Dispatches from the deck: Lessons from spending half of every day outside for 70 days

When I went to bed on Nov. 7 the full moon was round with promise. Knowing something was in the air, I awoke at 5 a.m., made a foamy Nespresso, and headed to the deck to capture the excitement of a lunar eclipse in progress.

Settling into my favorite deck chair dressed in my Wim Hof faux fur robe, I searched the night sky. As sure as nature can be, there it was. A glowing roundness eclipsed by a sliver of darkness until it went “red.” The beaver moon turned to blood. And I was there to watch it. Alone, but not alone. Have you noticed what good company the moon keeps?

Living on my deck from September to November for at least 6 hours out of everyday has aligned me more with nature than before. So much so, that being present for the alignment of the planets at daybreak is as important to me as keeping an appointment with the dean of my department ... maybe more so.

On Nov. 9, my youngest daughter’s birthday, I ended my 70 day experiment. But, as we all know, it just takes doing something over an extended period of time, and before you know it you have a new habit! Now, it’s pretty hard to get me to come inside!

The timeframe of 70 days served its purpose, which is to now make an assessment. What was this all about? What lessons did I learn? How now, will I live?

Healing. That was the main thing. If you have been with me since the beginning, you know that I had “escaped” to the deck as a way of finding some solace in a difficult time. My husband has a chronic health condition which you might say has “flare ups.” It has been my pattern in the past to become extremely overwrought with worry and overwhelm when this happens. And, it does happen periodically. I can pretty much count on it.

I decided that it was now time to face this demon. I am unwilling to go on “suffering” — OK, I’ll say it, needlessly.

One book that I consulted for help in this regard was, “The Path of Practice–A Woman’s Book of Healing with Food, Breath, and Sound” by Bri Maya Tiwari. Diagnosed at 23 with terminal ovarian cancer, she was given two months to live

Her doctor’s advice was to die painlessly with heavy doses of morphine. Instead, in the middle of winter, she left her career as a popular fashion designer in New York City and began several months of intensive meditation and holistic nutrition alone in a Vermont cabin.

I have a Christian background, and I have also been involved with deep teachings from the East throughout my adult life. First the 8 limbs of yoga, and now Ayurveda. This from the Banyan Botanicals website: The name “Ayurveda” is derived from two words in Sanskrit, “ayuh” meaning “life” or “longevity” and “veda” meaning “science” or “sacred knowledge.” Ayurveda’s definition therefore roughly translates as “the science of longevity” or “the sacred knowledge of life.”

Before, and especially since the pandemic, I have been on a quest for a way of living that provides me with “the sacred knowledge of life” — physical, emotional and spiritual sustainability. A way came to me as I began to prioritize self care. Over the last 10 years I have done a lot of research about self-care practices, and many of them have been the answer to my problems around weight gain, anxiety and depression.

Which brings me now to something that happened while on the deck this fall. Part of my routine has been to participate in the Penn State Faculty Writing Seminar. Every Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. I set up my outdoor desk and type away. What do I write about?

The 7 Essentials of Well Being. I love my faculty writing group and our sacred writing time together. The support and camaraderie even through the Zoom, instead of in person, has been inspirational.

It was during this outdoor writing time that I found the purpose for my book on the 7 Essentials. In Hindu terms, my essentials is called Sadhana which means to reclaim that which is divine in us. Sadhana practice encompasses all our daily activities, from the simple to the sublime — from cooking a meal to exploring your inner self through meditation.

I began to express it, practice it, experiment with it through my daily life on the deck. I identify the 7 Essentials of Well Being as: food, movement, creativity, nature, emotions, sleep and transcendental practices. It follows the chakras from the root chakra at the pelvis area up the central channel to the crown at the top of the head.

Here’s a rundown of how it plays out in daily life: For the first essential, food, every Tuesday I go to the Boalsburg Farmers Market and buy a basketful of the latest harvest. This week it was peppers, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and a bottle of wine. To revel in the beauty, I always take a picture of my basket.

I do my chopping (while wine drinking) in my outdoor kitchen, then my grilling. Then enjoy an outdoor repast.

For the second essential, movement, my go to on the deck is yoga. Everyday, I join the wonderful teachers at Yoga Lab in my computer Zoom class. Nothing like deep breathing in the outdoors. Sometimes it’s in morning light and other times at sunset.

The third essential is creativity. I did a project where I gathered small nature items from around my yard, and then did a watercolor painting of each, an autumn leaf, a mushroom and a feather. And, then I framed them as gifts for my group of childhood friends.

Nature is the fourth essential. It occupies the heart center. Obviously, nature is the central container for all of this. Everyday, I see, feel, touch, taste, and smell what she brings to me. I listen to the messages from nature.

I have noticed that birds come in the morning to our backyard for feeding. One morning there was a blue jay, a cardinal, two mourning doves, (they often come in pairs) , a flicker, and a small group of sparrows. I am now making a plan for where I will put up my winter bird feeders, based on my observations.

For the fifth essential, emotions, it is my ceremonies outdoors at night, where I light candles, dance and make music/sounds, and feel the feels of what I am going through in my life. Yes, I sometimes worry about my neighbors! And, they perhaps worry about me!

Next is the sixth essential, sleep. I simply make an intention each night to have a sound sleep, since I wake at sunrise and have programmed my circadian rhythm to take effect with the first rays of daylight to my retina.

Lastly is the seventh essential of transcendent practices. My favorite practice encompassing the mind, body and spirit is the Wim Hof Method. You may have noticed that I mentioned the Wim Hof robe for my early morning lunar eclipse. Wim Hof is the iceman! He teaches us about the health benefits of cold exposure, hence the warm robe. There is nothing that brings me into my body, while at the same time transcends my temporal being, than the Wim Hof method.

Each day I sit in the sun, get my vitamin D absorption while I do the Wim Hof breathing protocol.

Next, I jump in my hot tub, do a meditation, and then take a cold shower, outdoors of course, for five minutes.

And that, my friends, is what I learned. Follow the sun! Take an outdoor shower while the sun is shining. Find a way to be with the rain and the cold. Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset. Listen to night sounds. Don’t be rigid, be flexible. Be free. Be grateful.

As Bri Maya Tiwari says, “When you begin to live and move with the rhythms of nature, your mind becomes more lucid and more peaceful and your health improves. Your entire life becomes easier.”

And, so it was for me.