Tag Archives: breathe

Nudged: Take a Sacred Pause x2/day

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The Backstory: I wish I could remember which friend introduced me to the concept of “Sacred Pause,” because it’s brilliant. This is my way of taking small steps toward more mindfulness. I suck at meditation, and I’m tired of trying to force myself to do it. I’m not great about scheduling Me Time either. It’s also not the same as my regular prayer time, which is sacred in its own way. All I have to do–twice each day this week–is Stop. Take a deep breath. Close my eyes. Maybe stretch. That’s it.

To keep myself on track, I have written this on my daily schedule so I can check off each one.

What Happened: This Nudge was so timely and perfect for me. Life has handed me quite a lot, and I have had a couple of legit meltdowns. “Overwhelmed” doesn’t feel adequate.

So this week, whenever I started to feel panicked, stressed, distracted, pulled in every direction (like the afternoon when I was on the phone with the vet, Thor was texting me, our lovely housekeeper had a question, a client sent a red-flag email, AND the puppy signaled it was time to go pee again), I took a break and took a breath. Okay, I took the puppy out first, then I took a break, but most times when the inner call came, I just stopped in my tracks, closed my eyes, and paused.

One afternoon the pause expanded into a deep, dreamless nap (much needed). On two occasions my pause took the form of sipping a cuppa good tea while looking at something other than my computer screen. One morning, when everything was not going to plan, I listened to what I really needed and took myself and the puppy to the beach for an extended pause.

As of this morning, I feel like I am better at listening to myself and responding to what I really need in the moment. In just a few days I moved past the need for boxes to check off and I’m just doing this.

The Ah-Hahs: Mindfulness. Listening to my self, my needs. In the moment. When I think about how I want to master this in my life, it seems like a Big Project. And yet, what I discovered this week is that I could achieve it with a very small, simple, doable Nudge.

Nudged: Exhale

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Backstory: Alexandra Epple’s blog, Spirit Journey (you met Alexandra in a 52+ interview about a month ago), inspired this nudge. In her “The Gigantic Breath Cycle of Your Life” post, she wrote a couple of lines that struck a chord with me:

“Our society is not set up to honor exhales. We are set up for creation, achievement, progress…all of which equate to inhaling.”

A healthy cycle of breathing, she went on to explain, is inhale, exhale, pause.

I suck at this. “Pause”? Oh, sure, I do that when I’m sick or exhausted or forced to shelter in place for an extended period of time. But the rest of it is challenging for me. “When we find ourselves in the exhale cycle,” Alexandra continued, “it takes courage, awareness, and reminders to allow yourself to be in that space.”

I know I need to be more intentional about healthy breathing–about healthy living–until it becomes my new natural rhythm. Starting today, I’m going to practice this.

What Happened: We live in stressful times. I mean…really. My stress level the past several months has been Off. The. Charts. And even though some things have somewhat calmed down, I know that I continue to carry that stress with me every day, even if nothing new is added to my load.

But this week I practiced dealing with it a little better. Every time I felt the worry (and some times panic) start to bubble up, I stopped in my tracks, closed my eyes, visualized a positive outcome for whatever I was worrying over, and let out a long, deep exhale. Then I moved on.

Monday I had to work at it some. I’d carry around a worry — about my husband’s safety, for example — and feel myself gearing up for a meltdown. Then I’d catch myself and go through my new routine. By Tuesday, I was dropping into the stop-visualize-exhale drill before the worry got its claws in me. I barely even thought about it, I just did it.

So I am heading into this holiday (Happy Independence Day to my U.S. readers!) feeling quite calm. And, if I start to feel less calm, I know I can handle it.

Exhale-post-2

 

The Ah-Hahs: I could meditate, practice yoga, get hypnotized, take anti-anxiety meds, drink more whiskey…or, I can exhale. For me, it really can be that simple.