Does it feel like your life has been defined by busyness lately? Perhaps that sense of running from one activity or task to another is just life as usual. Have you ever taken a moment to consider if this is a sustainable lifestyle, or entertained another way of being? What would it be like to have a few moments, an hour, or a day of doing nothing in particular at all? It might seem like “wasting” time, but who is keeping score? One might argue that there are too many important things to accomplish to have an expanse of time where no goals or steps towards a particular goal are taken. But when the opportunity arises, doesn’t it feel delicious to turn the volume of our lives down a notch and enjoy the company of friends, the intimacy of the moment, a few precious moments of release?
With the transition to Fall, back to school activities gearing up and in full swing, and the holidays fast approaching, it can sometimes feel overwhelming and difficult to catch your breath. The constant march of time and the sensation that there is never enough of it to accomplish everything on the “to do” list is draining and stressful. Certainly this attachment to time, the sense of it passing, the desire to cram in as much as possible, can suck the joy out of the life experiences that are present, leaving us wondering: Where did the summer go? How did September slip away? Is this all there is to life?
Suggested practice this week: Refill the well
What does it mean to refill the well? It means giving yourself the gift of self-care, making your well-being a priority. Sometimes it means saying no to things that you think you should do, allowing yourself time and space to reintegrate and rediscover a sense of centeredness and wholeness.
Strategies to help make refilling the well a priority:
- Take five to fifteen minutes in the morning or evening to meditate, journal or simply go outside, open up the senses, listen to nature, check in with yourself, or let the mind wander.
- Set a calendar reminder on your phone or at work for breaks throughout the day. Even five minutes of intentional deep breathing may calm the nervous system and restore a feeling of ease.
- Take a yoga or meditation class, workshop or perhaps do something you’ve always wanted to experience, and discover the wonder of learning a new practice or skill.
Approached with mindfulness, refilling the well can be as important as any other vital self-care activity such as eating, sleeping, drinking water, or brushing your teeth, because it sets the foundation from which you approach life, your interactions with people as well as how you make decisions. Rather than rushing through life with hardly a chance to savor it, pausing and taking a moment for yourself can make the experience so much richer!
