What I'm *Not* Giving up for Lent

Actually, I have never really been good about giving up anything for Lent. I don't know why I've never done it. It's not even like I didn't feel like I could carry out a commitment for 40 days. Once I set my mind to a project I can pretty much complete anything I put my mind (body and soul) to.

But last Sunday one of the ladies in my spiritual enrichment group (makes it sound all fancy, but pretty much my book club at church - which is fancy in its own way) made a comment about perhaps adding something that would enrich their lives this Lent.

That struck a chord. After all, this is the year of enrichment for Melissa. The year of doing things that make me a better, stronger more fierce Me. And adding something to my daily routine could be a huge step on the road to accomplishing that.

So.... the question then was - what to add? After nixing several grandiose "save the world" type ideas, I settled on something that would just be good for me. That hopefully will make life a little happier not only for me but for the ones I love and care for. Sun Salutations. I pledge to do a series of Sun Salutations every day during Lent. Today I managed to do 5 (on each side) and had to stop. I want to get so that doing 10 is easy.

What are Sun Salutations?  Here's a chart taken from The Yoga Lotus



I don't look anything like the stick people (as of yet), but I'm working on it. Mostly I just wonder how I'm going to get to the next pose without running out of breath.

Why Sun Salutations? Well, it occurred to me as we were doing a modified Sun Salutation at Kripalu how good this flow made my body feel. To add to that, I had just finished reading Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi  and he cured his colitis (which I don't have, thank the Lord) by doing Sun Salutations throughout the day. I do have some wonderfully fun digestive issues brought on by the immense amount of stress I seem to want to carry around though, and am hopeful this will help with that issue.

While they can be a good workout, they are also a fantastic way to balance the body and the mind; to calm your brain while energizing your blood.  Win, win eh?

Mostly though, I like the idea that instead of taking away something negative from my life and focusing on not having and not doing, I am adding something positive and focusing on having, loving and doing. I think it is the right thing for me this year.

Namaste