Week 49 Update: Shoulders Have No Place By Your Earlobes.

I am not alone in mindlessly holding tension in  my body. Wearing shoulders as earrings, grinding teeth, furrowing brows, clenching fists ... we do it without realising. We do it all the time. It doesn't feel good, though, does it?

This week I set out to notice and soften any time I found myself holding tension where it didn't need to be. Simple, really, but not easy. To stop and notice requires a pause - something that we don't love to do in this busy world of ours. But it only takes a moment - a moment to say "look there at my teeth grinding/shoulders hunching/fists clenching" and then soften. I did this far too many times throughout the week to count - but seven days later, my jaw feels 'easier' than it did, I'm far more tuned into the tension when it arises, and I've appreciated those regular moments to check in and ask myself "how are you, Erica?"

How often do you stop to ask yourself that question? To really notice how you're doing? The tension-holding gives us a clue, as does our ability to soften. It's worth the moment(s) it takes to pause. Very worth it, indeed.

Week 49: Shoulders Are Not Earrings.

How often do you find your shoulders hanging around somewhere near your earlobes? If you're like many people I know, you'll find them that way a lot. As a yoga teacher I repeat the phrase 'soften your shoulders' umpteen times a week. I often pair this up with a gentle hand on the offending shoulders and I can immediately see tension drain from the upper body.

Tight, tense shoulders are hardly unusual. We tend to live with it and claim "I can't help it!" when it's brought to our attention. But what if we checked in - time and time again - and softened them every time we noticed them higher than they should be?

For years and years I was a shoulder-tension-holder. These days I seem to have a firmer stance with them and they behave a good lot of the time. Now, though, I find the tension sitting in my jaw or that space between my eyes.

It's the same thing and requires the same treatment - repeated 'checking in' and softening. It might mean checking in tens or even hundreds of times per day ... but it's well worth it. Not only does it feel better not to hold this tension so frequently, it's also a perfect opportunity to assess how you are in any given moment. As you check in with your shoulders/jaw/eyebrows/hips/fists (whatever is your tension storage house), it's a chance to make an assessment on a greater scale. Tight? What can you let go of? Relaxed? Awesome - do more of that.

So, this week it's all about checking in on the tension. Check, soften, repeat. Lots of little mindful moments.

Week 48 Update: Doing Less Can Be More.

I set out to do less this week; to cut my 'to do list' short; to put some tasks on the 'nah, not right now pile'. I did a pretty good job! Each day I made a conscious decision to choose not to do something that 'needed' doing. Often it was something like mopping or vacuuming - things that do need to be done at some point but have little urgency.

The biggest thing I noticed? That by giving myself permission to do less, I felt far less pressure to do and achieve. I chose where to put my energy more carefully and this meant that I didn't feel completely run off my feet every day.

The downside? Sometimes it's really hard to do less - I mean, dirty floors and bathrooms do their best to command your attention. And, let's face it, these things do need to be done at some point ... I've never seen such chores spontaneously complete themselves. For those working in a professional environment, deadlines don't tend to lend themselves to 'less'. And parents certainly can't choose not to do vital child-rearing tasks.

Still, I think there's always a bit of 'to do list fat' that can be trimmed, even if only temporarily. Plus, we can ask for help. In any case, doing less gave me more - more time, more space, more clarity and more choice. Less definitely felt like more this week. And more mindful.

Week 48: Just Do ... Less.

How many things do you have on your to-do list for the day? What if you took that list and just made it shorter? How would that impact your day?

This afternoon, my husband took a photo of me ... having a little rest on top of the pile of clean washing I was 'meant' to be folding. The photo is a telling one. Simply - I'm tired! I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant with my second child and it's certainly taking it out of me. I have days when I'm full of energy and days when I need someone to prop up my eyelids. Normal - absolutely.

I'm just like everyone else - I wake up in the morning very conscious of all the things I have to do. The list always seems long - mothering, housework,  yoga 'work', writing, socialising, sorting, organising, preparing, cooking ... And despite the fact that I'm far from a clean-freak or a perfectionist, there is NO shortage of things to do.

