I'm a recovering perfectionist. I'm an I'll-start-that-new-(insert admirable habit)-on-Monday kind of gal. When I miss the window, I plan on next Monday, and then next Monday, and the next one, and so on. Of course, I can be dedicated. I do focus and work hard. But I'm also all or nothing in an I've-skipped-some-workouts-so-may-as-well-binge-watch-Newsroom and I-had-too-many-chips-at-lunch-so-may-as-well-do-wings-for-dinner sorta way.
Well, I say enough!
I'm going to try something different and see how it goes, because if we're being honest here, perfect is boring and I am enough. I don't have to overhaul my life starting on Monday, but I do know that there are a few things I'd like to do differently than I am now. It's a Friday, and dammit, I can start small and start today.
I'm starting with eight. Why eight? Well, to be honest, because "eight is enough" felt like a fun title for this journey. For those of you who give a hoot about numerology, eight is also a number of balance and continuous motion. Given the intention of this process, I'd say that worked out pretty well.
So...eight what?
Well, eight lots of things. I'm going to dedicate each week to a different daily eight—eight sun salutations, eight minutes of tidying one spot at a time, eight servings of fruits and veggies, eight hours of sleep, eight glasses of water, eight paragraphs of writing. And a partridge in a pear tree.
Why a week?
There are seven days in a week. This is all about eights. It would make sense for each new "thing" to go for eight days. This is not difficult number stuff.
EXCEPT, I live in a place where trash is picked up every six business days, and if I didn't have londontrash.ca to tell me my pickup schedule, I'd be living in a sea of garbage bags. Or paying to drop my garbage at the dump. Or running out the door in my PJs when I hear the garbage truck coming. You get the point. I just want this to feel like a success, and I know myself well enough to know that a rotating cycle is not setting me up for that.
Enjoy the ride!
I'm starting today with eight sun salutations each and every day, because yoga is my go-to mind-body-spirit tonic. I tried 30 days of yoga, and on some days, the 20-minute commitment was still too much for me to wrap my head around. Perhaps I'm starting here as a form of redemption. I'd like to think it's because my amazing yoga teacher, the warm and wise Chantelle Diachina of Prana Yoga & Wellness, has helped me realize the role that yoga plays in my own sense of balance, making this an obvious place to begin.
Stay tuned to see how it goes!