Do you need a break? Are you finding it difficult to turn off the noise?
My mind runs a mile a minute and most of the time my body isn’t far behind. I’m always DOING something and many times I’m not even really fully engaged in what I am doing!
Too many times I’ve found myself simply getting through my day – moving from one thing to another just to ‘get it done’. I was distracted, tired and tense. I was reacting vs. responding to Every. Little. Thing.
And that doesn’t even count the chaos that is a daughter in a very busy senior year of high school (which makes me sad, but her extremely happy!), a completely crazy, stress-inducing election, work, family, trying to eat right, exercise blah, blah, blah.
I knew something had to give.
Because I’m geared toward motion, I use running to clear my head. But my stress situation became a problem when I found myself ruminating while I was running. So what’s a person to do if they have a difficult time simply relaxing, slowing down and taking a little break from a human “doing” in order to become a human “being”?
I had a bit of an “A-HA moment” when I found myself admonishing my daughter to “Be where your feet are” but I could offer her no solution on how to achieve this goal. My desire to practice what I preach led me to investigate the concept of mindfulness.
I began using a daily meditation app (I use Calm, but there are a ton of choices out there. Headspace is another common one.) to see if it would help me focus on right here/right now. Slowing down and corralling my thoughts is a bit like herding cats and the “new agey” lingo was a challenge to overcome at first.
But I found that with a little practice I could not only herd the cats but I could lock ‘em in the barn for a little while! I meditate every day now and I highly recommend it! Just 10 little minutes a day and I’m more centered, focused and yep…..calm.
I have the app on my phone and it’s probably the only relaxing thing I accomplish with that demon device that keeps me always connected and accessible. It’s a great way to turn it around and use my phone to disconnect and set the tone for my day – or recover from it!
I don’t know if the people around me see any difference in me since I began using the app, but I know I feel less agitated and I sleep a little better. I’m more mindful of where I put my energy and it’s become easier for me to stay off the “crazy train” and remain calmly in the station while it passes me by…and that’s got to be good for everyone….right?