While I like to think of myself as a fairly observant person, when it comes to things like noticing my own stress levels, remembering to shift position/stretch, or keeping track of the fact that I need to pause and reset during a busy time, my observation skills tend to fail me.
I know this is likely a *feature* of my ADHD (or it is a personality trait that is exacerbated by ADHD) but it is also annoying.
And I know that my life would be easier if I could notice these things earlier in the process.
Not only would it save me from stress, frustration, and pain, noticing this stuff earlier would keep these issues to a more manageable size.
Sooooooo…
Lately, I’ve been trying to practice noticing by checking on with myself more often throughout my days and seeing if I need to make any adjustments to help myself feel better.
Here are a few recent successes:
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As I was getting ready for bed on Sunday night, I noticed that my wrists and ankles felt sore and stiff. And while I’m not opposed to taking a painkiller when necessary, this seemed like a time for movement instead of medication. So I did a relaxing yoga video and drank a little extra water before I went to sleep.
It didn’t completely fix the problem but the combination of movement and hydration really helped.
*****
On Monday when I was walking Khalee, my attention was drawn to the contrast of a few yellow autumn leaves clinging to a tree directly behind an evergreen. The combination of colours was enough to make me pause to take a photo and then I just stopped, took some slow breaths and looked at the trees and the river and smiled at my happy dog doing a full sniffvestigation.
my light -haired dog, Khalee, sniffing some fallen leaves next to an evergreen tree of a bright but not sunny fall day. Yellowed leaves can be seen on trees in the background.
Those few moments didn’t make up for how rushed I have been feeling over the past few weeks but that pause really did help my brain feel better.
*****
Several times last week, I noticed that my brain was feeling particularly jumpy so I made a conscious choice to pause. Each time, I put on some cello music then took 5 minutes to do some drawing and colouring in my notebook.
Again, it didn’t automatically cure everything but it did bring me some ease and helped me figure out my next steps.
*****
So, I know none of these things are life-changing.
None of them are startling or new.
But since I often get too focused on trying to make a big, dramatic change, paying attention to making the small adjustments that really make a difference over time is an important change for me.
And, so far, my noticing practice feels really useful and I am going to keep it up.
How about you? What have you noticed lately?
PS – I know that these practices are likely considered part of mindfulness but, for me, they have a different feeling to them. Calling them a noticing practice feels good to me.
