My Mantra

I have come up with a mantra that I tell myself each morning. It goes like this:

I am here to explore the mystery and wonder of existence.

I do this through connection and conversation.

I do this through consciousness and wellbeing.

I do this through creation, contribution, and curation.

The stress of mornings

From the moment of my waking up to arriving at my desk: this seems to be the most stressful part of my day. There is so much to fit in, and two little people who just don't seem to get the concept of time or being late.

It has got me thinking about my mornings and how I can make them less stressful. And the answer is simple. Work from home or a cafe those mornings that I also have to get the kids to school. Do not even attempt to get into the office at the same time everybody else is trying to get to the office. Do the opposite of what everybody else is doing.

The answer to my stressful mornings maybe as simple as not trying to meet an arbitrary arrival deadline. I will experiment with this over the next two weeks.

Reflections on work: the first thing we do

When I get to the office I find the first thing I do is to go straight to my computer and fire it up to find out what it is telling me to do.

Why do I do this? Do I not know what I want to do for the day already?

I think I may be more effective if the first thing I do is something I had planned to do the night before, that did not involve a screen. Perhaps reading, or writing, or chatting with somebody. I wonder if I spent the first 15-30 mins of my day doing this whether I would have more ownership over my day.

If I had no clock...

The strange thing about checking the time is that it slows me down. The very act of checking the time takes time. Knowing that I am running late makes me stressed and less effective in doing what I need to do. Knowing that I am running early tends to relax me and slow me down.

However, there is that thing about deadlines and how they tend to make me get stuff done. 

So then, would it be useful to not check my clock at certain times? Like in the morning when we are all rushing to get out the door. Would it be more useful to simply focus on the necessities of what what needs to be done, and let time take care of itself?

An experiment for the next week as I go back to work, and my mornings get doubly crazy.

Of habits

Right now I am bringing a few new habits into my life. One of them is a dramatic change to the way I eat. Another is adding movement exercise back into my life.  

I have found a couple of things useful as I develop these additions and enhancements to my life.

The first, ironically, is not to think of them as new habits. For me the word habit implies that something is a chore; I am not going to have fun incorporating this into my life. It also implies that it is something I can gain, but also something I can lose.

The things I am now building into my life are not negotiables. They are my new 'MO'; the way I am going to live from this point onwards. These will then becoming building blocks for other things. They may change and grow, but they are so important that losing them as a habit is no longer an option.

The second is that I do not have to nail these new habits (or perhaps I should say practises or something else instead of habit!) right from week 1. Changing my eating means changing my shopping, how I cook, where I eat out. Learning new movements involves different coordination and new daily routines. These are not insignificant changes, and especially early on I will not be able to incorporate all the change I want to.

The important thing is that I start pointing myself in the direction I want to go. Small changes are key at this point, and all the incremental changes will be of benefit and move me closer towards the new state of being. Mistakes and failures do not mean I should give up on my 'habits'. They do not mean I am never going to make it. It means that I am in the process of learning and incorporating, and they are to be celebrated.

Cold showers

Each morning I have a cold shower for 30 seconds after my piping hot shower. While I never enjoy this experience, I get so much out of it, like the following:

1) It would be so easy to dread going into the shower each morning knowing that I am going to have an uncomfortable experience at the end of it. I remind myself to enjoy each part of the shower, making the most of the warmth and comfort while it is there.

-- Broader lesson for the day: live in each moment, even when knowing that there is discomfort ahead, there is no need to let that deprive me of what is happening in the current moment.

2) As soon as the cold hits me I am tempted to switch off from what I am feeling and ignore it, or to try and act as if I can handle it without overt expression or emotion. Both are not helpful. The truth is I can't help but move around; my breathing gets heavy; sometimes I even yell. But as I allow myself to feel the unpleasantness of the cold shower, the feelings somehow pass right through me and my body experiences a flow and release.

-- Broader lesson for the day: feelings and emotions are there to be felt. As the appear through the day, no matter what they are, I acknowledge them and let them do their thing as they pass through my body.

3) Just before I turn the shower from hot to cold, I start telling myself that I don't want to do this. That it will be too painful. That I can't handle it. And then I do it anyway. The truth is I can handle it. It is 30 seconds of discomfort, and I can stay with that discomfort for as long as I need to.

-- Broader lesson for the day: even when I know something is going to be uncomfortable, I have the power and agency to choose to enter into it, and the will to stay with the feeling until it ends.

4) Once I count to 30 and turn the shower off, the energy the is running through my body is joyful. Sometimes I start giggling. I always feel ready for the next thing, despite how lethargic I was feeling before getting into the shower.

-- Broader lesson: I have energy reserves available to me that I don't always access. When I am feeling down or lethargic, the positive energy I need is not actually that far away, and can be quickly unlocked.

I'm not sure I will every really enjoy the cold shower. However I am starting to value what I get from the exercise.

I would never leave the house without brushing my teeth

Before I leave the house in the morning I always brush my teeth. The thought of inflicting my stale morning breath on another unsuspecting human is more than enough to ensure I maintain this life long habit. 

I was thinking about this and in a way how insignificant a bit of bad breath is. What other things am I inflicting on my fellow unsuspecting humans by not preparing adequately in the mornings? I have come up with a list of things I want to do every morning, and the possible implications to others and myself if I don't.

1) Drink a glass of water: dehydration, headaches, grumpiness, lack of concentration

2) Exercises: poor posture, achey body, grumpiness, distractedness, poor energy flow

3) Gratitude: selfishness, narrowness, depression, unhappiness

4) Intention: drifting through the day, lack of purpose

5) Meditate: mindlessness, unable to listen well, poor decision making

6) Blog: constrictive expression, thoughtlessness, lack of giving

7) Nutritious breakfast: hunger, grumpiness, poor nutrition, sickness, lack of energy and zest

8) Supplements: poor gut health, sickness, lack of energy and zest

9) Hot and cold shower: smelly, no wild man energy, poor care for my body

10) Teeth: bad breath, decaying teeth, gum disease, heart disease

11) Mindfully dressed: look out of alignment, feel shabby, lack of confidence

I have a hunch that to give myself the opportunity of being the best I can be on any particular day, these are the things I need to do each morning. It seems like a lot, but I reckon that the difference in my day and the impact I can have on others by doing these things, it is probably not that much at all.