I’ve been facing considerable stress recently. Some of it’s low-level project-related distress, some of it’s higher-level (which I’m typically excellent at managing) eustress. I’m a devout GTDer, nearly two years in…I find it typically helps with the day-to-day minutiae, for high level (metta) work, I practice yoga and meditation.
My first serious yoga teacher told me she never listened to the radio or watched television. “If it’s important enough, someone will call me.” I thought it was crazy. Now, I understand that what she was doing was minimizing distractions. It allowed her to focus on the things that matter.
Yesterday at yoga we did an intimidating abdominal/leg strengthening series. You move from Warrior 3 into a one-legged squat. Remind me to show you sometime when we’re playing drinking games. During this excruciating set, on the second side, Mariah calmly says (of the intensity): Identify it, acknowledge it and let it go!
This admonishment did nothing to make the intensity diminish. It wasn’t meant to. It did, however, put the posture, and my life, momentarily, in perspective for me. I identified where it was most intense (outside of my right hip/glutes), acknowledged it (yes, ok, I HEAR YOU!! You’re a leg!) and let it (sort of) go.
Yesterday I met with a techie friend. He confided that when the intensity of things calms down a bit (perhaps in a few months?) he’d like to start doing yoga. Yoga is best practiced when you’re stressed, irritable, inflexible and overweight. Don’t wait until you get to your ideal level of happiness, flexibility and size to start practicing. Everything you learn on the mat is transferable immediately to “real life.” Some of the stress melts away. The rest you can learn to work with.
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{Microbells (thank you to @kitch for the name! You win a coffee!!) are new bite-sized pieces of Gwen Bell. Since sometimes all you really need is a nibble. 300 words or less. Yummy!}
