New moon musings: the violence of rushing

​I’ve just returned from two glorious weeks in Japan, and boy this jet lag is kicking my butt! It’s teaching me some great lessons though about slowing down, which coincides quite nicely with the new moon this Sunday.

Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo (photo by moi)

American culture is particularly afflicted with an addiction to doing WAY TOO MUCH! Leisure time, self care, and relaxation are not taken seriously as human needs here. The health implications of excessive stress are quite severe - stress pushes us into adrenal fatigue, depression, illness, inability to digest/metabolize nutrients, and so much more. I personally find that I often swing between extremes: busy busy busy getting so much done top of the world productive, and then CRASH completely immobilized. 

Do any of you relate to this?? I’m guessing yes. Perpetuating this cycle, rushing through our day to day lives and setting ourselves up for stress-induced crashes, is nothing less than committing an act of violence against our beloved selves, and it is up to us to put an end to it!

I got to thinking the other morning (around 2:45am, thank you jet lag) about what my life would look like if I went at a pace that felt sustainable. What would it take to make doing the things I love doing and seeing the people I love seeing stay refreshing, instead of turning into “yet another item on the impossibly long to do list” that I end up resenting?

The new moon, or dark moon, is a wonderful time to explore such questions of slowing down, to get really honest with ourselves and plan for the implementation of what we discover.

I'd like to share a simple but powerful exercise for connecting into your wise self about this issue:

Set aside some time to be in a quiet space. 

Bring a journal and pen (perhaps bring along several fun colors of pens).

Spend a few moments just being in your body - sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and focus in on your breathing in and the sensations of your body. Slowly scan internally from the tips of your toes up to the top of your head and back down, just noticing what you notice. Again come back to your breath.

Now, really taking your time, contemplate the questions below and write your findings in your journal. Be brutally honest with yourself - remember, nobody but you has to even know that you wrote these things!

How is my energy level in my life right now? Do I feel overcommitted?

Are any of my current time commitments and/or emotional/psychic commitments (things I think about constantly) causing me stress or draining my energy?

Do I feel like I am pushing myself too quickly through my days and my “to do” list?

What would my life and the pace of my days look like in an ideal world (just dream here for a minute - get specific, get honest, focus on what actually make you feel good, not what you think you “should” do, and think about what the flow of your daily routine would look like if it felt nourishing rather than stressful)?

How can I slow down? What, from deep down, do I need to say no to?

How can I implement pieces of this ideal lifestyle in creative ways in my life (think outside the box, allow ideas to occur to you that haven’t before)?

Now create three tangible actions you can take towards this implementation. Put them into your calendar and make sure that they happen!

Yes, I do realize that it may come across as a bit ironic that we are talking about doing too much and I am now suggesting we do yet another thing. Perhaps however, this small act of “doing” is actually creating space in our lives for less “doing” and more time for self care. I think it’s worth the time!

Happy slowing down darlings!

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