QUESTION: What is your daily routine like? do you meditate, etc?

ANSWER: Well, I used to have a very firm, fixed daily routine. I would get up each morning very early, light a candle, burn some incense, meditate, journal and then (time permitting) go for a little jog or do some yoga. At night, I would have my jog or go to an evening yoga class if I hadn’t had time that morning, and then I would read some uplifting material before going to bed.

All this went out the window a couple of years ago when, at the not-so-tender age of 35, I contracted mononucleosis. As a child or teen, mono is no big deal. But in an adult woman, I discovered it to be devastating.

However, ultimately, it was also one of the best things that could have ever happened to me, because it taught me to find the comfort I used to take in my outer routine on the inside instead. Mono changed my schedule so drastically that now I was forced to cram everything that used to take twelve hours into the two or three hours I was awake. And I had much less energy to complete my tasks. Meditating? What is that? Journaling? Who needs it when you could be sleeping? Reading? How restful! Candles? Not likely – what if I fall asleep before I remember to blow them out? Jogging. You must be kidding. Work? I needed all my energy just to get out of bed each day.

Today, two years later, my daily routine is, at long last, to go with the flow. If I need to jog or do some yoga, I make sure to create some space to do so. If I need to meditate or write something down, I move other activities around accordingly. If I need a nap, I lay down. If I need to talk to someone, I find time in my day to make the call. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is as important to me as my own health and wellbeing. I know what it is like to be without it. Having such a serious immune system disease rearranged all of my priorities until I was finally number one. And it has stayed that way ever since.

So, find what works for you, and stick to it until a better idea comes along. The outer routine sustained me for as long as I needed it to. I still might prefer a more predictable daily routine, but my travel schedule and lifestyle does not always permit it. I find ways to make my needs for rest and recharge time portable and mobile, making time during flights and long drives to listen to inspirational music and talks, to read uplifting material, to turn within and listen to my own ideas and thoughts.

But mostly, I just practice being with myself, and that has yielded a more satisfying connection with life and recovery than any other single practice I have ever cultivated.

Shannon

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