Taking time for yourself: The first step to a calmer you.
I have spent the last few months considering what it takes to shift from a high stress state, to a place of feeling calm and I realised that it starts with time for you. Taking time for yourself is the first step to a calmer version of you.
As soon as you get into work you hit the ground running and start smashing through your to-do list. Before you know it it’s lunchtime but you don’t have time to eat. Perhaps you send someone to get lunch for you to eat at your desk. Something easy that you can wolf down quickly while you carry on working at your computer. By this point you’ve pretty much been sitting in the same position for the last 5 hours, bar a couple of quick sprints to the printer.
But you are flying, the adrenaline is pumping, this is how you work best. And then an email lands like a bombshell, someone questioning your work, why things have been done a certain way, or not and suddenly your stomach lurches. You feel a sick cold creeping dread. You freeze. You must not be seen as incompetent. You must not be seen to fail. You rack your brains pedalling furiously back through your work to check that the mistake is not yours. Please let someone else be to blame.
Thankfully, this time, you realise that it’s OK, it was someone else who dropped the ball, and not you, this time. Time for a coffee, although by now your nerves are jangling already but you need to push through till the end of the day.
By the time you get home there is nothing for it but to slump in front of the tv. Watching something that requires no thought, something soothing that you can zone out and fall asleep to. A fitful night’s sleep. Semi-conscious, anxiously scrolling through your to-do list for tomorrow. Until the alarm goes off. To get up and start it all again.
If I hadn’t snapped out of this state I was in, things would only have got worse. I wasn’t taking care of myself at all. I wasn’t taking care of my health, my body, my mind.
I thought that I had no time, but really, I didn’t think that I was worth the time.
The journey to a Calmer You has to start with taking time for yourself. And if that feels overwhelming don’t forget that you can start small.
Here are a few ways that you can start to take time for yourself right now:
My Make meditation a habit mini course takes you through a range of meditations from 5mins to 25mins over the course of 5 days (or at your own pace). This is perfect if you are new to meditation and want to try a few different styles to see what works best for you.
Beginners start here is a 1 hour 20 mins Yoga workshop going over the fundamental movements that you can expect from a Yoga class.
Foundations for a home Yoga practice takes you through 3 x 20 minute videos plus supporting resources to start your own home Yoga practice.
Or if you would like some personalised 1:1 support to feel Calmer then get in touch to find out about my trauma-informed coaching programme.
Don’t forget that you are important and worthy of taking time for yourself to spend doing things that make you feel good.
Much Love,
Frances
xxx