Until you drop …the cycle of life and death

November has come around with the longer evenings…

here is the subject of this edition:
Ageless body –  timeless mind.

Do these words spark your interest when you read them?
Yes, no – maybe?

It’s actually the title of a book written by Deepak Chopra.-)

I believe many people bought it (me too!) as it deals with a subject that we are all part of:
The reality that each day you are getting older and at some point you are going to die.

Scary?
Hold on!

Above you see a mandala of fruit.

I discovered it last year during one of my walks in Vondelpark.
No idea who made it, but it’s very beautiful and represents for me the beauty of the moment and also the impermanence of all that is alive.

The thought that life is impermanent can feel quite uncomfortable.
Or:
You can accept it as a given fact and widen your perspective:

Age is very relative.

for example:
I have met 30 year olds that seem truely ancient to me and I’ ve met 70 year olds that are so young in spirit that it’s fun to be around them- and to feel their wisdom too!

The date in the calendar when you are born is absolute,
but how you behave in spirit and how you maintain and treasure your body is very much up to you!

Society urges us in many ways to be young forever
– and often we buy into it and want to be young at all cost.

There are many ways to treasure, maintain and rejuvenite your body:
yoga, walking, dancing, swimming, fitness, massage, nourishing and respectful sexuality…

What are your ways to maintain the freshness of your spirit ?
The diversity and numbers of ages that you embody
through out the day, throughout your life?

Of course the body influences the mind and vice versa,
that’s an interdependancy and fact.

Here are some questions for reflection:

.    How old do you feel when you get up in the morning?

• How old do you feel when you have had a laugh with friends that shakes your body?
• Does the age you feel inside match with how you are seen by other people?

Here some points for exploration:

• experiment with “shifting” your age during the day:try simply to skip along – in your living room or outside !
• Do something just for the fun of it, play !
• Notice at which moments you feel young and when you feel old.

Does it influence you how you think others see you?
Why?

The cycle of life and death is an eternal ritual and reality.
Our existence on earth is limited, yes.

What is unlimited:
how you choose to spend your time on earth,
how you nourish and replenish your spirit.

I wish you an insightful month of november.
with lots of laughs and also reflective moments to look inside!

Each death is a new beginning, each birth is letting go of what was before.

Thank you mother for all that you gave to me!