What Anti-Aging is All About
It’s the end of July, the height of summer, but because I have the privilege of living in western Oregon, I awake to a gloriously chilly 54 degree morning. It’s 6:30 on a Saturday. I’m awoken not by my clock radio but by the rat-a-tat-tat of a bird pecking at insects in the rain gutter outside my bedroom window. All the windows are open. The room is cold enough for me to burrow under the down comforter. And it there I stay, in that lovely state between dream and waking, for almost an hour.
I think, and then I don’t think. I breath the crisp air, conscious of it filling my lungs, and then not aware at all. My mind wanders: what do I have to do today did I overwater the garden last night should I check the amazon ranking of the book did the cat stay out all night. Then I go blank. Then I conscious-dream about my mother. I stretch my legs, my arms, wiggle my toes, enjoying, thoughtlessly, how my body feels. And then I do think. I think how delighted I am to have a strong, healthy and pain-free body. I think about the energy I feel inside me waiting to be called on. I think about how clear my mind is at this moment, how sharp my hearing. I am both treasuring the moment and looking forward to how the day will unfold, both content and deeply curious.
I drift away and come back again. And when I come back, I come back to these thoughts: Yes! This is what “anti-aging” is all about. This, right now, is why I traveled the country talking to experts, why I read books and struggled through scientific journals, why I went to boot camp, detoxed, ate superfoods, why I did (do) yoga and CrossFit and Tabata, why I have the 7-minute workout app on my phone. It is to feel like this. To think like this. To be like this.
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I heard a long time ago that our English language has about 50,000 words – perhaps not in our everyday working vocabulary, but nonetheless a lot of words. And with a constantly evolving vernacular and our rich regional dialects, there should be a word for everything we can imagine. Yet there are times when language fails me and I cannot describe exactly what I am thinking or feeling, even the good things. The thoughts that come and go as I am quietly meditating or physically active but of wandering mind cannot always be precisely captured with words. I’m fairly certain I am not alone in this inability to put my thoughts into a dialogue that could be shared with another. But my oh my, you do seem to be able to capture what I think/feel/sense! Thank you for sharing your gift of words.
I’m so glad. This was not a usual post for me, but I really wanted to capture that moment.
Wait… you woke up at 7:30am? And you had no pain? Clearly we aren’t hanging around enough lately.
I feel that same sense of “this is why I work out” when I am on top of a mountain or on a long bike ride. I’m always grateful when my body will allow me to move in nature.
I DO feel that after a hard workout or a long hike. What was especially lovely was to feel that sense of well-being just lying in bed. And YES!!! I slept until 7:30. That was a record.
May the whisper of the Father be the one that wakes you.
May the open hand of the Son be the one that raises you.
May the prompting of the Spirit be the one that sends you.
This morning & all mornings & leads you safely home.
A lovely prayer, even for one whose sense of the spiritual does not include the holy trinity.
Wonderful description of that state between dream and waking. I love that time when you can become lost in thought and subsequently realize that you can just clear your mind for a moment.
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