breath

When you want to make a change in your life, do you have a tendency to go balls-out? For example, going from not lifting weights at all to going to “I’m going to start lifting weights 4 days a week for an hour each day.” Or “Starting this week I am going to plan, prep, and cook ALL of my meals at home!” (when you typically eat out 3-4 times per week).

I am one of the aforementioned humans. I have a tendency to overestimate my motivation and drive, and as a result, I go like gang busters for a few days, or even maybe a few months, and then I peter out and return to my original set point.

My friend and teacher Dinneen Viggiano had a great newsletter about “MVA” Minimum Viable Amount. She verbalized something I have noticed but ignored when it comes to my own life – even though I know “X” is super good for me and will help me become the person I want to be, if “X” is hard, boring and/or time-consuming, I will do it for a bit and then give up. And then I will feel bad about giving up. And that will make me even LESS motivated to do ANYTHING – even something small – to improve my wellbeing. And thus begins a pity party that ends with me wondering who do I think I am and why do I think I am qualified to help ANYONE improve their life. Things get dark pretty quickly in Heather-Head-Land.

Dineen offers a solution to this nip this negativity spiral in the bud:

Start out doing something that you seriously think you would honestly really do.
Do it regularly for a while and see how you feel (see how your pain responds).
Start to pare it back a bit and see if you still feel benefits while doing the smaller amount.
If you get to a tipping point where the pain starts to return, titrate back to the slightly higher dose.

Here is how I am implementing this advice in my own life:

I am working on getting my low back feeling better, and I know that working on my breathing would help.
I worked with an Athletic Trainer awhile back who gave me several breathing exercises to do. I was supposed to do them 2-3 times a day, and they take about 15 minutes each time. I kinda did them for a while, and then, well, you know. I humaned and stopped.
SO, I am starting with doing 2 minutes of Constructive Rest whilst breathing from my diaphragm every night before I go to bed. Two minutes is so easy that I have a hard time convincing myself that it’s a burden.
I’m finding that at the end of the 2 minutes, I often have started to relax and breathe more deeply and I want to go longer, but I’m not! I’m just doing 2 minutes until I feel as if the habit is ingrained.

Now that I type it all out, I’m kind of following Dineen’s advice backwards. I am using a “tiny little action step” to build the habit, and then assessing the effects, so I can potentially do more, but the overall gist is the same:

FIND THE DOSAGE THAT YOU WILL ACTUALLY DO AND THAT ACTUALLY EFFECTS SOME CHANGE IN YOUR SYSTEM, AND DO IT CONSISTENTLY.

If you are overwhelmed, bored, or frustrated with your exercise plan, maybe you could experiment with doing a little less and see if a smaller dose will get you the same results. I think it’s a universal truth that doing less and doing it mindfully and consistently is better for our mindbodies.

Lastly, I want to put in a little plug for a fundraiser for the QC Yoga Foundation. This is a local non-profit organization that is trying to bring yoga to as many people in our community as possible. They (or maybe I should say “we” because I’m on the Board) are hosting a super fun event on 7/9/22 called Fireflies and Flowers. Music, tasty food, flowers, mid-summer vibes, picnic, and connection to your community – what more could you ask for??

If you are interested, you can “Buy a Blanket” of 8 tickets here or individual tickets here. I would love to see you there! I am trying to put together a group of 8, so we can get a blanket. Let me know if you’re interested.

Space to be Human Lab

If you have a family member, friend, or coworker who has been sidelined by pain or tension, I would be so grateful if you refer them to me, so we can see how massage, meditation, and movement can get them back to doing what they love. For every Referral who books with me, you get a coupon for $10 off your next session! Your friend can find more information about Space to be Human here.

I hope you are having a delightful Sunday and can find some space to do nothing and be okay with it. 🙂

<3

Hlo

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Are you the kind of person that sets goals or resolutions for the New Year? What is your experience with that? Do you enjoy the process? Does it help you stay on track?

My New Year’s resolutions were usually setted and forgetted by January 20^th or so. Then, two years ago, one of my friends gave me the book, “One Word That Will Change Your Life.” Instead of setting multiple resolutions, the authors encourage you to essentially pick a theme word or short phrase, a guiding principle, for the year. This word serves to give you clarity and focus, two experiences that are so hard to come by in our over-stimulated, over-busy lives. One word is also easy to remember. When my business coach asks me what my goals are for the year, I’m always like, “Erm. Let me remember where I wrote them down, so I can re-read them, and then I’ll get back to you.” Ask me what my Word is for 2022, and I can tell you in a flash.

FLOW

My word came to me clearly when I was sitting on the soft white sands of the Gulf, listening to the surf rhythmically pound the shoreline. I was reading “Healing Ourselves” and was YET AGAIN reminded that in order to be healed and to help other people heal, you really just gotta feel those feelings. Instead of laminating them over with a big suffocating brush of “I’ll get to you later when I have time,” you need to SLOW the f*#k down and notice those feelings and stay with them. You have to let them flow instead of damming them up.

Flow also means letting go off resistance, letting go of clenching, letting go of not being at peace until everything is JUST the way I want it, releasing the need to be in control. You can’t ride the current of life if you have a death grip on the dock.

Flow also means getting into that state where you lose track of time because you are SO engrossed in what you are doing. It’s actually an altered state of consciousness! It happens at this sweet spot where you are challenged *slightly* beyond your capabilities, but not so much so that you freeze. This is where the magic happens.

Flow also means opening up to your innate creative potential. In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert describes how there is this undercurrent of creative ideas flowing through the ether. An idea will jump out and grab you, and if you don’t bring it to life, it will abandon you and move on to a more willing subject. I’m opening to that flow, letting go of the fear of “doing it wrong” and taking imperfect action on my ideas.

What word bring clarity and focus to your 2022? Here are some questions that might help ignite your creative fire:

What do you need?
What do you need to let go of?
What do you want more of in your life?
How do you want to feel?
What makes you lose track of time?
What gives you goosebumps (in a good way :P)?
What do you secretly desire?

If you can manage it, I recommend finding a time and space where you can be alone. Bring a pen and paper. Get into a comfortable seat. Watch your breath enter and leave your body for 5 breaths. Notice the connection of your feet on the floor and your butt in your chair. Settle your awareness in your chest (for me, if I think about moving my vision from my eyes to my area right behind my sternum, I can make that instruction to “settle awareness in your heart center” make sense. :P). Then ask yourselves these questions and be open to whatever comes up. If you feel like sharing your word, I would love to hear it. Text me at 319-360-9662, or email me at heather@spacetobehuman.life.

And here is a practice to help improve your PHYSICAL flow. It’s that time of year where between colds, Omicron, allergies, excessive dryness, etc. the nasal passages get all blocked, dry, and boogery. But breathing through the nose is essential for our health (it improves immunity, promotes better blood flow, slows breathing, increases lung volume, improves the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide).* So what to do??

BOOGER PRACTICE
This! This is what to do: Nose Unblocking Exercise.

*Source: Buteyko Instructor Training Manual.

That’s all for today, my friends! Please respond to this email if you have any questions or comments, or book a session with me here if you would like some help to bring more balance and peace to your body, mind or spirit.

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Tag: breath

I’m lazy, and you should be lazy too

On Flow & Boogers