The cars are moving faster out there, you can almost perceive the increased activity level as people gear up for this time of year. We all seem to have plenty to do, with Thanksgiving and then the big push for the holiday season. The to-do list looms large, the pace can be overwhelming. So…. another list? you ask. Is that really going to help the situation?
OK, how about a list that offers suggestions for simply Be-ing. Think of it as your rowboat in the sea of activity swirling around and through you.
My Being list offers two opportunities: its a way of re-framing the idea that a frantic pace is necessary. And following it can provide a pause in your day that allows awareness to bubble up. Personal insight is the best possible method for resilience, no matter what is in the mix. Here’s my list:
1. Breathe. Take every advantage of a moment or situation to consciously Exhale: long, slow, steady. Then take an in-breath. This is a calmative. You don’t have to buy anything, boil anything, you can do it when no one is looking. All day long. I guarantee the inhalation will be deeper and slower than the breath before. Deep exhalations allow a momentary pause. The next breath in becomes more conscious.
When you do this, the mind may not be geared for sudden relaxation, but the body is. Slow deep breathing helps to unplug the cascade of hormones and bio chemicals speeding through your body when you are stressed. So with new insight, spend some time breathing. You’ll feel better, and you will have given the internal stress mechanisms time to calm a bit.
2. Observe how often you don’t breathe. One sure sign of being stressed is shallow breathing or holding your breath. Go on, count how often you hold your breath. You’ll be amazed to learn that like everyone else, you do it all day long. Especially when stressed.
3. Happy People don’t watch (much) TV. This past Sunday’s New York Times ran an article entitled, What Happy People Don’t Do. After a 35 year longitudinal study of 45,000 Americans, the results are in. Happy people do watch TV, they just watch less than unhappy people. We might draw many conclusions about why TV watching and unhappy people go together. But instead, let’s just try turning off TV and then observe what happens internally to stress levels. Less TV may help with trying out my Being list.
4. Pause to connect. Gratitude, Lovingkindness, Smiling. We tend to think of these as activities directed outward, toward another. How about pausing today to shift your focus inward. Take time upon waking, while in the shower, or eating a meal to silently extend gentleness and kindness to yourself.
I teach a practice that comes from Chinese Qigong called Smiling to the Organs. The instructions are to imagine something or someone you hold dear, a newborn baby, a beloved pet, and to notice how you soften at the thought. Then breathing, imagine sending that same feeling of goodwil toward your heart. Smiling, gently. After a few moments, move your focus to your lungs, while continuing to send sensations of good cheer. Refocus attention then to each organ: liver and gallbladder; spleen and stomach; large intestine and small; kidneys and bladder. Smiling, as you send the intention of gentleness, kindness toward each organ. Don’t forget to breathe.
The process works on several levels and generally calms anxiety, while stimulating the organs. From Traditional Chinese medical theory we know that energy follows intent. And I’m pretty certain that it has something to do with quantum physics too. Sending positive intention toward each organ is a good thing.
The exercise can be done anywhere; my personal favorite is while commuting on a bus or train. Try sending yourself good feelings, taking a few minutes to connect the parts that make the whole of you. Smiling, to your organs.
Then with a renewed sense of wholeness and connection of mind and body and spirit, you can take care of that to-do list.
such a good list I need to remember #1.