But how important are all of those things, really? What if I just decided to do less?

Hmm ... less? We're a society that focuses on more ... less is a vaguely foreign concept, isn't it? Less ... I like the way it sounds.

This week I'm going to do less. That to do list is going to be shortened every day. Maybe one non-vital task comes off the list, maybe 10. The important thing is the lack of push and pressure, the focus instead on creating more ease by doing less.

If I do less, will those things I do do be done more mindfully? At a guess - yes.

Week 47 Update: Pour, Stir, Mix, Bake.

A week of mindful cooking. Focusing not on the end result of the cooking process but on the process itself.

Now, I love to cook. But sometimes, it's all too much - another day, another bunch of meals and snacks to cook/prepare. Really? Can't we just have pizza?

This week's challenge gave me a chance to step back from the meal/snack/drink and instead be present with the measuring, chopping, pouring, mixing, stirring, baking ... If I'm honest (which I am), I didn't always remember the challenge I'd set for myself and so I often found myself distracted while I prepared our meals. But on those occasions when I did remember, what a difference it made. It never ceases to amaze me how the way we think about what we're doing impacts on our expereince of the the situation so much. If I'm focused on how annoying it is to have to be in the kitchen again then I feel frustrated, tense, overwhelmed. If, instead, I focus on the process, forgetting for a while what comes next, then it's just the moment - no result.

I had a couple of baking fails this week - something no self-confessed baking lover enjoys. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself reasonably unaffected by these less-than-perfect outcomes. Perhaps my mindful approach in the kitchen offered me a new perspective on perceived failure ... Yes, in fact, I'm sure it did.

Week 47: The Mindful Cook

You know those days when it seems like such a chore to put a meal on the table? Those evenings when you sit and think "I could just as easily eat toast tonight ... or pizza". It can get tiring feeding yourself, not to mention your family. I mean three meals a day - plus snacks?! That's asking for a bit, isn't it?

I love to cook and bake - probably because I also love to eat. Yet, as I walk into the kitchen for the umpteenth time I often think "Again?!" When you feel like this, cooking can become something to simply get through. There's little pleasure in it - it just needs to be done so the food can be consumed. Not very rewarding, really ... especially since that food will be gobbled up (or thrown on the floor) far too quickly.

What about mindful cooking? Cooking for the sake of cooking? That doesn't mean taking on more cooking to do it mindfully - but simply using those inevitable opportunities to do it in a way that values the process, not just the outcome.

I hope that by being more mindful with my cooking this week, I'll find myself shifting my focus from what will end up on the table at the end (and how quickly it will disappear), to the process itself. Because there's lots of joy to be found in cooking (and baking!). And if there's bowl licking involved, well, that's a bonus! Might be a cook week to bake a chocolate cake ;)

Week 46 Update: Where are You Values?

A search last week for my values ... taking the chance to question not only what they are but how they translate into the way I live my life - the things I do and say, how I react and behave. I thought working out my values would be easy enough, but, like all of the challenges I've faced over the past 46 weeks, it came with its hurdles.

At one point during the week I Googled 'list of values' and perused a few of the results. As I scanned these lists, a few values jumped out at me: Compassion, Love, Mindfulness, Integrity, Unity. These seem as though they 'fit' and are an excellent guide to how I want to live (though maybe they don't always mirror how I actually live).

One of my main concerns heading into last week's challenge was my ongoing struggle with social media and how to control what can at times seem like an addiction. This week I realised that addiction or otherwise, this social media habit of mine serves a very valuable purpose. As a mum at home with my son, I actually need that outlet to connect with people, ideas and the like. What I can also do, though, is ask myself a simple question when the urge to 'check in' strikes: 'would looking at Facebook/Email right now interfere with my ability to act with compassion, love, mindfulness, integrity and unity?' If the answer is yes, hopefully I put the phone down. If the answer is no - well, check in I will!

Let's be honest - one week of this is just skimming the surface. But I like where it's headed ...