Moments Like This

I’m sick.

Like full blown.

Been in bed for days.

Flu is kicking my ass.

Sick.

So, in between naps I’ve been taking long hot salt and eucalyptus baths or watching tv.

Well, I only watched tv once, that’s how sick I am. But what I watched really made an impression on me. I almost feel like I purposely got sick just to be able to see this television traveling show that I wouldn’t have watched if I wasn’t sick in bed.

Some blonde lady with an amazing body was in Jamaica. Sorry that’s all I know of her. And she wasn’t visiting your typical tourist destinations either. Instead she visited the offspring of Grandy Nanny –one of the “fore fathers” (ahem) of Jamaica…and just like her great, great grandmother–this woman on the show was also a herbal medicine woman.

The medicine woman agreed to throw the hot blonde lady an herbal bath for her–and she took her out into the beautiful forest (that looked so much like Costa Rica that my heart began to spin). As she walked around the medicine woman pointed out various plants–said their names and defined their medicinal use.

Almost every plant she chose was meant to relax, soothe, or comfort her body, mind, or soul.

The hot blonde lady even commented that the medicine woman must think she’s pretty stressed out–to need all of these plants.

The medicine woman simply smiled and nodded.

So, quite gorgeously, the medicine woman began to boil all these plants together in a large pot over a roaring fire. She then strained the foliage and poured the aromatic water into a bath tub for the woman to crawl into with her red bikini.

That’s basically it.

But the thing…why I’m even bothering to tell you this…is because the medicine woman said one sentence….yes, one sentence….that hit me like the flu!

She said how important it is to regularly take time to soothe the body, mind and soul.

I have a feeling that what the medicine woman’s definition of regular is–is probably quite different then what the hot blonde lady’s definition is, what mine is, what any typical American might be.

But what really hit me about that profound statement was the word “soul”.

What do I do regularly to soothe my soul?

Do I even know what is even a soul soother?

I do yoga. I meditate. I eat nutritious foods (most of the time). I paint. I spend time in nature. I listen to pretty, soft, calming music. I read inspirational books. I snuggle with my doggie.

These are all soothing things–and maybe in some form or another are soothing to my soul as well–but my intention behind them is usually to settle my monkey mind or relax my over hyper body.

But my soul.

I have failed for years and years now to overlook the one important aspect of my existence that needs a time out and some tender loving care “regularly”.

My soul needs a herbal bath. My soul needs time to paint, to breathe fresh air, to lose itself in a soft melody of a flute.

Being sick always brings me back to the softness of my being.

And it is here I remember how my soul is the essence of everything I am.

My soul is still healthy, vibrant, and cartwheeling through my day.

Even though my body and mind need their time to recuperate.

And it is also here that I am reminded how important it is to honor the soul that is me

to create space for my soul to rest and find comfort as well–

instead of alway insisting it keep spinning and spinning at top speed.