I know I'm finding this fall transition to be a bit stressful! I've got one child starting his first year of high school (stressful for him and us), 5 disparate schedules to juggle, and a business to run. Yikes! It feels like, even if you don't have kids, there's a certain heightened level of activity or tension in the air as this season kicks off, doesn't it? When I get bogged down I notice a few things:
I don't eat as well
I want to sit when I can
I crave opportunities for slowness
Not the best recipe for a healthy life! I'm busy, so I forget to pack a lunch or take time for a good breakfast. I'm busy for so much of the day that when I have a moment I want to spend it sitting. I'm busy and have so very much to work through in not quite enough time so, if I find a window of opportunity I want to spend it moving as slowly as possible. Or at least I think I do.
What I'm finding this year, amidst all the stress and busy, is that taking those precious free moments to do the opposite of my inclination makes me feel so very much better!
Pack a lunch (10 minutes)
Do some yoga/dance for myself (30 minutes)
Go for a walk (20 minutes)
No one of these fixes take more than 30 minutes. 30 minutes. We all have that much time to spare, no matter how busy we feel, to take care of ourselves. So very much can be done (or not done, depending on your perspective) in half an hour!
- We leave for school at 7:30 or 7:45 am depending on the before school activities on the books. If I step (pull myself) away from the computer in the morning at 7:15 am I can pack up some food (almonds & raisins, 3 oz of turkey breast, and some goldfish crackers) and be able to stave off hunger until I return home with my boys from school at 4:45 pm.
- I teach until noon and, as mentioned above, start the after-school driving circles at 3:30 pm. That leaves me 3.5 solid hours of work time to burn through my to-do list. If I go into a classroom at 2 pm and do 30 minutes of yoga or bellydance, I can come back to The List refreshed and ready to go at 2:30 pm and still have a good hour of (higher) productivity.
- My evening of teaching generally starts at around 6 pm, and at this time of year the sun is still up until about 7 pm. Squeezing in a 30 minute walk before class (perhaps with the family) is a great way to get more a mile under my feet and clear my head before diving back into teaching. If homework stress is high, this is good for everyone!
It may be counter-intuitive in the moment, but taking the time to take care of ourselves in a healthy way has such a strong, beneficial impact on our day, our brain, and the people around us that it would be a shame to let those impulses of sitting, doing nothing, and eating yuck (or not eating at all) to take over.
Busy is, as they say, a state of mind. In choosing to reserve some time for intentionally un-busying ourselves we can fully transform that chaotic feeling into something calm and productive. Try it, and tell me how it goes!
