Getting Back to Basics

I have realized that when life seems intolerable it's important to get back to basics. After telling a good friend about the emotional issues I was going through a few weeks ago she asked me if I was eating, drinking water, and remembering to breathe. It seems a little funny when it's your heart and mind aching to take care of your body but the more you think about it the more it makes complete sense. Lately I have been having trouble with sleeping and eating. When I was first seeing my therapist he asked me how I was eating and sleeping, and talked about how when people feel in control their sleep and appetite will usually remain at baseline. But when control is lost, sleep and appetite are thrown off. Usually when I am depressed I tend to oversleep and comfort-eat. But this time it's the opposite. My appetite is extremely low and I'm finding myself able to live off less sleep than ever. I'm not even drinking coffee like I was before.

As silly as this sounds I'm trying to use this uncomfortable state as an opportunity to lose some weight. Overall I still manage to eat but I am eating a lot less. I'm hoping that the silver lining is I will adjust my body to less food. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. So I plan stay on it regardless of my emotional state. I also find that I am craving nourishing foods: vegetables and fresh, simple ingredients. They seem to help me cope with this pain. If one part of myself is malnourished, I can at least keep other parts healthy.

Another aspect of "getting back to basics"  relates to a lifelong struggle of mine. Keeping tidy. I am taking this time of raw awareness to develop mindfulness of my surroundings. I am trying to pick up after myself and look at where I am setting my belongings. This is a very undesirable part of myself that I have made some progress with, but admittedly continue to struggle with. I am hoping that even if my heart is cluttered, if I de-clutter my external environment it will permeate into other parts of me.

I want to make this a daily practice and to check in with myself about how I progressed in this area. So far today I have cleaned for my Love, started a load of laundry and picked up my room. I'm also using cleanliness as a mindfulness exercise...to simply be aware.