Six months in China….where has the time gone?

I’ve been remiss on my chronicling my adventures…at least on here. With the change of seasons and adjusting to new routines, I got out of the habit writing in the AM. I started taking yoga and Pilates two days a week in the morning, and with working later in the evening, my usual AM writing time has taken a hit. There are multiple drafts started, waiting to be finished and posted, but with the start of the year, a recap post felt necessary explaining what I’ve been doing the last three months.

I had a routine established in the States; waking up and going to bed at the same time, writing with my morning matcha, getting my exercise in the AM with yoga or a walk with Finn, drinking my smoothies after my workout…I was a well-oiled machine, but I was also lacking a lot of joy, spontaneity, laughter, and adventure. I was working most days of the week, either teaching or at the store, and I rarely took time off. I was trying to make ends meet, stressed out about finances, and lacked any sort of sociability that makes life life. I clung to my routine just to keep my sanity and focus as I lived an unfulfilling life. If I didn’t follow my routine or deviated from my original plans, anxious feelings would trigger, leaving me debilitated and overwhelmed. There was no room for spontaneity in my routine, i.e. no room for error.

I am trying to reestablish a routine as I get settled in Wuhan, but one that leaves space for spontaneity and grace. With working in the afternoons and evenings five days a week, my usual bedtime of 9 or 10pm has been replaced by 11pm, and I no longer wake up at 6am or 7am, but instead 8-9am. Especially in these cold, dark months upon us, I’ve been enjoying my sleep a little more, but at the expense of my AM routine. I haven’t been keeping up with my daily journaling; I haven’t been getting my daily walks (though missing my favorite walking companion, Finnegan, hasn’t helped); and my meditation practice has been spotty to say the least.

I have found a yoga and pilates studio at the base of my building, and reintegrating my daily practice with something new. Pilates has been a fun and challenging experience, requiring a different mindset from my yoga practice, as well as a different set of muscles. But with work schedules and the schedule of the studio its tough to get the 9am exercise class I was used to back home. I’ve needed to find alternatives for exercise, and have returned to the good ol’ Youtube for AM yoga practices and HIIT workouts. Most recently I’ve started once again Yoga with Adriene’s 30 Day Yoga Journey and reminding myself what it’s like to be a beginner.

SIDENOTE: let me just say, my body is not the same body it was 6 months ago, in lots of ways, but particularly my flexibility; I’ve kept up a basic yoga practice, but nothing like my practice in the states and my body is feeling it whenever I step on the mat. I’m not saying this is a bad thing; I’ve gained some muscle and weight that was necessary for my frame and well-being, and one might say I was over-exercising in the States to the point I was unhealthy. A part of being here is allowing myself to objectively look back at the past at the things that were and weren’t working. A lot of things in my routine were necessary for where I was in my life, but some were also superfluous and simple coping mechanisms in reaction to stress. That being said, I miss my daily yoga practice, I miss teaching yoga, I miss the yoga community I was a part of, and I feel grateful for the role all that played in getting me to where I am now.

Some routines I have established here are as follows; badminton with old friends on Tuesdays, AM matcha, Tuesday night face masks, monthly massages, reading before bed instead of watching shows or movies, eating a larger lunch and smaller dinner, fruit for breakfast, weekly housekeeping tasks, leaving work issues at work, and meeting with friends on Sunday night after work. These routines are flexible and are no longer a requirement for my mental health, but habits I’m forming for my well-being. If I have to adjust my routine these days, it no longer instigates a meltdown, but instead leaves room for possibility.