Regular readers know that my very recent life in the ashram was pretty hot…sweaty, dripping hot.
If I had done a little more research, we might have arrived around late October/early November and enjoyed cooler days and clearer skies…However, research about a destination has never been my strong suit. I’m sort of the ‘show-up-and-see-what’s-there kind of traveler.
I can hear all the ‘real’ travel writers sniffing disdainfully about now. But there ya go. I am what I yam, as Popeye used to say.
I learned to embrace the heat by deciding to simply change my thinking. It worked. And I began to almost enjoy the full body sweat. In fact, I was liking it enough to announce to my fellow Ann(e)s that I would be taking regular steam baths when I got home. “This has got to be good for you,” said I. Oh yes, I’m always full of announcements and pronouncements; usually to my later chagrin. But that is another topic altogether.
The fact was that it was a good contextual shift that helped me with the hot reality. Besides, I got to feel very Zen and self-righteous to be okay with it all. And, being self-righteous is my Mennonite birth-right (one that I’m working hard to get rid of…but I’m also telling the truth here, so there it is. (See the Popeye quote above).
Still, in spite of the aforementioned self-righteous thing, it’s a good thing I developed this ability because it seems my perimenopausal body has taken that Indian heat and decided to test whether I really, truly am one with it.
Put another way? The hot flashes are here and going strong.
Now.
Back in my mother’s day, this was not a topic for discussion. I’m really not sure where the shame and taboo comes in on this. The facts are the facts, ma’am. And the facts are that waves of heat take me over like I’ve been dropped into a heat wave in downtown Delhi. It is a thing to behold.
So, I’ve decided to take the “Embracing the Experience” paradigm shift one step further. Now, when the heat hits, I use it as a Pavlovian-reminder of our sweaty days at the ashram and all that I learned there.
I accept what is and know that complaining changes nothing…but smiling about a memory from those lentil-days transforms the flash into a flood of good thoughts and memories.
So, if you see me fanning myself furiously, just ask me what’s new at the ashram…because that’s where I’ll be.
It might be just me, but i feel as though this post is really important, i would surely mention it to my friends so they would read it also. Thanks for posting it.
Hot flashes are certainly worth talking about…if only so you realize it’s not that unusual 🙂
Since we are being all honest here, I have a comment/question, with all the heat and sweat that my body is producing shouldn’t I be losing weight, shouldn’t the calories be melting off? Instead I’m developing a cushy mid-section! Some call it a spare tire others call it a married donut! As Ellen would say,”seriously I’m kidding”. But really! Momma forgot to tell me everything. Let me rephrase that, Momma didn’t tell me nothin!
Thanks for the Ashram thought, much better than the I’m going to kill someone thought. By the way, welcome home and have a good trip!
Karen…thanks for the snorking guffaw about the ‘kill someone thought’. It seems harder to feel the love for all humanity when one’s eyeballs are melting out of their sockets. Seriously, I’m kidding!
too funny, I know what they are like!!! Swiss herbal replacement therapy pills you can get at Shoppers drug mart help! But I also think you are dealing with it in a good way!
Thanks Laurie…it’s still early in the onset of all this and so far I’m more amused and amazed, more than anything else. This may wear thin but so far, so good…
I was just asking my daughter this morning if it was really unbearably hot in the house this morning, or if it was just me. It was just me. It appears coffee triggers hot flashes for me, too. Ah well, so far they’re short and bearable.
And should we give up our coffee because of this? NO! I’m planning on having a lot of fans stashed in various places:)
Good luck with that attitude as the hot flashes wear thin after a while. Just one sip of coffee or wine did me in, but thankfully the body does eventually find a new balance … just wait a few years!
No doubt, Martha. I’m hoping that by saying it publicly like this means I’ll have to keep making it work 🙂