Slowing Things Down Consciously
Lately I have had a lot more commitments and an increasing awareness of the physical impact of this within my body - yes also know as STRESS! It slowly crept up. The mini ignorings because of the belief 'this must be done now'. But our super wise body chips away until we listen, hopefully sooner rather than later, as later is where illness lies!
In the past I would have got scared, triggered into fight and flight part of my brain ‘oh no, I am really stressed, I am not going to cope, I am going to get ill, I am doing too much’, etc etc!! Fear is a very real experience, even if the minds story is not! But I am aware now there is a different way to staying in fear; a way of remembering I have choice and that deep kindness is available to me within in each moment, if I tune in and take loving action.
Don’t get me wrong, a milder version of fight and flight has been kicking off for me, the difference is the way I understood and handled things.
Anything in our lives that gets out of balance has a wellbeing impact on us and this is perfectly normal.
I had taken on a 30-day coaching course to support my business to grow and it is jam packed with way more commitment than I envisioned! Hence the start of fear and the leaching of this into all areas of my life and overfocussing on this.
My body began screaming at me to not shortcut the self-care commitments I have, and at first I tokenistically listened, but did not give my full care and attention when doing them, which meant I might as well have not done them, if it was not felt within as a soothing and realignment and caring.
My days of accepting my life on autopilot, of going through the motions has long gone. I notice when I slip into this and just have to change it, or feel deeply miserable.
It is the little things that when I became fully present to them, brought relief and a coming back to myself again, instead of being in that gorgeous but overthinking mind.
It was the giving myself fully to the time to be present: to breathe, to slow down and enjoy my facial care routine at night and in the morning. When I did this, I really felt the breathing slow down, the deeper intakes of breath, the shoulders softening and releasing stress. The feeling of pleasure of the small things. A spaciousness within my core began to open up again, melting the huge blocks of tension beginning to build in my chest cavity.
I went back to laying on my back stretcher, that when I am there enables those deep moments of release and relaxation and muscle stretching to occur. The chance to pause for long enough to fully stop and rest and listen to the needs of my body, not my to do list of terror my mind began to create for me!!
A beautiful inner voice was arising in how I spoke to myself. It was and is 100% committed to not shaming and blaming me, not judging any bits of me that are not feeling great. It is kind and so deeply comforting. I am just thankful I have built this up over the years and the more I listen to it, the stronger it gets. It promised me to never ever harm me in any way, that there is only learning. This is deeply soothing and moving. This is the heart of all my coaching work I do with others, rooted in my own journey.
During this time of increased stress, I became acutely aware again of the significance of slowing things down, as stress and anxiety skyrocket us to our minds with a fast-paced energy. Slowing things down is in the washing up, the making the beds, being present to the children, to our daily routines. The moments that bring us back to ourselves, where life is truly lived.
