Tag: calm

A dog curled up asleep in a red leather chair. Christine insists on a slow October.
rest · self care · yoga

Christine insists on a slow October.

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

September pretty much chewed me up and spit me out.

Despite my best efforts, I was awash in tasks and challenging situations and new things to learn. There was a lot of fun packed in there too but really it was all too much.

When I woke up Sunday and realized it was October I decided there and then that I was slowing everything way the hell down so I could catch my breath.

I mean, I still have lots of things to do but I am flatly refusing to do them in a hurry.

And I am not taking on anything extra.

I’m going to firm up the beginnings and ends of my days and keep the work in the middle from spilling over into them.

Today, I was giving some thought to what that might look like.

How can I help October feel more restful?

What would make my days feel slower and easier?

And, of course, how can I have those things without having to a lot of work to make things restful, slower, and easier?

I had already decided on journaling, drawing, and yoga as key elements of a slow October and was trying to figure out what yoga videos to do (I like to choose in advance!) when I discovered that Adriene is a step ahead of me.

This month’s Yoga with Adriene/Find What Feels Good playlist is called Ease.

And it includes this practically vintage video of Adriene demonstrating Sukhasana (The Easy Pose).

Easy Pose? That sounds GREAT!

A video from the Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel. The still image is of her sitting cross-legged on her mat with her hands, palms together in the centre of her chest.

So, that’s yoga figured out for October, now I just need to find the ‘Ease’ version of drawing and journaling and blend them into my days.

ADHD · fitness · habits · meditation

A (another?) Meditation Experiment

Christine Hennebury1 Comment

(This is a little stream-of-consciousness because I’m not really finished thinking this through. Please bear with me.)

So, I’ve been carrying around some ambient stress again.

I’m not feeling stressed about anything in particular. There’s no overwhelmingly stressful thing going on.

In fact, my *brain* doesn’t feel stressed at all.

My body, however, is telling me otherwise.

My first response to recognizing that stressed out feeling was ‘I need to meditate.’

And meditation does help me release that feeling in the moment, which is great, but reactive meditation is not nearly as helpful as regular (preventative) meditation would be.

See, I know that when I meditate regularly, I get a little more space in my brain.

And that space helps me make better choices about how to spend my time and my energy.

Last fall, I had a month or so when I meditated daily and I really found it beneficial. But then something came up, I couldn’t meditate at my regular time and I got off track. I’ve had a few short streaks of practice since then but it hasn’t really stuck.

However, once again, I am determined to find my way back to that daily practice.

On Monday, I was trying to figure out a good time for my practice when I (once again?) made the connection that meditation is similar in one way to my ADHD medication – it gives me a little space between my thought and my action so I can choose to be more effective, to be kinder to myself.

So then I thought ‘What if I put meditation in the same category as my meds?’ – that is, something that needs to happen daily, at the same time, in order to have the best effect.

And then I considered whether I could meditate right after I medicate.

I went back and forth on that for a few minutes because mornings can be a tricky time to find quiet minutes to myself but maybe I can take my meditation and my medications at the same time and it will work out just fine.

I’m going to give it a week and see how it goes.

I’ll report back next Tuesday with the results of this utterly unscientific experiment.

I’ll even take notes.

a photo of a light-haired dog curled up in a red leather armchair.
What does this have to do with meditation? Absolutely nothing. But it does make me feel calm so that’s kind of tangentially connected, right? image description: Khalee, my light-haired dog, is curled up in a red leather armchair next to a white pillow with gold stars on it. In the background, there is a patch of sunlight on the wall, a tower fan, and the rear wheel of a bicycle.