Micro-Mindfulness in the Heat of Summer

As my summer fills up with calendar entries and things to do, I start feeling that buzz in the top-front of my head, the one that gets louder the more things I have to achieve in front of me, like an old receipt machine, with every entry it prints and spits out more paper. More things to remember, more people to see, things to get crossed off and done. Print, print, print, spit, spit, spit.

Ah summer, this is the season no? To be productive, and “get stuff done”? While yes, this is true, with the longer days the sun gives us more energy; at the same time, I continuously find myself exhausted come autumn, every year wishing I’d planned in more rest. Gasping for the cool darkness of winter, anything to just allow some recuperation. Because guaranteed if you don’t plan it in, another little item on the to-do list or social calendar will just come in and make itself nice and cosy at home.

There are a fair amount of “unavoidables” we will have booked in over the summer, even ones we want to do, have intentionally given our time to make way for, will however stack up and become tiresome without rest, even those tasks we love to do.

Here comes the segway: though we may not afford the physical and mental rest as much as we would of liked over the productive season, we can afford the daily perception shift to slow things down. This is Yoga. Practice coming home in your own life and body. The deliberate mind which we can come back to, what we can ground down into, call our quiet home and turn down the rush into deliberate concentrated effort. We know the disastrous outcomes of rushing from one thing to the next, many years ago I totalled a car because I did just that. Print, print, print, spit, spit, spit.

Having a brain which is particularly pre-determined to make life more stressful than necessary, it is doubly more important to be able to integrate this perception change into our daily routine. Can I carve myself out some me time before my day kicks off? Its amazing what just 15 minutes of daily yoga, and 5 minutes of meditation can do. Maybe not even that, can you spare ten minutes just to sit every morning with your coffee/tea, no phone, no distractions, just tasting, smelling and listening to the world. When out walking to the shops, could you consciously slow your pace, simply a fraction – claw back some precious moments of just you, no to-do list. Only you and the pavement, you in the world. Just beautiful you.

These micro-mindfulness moments are your exquisite self, taking back your time. See these snapshots as the calm you need amongst the heat, and there’s nothing this summer you can’t do.

All my love, namaste an’all-that,

~ Wavy ~