Mindfulness

Summer brings a bit of slowdown for our busy lives. Time to spend time outdoors, spending time with friends and family and possibly relaxing more. Slowing down could actually benefit our physical and mental health and can make us more productive.

How do we learn to "slowdown" though? I think it is found in the act of mindfulness- living more in the moment, trying to focus on our top priorties and letting go of the rest. As Americans we focus so much on our busy day to day stressful lives. We have a hard time finding ways to slow down, lessen our stress and regain control of our days. Is it possible to enjoy life more, by actually doing less? We are so connected with devices that take over our lives. Combine that with the fact that we feel like there is so much to do. This constant race leads to negative stress, taking a toll on our health.

I think that this constant business leads to all these issues in our lives. If we stop to "smell the roses", we are looked upon as lazy. Its robbing us of our desire to linger longer somewhere, to actually do something that isn't wasting your time. The art of mindfullness is hard to achieve. To be aware of what's going on in the moment. Can we do that? Do we even know how to start doing that act? If we actually started to pay attention to what we were doing, we might notice a whole lot of things we might have otherwise missed.

Finding ways to slow down:

-Breathing. I have learned through my yoga training, the beauty of breathing. Slowing down, taking deep breaths, reoxygenates the brain, slows down the heartbeat and in return stabilizes blood pressure. It helps me when I feel that panic feeling. Stop for a minute and just breathe.

-Speeding by. Take a minute and ask yourself if youre doing whatever you are doing too fast. I use to think if I got everything accomplished quickly, I was doing good. Going faster is not better..slow down and work the task slower. You will see the huge benefit.

-Check your calendar. Look at your calendar this next week, pick the lowest priority and ditch it from your calendar or mental list. It's not worth it to overbook yourself, it just leads to more problems.

-Unschedule yourself. Block out sometime in your week to do nothing. No plans, just relaxing. I know that it sounds crazy but you will thank yourself for this. Taking the time to down shift once a week.

I see buziness as a sign of productivity and rest as a sign of laziness. That mindset that I had for so long is starting to change. Being mindfull of what is around you and using that downtime, actually eases the sense of feeling overwhelmed. It helps your brain make those creative connections and helps you find better solutions for your problems. That whole saying, "work smarter not harder". It really is true. I want my chldren to see that I am a hard worker, I get things done and can be very productive. I don't however want them to see me not relax. I want to teach them the act of mindfulness...I don't want their lives to become this swarm of chaos like I had.

Practicing this simple act, the act of mindfulness, it can change your lives..It's slowly, starting to change mine.

I encourage you this week and hopefully over time, to develop a practice of mindfulness. Try it, you might actually like it.

-Erin