Okay, so first of all, thank you so much for your kind words after I posted a small excerpt from my book this week. Writing it was really cathartic for me, and emotional, so sharing it with the world (YOU) and hearing your feedback was everything. I am currently editing it all right now, and when I feel good about the draft I have I will approach some agents and look into getting it published. The publishing process is pretty daunting, so I am taking it one step at a time! As I continue to edit I may send out another small bit here and there, so that will be fun.
I figure I’d keep this week’s blog post to the point this week, and short(er.) I have been refining a few things in my morning routine and I figure I share them with you!
3 things to think about this week:
1) I have been working on trying to be present more in my daily life for basically, forever? My mind loves to think about to do lists and stuff I wish I said or did 5 years ago, or even just what I should eat+think+do 5 days from now. I am rarely HERE, soaking up life as is. There are moments, when I pause and I am so very grateful, and I appreciate those. Having gratitude daily brings more into your life and taking a moment each day to think of 3 things is a gamechanger. As for being present, here is how I am working on that. (Btw: starting small is everything when starting something new. The smaller the better!)
Each morning I have decided to open the Calm app on my phone during my morning ‘me time’ and I choose 2 minutes on the timed meditation. Then I sit and practice being ‘present’. For the past couple of days I just notice the sensory things around me. How soft the chair feels, the coffee cup in my hands, the sound of the heat turning on. For those two minutes I am THERE. I hope to work this into other moments in my day, but I am starting small for now. The goal is to be more present right here, right now, without thoughts of anything else. I really want to know that someday looking back, I was present in my life as it is, for myself and my family, something I haven’t really been in the past.
2) After I do that I work on one minute of intentional breathing. I won’t get all science-y on you, but there is a link to how deeply we breathe and our mental health, so many of us are shallow breathers. You can Google ‘breathework’ and learn more. I have been intimidated by all of this for awhile, but don’t have the patience currently (ever?) for a prolonged breathework routine lol. I do realize the power of taking a deep breath when anxious, I have my kids do this the second they are upset about anything. We do a big breath in and out to just release. Here is what I am working on: right after I do my 2 minutes of ‘being present’ I choose the 1 minute on the timed meditation area on the Calm app. Then I put one hand on my belly and breathe as deep as I can, making sure as I breathe in with my nose that my belly expands first and then my lungs. Once I can’t breathe in any more I hold it for about two seconds and then breathe it out (controlled) through my mouth. I then repeat until the timer goes off. It is quick and doable and easy to commit to, which I like. With both of these combined it is 3 minutes of my morning and something I can easily do. Who doesn’t have 3 minutes, you know?
3) Lastly, I was listening to Jenna’s podcast in the car the other day in the middle school pick up line, and she shared an affirmation she uses to help her through chaotic times. You guys know I love an affirmation, I use them personally all of the time. Some I use when I am feeling triggered, and most when I am trying to override limiting beliefs and thoughts that come up. The one that she shared and that I loved was,
Nothing is forever.
This can both be scary (I think of how fast my kids are growing up) and amazing (when crappy things happen and you want time to speed up). Seriously, nothing is forever. Good times, bad times, etc. I think in our daily life we have moments that feel like they take over. A fight with a spouse, dificulties at work, etc. This past year has been hard, there are so many hardships, so many changes. Yet, nothing is forever. Especially feelings. Everything passes, good and bad. I think of this at night often, which is the time my brain/Ego likes to pop us and create worry and chaos for me. Yet I KNOW, in the morning I won’t feel the same. These feelings pop up each night (particulary about my body), and dissapear the next day. The feelings I have aren’t forever. They never are. They pass if I acknowledge them and let them move through me. I think of last year, of sitting in quarantine this time last year and not knowing how we could sell a house and buy a house and move, and then how uncertain everything else was. Yet it passed, it wasn’t forever. We sit here now in a new state, new house, kids are in school + life has slowly but surely moved along. Things are different, the world is different, but my feelings of last year feel far away.
Is there something in your life that you can apply this mantra to?
Nothing is forever.
As time passes and changes, we get perspective on everything. Even death, which is the ultimate forever. Yet even time melllows that out. It doesn’t stop the hurt, but it dulls it.
Take a minute when you feel overhelmed. Take a deep breath in through you nose, deep into your belly. Hold in in and then slowly release it out of your mouth. Repeat, nothing is forever. Your feelings, good or bad, the behavior of others, crappy days or years, nothing is forever. Truly.
You’ve got this.
