This year started off with the most wondrous of intentions. Intentions to move slowly, be grace, live purposefully, breathe with intention. And I'm not saying I haven't done all those things. To a wonderful extent I have.
But then along came the chaos. The busy. I'm dubbing it "the scheduled life". When there's so much to be done, and so many commitments that all the moments seem played out in routine. It kills spontaneity. And it turns a slow and mindful rhythm into a routine. And to that mishaps and mess + throw in a tonne of winter colds and coughs.
I felt it approaching a month or so back. I felt despair. And a whole lot alone and helpless in getting all the things done while carving out the slow, heart-centred rhythm that I need. {I've come to understand that slow and heart-centred is quite simply how I thrive.}
To some extent, busy cannot be stopped. Maybe, like me, you have three young children. Or maybe, like old me, you have a busy corporate job that works to strict deadlines. It's hard to stop the busy when you simply have so much necessary stuff to be done.
I've researched this very topic on a personal level for the past 10 years. Rushing and the stress that tagged along with it was making me sick. I needed the antidote to busy and rushing. And I have a conclusion: We need to be okay with some busy. Life simply demands it. But we don't need to become "busy". Busy doesn't need to be our state of being: our sense of self from the minute we open our eyes from sleep to the minute they close again at night.
So, what to do?
Interrupt busy with slow. That there is my solution. And it's working. For me.
It means slowing down, and taking a dose of mindfulness to heart. But it doesn't mean becoming a constant state of slow and mindful. We can still be mindful and not practise mindfulness every single moment of our waking day.
I say, begin with a handful of minutes. Or add an extra handful of minutes to your already mindful routine. I'm honestly talking about just a few minutes. And this isn't about setting aside time to be mindful. It's about choosing slow + mindful when your amidst busy. It's about noticing that busy pace, and choosing to interrupt it.
I fold these mindful rituals into the everyday effortlessly. Because as well as slow and mindful, simplicity {for me} is key.
RESET YOUR RHYTHM + When I'm running around in the mess that can be mornings with kids, I choose to step away from the chaos, step outside with my cup of tea. I savour those sips, I look to the sky, I breathe. I move slowly. Just for a minute, before joining the mess again. Albeit calmer and more mindful.
LOOK TO NATURE + When I've had a busy morning or afternoon, I pull the car over by the sea* on my drive home. I step outside {or we step outside, as I almost always have children in tow} to watch the water, taking note of the rhythm the sea is moving to today, breathing deeply and fully, taking in that sea air.
STEP OUTSIDE + I often choose to eat my lunch outdoors, especially if the sun is shining. I notice the feel of the sun on my face, it's warmth. I pause before eating to just breathe, to give thanks for this moment, my food, the sun's shine. I notice the sky's colour, the patterns of the clouds. I tend to eat slower when I do this. Eat more mindfully. I'm present.
JUST BREATHE + And when I simply can't make make my slow minutes an escape, I just take a minute to tune into my breath. I notice its pace. I listen to the inhalation / the exhalation. I invite myself to breathe deeper and slower than before, and to release that breath fully. I invite myself to move slower. To walk/speak/react at a slower pace. Just for a minute.
To counteract life's busy, interrupt it. With slow. For me, it works.
xx
Will you give it a go? What activities help you stay centred and mindful in the here and now? I'd love to know. Elisa x
*Of course, not everyone lives close to the sea! But the sky is just as wondrous! Look to the patterns playing out across the sky from home or work, notice how it changes, notice how it's changed an hour later, tune into the rhythms of the sky as you could the sea. Just as expansive, just as mesmerising, ever-changing with the rhythms of life - as are we.
--------- >> Learn about what's in my free mindfulness activity bundle for embracing slow + mindful, and tuning into the power of your breath here.
--------- >> I have a new instagram account: @ohhelloheart xx
When I began writing weekly gratitude posts the idea of posting for 52 weeks scared me. I didn't think I could do it. And I didn't think I did gratitude well.
I was grateful. But for the big things mostly. And when I needed to be. It was something I was working on. Gratitude wasn't a mindset for me. But that's what it's become.
My first real lesson in gratitude came eight years ago when my health was suffering and I was desperately eliminating foods from my diet and cursing my body for the pain I was in every day.
During that time {although I always believed I would find healthy again} I realised I was much less than grateful for my body and not at all grateful for the {lack of} food choices I now had.
