We’re all participants in the “everyday a thon” of life, like human pinball’s careening through time. Many things happen but we take in, really experience, only a few. Put on the brakes. Here are five techniques to build into your day, but even if you do just one a day, you’ll have built yourself an island of calm.
: Just stop. When you get into the car before driving home, when you get to your desk at work, when you say good-bye to your child - stop, take a deep breath, and you will slow the day for a moment. This trick requires only awareness, not time (you have to breathe, right?), so do it often.
: Filling the dishwasher can feel like a chore, while slowing down and doing the dishes by hand every few days can feel like an accomplishment. There are bound to be occasions when you could bike or walk someplace instead of driving --- say, to pick up a forgotten grocery item or take a book back to the library. Look for, create, these opportunities to slow down.
: Being nearby or in water can be a boon to psychic health and well-being. The sound of running water on an audiotape in the car, lunch outside near a fountain, an evening run alongside the river, five minutes in a whirlpool or at home in the tub --- to hear, watch or simply be near water, real or simulated, is immensely soothing.
: Whether it is the bubbly warmth of an aromatherapy-scented tub (try Soothing Seas Foaming Bath Salts for that), your favorite corner of the couch, a spot in the backyard or the view from the kitchen window, everyone needs a place at or very close to home in which to retreat and regroup. Make it a place where, when you go there, the rest of the world doesn't penetrate. Go there for five minutes or five hours and feel your spirit find its strength.
: Most of us can cope with periods of frenzied activity when they're followed by slower intervals. If you feel constantly behind, constantly rushed, it's good to just stop and notice what you've chosen that's led to this. When you can say yes, I've chosen this and this and this, you won't feel as out of control. When you say no, I haven't chosen this or this or this, you'll have some insight into what to change.
We’re all participants in the “everyday a thon” of life, like human pinball’s careening through time. Many things happen but we take in, really experience, only a few. Put on the brakes. Here are five techniques to build into your day, but even if you do just one a day, you’ll have built yourself an island of calm.
: Just stop. When you get into the car before driving home, when you get to your desk at work, when you say good-bye to your child - stop, take a deep breath, and you will slow the day for a moment. This trick requires only awareness, not time (you have to breathe, right?), so do it often.
: Filling the dishwasher can feel like a chore, while slowing down and doing the dishes by hand every few days can feel like an accomplishment. There are bound to be occasions when you could bike or walk someplace instead of driving --- say, to pick up a forgotten grocery item or take a book back to the library. Look for, create, these opportunities to slow down.
: Being nearby or in water can be a boon to psychic health and well-being. The sound of running water on an audiotape in the car, lunch outside near a fountain, an evening run alongside the river, five minutes in a whirlpool or at home in the tub --- to hear, watch or simply be near water, real or simulated, is immensely soothing.
: Whether it is the bubbly warmth of an aromatherapy-scented tub (try Soothing Seas Foaming Bath Salts for that), your favorite corner of the couch, a spot in the backyard or the view from the kitchen window, everyone needs a place at or very close to home in which to retreat and regroup. Make it a place where, when you go there, the rest of the world doesn't penetrate. Go there for five minutes or five hours and feel your spirit find its strength.
: Most of us can cope with periods of frenzied activity when they're followed by slower intervals. If you feel constantly behind, constantly rushed, it's good to just stop and notice what you've chosen that's led to this. When you can say yes, I've chosen this and this and this, you won't feel as out of control. When you say no, I haven't chosen this or this or this, you'll have some insight into what to change.
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