I recently moved. I was renting a second story, 20-steps up condo, while I decided where I would live permanently. My move was to a two-story, 105 year-old-home with a basement—lots of steps. During the move, which went on for 3 days, not including packing and unpacking, I logged 22 flights and over 20,000 steps each day and that was with movers doing the heavy lifting.

For the last week before the move, my condo floor was covered in boxes with no place for my yoga mat. This would be the time when I really needed the stretching, but my body & mind were so busy with last minute details, I probably wouldn’t have practiced anyway. Isn’t that always the case, when we need it most that’s when we let things go? At least I didn’t sprain my ankle slipping on the ice, as I did just weeks before my move to the condo. Ugh! But my body was tight—really, really tight and muscles ached everywhere. It took massage, chiropractic and two weeks of yoga to get things settled back down.

I was, however, thankful for my meditation practice, which did not falter. This happens in the early morning where I dedicate the time, before the static begins, when I clear out my mind, set my intention for the day, and the answers to pressing questions seem to miraculously bubble up!

September is an overall great issue, but the articles “Emotional Well-Being in the Pandemic Age” and “Yoga for Every Body,” particularly resonate with me because these articles give us ideas about how we can do things differently and why these practices are so important. Even though I didn’t keep up my entire daily regimen during the move, during my stressful time, I did continue parts of it and got right back on track with the rest, once I was settling in. We all need to take care of ourselves in ways that resonate with us, ways that are right for our own physical condition that we enjoy and are able to stick with, because we are worth it. A daily good health regimen is not something anyone can make us do—it’s on us. It’s a conscious decision we make for ourselves each and every day. Bottom line, our physical body and our emotional well-being depend on it!

To conscious living,
Pamela Gallina, Publisher