My amazing health practitioner suggested my body may {most definitely would} digest food more easily if I gave thanks for it first. If I was grateful for food. This was an awakening of sorts for me - I realised that I often mindlessly ate, and I simply expected food to be available.
Slowly and mindfully, I changed that attitude. I began by eating my food slowly {one bite at a time}, and really tasting it. I gave thanks before I ate - offering gratitude not just for the food itself but for the nourishment it would bring to my body. I began to cook more mindfully too - conscious of choosing seasonal produce, conscious of the way I cooked my food and I became more adventurous with my cooking style as I steered myself toward whole foods, fresh foods and less grains.
And while this is probably where my gratitude journey began, it took taking part in the 52 Weeks of Grateful for gratitude to align with my heart.
Gratitude has moved from practise to habit to almost effortless. It's taken time. But it's now part of how I think.
And I've come to believe that gratitude is in every moment of every day. If we choose to look for it.
xx
Do you practise gratitude? What are you most grateful for today?
{Linking with the 52 Weeks of Grateful. I've posted and linked up for more than 52 weeks now. Each week I love reading the grateful posts. I've discovered such wonderful blogs and learnt so much about gratitude from this beautiful community over here. For that, I'm grateful xx}
{Oh and I'm creating a gratitude blog roll. So if you're a blogger who posts on gratitude or we've met via the 52 Weeks of Grateful, please let me know in the comments below or via Facebook. I'd love to add you to my list. Elisa xx}
I'm so very conscious of rushing at this time of year. {The whirlwind and count down of days can so easily sweep me up.}
Each year I try to be organized for Christmas {but usually get lost in a shopper's frenzy}.
So this time I started my shopping {preparations} months early.
Making lists, buying one gift at a time, shopping slowly {as that's all shopping with a three year old and one year old will allow}.
I wrapt gifts slowly too {a couple each night} and we watched the gift bouquet under the tree grow.
And then just like that we were done. The big day still a week away.
And so we've been enjoying the slowest of days with no real agenda and time for make-believe, surprises and last-minute plans.
Time for long walks, icy poles in the sun, soccer barefoot on the grass, staying still and hours of pushing two little girls on their swings.
Our days are slower than they have been all year. And there's a sense of calm and joy in our moments {underlined by the anticipation of the day little miss three finally understands}.
Today as we ventured to the shops, little miss three asked to push her sister in the stroller. I agreed, if she went slowly and carefully. Then I positioned myself extra close {wondering if it was wise of me to have said yes}.
Five items took fifteen minutes. She went extra slowly, smiling all the way at her responsibility and stopping to let others by.
It was as though the world around her was speeding by, but she had chosen not to enter the race. And I was reminded that the speed at which I live really is a choice. And that when I think I've found my pace, I can always slow it down a little more.
xx
~ Grateful for organization, and slow days spent enjoying moments and time with my girls before the inevitable busyness of our family's Christmas day. Linking up with the 52 Weeks of Grateful over here.
~ Wishing you a joyful, wondrous Christmas {and hopefully a moment or two to stop, sit back and take it all in.} Elisa xx
Gratitude has become more natural, rather than scheduled now. I like it this way. It's effortlessly part of my week.
I'm thinking gratitude most days, but always at the end of the week I'm counting my blessings and noticing all I have to be grateful for. And I love that there's always something {and normally so much}.
Last week I missed the 52 Weeks of Grateful link up. My littlest girl clung to me like a koala for almost four days, teething and miserable.
Reaching for my laptop was out of the question. Actually it was impossible. Even pouring soy milk on my cereal turned out to be a hard task. But despite being so needed and not getting to publish the posts I craved to write, gratitude kept popping up in my heart and on my mind.
Reflecting on gratitude is a little like meditation for me. It slows me down, grounds me and makes me more mindful of my power to choose my day and how the moments play out.
But what I love most is how gratitude has become a part of my days. Effortlessly.
It's got me thinking about all the other rituals {past and present} I want to be part of my every day.
Salutes to the sun in the morning. Meditation each evening. Time stopping to look up at the sky and to notice the trees' leaves. Journaling - pen and paper style. Walking after dinner. Reading fiction books - even just a couple of pages each day.
It's got me thinking about how what starts as a scheduled practise can become more of a ritual and then turn into something that feels natural so easily.
It's got me thinking how the smallest changes can make the biggest impacts on our days.
xx
Any rituals you want to introduce to your days? Do you practise gratitude? x
