SKYE stephenson

Take time! That is the message I got last night from an ayurvedic website called Banyan Botanicals. I had googled them about what to do for adrenal fatigue – which I was feeling creeping upon me with a heavy hand for more than a week. Ache in the lower back, around the kidneys. Challenge getting out of bed in the morning. Irritated eyes. A general sense of blah. Yes, it could have been a Fall flu (not Covid, I checked twice.) But I sensed there was something else afoot in my body, and with me.

               As a child of a doctor and a bit of a health nut myself, I had already done what I thought were all the right things to get better. I was popping multiple vitamin Cs each day, like kids do with candy after Halloween. I was drinking warm liquids. I was taking a homeopathic flu remedy. I was even chugging my personal “make me feel better” elixir called Pisco Sour, which is a kind of Andean brandy mixed with fresh lemon juice, a bit sugar or syrup, and an unbeaten egg white. And I was feeling marginally better – but not great.

               My mind began to spin. What should I do next?  Should I make an appointment with my primary care point person at Sojourns? Should I schedule an acupuncture appointment? How about a long-distance Zoom with my homeopathic physician who now lives in New Mexico? Around and around like a circus carrousel went these questions – in and out of my consciousness over and over, at a dizzying pace.

               A dizzying pace is how my life has been going lately – mostly due to my tendency to add on more and more ‘to dos’ to my ‘to do’ list. Meditation. Work. Family. Spouse. Feng Shui adjustments. Remembering the astrological significance of the day. Shopping. Cooking. Chores. And then in the free moments checking the internet for other items of interest and temptation.

               Each of these activities are meaningful for me, and usually enjoyable – but pushing myself to fulfill all of them, each day, in a good and positive way seemed to be impacting my overall health.

               This was the moment I googled that ayurvedic website mentioned above to see what they recommended. And what they advised – above and beyond any diet or vitamins or herbs – was to simply take time to do nothing. In a word, to stop pushing myself so hard.

               I read this advice through twice. Then I took a deep breath and a minute to reflect upon the message. As soon as I did this, a floodgate opened, and memories began to fill my mind of the times and places in my life when I simply took time to do nothing. Like when my kids were babies and I would nestle with them and sleep long naps, or when I was youngster and spent happy summers frolicking on the beach in my hometown of Riverside, Connecticut. I recalled those time when I lived in Santiago, Chile and would go with my son to the music stores they used to have. There they would let us choose any record we wanted to listen to, and we could play it in a booth. We spent many happy hours doing this together. Then there were the many times I travelled and simply stared out a train or bus window for hours at landscapes I had never seen before.

On and on the memories came to me – and I realized that these moments have been, in fact, some of the happiest and most vibrant moments of my life.

               This all happened at 8 pm last night. And so, what did I do next? First, I made myself a cup of Ashwagandha tea. Then I put on my pajamas, and decided I was not going to do anything else ‘productive’ for the rest of the evening. No meditation. No emails to people. No cleaning. No writing this pending article. I did, simply, nothing. And then I went to bed earlier than usual.

               This morning I woke up clear headed and bright eyed. My lower back no longer ached and I felt sharp and alert. It wasn’t very long that I did nothing, but it must have been enough to help heal me of my malady of overdoing – a tendency that was causing my adrenals to become depleted.

               Of course, there are many times we must be active and engaged in our own healing and well-being; times when we must work hard to get better. But sometimes, depending on the circumstances and our personal inclinations, the best thing we can do for ourselves is NOTHING.

               May you find the right balance between willful action and relaxed nothing in this Fall season, which is a time of balance as well as change in the calendar year. Until next month, may you be happy, healthy, and relaxed.