Why The Heck Do We Feel Like We Have To Do it All?
Intentional steps to slow down
Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by ✨ If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I meander through midlife, connecting to my true self through the seasonal shifts and simpler living, and seeking my inner wise woman. If you are also on this path and looking for someone to walk gently beside you, I see you and am here. Let’s color outside of the lines together.
Why is everything so fast?
Our culture is one of multitasking and how busy you are is a measure of your value. Why is that? Switching tasks, or juggling multiple things at once, leads to a constant state of stress; boosting cortisol levels and putting us into a continuous state of ‘fight of flight’.1 Also, as women, we are balancing social constructs involving home life, sometimes businesses, volunteering for kids’ activities, etc., then add an illness on top of it. You suddenly need to refocus on the basics.
“When reading, only read. When eating, only eat. When thinking, only think.” Korean Zen master Seung Sahn
So what can we do?
I thought that because we had moved to the farm and were teaching our kids about living sustainably, growing our food, having unstructured time, and living a life that harkened back to simpler times we were on the right track; and in many ways we were. We also succeeded in adding more to that multitasking to-do list and needed to be more intentional about slowing down, getting back to our breath, and taking one thing at a time.
Let’s get back to basics-two quick tips to get started✨
Take a breath!!
✨Breathwork is one of the simplest and most amazing things that you can do to reset yourself. I give a fuller description and an exercise below.
Just Breathe
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Life can throw a ton at you at once, and in our society, we are made to feel like we just need to handle it. We are told things like: ‘Water off a duck’s back’ or ‘Shake it off’. This week’s Post Card is all about the value of taking just a moment to breathe as a reset to the overwhelm that can take us all into its clutches.
Get Mindful!
“the practice of calmly resting your attention on whatever is happening in the present moment. If your sympathetic nervous system is in a constant state of arousal, mindfulness helps restore the proper balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems by increasing the activity of the latter. This creates a feeling of calm and relaxation.” 2
✨Mindfulness may seem overwhelming, but it can be as easy as simply sitting for a few minutes quietly, or taking a walk outside and just observing what’s around you, naming it: ‘I feel the wind is blowing’, ‘I see bees buzzing around the tulips’, ‘I hear the birds singing’. When you are intentionally naming these things, the busyness in your head from multitasking all of the to-do’s fade to the background, you are truly present.
✨Pick up a notebook and write down your thoughts. A blank page in front of me sometimes seems daunting so when I’m feeling that way, I draw an oracle card to focus and reflect on both the photo and the prompt, then jot down what comes to mind.
As an example, I drew the above card today, which is fascinating to me as it is the same card I drew as my card of the month!
“Leaves are how plants and trees take in sunlight, and, as part of photosynthesis, convert it into food. The process also transforms carbon dioxide into oxygen, a by-product that further sustains much of non-plant life on earth. In this way, the Leaves card reminds you that you may need to pull ideas and solutions from different places to get your desired results. Don’t just rely on well used patterns. Work to merge new patterns into your life.”—The Green Witches Oracle Deck
What a beautiful card to look at as we move into Spring. As Ostara is next week I really can reflect on what dormant parts of myself are budding back to life and how I will use that stored energy to burst forward into the season.
I would love to hear your thoughts! What are some of your tips and tricks for combating the constant busyness that comes at you day in and day out? What types of things would you like to learn about? I’m here to listen.
Until next time,
Cognitive stress – Multitasking causes a stress reactive response, further degrading cognitive processing. When the sympathetic nervous system engages, many hormones and neurotransmitters are released (See my post on psychoneuroimmunology). Dopamine and noradrenaline (among other electroneurochemicals) cause prefrontal cortex responsiveness to degrade, allowing the amygdala to become centric.