Day 24 (Thursday 7.14.22)
When it comes to better self-care, so many of us are either “all in” or “all out.”
It’s hard to do anything halfway.
Which is why for so many years, I had such an on-again, off-again relationship with my daily meditation and yoga practice.
If I didn’t get a 60-minute, vigorous yoga class first thing before work, the whole day was a wash and I gave up completely.
Or if I planned to practice at night and something came up — whether it was eating something heavy and greasy at lunch or getting unbearably angry or stressed — I thought, “oh well, I’ll try again tomorrow.”
Once I got pulled off course, it felt insurmountable to make my way back.
And this approach made it nearly impossible to create a regular practice that I could count on for support.
What I FINALLY came to realize over the years is this: It’s what you do most of the time that matters.
(Or as writer Annie Dillard says beautifully and simply: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”)
Which means that committing to a few minutes of a practice — like meditation, mindfulness, gentle or restorative yoga, or guided relaxation — will, in the long run, have a much more profound effect than, say, going to an hour-long yoga class once in a blue moon or even a meditation retreat once every few years.
How to get more of what you need most of the time?
The “moment-to-moment” meditation practice.
The moment-to-moment practice is your way back throughout the day, in the WILD of your real life.
I’ve heard this from so many of us over the years — “Ok, so, I feel connect, alive, calm, [fill-in-your-own-blank] during my once-in-a-while meditation practice. But then throughout my day, I get pulled away in so many directions. I’m in a rush. I get disappointed, frustrated, exhausted. I overreact. I get ‘hooked’ in some way and I can’t find my way back.”
The point of a practice isn’t to turn us into some fantasy version of something we’re not and never will be. (Calm, saint-like, unflappable, able to put our leg behind our head — whatever yoga or meditation myth seems applicable).
Even better — we practice so we might bring ourselves back, everyday, again and again to the truest version of ourselves. Who we actually ARE, before, below, and beyond our reactions, our habits, and our hooks.
Even & especially when we’re stressed.
Check out the replay from yesterday’s group live for a short practice and THE moment-to-moment practice I’m using in the stressful wild of my life right now.
3 steps.
Simple to use.
Easy to remember.
Immediately effective.
STOP, DROP, & ROLL.
On repeat.
LEAVE A COMMENT: if you get a chance to use “Stop, Drop, & Roll” today, let us know how it goes!
Need more?
Carry on with Day 24’s Choice of Alternate Nostril Breathing or 5 Minutes of Breath Awareness.
Today’s Quiet Evening Practice will bring you through another favorite moment-to-moment practice for the wild of your real life, my 4-step “SALT” practice.
Any of it counts, ok?
Cath