Making Time

Making Time

by | Jan 21, 2018 | Healthy Living, Off the Mat

I’ve been trying to make time to write a post about making time since the start of the new year . . . last year . . . as in 2017 . . . .  I’d have an idea or come up with a sentence or paragraph while brushing my teeth or meditating and I’d make a mental note or jot something down in the notes app on my phone.  So here I am, 386 days later, actually carving out time to put words to paper.  And while I haven’t been completely successful in my effort to make time to write this piece, I have made some interesting discoveries about how much time there actually is in a 24hr period when you decide to make something a priority.

There aren’t enough hours in the day – how many times have you thought, said, or heard that?  Countless, probably.  And in our modern times it seems like there is more to do than ever.  Beyond the daily tasks of work, school, family, and just keeping ourselves alive, there are other things we crave: reading that stack of books by the bed, getting out for a daily walk, spending a few moments meditating, tea with a friend,  clearing out the spare room or junk drawer, volunteering, etc.  And what about our passion projects and tasks that bring us closer to enjoying our long term goals?  Where do we find the time for that?  How will we ever get it all done?  Cue anxiety, stress, and overwhelm.

After over 10 years of yoga practice I consider myself pretty grounded and centered, but I cannot keep at bay that gross panic that accompanies the “I still haven’t done that/started that yet . . .” rabbit hole of misery and regret.  What about all those yoga books collecting dust on the shelf?  What about your goal to learn another language?  You still don’t have a consistent meditation practice.  Have you gotten on your mat today?  And these aren’t things I feel like I should be doing, they are things I WANT to do because they make me feel good, but I can’t just find the time for them.  Well in 2016 I got fed up with the rise of anxiety (if you had just started that language course last year think of how much you’d know by now!) and started making time.

I began 2016 with the intention of meditating twice a day for 5 minutes each time.  As I mentioned before, I love achievable goals.  That’s doable, right?  Right!  I actually never missed a day (and still haven’t: it’s been 2 years and counting).  It has become as regular and familiar as brushing my teeth (ever hear that it takes 21 days to make a habit?)  Now, do I always meditate at home, peaceful, quiet, surrounded by candles, perfectly timed after I wake up and before bed?  Hellllll no.  But I do it when I can and where I can (I remember showing up at a friend’s house for a party and asking if I could meditate in her bedroom for 5 minutes before I poured up a glass of wine because I had forgotten to do it before I left the house).  I realized very early on that I do in fact have these 10 extra minutes in my day to meditate.  Where did they come from?  I made the commitment and the time appeared because the task became a priority.

Half way through 2016 I added in another daily goal: 3 minutes of Pranayama (breath work).  Turns out that’s doable.  And in 2017 I began reading from what I call an educational or professional development book every day for 15 minutes.  I told a friend about the reading goal and she asked “but where do you find the time?”  Totally valid question: it may seem like an extravagant daily event to add into my 60hour entrepreneur work week.  But how easy is it to spend 15 minutes (or more . . . ) scrolling through Facebook or Instagram? (I think we would all, myself included, be shocked if we tallied up the minutes we spend perusing social media).  I average about a book a month now and all the works have been tremendously helpful in my life as a yoga teacher and wellness advocate.

This year I’ve been dedicating at least 20 minutes of each day to my asana practice and 10 minutes to online Spanish learning while still maintaining my meditation, pranayama, and reading habits and you know what?  The time is there because these things have been important habits that are just as much a part of my life as making lunch or putting out the recycling on collection day.  Sometimes I have to get really creative about how I schedule my day but (most of the time) it all gets done.

I’m not saying it’s easy and that you’ll be able to make time for everything, but don’t cut yourself off before you begin.  Start small, create an achievable daily goal, and make that event a priority.  Before you know it that task may become a daily ritual and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

I’m curious: what will you start making time for?

-melanie-
xo

Good Intentions

Good Intentions

by | Jan 5, 2018 | Off the Mat

I had a plan: after I finished my bag of dark chocolate covered almonds and bottle of Prosecco at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve (or, you know, when I woke post-party 9-10 hours later) I was going to shift into achievable-goal beast mode: super productive, uber organized, and completely on the ball.  Add in healthy, mindful meals, more walking, and 20 minutes of asana practice daily (including a 30 day plank challenge), and I would be unstoppable.

But then a small “domestic event” brought my good intentions to a screeching halt.  Here are 2 lessons I learned at 3am on January 1, 2018: make sure your friends know that you have an electric kettle (that is, a kettle that is NOT meant to be placed on a stove top burner) and always have a fire extinguisher handy.

When the fire chief recommends you open all your windows and don’t sleep in your house you listen: he knows what he’s at.  Normally I would be thrilled at spending a night in a new hotel with my fella and my cat (thanks for being so accommodating, Alt Hotel St. John’s!) but this was NOT part of my plan.  I wanted to wake up in my own bed on January 1:  I wanted to make a delicious breakfast, go for a walk, lounge on the couch in cozy clothes, get on my yoga mat, meditate, and get organized for this amazing new year.

Instead, I didn’t sleep, I fretted; we returned to our house which was 9 degrees celcius (remember, windows are open), ordered Domino’s pizza, cleaned up for 6 hours with the help of friends, and finally went to bed after being up for 36 hours.  Gross.  I was back on the mat at my studio teaching the next day but I also had to spend time replacing things we had to toss out in the cleanup, instead of spending time organizing and being on top of things I wanted to be on top of.

My plans went out the open window, but only temporarily.  I was mad, I was disappointed, I was defeated, but only for a moment.  I decided to give myself a new year’s do-over.

Who says January 1 is the start of all things healthy and good?  Who was putting all this pressure on me?  My over-achieving, sometimes type A, perfectionist self.  I realized that the only person who could give me permission to ease in and start fresh on January 8 was me.

I traded in my Plank challenge for a Restorative practice and spent the week wrapped up and supported by bolsters and blankets.  I ate well but indulged when I needed a treat.  I attached my monthly calendar to the wall with the promise of filling it and organizing next week.  And once I took the pressure off I felt so much better about myself, my current situation, and the year ahead.

I love a fresh start.  I love a new routine.  I love a good intention.  And there’s something so great about beginning on a Monday, or at the start of a new month, or on January 1.  But sometimes life doesn’t allow for plans to roll out as perfectly as you or I would like.  So from now on I’m giving myself permission to begin again . . . and again . . . and again.  And I hope you do too.

-melanie-
xo