I haven’t used up yet and which are available to me anytime I choose.
In reality, my yoga teacher gave me the gift of creating more time by whittling away at sleep with yogic practices. It was 1995 during an intensive Svaroopa(R) Yoga Teacher’s Training, when I learned experientially, not just theoretically, that if we do ten minutes of Ujjayii breathing, it replaces an hour of sleep - so effective is it at detoxifying, rejuvenating, and replenishing all the cells of our body. Further, deep meditation offers us a specific state of consciousness (turiya), of which we need three hours in twenty four. If we can reach that state in meditation, then we won’t have to sleep as long.
During the three week intensive, we were immersed in physical practices, (learning yoga poses, adjustments and assists), chanting, meditation and pranayama - breathing practices - for fifteen hours each day. One of my students arranged for me stay in her vacation home in Ocean Beach - a forty minute drive from the yoga studio in La Jolla. To accommodate being present for the fifteen hour days, the drive, and the homework - including meal preparation and bathing, I was getting by nicely on four hours of sleep a night. It worked.
I’m wondering if the dream is calling me back to the practices which over time have abbreviated themselves. No. That’s not true.
I have displaced the practices with more clients, more socializing and more sleep. I make choices every moment. Is the choice I’m making at this moment one that serves my ultimate goals? Hmmmm... that’s a potent question. I feel squirmish (squirmy and squeamish); unwilling to answer it straight on.
If you could flip a switch and gain two hours a day, what would you do with those precious one hundred and twenty minutes?
If you could flip a switch and gain two hours a day, what would you do with those precious one hundred and twenty minutes?
I enjoy gardening, but I haven’t been doing much. I love cuddling with my husband, but some of that time has dropped away too as we get busier and busier. I love my work and have been saying "yes" more than "no" to requests to see clients with juicy, intriguing cases. I’m showing up for the writing with a match at my butt - meaning only on Sunday nights to crank out this blog, but not much beyond that. I LOVE spending time with the amazing four-year-old-grandest-granddaughter in the world and her mom & auntie. I love to sing, dance, write, hike, read, cook and converse.
So, what do I WANT to do with my time? All of the above and more.
As I age, the fact that time is finite comes into sharper, clearer, devastatingly crystalline view. It hurts my eyes and makes me want to sleep more. And, at the same time, the scarcity of time propels me out of bed for fear of missing out on all I want to do before I shuffle off to Buffalo, recycle my soul, or chuck the bod.
James Thurber said, “It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at all.”
E.B. White said: "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
I say, “I want to save and savor the world. Which will it be today?”
My favorite toast (besides gluten free with lots of butter and cinnamon) is:
Salud, Amor y Pesetas, y Tiempo para gastarlos!
Health, Love and Money, and the Time to enjoy them.
May you enjoy all there is to enjoy on the planet in a timely way.
Happy Harvests.
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