by Kimberly Spreen-Glick | March 18, 2018 9:37 pm
Ahhh Spring! Such a beautiful time of year. There are examples of renewal and rebirth all around us in nature and it is as energizing as it is amazing!
Many of us often tend to personalize this time of year as an opportunity to create some kind of transformation within our lives. This is why we commonly hear terms like “spring training ” or “spring cleaning “.
Spring training for the everyday person (as opposed to those in MLB ˜º) typically refers to the desire to initiate or re-initiate an exercise routine in preparation for the upcoming summer season.
Spring cleaning, on the other hand, generally refers to the annual deep cleaning one may take on for their home this time of year.
Let’s take a look at perhaps a different way to make use of these common terms …
Spring Training
Let the focus be training your mind as well as your body. For starters, nothing is quite as powerful as calming or “quieting ” the mind to give us a reprieve from the non-stop invasion of not-so-helpful thoughts we all tend to contend with each day. So, if you don’t yet have a consistent, daily meditation practice in place, there’s no better time than now! There are so many types of meditation you can explore …guided, focused attention, vipassana, mantra, zazen, metta, etc. But, even if it’s for 5 minutes per day, just commit to finding a quiet place where you can settle in to a restful position, close your eyes and take some deep breaths. I can promise it will serve you well and, perhaps in time, you can start adding a couple minutes every couple of days to extend this gift you can give yourself.
Another way to train your mind is to focus on make small shifts in perspective on a daily basis. Just pay more attention to how you react in various situations. When the feeling that accompanies your response doesn’t feel good, take another look at the situation. Can you see it from a different perspective and perhaps even find something to appreciate within it? So much that happens around us is outside of our control but what happens within us is very much in our control. We can control our perspective which will dictate our thoughts which will then determine our emotions in any moment. As Viktor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances. ” Start to make wiser choices that will feel better and serve to make you stronger. As with most things, it gets easier the more you do it. So, start your Spring Training today!
Spring Cleaning
Giving your home a thorough cleaning can be very therapeutic; so, you can certainly tackle that in the upcoming days and receive great benefit. But, two other things come to mind for me when I think about the kind of spring cleaning I want to invite you to join me in taking on.
1. Do my actions match what matters to me? For example, if your #1 priority is time with your family yet you find yourself spending most of your days doing time robbing tasks, whether they be work-related, house-related, etc, it’s time to take a look at how you might be able to declutter by releasing some of the tasks that don’t have as much meaning as time with your loved ones would.
2. Am I finding “flow ” every day? Flow is described as “being so absorbed with what one is doing in the moment, he/she loses track of space and time “. When you can make it a priority to fit opportunities for flow in your day, you will find that you have more moments when you are fully present …what a gift! For some, they experience flow through exercise, gardening, reading, painting, practicing yoga, etc. The list goes on and it’s really different for everyone. If you don’t know what brings you into a “flow state “, the invitation is to start experimenting! on finding flow if you ever need a quick reminder.
So, this spring, you can choose to take on the traditional challenges or perhaps consider these new invitations you now have before you. The most important thing is that you start to become aware of the opportunities you may have to make small shifts in your life that will serve to make you stronger, healthier and happier. You deserve it!
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