Turn off notifications and alerts on your phone and control when you interact with people. This includes all text messages and social media. Take back control your schedule and don’t let other people control your day.
Imagine if people felt it was okay to bang on your door at any time of the day or night with the expectation that you answer and be present with them. That’s not sustainable. Why should it be acceptable on your phone?
As we enter the first days of Spring, there’s an urge to make big decisions about the upcoming season. It’s anything from career, family, finances and personal growth. Before we make a big decision, we get physically and mentally fit.
When we are fit we have less stress and are more present. Our muscles and brain are oxygenated and we think more clearly. Worries and fears are less magnified and we have a good sense of what is real vs. imaginary (most of it’s imaginary, by the way).
Going for a walk, meditating, taking deep diaphragm inhales and exhales…as well as toe breathing, where we feel the inhalations inflate our toes – are fun exercises we enjoy to breath more deeply.
When fit, we find decisions emerge from a more grounded and present place.
The word of the day: NOW!
The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago. The next best time is NOW!
When I go for a hike in new territory I take a map or consult a guide. When I’m driving to a new location I pull out my phone and turn on navigation. It makes no sense to get in the car and start driving before I have directions.
When it comes to a spiritual journey most people do the opposite. Maybe they read a book, watch a film or speak to someone who inspires them. They make a decision to investigate and explore which is awesome, but they forget to pick a guide.
If you’ve woken up and are searching for answers, the first step is realizing that having a guide will keep you on track when you lose your way. This path has already been trodden by poets and mystics – take someone’s hand and follow. If you reach out, someone will hold your hand.
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” ― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
Staying in touch is different than friending, following or subscribing to someone on a social network. Facebook is a community of digital contacts and it’s an awesome vehicle to communicate, but don’t confuse digital connections and digital browsing with seeing someone in the flesh. I know there’s a diaspora of people across the world and that’s what makes social networks so great, but I’m talking about being physically proximate with your community, neighbors and friends.
If you stopped using Facebook tomorrow, how many people would notice? I mean really notice. How many people would be knocking on your door, walking around to the back door, peering in a window or phoning to check in? Compare that to the reaction from friends, family and co-workers who are in physical contact with on a regular basis. I’m talking about a morning run together, popping in for tea, walk and talks at lunch time, kid’s play dates, weekend coffee meetups…that’s what “being in touch” means. It’s not scrolling down a digital news feed and flicking through photos for a quickie endorphin hit.
Networks like Facebook and Twitter are a means to communicate and organize. Check out the Women’s Marches that were organized across the country…and it all started with a small group on Facebook. What’s even more awesome is that the Facebook group manifested into a physical march for millions of people. What gave it power was the physical manifestation. Physical contact nurtures the soul and makes the connection real.
Be proximate with your community and be in touch. It’s good for the community and it’s good for you.
p.s. thanks to Stephen Bartels for inspiring this post and Lindsay Bartels for the edits
Yoga is the meeting of mind and body. It’s a way of life. Being in a studio with like minded people is a powerful way to practice. But what happens when class is over and you plug back into the life’s demands and pressures?
When class is over, lie down in Savasana – lie on your back, with arms and legs are spread out like a snow angel, close your eyes and breath deeply. Relax and let your mind wander. Unchain the brain. Imagine letting a dog off the lead at the beach and watch it sprint towards the waves – your brain will react in the same way.
After a while, slowly standup and re-engage with the sights and sounds of the day. Your next moves set the tone for the rest of the day. A lot of people jump up, crumple up their mat and hurry out. I do it from time to time too when I’m distracted, anxious and am already living in the future.
Stay in the moment and set the tone with how your matt is rolled: Stand up straight after savasana, relax the shoulders and jaw. Now tighten your tummy and bum, and do a slow forward bend towards your mat. Pick it up from one end and start to roll it. It doesn’t have to be at a snail’s pace, it’s about the intention to focus, do a good job. Rolling the mat keeps you in the yoga mindset, and makes you focus on the task at hand. It gets you out of your head, stops you from checking the phone or thinking about the next thing waiting for you. It also prepares you for the next class with a nicely rolled mat and makes set up for the next class easy.
Roll up the mat after class and continue the yoga outside of the studio.
Traveling keeps me sharp, on my toes and exercises my curiosity muscle. My eyes are wide open, always looking and learning. Where’s the ferry? Where’s the train? How do I buy tickets? Where do I stand? Am I going in the correct direction? What’s the weather like this evening? Where can I swim? Where do I eat? How much does that cost? What’s that accent? Friend or foe?
Travel also makes me grateful for the every day well worn rituals of home. After the intense stimulation of the unknown, returning home is like laying on my back in Savasana and breathing in the moment.
The iPhone now has a low power mode setting. Switch it on and you disable your phone’s most higher energy features. It switches Mail from push to fetch, turns off automatic downloads and disables background app refreshes. In low power mode you get to choose where and when you expend your phone’s battery energy. It’s an underrated feature and I use it all the time, even when my battery is fully charged. Instead of calling it Low Power Mode, I call it Low Energy Suck Mode
Do the same thing with your mind and body. Activate Low Energy Suck Mode today. In this mode, you decide where and when to spend your time and energy. It turns off those coffee meet ups you should say no to and says no to people who guilt and manipulate you into giving up precious time with family and friends. Low Energy Suck Mode preserves your energy so you can decide when you choose to direct energy at someone or something. Your energy is sacred and you need protect it. When focused and at full power it’s loving and wonderful.
Activity Low Energy Suck Mode today. You’ll have more energy at the end of the day and less drag from things you don’t need.
People build happiness destinations for themselves like ‘when I have a enough money then I’ll be happy, ‘when I meet the right person then I’ll be happy’, ‘when I’m living in a new city then I’ll be happy’ – you know the drill. The construct is that happiness is achieved when certain milestones are hit. The problem is that happiness is like an horizon, it keeps moving away as you move towards it.
John Lennon said that life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
Now think about Joy. Joy is something you experience when you are true to yourself in work, love and life. Joy is sipping fresh coffee with a friend, walking the dog early in the morning, building something, doing a good job for someone, hugging your kid, reading Twitter, drinking a glass of wine after a long day. Maybe you picked up a pattern there…joy is a state of mind. Joy is to be present and living in the moment.
Forget about happiness horizons and enJOY the journey now.
markbartels.org 