I don’t know about you, but I’m a busy gal. Alongside helping clients and running this business, I work full time. I spend all day and evening at the computer, and it becomes hard to switch off when I finally switch off the laptop. The world we live in today demands so much of us, and if it’s not thinking about what we will cook for dinner later, it’s planning the day ahead or organising someone else, or trying to fit in the gym, on top of all the other things. Life is exhausting!
And yet, when we get away from it all, like right now I’ve come away to the beautiful rugged coast of Cornwall, it’s still hard to just. Be.
Our world moves fast, and we move fast from one task to the next- or often we do one task while doing another! My client just last week was sharing how she unloads the dishwasher whilst making her breakfast so that she can still be productive. And gosh I relate, but why do we need to be productive while making breakfast? We are already doing something! And I explained to her that when we overload our brains with tasks it communicates a stress response to our gut. Our brains and our guts are in constant communication on a two way street. If your mind is busy, so is your gut and that over-activity can cause bloating. Or a nervous tum – have you ever been dashing to the loo when you’re waiting for an interview or an exam?
Believe me I get it, time is precious, and it feels like we have so little of it, so we need to make the most of the time we do have. But that puts pressure on our bodies when all we really need is to just chill out, take a breather, take some space and do whatever task we are doing more mindfully.
I love that grounding practice of using your 5 senses. I personally can never quite remember which order I’m meant to do it in – is it 5 things I can see and 1 thing I can taste? It certainly can’t be 5 things to taste or I’ll be licking my jumper. And I’m usually doing it at night in the pitch darkness so I can’t see anything anyway! I just tell myself it doesn’t matter, and just to imagine what’s there, and feel the duvet cover and listen to the street noises and that’s usually enough for my brain to quiet a bit!
So as I encourage and remind myself of the importance of rest, let me also give you permission today to rest with me! When you’re out walking focus on trying to find 5 things that are blue and stop to smell the roses.
