A Little Slice of Calm
Most days have some amount of busy-ness and chaos. At least mine do! There's always that crunch time to get out the door, or the 5 minutes before a meeting when you still need 15 minutes to prepare, or the mystery of how to get to 2 soccer practices at same time in different places. Even if you try your very best to plan & organize, you're bound to feel stressed at some point in an average day.
That's the perfect time for a "slice of calm."
Picture the slice of calm to be the lemon in a drink. It's not the main ingredient, but it can change the flavor of the whole thing. Adding a slice of calm to a plain-glass-of-water kind of day can make all the difference. It can give it a little pep, make it feel more colorful and special and relaxing.
Some calm slices involve preparation. Some are pulled out in times of unexpected chaos. Some are part of your daily routine that never fail to bring you down a notch or two. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Meal Planning & Prep - One of the craziest times of day is what my Mom always called "the witching hour" which is the time between about 5 pm and 7 pm. Everyone is hungry, tired, and needs at least one thing from you. As the mom, you might be preparing dinner, helping with homework, running someone to dance class, and throwing in the laundry all at the same time. Meal planning saves my life in this area! This week my sister-in-law and I got together on Sunday afternoon. Our kids played and we chatted while making 6 meals and enough healthy snacks for the week. Fast forward Monday at 5 pm, after a busy day of non-stop action. It was crunch time and I was exhausted! It happened to be a beautiful day, so my kids were playing outside. I knew I already had our chicken burrito bowls ready to go, so I LAID DOWN AND TOOK A NAP ON THE COUCH! During the witching hour! Hello, many slices of calm.
2. Square Breathing - This is the easiest way to bring a little calm to my life. I did this in the parking lot at my daughter's school during pick up one day this week. I just needed to get clear and calm before I could be present with her. It takes less than a minute to do and you won't believe what a difference it makes. I taught this to my kids, and I do this in the middle of the night when I wake up and can't sleep. I can't say enough for this quick and easy slice of calm. Here's how:
Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4.
Hold your breath for a count of 4.
Breathe out through your mouth for a count of 4.
Hold your breath for a count of 4.
If you do 4 cycles of that, you will feel calmer, I promise. Here's a video demo, too.
3. Exercise - Starting my day off with exercise is a slice that sets the calm tone for the whole day. I know this about myself, yet recently had gotten in the habit of not having a regular exercise plan. This week I started back with daily exercise (trying 60 days of Piyo - has anyone tried that program?) and I feel so much better. It's like I'm starting every day full of a calm energy instead of a flat, I-need-coffee-stat, kind of feeling. Maybe your morning slice of calm is reading or meditation or calling your mom or making pancakes. Whatever it is, notice it and add it to your life!
I have a whole pitcher full of calm slices that I employ, but those are 3 faves that helped me this week. How about you? What tricks do you have for keeping your life calm and simple?
Have a great weekend!
PS Weekend slices might look more like this:
