know, I know.....it's September! But seriously, have you ever really gotten the 'New Year' feeling out of your body since you spent a dozen or more of the formative years of your life in that structure? Even as adults we lay a little lower in the summer and have to gear up to full speed in the fall. Our kids, if we have them, head back to school; committees and groups that we are on start to get scheduled in again after taking the summer off. It is a whole societal rhythm that shifts to busier pace and a more structured schedule.
I asked a friend yesterday if she had managed to switch the kids sleeping schedules to help them get to school on time today. She said......"It's not them, it's ME!!!" She is a teacher who enjoys her time to sleep in over the summer and groans at the thought of getting up earlier and making lunches etc etc.
So how do we be mindful during a time like this? Remember what I said about mindfulness? It's just notice, choose....repeat! There is no judgement and there is no formulaic, one size fits all. So September rolling around provides the opportunity for you to notice how September and the start of the structure and busyness is for you and your life. Think about and choose what has worked in the past and try to problem solve about what hasn't worked. If you are like my friend and have a hard time with mornings, you may decide to make lunches the night before. Or you might try going to bed earlier. If you have a hard time shifting into the structure, then you might want to begin the shift earlier in August so the change isn't so hard for you or you might want to reward yourself at the beginning until the pace and structure becomes easier for you to manage. Again, it's just noticing what works and doing more and what is hard and finding solutions to make it easier.
And lots of people resist against structure; however, structure is a really good thing for our psyche. It's grounding. It tells us that we fit into the world and belong. It lets our bodies know when it's time to work and when it's time to play. And I'm not saying that holidays and times of the year when structure loosens is a bad thing. However, if someone is emotionally dysregulated, one of the things I advocate for them to do is build structure into their lives. If their Dr has given them time off work to heal then I will encourage them to fill their time with routines. Those routines might involve self-care or exercise instead of work, but they are still routines and the structure is still helpful to keep out of depression and be more mindful of the moment.
So hopefully, you will move into this fall season with ideas about what has worked for you in the past and what hasn't and prepare to do this season with more mindfulness and therefore, more delight! Having our mind, body and spirit line up with our intentions of who we want to be is what brings joy and delight to our soul. And that my friend....is what matters the most!
If you want to read more about routines, structure and healthy habits, you can re: this post from Psychology Today: www.psychologytoday.com/blog/.../201009/routines-comforting-or-confining
Or you can watch Owen Fitzpatrick's Tedx talk re: habits here: youtu.be/CojSlsMwDOg
I asked a friend yesterday if she had managed to switch the kids sleeping schedules to help them get to school on time today. She said......"It's not them, it's ME!!!" She is a teacher who enjoys her time to sleep in over the summer and groans at the thought of getting up earlier and making lunches etc etc.
So how do we be mindful during a time like this? Remember what I said about mindfulness? It's just notice, choose....repeat! There is no judgement and there is no formulaic, one size fits all. So September rolling around provides the opportunity for you to notice how September and the start of the structure and busyness is for you and your life. Think about and choose what has worked in the past and try to problem solve about what hasn't worked. If you are like my friend and have a hard time with mornings, you may decide to make lunches the night before. Or you might try going to bed earlier. If you have a hard time shifting into the structure, then you might want to begin the shift earlier in August so the change isn't so hard for you or you might want to reward yourself at the beginning until the pace and structure becomes easier for you to manage. Again, it's just noticing what works and doing more and what is hard and finding solutions to make it easier.
And lots of people resist against structure; however, structure is a really good thing for our psyche. It's grounding. It tells us that we fit into the world and belong. It lets our bodies know when it's time to work and when it's time to play. And I'm not saying that holidays and times of the year when structure loosens is a bad thing. However, if someone is emotionally dysregulated, one of the things I advocate for them to do is build structure into their lives. If their Dr has given them time off work to heal then I will encourage them to fill their time with routines. Those routines might involve self-care or exercise instead of work, but they are still routines and the structure is still helpful to keep out of depression and be more mindful of the moment.
So hopefully, you will move into this fall season with ideas about what has worked for you in the past and what hasn't and prepare to do this season with more mindfulness and therefore, more delight! Having our mind, body and spirit line up with our intentions of who we want to be is what brings joy and delight to our soul. And that my friend....is what matters the most!
If you want to read more about routines, structure and healthy habits, you can re: this post from Psychology Today: www.psychologytoday.com/blog/.../201009/routines-comforting-or-confining
Or you can watch Owen Fitzpatrick's Tedx talk re: habits here: youtu.be/CojSlsMwDOg
RSS Feed
