Are you feeling overwhelmed? Overdone with everything? This month, we look at how to help, at least some, with those feelings. Please read on.
Being
Just Breathe. Be here, be now. Relax into the moment. We hear those words, but what is the meaning, what is the value, how do you do these things?
We may not think about it, but we often live in many places and times all at once. During any given day, any moment, our awareness is scattered like leaves blowing in the wind. We can’t easily capture any one leaf – they elude our grasp and are replaced with another, then another.
Add to all this the often-busy activities outside the mind, and you have a chaotic, wearying experience that leaves you feeling exhausted at the end of each day, only to start it all again in the morning.
We are told things like just relax, do something for yourself, take a break, mediate; but when we look at the day – the question is HOW? How can you find even a minute for yourself?
What is the Key?
The key, the opportunity, is not in doing it large. That is too much. Our lives are often just too full for more, so looking at more is stressful, rather than helpful. Instead, do it small.
What does small look like? We all have moments where we have to pause; where we must wait: Stoplights, making a cup of coffee, bathing, doing ‘mindless’ tasks. There is where small can happen.
The key is to, just for that small moment, let go of the windiness of your thoughts, and to instead be aware of you. You standing there, waiting for the brewer to finish; you brushing your teeth; you loading laundry (hopefully it’s sorted, or you may have an issue later!). Let go. Be aware for just that moment.
Making it work
What does that look like, and why does it matter? We are too scattered. But, in that moment, simply saying “I’m standing here”; “I’m doing this now”; I’m breathing too fast, and I want to slow; I’m excited, I’m scared… whatever you are at that moment, simply seeing it – that takes you to one place, and one moment. No judging – just acknowledging.
These are only moments in a day – 10 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute. They are small moments that already exist in your day, but you are using them differently. Small is very powerful, because it can change your awareness. Giving yourself even that brief glimpse of YOU is a gift that can’t be taken away. As you build those moments, you then can start to be more of you longer, and more fully.
So, be you, even for a moment at a time, and watch your days lighten.
Love, and until next time
