Journey Challenges and Tools - DO YOUR DAILY 'RESET'
DO YOUR DAILY ‘RESET’
Regain Your Perspective. Shift Your Mood. Disentangle Yourself.
In uncertain times, it is inevitable that we will lose our way, and lose our perspective on what is important, and what simply isnt.
Sometimes, we won’t even recognize that we’ve lost our way, and we find ourselves becoming irritable, edgy and out of sorts. We can easily spiral down, cascading into negativity and self-judgment. We routinely need to regain a more realistic perspective on whatever it is we are dealing with in the moment. We need to purposefully practice taking a pause, set things down, stepping away, and taking a few breaths.
Take a purposeful ‘5 Minute’ time out in your day, each day.
Step away from the task at hand. Slow down. Ground down. Breathe deeply.
HERE’S YOUR CHALLENGE
Sometimes the best we can do in any given situation that in non-productive at best, and self-destructive at worst, is to interrupt the life-sapping pattern we find ourselves caught up in. Once we are caught up in a situation or a dynamic that is overly taxing or draining, we are ‘lost in the weeds’ – and nothing good can come out of where we are – no matter what effort we exert.
It is a skill to learn that when circumstances are not favorable, and the weather is threatening, the best thing we can do is to make sure we don’t make a difficult situation more difficult, or a bad situation even worse. We have to learn to let go, and drop whatever our ego has attached to in the moment.
The challenge is quite simple, and not at all easy. We have to get back to ourselves, and do a reset. But pride and ego can make us continue to over-exert our will, to swim upstream, and to push against the river. We have to stop, drop and roll. Just like when we notice that our clothes have caught fire!
HERE’S YOUR TOOLS
1. Take a 5 minute break.
Really do this. Change the scenery. Get out of your chair. Leave the room you are in. Pause the conversation you are getting lost in. Step away from whatever you have been focusing on.
2. Conscious choose to relax your body.
Stretch and take some deep breaths. Crouch down or bend your legs; get lower to the ground. Lie flat if you need to. Concentrate on extendng your exhalations. Move your body in a way that is calming and clearing.
3. Clear your mind.
This is easier said than done. You will need to focus on your body, your breath, your sounds and sighs, your movements. Use this mantra if you need one – Feet & seat rooted; breath flowing; mind clearing.
4. Shift your mood.
This also requires effort and intention. Change your setting. If you are inside, step outside. Leave one room and enter another. Play or listen to some music. But if you really need a shift – do something more aggressive – rapid repetitive movements – jumping jacks, arm swings, or sprint!
Your Body Belongs To The Body Of The World
Inspiration
A Poem By William Stafford
Just Thinking
Got up on a cool morning.
Leaned out a window.
No cloud, no wind. Air that flowers heldfor awhile. Some dove somewhere.
Been on probation most of my life. And the rest of my life been condemned.
So these moments count for a lot–peace, you know.
Let the bucket of memory down into the well, bring it up. Cool, cool minutes. No one stirring, no plans. Just being there.
This is what the whole thing is about.
Reflection
Take 5 minutes to remember that you are indeed on a journey, regardless of how consumed you feel by the mundane world around you, or how numbed you feel in your interior life at the moment.
Remember the three stages of any worthwhile journey.
Separate from whatever is right in front of you in this moment.
Initiate by shifting your scenery, and immerse yourself in something that matters to your soul’s journey. What animates your inner life more than anything? Recall this to yourself.
Return back to your ordinary day, and the next thing to do in your life. Feel the shift you just created.
Action
Music is the doctor of the soul.
Find one song that will shift your mood. Depending on what you feel you need, choose a song that will either deepen your mood, or lift your mood, or disspell your mood.
Play it, turn up the music.
Now sing along with the melody, or dance along to the rhythm – or do both. Let yourself move, and be moved.
Music is the doctor of the soul.
MUSIC IS A GREAT WAY TO RESET YOUR MOOD & YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Drift Away – Live Version from October 2013 – with Lisa Doscher, Bernadetta Yao, Michael Quattrone & Michael Mervosh.
Drift Away – Distance Recorded Version with the Acapella App.
April 2020 – with Lisa Doscher, Bernadetta Yao & Michael Mervosh.