Welcome to Saturday, Space Makers!
I hope that today brings you a little more space than you were expecting and I hope that you can enjoy that space thoroughly in the way that feels best for you.
Since I am working on managing expectations this week – especially the subconscious expectations I don’t even realize I have (a.k.a. the worst kind) – I have a note-to-self that might be useful for you, too.
Dear Christine (and anyone playing along at home),
Please focus on key elements, not the add-ons.
Remember last night when you and your family were decorating the tree? When you moved the couch so you could reach the side of the tree more easily and you realized that no one had gotten around to vacuuming under there yet?
You had a flash of frustration because you wanted that done *before* the tree went up but you had all forgotten about it and now you were already in the middle of decorating. Your oldest offered to grab the vacuum right then but you said, “No, thanks. Decorating the tree is way more important than getting the vacuuming done.”
Gold star – ⭐. Excellent work.
Please apply that logic to other tasks and events during the next two weeks.
Bring those subconscious expectations to the surface by asking: What is the important part here? What is necessary? Does that other task actually matter?* What are the key elements? What are the add-ons? What can I let go of?
This is going to change depending on the context but if you can keep your eye on the difference between what you need/want to get done and the things that might be nice to have done (but that don’t actually affect the overall event one way or the other) you will feel a lot better.
Wishing us all ease,
Christine
So, with our expectation managing practice in place, let’s consider some possible movement and mindfulness practices for today:
Here’s our movement practice for today – a Light Cardio and Stretch Cool Down Workout – Relaxing Stretches for Flexibility from Fitness Blender This is technically a cool down but maybe we can consider it a cool down after our week rather than a cool down after a workout. Of course, if this is a workout day for you feel free to add this to your routine to help you cool down from that!
Our mindfulness practice for today is this 10 Minute Guided Meditation for Clarity from Declutter the Mind. I chose a longer video for today because I am hoping that your Saturday is a little more flexible than the rest of your week. If not, feel free to just do part of this practice. Remember, you are the boss of you!
*Note: For some people, the lack of vacuuming would have been very distressing. In that case, grabbing the vacuum would be a key element of decorating the tree. There’s no moral lesson here just the hope that we can minimize our stress and keep do what makes the most sense for our peace of mind in the moment.
