Tag Archives: calmness

Begin your day with slow calming activities

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Begin your day with slow, calming activities. Like a car on a cold morning, you need some time to warm your engine before you put your day into drive.

Image from Unsplash by Cody Black

In athletics we all know that we should stretch and warm up our muscles before the game begins to improve performance and avoid injury.

How much time do you give yourself to warm up your engine before you hit the gas pedal of your days?

Few of us take enough time to fully prepare ourselves for the day ahead. After a few slams of the snooze button and  a little personal hygiene, many people leap into action with only something caffeinated “for the road.”

EXERCISE:

With the cooler months ahead, how can you make it a point to start your day with a few more calming activities to warm you up for the daily trip ahead?

“I need to take a sacred pause, as if I were a sun warmed rock in the center of a rushing river.”

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“I need to take a sacred pause, as if I were a sun warmed rock in the center of a rushing river.”

—Dawna Markova, consultant member of the Society for Organizational Learning

Image from Unsplash

To what degree is your life like a rushing river of endless “to do” items? How often do you feel swept away, pulled under, perhaps even drowning in the commitments and urgencies of life?

How often do you experience peace of mind or a sense of calm centeredness throughout a typical workday or weekend?

If you are like many of us, your answer may be, “Not nearly enough.”

EXERCISE:

Consider the importance of adding a few more “sacred pauses” to your day to regain your footing and catch your breath so that you may fully experience a more satisfying life.

Consider meditation, prayer, walks in nature, exercise, power naps, and digital fasting as some potential strategies. Please reply to this post with some added suggestions you have found helpful.

Outer Order Contributes to Inner Calm

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“Outer order contributes to inner calm.”

—Gretchen Rubin, American Author and Speaker

Image of person in blue genie costume

image from YasminK

Consider the following life situations:

  • Finding something to wear in a cluttered closet
  • An e-mail or voice mail box filled to capacity
  • A dirty car, inside and out
  • Desperately needing a haircut
  • An unbalanced checkbook
  • Kids toys or clothing on the floor

Imagine having a genie, and that you can rub a lamp or snap your fingers and instantly all situations are in order. What happens to your heart rate, level of stress, or sense of general well-being?

EXERCISE:

Where would spending a little effort or even a bit of money bring greater order and a stronger calmness to your worlds?

Please also consider exploring the numerous resources available through Gretchen Rubin’s website.

keep stillness inside you

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“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside you.”

—Deepak Chopra, Indian-American New Age Author/Speaker

meme of today's quote

Image from QuoteFancy

What is your current level of stress? How fast is your world moving? How much chaos do you experience in your personal and professional communities?

What strategies do you use to slow things down to find greater calm, and the peace of mind we all seek?

Sadly, the weekend to rest or that vacation we so desperately need to recharge may be days, weeks, even months away.

What can you do at this very moment to keep a source of stillness inside you, to call up and use at a moment’s notice?

EXERCISE:

Check out these links to add new or alternative strategies to your repertoire:

10 Steps to Keep Calm and Carry On

40 ways to achieve peace of mind and inner calm

 

#76: “If you do everything calmly, with intense concentration, you’ll do everything at the correct speed.”

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– Paramahansa Yogananda

We all have an optimum rhythm or speed of life. If you play golf, what is your optimal club head speed? If you run, what is your optimal speed for a 5K? If you drive a car, what is your preferred speed for highway driving, to have you arrive safely?

Exercise:

What critical activities do you engage in each day? At what speed do you find your optimal effectiveness? And where do you need to develop greater calmness and concentration to find your correct speed of life?

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