five-a-day: the path to healthy mind

my very disciplined and responsible friend britt of have fun do good fame tagged me for a meme started by mindapples: what's your five-a-day?

i'm supposed to list five things i do a day to keep my mind healthy, and then tag five more bloggers.

i have always struggled with discipline and having a healthy mind-body routine. one of the healthiest times of my life was when i was practicing yoga & meditation daily, attending contact improv dance classes, exploring all sorts of mystical connections in poetic and spiritual texts, hiking a lot and making art. that was before the internet, marriage, child rearing and bad knees. not that i think any of that is a good excuse to be the slacker that i've become.

so to be honest, i don't have five routine things that i do. sure, i take a shower (usually), which i quite enjoy. i cook and eat a fairly balanced diet, which keeps me happy most of the time. i sleep, which is oh so necessary. i read blogs, which i find inspiring because a lot of them are written by disciplined people who accomplish things daily. and i hang out with my loves, dan, tashi, the cats. but really i think i need to make this meme into five things i strive to do daily. and think of it as a new years resolution of sorts.

1) exercise. be it yoga, walking, swimming or belly dancing, exercising daily helps tone the body, prolong life, and refresh the mind. i do exercise. but not daily. especially since i have felt ever so fragile in my pregnancy. but i've been walking a lot more lately (as my recent flickr pictures of farm animals and sunsets might prove), yesterday i received my prenatal belly dancing dvd ordered from amazon, and just last night i did some yoga.

2) read books. how can i call myself a writer when the book on my nightstand is gathering dust? i do read. a lot. but i go through phases where i will devour one book after another (or several books at once) followed by a phase of doing nothing but surfing the internet and watching late night tv. i am currently in the latter phase. i did just move. it's been a pretty major upheaval of the daily routine. so i hope to soon get back into reading, at least before bed, because reading sharpens the mind and develops one's use of the language. and who wants to be dull and speechless?

3) meditate. it is something i once did daily. there is nothing like it really. sure one can meditate while cooking, playing an instrument, or taking a walk, but i'm talking about sitting meditation, where you sit on the zafu with legs crossed, and focus on the breath. all things arise and disperse in those empty moments. in a world full of grasping it is really healthy to practice letting go.

4) write/create. let's face it, i've been struggling with having a writing habit for more than half of my life now. if i can't manage to write every day, i would like to at least create, be it a collage, a bit of embroidery, a still life with charcoal, or a photograph. i feel most fulfilled when making art. as our new space takes shape, i'm getting there!

5) loving. i do love daily. but i don't always express it. it would probably be easier to express if i got my five-a-day in.

i think i'll start now.

oh, and i tag:

blissblog
noddyboom
green kitchen
the attached feminist
northnode astrology