I haven’t written much in the past month, as it has been an oddly stressful time. Not with the typical illness or loss or anything. Rather, each of my family members (including me) encountered individuals who exhibited bully-ish behaviors. The exact details of the various situations are unnecessary here, but there was one thing that was glaringly obvious to me – and that is just how far I have to go on my life’s journey towards being a more conscious, evolved, centered, peaceful person.
It is easy to be calm, centered and peaceful when times are “good” but it becomes far more challenging when challenges come knocking. That is just what I discovered this past month.
When Times get Stressful
During these few stressful weeks, I let my regular exercise routine go almost completely. I dropped down from exercising about five times a week to only about once a week. This set me backwards on my path to being healthy and active. Over the past few months, I noticed that the more active I am, the less achy my joints feel, the clearer my mind is and the stronger I feel overall. So this past month I felt, well, just …. older. My joints were achy, my head was clouded and I did not feel that strong, mentally or physically.
This past month, I also stayed up way too late on too many nights. I have noticed the past year or so when I cut into my sleep, my days have a lower quality to them. I feel tired all day and my mind feels foggy. This entire past month I have felt sluggish and foggy. Yuck.
Additionally, I stopped my regular meditation practice. I noticed that the more often I meditate, the better and calmer I feel. But this past month has shown me how easy it is to get really stressed when stressful situations arise and meditation is not a regular tool that we utilize.
Basically, when life is going along easily, I have found a way to very easily eat right, exercise, meditate and sleep well. But when times get tough, I let all that go.
Why do we do that to ourselves? At just the time we need it the most, we tend to drop it all. I haven’t fully answered my own question, but I do know that if these practices are a regular part of our lives, it is much easier to get right back to them.
Coming Back to Myself
As these various situations resolved over the course of this month, I brought back exercise, good quality sleep and meditation. And I feel like my old self – happy, calm, peaceful and centered.
My husband Jay and I also talked about stress, triggers and the holidays in our podcast episode 20 this week. You can listen in here.
What you can Learn from My Experience
If there is anything I can offer you that I have learned this month it is to work to bring all of these life-enhancing tools into your life. And when stressful times come, try not to let them go. But if you do, just bring them back as quickly as possible.