My mind is full. Very full. On our anniversary, my husband and I each got a 30 minute massage. I thought about 300 things during those 30 minutes. He said he thought about nothing.
I think about my children, my family, my worries, my business, my mistakes, my to do list, my hopes, and my dreams.
It all gets rather exhausting. My husband said he’d go crazy if he thought about so much all the time.
There’s just so many things I want to do, so many things I’m responsible for, and only so little time to get it all done.
So, I’ve been trying to practice mindfulness lately. Here’s what has worked for me.
1. Hot Yoga
Slow yoga does not work for me. It’s too quiet, too calm. My brain can’t do normal yoga. Hot yoga on the other hand is just about the only time during the week that I can actually shut my brain off. I don’t know what it is. I think it’s because hot yoga is physically challenging for me. I have to concentrate on what I’m doing so I don’t fall flat on my ass. It’s demanding physically, but I like it. My legs burn and my brain fights it and it’s just a whole exercise in focusing on breathing instead of focusing on the other 100 things I want to focus on.
2. Limiting Facebook
In the last 10 year of having Facebook, the site itself has never bothered me. I never looked at people’s photos or experiences and felt jealous or annoyed. Maybe it’s because we lived in the Caribbean for 3 of those 10 years and people looked at our photos wishing they were there. But now, since moving back to the US, being on a tight budget, and having two kids, it’s hard for me. It’s hard when other mothers post their children’s milestones and my preemies are still catching up. It’s hard to see friends my age buying a home when that phase of life for us is so far off. It’s hard to see people out at dinner, shopping, and traveling when it’s been a while for us. Now I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else’s. I know that our time will come, but still Facebook gets me down from time to time and fills my mind with negativity, of things I want but can’t have and of things I had but can’t have right now. So, I turn it off from time to time and limit my interaction. It helps clear the mind.
3. Remembering To Recharge
I go about 100 miles per hour all the time, but I’ve come to learn quite a bit about myself over the years. My personality type is very prone to introspection and introversion, despite appearing outwardly outgoing much of the time. If I have a day where I am on a 1 hour Skype call, for example, that takes just about all my energy for the day. I don’t like to talk too much after something like that. I require a lot of time to sit by myself to recharge in order to be sane and enjoyable to be around. It’s part of the reason why I like being self employed so much, lots of time to do my thing by myself. If I find myself getting cranky or annoyed or just over-stimulated by the world in general, I remember to recharge. It clears my mind.
I’ve learned it’s very important to take care of yourself, otherwise you can’t take care of anyone else.
These, of course, are all things that work for me. What works for you when it comes to clearing your mind?
Facebook has been terrible for me, too. I realize I vent there a lot and that I generally just get irritated by the things people post (though not always). Lots of political and religious stuff in my feed that I don’t always agree with. Lots of pictures of dead animals too (family hunters post their kill, and here I am, vegan). I took a 30 day break about 18 months ago and it was awesome. I felt more relaxed and I had more time. Now I’m trying to remember why I even went back.
Great tips! I too feel like my brain is a seven-lane highway, and it’s always on. My problem is that I sometimes let more fleeting things into the forefront of my mind, pushing back the more important things.
I LOVE hot yoga and this post actually reminded me that I haven’t done it in a while and I really should. I love that it’s only a few poses, so you really don’t have to do much thinking about the workout and you can just focus on clearing your mind.
As you know Cat, I too have a very hard time shutting my mind off. During my Crossfit class I am usually able to turn it off and think only about my current task/workout. I agree that it’s because of the physical challenge it presents. I wish I could go more often, but I only go 3x/week. Those 45-ish mintues 3x/week are wonderful for clearing my mind.
It’s great that you’re trying to quiet your mind a little. I find when my mind gets cluttered up it’s just that: clutter.
Hot yoga is definitely worth a try for me because I can never seem to relax unless I sleep or watch a movie. Just getting into a good film allows me to escape all my thoughts about life and everything that’s going on. Afterward I’m often thinking about what happened in the movie but my mind is pretty clear from everything else.
I feel the same way about Facebook actually and I wonder how some people are able to take 3+ vacations throughout the year when they haven’t even finished college yet. Loans much? But lately I’ve been too busy to check Facebook which has been great and I realized that a lot of people put on a front on Facebook to make people think that they are/have more than they do as a result of their own personal insecurities. I see it all the time. But if someone is truly doing well and living a great life, they won’t have time to make satuses about it every 5 seconds.
I never relax during a massage either! My mind is always going in 1000 directions. I think it’s just what happens when you’re a busy mom.