The weekly perspective
One question to ask yourself
How am I breathing?
Some of you may know I'm doing a 21 day breathwork course right now. I think of myself as a good breather... I meditate daily, I'm present and aware most of the time, I check in with myself. But I've noticed since starting this course that I'm shallow breathing way more than I'd like. Shallow breathing sucks because it leads to a dominance of our sympathetic nervous system (the stressy one), instead of our parasympathetic nervous system (the chilled vibes that help us make good decisions & digest our food). The more you shallow breathe, the more likely you are to feel stressed throughout your day, the more stressed you feel the less likely you are to be mindful around your food, thoughts and actions. Breathing well is essential to overall wellbeing.
Throughout your day today, check in and ask yourself, how am I breathing?
PS. Here's the details of the course I'm doing if you want to try it out.
One thing I'd tell my younger self
"Dismissing addictions as bad habits or self-destructive behaviour comfortably hides their functionality in the life of the addict" - Vincent Felitti (Physician & Researcher).
Delf-explanatory. Like a broken record from me. But something as basic as sunscreen use is an indicator of the worth and respect you give your body. As the sun begins to creep its head around the clouds, let's make this the year you wear it every day. I feel like Gen Z have got this covered - it's the rest of us are that lagging.
Something to consider
We glorify the over-worker, the over-exerciser, the over-achiever, yet the driving force for them may be the same as the driving force for eating disorders, drug addictions, gambling, alcoholism and sex addictions.
We all like to say we'll do things. Stop binge eating, get our period back, start dating, re-study. We don't all like to actually do the things. Often when we procrastinate, we do it to live in a place of pretending we can do it all - it's easier to say we'll do something and imagine a life of succeeding, than risk the reality of failure, isn't it? But actually doing the work requires two things - energy and commitment.
One thing to try this week
The best way to stop feeling like you're too busy is to stop telling yourself you're too busy.
Stop telling yourself you're too busy. Stop answering every 'how are you' with 'busy but fine'. Stop looking at your diary in the morning and reciting to yourself, just how busy you are. This internal narrative you create leads you to react throughout your day, react to the time, to meetings, to the next thing, instead of respond. Instead of showing up intentionally. Think about it, when you tell yourself you're so busy, how does that show up in your body as you say it? Try it now... Does it help?
