InTheTemazcal

The trail just above New Mexico State University at Alamogordo, NM. Image from My Track app, on Google Maps satellite image. My most productive and enjoyable days at work include a hike. My workplace, located in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico, affords me the opportunity to hike a trail just above my workplace. It's the closest trail and makes for a reasonable 30-35 minute work out. The Benefits of Hiking During My Work Day Hiking during a break in my work day has benefits for my work goals and my personal well being. Here are a few of them... Improved Focus.  This particular trail has a few stretches of unstable rocks that will roll under the feet of a distracted hiker. I've actually sprained my ankle on this trail once, and I've taken a hard, headfirst fall while hiking there on another occasion. The rough trail conditions force me to practice focus (or suffer the consequences I just described). I focus, especially on t...

I wore this pendant, a gift from El Oso, which reminded me of the red road on which he led me. While today I mostly write of the temazcal from memory, at one time I lived it, attending twice a week and giving my time and effort in service as often as my work and energy allowed. I had become accustomed to the Circulo de los Osos (the Bears' Circle) and its caminantes as my family. Although I spent only a few years with them, those years coincided with important new apertures in my mind and material world experiences. A professional change in my life provided motive to move away from that group. Although I made the move willingly and thoughtfully, I found myself in my new world with little external emotional or spiritual support. The Coping Tools I Used Not long ago, when I rejoined my hermano , or brother, from the Circulo de los Osos , Oso Hector, he asked me to share with the others of his temazcal ceremony the answer to the question, "How did I endure my move...