The Joy Diet: Week 1

The first week of The Joy Diet by Martha Beck has come and gone for The Next Chapter Book Club.  This week's menu item to add joy to your life was "nothing".  

Beck writes, "Whether you're doing the program as an overall life enhancement, or using it to face some kind of trauma, I'm almost certain you need nothing--a good strong dose of nothing, and soon.  Okay, enough word play.  What I mean is that the best way to break through any barrier is to access a point of perfect stillness at the center of your being, a self deeper than your senses or your mind."

As someone who constantly lives, works, studies and plays at full speed, I needed to be reminded that we often need to replenish the well.  Through yoga, I have seen the benefits of a meditation practice and what breath work can do for your health and spirit.  I was happy to see that the very first menu item in the book was going to force me onto my meditation cushion.  In fact, for the first few days, I got onto the cushion first thing in the morning.  And it was helpful for clearing mental space and setting an intention, but it wasn't enough.  Once I got a taste of nothing, I wanted more.

It was with that idea in mind that I started setting my alarm clock for an hour and a half earlier than I am used to.  The first day it was nearly impossible to force myself out of bed but I did it.  I went to the gym, I wrote out my morning pages and then....I did nothing.  I sat out on the balcony in the early morning quiet as daylight arrived.  The next day I got into a yin yoga pose on my living room floor and just breathed, treasuring the few minutes of silence before the day began.  15 minutes of nothing became too few and I found myself getting up even earlier just to savor the quiet time.

The combination of exercise, journaling and nothingness led to this week begin one of my most productive in recent weeks.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the book has to offer!

{Photo credit: Darwin Bell}