Welcome summer. Welcome rest.

“Normal” is such a boring, often non-helpful word. Right?

Years ago when I was undergoing fertility challenges, I had several blood test panels. I kept hearing, “We don’t know what’s wrong. Everything is normal.”

Then, I met a particularly wonderful Chinese Medicine Doctor. He took a look at my blood work and said, “There is no normal. Clearly, something is off here because what is ‘normal’ is not normal for you.”

Boom. World split wide open. Of course. I have never looked at the word “normal” the same again.

Life is full of seasons and not a one of them is a) the same, or b) looks exactly like the human’s next to us. As we enter into the Summer months with the Solstice now recently past, there’s so many conversations about the “new normal.” I will never say the “new normal,” because “normal” does not work for many people. In fact by societal “norms,” it doesn’t work for most.

Hustle culture.
Too full calendars.
A way too long to-do list.
Treating people like technology.
Lack of paid leave.
Comparison (with ourselves and our children).
Jumbled priorities.
Rampant mental health dis-ease.
Living in the head, rather than the body.
Sleepless nights.
Rushing through our mornings.
Rushing through drop-off.
Rushing to get to work.
Plowing through meetings.
Every weekend full on the calendar.

This may be “normal” in our culture, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy for most (really for any one). Where’s the sacredness? Where’s the joy?

Summer is a season of the SUN. In Ayurveda, it’s made up of fire and water. It has to be. Fire because of all the solar energy, longer days, and time spent outdoors. Water, because if there was no water, the fire would burn out of control. In this season, it is easy to get swept away into the “doing.” Running from here to there. Making plans. Scrambling to get back to the way things were. Building a life that is too busy, too full.

In this season of sweetness, lushness of plant life, beach and lake days alongside all the other daily tasks, we must remember to rest. To allow ourselves to rest. In fact, Ayurveda recommends a mid-day nap. Siesta, yes?

One of the most “normalized” phrases has become, I’m so busy. Well, let me vow to you:

I am not too busy.
I am not too busy for hugs or a phone call.
I am not too busy for a long walk.
I am not too busy for story time, car towers, or dance parties.
I am not too busy to get together with friends, with or without our kids.
I am not too busy for yoga practice and meditation.
I am not too busy to connect with my growing baby.
I am not too busy to read an actual book or write in my journal.
I am not too busy that I tell everyone how busy I am.
I am not too busy that every white space on my calendar is filled with a to-do or activity.
I am not too busy for the beach and hikes.
I am not too busy to connect with my own forms of art that have nothing to do with business.

And, if I am...then I know something is wrong. Out of balance. Priorities disjointed and misaligned. If I'm too busy, I know that is an indicator of dis-ease in my mind which likely will show up in my body. If I am, I know more than ever it's time to make serious changes in my lifestyle, business, or both, which is something I’m actively doing right now. I’ll share more soon about that.

Because my "busy-ness," isn't supporting anyone around me either. My "busy" actually hurts my loved ones, friends, and clients. My "busy" means lack of focus and clarity. My "busy" means I am actually not in touch with lush living, abundance, and fulfillment.

It’s easy to allow the seduction of Summer to pull us in multiple directions. And, yet what summer is encouraging us to do is soak up the textures, smells, sensations, sounds, and experience of this luscious time of the year, of this time in our lives. It’s asking us to savor its sweetness and bathe in its pleasure. We cannot do that if we wrap ourselves in a cultural norm of ‘busy.’ Yes?

Let’s redefine what we want in life and work, how we want to feel. Throw out ‘norms,’ create what’s right for us as individuals, and seek communities who desire the same.

With love,
Leanne

P.S. It’s not so easy to redefine our values, desires, and needs without bringing the body into the experience. Lasting change is never created from mind alone. You have many layers in addition to the mind, and your body is made up of the elements in nature. When we work with both, we learn to embody these practices and shift our lives into a place of nourishment, ease, fulfillment, and abundance. You are allowed to reinvent yourself and declare what you want.

In a few weeks, I’ll be opening up phone calls for a high-touch mentorship program soon, Living Lush. You don’t need another course or training or professional development. No. This is a six week premium program, an intensive and transformative mentorship experience, and will cover embodiment of the Ayurvedic elements, the Koshas (layers of what it means to be human), meditation, critical writing prompts, and group discussion. It's designed to support your life at home, at work, as a mother, as a professional, in your relationships and as a leader (because yes you are one). I hope you'll look out for that. I’ll be setting up phone calls with those who are ready to invest in themselves soon, because, yes, this will be an investment of time and dollars, but above all for yourself in a way that lasts.

In the meantime, the Meditation Challenge from last week is now a free resource in the online store. And, it’s a beautiful introduction to what we’ll be covering in the Living Lush mentorship. You can experience the five free meditations here.

Photo by Linus Nylund on Unsplash