Automate To De-Stress

My husband Thom has a weird evening ritual. Before going to bed he puts a clean pan and spatula on the stove, puts two plates next to it on the cutting board, silverware on top, and places napkins to the side. It's obvious that he's setting up breakfast prep for the next morning, but when I asked him why he wouldn't just do such a simple thing in the morning, he's told me that it's one less thing for him to think about when he has to get out the door early. This is a simple form of automation which obviously reduces his stress level the next day. It would take about thirty seconds to do it then, but the automated preparation takes it out of his head and allows him thirty more seconds of relaxation so he can ease into the day more comfortably.

Think about what effect it would have if you automated more "work" functions in this way:

• laying out your clothes the night before going to work
• removing wet towels and washcloths after a shower
• checking emails at a regular time each day
• doing a workout without thinking about your motivation
• putting dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher, not the sink
• applying sunscreen routinely during your morning toilette

Etc.......

Stress management specialists say that the more things you take out of your head to remember or track or do, especially under time constraints, the less stressed you will be. So, think about what you might automate the way Thom does for his morning routine, and see what happens!

Being Nice To Your Body

As you may be aware from my last post, "Zippy Goes Down," I had an accident several weeks ago, resulting in a broken ankle. It's required me to be hobbling around on an aircast when I have to move about, and to be mindful of each step, mindful of how much I rest, and to pay attention to the effects of all of this on, not only my foot, but my whole body. Aside from the lessons I've been learning about letting go, relaxing, and resilience, the experience has been teaching me something unexpected - to be more compassionate toward my body as it heals. This is something almost foreign for many women in America, who chronically complain about the size of their thighs, breasts, hips, etc., and compulsively beat their bodies into submission through crazy diets and brutal exercise regimens.

As I've watched my ankle grow stronger and seen the x-rays showing the healing bone, I've been amazed at the capacity of the human body, my body to bounce back with some TLC. It's made me think back to the amazement and respect I felt for my body after giving birth to our son without incident. (I did that?!) It's also made me much more appreciative of all the other things my loyal body does for me, usually without complaint every single day. So, I've made it my mission to befriend my body, as I think we all should, by being mindful of treating it with respect every day, appreciating it the way I would a trusted friend, and listening to it and the messages it gives me daily.

For a terrific little exercise about how to do this well, get Rick Hanson's book "Just One Thing" for all the details. You can find it through the "Store" page of my website, then go to "My Amazon Store" and click on the link to Amazon. You don't have to wait to break an ankle or an arm to do it. Cultivate compassion for your body (and yourself!) and your body will thank you back for a lifetime.

Zippy Goes Down

I am fondly referred to in my family as "Zippy" because I do everything really FAST. They call me the "Nazi Walker" because nobody can keep up with me. I've been known as the "speed gardener," famous for a few inadvertant self stabs in the eye with thorns when rushing through hedge trimming. (See blogpost "Speed Gardening and the Revenge of the Sandcherry"). I talk fast, I eat fast, I write fast, I even do Yoga fast. I can't help it - I'm from New York, and many people there are the same way. But today, Zippy went down, trying out a new pair of running shoes in the house at full speed going around corners.

You might ask: "Are you an idiot? What's the rush?" But it's the way I'm wired, and I figure I save loads of time zipping through laundry, dishes, bills, workouts, etc. I'm entering my "last chapter" of life, so there's no time to waste - I have too much to do!

The side benefit of this injury today, (I probably fractured my ankle), was that I had to STOP everything, laze around, resting, icing, compressing and elevating my foot. No spotting my husband who would be chopping down mammoth trees, uprooting unsightly bushes, killing Japanese beetles, cooking for the next few days, folding laundry, buying another router from Best Buy, running in my new sneakers, nada. Just vegging out, nursing my injury and spending nine hours (!) online setting up my new Amazon Store. So you, lucky reader, now have the benefit of shopping from your couch on my Amazon Store page at http://wp.me/P1ayQF-Vc  (I've been wanting to set it up for months, but I'm usually zipping around doing everything else). Sometimes sitting still has it's benefits :-)