The days have been a little crazy lately.  I can’t seem to find enough time for all I want to accomplish.  This is a challenge I’ve worked on for years and while some weeks I deal with it better than others, my monkey mind was really chattering  away this morning about all I needed to get done.  Given a little thought, how fortunate am I if this is one of my biggest problems… Anyway, do you ever just feel the need to get away?  To escape from the barrage of thoughts of all the things you need to do today and should have done already this week?  I’m always planning the next big adventure – like our Travel to Transform International retreat in Corsica at the end of September.  But sometimes, you need to get away NOW.  When I catch myself in this mode and am smart enough at that moment to listen to my inner soul, I often give myself permission to drop the to do list for awhile and simply take a walk.

I’m so blessed to have the woods as my backyard and even better with a nice little path through it that my brother-in-law loves to keep nicely mowed.  So today I decided to grab a bucket, suit up fully and go blackberry picking!  Check out the bottom half of my attire in the pic below – complete with old jeans that I don’t care to wipe juicy blue hands upon and tucked into wool socks to keep away the critters.  We typically don’t see many ticks this late in the year, but the chiggers find me to be an absolutely divine feast.  I’ve found by dressing this way and then donning a nice dusting of sulfur, (which chiggers disdain the smell of) I don’t get bites – provided I also scrub down good in the shower when I return.  You can’t see my old lightweight jacket in the pic, but it completes the stunning ensemble and shields my arms from the onslaught of thorns soon to come.

The walk and activity of focused berry picking was just the ticket to still my mind and relax back into that place of just being focused on the happenings of now.  One berry, and then another and another.  Almost like my yoga practice – focusing on this breath, this moment, breathing in, breathing out.  This berry, this moment.  The sounds of the forest.  The stillness of the forest.  The heat of the sun.  The cooling breeze.  This breath.  This berry.

I’m not sure how long my escape into the woods lasted, but it did me good and I came back not only with a more clear mind, but also several buckets of fresh picked berries.

Now there is something special about wild blackberries.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy those found in the grocery and the ones that my parents grow in their garden, but the wild ones are just a bit sweeter, with smaller and fewer seeds.  This makes my new favorite breakfast drink even more delightful!  I’m not a big fan of smoothies, but I have to admit that I’ve made this Blackberry – Buttermilk Batido several times in the past few weeks.  Another great addition to your probiotic food repertoire. The recipe comes from my new favorite cookbook, The Food Lover’s Cleanse by Sara Dickerman & Bon Appetit .  If you like to cook – heck if you like to eat, you should check it out.

The Batido is super easy to make – Combine in the blender: 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blackberries, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1/4 of a ripe avocado and 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice.  I add about 1 tsp of Vanilla as well.  Give it a whir and presto – a lovely cool healthy way to start your day.