Noticing

Ohmygoodness I have been so stressed this week it is unreal. So much to do and so many things due and why is it that all these things always come together in huge groups of due dates and due times right at the time that you also get ill and your body seizes up and so you then have to find time to go to the gym or for a nice long walk or to the physio and then you spend the whole time you’re there thinking about the enormous to do list that is waiting for you when you get back to the desk and then there is that of-course-I-forgot-that-other-thing feeling that happens the second you take a break and….

Was that hard to read?

Welcome to what my head has been like over the past two weeks!

So this week I made a conscious effort to go to bed early Sunday night and get up early for a sunrise yoga class on Monday. I had stopped yoga for various reasons and hadn’t filled the gap it created. But I made time for it on Monday. And what a difference it made!

I took time out to create myself a sankalpa for the week and wrote it in my Bullet Journal:

I have used this to guide me in my choices for the week, then spent some time reflecting on it last night in relation to some of my client work this week.

I have been doing a lot of work on ‘noticing’ thoughts, feelings and behaviours this week. One example of this is the difference between ‘I am angry’ and ‘I notice that I feel angry’. One feels more concrete and unchangeable, while the other feels more acceptable and flexible. This also applies to our self beliefs, for example ‘I am bad at sport’ seems pretty rock solid, but what about ‘I need to work on my throwing skills’?

Stepping back and noticing our thoughts and feelings helps us to see what to do about them. This week I have gone from ‘I am so stressed’ to ‘I notice I am feeling so stressed’ which has helped me to then ask ‘what am I going to do about it?’

Give it a shot for yourself. Try stepping back and being a little more distant from your thoughts or feelings and see if it helps you to come up with an action plan rather than just becoming fused, bogged down and overwhelmed.

If you want to read more about this check out:

• To work on defusing from your thoughts check out Russ Harris’s resources at actmindfully.com.au or https://psychwire.com/harris/courses
• For working on your child’s unhelpful self beliefs ‘What to do when mistakes make you quake’
• Or for adolescent friendly defusion strategies look at Louise Hayes’ resources at thrivingadolescent.com