Float

Cravings get a bad rap, but they are important signals that the body needs rebalancing or replenishment. While most people tend to focus on cravings that involve food, there are other cravings that signal a need for a deeper form of nourishment. It may be a call for more rest or maybe a need to ask for help. Lately I have been craving suspension -- to float above ground, in the air, or on water. To identify the craving, or intuitive calling, I first start to notice where my mind and eye are drawn: the tubers floating along the Chattahoochee, the hammock swaying in the backyard. Then I immerse myself into the experience I crave. I take notice of how deeply satisfying it feels to rest on my back during a massage, the sensation of the table and ground holding me up.

The craving thus becomes a desire to be carried, supported, taken care of, even for a moment. To be placed into the hands of someone or something else. Or perhaps it is the desire to put something down for a while. Isn't that what we do every time we sit in a chair ("take a load off")? The craving also invites playfulness and a return to youth, which is especially fun in summer months -- catching air on the swing in the neighbor's yard, a lazy Sunday on an inflatable raft in a friend's pool. 

Very seldom are we encouraged to follow our cravings, for fear they may lead us down a rabbit hole. When it comes to the cravings of your heart and body, when the inkling rises, go ahead and indulge.