The way my Day of Reflection started was something else! Nothing seemed to be going right before I left the house—the computer wasn’t cooperating, kids were acting crazy—and I ended up leaving 10 minutes later than I had intended to head out for my 8:30 yoga class. When I got to the location of the class, 4 minutes late, it wasn’t exactly where I thought it was, so I wandered around the plaza for another 5 minutes before I realized it was across the street. I ran across the street, dodging traffic with my yoga mats flopping about only to find the door locked with a curtain pulled closed in front of it. I missed the class. I headed back across the street to sit in the car and wait for the next class at 9:30. Turned on the radio and did some things on my iPad, when 25 minutes later…silence. My car battery died. Incredibly irritated because I wasn’t sure how to accomplish going to class, recharging my battery, and making it to my 11:00 a.m. massage/relaxation consultation appointment, I called Terrence. The ever-supportive husband that he is, he came over while I was in class to give the car a jump. When I came out, he was still in the car with my four-year-old daughter Evangeline—they had stayed just to show me her new haircut, which turned the entire morning around. As I was driving to my massage appointment it occurred to me how perfect it was that my Day of Reflection had started the way it did. It gave me just what I needed to realize what contributes to stressful moments—as a mother of two who works full-time, I am always on, always thinking, always planning, and constantly cramming too much into unrealistic timeframes. It’s not the little incidences that set me off; it’s the bigger picture.
The consultation appointment with the massage therapist (who is really more like a therapist) was fantastic. We talked about my triggers for stress and anxiety, and as she did the bodywork, she walked me through breathing techniques and visuals and showed (reminded) me how there truly is a body/mind connection. She also suggested some books and guided meditation practices with which I’ve already started working.
In a nutshell, I learned that to help my anxiety, I need to spend more time in the moment and not worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet. I need to accept and feel the anxiety/fear, breathe, and then let it go. And I’m confident that, if I can commit to it, the meditation techniques combined with taking a little time each day for just me and remembering how abundant my life is, will all go a long way in terms of cutting back on the stress I feel at times.
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