To take or not to take prescription meds.

Are you taking some kind of meds to support your body and struggling to find peace over it? This has been coming up a lot lately in my inbox and coaching sessions and I want to share a few words. I got an email from a dear client that said,

"My compassion for myself has become so permissible. Maybe it is also in part to finally accepting my bipolar diagnosis, and being open to trying medication, which I previously would not consider."

And then another, "I've had PMDD for years, and I also experience really painful periods. I've always said "NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT" to birth control pills (I've never wanted to alter my natural rhythms...)... In my 20+ years of menstruation, I think I've tried every possible alternative, every possible "natural" remedy that came my way. ...So, I spent half the day crying. I felt like a failure. I've been "standing guard" and trying to protect my body from this thing called birth control for most of my life. I know it's time to try birth control. I've been terrified of saying "YES"...I've been wanting to write you since Thursday (the day I couldn't stop crying), almost one week ago. I just kept thinking that YOU would know what I could do! You would have the answers.

And then I was meditating this morning and these positive affirmations just started bursting out of me. I immediately wrote them down. I already feel a shift, and I've decided I will read those meditations every time I take a pill until I start to feel more comfortable. I still have a little over a week before my cycle aligns to start taking them, so I'm going to keep saying them over and over until then as well."

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Can you relate to one of these women? You are not alone in your struggle and your desire for health on every level. If I could give you one thing it's to remind you that you are the expert on your body! ( <----- Read that again)

I've done the dance between east and west, between pharmaceutical and holistic medicine. In my mind and my experience there is a place for both. I took the birth control pill for over a decade. I loved the pill, it's predictability and that I never had to worry about an oops baby. It served me well and when my body and spirit were ready to come off I did. I took loads of different meds to help my breathing. I loathed them. They didn't help and most actually made me feel worse. I'm sure you have similar experiences of finding some medications really helpful and others --- not so much.

Your body is always talking to you. Listen to it and respond with what feels best for you. My approach in times when I feel that I need some kind of pharmaceutical support is to take the meds to soothe the symptoms and get to work on addressing the the root of what's happening in my body. I use all of my tools (food, rest, meditation, affirmations etc) in conjunction with the drug. I'm not saying that you should pop a pill for every ill or reflex into Western thinking but I am saying that you can remove the story behind taking medications when the moment calls for it. It doesn't have to mean anything positive or negative. It's all information on this life journey and taking medications is usually temporary. I never trust a doctor that says you're going to have to take this forever. Wha? How the heck could you possibly know that about my body? Use your powerful intuition and your super smart noodle to lead you forward.

My sister, Kayla Floyd says, "Know how to care for yourself without any emotion or blame." and I think that sums it up perfectly. Take care of yourself. Do what feels best for you and release any blame, shame or guilt associated. I know that many of you want to heal with food and positive thinking. I do too. I meditate daily to stay connected with the truth of my being. To know that I am pure potential and that I can allow my body to heal itself by itself. I trust that healing is happening in every moment and that each decision I make is for my whole health. And if I wake up tomorrow with a raging bladder infection you bet your ass I'll be taking antibiotics along side my water, cranberry tablets and affirmations that I am WHOLE HEALTH! I'm hoping you feel the lightness in all of this as I'm intending (and smiling as I type). The goal here is to empower you to trust yourself!

I don't live in fear of getting sick or needing to make those kinds of decisions. I trust that all is unfolding perfectly in my life and body. I make game time decisions based on what feels best for me in that moment. We take meds way too seriously. We take most things way too seriously. Remember that things only have the meaning we attach to them. Get still, ask your body what it needs, listen and then take action.

You've got this. And if you didn't know already, YOU ARE PERFECT HEALTH!

I love you, Lacy

All About Ease

This post is less about salad and more about partnership and giving each other support + space. This morning I got up before Cliff to do my morning meditation (it's been over a month of meditating at least once a day! I actually wake up craving it. Crazy cool!) He joined me just as I was about to start listening to a second guided meditation. Perfect timing. After it was over we hugged to rub the feel good meditation energy all over each other. He made breakfast, I wrote in my journal.

Effortless ease. Post breakfast we began talking about detox and the inevitable emotions that bubble up in the process. He said he wanted to take a day to go and sit in the woods and write and meditate and think. I said 'I'll make you a salad for lunch.

The Pro's + Con's of RV Living

We've enjoyed some really lovely coverage (thank you all so much) of our RV make over lately from the Today Show, Country Living and Design Sponge. It feels like now is the perfect time to share some Pro's and Con's of our experience so far.

Togetherness + simple pleasures = RV living.

PRO's

- We've been living in our RV for nine and a half months now. We've finally stopped saying "we sold it in the garage sale" or "I think we gave that away" when trying to find something. It was a running joke early on but now makes me feel so good in knowing we truly have everything we need.

- We recently did a clean sweep and got rid of anything that we haven't touched or used since July 1, 2014. Hard to believe but we are even lighter now than when we moved in. Buh-bye hand mixer and baking sheets!

- This country is incredible and I've never loved nature more. We are spending so much time outdoors. Everything about that feels right. I've started making nature mandalas as a ritual. It reminds me of my time in Bali and it takes me back to memories of making flower soup and mud pies as a kid. I don't think I would have done that if we were still living in a traditional house.

- Practically speaking the fridge is not that small, the shower is plenty roomy, we are always home wherever we go and we never have to stop to pee!

- We eat together more, mostly prepare meals at home and togetherness is sort of our middle names now. Ned is always with us and he totally owns the place (as you can tell he is in most of our photos).

