I realized something the other night. I was lying in bed, trying to relax.
Trying to relax.
Yes, a bit of an oxymoron here. What I realized, which somehow felt like a light bulb going off at the time, was that I had been focusing a bit too hard on helping myself sleep. I was scanning my body from my feet on up, breathing into its spaces. I was noticing where my body felt off and putting my attention on those places.
Lots of times something like this works very well to edge me off into sleep. But this time, it wasn’t helping. In fact, it was doing the opposite. It was keeping my mind active and my body awake.
What my mini aha-moment brought was the thought - oh, I can just lie here and let myself be. Not focus on the aches. Not go looking for the sensations to rid myself of.
It can be a tricky line - one I thought I’d remind you about! Sometimes, in the midst of learning self-awareness and self-care, it’s easy to move into the lane of over-focus and self-pressure. Like me, you may not even realize you’re doing it.
So this week…
How can you notice the pressure you’re placing on yourself – mind, body, or spirit – to feel better? How can you take the pressure off? It might be as simple as just noticing the desire to “fix” something, taking a breath, allowing yourself to do nothing, or just letting your whole being soften, with no expectation to change anything in the present moment.
What if there is nothing to fix right now?
Good luck my friends!
Xoxo
Natalie