One thing slowly
I decided to write a mindfulness today for when you are scattered and feeling overwhelmed with competing priorities. It does not matter if you have a lot of available time or your schedule is jam packed, either way you can become overwhelmed, indecisive, sluggish or even impulsive if you are feeling pressured for whatever reasons. Having either too little planned for a day or too much can have equally problematic consequences. When we get overwhelmed we go on auto pilot and when we are on autopilot we are most likely to slide into ineffective patterns (overeating, smoking, simply not thinking clearly and making errors).
The solution is to stop and do one thing in the moment, focusing on that activity while breathing…this gives your brain time to catch up and your body time to calm down. If possible, so whatever you are doing at half speed for a few moments to slow everything down.
To be clear, being mindful does not require any more time than “normal activities.” But, slowing down your speed for a moment or two might help you to notice your experience. When she was in college, my sister took a class on the Alexander Technique. One of her tests in the class was simply to stand up and sitting down slowly, conscious of her posture and her form. So, slowing things down, even mundane, everyday activities, can help us to notice and connect with our experience.
So for practice today, do the next few activities you were planning on doing already or choose any activity to do (walk, make food, drink coffee), but do it at half speed. Notice the experience, make any corrections necessary to be effective. Remember any time you are overwhelmed, to slow down for one second and breathe in order to be more effective
Have a Good Day…
Michele
