Momentum …
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On Friday, Lisa shared how she planned to rekindle her love of dancing to celebrate heart month. Not only does dancing keep her fit, but it keeps her heart full of joy. At the beginning of the month I declared my own plans to get fit and start juicing (Thanks to Philips for sending us their Avance juicer!)
Today Rose is painting words on our screen. Rose is a 30 year old stay at home/work by night mother of two, living in Cambridge with their father – her boyfriend. She’s interested in many many things mostly holistic, artistic and environmental’istic’. She blogs at Organic Family Love.
Spring dares to dream outside and festive gluttony has finally flown so I’m starting to refresh my mind and body. The biggest challenge I face is always the same – maintaining momentum. I don’t find it easy to achieve my goals in the long term with the demands of family life weighing on me, so I’m going to try different tactics this year.
There are a handful of things I want to weave more of into my life. They are long standing sporadic favourites and by planning my week with a casual calendar and keeping a brief, informal record reflecting on each day, I hope I can break the habit of failing come May!
Meditation
It gives us space, space in our minds and our beings to just be – even a short sit of five minutes is so precious and valuable. Just by enquiring as to our thoughts and bodily sensations and acknowledging what they are at that moment – positive or negative, we gain space.
If we then focus on our breath for a while we gain presence. Ordinarily breathing happens automatically but when we pay it specific attention – the in breath, the out breath, the sensation of air on our nasal passages, the rising and falling of our diaphragm – we begin to learn what it is like to pay attention properly.
The more often we allow ourselves interludes like this we can begin to transfer this skill of paying attention to daily tasks for instance preparing the dinner – what does it feel like to pay attention to this process without following every whimsical procrastination that enters our heads? It’s spacious, ultimately it’s freedom. The benefits are cumulative so really persevering with it throughout this year is hugely important to me. And something that walks hand in hand with meditation is …
Yoga
It sets blocked energy free and allows it to flow more freely around our bodies again. This is why we feel more energised and lighter of being for taking time to do even a few poses.
Historically I like a good hour and a half session and fall into the trap of telling myself any less isn’t worth it. But looking to maintain momentum this year I’m going to keep it simple and commit to eight sun salutations per session. This is a wonderful sequence that energises stretches, strengthens and stabilises – mentally and physically. And if I still have time and energy, well I’ll gladly linger a while in some additional favourite poses.
Riding the keeping-it-simple wave I’m going to alternate between yoga and meditation – one each day, casually allotting 30 minutes to each. 30 minutes sounds more achievable than an hour and a half, it sounds manageable and not, I hope, something I’ll begin resenting or side-lining in favour of that damn to do list! Once I’ve built a good foundation with yoga and meditation I’ll write about the other facets of my mind and body spring clean.
Until then, spring blessings x
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OH I hear you on this. I lack momentum too and eventually that wildly swinging pendulum stops moving altogether. It’s something I’ve struggled with for a long time. Like you, however, I have a different determination this time round; so let’s see what happens!
I find focusing on my goal really helps. It’s an NLP technique that keeps you focused and motivated. It really helps when you’d rather eat a bar of chocolate than go out for a walk! Keep visualising your perfect outcome…
Good luck and thanks for sharing your lovely ideas with us!
Wonderful post!! I used to meditate regularly and then, as life got busy, I got away from it. Recently, while listening to BBC2 radio, a guest guided listeners through a 60 second meditation … it was the most relaxing & refreshing 60 seconds. It reminded me of how lovely meditation can be … and, as you suggest, it actually gives one more space. My mind truly did seem to have more room for fresh thought. So the next time that I think I’m too busy, I’m going to remind myself that it will actually make my life less busy … and I’ll remember your words. Thank you!
Good luck! I hope that I manage to prioritise this sort of thing one day, but I can see how valuable a little meditation or yoga can be. I love the idea of setting aside a short time for 8 sun salutations… I may just have try it with the children!
Lovely post Rose! Yoga and meditation are key for me too, I find that working a few minutes here and there into the daily routine helps. Meditating whilst sitting with my daughter as she drifts off to sleep is my current favourite.
Beautiful writing as always Rose! Im trying to find time for yoga too….good luck with your goals xxx