Packing Light

Recently I signed up for a free 21 day meditation with Oprah and Deepak (who is no relation to Tupac as my sister seemed to be curious about), called Shedding the Weight – Mind, body and spirit. It was free, so I figured, why not? Can’t hurt, right? I’m up to day 17 and I have no idea if I have physically lost any weight because I threw away my scale back in January. I was getting rediculously obsessed with weighing myself. I also rid my house of all diet books. I know that 99.9% of anything is mental, at least for me anyways. So what I have been trying to figure out for a while now is what am I holding on to?

The meditations focus a lot on letting go of heaviness and weight, be it physical, mental and/or spiritual. It speaks a lot about being light. I began thinking a lot about what being or feeling “light” means to me. This song by India Arie came to mind. “I Am Light”

India says
“I am not the things my family did
I am not the voices in my head
I am not the pieces of the brokenness inside
I am light, I am light”

I asked myself how and when do I feel light? I feel much lighter when I am not anxious or worrying, however, that’s not always easy to do. Anxiety is tough because we let our mind race and think of the worst case scenario when really it is the fear of something that has not, and probably will not even happen.
So here are some things that help me when I start to feel anxious:

1. Close your eyes and focus on breathing. I once read that your mind can not go faster than your breath, so when you slow down your breath it will help slow down your mind.

2. Think of the worst case scenario and the best case scenario of what can actually happen. Most of the time the worst case isn’t as bad as we think, however, focus on the best possible outcome to help calm yourself. Picture this outcome including all the details and see how it helps

3. Remind yourself nothing has happened. There is nothing to be anxious about if nothing has actually happened. Besides, most of the things we worry about will never happen and are most likely out of our control.

4. Pray. Whatever or whoever you believe in, pray and let it go. Sometimes the best thing is to remember that most things we stress are out of our control. Remind yourself that everything is going to be ok. Everything is going to happen the way that it is supposed to happen and we will be just fine.

5. When all else fails, put on some good music! Music is always therapy for me. Whether you want relaxing or up beat, choose something that helps to put your mind at ease and change your focus.

Whatever it is that holds us down, this song by Ms. Badu is a good reminder to “pack light.” This has always been a favorite song of mine by Erykah Badu. Not only are the words a good reminder to “let it go, let it go, let it go”, but the music and beats are slow and relaxing.

“Bag lady you gone hurt your back
Dragging all them bags like that
I guess nobody ever told you
All you must hold onto, is you, is you, is you”

So although I have no idea if I have actually lost any physical weight through this meditation series I have been following, I can say that I have definitely had some mental break throughs. I have discovered some of my not so great habits that I am learning to let go of. It seems to be perfect timing too because the new moon is tomorrow. When the moon is new it is a good time for starting new things. The time from the full moon to the new moon is a good time to release.
So out with the old, in with the new and please pack light.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical expert or advisor. Any advice in this article is only my personal experience
Photo credit: I do not own this photo or the rights to the photo it was found on the Internet