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Sometimes it feels good to just slow things right down. To simplify. To bring it all back to basics. To flow. To breathe deeply. To choose ease.
Honestly, I have found myself feeling quite anxious lately. At different times in my life I have struggled quite badly with anxiety. It's something I've been able to manage through breathing exercises, meditation, exercise and other healthy lifestyle choices. But I often have bad bouts of anxiety when life feels overwhelming. Sometimes those moments are accompanied by anxiety attacks. And they're scary. Those kinds of episodes often creep up on me and take me by surprise. I can't breathe. My chest feels tight. I find myself hysterically crying and hyperventilating. And I'm convinced that I'll never be okay or feel normal ever again.
But I am okay. I know that in still moments like these. It's hard to see that in the midst of a panic attack. But I am okay. And the best thing for me to find harmony in my emotions and mental state is to just take really good care of myself. To slow down. To simplify. To ground myself and reset.
If you need a permission slip to slow down and simplify, consider this your permission slip. It feels so good to slow down time and relish the simple. To create the space you need to just be. Much the same as you would on a tropical vacation! Where your only priorities tend to be eating, sleeping, resting, reading, swimming...just the simple and joyful.
Today I have found myself remembering holiday moments fondly. My three weeks in Italy two years ago...life felt slower and more simple. My time at Barwon Heads (Victoria, Australia) at the beginning of the year...the simplicity of my daily routine was delicious. Wake up, run along the beach, meditate, journal, eat muesli and fruit in the sun, read, create, eat veggie falafel wraps in the sun, walk along the beach, play card games with family, eat dinner in the sun (thank you daylight savings), drift off to sleep dreaming of more delicious simplicity.
If you find yourself overwhelmed, anxious, or unsure...it can often feel like you need something else to feel better. An answer, a solution, a fix. Something else for the to do list. A magical cure. When actually, it often serves us so much more to slow down and simplify. Rather than focusing on more, cutting back. Less rather than more. These feelings of overwhelm can arise when we are cluttered mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. So rather than adding to the clutter, it can feel so good to just find space. To return to the simple and the basics. And from that clean, de-cluttered state...we can begin to see things more clearly. We can begin to breathe a little more deeply. To feel more in harmony with ourselves and life again.
It is safe to create space. To slow down. To simplify. To breathe deeply. To just be.