When we were planning the Italy trip, I did a ton of research into wellness practices that we could experience while we there and try to put into the blog. When we’ve gone to Europe in the past, I have never looked at finding a hot springs to sit in, or a massage to get, or any wellness practice really until recently. Every trip to Europe was taken up with seeing as much as possible as quickly as possible.
Creating this blog with Julie is forcing me to try to work wellness into my vacation. Let’s be clear, vacation time is wellness. For me, traveling is a form of wellness. But to actively be mindful and think in terms of wellness in a vacation is new. In doing the research, I was amazed at how a city I have been to 5 times now has a ton of spas and springs in and around it that I never knew about.
I think this speaks to being mindful of other things around us. Of course I know about the art that I should see in Florence, it’s the main attraction for the study abroad courses that John does there. I know about the history of Italy and it’s effect on Western Culture, how the Renaissance changed us and pretty much started in Florence, so all the cultural attractions and historical places are already on my to see list. But there’s a deeper dive here when you look at something different with a place you thought that you were familiar with.
I found out that not only are there a ton of hot springs and spas around, but that historical figures are noted for going there and this was a wellness destination. It makes me sit back and wonder how much I’m missing everywhere else I go. How much am I missing in my own back yard?
We crave routine and patterns as humans. Are brains are hardwired to find them and keep them in place. This makes change hard for all of us and makes mindfulness so important. Cultivating awareness in the things that are you are resisting changing, actively avoiding, discovering why. It can all come in unexpected ways too. Just varying the way you drive to work, or the vacation spot that you always have, or the bedtime routine can all be jumping off points for recognizing when you’re stuck in a rut.