“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it”. Sydney J. Harris
The Goal
Find a way every day to experience some downtime.
Constant stress: This is the number one complaint that my clients bring to coaching. This is serious business because your body requires a certain amount of downtime to repair and re-charge. Your stress responses are important and healthy when in they occur in response to danger or threat, your body will release hormones that reduce the efficiency of some functions, like your immune system in order to let other functions reach peak performance, like your ability to high tail it out of a bad situation. While it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that we need our immune systems protect ourselves from illness, most of us procrastinate when it comes to our health.
The Plan
Make a commitment, don’t put it off for one more minute. Use the time that you are taking to read this post to give your body a break…it won’t be enough but it’s a start.
Find a quiet spot or take a slow and mindful walk. If you opt for the quiet spot, sit comfortably and close your eyes or soften your gaze (lower your eyes and don’t try to focus on anything) and breath deeply. This sends a signal that your “fight or flight” response can take a little break.
The Inspiration
Loving Kindess Meditation (this is a nice one http://www.care2.com/greenliving/loving-kindness-meditation.html)
Here is a super short version designed to get around the “I don’t have time” excuse! It can also be very healing as a walking meditation, with slow, reflective, deliberate steps, and breathing deeply:
Turn your intention inside and say:
May I be well
May I be happy
May I be loved
Turn your attention towards others and say:
May you be well
May you be happy
May you be loved
**Hate meditating, too cold or rainy for a walk? No problem, how do you take a break, a bath, a nap, 20 minutes with your novel?
