I’m having the kind of morning that makes me feel all proud of myself. I found a channel called Lime that I didn’t know about. Actually I knew it was there but it is buried in the middle of the Catholic stations on Dish Network so I never paid attention. But the other day I noticed it had decidedly un-Catholic programming on.

At 7:00 AM they have a pilates show and at 7:30 they have Yoga Zone. For the past two days I’ve watched it. Sadly, that makes me feel like I’ve exercised but without the health benefits. But last night I vowed that I would do the yoga this morning. My nighttime vows to exercise early in the morning usually get squashed as I hit the snooze, but I set my alarm.

The dog decided she needed out at 6:48 this morning. I got up with her and then laid down and watched the pilates show. I kept telling myself that even if I felt like I was exercising I wasn’t and I had to do the yoga workout. I did it. It was pretty easy but I’m starting to feel it in my abs a bit. I say that I do yoga but I’ve been slacking and haven’t done any for months. I really do feel energized.

Then I went outside and did a small ritual inspired by Steph’s post for a rite to heal the Earth. I sat outside and listened to the sounds around me – the horses eating and snorting, many birds singing, and the tractor in the distance. I could feel the sun and the wind on my face. I visualized environments on Earth as clean and pristine and prayed for them as they came to my mind. It was very peaceful even though doing outdoor rituals can make me a bit nervous. I live in an area where you would think I had complete privacy but the oil well people use my driveway and I rent half my land to the farmer next door and they are starting to work the fields. At any time someone could come along. If they saw me sitting on the ground in my backyard with my eyes closed they might very well stop to make sure I wasn’t dead. They would understand dead much better than meditating.

Now I’m off to move some more compost around for the garden and/or clean stalls. I’ll reward myself for working hard with the scrapbook shows at 10:00!

(My sidesaddle shipped yesterday!!)