- We look forward to getting on the road as much as we do sitting still. Ned prefers the sitting still parts.

CON'S

- Anytime Cliff walks towards the cockpit or turns on the motor Ned dives under the couch. He has a really safe and comfy spot under there that we've created for him but he still gets nervous when we are on the road.

- The water is my happy place and I get exactly 8 minutes of hot water per shower. EIGHT. And that's an improvement thanks to an oxygenating shower head. It's not all bad though, when we visit new cities we go in search of Hot Springs (Ojo Calente is still our favorite).

- Cliff says if he bangs his head one more time on the low hanging cabinets the damage may become permanent. I have managed to stop laughing when it happens.

- Me time. What is that?

- The necessary evils of cleaning the composting toilet and defrosting the fridge and freezer got old fast. I currently have a bag of berries being held hostage by a giant chunk of ice that has covered the freezer opening.

- Internet connection has been an effort. I'm using my phone as a hot spot because once again we've gone over on our Jet Pack gigs. It's like the early days of cell phones when you could go over on minutes and then you'd get a surprise bill that made your stomach drop. Let's just say I could have bought an entire new capsule wardrobe for spring on what I spent paying for overage charges. All for binge watching season 1 of Outlander.

Lake Tahoe, Easter Sunday

Thanks for all your love and sweet words about the renovation and this life we've chosen. I hope that you read something here that inspires you. One of the things I'm learning over and over through this experience is that you really can have whatever you want and it's grounds for celebration to change your mind, make a U turn or go the other way. We do that a lot!

With love, Lacy (and Cliff and Ned)

You can see all our recent RV posts here. Subscribe to the blog feed here. Follow me on Instagram here. Join me on meditation retreat here.

Truest Self

What if tomorrow morning you wake up fully embodying who you are meant to be? What would that feel like? What would your body look like? How would you move through your day? All the old stories and beliefs that hold you back are gone.

There's just you. Just bliss. Truth. Possibility. Love. She's waiting for you to say YES. She's ready. If you're in goosebumps right now then join me on retreat and let's set her free in the quiet of #meditation.

Lacyyoung.com

Cut the cord as many times as it takes.

Last year I continually asked for the unknown to show up in my life and this year it is still happening. Some days I fully embrace it, some days I trip and fall on my own resistance. I’m learning to love them all equally. I’ve been meditating daily, some days two or three times. I’m moving my body in ways that feel supportive, running, stretching and doing exercises. I’m eating my veggies, sleeping and drinking plenty of water. There are so many boxes getting checked and yet these past few days I have been walking around like I was tied to a boat anchor. GAH! What gives? Quite simply I forgot some essentials... I forgot that everything is perfect as is. I forgot my vitamin L (love). I forgot that everything happens automatically.

I wasn’t being loving with myself. I was going through all the motions but running these really old programs in my head that said 'this + that is not good enough and you should really start panicking any moment.' I was spending way too much time worrying about the future. It was pretty comical really. I'd get up at 5:30 am in the morning and spend an entire hour meditating in presence and then at precisely 6:45 am I'd find myself worried about months from now.

Today I decided that enough was enough and I did what any self-respecting female would do. I went to Target. Seriously, Target was part of my self-care today. I mean, $10 organic conditioner, new kitchen sponges, a good smelling soy candle and a couple packets of Jason’s Nut Butter can’t hurt. My capsule wardrobe has saved me oodles on buying random clothes but it hasn’t kept me from the rest of the store. So it was Target first, happy hour meditation next.

I did my sisters amazing Cutting the Cord meditation half a dozen times. I’m not kidding. It took SIX times but I finally cut all the cords that were weighing me down. One-by-one I cut the cord from my body to the thing that was adding to what I was feeling. Some I let go of lovingly and they melted away, others I wanted to give a giant fuck all, which is why I had to do it six times. 

Friends, I’m here to tell you it really is all perfect especially in the moments when you want to scream profanities. I say go for it if that makes it feel better. I have been trying to curse more lately because it feels so damn good. It moves energy and resistance in big ways. When I get overwhelmed that's my cue that I’m resisting something.

What I know is that I always have had everything I need and I always will. That brings me great comfort. When I look back at the timeline of my life I never imagined that I’d be living in an RV in love with a tremendous human and one fur face little old man (Ned will be 15 this year).

I see that my perceived physical limitations are really blessings and I accept my breathing everyday in any form it shows up in that day. Acceptance and lack of judgment creates space in my life and my body for easy breathing to move through me. If you live with any kind of physical pain or discomfort this is for you to really listen to. Seriously, read this whole part again.

When we can learn how to be with and love ourselves not only through the muck but LOVE the freaking muck itself then we will all be free. That's where I'm at. I'm in the stage of moving from seeking freedom to embodying it. I'm learning to love it all... the joy, the pain, the sickness and health. Cliff and I didn't say traditional vows but I'm having a crazy ah-ha moment writing this right now and thinking about the vows we take to share life together in its entirety. It's all perfect, beautiful, infuriating, riveting, engaging and just so worth it. Following this I will be writing some vows to speak to myself and I invite you to join me if you feel moved to do so.

Hoping that sharing real time experience is as helpful for you as it is therapeutic for me.

Love, Lacy

Create Your Day

Today marks the 10th day of getting up before the sun to meditate and then moving my body. I spent my life believing that I wasn't a morning person. I used to miss the bus ALL the time as a kid and was perpetually late for anything that required getting up before 9am. I've decided to change my mind... I love the mornings! This month long experiment is already a game changer. There is so much power in identifying and then changing the beliefs that are no longer serving you. Ps. THIS moss covered tree!