This week, I'm sharing a practice with you that has been helpful over the years. It is a bit of an inventory of what pieces of our lives are life-giving and which ones are life-draining. I would love to hear from you about anything you notice as you go through the steps.
Gather a blank piece of paper (with or without lines, can be in a journal) and something to write with.
Take a deep breath.
Bring your awareness to any stress that is in your body - there might be tightness, short breaths, muddy thoughts, etc.
Notice the origins of that stress.
Quickly, and without thinking too much about it, write the names of those stressors on your piece of paper. They might be things like, "Boss, work schedule, Jerry, cheese, not enough time," etc. List things until you feel like you've gotten them all down.
Take a deep breath.
Feel whatever is the opposite of stress in your body. We'll call it "ease". You might feel deeper breaths, clearer thinking, openness.
Notice the origins of ease, what creates ease in your body and life?
Quickly, and without thinking too much about it, write the names of those sources of ease on your piece of paper. They might be things like, "Sleep, long walks, Susan, coworkers, kittens," etc.
Take a deep breath.
Notice whether or not there are ways to interact less or differently with the stressors and more or differently with ease.
Allow this information to impact your choices in the coming weeks.
That's it! It may seem simple, and it is empowering to name and claim what we notice about our experience.